A Returner's Magic Should Be Special

Chapter 110. Commander (4)

Benquick Feriamos.

A commoner that managed to become a professor of runic language through hard work. “Someone had to do it.”

There was no trace of the old professor that was well loved by his students in the words he spat out in a frosty tone.

His eyes glowed like a wild beast’s. “How did you notice it was me?”

“There was no evidence. At first it was just a guess.” Desir stated without a hint of emotion.

“But when I tried narrowing down the list of suspects to just those who: were already inside the surveillance formation of Hebrion Academy, had the skills to manipulate the stone, and had the motive to kill nobles; there were only a few remaining suspects that met all of these conditions.”

It was at this moment where Benquick’s sudden attempt to flee was as good as a confession of guilt to being the culprit.

“I was in a hurry.”

“… You really did it, didn’t you?”

“What is the point of denying it now? Yes, I did it.”

What Desir was most concerned about occuring had now been fully realized. He locked the door with a spell.

Professor Benquick unleashed magic to block him from doing so. He was a Third-Circle wizard.

However, his magic instantly broke into motes of light and disappeared before he could even properly form it.

This was a full analysis. His spell had been inverted before he could even react.

Benquick expected this but didn’t expect it to be so daunting seeing it in person. He could not help but emmenate a gloomy aura.

After seeing the difference in skill level, he was essentially forced to just watch what Desir planned to do.

It only took a moment for Desir to block all escape routes and shove Benquick in the chest. “Fourteen people were sacrificed due to what you did.”

Benquick nodded without even blinking.

“I’m well aware of what happened, Desir. I was watching the event too.” “No grief? No remorse? Did these lives mean nothing to you?”

“It was a necessary sacrifice.” A necessary sacrifice?

“People had to die without even knowing what cause they died for?” Desir approached Benquick in anger.

It was only with this movement that Benquick felt something must have been wrong with his answer. He backed up unconsciously. Despite moving back so quickly, he didn’t stop talking. “Look at the history of the world. The flow of history has only ever been changed by violence and bloodshed. ”

*Thud*

Books that had piled up on his desk had fallen to the floor. He had finally been backed into his desk. There was no room for him to retreat further.

Benquick anxiously continued speaking, hoping to dissuade Desir from taking drastic action.

“Hebrion Academy is also not an exception to this.”

Desir’s eyes probed Benquick’s body before settling on his ring.

He could feel a high-density of mana was collected at this location. Desir could tell with just a glance that it was an artifact.

Artifacts are treasures that have a low chance of appearing after clearing a Shadow World. As a result, artifacts are not only rare, but typically have power beyond human cognition.

Typical examples of such treasures include Toa’s Crest which provides power on the level of a Third-Circle. There were also artifacts that help invoke high-level magic, like the one used by Crow Mask that allowed him to invoke spells while skipping all of the other steps usually involved.

Although many artifacts have imitation copies floating around, using cutting edge modern technology that has reached the current pinnacle in magical engineering, none of those imitations have reproduced anywhere near the original power of an artifact.

Artifacts are unpredictable and strong since they transcend common sense.

For that reason, Desir couldn’t take his eyes off Benquick’s finger.

“Hebrion Academy… was originally an educational institution set up to cultivate the necessary manpower to combat the Shadow Worlds.”

A story that came from a distant past.

A close but unreachable past where all of humanity was united and confronted the Shadow Worlds together with one heart and a single purpose.

“The ideology of the Hebrion Academy has faded away a long time ago. Humanity already has enough ability and power to clear Shadow Worlds. Ever since then, humans have begun to fight amongst themselves. They no longer have a need to unite. If you have eyes, see the reality of the world, Desir. This is just a breeding ground for nobles to abuse the common people and train them into dogs for their own pleasure.”

His tone was calm but intense hatred thickened the air with every word he spat out. He looked at Desir. It was as if he was looking for Desir’s consent.

“These schools no longer serve a purpose. No, this structure itself should not exist anymore. We need change, Desir. Fortunately, the Shadow Worlds no longer pose a threat to the world, and as a result, we no longer need to unite with the nobles. They are just enemies to us commoners. Change only starts when we attack the enemy.”

The books scattered on the floor made annoying crunching noises as they were trampled by their feet.

“Desir, you shouldn’t have participated in this Party Competition or cleared the dungeon, even if your goal was to raise the status of commoners. But there is still a way to atone for this mistake. You are going to let me out of here right now. I still have a lot of work to do for the sake of commoners. ”

After his monologue concluded, a moment of silence passed.

Benquick looked at Desir’s face, but couldn’t fathom what he was thinking about.

Was he sympathetic to the cause? Did he understand why things had to unfold this way? No, that wasn’t it.

Benquick’s story did not touch Desir at all. Rather, it allowed him to make a decision.

Desir had hope for such a professor that had been trying various things to improve life for commoners.

But Desir no longer thought of him as a professor, he was just an Outsider. “I don’t like you.”

Desir opened his mouth after breaking the long silence.

“Your way of dismissing the massacre in order to further your own cause is clearly wrong. This is for the common people? Who the hell asked you to do that? Don’t put your own standards on others as if it is some kind of universal justice.”

Benquick spoke in a tone of self-mocking and self-loathing.

“… Yes, I knew you were like this. I knew you would lament our choice.”

The professor’s office was quite spacious. Six bookcases were arranged in a row. Desir and Benquick stood off against each other with just a bookcase separating them from each other. Benquick’s face was visible over the top of the books in the bookshelf.

“But you do agree with our goal.” “… ”

Desir agreed with their goal.

He knew better than anyone else that the Hebrion Empire needed to change. Change was a necessary element not only for the Hebrion Academy but also for the entire continent.

BUT.

“It won’t work out if we do it this way.”

If they continued down this path, the present situation may change for the better, but the future would still leave everyone in hopeless despair. For Desir who knew the outline of the future to come, such changes were meaningless.

In the first place, the premise itself was wrong.

The threat of the Shadow Worlds had not disappeared.

“People and nobles have to work together. We must understand each other. We have to start from there.”

Benquick blankly stared at Desir. The words that Desir spoke didn’t seem to register at all. After a brief pause he enquired.

“Are you talking about unity, Desir? The unity between commoners and nobles?” His lips subtly curled upwards. His face failed to hide a smile of utter derision.

“That sh*t can’t be possible. The nobles as an entire species cannot possibly deign to join forces with commoners. Wake up from your dream! Wake up from your delusion!”

As if his words were the catalyst of a reaction, a chain of events rapidly unfolded.

Professor Benquick knocked over the bookshelf while attempting to distract Desir with his response. Like dominos, the bookshelf fell towards Desir, obscuring his vision. Desir arranged a spell while spreading his hands forward.

[Wand Blast] *Crack*

A blast was shot. The bookcase was shattered and the books were torn apart and scattered everywhere. Wood debris and paper hit Desir’s face.

Desir’s mind was working in overdrive as he speculated what the professor’s next move would be.

‘It is not teleportation magic considering that the artifact has not been triggered yet. If so, is it an artifact that can only be triggered by certain conditions? Or does he need time to do something specific? '

Benquick’s voice rang out.

“He is a hope for us commoners. He is the one who brings change to this world in a real sense.”

When the shattered bookshelves no longer obscured his vision, Desir could now see the professor. There was no place to escape. He had placed his other hand on his ring.

“He will truly build a society for the common people.”

Desir was nervous as he seemed to be pulling out a trump card.

Desir prepared defensive magic and the artifact activated.

A wave of mana spread out in an instant.

At the same time, Benquick’s body stopped moving, as if it had become stone. His joints then started to bend unnaturally like a doll’s. Soon ‘it’ raised its head to look at Desir.

Desir could now clearly see what features had been built into the artifact and frowned after discerning these.

“Long distance mind control… ” Mind control.

Literally the art of controlling the mind of another person.

It was a terrifying force that stood out as a power with no close competitor. What could possibly harm that which couldn’t be seen? The person utilizing the magic would not be exposed to any direct harm.

‘But why was Professor Benquick dominated… ?’

It was while Desir nervously stood and watched the situation unfolding in front of him that such an unexpected event occurred.

*Frack*

Benquick’s body began to rapidly dry out. All of the blood in his body appeared to evaporate. He became pale and skeletal. Anyone could see that his life was depleting at a rapid rate. “Wait, what?!”

Desir doesn’t know what was going on, but now wasn’t the time to figure out the situation. He couldn’t let Benquick just die. There was still a lot of valuable information left to extract from him.

However, Desir could only helplessly watch Benquik die in front of him. *Craaack*

The thin lips on the puppet-like body curved upwards. It looked like he was laughing at Desir. Shortly after that smirk, his body which was now twisted like an old tree, collapsed.

Desir realized after seeing that smile.

‘Just to prevent information from leaking out… ’

While Desir was staring blankly at Benquick’s collapsed corpse, a flurry of footsteps could be heard reaching the door.

After a small explosion, the door was smashed open and Prof. Brigitte and a few others entered the room. Seeing them force their way through the locked door, it seemed that Benquick was confirmed as a suspect.

The faculty room was in a complete mess. A trunk lay open on the ground and its contents scattered across the room. The floor was also covered in splinters from shattered bookcases and torn paper from many books.

Of course, there was also Benquick, whose corpse looked like a dried prune. Brigitte looked at Desir with an expression of utter shock.

“Desir, what is… What happened before we arrived?”

Desir opened his mouth while everyone’s eyes focused on him. “Professor Benquick is the culprit.”

Almost instantly, the atmosphere in the room changed.

“So it is a commoner?” “They make me sick.” “They really are just scum.”

Insults were hurled without restraint.

The group that entered with Brigitte was composed of Hebrion’s Alpha Class graduates as well as various members of prominent clans and families.

The atmosphere had quickly turned heated from the naked fury that these nobles unleashed. After all, the commoners were once again aiming to overthrow the nobility. Indeed, talented people lost their lives and the Hebrion Academy nearly suffered irreparable damage.

It was clearly obvious that Desir’s goal of unity between the commoners and nobles would be simply rejected.

Desir didn’t want this to happen.

If the relationship between the commoners and the nobles worsened more than it was now, it would be impossible to prevent the coming disaster.

“… ”

He closed his eyes and thought deeply about it.

There was never going to be much leeway given though. Fortunately, however, he was given the option to escape the situation. ‘I can’t help but… ’

He continued to murmur to himself internally. ‘Do not lose sight of your purpose.’

He finally reached a decision.

Desir opened his eyes. He then spoke to the graduates of the Hebrion Academy that had immersed themselves in gossip about the commoners. “But Professor Benquick didn’t do this arbitrarily.” “What?”

“What do you mean?”

With words that they couldn’t comprehend, one of the angry graduates stormed up towards Desir.

However, Brigitte stopped the graduate and addressed Desir in a calm voice. “What do you mean, Desir?”

“That’s an artifact that clouds the mind of the wearer.”

Desir spoke calmly without any change in his facial expression. His finger pointed towards the ring that Benquick was grasping.

While Brigitte stared at it, the graduates approached Benquick’s corpse and checked the authenticity of the ring.

All of the graduates were top-level wizards. The result of their analysis came quickly. They confirmed Desir’s words as true.

“You mean, Professor Benquick didn’t do everything on his own, then… ”

Desir spoke while suppressing the rising nausea coming from deep inside himself.

“Professor Benquick was manipulated by the Outsiders through that artifact, and eventually lost his life. That is the truth of this case.”

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