Chapter 239: National University League (6)

Chapter 239: National University League (6)

It wasn't until after the opening ceremony, the welcome ceremony, and other showy events organized by Magic Tower that the students of the Colosseo Academy were allowed to go to their dormitories, which were really more for the professors than for the students.

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair traveled to their dorms in a group.

"Man, the headmaster of Magic Tower is a jingle bird. What kind of hostess speech is he giving for over two hours?"

"The last time he said he had one more thing to say was over 300 times. Even my personal trainer doesn't count like that."

"I'm exhausted before the competition even starts. You say this is for students, but you don't really care about them."

"Where's the principal of our school, I haven't seen him in all my years of schooling."

"I heard he's been away a lot lately, so Professor Banshee, who just got promoted to vice principal, is here as acting principal."

Everyone is tired as they walk away.

But the sight of the dormitory rejuvenates them.

"Wow, is this where we're staying?"

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, Sinclair, and the rest of the Academy's first years couldn't believe their eyes.

Buildings that looked like they'd been carved out of the inside of a giant mushroom dotted the landscape, high and low.

The walls, which are indeed mushroom-like, are so elastic and soft that you want to rub your cheeks against them.

Fireflies dot the narrow, winding alleys, and natural lanterns light up the streets, never going out overnight.

I felt like I was in a fairy tale village.

The interior of the building is also very spacious and cozy.

Long tables and chairs carved out of logs, and a buffet of food laid out on them, were still warm and steaming, waiting for guests.

The smells of grilled silver trout, steamed oysters, roasted pork and hard cheeses wafted through the air, both sweet and fragrant.

A glass of white wine and a glass of red wine, both nearly alcohol-free, greeted the students.

(Unfortunately, there was no wine buffet)

The 20 first graders, 30 second graders, and 50 third graders at Colosseo Academy sat down at their tables and began to eat.

We were divided into tables of 5 people to share the food.

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair looked up from their delicious food to see what was going on around them.

"Where's Vikir?"

"Oh, over there. At the table across the way. Diagonally."

"He's in a group with the triplets from Baskerville, do you think he'll be okay?"

"Dude, is he a kid? What are you so worried about? Did you forget his grade on the midterm? He did way better than us. He's not going to take a beating, so stop worrying."

"He's not the kind of kid to be pushed around. He saved me from the Themiscyra kids before, so let's just focus on our job."

For now, a thorough analysis of the upcoming competition is in order.

We don't know what the venue will be, but the 400 people who will be competing for survival there have already signed up.

20 freshmen, 30 sophomores, 50 seniors. 100 total.

This is how the grades are distributed not only in Colosseo Academy but also in Varangian, Magic Tower, and Themiscyra.

And out of these 400 students, seniors are usually the highest performers, followed by sophomores, and then freshmen.

In fact, first-year students are participating for the sake of experience, so participation itself is meaningful, and second-year students are also encouraged to grow further by competing with third-year students from other schools.

And it's the seniors who have the obligation to bring honor to their school by performing well.

In the history of the competition so far, the top 10 players, including the winner, have always been among third-year students, and in last year's competition, the four geniuses who were unusually ranked in the top 20 despite being sophomores were the strongest candidates for the championship.

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair each had a word.

"Let's see. Guess who made it to the top 20 last year even though they were only sophomores?"

"Juragio Bakiraga from Varangian, Hohenheim from Magic Tower, Merlini Lovegood from Themiscyra, and our school's president, Dolores."

"Our president was a sophomore then, too, so now that she's a third year, I guess you could say she's a serious contender!"

"Well, sophomores must have made a good save even in the middle. The freshmen will have to mop the floor."

"But we have to do better than the freshmen at other schools, so we can carry that ranking over to next year and the year after that!"

... but.

There is one position in the competition where you have to finish in the top 10 to win a prize.

'Don't be too harsh... ... I should rank within the top 10.'

It was Vikir.

Thinking that his classmates would be horrified if they heard it, Vikir made a plan for the future.

The seventh corpse, 'Dekarabia'.

The only one of the ten demons to take the form of an object.

Demons come in many forms and varieties, including worms, snakes, humans, bats, and trees, but the most unusual of them all is the one that takes the form of an inanimate object.

It must be sleeping somewhere in the human realm right now, waiting for someone to wake it up.

And Vikir had a vague idea of its location.

'It is in the Treasure Vault, which is jointly managed by the four universities.'

This was why the demons had been so relentless in their invasions of the Four Academy before the Return.

But if Vikir could locate and eliminate Decarabia faster than the demons could, their bleak future would be much different.

The students, who would otherwise have died unjustly, would be spared.

'With this, the age of destruction will be delayed one step further.'

With fewer demons, there is less power to feed the gates to the Demon World.

Vikir was lost in thought, contemplating the distant future.

"...I beg your pardon."

A voice caught everyone's attention, including Vikir's.

It was the owner of the large inn, and he was looking very troubled and apologetic.

"There's a problem with the water supply at the inn next door... and I was wondering if I could put the people staying there in the empty rooms here? I'm a bit short on rooms."

The owner kept bowing his head and making difficult requests.

The inn next door is run by his younger brother, but the water pipe suddenly broke and there was no water, making it impossible to receive guests for the day.

The owner wanted to send the guests to the other inn as soon as possible, but the Colosseo Academy had already pre-booked all the spare rooms, so it was a difficult situation for the owner.

It was the peak vacation season, and there were no rooms available at other inns.

So the innkeeper bent over backwards to ask for a favor.

"Since you have booked a total of 120 rooms for students and staff of Colosseo Academy with extra rooms, I was wondering if you would be willing to change your reservation to a single room for two people... and use only 60 rooms in total. In return, I will only charge you 30% of the total accommodation fee and provide breakfast and lunch."

It was a good offer.

The students weren't too thrilled about the reduced rate, but the professors were.

"This will save us some money."

"We could use the money to buy other textbooks."

"That's great, I was just looking for a new lab specimen to show my students."

Professor Banshee nodded.

"Let's do that. But only if at least 90% of the class approves."

A vote was taken.

A straw poll was taken, and an astounding 93% of the students voted in favor of the double occupancy rooms.

Not only are the students at Colosseo Academy generally good-natured, but the friendships between students are also strong.

"Ahhh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The owner of the inn bowed his head several times, and then called the large group of guests waiting outside the door.

And then.

"...!"

The Colosseo students were faced with a group of people they hadn't expected, and to a certain extent, had been anticipating.