Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 222 Shrimp King

At the Magic Railcar Station in the eastern part of Spring City.

Ritas, who had taken a day off, held a white disc in one hand and a thick, long list in the other.

After roughly confirming the contents of the list several times, Ritas frowned slightly.

"Goddess of Bathing, could you tell me more about that Rodrigo student?"

The "Rodrigo" that Ritas mentioned is one of the "forced choice" options faced by the protagonist in the second semester of the "Star Emblem" game storyline.

Overall, the forced choice between two options in the game's storyline is based on special events each semester.

Ritas found this surprising quite reasonable.

After all, it starts as one semester, but as time goes on, it becomes one, two, and three years.

They were both in the same college, but we hadn't seen each other for three whole years. Then they suddenly appeared at the start of the new semester. It's a very strange thing no matter how you look at it.

Unless, prior to each "forced choice" point, the protagonist has almost no way to interact with those forced objects.

After the goddess of bathing gave a brief account, Ritas realized that there were actually quite a few "special events" in the academy life.

For example, the mandatory choice between two options in the second year occurred last semester with two general education lecturers.

Perhaps it's because, in the game world, with the headmaster's disappearance, the academy has become extremely chaotic in places unseen by the students. As a result, the historically significant Erles Academy is unable to find enough lecturers for the new semester's general education courses and has to temporarily recruit a batch.

In reality, however, Earls College is currently in a very stable state.

That's why, with about half a year left before the second academic year, Ritas was already wondering if he would ever meet the two lecturers who were caught up in the "choose one of two" dilemma.

The same thing happened to two outsiders in the second semester of the second academic year.

Since almost all magic academies on the continent have the same academic year, by the second semester of the second year in the elementary school, the students in the advanced school, who are already in their final semester of their academy careers, have reached a point where they must start planning for their future on their own.

For graduates of magic academies, continuing their careers at research institutes is undoubtedly one of the most desirable options.

However, each college has a limited number of affiliated research institutes, and direct entry is not easy. Outstanding students often aspire to work at more prestigious, larger institutes that better suit their research interests. Consequently, some inevitably seek opportunities at other colleges' research institutes, while others simply try their luck as interns.

The choice between the two candidates in the second semester of the second academic year was made between the two research interns.

As for the third year...

With the current elementary school being upgraded to an advanced school, a new batch of students will flood into the academy. Therefore, in the mandatory two-choice selection that semester, the identities of the two selected individuals are self-evident.

"Hmm? 'Shrimp King'? Why are you suddenly bringing him up?"

"Prince?"

Ritas was taken aback. This elementary school student from another academy—what a prestigious title!
"Ah, didn't I mention that? Actually, it's not strictly speaking the 'Emperor of Law' title. The emphasis of this title is on the 'shrimp.' Rodrigo has a spell that can summon a magical shrimp. The spell itself is quite weak, but it has low mana cost, simple casting conditions, short cooldown, and inexplicably it's a flying unit. So, it became a favorite among players."

Ignoring Ritas's "here we go again" expression, the goddess of the bath continued her story with great enthusiasm.

"You know, it's a strategy game. Being attacked first or surrounded is a major taboo. So, to avoid these situations, it often happens that the main force huddles together and slowly advances, resulting in a long, drawn-out standoff between the enemy and ourselves at the limit of each other's attack range. However, with the Shrimp Emperor using his magical shrimp to scout and lure the enemy, these phenomena are alleviated a lot. As a result, in the later stages when our own characters are all over the place and magic is somewhat awkward in that environment, even traditional mage characters struggle to be used. Only the Shrimp Emperor can still occupy a key position."

"A chaotic dance of demons."

Magic seems to be considered inferior, but Ritas doesn't seem to care much.

On one hand, a game is a game, and reality is reality. On the other hand, through the battle between Melsie and the unknown tenth Darkin in the World Tree Labyrinth, Ritas truly felt that the "Star Mark Emblem" was a system that could acquire immense power in a relatively short period of time.

Perhaps a legendary archmage who has dedicated their life to magic can still surpass even second- and third-tier Starweavers. But how many such mages are there on the entire continent?
Therefore, an academy mage who has grown up alongside the protagonist in the game for less than four years would normally be unable to compete with a Star Marker in terms of combat power.

"However, just having the highest usage rate among mages isn't enough to warrant the nickname 'Shrimp Mage King.' This title mainly comes from a rather unconventional playstyle. In the game's storyline, there's a mid-boss named 'Lionheart' in the Beast Empire storyline. Because it's a late-game boss, it's very difficult to defeat even in multiple playthroughs. But perhaps due to a design flaw, 'Lionheart' can't target magical summons with single-target skills, and his area-of-effect skills can't target air units. This makes the Magic Shrimp completely invincible in front of 'Lionheart.'"

"Furthermore, Lionheart's target acquisition range is limited, so he won't attack characters in the far corners of the arena. As a result, Rodrigo developed a strategy to solo Lionheart using a series of targeted builds."

"Can any other character take on Lionheart one-on-one?"

"After that hilarious video, 'Shrimp Emperor' officially ascended the throne!"

"."

It really is another piece of useless knowledge I've gained.

With a sigh, Ritas knew that asking further would be futile. The Goddess of Bath's understanding of Rodrigo was probably limited to what she knew about the game battlefield.

"So, what's wrong with Shrimp Emperor? He's one of the few male characters I would actively choose. Without Shrimp, every time we go to the battlefield, it's basically just waiting for the hawk to fly, which is a real waste of time."

"What exactly is this 'Summoning Magic Shrimp' magic? In short, the Shrimp Emperor didn't appear on the guest list. So, he probably won't come to Erles Academy, let alone be selected to transfer to this academy."

"Huh—? How could this happen?"

The goddess of bathing couldn't help but let out a surprised sound.

The reason why the storyline that doesn't appear in the "Star Pattern" game appears is mostly due to Ritas.

But what exactly did Ritas do to spread his influence to other magic academies, causing students who were originally scheduled to attend the academy exchange meeting to be unable to come?
"What about Meimei? Is Meimei unable to come either?"

The "Meimei" mentioned by the goddess of bathing was not an affectionate name she occasionally used, but rather the name of this student from another academy.

Meme and Rodrigo were the two people forced to choose one of the two in the second semester.

"She's on the list. It's unbelievable that someone actually has such a name."

Ritas couldn't help but sigh.

"Oh, never mind then. I've always felt guilty about not choosing Meimei in the game. Now, let me turn that guilt into love, take responsibility, and marry Meimei!"

The mere thought of the beautiful girl completely erased his memory of the illustrious "Shrimp Emperor's" bathing goddess, and he began to indulge in sweet dreams again. "Meme is a student of the 'Obsidian Magic Tower,' while Rodrigo is a student of the 'Baiano Military Magic Academy.' So, if we follow the logic of the game, and choose Meme..."

"The Bayano Military Magic Academy will fall after the great war begins."

Upon hearing the words of the goddess of bathing, Ritas fell into a brief silence.

According to the goddess of bathing, the forced choice between two options is the biggest malice of the "Star Mark Emblem" game.

Like Cecilia and Engri, the abandoned party will degenerate into a cadre of the Demon King's army.

Meme and Rodrigo, the one who is abandoned will die at the very beginning of the great war, and their academy will fall completely.

What's even more malicious is that it would have been better if the protagonist hadn't triggered a friendly relationship with the side that gave up in the second semester's storyline. After all, in the end, all they got was the fall of a distant academy and the death of a stranger.

Once the friendly storyline is triggered, either Meme or Rodrigo will write to the protagonist every semester during their subsequent school life, becoming the protagonist's pen pal.

Furthermore, at the start of the great battle, the protagonist will receive a request for aid from one of the two sides. However, even after receiving the request, the protagonist will still resolutely choose to reinforce the former academy of the side forced to choose between the two.

Thus, those who are abandoned will still die in battle, and their respective academies will still fall.

The only difference is that when the protagonist goes to the fallen academy, he will find an unsent letter and a suicide note filled with despair on the bodies of those who died in battle.

"Uh, if I remember correctly, that Baiano Academy is located in the western border of the kingdom, isn't it? Is that close to your hometown?"

Sensing that Ritas's condition was somewhat unusual, the Goddess of Bath pondered for a moment and then figured out the root cause of the anomaly.

"Although it's not exactly close on foot, it's practically right next to the map. So, the fall of Baiano Academy basically means that the Western Territory has also fallen."

"Ugh. Well, don't worry so much. A lot of things have changed, right? At worst, if a world-ending war really breaks out, we can go to reinforce the West immediately. In short, it definitely won't happen that the West falls because you didn't choose Rodrigo. Or rather, it's not that you didn't choose him, it's that he simply isn't coming!"

"I"

It's not that slender.

Ritas wanted to explain, but in the end decided against it.

He had actually been thinking about why the Demon King's army had tried to take over the magic academy at the beginning of the great war.

The academy isn't a royal palace, a papacy, or a fortress—a place that, once occupied, causes a huge impact. It can't be that every academy has a "World Tree maze" buried beneath it.

Furthermore, considering the choice between Cecilia and Engri, it's not as simple as it seems on the surface. At least, Engri's side involves forces like the "Star People." Therefore, Ritas believes that something is hidden behind Meme and Rodrigo as well.

It's not so strange that unselected areas would fall, but rather that selected areas wouldn't fall as long as reinforcements were sent.

"Oh right, I don't think I've asked why the Shrimp Emperor couldn't come to the academy exchange meeting."

Recalling Ritas's earlier words, the Goddess of Bath felt that he was only concerned about the potential impact of Rodrigo's absence. He didn't seem to have any doubts about whether Rodrigo would come or not.

"Because, probably this person took Rodrigo's place."

The Magic Academy Exchange Meeting is not a trip, nor is it for leisure or a vacation. Therefore, the number of students from other academies attending the exchange meeting is limited.

Therefore, if there is one more person on the list than in the timeline of the "Star Pattern" game, the end of the list will be reduced by one person accordingly.

"Squeeze out? Let me see, Charlotte Elson? Eh? Elson!?"

The strange noise made by the goddess of the bath in her great surprise was the reason why Ritas was certain that no other "Elson" had ever appeared in the "Star Pattern" game.

"So, you came all this way today just to pick up Xia Luoluo? Tell me! Who exactly is she to you?!"

"."

So, the goddess of bathing had no idea what he was doing, and just stayed there with him, enjoying the scenery.

“Strictly speaking, she can’t be considered anyone. She’s just my adoptive father Roland’s daughter, and she’s a little younger than me.”

Ritas said calmly.

"Ugh, here we go again, with that awkward way of saying it. Couldn't you just say she's your adopted sister?!"

Because Ritas always said this, the goddess of the bath once thought that Ritas's family relationships were very twisted. However, after witnessing Cortriene and Ritas's interactions, she discovered that the Elson family's relationships seemed quite good.

So, we don't know exactly where the problem lies.

Just as Ritas was conversing with the goddess of bathing, another voice joined the conversation.
"Hey~ Ritas, you're still calling us that way even now~"

As he spoke, the arm that was placed on Ritas's shoulder startled him.

Because of the presence of Miriam, a "porcupine," Ritas's true nature was somewhat obscured. In reality, he was also someone who extremely disliked being touched.

Ritas's reaction to being suddenly touched was actually quite subtle. However, compared to his usual composure, his surprise gave off a rather startling feeling.

"Corteline."

After recognizing the person who greeted him in this way, Ritas breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside of work hours, Cortrienne, dressed in casual clothes, put on that oversized sun hat that she had somehow gotten her hands on.

"Hiding behind a pillar like that. If I hadn't heard the goddess's voice, it would have been really difficult to find you."

Cortrienne shook her head and sighed softly, then greeted the goddess of the bath with renewed vigor.

And when they saw that not only Ritas needed to take time off to greet them, but Cortriñe was also present.

Even before meeting Xia Luoluo, the Goddess of Bath had already identified the daughter of the Sword Saint as an "important person".

(End of this chapter)