Episode 82: Otherworld-Style Wuxia (1)
News of the secret room discovered by Rena’s mischievous friends spread throughout the Academy in an instant, quickly becoming a sensational hot topic.
“To think there really was a hidden secret room in the Academy! It’s just like something out of a novel. Could there be other secrets still hidden away?”
“It was discovered by the Saintess and Sir Joshua’s group, right? As expected, those four really are something special.”
“It was a place where black mages worshipped an Evil God? This reeks of a massive conspiracy! If we dig deeper, it might turn into a huge incident just like in novels…!”
The fact that something truly hidden existed within the Academy—which had only ever been rife with rumors—stoked everyone’s sense of mystery. Combined with the fame of Rena and her friends as the original discoverers, along with the traces of Evil God worship, it created a situation truly worthy of a novel, making it a sensational and gossip-worthy topic.
“Thanks to that, I suffered so much… I got back after a whole week away and couldn’t even rest. I was called here and there for questioning! I wasn’t even there when they found the secret room!”
And so, Rena and her friends—the original discoverers—had just returned from a business trip. Unable to rest properly and being dragged all over the place, they had only just barely made it home. Rena herself complained that she hadn’t even been present, but… well, that’s what being a team leader is like.
“So, what happened? Why was a secret room like that hidden in the Academy?”
“It hasn’t been completely revealed yet, but it seems to be the traces of former seniors who attended the Academy long ago?”
“So it was before I got involved? That’s a relief.”
Following the Academy’s investigation, I heaved a sigh of relief, since it fortunately didn’t appear to be something created while I was renovating the Academy. If it had been secretly made during the renovations, I could have shouldered some of the responsibility too.
*That took ten years off my life.*
And contrary to some students’ thrilling predictions, it apparently wasn’t particularly related to any grand conspiracy.
“They said it wasn’t exactly a systematic or professional space. More like something they copied after overhearing it somewhere?”
Even so, it was still blasphemous and dangerous. But it didn’t seem connected to any super-massive conspiracy like preparing to offer the entire Academy as a sacrifice.
“The chances are high that they were commoner-born students, or students from poor households. It’s said that desperate people like that easily fall for the temptation of black mages or Evil God worship.”
“Should I call that a small mercy?”
“It is, in a way. If someone influential had been hiding a truly dangerous conspiracy, I wouldn’t have the leisure to chat with my brother like this, would I?”
Of course, even so, the severity of this incident didn’t diminish. The very fact that a site of Evil God worship had appeared was a problem, and it had been brazenly hidden in the Academy for several years. If things went wrong, it could damage the prestige of the royal family, the administrators.
*Above all, finding Evil God worship in your own front yard couldn’t put anyone in a good mood.*
Seeing how His Majesty’s expression had frozen over in real time while hearing the news alongside me, I doubt he saw it as anything less than a deliberate insult from the black mages.
As a result, the Academy was reportedly twisting itself in every direction, pouring all efforts into resolving the matter to avoid the King’s rebuke. Word was that the Headmaster, an Archmage himself, had personally turned the Academy upside down searching every nook and cranny, and had even begun a pursuit; suffice to say, that said it all. If things went wrong, it could become negligence under his management, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth. If the culprits were caught, they would taste the full fury of an Archmage’s rampage.
“The problem is that my friends and I got roped into helping too…”
“Huh? Why?”
Why would they entrust such an important matter to students?
“I didn’t want to do it, okay? But those guys stepped up saying they wanted to help too, so I got forced into it…”
“Oh…”
“Just why would they volunteer for such a bothersome and dangerous mission, saying it looks fun instead? And since our skills are unnecessarily good, the Headmaster even said stuff like, ‘I suppose I can trust you with this!’”
“Um… w-well, hang in there…”
It looked like my little sister had gotten caught up with the wrong friends and was in for some suffering. Still, seeing that she wasn’t running away alone but was sticking with her friends to the end, she seemed to be on good terms with them, which was a relief. I offered Rena some consolation and quietly slipped out of the room, telling her to rest alone.
*If I stayed any longer, she might start throwing spells at me, blaming it all on her friends getting obsessed with my novels.*
When a fire breaks out at someone else’s house, you don’t go to watch—you run away. Hmm-hmm.
And separate from Rena getting dragged into that work, I too had received a mission through Count Lucid.
“Why do you think the people fall for the temptation of black mages or Evil Gods?”
“I suppose it’s because of the image that one can easily gain power. Power available to anyone, regardless of status or wealth.”
In a world where educational opportunities were not fairly given to everyone, and even talent followed bloodlines to some degree, people facing painful situations because they lacked power couldn’t help but easily fall for such temptations.
And this was something I truly didn’t understand either, but there seemed to be people who felt a secret “coolness” from black mages.
*Kind of like cult groups or secret organizations from my past life?*
It was extremely chuunibyou-like, yet even Academy students who were supposedly elites fell for it. That must have been why they boldly built a secret room right inside the Academy, even though they were nothing but evil, dreadful cultists at their core.
“Exactly. So we need to shatter that image, or at the very least lower it to the extreme. Then people will naturally stop being enticed by such things.”
“That’s true, isn’t it?”
If they were enticed because they felt it would help them and because it looked cool, then removing that image would naturally remove the enticement.
“And the greatest expert at adjusting and flipping such images is right before my eyes.”
“Yes?”
“I’m asking you. Please put in some effort. Let’s use this opportunity to turn black mages into a completely useless group with zero coolness—just trash. Hahaha.”
“What?”
Well…
To put it simply, I had ended up taking on a plan from Count Lucid and the royal family to tank the black mages’ image.
*Wasn’t the decisive cause of a notorious racist group collapsing in my past life the fact that their image was ruined as a childish chuunibyou group through a radio show where they were humiliated by a hero character?*
It seemed the Count and the royal family wanted me to play such a role.
*It’s not a bad thing, and it’s necessary, so I have no complaints about doing it itself.*
But lately, I felt like they were treating me like some futuristic cat robot that pulls out universal tools. Well, from Count Lucid and the royal family’s standpoint, there was no need to exert effort elsewhere when they had an expert like me right there.
Anyway.
Since I’d taken on the job, I was thinking of properly wrecking the black mages’ image.
*Because black mages and Evil God worship have no place in my peaceful otherworld cultural life.*
They had nothing good to offer even if left alone, and they were nuisances on a global scale, not just a national one. They were nothing but evil, so I had no hesitation about tearing down their image and shoving them into a cesspit. Both for my sake and for others’.
*The problem was how to tear down that image.*
Simply depicting black mages and Evil Gods as evil was somehow insufficient. Those tempted by them already knew full well that they were evil, so saying bad guys were bad didn’t mean much. If done wrong, it might inadvertently plant an image of them being chuunibyou-cool, like some popular villain characters.
Therefore, more boldly.
I needed to instill the perception that black mages and Evil Gods were incredibly cruel, and that joining them didn’t grant power but only meant being ground down as disposable goods or sacrifices. As a bonus, I should also plant an image of them being pathetic, gloomy, and suffering needlessly.
*For example, I could emphasize their squalid lives, sleeping with stinking corpses in cold, damp burrows. Or pathetic scenes of them being chased around while robbing other people’s graves.*
After pondering all of that together, one genre came to mind.
“How about adapting a xianxia novel in an otherworld style?”
To be precise, assigning the dark side of wuxia to the black mages and the Evil God, and the bright side to the protagonist.
*If I changed the perception so that becoming a follower of a black mage or Evil God didn’t grant the desired power, but instead meant being torn apart by them to become nothing but sacrifices, ingredients for pills, or corpse suppliers?*
And conversely, if I emphasized the nobility and strength of the protagonist and the righteous gods?
Wouldn’t the motivation to become a black mage or worship an Evil God plummet dramatically? After all, no one would willingly volunteer to become a sacrifice. And in reality, that was exactly how it was.
“Good. I should refine the setting and story based on this idea.”
Though it was a bit different since it was gods rather than immortal sages.
I’d started looking forward to seeing how an otherworld-style wuxia novel would turn out.