Arc 2 Chapter 11 : Emelia de Cataluna

[Raul PoV]

Days passed, and the qualifying rounds were nearly over. Starting tomorrow, academy students would sit their year-end exams before the Grunbelt Academy Tournament began.

Among the disciplinary committee members specifically, only Piers, Viera, and Scarlett had managed to qualify for the main tournament. Right now, I was training the two of them in the dueling area, preparing them for what lay ahead.

"Have either of you awakened your Codex yet, Viera, Piers?" I asked them both.

If I remembered correctly, Viera's Nature Mana affinity was Wind, while Piers's was Iron.

Viera could use her Nature Mana to boost the speed and destructive power of her arrow shots. She could also improve her agility further by mastering Windfoot magic and learning to use her mana more efficiently.

Meanwhile, Piers, being a Brawler, would obviously use his Nature Mana to reinforce both his offense and defense.

"One of my Profound Codexes is Silent," Viera answered.

"I haven't awakened mine at all yet," Piers answered.

Since Viera and Piers weren't NPCs from the game, I had no idea what abilities or Profound Codexes they actually possessed. That's exactly why I was asking them now, so I could design training suited to each of them ahead of the tournament.

"Alright, Piers. Focus on drilling Iron Body magic repeatedly, so you get more comfortable using it in actual combat," I instructed the short man. "Viera, there's one combat trick I want to teach you, one that makes use of the Profound Codex you have."

Unlike my own Featherstep technique, which only silences footsteps, Viera's Silent ability from her Profound Codex could eliminate every sound she produced entirely.

Including the sound of her arrows striking.

"Do you know a trick called Vanishing Step?" I asked Viera.

Viera simply shook her head at my question.

"This trick lets you disappear from your enemy's field of vision, even in open terrain," I said, then explained the technique to her in detail.

Vanishing Step was a trick where a player vanished from their enemy's line of sight by constantly moving into the enemy's blind spots.

Human vision covers roughly 180 degrees. Which meant everyone carried blind spots of equal size. Players could exploit these blind spots, combined with the Featherstep technique, to move without ever being detected by their opponent.

But this trick was only effective for a single strike when used by a Featherstep user alone.

Viera, as a holder of the Silent Profound Codex, was different—she could eliminate all sound from her attacks entirely, something Featherstep users couldn't replicate.

This let Viera strike her enemy over and over without ever being detected, especially when combined with hit-and-run tactics.

"This trick demands sharp observation and high agility, Viera," I told her. "Go ahead and try practicing what I just explained together with Piers, understood?"

"Yes, Captain!"

Once I'd finished explaining what Viera needed to work on, I left the two of them to train together.

The academy tournament wasn't far off now. Every seed I'd planted for my plan was already in the ground—only one piece remained.

Blackmailing the person responsible for the tournament's participant drawing.

[Emilia PoV]

Several months had passed since we'd begun our field practicum. Finally, every third-year student had returned to the academy.

Right now, I was heading to the Lancer Club I led. I wanted to see how the members were doing after being away for months.

The qualifying round for the third-year class had also begun for the main tournament. But I wasn't participating in this round myself, having already secured a spot in the academy's top ten ranking.

The tournament would feature 32 participants drawn from across every year.

If I remembered correctly, twelve second-year students had qualified for this tournament, along with four first-years.

Which meant sixteen third-year students would be joining this tournament.

Arriving outside the club room door, I heard what sounded like the other members deep in discussion.

I wondered what exactly they were talking about.

Curious, I opened the club room door right away. The moment I did, everyone discussing something inside fell silent and simply stared.

"Leader Emilia! You're back!?"

"We've been waiting for you to show up!"

Eh, what's this? So they'd really missed me, huh. Am I really that beloved in this club? I felt myself getting a little emotional watching them react like this.

"What's going on? Why does everyone seem so sentimental all of a sudden?" I asked them, stepping into the room.

"This is bad, Leader! Our club's in danger!" one member said.

Huh, in danger? Did something happen to the club while I was away from the academy? Or did they end up in some conflict with another club over something?

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"What happened?" I asked him.

"Our club's budget is getting cut by the Student Council starting next year!" he answered, his expression grim.

Hearing this, my mood immediately darkened.

Club budget was essential for funding our activities, both inside and outside the academy. Just at the start of the year, we'd held training sessions during breaks at various locations to give club members more real combat experience, and that hadn't come cheap.

If the Student Council cut our budget, our members' growth would inevitably stall.

Sometimes I really can't understand this academy's policies. If they genuinely wanted students to grow faster, shouldn't they be supporting us to the fullest?

Instead, here they were, putting us in this difficult position.

"But Leader, we can overturn the Student Council's decision by defeating that man!" one member said.

"What do you mean, we can overturn their decision?" I asked, curious.

It wasn't like the Student Council to offer a way to reverse decisions they'd already made. Something felt off here. I could smell something suspicious about this whole thing.

"Leader, you know Raul de Garcia, right?"

Wasn't he the one who took over from Renald as head of the disciplinary committee? What did he have to do with this?

"He challenged us," one member said. "He said if any student from our club could defeat him at the upcoming tournament, the Student Council would reverse this decision."

Hearing the members' explanation left me feeling like something wasn't quite right.

Why would the Student Council entrust something like this to a second-year student? Did they genuinely think that little of the Lancer Club, enough to make a challenge like this?

Well then, I'll prove their judgment wrong.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'll defeat this man named Raul myself," I told them. "I'm going to go find Raul de Garcia right now and accept his challenge on this matter."

At my words, the members burst into cheers of excitement.

It seemed they had complete faith in my ability to beat this man, and it was now my responsibility to live up to their expectations.

[Raul PoV]

Grunbelt Academy had a total of 24 instructors across various disciplines. Most of them were recruited from among the academy's own graduates. But there was one instructor recruited from outside the academy, even outside the Empire entirely.

That was Instructor Tevaz Dagestan, who taught the history course here at the academy. Instructor Tevaz also happened to be the one handling the participant drawing for the upcoming tournament, precisely because he had no ties to the Empire.

But Tevas Dagestan wasn't actually this man's real identity.

Seventeen years ago, the academy had invited the real Tevas Dagestan, a historian from the Grand Duchy of Wiena, to teach here, on the Headmaster's recommendation.

In truth, the Headmaster had never actually met Tevas Dagestan in person—he'd only read his published books and knew his physical description from the author bio printed inside.

Tevas Dagestan had accepted the invitation and set out for the Empire by carriage.

But partway through the journey, the carriage he rode in was ambushed by a group of bandits, and only a handful of people survived that attack.

One of them was a man named Hans Rivera. He happened to be a devoted fan of Tevas Dagestan's published works and shared a similar physical build with him.

After Tevas died in the bandit attack, Hans found the academy's invitation letter among the wreckage and fled with it, along with several of Tevas's belongings.

He assumed Tevas's identity and made his way to Grunbelt Academy, taking his place as the history instructor here.

No one had ever suspected a thing, all the way up to now, and I intended to blackmail him into arranging the tournament drawing exactly the way I wanted.

I didn't have to search around the academy long before I finally spotted Hans, walking along while reading a book.

"Instructor Tevas," I called out to him.

Hearing his fake name called, he turned toward me.

"Hmmm... what did you call me over here for?" the instructor asked, his tone carrying a note of indifference.

I walked closer and gave him a sadistic smile.

Seeing this, the instructor furrowed his brow, clearly puzzled.

"Instructor Tevas, I have a request," I told him. "Could you arrange the tournament drawing to go exactly the way I want?"

Hearing my request, the instructor started looking at me like I was some kind of idiot.

"What are you even saying? Of course I can't do something like that," he answered dismissively. "If you don't have anything important to ask, please stop bothering me. I'm quite busy right now."

He started walking past me after saying that.

"In that case, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse, Instructor Tevas," I said, my voice turning cold. "Or should I call you—Hans Rivera?"

Hearing me call him by his real name, the instructor's steps froze. He turned back to look at me. But a moment later, he started walking away from me again.

"Vilvera City—Duchy of Hernand. A seventeen-year-old girl, working as a flower vendor."

The instructor's steps froze again at my words.

That was the name, address, age, and occupation of a secret child the instructor had, from before he'd come here. But he could never reveal this himself, given the risk of the academy discovering his true identity.

On top of that, I also had other leverage in reserve, in case this alone failed to secure his cooperation.

"Who exactly are you? What do you know about my life?" the instructor asked, his tone dripping with hatred.

"It doesn't matter how I found out your true identity," I answered him, wanting to get straight to the heart of this conversation. "If you cooperate with what I want this time, your identity stays safe, and your life won't be disrupted by any of this."

"How do I know you won't just keep blackmailing me even after I comply with this request?" the instructor asked, sounding extremely cautious.

"We could perform a Blood Pact ritual, if you'd like, Instructor," I suggested to him. "Though I doubt we have time to prepare for that right now, do we?"

A Blood Pact was an agreement neither party could break. If either side violated the terms, that person would die instantly, killed by the special magic resulting from the ritual.

But as the developer of this game, I knew every loophole and weakness in that ritual.

"No, we'll only need that ritual if you ever demand more than what you're asking for right now," the instructor answered, walking toward me. "So, how exactly do you want me to arrange this tournament drawing?"

Hearing this, I smiled, knowing my plan had gone off without a hitch.

I then handed the instructor a sheet of paper containing the drawing arrangement I'd already worked out.

.

.

.

After successfully blackmailing the instructor, I walked off to check on Viera and Piers's training progress.

I hoped they'd at least have some kind of secret weapon ready for the tournament, something to put up a real fight against their opponents.

Those who'd made it into the main tournament represented the best of the best this academy had to offer. Which meant plenty of nobles and military figures would be in attendance while the tournament unfolded.

All scouting for talent worth recruiting down the line.

"Raul de Garcia..."

My thoughts were interrupted by someone calling out to me from behind.

Turning around, I saw a woman with short brown hair staring at me coldly.

If I remembered correctly... this was Senior Emilia de Cataluna, daughter of Marquis Fran de Cataluna, an imperial general responsible for the Aragon Empire's northeastern border region.

"Is there something I can help you with, Senior?" I asked her, even though I already knew exactly why she'd come to find me.

"Earlier, you challenged the Lancer Club, saying you'd cancel the club's budget cut if any one of us could defeat you at the tournament, correct?" Senior Emilia said, her gaze carrying a hint of condescension. "We accept your challenge!"

Hearing this, I smiled at her and offered a handshake.

"So, if I win, the Lancer Club has to accept the Student Council's decision without any further protest, Senior," I told her confidently.

Senior Emilia then took my hand, gripping it as a gesture of agreement to the terms we'd just set.

"Hmfftt... you're being far too arrogant, making a bet like this, Raul de Garcia," Senior said, looking utterly determined to win this challenge. "I'll make sure you're humiliated in front of everyone for daring to look down on our club!"

Is that so? Are you certain about that...? If anything, I'll be the one dragging you all down into the pit of despair, using it as leverage to unlock even more of my abilities and grow stronger still!