I'll Smash Everything with Passive Skills-Chapter 76: 0. Sword Master of the Academy (1)

"Veris sent a message. He said we need someone to stand against those who will spring forth from the darkness."

"So?"

"There was no reason to refuse. The Demon Cult is an uncomfortable presence even from the Empire's perspective."

The truth behind the commotion from a few days ago. Maria, explaining it, seemed to be in good spirits.

Thanks to the support she requested, Crown Prince Friedrich dispatched the Imperial Guard Knights he commands to the academy, and the matter was resolved neatly.

Although the Guard Knights weren't much help during the process, what Veris wanted was something else.

A matter that draws attention.

To make it clear that the Demon Cult is no longer an organization of fantasy but a tangible threat.

"I regret that I couldn't step in myself, but it was still refreshing."

Evangeline recalled the memory and spoke.

In response to her, Maria and the other girls simply stared at her in silence.

"...By the way, why hasn't the Grand Duchess returned?"

"Returned? What do you mean?"

"She's from the Gallia Kingdom anyway. She spread the ridiculous rumor that she came to find a husband. Now that she has eradicated the Demon Cult lurking in the academy, shouldn't she be going back?"

Cecilia's logical voice made Evangeline close her mouth.

Then she shrugged her shoulders and replied with her characteristic relaxed demeanor.

"I've decided to stay here."

"Eh?"

"I have a feeling. I feel that if I stay here, better things will happen." "..."

At her cheerful response, everyone fell silent.

There was no justification to pressure her to return to the Grand Duchy in the first place.

"And just yesterday, I received an interesting proposal."

"A proposal?"

"Yeah. They asked me to become a visiting professor at the academy."

"Visiting professor..."

Most of the faculty at the academy have impressive backgrounds.

Even so, as the Grand Duchess of Gallia and one of the continent's powerful figures, she was a force to be reckoned with compared to the other professors.

At that point, it was easy to recall who had made the proposal.

A man struggling to survive... No, to be precise, a man struggling to survive in the political arena of the academy.

It must be the dean.

"So I decided to accept."

"Really?"

Everyone looked at her in surprise at the Grand Duchess's bold declaration.

The title of Grand Duchess is akin to that of a king ruling a vast nation.

To abandon such a significant position and become a professor at the academy?

Wasn't that an incredibly foolish act?

"I can't be bothered to explain the reason. Just think of it as my intuition."

"...!"

Evangeline's intuition. As the words feeling or intuition came up again, everyone had no choice but to fall silent.

"By the way, Veris hasn't come yet."

After Evangeline's bombshell declaration, it was Cecilia who first broke the brief silence.

She looked out the window.

Veris had gone out after lunch, but it seemed to be taking longer than expected.

Clink.

With that thought, Cecilia lifted her teacup.

As they chatted, they had finished their tea without realizing it, and the teacup was empty.

"Yunafint, could you bring more tea?"

"...Ugh."

At Cecilia's innocent question, a girl standing in the corner of the table flinched.

The priestess Yunafint.

She was wearing the maid outfit that Arwen wore when she was at the mansion.

When they protested about the existence of a girl who was a priest of the Holy Kingdom colluding with the Demon Cult, the response from the Holy Kingdom was simple.

'Yunafint Lunaciel has already been excommunicated from the Holy Kingdom, and do not blame the innocent Holy Kingdom for her sins.'

...Whether it was a case of cutting ties or a decision made by the Holy Kingdom's leadership that had truly caught on to her relationship with the Demon Cult, it was unclear.

Thus, this girl who had been with the Demon Cult was detained at the academy.

It was unique that the location was Veris's mansion rather than a dungeon.

"Veris is really a kind person. If it were me, I would have killed her on the spot."

Evangeline said, glaring at Yunafint as if she found her distasteful.

She hated and loathed the Demon Cult.

There was no way Yunafint, who had some sort of collusion with the Demon Cult, would appear attractive to Evangeline.

"Since she won't open her mouth, Veris said we should force it open."

The one in charge of controlling Yunafint was Arwen.

She was the first junior to appear.

Arwen found it quite uncomfortable that her background was from the Demon Cult, but ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Veris simply sealed Yunafint's mana.

Yunafint had become an ordinary person who could not use mana.

It was a sophisticated technique that others could not even begin to understand.

"I think I understand Veris's thoughts to some extent."

"...What thoughts?"

When the sudden Maria spoke up, all eyes turned to her.

It was an odd discomfort that arose from her now casually speaking to Veris.

"Veris thinks... that the Demon Cult is a current threat, right?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Didn't they call Yunafint an apostle?"

"...!"

"Apostle is certainly not a title given to ordinary people. Just the fact that she is alive will draw the Demon Cult's minions to this academy."

Everyone nodded at Maria's explanation.

No one had thought that Veris could have such thoughts in such a short time.

It was something that none of them had been able to come up with.

"...So that's why Veris suggested stationing some of the knights at the academy?"

Beatrice, who had been maintaining her silence, muttered to herself.

After the situation was sorted out, Veris expressed his desire for the knights to be stationed at the academy.

Since the command of the knights was with Crown Prince Friedrich, many approval processes were necessary, but fortunately, the situation did not deteriorate, and it was approved.

"Truly an impressive person."

That was Beatrice's voice. Everyone present nodded in agreement.

Veris usually didn't seem to think deeply about things.

But when something happened, he quickly and clearly made decisions and took action, which was merely a misconception.

Yunafint, who had gone to the kitchen to prepare tea, was unaware of the conversation.

*

"Wow, it's Veris!"

"It's my first time seeing him up close!"

"He went into the faculty building. Is he going to see the dean?"

The winner of the midterm evaluation and the perfect eradication of the Demon Cult that followed shortly after.

Veris's name was rising in popularity day by day.

Thanks to the two incidents being exposed in succession, his power had spread through word of mouth.

"During the midterm evaluation, he split the sky, right?"

"That's just part of it. I don't know if it's true, but I heard Gunther von Haruen is also learning swordsmanship from him."

"No way!"

"Are you that uninformed? Have you been living under a rock?"

All the students, and even the residents of the academy city, had heard the rumors.

Thus, those who saw Veris all spoke in unison.

"The Sword Master!"

"Yeah, he's the Sword Master of the academy!"

"Who on earth put Veris in B-Class?"

"Dean! Explain yourself!"

"...Ugh!"

It was the top floor of the faculty building.

It was a place where sounds from the outside should not be heard...

Yet, the noise coming in from outside was painfully clear, causing the dean to let out a heavy sigh.

As he turned his chair, the subject of the rumors was sitting right in front of him.

"Why do you look so unhappy?"

"Y-You...!"

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The dean glared at Veris with fiery eyes.

His anger did not last long.

Thinking rationally, the person benefiting the most from Veris was the dean himself.

In a moment of anger, the dean was not foolish enough to turn against the goose that lays the golden eggs.

"...Now that I see you, you have the face of a proud hero of the academy!"

The dean, forcing down his curses, awkwardly smiled and praised Veris.

Naturally, Veris burst into laughter at the dean's reaction.

"Enough of that, let's see the sword."

"Damn it. Aren't you a bit too impatient?"

"You didn't prepare it, did you?"

"I did, I did!"

The dean knew very well that Veris had not come here to exchange pleasantries.

He pulled out a large black oak box from under the desk.

"It's not an expensive item. But I can assure you, there aren't many people on the entire continent who could find something like this."

"..."

The dean's attitude was seriously long-winded.

What Veris and the dean had agreed upon was clearly to procure a sword with a known name.

It seemed like there was something he was feeling guilty about.

"Now that I think about it, you seem untrustworthy."

Veris's voice, devoid of emotion, twisted the dean's face in an instant.

Struggling to maintain a smile, the dean subtly pushed the box toward Veris.

"Just touch the sword for now."

Clunk!

As the dean lifted the lid of the box, the shape of the sword revealed itself, bringing a considerable surprise to Veris.

"...Where did you get this?"

The sword that appeared as the lid opened was placed on luxurious silk at first glance.

It was a uniquely shaped sword from the very beginning.

The fact that it was entirely black from the pommel to the scabbard was unusual.

"I heard it was found by someone I know at a ruin."

"A ruin?"

"Yeah. They said it was a ruin from the Age of Magic where the ancient magic of dimensional gates was being tested. The money spent to procure it? Of course, it's important. But at first glance, it's clearly not an ordinary item, is it?"

Nodding at the dean's words, Veris agreed.

It was indeed not an ordinary item.

The problem was that it was too ordinary to exist in this world.

It was a sword styled after East Asia from Earth.

Having had no profound knowledge about swords in the past, it was hasty to make a judgment, but that's how it appeared to Veris.

"Do you like it? Again, I'll say that the name value does not directly correlate to the sword's worth." Veris stood up and drew the sword.

Swish.

The sword, which came out without resistance, boasted a vivid hue that was almost too good to be an item from an ancient ruin with almost no records left.

Moreover, there was not even a sound of metal scraping when drawing it from the scabbard, making it a truly exceptional item.

── Ding.

As he infused mana into it, a sound distinctly different from that of a supply iron sword echoed through the dean's office.

Unlike the cheap sword that resisted mana, the sword accepted a considerable amount of Veris's mana.

"I like it."

He said it flatly, but he felt very pleased.

In fact, the supplied iron sword was so poor that finding a somewhat usable sword was a stroke of luck, and now he had obtained this mysterious fine sword.

'This doesn't seem like an item from this world.'

Having never infused mana into such an item, it was hard to judge.

What was certain was that it seemed unlikely for the sword to break or shatter during battle.