After hearing Alec’s opinion of me and the other students, I was left speechless for a long time. I just stood there, unmoving, as I tried to comprehend Alec’s unexpected response.
Alec also seemed to have realized my current state as he calmly picked up some papers from his desk and began to organize them while waiting for me to come back to my senses.
’Demonic Leader... I didn’t expect to hear those words come out from the mouth of a teacher to describe his own student.’
Thinking back on it, the title did make some sense. Although unofficial, I was technically the leader of the first years. My training program contained almost all of the first years, excluding Bradford and Allen, and everyone apart of it followed my commands.
My methods could also be described as demonic, considering how I train the students. After all, that method couldn’t exactly be described as ’normal’, so demonic was probably a good description of it.
’The Demonic Leader of the Broken Era of chaotic students. Why does that title sound so much like a role?’
’Hmm, now that I think of it, I wouldn’t mind a new role like that if it works like how I think it does...’
As I began fantasizing about a new role, I slowly regained my senses as my gaze returned to Alec.
"...Teach, I think you went a bit off topic at the end there."
"Is that so? I guess I went a little overboard then," Alec spoke as he chuckled a little, "But Lake, I hope you know, that was my honest opinion."
Seeing the smile on Alec’s face, I decided to suppress my distracting thoughts as there was probably no better time than now to fulfill my initial purpose for coming here.
"Do you remember that reward you owe me?" I spoke, my demeanor shifting slightly as a solemn air settled over the room.
The reward I’m talking about is naturally the one I got for accepting Sylph and her bodyguards into my team.
In the short time it took me to leave my room and swing open Alec’s door, I had already come up with a plan.
"Ah-" A look of realization dawned on Alec’s face. He seemed to have caught on to my real purpose for coming here.
After a short moment, Alec nodded his head slowly as he spoke.
"Yes, I do remember our previous arrangement."
"In exchange for taking the fairies into your team, we agreed to sponsor your training program."
Sponsorship. That was the original reward I had selected for being forced to accept the fairies into my team.
Meeting the deadline for the quest was no easy feat, even with the current training speed that has surpassed all of history. If I wanted to make sure that everyone was ready for when the time came, I needed to get some ’external aid’ to help push their training to the next level.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the cost even if I were to sell everything I had. When I checked the numbers for the ’external aid’, the average expenditure of one student for a day was around thirty thousand. I had to support over one hundred and fifty students, over a course of the next eleven months.
After some simple calculations, I would need roughly 1.5 billion dollars to support the bare minimum of one hundred and fifty students.
Naturally, I didn’t just have that much money lying around and needed to find a way to purchase everything. I could just get Kate to buy it for me, but another problem arose even after that.
The Academy’s security check.
That’s right, even if I had all the money, I wouldn’t even be able to transport a fifth of the materials I needed because most of them went against the Academy’s regulation rules.
Although I did hear that some second years managed to smuggle some weird stuff in, with the quantity I had to transport, I wouldn’t be able to do the same unnoticed.
I even thought of transporting them in the system inventory, but that idea was also quickly eliminated as the inventory space was limited. It couldn’t fit everything I needed, and transporting them bit by bit was extremely inefficient.
The only way I could think of to bypass this restriction was to get the official support of the Academy, which I had negotiated after a long talk with Alec.
"I want to negotiate a bit more."
Alec, who had a smile on his face, replied after hearing my request with the gentlest expression I had ever seen.
A warranted response.
"No. I am, in fact, perfectly sane." I lied without blinking. I mean, a guy like me who couldn’t even feel emotions in the first place couldn’t exactly be described as sane, now could he?
Besides, I hadn’t even said the craziest part yet.
Ignoring Alec’s remarks, I spoke in a calm yet serious tone.
"I want access to the bay region during the exam."
Suddenly, Alec burst out laughing, catching me slightly off guard.
"Oh~ You almost got me there. I didn’t know you were such a jokester, Lake."
"Hahaha, what a coincidence that I’m not joking."
"So you’re crazy then?"
Looking at Alec’s expression that had a comical look to it, I didn’t lose my serious expression despite joking around a bit.
"No, I’m dead serious. I want access to the bay region; furthermore, I want the access to also be granted and extended to all the other students."
This was my plan. Arguably—no, realistically, it was a horrible plan.
I want to drag the students, who were many times weaker than the hunters who’d be helplessly killed once the disaster happened, to the very site of the actual disaster.
If it was any other day, I would’ve called this plan a suicide mission, but something had been bothering me ever since I saw the disrupted fate of the slaughtered hunters.
If the disaster that happened was really cleaned up by the high-leveled hunters residing in the Stronghold after its revealed, doesn’t that mean whatever caused the disaster could be defeated if enough high-leveled hunters gathered together? And If so, doesn’t that mean a corpse would be left behind?
’And where there’s corpses, there’s also freshly disconnected fates...’
That’s right. I was motivated by greed to perform this ridiculous plan, but could you blame?
I was in desperate need of RP right now, and if I could gather a large sum of it thanks to just gathering some guardian hunters of the students in one place, why wouldn’t I?
Besides, I had already done a simple investigation. The average level of the guardian hunters was around the level of High-Rank Martial Warrior, with a few Martial Masters.
With a lineup like that, even if we couldn’t completely suppress the disaster, we should at least be able to escape.
"...You’re really serious, aren’t you?" Alec spoke with a solemn expression. It seems that he was finally taking my request seriously.
"You do know there are Rank Two creatures in abundance in the bay right? Not to mention the Rank Three ones hiding in the deeper areas."
"You’re aware, yet you’re telling me you want students, who can barely kill a Peak Rank One creature only after working together and spending a considerable amount of time, to gain access to that bay region?"
"Yes." Despite Alec’s clear expression of the absurdity of my request, I still answered with a strong resolution. I wasn’t about to lose the chance to acquire a large sum of RP.
Alec continued to stare at my face as if looking for something but eventually gave up.
"Hah, I can’t even see a hint of hesitation in you. Stinking Brat, you must’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?"
"Hahaha, I don’t plan on leaving your office until I gain permission, Teach!" I spoke in an almost monotone voice.
Alec seemed to have completely given up after hearing my reply as he helplessly sighed. With elbows resting on the table, he leaned forward as his intertwined fingers supported his head.
"Hmm, if it was just you, I could’ve probably worked something out." Alec seemed to be genuinely considering my request.
I was a little taken aback by it if I was being honest, but I guessed it made some sense. After all, despite our differences, Alec took his job very seriously, and as a student making an official request to his teacher, he had to at least consider it.
"However, it’s going to be difficult to get permission from the board to send the other students to the bay."
"Ah, about that, the others don’t actually have to go into the bay; they’ll just be stationed nearby."
"Hm? What do you mean?" Alec raised his head, slightly puzzled by my response.
"Well, I’ll be the only one actually going near the bay. Everyone else would be stationed a little further away."
"If that’s the case... I could probably work something out with the board."
Hearing Alec’s response, I was even more surprised again. This time I must’ve shown it on my face too as Alec seemed to have noticed my expression.
"Are you wondering why I’m giving in so easy to your request?"
"Yes." I answered honestly.
"I thought as much." Alec replied while sighing. "Its because you were probably going to be assigned a similar mission either way."
"...Huh?" My mind blanked when I heard Alec’s words.
"What? Did you think the Academy would’ve left you alone after you finished the exam within the first day? Did you forget our Academy’s purpose?"
"To nurture hunters..?"
"No! Its to break and rebuild stronger hunters!"
"Sorry, I don’t quite follow..."
"Lake, right now, you’re like an extremely sharp and sturdy sword."
"It is our Academy’s job, to find excellent swords like you, before we break them and reforge them as even sharper and sturdier swords!" The grin on Alec’s face widened as he spoke.
"We train you and push you to your breaking point, before breaking you completely and building you back up even stronger and then breaking you again! That is how our Academy operates. Isn’t it pretty similar to your training program?"
Hearing Alec’s words, I stood there in a momentary daze.
’As expected of a demonic Academy.’
As I had this thought, I suddenly realized something else about Alec’s earlier description of me.
’So that’s why he called me the Demonic Leader... This bastard must’ve already recognized me as one of them!’