"Phew…… I think I can finally live a little now."
Northwest of the Academy, the old school building that had been abandoned and sealed off for years.
I flopped down onto a worn-out sofa draped in cobwebs after roughly brushing away the dust, and a sigh of relief escaped my lips before I knew it.
It had been only two days since I received that grand 'Student Supervisor' golden badge from the Headmaster's office.
Those two days had been like hell for me. The moment I appeared wearing the badge, Elara, Silvia, and Aurelia—
these three crazy heroines had not left my side for a single second, claiming they would 'assist' me in the most blatant fashion.
'A mastermind who holds power naturally needs close aides befitting his stature,' or something like that.
When I ate, Silvia had claimed she would check for poison and licked my spoon first (she was clearly insane),
and when I went to the restroom, Elara stood guard in front of the door wrapped in sword qi.
Even Princess Aurelia dragged a chair right next to mine and blocked other students' approaches with nothing but her gaze.
[Status Abnormality: Chronic fatigue is accumulating due to 'Excessive Harem Obsession.' Vitality decreases by 1%.]
In the end, I had to run away to survive.
Using the golden badge's first authority—'Unrestricted Access and Control Over All Academy Facilities'—
I created my own absolute secret resting room in this sealed old school building that no one visited.
"If those obsessive stalker ladies won't be able to find their way here. Maybe I'll take a nice, long nap……."
The moment I buried myself deep into the sofa and tried to close my eyes.
Clank, screech-.
From somewhere came the sound of an old iron door opening, along with heavy footsteps and voices from the end of the old school building's hallway.
"Is this all the cargo that came in today? Those broker bastards didn't pull any tricks in the middle again, did they?"
"No, Professor Vain. These are top-grade mana stones received directly from the back-alley 'Black Rat' merchant guild.
They have already been neatly processed in the ledgers as having been 'damaged' during Academy practical training."
I quietly hid myself under the sofa.
'Professor Vain? He's the one in charge of first-year practical magic. Why would that man be in this abandoned old school building…….'
The original story's setting flashed quickly through my head.
Professor Vain. On the surface, he pretended to be a strict educator,
but in reality, he was trash who siphoned off top-grade magic supplies delivered to the Academy through the back door and sold them to back-alley brokers.
There was an episode around the middle of the original story where the protagonist, Rumen, exposed and punished his corruption.
'No way, of all places, the spot I picked for a nap was their illegal logistics warehouse?!'
As I was swallowing curses inwardly and wondering how to slip away from this place quietly,
"I-it can't be…… Professor! The warehouse door is open, and the barrier has been dispelled!"
At his assistant's voice filled with shock, Professor Vain's footsteps accelerated madly and approached the room I was hiding in.
I belatedly remembered that when I entered the old school building, I had used the 'Student Supervisor's authority to unlock all the cumbersome locking devices.
"Which rat bastard dared enter my warehouse!! Come out right now!!"
Professor Vain shouted, condensing a flame orb brimming with killing intent at the tip of his staff.
Since I'd been caught anyway, continuing to hide would only be unsightly. I deliberately put on a tired expression, leaned on my staff, and leisurely walked out from behind the sofa.
"How noisy. Just where did you learn the rudeness of disturbing someone else's precious nap time, Professor Vain?"
"K-Kailan von Cliff……?!"
The moment he recognized me, Vain's face twisted instantly. He soon donned a sinister smile and dismissed the flame orb.
"This is surprising. What brings the Count's mad dog to such a shabby place? But you were unlucky. No matter what you've seen, you won't leave this old school building alive today."
At Vain's gesture, four or five thugs with vicious faces who had been waiting behind him drew their weapons at once and surrounded me.
'This is crazy, how am I supposed to deal with those muscle pigs with this frail body of mine?'
But my outward appearance was colder and more arrogant than ever. I flicked up one of their 'secret ledgers' rolling on the floor with my toe and caught it.
"You plan to kill me. Before that, might I take a look at this shoddy ledger?"
I flicked through the ledger and clicked my tongue.
"Pathetic. If you're going to embezzle, do it properly. 'Three hundred mana stones processed as damaged'?
According to Article 12, Chapter 4 of the Academy's practical training regulations, the destruction of Class-3 or higher mana stones must be witnessed by three or more professors, with a destruction certificate issued.
Yet the only seal stamped here is yours."
I turned the next page and scoffed.
"And the state of your distribution network. You funnel goods through the 'Black Rat' merchant guild to the outskirts of the capital? Listen here, Vain.
The logistics tax for the Outer Capital Merchant Alliance has risen by 15 percent since last month.
If you pay commissions to small-time gang brokers and deduct transport fees on top of that, is there even anything left? Setting up a shell merchant guild and running the distribution network directly is the bare basics."
As if a seasoned uncle who had weathered every storm were scolding a child's prank, bone-shaking advice disguised as facts flowed smoothly from my mouth.
As I perfectly pointed out the Academy's detailed regulations and the blind spots of back-alley illegal distribution, Professor Vain's complexion turned pale like wax.
"H-how do you…… how do you know everything from the Academy regulations' sub-clauses to the commission rates of back-alley distribution networks so precisely!"
I tapped the brilliant golden badge on my chest and smiled slyly.
"It seems you've forgotten that I am the student 'Supervisor.' Did you think you could move even a single gold within the Academy behind my back?"
(Professor Vain's Internal Filtering)
'I-it's absurd……! This brat didn't enter here by chance. He perfectly grasped our cash flow, distribution network, even the backing of the brokers, and came here to cut off my head!
That badge…… it means even the Headmaster has submitted to him and entrusted all of the Academy's dirty work to him! That bastard…… he is the great abyss itself trying to swallow the Academy whole!!'
"K-kill him!! Kill him right now!!"
Vain, driven mad by extreme terror, shrieked at the mercenaries.
The instant the mercenaries bellowed war cries and charged at me,
among the three energies curled up inside my body (sword qi, frost, and imperial mana), Silvia's chilly mana began rampaging as a defense mechanism regardless of my will.
[Trait 'Mana Container (EX)' detects a threat and releases stored mana!]
Phaaaaaah-!!
The moment I tapped my staff down against the floor with a thud.
The entire old school building hallway froze into a glacier of absolute zero in an instant.
The mercenaries leaping at me became perfect ice sculptures suspended mid-air and slammed into the floor.
"H-heek……!!"
As Vain's own legs froze solid, he dropped his staff and prostrated himself on the floor, trembling like an aspen tree.
I was sweating buckets inwardly.
'Crazy, Silvia's mana was this strong? If I had messed up controlling it, I could have frozen to death too!'
But outwardly, I looked down at Vain with a bored and indifferent expression, as if I had merely crushed a bug.
"So. You were going to kill me?"
"P-please spare me!! I beg you, just my life……!!"
Vain slammed his forehead against the frozen floor until it seemed it would split open, screaming in desperation.
"I will offer all the embezzled funds I've gathered, the ledgers, and the entire distribution network to the young master…… no, to the great Supervisor!
Please use me as the Supervisor's loyal dog!!"
I placed a hand on my forehead.
'This guy, does he have no pride as an Academy professor?'
But thinking about it calmly, it wasn't bad. If I confiscated his embezzled funds, I could fill my lacking slush fund,
and I could legally use the old school building's warehouse as my personal break room.
I tossed the ledger down in front of Vain and declared coldly.
"From today, all management and control of this old school building falls under my authority. And dismantle that filthy distribution network of yours immediately.
If I catch you playing tricks even once more before my eyes, I will have your head displayed in the public square."
"I understand, I will engrave it upon my heart, my lord!!"
Situation concluded.
I hummed inwardly at the thought that I had kicked out the baggage and could finally lie back down on the fluffy sofa.
But I didn't know.
Of the two people watching this entire scene from the bare tree outside the old school building window.
"……Look at that, Headmaster. Was I not right?"
The Hero of Justice, Rumen, spat out this eerie remark while glaring out the window with bloodshot eyes.
Beside him stood Headmaster Ignis, cloaked in invisibility magic, swallowing dryly with a face filled with horror.
Rumen had found Kailan's movements toward the old school building suspicious yesterday and led the Headmaster to stake the place out.
(Rumen's Automatic Brain Translation)
'That demon wasn't simply employing dark mages.
He's perfectly seizing control of the rotten professors inside the Academy using the blind spots of regulations and laws, turning them into his limbs!
Not just force, but that terrifying cunning and intelligence…… Kailan is now trying to build a massive dictatorship with both the light and darkness of the Academy kneeling at his feet!!'
(Headmaster Ignis's Brain Translation)
'Ooh, heavens! To think that as soon as he was given the golden badge, he so perfectly and legally swept away Professor Vain's illegal distribution network that the Academy hadn't been able to uncover for decades!
That meticulous intelligence and ruthless purging technique hidden behind that arrogant demeanor…… an overwhelming charisma befitting a true Monarch of the Abyss!
If we carelessly provoke him, even our Imperial Family might be dismantled so logically and legally!'
Ignis trembled as if a chill had run down his spine and muttered.
"Rumen…… do not provoke him under any circumstances for the time being. With our current strength…… we cannot escape that absolute darkness's control."
"……I know."
Blood dripped from Rumen's clenched fist.
"That is why I…… will descend into a deeper abyss to gain the power to tear that monster apart. Even if I must burn in infernal flames!"
[Warning! The original protagonist 'Rumen' has despaired at Kailan's 'overwhelming dominance' and resolved to head to the forbidden training ground, the 'Demon Dragon's Nest'!]
[The true villains hidden in the world feel terror at the emergence of the new absolute power (Kailan) and prostrate themselves before him!]
[Your infamy and reputation explode simultaneously!]
As I was lying on the sofa about to fall into a sweet nap, I closed my eyes in deep despair at the red system messages flashing madly in the air.
"Phew……. Why is it that whenever I try to rest, the world takes one step closer to destruction……."
My humble complaint merely echoed desolately through the empty old school building.