Meanwhile.
When Sinclair, the head of the Hot Class, is carried out on a stretcher with a dismal score, the mood of the entire class is somber.
The usually cheerful Sinclair had become something of an idol to the first-year students.
But not everyone was saddened by Sinclair's tragedy.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that commoner bitch, finally got her nose flattened."
"She doesn't know what she's talking about, and she's just gotten the head of the Hot Class."
"Exactly. The head of the Hot Clas should be from our noble family."
"She'll get extra points for being pretty and flattering the professors, anyway."
Some of the group sneers darkly.
"Now it's time for someone who's truly worthy of the title: our Grenouille."
It was Grenouille who was the leader of this group, composed entirely of the scions of the Empire's most prestigious families.
But why does he have such an expression on his face?
He was completely unresponsive to the words of his subordinates and friends.
"...."
His gaze is fixed on Sinclair in the distance.
She is in pain as she is carried out on a stretcher.
Sinclair had always been a hardworking and determined student at school.
Despite her commoner origins, she was never intimidated by the nobles and achieved more than anyone else in her studies.
But Sinclair is in pain. She even shows tears that have never been seen before.
Grrrr!
Grenouille's teeth gritted.
"Be quiet."
The boys and girls of the noble faction fell silent at her words.
Grenouille spoke in a low, bass voice.
"It was not a fair fight."
"Huh?"
"Maybe the other professors will make up for her marks, whether it's extra credit or attitude points."
At that, the noble boys and girls nodded.
"It's Grenouille after all."
"He's so strong, he deserves to be the leader of the Noble Faction."
"You can't let your guard down yet, can you, A battle for head position?"
"Let's show this lowly commoner girl a lesson!"
But Grenouille still looks bitter.
Then. Grenouille's expression softened slightly.
"...Professor Sady. I thought I told you to do it in moderation?"
It was Professor Morg Banshee.
He spoke as if he could take no more.
"There is a limit to what I can do to save the face of a Principal, and I cannot tolerate your behavior any longer."
"Huh? What are you going to do?"
Professor Sady puffed out his chest, showing his guts.
The other professors behind Professor Banshee began to walk out and protest.
"Professor Sady, don't you think this is too much? Some of the students you've hurt are under my guidance!"
"Prof. Sady. This isn't right, isn't it? You've been turning a blind eye to the Magic Wall B-key incident the other day, and you've been turning a blind eye to people using their annual or semi-annual leave on the same day without reporting it, and leaving the workplace without authorization."
"Are you a psychopath? Are you crazy? What are you thinking, bullying students? What kind of grading system do you have? Do you think other professors are so weak that they give students grades?"
However, Professor Sady was not deterred in the slightest, and even bared his sharp teeth and snarled.
"These mongrels, where are they really... barking about building a pack? Barking."
The professors' faces lit up in shock and embarrassment.
A few of them leapt to their feet, but Professor Banshee stopped them.
"There are many eyes watching."
Suddenly, the professors realize that there are a lot of students around.
Professor Sady's demeanor was brash and arrogant.
"If only ... weren't a descendant of the Marquis de Sade.
It's been a long time since Professor Banshee, whose facial expression never changes, so much so that he is nicknamed a wax doll by his students, folds his eyebrows like cooking foil.
"Anyway. This is really your last chance, Sady."
"Ew-don't call me by my first name, old man. If you're going to call me by my full name, call me by my title."
"I'm not kidding, Professor Donatien Alphonse François Sady de Sade. If you show any more harshness than necessary with your students, I will personally exclude you from the midterms. And I will severely discipline you for stealing the principal's seal."
Professor Banshee's tone was so vicious that it was almost murderous.
Professor Sady, on the other hand, only smiled meaningfully and did not return the Banshee's anger.
By this time, the next examinee had arrived.
It was Piggy from Class B, Cold Warriors.
Piggy was holding the sword with trembling hands.
Professor Sady immediately snorted.
"You don't even know how to grip a sword. Are you a scumbag?"
Professor Sady is verbally abusive when it comes to violence.
But Piggy trembles and doesn't back down.
'I'm not a coward, and I'm supposed to be Vikir's proud friend, and I can't back down from that!'
Piggy was smart, and he knew what was coming.
If even the great Sancho or Sinclair had fallen to the ground, how could he be sure he was okay?
But even so, Piggy didn't back down.
Nor did he declare a quit, as Dolores had advised Sinclair to do.
'This trial is my chance to break through my glazed shell and bring out the strong courage inside me....'
Pfft!
But Piggy's thoughts were cut off mid-sentence.
[Hogwash].
Professor Sady's avatar, Mudgolem, suddenly approached and kicked Piggy's body.
Quack, quack, quack!
Piggy bounced three times on the stone floor.
In no time, Piggy is covered in blood.
Suddenly, there are groans of pity from the crowd.
Even those who usually despised Piggy for her weakness were sympathizing with Piggy as the victim of Professor Sady.
And his friends, Tudor and Sancho, were becoming even more furious.
"Damn it! I want out! I want revenge!"
"I've already been beaten down once. But to have a friend get screwed like that is really...."
Neither Tudor nor Sancho could do anything but clench their fists and turn red in the face.
Just then.
[Okay, next examinee up... Huh?]
Professor Sady starts to turn her head, but stops.
Piggy. He's staggering out of his seat.
"...I'm not going to lose like this."
Piggy is covered in blood. But he still hadn't let go of the sword.
"I got in trouble with the other kids at the defense test, and I don't want to do that again."
With that, Piggy thrust his sword forward with a cheer.
Professor Sady laughed in disbelief.
[Hohohoho. I'll have to make him a pork skewer].
The mud golem moved. The mud golem, wearing pointy kill heels like Professor Sady's, charged toward Piggy.
Tudor and Sancho gasped.
"Piggy! You should just lie down! You can't get into a close combat with that crazy professor!"
"There's a difference between courage and bravery, Piggy! In a situation like this, it's better to just give up!"
Sinclair, next to him, disagreed.
" ...I don't think so."
"What?"
Tudor and Sancho turned their heads, and Sinclair jerked at the ground in front of Professor Sady.
"...ah!"
They let out a collective gasp.
That's right.
Piggy was now luring Professor Sady away.
To where?
To the mud hole he had just fallen into!
In the previous match, Sinclair's fire and ice magic had caused the ground to freeze, melt, and form a muddy pit over and over again.
The arena with Professor Sady still had a solid stone floor, but the arena with the golem on top was filled with mud pits, and the direction Piggy was standing was in the dead center of Professor Sady's back, hidden by the golem's back.
In other words, if the golem mimicked Professor Sady's movements on the flat ground, it would soon fall into a mud pit, and that would be the perfect opportunity for a counterattack!
"As expected, Piggy's brain is the best!"
"This will do it!"
"Guy. That's pretty good, isn't it?"
"Go, Piggy! Show her what you're made of!"
Tudor, Sancho, Bianca, and Sinclair began cheering for Piggy.
Piggy drew Professor Sady in with an exquisite square and landed a terrain conversion blow.
But.
[What? There's mud?]
Professor Sady's genius chews through all of these variables.
Bam!
The golem's high heels didn't stick in the mud.
...More accurately, they were stuck, but they came off as quickly as if they were stepping on flat ground.
"!?"
Piggy's eyes widened. His eyes are wide with horror.
In front of him, Professor Sady's golem leaned in close.
A sweet voice spoke dangerously and giddily.
[You think you're a genius at installing things?]
Piggy's attention was suddenly drawn to Professor Sady's high heels.
To his surprise, the heel had fallen off her shoe and was lodged in the mud behind her.
That's right.
Professor Sady was used to walking on the tips of his toes with his magpie feet pushed to the limit.
Without putting any weight on her back heel. Just the strength of his toes.
And those trained toes are the perfect finishing touch to a kick that packs a tremendous amount of power.
It was a glimpse of how much she had been training herself.
"Iiiigh!?"
Piggy finally swung his sword, but it was about two seconds later than he had planned.
And against Professor Sady, two seconds was the difference between heaven and earth.
Pfft!
Another horrible gurgling sound erupted.
Piggy fell to the ground outside the arena, not just bloody, but completely covered in blood.
[That's a lot of bullshit for a second time].
Prof. Sady turned around, unleashing an unrelenting barrage of abuse.
At that moment.
There was a sound that stopped her in her tracks.
-Ting!
Piggy's score popped up.
.
-Valid hits: 1 (1 point each)
-Effective dodges: 0 (1 point each)
-Effective Defense: 0 (1 point each)
-Critical hits: 0 (10 points each)
=Total score: 1 point
1 point. Only one effective hit.
But Professor Sady never allowed Piggy to attack.
[What? There's no way I'd give that scumbag a point].
But Piggy's score is definitely one.
Then.
[...!]
Professor Sady's eyes widened.
A broken blade was deeply embedded in the lower belly of the golem she was controlling.
* * *
"Piggy! Are you okay!?"
Tudor and Sancho frantically rushed to Piggy's aid.
Covered in blood, Piggy could barely stand up on his own.
One of his eyes was swollen shut and completely closed.
"Hehe... guys, I still got a point."
Tudor and Sancho were silent for a moment as Piggy spoke.
Piggy had clutched the broken sword in his hand the moment Sady's kick had hit, and he had driven it into the golem's body.
It was only worth one point, though the shards of the clenched blade made a mess of his hand.
Piggy did it, and he did it.
"Well done, asshole..., you did it."
"You didn't blink until the moment you got hit, which is something I couldn't do either. I admire you."
Tudor and Sancho said, supporting Piggy.
Piggy didn't even have the strength to speak anymore, only the faintest movement of his dried lips.
Just then, a medic rushed over and began tending to his wounds.
Dolores looked at him with concern.
"Your left head is badly cracked. You could have been blinded if the Holy Power had been applied a moment later. You'll be blind for a while, so be sure to wear the medical one-eye glasses."
"...That's a good thing, my mother would have cried a lot if I had gone blind."
The sigh of relief that followed Piggy's words was met with clenched teeth by neither Tudor nor Sancho, nor Bianca and Sinclair, who had just arrived.
Meanwhile.
In the ballroom, Professor Banshee was issuing an ultimatum to Sady.
"Step out of the training grounds, Sady. From now on, I will revoke your test administrator qualifications. You are a human being unworthy of testing a warrior's honor. Because you yourself are not a warrior right now."
Sady smirked at Professor Banshee's rebuke of his dishonorable behavior.
"A warrior? There are no warriors in the academy, they're all idiots."
At the same time, she muttered in a low voice.
"Only 'He', the one who stirs the night of the Empire, is a true warrior."
Professor Banshee did not hear Sady's words.
"Come down here now. You are not worthy of a professor, and from this point forward, I will strip you of all rights and privileges as an examiner...."
But Professor Banshee was cut off mid-sentence.
"Next."
A voice interrupted the conversation between Professor Sady and Professor Banshee.
Extremely cold, but with something calming rising from it.
"I'm next."
Vikir.
The expressionless face of Vikir finally stood in front of the examination board.
"Personally, I'd like to be tested by that professor."
If you didn't know Vikir, you'd think he had nothing on his mind.
But for those who know Vikir, it's easy to see how he's feeling right now.
On top of the white skin, one faintly exposed vein can be seen with a blue edge.
Vikir was angry.