RATH 109
TL: Eevee

12. It’s not over til it’s over (7)

“Excuse me… aren’t you a staff member of Yugrasia?”

I felt cold sweat trickle down my back.

Iyah, it’s Sir Reia. It’s Sir Reia who I haven’t seen in a really long time.

I met a good friend~ not, rather an old colleague who if I met I was f***ed.

“Uh… staff… well if you ask me than then technically I am…”

My voice was shaking.

It was like this because I was in front of Sir Reia.

Of course, this was an act.

The opponent was a member of the Areis House, a marquisate, and in the running for the title of the greatest swordswoman alongside the Sword Star.

On the contrary, being blazé about it would be the more suspicious thing to do!

“You don’t have to be so nervous. I’m looking for someone that should be here, by any chance do you know where Professor Nicerwin is?”
“Ah, P, Professor Nicerwin?”

I knew where he was.

Because the man shivering with one hand on the door handle was Professor Nicerwin. That is, me!

“A, as far as I know Professor Nicerwin is currently watching the students’ matches with the other teachers……”

I replied normally, faking a slightly shaky voice to return the most normal answer.

But an absolute shocker came in out of nowhere.

“Oh by the way, I’m getting married.”
“Lies!”
“……”
“……”

The entire area was swept in silence.

It was quiet. Far, far too quiet.

“Griiittt.”

And the sound that broke that silence, was that of someone grinding their teeth.

As I ever so slightly lifted my head up to see the source of the sound.

“Why… do you think… grit… I’m lying… gggriit……”

There was Sir Reia gnashing her teeth as she glared at me.

-Ow mai goodness, owner got baited!

The metal bat’s shock was conveyed to me, but I couldn’t help it.

It was Sir Reia, of all people.

I heard that THAT Sir Reia was getting married without a single moment to prepare myself to hear it.

There’s no way I wouldn’t be surprised, no would there?

“Grit… really… Her Highness said he’d definitely fall for it if I said that… but if he really did…”

In her eyes right now, around 10% was joy that she could finally complete Her Highness’s mission, and 40% anger that I’d actually fallen for this trap.

And around 50% was her shame at her past self that thought that this trick would never work when Her Highness first suggested this plan.

“On that matter… I will listen at a later date. Get him!”

The knights by Sir Reia didn’t even bother to respond as they ran at me.

“Damn it!”

At the same time I opened the slightly ajar door and blocked the knights’ charge with the door

Bang!

“What the?”
“Out of the way! I’m cutting it down!”

Clang!

“Sword ki couldn’t?”
“Hahaha, idiots! This is dwarven reinforced glass!”

After stopping the knights’ charge I locked the door.

A sword enhanced with sword ki slammed down onto the door to try and break it, but this glass door would not break from that.

Although it looked like translucent glass, it was actually special Black Anvil magic glass made of mithril.

There was no way I could make the students’ escape route weak.

Out of the many facilities in this building, the ones that had been taken care of specially were the exits, the doors and windows.

“Move! And some of you, get in through the windows!”
“I should run.”

I heard Sir Reia’s voice as well as a heavy explosion.

Although it wasn’t broken in a single attack, the door wouldn’t be able to hold out against a swordsmaster’s strikes for long.

“Yap yap yap.”

The place I moved to was my office on the 1st floor.

It was one of the places where I could activate and control every trap in the academy.

“If it’s this much then everyone except Sir Reia would have problems getting through…”

These were the traps that had fended off over 1000 Yugrasia students.

Even the imperial princess’s knights would have a hard time getting through.

And in that time, I would run away through my escape tunnels, it was the perfect plan!

-But owner, ya sure there’s no one in the academy?
-Of course. All the staff are out watching the imperial festival to cheer the Yugrasia students on.

At most, the only people that might still be here would be the guards on the main gates.

And a much fewer number than usual. There should be no one in the buildings themselves.

-Then, wazzat I see?”
-See what?
-Turn ya head round.

I turned my head slightly and looked at the classroom beside me.

Our current location was the third floor.

It was where the classrooms used by the first years were.

And in those classrooms.

“There are students?!”

There were students in Yugrasia uniform sitting at the desks.

And enough to fill all the seats!

“Attention!”

One person suddenly stood up and looked towards me.

The moment I saw, I could tell.

No matter how much of a babyface one was, there were limits to how long you could pose as a student!

“This mad princess!”
“To the teacher… attack!”

“Attack!”

While I bolted without sparing a glance back, I could hear the students’ very violent greetings.

“Aaaaargh!”

As the classroom door opened, the students… no, knights came out one by one, and I started running upstairs as fast as I could.

The 10th floor. If I made it to the 10th floor, I could survive.

-But dere’s totes gonna be kids like these upstairs as well!

The moment the metal bat said that, some scary looking uncles in Yugrasia uniform also came running out from upstairs as well.

“Damn it, although I’m a pacifist… I have no choice this time!”

-Pacifist? Who is?!

Who is, of course it’s the one succeeded the man who changed maize to diamonds, GanD!(1)

“Get lost!”

The metal bat revealed its original form.

The moment my hand gripped a big beautiful silver bat, it struck a person who charged in with a drawn sword.

“Kuaaagh!”
“Wh, what is that!”

The moment sword and metal bat met, the enemy screamed and fell down.

But the place he fell was a very unfortunate one.

The stairs, and a trapped section to boot. As the other knights watched in horror as the bald student was violated by tentacles, I leaped onto the railings and began to head upstairs.

“Get him!”
“Keaagh! It’s a trap!”
“Damn it, what kind of academy has stairs like these!”

These were the fearsome stairs that even ate up veteran Yugrasia students the moment they placed a single step out of line.

Even imperial knights would be unable to get up these stairs without casualties.

“Get him!”
“Damn this cosplay army!”

But the moment I ascended the stairs another bunch of knights that were wearing uniforms despite having the faces of mercenaries came into my vision.

“Go peacefully to Her Highness!”
“Would you?”

I gave the first one to come at me a taste of the metal bat, kicked him away and stood my ground against the remainders.

“Tch, heartless bastards.”

But as you’d expect from the imperial princess’s knights.

They didn’t catch their ally I kicked towards them, but they simply ignored him and ran in.

“He just needs to be alive!”
“Aim for his legs!”

As two knights with unsheathed blades approached me, the nearby knights shouted.

-They said ya just have ta be alive… these kids’re scawy… no, the pwincess is scawy!
-Yes, she’s scary!

I just had to be alive.

That meant that it didn’t matter if I lost a limb or two.

If that had been the orders of a normal member of royalty, that meant that they could just hire a magician or priest to heal it back, but if it’s the imperial princess who knew magic had no effect on me, then that meant it really didn’t matter for her if I lost my limbs.

Just how dreadful of an obsession was this?

But in this case, I simply had to use that obsession against them.

“Holy shit!”

These were the imperial princess’s knights, who were known as the strongest forces of the imperial court.

Naturally, all of them could at least use sword ki, and that was the same for the two that were running at me.

Like my ex-disciple Nermia once said, unless you were some sort of skull master, a sword in your head would kill you.

Especially if it was a sword imbued with sword ki.

Now why am I bringing this up.

Because the action I took was to go ahead and stick my head in the direction those swords were moving in.

“Urrrgh!”

I just had to be alive.

In other words, they absolutely had to capture me in a living state.

Therefore if I was at risk of dying, they would have to keep me alive no matter how they went about doing so.

“Kuwuhhhhhgh!”
“Kaaaaaaaaghh!”

And I aimed for the opening it created.

As they twisted their bodies around off-balance to pull their attack back, I gave them both one fair bat strike each.

I ignored their screams as they fell down the stairs and continued running upstairs.

I cleared the 4th and 5th floors, and similarly, I held my own body hostage and cleared the 6th, 7th floors as well.

And once I got through the 9th floor where they were still wearing uniforms despite there not being any classrooms on that floor, I finally managed to reach the 10th floor.

But…

“Why is there nobody here?”

Had they not expected me to be able to make it to the 10th floor?

Even though they posted people all the way to the 9th?

“He can’t run any higher!”
“Get him!”

I felt extremely uneasy about this but I didn’t have a choice.

The knights were already hot on my tails behind me, and Sir Reia was outside the building.

I could only believe in my preparations and hope that everything went according to plan!

-Where ya going owner!
-The rooftop, of course!

Normally in movies you’d see the protagonist get away in a waiting helicopter.

Naturally this world didn’t have helicopters.

Instead you could summon wynerns or drakes instead, but I could not do those things.

And so in an unexpected line of thinking, on the rooftop I,

“Made a secret passageway to the basement!”

Normally common sense dictated a route to the basement would be built on the first floor, but there was a risk that the students desperate to escape would be able to find it.

And so I had a fireman’s pole installed inside one of the pillars on the roof, and made it so that I could slide all the way down to basement with it.

-Why not just make stairs?
-The bigger it is, the easier it is to be discovered.

Emergency exits are something only I should know about.

Even in the organization I was nearly caught because Sia caught wind of my lifeline.

There were no idiots that would fall for the same trick twice in a row after 20 years in an evil organization.

Because the idiots that did were caught ages ago and were either executed or rotting away in an imperial jail cell!

-Probably. If ya caught this time owner then ya weally gonna get dwagged off to the hella obsessive imperial princess.

This kid is saying something disgustingly foreboding.

I put on a pair of gloves and used my tool of the trade (metal bat) and knocked in a pillar in the corner of the classroom where the student council had once lived in.

Inside the destroyed pillar was a metal pole.

This was my secret move that would save my life!

“Now, time to escape!”

-Tho you didn’t even get ta make bank!

My hands nearly slipped off the pole at the metal bat’s words.

Damn it.

I really, really hadn’t wanted to think about it!

“Don’t chip in like that out of nowhere. Worst case scenario I actually will die.”

Despite its appearance, it went down around 12-13 floors.

Even if I wore safety gear and dwarven-made gloves, if things went wrong then I could die just like that.

“Careful, careful.”

How much time had passed as I slid down.

I could finally see a faint light, and the moment I jumped down into a perfect landing!

Whack!

“Kuhk?”

I felt something strike the back of my head.

“Ara? So it really doesn’t work?”

A surprised voice.

The owner of that voice was my former workplace boss and the worst person I could hope to meet at this moment in time.

“Why, is that…”

And the object in her hand was something that I had once made frequent use of.

“Ah, this?”

As the imperial princess held up the wooden bat whose aesthetics fit her title of princess not one whit, she smiled beautifully as she gave me an answer that did not suit that smile at all.

“I took it.”

Rein, you little… you had it taken from you!