Chapter 433: To The Rescue.

Chapter 433: To The Rescue.

“Hey, you there I’d like to have a word with you!”

“...”

“You are intruding on the personal space of this student, Increased heart rate has been noted, stress levels are increasing, please refrain from approaching this student.”

“Huh? What is this metal spider?”

“Please back away, this is a warning, if you don’t this unit will contact a faculty member and you will be restrained.”

A small spider golem attracted attention by causing a scene. It faced off against a group of three teenage boys who approached girls of similar ages. One of the girls, Lucienne Arden, was now famous on campus due to her involvement in a recent incident that had garnered widespread attention. Accompanying her were her two roommates, Atasuna and Marlein, who placed themselves on the sides without knowing what to do.

The boys who were initially confident in their strong approach, were taken aback by the unexpected resistance from the small mechanical creature. The spider golem that was programmed to protect Lucienne, continued to vocalize warnings with ever-increasing volume. It was to a point where other students were made aware of the problem and started whispering.

“Hey, isn’t that the count's son?”

“Is he trying to curry favor with the Marquess woman? How, indecent.”

Two girls started whispering and some of their conversation made its way towards the young man in question. This only maddened the young man who was barely sixteen years of age.

“What is this piece of metal? Do you think that this thing can stop a son of a count? Now, get over here, this instant!”

The boy scoffed and ignored the stares around him.

“No... I don’t think I will...”

Lucienne responded while furrowing her eyebrows and her two friends quickly responded after.

“Stop bothering us, you heard what she said, now go away!”

“We don’t care who you are, leave us alone.”

They all stood resolute and while they seemed to be frightened they didn’t lower their heads or budge from their spots. This made the young nobleman quite mad, not something that he was expecting from lesser nobility and commoners. “You dare speak to us in such a tone?”

One of the other young men moved forward and attempted to reach for the golem, but as his hand neared he was pushed back by a sudden jolt of mana. The golem acted by producing a mana shield that kept the youth from approaching.

“Ouch! What the hell is this thing doing?”

The young man recoiled while clutching his hand in pain. The shield didn’t only stop him from moving forward but it also delivered a small jolt of electricity, something quite painful to the touch.

“You insolent commoners! How dare you defy a noble!”

The boy took a step forward, clearly angered by the girl’s defiance. While Lucienne came from a baron’s house, the other two were not nobles, something people like this young man couldn’t allow to slide. The small spider golem sensed the increasing threat and emitted a low growl-like sound, its single eye glowing red. The crowd that had gathered to witness the commotion murmured and started to back away in fright.

“Hostility has been detected, initiating protective measures, please stand by. Your mana pattern has been recorded and a teacher has been alerted, please stand down.”

Before any further developments, the small spider golem swiftly erected a larger mana shield and enveloped all the girls present. The previous jolt of electricity had left the trio of male students wary of getting too close to the shield. Instead, fueled by anger and wounded pride, they decided to retaliate. This was still a magical academy and casting spells was always an option.

“A teacher has been called? Like I care!”

The tension could be felt in the air and everyone was eager to see how this all played out. However, before any of the three young men could mutter any chants, a voice called out to the students that were gathered here.

“What do you think that you are doing?”

As they looked through the surroundings, unable to identify the source of the voice, their attention was finally drawn upward and into the distance. The voice they heard had been amplified by mana and given their mage backgrounds, they were able to discern the trajectory of the spell and trace it back to its caster. After following the magical path with their senses, they eventually spotted someone leaping out of a window and that someone was coming their way.

“Huh? Isn’t the main library there?”

One of the students asked but no one could reply. Everyone here was outside the main building near the converging path that led to the dorms. Before the incident started all of these young people were on their way to morning classes. Now their attention was fully on the strange person that had become airborne, seemingly now flying in their direction.

The person shot up into the air and flew in an arch. Their speed was truly tremendous and eventually everyone could see that they were wearing a strange artifact under their robe. Emitting light and displaying enigmatic runic symbols, this artifact mystified the onlookers. Then, just before making contact with the ground, a powerful gust of wind enveloped this person’s descent and created a cushioning effect. The force stirred up a cloud of dirt and caused any skirts to flutter during the mysterious figure's landing.

“Go back to your classes and remember to follow the rules, no one is above them.”

Right before departing with the troublemakers, Wayland made a point to address the crowd of youngsters. They all listened to his words as the shocking surge of mana was still on their minds. Soon, he left without uttering any further words, and the students quickly resumed their conversations with each other, baffled by the scene that had just unfolded before them.

As the students dispersed, Lucienne, Atasuna, and Marlein found themselves at the center of attention. The incident had brought them into the spotlight once again, but this time, it wasn't for causing trouble. It became painfully clear that this one professor was protecting them and was quite strict. Even high-nobility wasn’t safe from his wrath and that he took the count’s son to the enforcement department was proof of it.

“Did you see that? What’s up with that mana? It’s like a gushing waterfall of energy!”

“I heard he defeated that Swordmaster, he is the real deal!”

After chatting with each other, some of the bystanders approached the trio of girls who seemed to still be trying to process the situation.

“Hey, how do you know that man? Are you two related? Was he hired by your family?”

“Do you know how he looks under that helmet?”

“Is that his true voice? He sounds so peculiar!”

Lucienne along with her two friends weren’t sure what to make of the whole situation or how to reply. They were now surrounded and barraged with many questions. They could only weakly smile at the other people and try to reply while inching towards the institute. The day had only started and they still had classes to attend.

*****

“W-what is this?”

“It’s a gardening fork, some call it a digging fork.”

“N-no, I know what this is but why are you giving this to us, sir?”

“See those horses over there?”

“Yes?”

“Their pen’s need to be cleaned, use these to clean them.”

“Wait... you don’t mean... You want me to shovel horse manure?”

“I’m glad that you catch on fast. This will be your punishment, now get to it, I will check on you later, and remember, you are being watched.”

Roland, who had escorted the troublesome trio to the stables, pointed at two golemic spiders. His creations stared at the group with their large eyes and were closely monitoring their movements.

“If you don’t complete this task, the next one will be worse, so keep this in mind.”

“...”

‘I hope this will do it, I don’t want to keep making these types of scenes anymore...’

After leaving the noble children in the institute stables, he began making his way back to the Library he had been in. He had anticipated that Lucienne might be confronted by another high-ranking noble and a few days after his first lecture, his spider drone informed him about this incident.

He decided to make a statement by playing it up the next time it was possible. Although his departure from the school library lacked grace, it left a lasting impact on the students present. He hoped that the news of this new incident would also spread and dissuade others from bothering his sister again.

‘But this might be more of a bandaid than a real solution, after I’m gone, there will be no one to protect her... Where the hell is that guy...’

While walking back, he continued to ponder over his brother Robert. Since the incident with Lucienne, he had tried to contact him, but to no avail. It was as if Robert had vanished, and to make matters worse even Lucille wasn't answering his calls. Without her assistance, he couldn't reach his brother and was left alone without any external support. He was hoping that Robert might be able to persuade his sister to transfer to another location, especially since Viola and her family still posed a threat.

‘I don’t like this, things have been strange lately...’

To make things worse he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched by someone. He knew that the other teachers and professors were mostly on the side of nobles. Every time he made his way through the institute corridors people would whisper and avoid him. It was clear that he had become an outsider that most people despised but there were some high points.

It appeared that the Runic Department was experiencing a boom in growth. Thorne was backing the runic monitoring system idea and Arion would oversee it. Although there was a plan to implement the system, some faculty members, including Delauder, opposed it. They argued that it would divert crucial funding from other departments, a prospect none of the other mage leaders wanted.

He soon returned to the library to resume his research, which was progressing smoothly. The only setback was the absence of the Spiritualist from the institute. However, he received information upon returning to the Runic Department that indicated that this issue could perhaps be resolved, though it would probably put him in some unwanted danger.

“Advancement classes? They want me to do what?”