Humans are creatures that live according to laws, norms, and order.
Even though we know that living without breaking the law is morally right, people sometimes fall into the temptation of breaking the law when it benefits them.
That’s why, occasionally, creative works depicting such scenarios emerge.
There are games where one can freely commit crimes.
Or movies and dramas set in places where, for 72 hours, any crime within a designated area is no longer illegal.
Even at Esdinas Academy—this Bread Academy—such an element exists.
The Old School Building is one such place.
“Has everyone gathered?”
Ludmila had gathered people in the first-floor lounge.
The people in question were just me, Yunia, and Evangeline, who had just woken up, holding a large teddy bear while still in her pajamas.
“W-What are you staring at? You’re not going to say something weird, are you?!”
Evangeline screamed when she caught me glancing at her and her bear, but I shook my head seriously.
“Joking around is for when you have the luxury. This isn’t one of those times.”
“W-What…?”
“Listen to Cutting Wind’s story.”
When I spoke seriously, Evangeline’s face turned bright red, but under Ludmila’s gaze, she quickly lowered her head in submission.
“Thank you, Phoenix.”
It was rather she who was agreeing with me.
“We have obtained intelligence that the Academy students are preparing to attack us special admission students.”
“A-Attack…?”
Yunia swallowed nervously.
Her eyes immediately darted toward me, wondering if I was the target, but I simply shrugged.
There was no rule saying I would be the only one attacked.
“First of all, let me clarify something. The instructors will not intervene. Unless it’s a ‘life-or-death’ situation.”
“…”
“Because that’s just how things are here in the Old School Building.”
Ludmila slammed a massive book down on the lounge table.
“These are the latest Academy rules. Nowhere in here is there any mention of the ‘Old School Building’.”
“So, what exactly is the problem with that?”
“Evangeline, do you know of the system called [Purge Ground] used in the Ercy Empire?”
“…Ah.”
Purge Ground.
I’m not sure if it’s a DLC element or what, but the name kind of gives away its meaning.
“It’s similar. It’s a system in the Ercy Empire where prisoners are thrown onto an island, and only the last survivor has their crimes pardoned. No matter what happens on that ‘island,’ nothing is considered a crime. That’s the kind of place it is.”
“B-But this is Esdinas Academy!”
“The Old School Building is different. That’s why I specifically chose this place when I enrolled as a new student.”
Ludmila stared intently at Evangeline.
“Why do you think the Princess was sent here? The answer is simple. Phoenix, do you know?”
The question turned to me.
But I had a vague idea.
“It’s for the old cartel factions targeting the New Empire, isn’t it?”
“W-What…!”
“Correct. Though bluntly put, you’ve hit the nail on the head.”
“This place is the perfect location to kill the princess of the New Empire, isn’t it?”
Evangeline’s face turned pale.
“I-I’ve never heard anything like that…!”
“Of course, you haven’t. Who would tell the target, ‘This is the place where you’re going to be assassinated’?”
“M-My father wouldn’t…!”
“Maybe even the Emperor and Empress didn’t know.”
I stepped closer to Evangeline and stood right behind her.
“H-Hic?!”
“Don’t worry.”
I placed my hands on both sides of her head and gently swayed it back and forth.
“Here, you’re not the only one being targeted.”
I gestured to Yunia, then to Ludmila.
“All four of us here are valid targets just because we’re special admission students.”
“T-That’s…!”
“Need me to explain it more clearly?”
“…”
Nod.
Evangeline nodded, even as I held her head.
“First, Yunia.”
I turned Evangeline’s head towards Yunia, particularly toward her mana pockets.
“She’s beautiful and full of mana, so she could be targeted for that alone.”
“W-What kind of ridiculous reason is that?”
“Princess, you may think you have enough confidence and beauty to not worry, but to the ordinary noble girls who gossip and smile in social circles, you’re a subject of envy.”
Yunia would be a target simply because she’s—well, beautiful.
“A woman’s enemy is another woman. That’s just how it is.”
“I agree.”
This is something that even Ludmila acknowledges.
“And [Cutting Wind] is an active A-rank adventurer. People who target her wouldn’t care about her beauty; they’d want to test their skills before they graduate.”
“G-Graduation…?”
“Third-year students will especially focus on Ludmila. For those who plan to join mercenary groups or military units after graduation, she’s the perfect target to boost their own reputation.”
What you did before graduation matters.
Like saying, ‘I survived for ten minutes after attacking the A-rank adventurer, Cutting Wind, who enrolled as a new student’.
That’d guarantee a job.
“And you.”
I lifted Evangeline’s chin from below, forcing her to look up and meet my gaze.
“As the princess of the New Empire, you have plenty of political enemies. Even if you were just attending the Academy, you could have easily been ostracized by the existing political cartels. But here you are, taking the bait of special admission and entering the Old School Building, a place where the rules can’t protect you?”
“Th-Then why the Old School Building…!”
“The answer is simple.”
I lowered her head.
“This place demands ‘extreme survival’ from those who enter.”
“E-Extreme…?”
“It’s about nurturing talents who can survive any situation, against any enemy. That’s the ‘core’ of the Old School Building… and Esdinas Academy.”
Someday, to face the demons rising from the Demon World. Or to be prepared for those who would attempt to break open the sealed entrance to the Demon World, hidden in this Old School Building.
“Of course, if only 30% of the students here aim to survive such things, the remaining 70% are likely targeting me.”
“T-Targeting you…?”
“Yes. The Academy rules don’t have provisions like: ‘If you perform Mana Drain on the Red Sol Phoenix residing in the Old School Building, it’s a violation of the rules.'”
Yunia spoke up with the correct answer.
“Exactly. That’s why Ludmila gathered us here. Because…”
“Sorry to interrupt, but it seems our first guest has arrived.”
Lyudmila made a ‘click’ sound and reached out to the side to take out a long spear.
“It’s hard to tell who they’re here for, so let’s all head out together.”
“Roger. So, besides being in charge of the class, is Ludmila also the party leader?”
“Just this time. Just this time.”
Well, let’s go see what’s happening.
Just who has the audacity to launch an attack on the Old School Building on the very first day of school?
* * *
[Imperial Year 997, March 1st, 11:10 PM. Esdinas Academy Student Council Meeting Room, Student Council Building.]
At Esdinas Academy, the student council holds considerable authority and power, even having its own building.
After all, authority and power stem from resources.
The student council operates with 3% of the Academy’s budget and plays an active role in various areas of Academy life.
They also manage and intervene in disputes between students, and so, even late at night, they often gather in the Student Council meeting room to discuss matters.
“Everyone’s here.”
Just like now.
“Thank you all for coming to the student council room at this late hour. Especially you, seniors.”
“Think nothing of it.”
At Julius, the Student Council President’s greeting, a blonde male student wearing glasses nodded lightly.
His face looked more tired than the others, but no one dared to comment on his appearance.
“Can you afford to be here, senior, even as a graduating student?”
“Even as a senior, I can spare a day. Just one day. …I just need to have my thesis reviewed by fall.”
Being thankful simply for their presence is the basic way to treat a graduating student.
“Yes. To ensure we don’t cause any more trouble for our graduating seniors, we need to thoroughly respond to this incident.”
Student Council President Julius bowed lightly toward the blonde student with glasses, then scanned the room seriously.
“Currently, posts like this are circulating on the students’ magic network, [Bamboo Forest].”
With a flick of his hand, numerous posts appeared on the large magic screen behind him.
[Anonymous 334]
– Is it true that there’s no penalty for terrorizing the [Old School Building] according to the Academy rules?
“That’s…”
“It’s a ridiculous post, but it’s the first one that triggered the worst-case scenario we now face.”
Several members of the Student Council swallowed nervously.
“The reason we’re all able to gather here, with both men and women together, is that this place is the Student Council Building, and here… the [rules] protect us.”
School Rules.
The absolute law within Esdinas Academy.
“Those who break the rules will be expelled from Esdinas Academy. …And expulsion is essentially [social s*icide] for one’s future.”
At Julius’s words, the faces of the council members grew pale.
The incidents involving those who were expelled from the Academy have been recorded in history as significant disasters.
“However, as always, Academy students have found ways to engage in all sorts of activities that aren’t covered by the rules. And now, they’ve discovered that the rules don’t apply in the Old School Building.”
“So, no matter what happens in the Old School Building, it’s technically legal?”
“Yes. The professors are urgently discussing the matter, but for now, that makes it even more dangerous.”
Student Council President Julius tapped his wrist.
“Because if they act before the new rules are set, it won’t be a problem.”
“…”
“Therefore, we must now begin the ‘defense of the Old School Building.'”
“Defense….”
“Although it’s unlikely that anyone would attack the Old School Building on the first day, there might be someone foolish enough to attempt such a thing.”
“…Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”
A female student council member sitting at the far end raised her hand.
“There’s [Cutting Wind], the [White Sword Saint], and the [Mad Healer] in there, right?”
“…Yes, I’m aware. The problem is precisely because they are there.”
“?”
“Think about it. An active A-rank adventurer, an S-rank fighter, and an alchemist of equal caliber.”
The president’s voice grew more stern.
“Doesn’t it worry you what those individuals might do to students who decide to break the rules?”
* * *
Whooooosh.
The Old School Building is located in a forest, and the forest is protected by a barrier.
A ‘space that cannot be destroyed’.
Or, if time passes, it restores itself to its original state.
And scattered throughout the forest are ‘clearing areas’—as if these spaces were deliberately made for battles.
“Hey, want to make a bet on the way there?”
“A bet?”
As the four of us moved together along the route where the ‘enemy invasion’ was expected, I made a suggestion to the others.
“Whoever gets targeted has to grant a wish to the others.”
“W-What kind of bet is that?”
Yunia let out a hollow laugh as if it was absurd.
“Right here.”
“Does the wish include anything?”
“L-Ludmila?!”
“Within reason, of course.”
“Deal.”
Ludmila smirked and accepted the challenge.
“E-Even if the enemy comes to assassinate me…!”
Evangeline, still wearing her pajamas, hadn’t fully changed and looked anxious.
“Well, looks like the enemy has shown up.”
Ahead of us.
The moment I spotted the girl in front, the other three’s expressions grew subtly tense.
“Hello, special class students.”
A female student with golden, rolled-up hair stood before us.
She was wearing the Academy uniform, and her grade was estimated to be a second-year.
“I am Angelica. I have a proposition for the three of you in the special class.”
Unfolding a frilly fan, she pointed her gaze directly at me.
“Shall we split the spoils together?”
As expected, the target was me.
‘Woohoo.’
Super lucky.
“…You’ll have to grant our wish, right?”
Yunia playfully poked my waist from behind, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
Ludmila’s eyes sparkled, and Evangeline, her anxiety easing, began to show a mischievous smile.
“Hah. I guess I have no choice.”
Just as planned.
“To grant your wish, I’ll need to defeat her first. Unless, of course, you’re planning to join the enemy and do… whatever to me?”
All eyes—those of the three girls and the instructors quietly observing from the Old School Building—shifted to me.
“Like the victims of Mana Drain.”
Typically, in a situation involving Mana Drain, the victim is a man.
And those who ‘devour’ him are usually women.
