Walking slowly on the quiet streets of the Academy City, Luxus pondered whether he had missed anything while waiting for the patrol team to bring back news.

"Phew, let me organize my thoughts again. So far, the known enemies are the Dark Elves and the Milanía rebels. Coco and Tiran are the two targets to be aware of. At the same time, we also need to be cautious of any enemies who may covet the underground treasury of the Academy City. The treasury is guarded by the academy's teachers, and the self-disciplined magical creature Elythio is there. Even if a few powerful magicians join forces, it would be difficult to resist the firepower of this magical creature left by the sage Diar."

As for the two princesses, disregarding their own considerable combat capabilities, we shouldn't need to worry with the presence of Ciella and the Holy Rank Chisa Angel by their side in the arena...

Just as Luxus was thinking, he suddenly realized that a beam of light descended from the sky, and then a girl with long blue-gray hair was sitting in a giant crystal ball next to him.

"Luxus, I found you!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.

"Why did you come running over?!" Luxus nearly had his glasses shattered by the gaze of the girl. He had just thought that with her presence, everything would be without a hitch, but she immediately deviated from her duty.

"What did I do wrong for you to come and scold me like this?" Ciella looked at Luxus with watery eyes, as if on the verge of tears.

"...Principal, if you're just bored and want to copy the Principal's manual, just say so." Luxus smiled wryly and took out a brick-shaped black book that even scared the Principal, seemingly from nowhere.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong!"

Quickly putting away her pitiful girl act, Ciella jumped down from the floating crystal ball, which immediately shrank to a normal size just smaller than a volleyball and floated behind her.

"But, I just received important news from Hoshi. There might be some very troublesome individuals appearing at the Martial Arts Festival this time."

Considering his familiarity with Ciella's rhetorical skills from their long association, Luxus understood that when Ciella added the word "very" and repeated it, it probably meant something extraordinary.

"What's going on?"

Ciella struggled with her expression, seeming reluctant to bring it up, but finally sighed, "Musbel, do you remember?"

...

In the arena, the official competition had officially begun.

The three teams that made it this far all had a chance to compete for the championship, so they were all extra cautious. Moreover, with the experience gained from yesterday's matches, today's competition was much slower-paced.

At least there was no longer the situation where both sides clashed in the middle or concentrated on the middle after a wave in the opening.

Now, it had been five minutes since the start, and both Milt and Garurand were constantly pushing lanes and farming the jungle, contending for the map resources. The scene was so harmonious that it made people wonder if this was a competition. Occasionally, there were small-scale skirmishes but they quickly retreated.

The confrontation in terms of vision between the two sides was even more intriguing. If you inserted a ward and I caught it, the players were having great fun. The contest for the two dragon pits was especially noticeable.

However, this situation of not engaging in combat was indeed hard on the commentators who were used to commentating on battles. Fortunately, Yasuo-sensei had returned from his injury and fully displayed his eloquence... or rather, his talent for making humorous remarks, giving the audience a solo stand-up-like commentary performance, which was quite amazing in a way.

"Indeed, the operations aren't as exciting as fighting... By the way, there's a question I've been meaning to ask for a long time." Tiran moved his gaze away from the large screen and said, "Milt Academy is said to have three Holy Ranks. Ciella is one of them, and there's the great sage who built the underground treasury before. Who is the last one? Where is he?"

"I've seen him before, a handsome man with red hair. I think his name was Musbell, but I'm not sure where he went. I heard he went on a journey," Aya replied, shaking her head. She had only heard his name. It had been decades since she last saw him at Milt, and it was not difficult for powerful individuals at the Holy Rank level to hide their tracks.

"As for Musbell, Lady Aya, I know some information," Coco raised her hand and pulled Silversin, who was standing next to her, towards them. "Silversin used to be an adventurer and has heard some rumors about him."

"Prince Irizer?!" Suddenly, Coco held Silversin's hand, and Silversin was overwhelmed with happiness. He was completely stunned.

"Well, he is the goddess in his heart after all..." Aya tugged at the corner of her mouth. Although she thought so in her heart, she secretly snorted, huh, men.

—Something seems off.

Huh? My hand...

While Aya was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a soft touch on her hand. She lowered her head and saw a delicate hand slipping into her own claws. Nearby, Prince Tiran looked at her with a half-smile, as if expecting something.

What exactly are you expecting!

"Really, just look at how surprised your attendant looks when held hands by her own prince. And look at yourself, don't you think it's beneath your status?" Tiran disappointedly said.

"But he's the one acting beneath his status! Besides, I don't even know how many times your hands have been held by others, what's the big deal!" Aya held Tiran's hand and raised it to her chest, unable to contain herself.

Huh?

Noticing that the gazes around them were a little off, Aya stiffly turned her head and found that the students below were casting various complex looks at them.

For example...

"Is that the servant beside Prince Tiran? The relationship is extraordinary, the noble circle is indeed chaotic."

"Oh, is this a confession? Yuri? It's definitely yuri, right!"

"My Silver Princess... No!!!!"

If Aya could use telepathy on the students below, she would probably hear such thoughts.

Looking at the princess, her little face had turned as red as a ripe apple, and her small mouth was slightly open, unable to utter a word.

Coco and Silversin were also stunned for a moment, their gazes similarly mixed.

—Especially Coco, her gaze seemed to carry a murderous intent, deep resentment indeed.

Seems like I did shout a little too loudly.

...

"Musbell, huh?"

Lucius's eyes flickered slightly, then the enthusiasm in his eyes dimmed a bit. Memories of the handsome man who always wore a bright smile came to mind.

Carrying the title "Crimson Flame Asura," the only one among the Three Holies who truly honed both magical power and martial skills to their peak. He was also possibly the strongest among the three.

For the students of that era, including Lucius, he was a respected and powerful mentor. Most of Milt's reputation as the "Watcher of the World" was built by him during his time at the academy.

And for Lucius himself, Musbell had another layer of significance.

He was his "kin," a human who also had half-Demon blood running through his veins. For this reason, Lucius was also one of the best students Musbell had ever had.

Unlike Lucius, who had always had a clear goal of protecting the Ural Lantern since he was a child, Musbell was just a child born from a mother tainted by a Demon's attack. He was neither accepted by human society nor recognized by Demons, and he was caught between two worlds.

Even so, he chose to stand up and defend peace. Shouldn't that be considered great?

Unfortunately, in Lucius's eyes, this great person, like many other great people, did not receive the ending he deserved.

The Demon blood went berserk.

That was the final result of the investigation. Ten years ago, during the battle outside the Maston royal capital, Dia and Ciella joined forces to subdue the rampaging Musbell, at the cost of Dia sustaining heavy injuries and a loss of power.

After his berserk episode, Musbell didn't die, but his consciousness fell into a deep sleep. Even with his physical wounds healed, he couldn't wake up. According to Dia, it was because his soul had been impacted.

This itself was strange since the berserk episode stemmed from the body and had nothing to do with the soul. In order to ensure the stability of Milt Academy, they didn't announce this information. Musbell was taken away by Dia to the Magic Association for research and treatment, while Ciella stayed behind to oversee the academy.

"Well, according to Hoshi's statement, she couldn't make an accurate prophecy before Musbell's incident ten years ago, and the same thing happened this time."

Ciella took on a rare serious expression. "Although Musbell was the one who injured us, he wasn't the mastermind. If there's a chance to meet that guy this time..."

"Even though Milt is a peaceful Watcher, there are times when he gets furious."

Lucius spoke softly, his eyes hiding deep darkness.

...

"According to our intelligence, after Maston, Musbell disappeared from everyone's sight. Although we're not sure about the specifics, Maston's incident must have paid a heavy price for Milt Academy."

Coco raised a finger, explaining seriously.

"Disappeared. It's a bit of a pity... I remember he was a decent old man," Aya said, tilting her head.

"A heavy price?" Tiran couldn't help but think of Ciella. "Is Master Leng after..."

"Yeah, yeah! I only remembered that the headmaster was Master Leng after that incident. Master Leng appeared after that!"

"Well, looking at it this way, the person who caused this event indirectly did a good thing."

Tiran stroked his chin, unsure.

With the loss of a respected Holy Rank expert in this world, and the addition of a shameless doujinshi artist, can it really be considered a good thing?

...

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the academy city.

Gazing at the distant towering arena and the outline of the academy city, a black-haired youth sighed with emotion.

"It's been a long time since I last came here... Ah, ah... Ahchoo! Ahchoo! Ahchoo!"

Rubbing his nose, he wondered, "Strange, my body shouldn't be catching a cold, right?"

But it didn't matter; what awaited him next was going to be a great show.