ZAM Chapter 18

Zky5-6 minutes 21.07.2022

[Hated Hero, Pondering]

Having lost consciousness in the middle of the mock battle, Raul was immediately taken to the infirmary.

The teachers announced that his condition was stable and he would be fine after some rest—but, I couldn’t shake my mind off the powerful mana he had emitted during the mock battle.

Sure, there was a scene where Raul was taken to the infirmary.

However, the process leading up to that was totally different.

In the original novel,【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】, after being beaten viciously by Barrett without putting up much of a fight, he was taken to the infirmary before Tayte’s eyes. There, the Holy Knight Klaus came visiting and promised to give Raul special training… but the situation was different this time.

Back then—he momentarily displayed a burst of mana.

As I was facing him directly, it was only natural that I had felt it, but the teachers present at the time had sensed it as well.

Was that mana actually emitted by… Raul’s Demon Sword?

Or was there a totally different factor at play here?

That was clearly not normal… seemed like I had to consider all possibilities.

Incidentally, the teachers strictly forbade us to visit Raul, even getting close to the infirmary was off-limit.

Later on, the teachers called me in and asked me all sorts of questions, but honestly, I got a lot of questions myself.

By the time it was over, the setting sun was already shining through the window in the corridor.

Hmm… I wondered if I’d still get a reward from Tayte. I mean, she was pale-faced after the incident.

“Phew…” I heaved a sigh unconsciously.

Geez, it sure was one unexpected development after another today.

Not to mention… the result was quite different from the original flow of events.

The biggest difference was others’ views of Raul.

In the original storyline, others felt sympathy for Raul upon seeing him being beaten so viciously. Following that, Raul trained under Klaus with the sole desire of becoming stronger. Although the training was extremely difficult, Raul endured to the end, resulting in him being able to release the true power of the Demon Sword.

It was also the beginning of my—I mean, Barrett Alberts’ downfall.

However, things were different now.

The other students of the light element class were left shocked by Raul’s sudden loss of consciousness, and at the same time, it made them look at him strangely. Well, it should be expected given his sudden change back then. Now, his reputation—which was already bad enough due to his receiving the Demon Sword—had plunged down to be as worst as mine.

All because of this one incident.

“…………”

At the rate things were going, Raul’s reputation might overshadow mine in no time; in a bad way, of course. There were even rumors going around that he might have put his hand on dangerous stuff with the intention of turning the battle around with an instant burst of power.

The truth would remain unknown until Raul regained his consciousness—but maybe the person I was going to visit now knew something.

“Is it here…?”

The 3rd floor of Astor Academy Central Academic Building.

Many labs for the graduate course of magic lined up here, and the atmosphere was markedly different from other academic buildings,

Research materials and documents filled up the corridor making it hard to walk around.

The walls were bookshelves, which were filled with books of various genres.

It felt like a den of researchers.

Ms. Teixeira, whom Tayte had recommended me to consult to, could be found here.

In the original storyline, Ms. Teixeira, who would later become a part of Raul’s harem, was doing research on the items gifted at the Divine Gift Ceremony.

She picked my—I mean, Barrett’s Holy Sword and Raul’s Demon Sword as her research subjects, like she was trying to piece together something. Barrett outrightly ignored her request for cooperation, but Raul, with the support of Holy Knight Klaus, kindly agreed.

The result turned up shortly before his graduation and became something that propped up his growth, but now, his success flag was on the brink of destruction.

However, I couldn’t leave Raul as he was.

My Holy Sword and Raul’s Demon Sword.

If they both manifested their true power—which was absolutely impossible in the original storyline—the future battles should be far more feasible to win.

……Yes.

The true enemy that the Hero Barrett was supposed to fight against.

The last boss that hadn’t been revealed in the original novel 【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】… I wondered what they were like.

“Oh, look who we have here? That’s a very serious expression you have there, Barrett Albers~.”

As I was walking while being lost in thought, I heard a voice from overhead.

This irritating manner of speaking…

Looking up, I found a woman sitting on top of a high pile of books.

So this was—Ms. Teixeira.