A Death Row Convict Teaches at a School of Magic

In a back alley off Avenue Vancour, which divided the City of Seal―

Not even a streetlight was to be found as the two garrisoned soldiers walked down the street, flashlights in hand.

“Even the homeless people who are generally present in this area are nowhere to be seen today.”

“Those sleeping on the mats must at the very least be aware that there is a curfew today. No matter how distant this location is from the hospital where Her Highness the Princess is, nobody is fond of sleeping here by themselves.”

The young man, who was approaching his 30s, received an answer from a man who may be his senior.

The two were assigned to patrol this area, but given that the area was located almost opposite the hospital, unrest was unlikely to erupt in this part of the city.

“But then again, is an attack really going to take place today? If so, it would be a major event that would go down in history.”

“The security measures are on such high alert. The ‘Hunter’ is also a formidable expert, but this disparity in power is too reckless for any number of reasons. Even if he had allies, he would need two or three rate A wanted people to be successful.”

The alleyway in which they walked had hardly any light other than their own flashlights, but to the two who constantly patrol this section of the city, it was treated as if it were a garden.

That was why tension levels were low for them and they were able to pick up on the anomaly right away.

“Ah, senior. Did something fall down over there?”

“―What?”

The young man pointed his flashlight in the direction of the spot, and sure enough, there was something on the ground there.

What it was revealed to be when he got close and picked it up was a stone the size of his palm. Pebbles were a dime a dozen, yet the one that was picked up was much larger than the pebbles in the surroundings. The young man may have recognized it as a foreign object.

“It looks like a mere stone. We don’t really need to report it.”

“But, senior, isn’t there something written on the back of that stone?”

Turning the stone over, writings in fine characters were all over the stone.

The detailed writing was in a series of neatly drawn circles, and in the center of the circle was a piece of purple stone, slightly different from the surrounding stones, embedded.

What is this?

Right as the man was on the verge of saying that, the line of characters on the stone and the purple stone in the center began to sparkle.

“Whoa!”

“W-What is happening!?”

On reflex, the man hurled the stone away and backed away together with the youth.

The stone which started to sparkle suddenly doubled in volume as the two men stared at it.

No, the volume did not double. The stone was like a balloon, its volume rising rapidly, emitting a peculiar sound.

The man eventually realized what the stone was when it reached a size that forced him to look up at it rather than down at it and exclaimed to the young man behind him.

“This is a… Golem! Contact HQ at once!”

Since this was a time of emergency, all of the garrisoned soldiers were supplied with magical tools for communication, which were originally only handed out to a few superior officers.

Facing the deformity in front of him, which had developed four limbs and assumed the full form of a Golem, the man took out his own cane in an effort to hinder it as long as possible until reinforcements arrived.

“Thud!”

A dull impact was delivered from behind. The man’s face slammed hard on the ground after being unexpectedly knocked off of his feet and unable to regain his balance.

Writhing in agony, the man looked back to find what had transpired, only to be confronted by the young man who was about to swing his leg toward the man’s face.

“Stop pogohh!?”

As the man screamed for him to stop, the young man’s toe pressed into the man’s mouth, bringing anguish beyond anything he had ever experienced in his short existence to shoot up his throat.

Tumbling in a heap, the man clamped his mouth shut and went into a crouch from the sheer pain. But his luck ran out after that.

“What!?”

When a shadow formed around him, blocking out the moonlight, the man finally lifted his head.

The shadow’s true form was that of a massive Golem raising a rocky fist.

“Forgive me.”

Without even the faintest notion of what he was apologizing for, the man reflexively sought to articulate his words when a powerful pressure was felt at the apex of his cranium, followed by the loss of his consciousness within the subsequent second.

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Through the ajar window, a cool early-summer breeze invaded the room.

“What’s the situation?”

“It would appear that sorcery Golems have burst out of nowhere all across the city.”

Seated on a chair in the corner of the hospital room where Karen slumbered, Rain nodded to the bluenette woman who had just entered, her hair tied in a side ponytail. By the crest on the right sleeve of her jacket, the woman apparently belonged to the Garrisoned Corps.

“A sorcery Golem, does that mean it has some sort of magic attached to it?”

“All of the seven Golems that have been confirmed at present seem to have sorcery, ‘Inforce’ applied to them.”

“In that case, ordinary soldiers devoid of magical power can’t act against them…”

The fourth-year male student snorted and crossed his arms.

Even while “Inforce” was a very basic form of sorcery, its effect was fairly simple: to raise the physical prowess of the target.

In conventional applications, it would be employed by magicians to engage in melee combat, but when cast on a Golem, it can be downright nasty, especially in terms of defense, as was to be expected.

“There is another matter, which I am ashamed to reveal about my own people, but it appears that several members of the Garrison Corps have joined the opposing side.”

“What!”

“…This is getting a lot more sinister.”

“So, Senior Aldar. What about us?”

“…According to the reports, the Golems have been emerging in various locations, some of which are a great distance away from the hospital. It’s most likely a diversion.”

To Rain, who answered quietly, the woman from the Garrison Corps who was standing near the door nodded.

“Yes. Commander Shiva shares this view, but we cannot neglect them. Therefore, the Garrison Corps has deployed only the minimum amount of reinforcements and requested for the missing forces to be dispatched from other places.”

“Other places―you mean you want us to send our forces?”

A sigh was released by a male student. Despite Fina’s reservations, her understanding of Commander Shiva and the others’ views were clear. It was true that under the circumstances, allocating personnel to other areas and failing to protect Karen would be a total disaster.

For the Garrison Corps, who were a group of seasoned soldiers as opposed to Kaguya, the pressures of the mission must have been immensely straining.

“Commander Shiva has informed me that if Sir Aldar were to strike the Golem personally, he would undoubtedly carry out your responsibility to defend Her Highness Princess Ortesia.”

“―No, that is not required.”

Rain bluntly rejected the indirect message that he and the others were to be relieved of their duties.

“Karen Ortesia is a student of Selbeth Academy. Then it would be reasonable to defend her with our own power to the fullest extent attainable. As for the Golems, we will deploy personnel from our side as requested. My subordinates are talented, so the personnel I will dispatch should be adequate.”

“…I understand. I’ll inform the Commander accordingly.”

The woman from the Garrison Corps put on a mild expression at the confidently asserting Rain.

“…Did I say something funny?”

“No, excuse me. I was simply thinking that some of my juniors are rather dependable.”

“Then you are…”

“Sharon Rose. The Garrison Corps will basically communicate with Kaguya via me, so I will be counting on you from now on.”

Sharon bowed her head reverently, yet an expression of a mischievous smile spread across her face upon lifting her head. She was a woman characterized by a mole under her eye, carrying an atmosphere of intellectualism―

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Whoosh.

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“―!”

Right as the tension in the room was beginning to loosen, Fina heard a truly faint wind whistling through the partially open window, a sound that originated from beyond it.

“‘Mana Wall!’”

Fina deployed “Mana Wall” magic that had been engraved on the ring-shaped magical tool with the utmost speed and strength that she could muster. Immediately after that, the window glass shattered drastically with a piercing impact on the barrier.

It was an invisible arrow that struck at the expected timing, yet it was more destructive than anticipated.

“…Hah!”

However, there was no room to be outdone here.

Fina infused more magical power into the barrier to heighten its resistance.

The sound of steel colliding with steel was then followed by a solid thud.

The remaining pieces of the windowpane broke once again, and Fina could see the iron arrow she had seen yesterday crashing downward at the edge of her field of vision.

I did it…!

Accompanied by the joy of having foiled “Hunter’s” invisible ambush, Fina was cognizant of the next action to take.

Fina addressed the still disconcerted group, drawing her own magic sword from her side, before uttering only a single remark.

“Now then, please take care of the rest!”

Not even waiting for a reply, Fina sped to the window, which was now reduced to only its outer frame, and invoked sorcery, “Gale” and burst out like an imploding blast.

In the midst of everyone apart from Rain, who was still in a daze, a phrase escaped Sharon’s lips.

“She is really… a dependable junior.”