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Chapter 125
At my request, Luna pulled out massive logs from her pocket one after another.
The sheer size of them was at least three tis her height, yet she handled them with one hand as if she were pulling out re straws.
I stretched one hand toward the wall and the other toward the materials Luna had laid out.
Then, I manifested my heart once more.
At the sa ti, the empty wall began to cave in as if it were being carved, and the newly ford gap was filled with an elegantly engraved, luxurious wooden door.
“Wow… That’s amazing.”
Isna seed genuinely fascinated by the power I was manifesting through the Heart of the Machine God.
Creaaak…
Once the door was completed, I opened it, revealing a narrow gap just big enough for a person to squeeze through.
Hmm, this should do.
After that, I slowly activated the necromantic mana I had been preparing.
Whoooosh!!!
A black mist started to rise from my feet, quickly enveloping the newly created door.
Creeeak… Crack…
Before long, eerie sounds of distortion echoed as so of the wraiths lurking in the shadows seeped into the door and the entire hidden space behind it.
“Are those undead?”
“Yes. Unlike elental magic, necromancy has so restrictions when it cos to spatial abilities.”
Once the wraiths had fully rged with the door, a faint ominous aura radiated from it.
However, after carefully layering it with necromantic mana, any traces of magic were erased.
With this level of concealnt, no one would notice unless a high-ranking official from the Holy Kingdom ca.
Having completed the wraith-infused door, I cast another spell on it.
This ti, it was a 7th-circle spell: Shadow Transfer.
However, if I rely applied a basic shadow transfer spell, I would have to open the door manually every ti.
So instead, I intended to engrave the shadow transfer directly into the door itself as a dium.
Naturally, inscribing a 7th-circle shadow transfer spell required 8th-circle proficiency.
But that didn’t matter.
After all, my goal was to fully master 8th-circle magic, and I already had a thod to use it even at the 7th-circle level.
[Overcharge (Circle Overload)]
By forcibly expending an excessive amount of mana, I could montarily cast magic from the next stage beyond my current level.
A phantom eighth ring flickered above the seven visible rings before vanishing.
At the sa ti, the dormant power of death, Thanatos, stirred restlessly.
But thanks to my training, I suppressed it with ease.
Soon, the two wraith-infused spaces I had prepared in different locations began to link together.
“There, it's done.”
As a test, I swung the door open.
Beyond it lay nothing but an empty space.
I stepped inside, shut the door, and then reopened it.
This ti, an entirely different scene greeted my eyes.
“Okay. It works.”
When I opened the door again, I was standing inside the Count Cascadia’s mansion.
The chanism was simple: closing the door triggered the switch, swapping the positions of the two wraiths, just like stepping into an elevator.
Although this thod was significantly less efficient than a teleportation gate and constantly consud necromantic mana, it had its own unique advantages.
“Uh… This is Cascadia County… right?”
Isna, who had followed , peeked out cautiously beyond the door, looking around in slight bewildernt.
“A teleportation gate?”
“Similar, but a little different. Each thod has its pros and cons, but this is the best I can do for now.”
If I had mastered elental magic, I would have simply engraved an 8th-circle warp spell, but since that wasn’t an option, I didn’t dwell on it.
“How does this work exactly?”
“It’s an application of a spell that swaps the positions of an undead and its contractor. The entire space beyond the door is enveloped by a wraith. When soone enters and closes the door, the wraiths swap places, and reopening the door reveals the new location.”
This thod was relatively free from the inherent risks of teleportation magic.
The structure was more complex than simple teleportation, aning that even soone like lissa could use it without my presence.
But at its core, that was how it functioned.
Creak! Clack!
After confirming that the door successfully linked Cascadia and the Academy, I returned to the dormitory and settled comfortably onto the empty sofa.
“With this setup, commuting won’t be an issue. You can enter through this door in the morning and return whenever there’s no class.”
“Exactly.”
“Things are going smoothly. The leave-of-absence issue, the commuting problem… Now, all that’s left is convincing our junior, right?”
“If it’s lissa, she’ll choose to graduate as long as she has a way to do so.”
lissa had refused to return for a simple reason: her duty to lead her family.
But if she could attend classes and imdiately return afterward to handle her responsibilities, she would undoubtedly take that option.
Of course, if she truly had no remaining attachnt to the Academy, I would respect her decision.
“Well then, let’s talk about sothing else—lissa’s ntor.”
Since I was here anyway, I figured I might as well get a grasp of the situation.
From what I could tell, even when lissa was looked down upon for being from a small country, Professor Roml had helped her a lot.
Ignoring his troubles now would be rude.
"Hmm... But Professor Roml himself seems reluctant to talk about it..."
"Lady Isna. Since when do you care about others' opinions?"
"...Just because the academy is prestigious and the professors are highly skilled doesn't an there's no corruption."
She spoke calmly.
"To put it simply, so professors who didn't think highly of him tried to hinder Professor Roml’s career by pulling out or injuring personnel who were supposed to assist with exam supervision. Thanks to that, his influence weakened, creating an opportunity for misconduct."
"What happens if things go wrong?"
I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway to confirm.
"It'll just be a ss, delayed at best. Either way, it would be seen as the professor's mistake. He wouldn’t be able to avoid disciplinary action, but more than that, it would completely go against his principles."
People like Professor Roml tend to have many enemies.
After hearing her explanation, I had a rough understanding of the situation.
Professor Roml taught Swordsmanship Theory and Introduction to Monster Studies.
Both were important subjects, so they couldn’t be taken lightly, and many students attended his classes.
However, among them were children from high-ranking noble families who wanted good grades.
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Since Professor Roml refused to falsify their scores, they decided to take him down.
"Doesn't the academy intervene?"
"These accidents happened too suddenly. They were probably planned long in advance. The written exam isn't too difficult, but the practical exam requires a proper supervisor, which complicates things."
At this point, changing or adjusting the exam was against academy regulations.
As things stood, having the exam postponed would be the best possible outco.
The problem was that so students would inevitably suffer because of it.
"Helping doesn't seem too difficult. But it seems Professor Roml is reluctant to accept our assistance."
"Kuhuhu. Don't worry and wait. I know the professor well. I'll handle the persuasion."
She waved her family's insignia with a smirk.
Ah, so she was going to use authority.
She returned about two hours later with the permit and Professor Roml.
* * *
In the end, Professor Roml accepted the help.
He provided the necessary information for the supervisors and explained what needed to be done.
Like Isna, he wasn't too concerned about the written exam; he just needed soone to monitor for cheating.
But once you accept the job, you have to do it properly.
Three days passed, and it was the day of the exam.
During that ti, Leon remained silent, not ntioning anything to lissa about the academy.
Professor Roml also did not apply for a delay.
The exams for Swordsmanship Theory and Introduction to Monster Studies were held in four separate testing halls, each with two sessions.
Naturally, given the importance of these subjects, they were crucial for students in the swordsmanship and related academies.
Though practical skills were important, the written portion of Professor Roml’s class also had a considerable weight in grading.
"Is this certain?"
"Don’t worry. Everything is in place."
At Professor Viviane’s words, Buren, a young noble from a well-known family, nodded.
Professor Viviane had nothing to do with Swordsmanship Theory or Monster Studies, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was whether she could deliver the results.
Professor Roml was soone who couldn’t be bribed or threatened with power, making it nearly impossible to manipulate grades.
Buren’s grades in those two subjects were already weak, and his family had warned him to handle it himself.
Since he had used dishonest ans to enter the academy in the first place, keeping up with studies was no easy task.
Besides, his family’s power was there to be used.
Grades, prestigious academies—it was all about competition.
There was no reason to give up an advantage.
This sester, there was even an imperial princess enrolled.
Though she was still young, maintaining high grades and establishing connections with her could one day benefit his family.
And Buren wasn’t the only one thinking this way.
Many high-ranking noble students were plotting the sa thing, and rumors had already spread among graduates and current students alike.
In fact, they had only found Professor Viviane through careful information gathering from higher-ups.
No matter how prestigious the academy was, not everyone could be honest.
Buren smiled in satisfaction as he walked into the exam hall without any preparation.
Studying for a written exam?
It was more efficient to build connections and eliminate competition.
Why bother opening a book?
Knowledge was for the lower class to handle.
Buren exchanged glances with a few like-minded students and grinned before entering Exam Hall 2.
Then, he froze.
Was that the assistant Professor Viviane ntioned?
He looked too young.
Was he perhaps an early graduate?
Visually, he seed about seventeen.
Honestly, he didn’t look much older than the academy students.
No, compared to so of the older students who had delayed their graduation, he looked even younger.
Tap, tap.
"Is that the assistant Professor Viviane told us about?"
Buren cautiously asked another student in the sa position as him.
"No, he’s different from the person I saw. It seems like Professor Roml really did bring in soone."
"What should we do?"
"What do you an? The assistants under Professor Roml or his associate professors aren't particularly skilled. If we do what we planned, they'll never notice."
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