Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 425 Valentine Behemoth
At midday, in the treatment room of Earls College.

Ritas pushed open the door to a hospital room. Although Ritas's movements were very gentle, the young man lying in the room was still awakened by the noise and slowly opened his eyes.

"Now that you're awake, it's been a while since I've greeted you, Associate Professor Valentine Behemoth."

Normally, out of courtesy, one would address someone as "Professor," even if they are an associate professor. However, Ritas, who usually follows this courtesy, emphasized the word "Associate" when addressing Valentine.

Valentine Behemoth.

The young man, whose handsome face was so striking that he could hardly be identified even when disguised as a woman, was the real name of the "practical" mage who had fought alongside Ritas the previous night.

"It's been so many years! I didn't expect to see you like this upon meeting again. As expected, life in Ers is never boring."

Lying in his hospital bed, Valentine, who was quite weak, sighed.

Mingming had gotten herself into a strange incident while visiting her junior the night before. But Valentine didn't seem to want to find out or investigate it at all.

"Although Teacher Shu's healing skills are as high as ever, isn't it a bit too fast that you're alive and kicking after only one night, with your internal organs in disarray? Or did you deliberately use that teleportation magic to injure me?"

"If I could manipulate teleportation magic more skillfully, I would stage an accident to physically castrate you. That would be a good thing for everyone in this world."

Ritas replied with a cold expression.

"Oops, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have questioned you!"

Valentine gasped and apologized earnestly.

The reason why Ritas's injuries were limited was that after several teleportations, he had also made many improvements to his magic.

Besides reducing the damage caused by the teleportation process, Ritas also injects magic into his body before teleporting to stabilize the internal organs that might be affected. This process is also harmful to the body, and dissipating or expelling the magic will cause secondary damage. However, compared to the damage caused by the teleportation magic itself, this damage is undoubtedly much less.

However, even with numerous improvements, Ritas has still encountered a new bottleneck: the cost of using teleportation magic cannot be further reduced. Therefore, currently, whether teleporting alone or with others, it cannot be used continuously or frequently.

"Whether it's teleportation magic or the magic you used with that lantern, it hasn't been that long, yet your progress and changes in magic are so great that I almost don't recognize you anymore. Before, didn't you think that focusing your energy on these practical spells was just a futile waste of time? I wonder who you've been fighting all this time?"

Valentine remarked.

It wasn't until he met Valentine, someone who understood his past and had made achievements in magic, that Ritas realized how significant and extraordinary his changes and leaps had been over the past year, even to an abnormal degree.

Previously, he genuinely believed that he was simply climbing the steps in an orderly and gradual manner.

As for who he was fighting...
This question, which didn't seem like a question at all, actually stumped Ritas.

Come to think of it, Erles Academy, besides the "Tree Witch" and the "Pioneer," now also has a Stone Whisperer called the "Thoroughbred." That means three of the four sages are gathered in such a small place. It's almost as if Erles Academy is the center of some world.

Therefore, the various problems he is currently facing are less his own problems and more problems of Earls Academy, or even of this land of destiny.

So, perhaps the only ones who can truly be called enemies are John and his world-destroying organization?
But at times, Ritas wasn't so sure. John's two appearances brought a crisis to Ers's rebirth once and internal strife to the Westerlands once, and also put him in danger.

At the same time, John didn't seem to be really trying to kill him.
The maze incident served as a wake-up call for him. The fairytale world, on the other hand, seemed to force him to confront a hidden part of the world's reality in a rather brutal way.

Unable to find an answer immediately, Ritas simply focused his attention on Valentine.

Valentine Behemoth.

He's just as good as ever; I don't know if it's because he has keen insight or because he's a peculiar person who can always get to the point without saying a word.

"Compared to my transformation, you are the one who is even less recognizable. A man in his thirties dressing up as a woman, don't you have even the slightest sense of shame?"

"Compared to the ninety years of life I have left, a little shame is nothing."

Valentine sighed deeply.

"Is it because of Winry again?"

“Winley? Ah. Although we haven’t been in contact since, she is still one of the most important women in my life. Although Winley did have some violent tendencies, now that I think about it, her violence was, well, a kind of cute violence.”

"."

Cute and violent.

This was the first time Ritas had ever heard of these two words being put together.

"After leaving Earls, I encountered many more of the most important women in my life. And after they realized my philanthropy, some wanted to kill me, some wanted me to take responsibility, some wanted me to sign a slave oath, some wanted to imprison me forever, and some wanted a part of my body as a keepsake heart or something. But I had no choice! I know I am deeply sinful! But it is precisely to atone for these sins that I, as a sinner, must bring happiness to more women in this vast world—! Cough cough cough cough!"

When he got emotional, Valentine coughed up a lot of blood, which aggravated his wound.

"So, it's all to avoid women again?"

"How can you call it hiding? Well, to a professor who doesn't know about 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' my actions might indeed be considered hiding—how so? I might have found a few slightly troublesome partners. They've even teamed up, resulting in their spies practically covering the entire kingdom."

"Slightly? Somewhat?"

"Ahem! And Earls Academy is the blind spot of all, isn't it? No one would have imagined that I would return to the place where the most people know me! And no one would have imagined that I, who wanted to spread my love throughout the world, would disguise myself as a woman and hide away—"

“I will announce your hiding place at Erles Academy through all news agencies and newspapers.”

"No!!!!"

As Ritas turned to leave, he heard the sound of Valentine rolling off the bed. But Ritas ignored it and walked straight out of the treatment room.

After leaving the treatment center, Ritas looked at the white disc he was holding in his hand, which was actually already unfolded.

Ritas wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the white discs looked rather wilted.

"Xiao Li."

With a hint of tears welling up, the goddess of bathing spoke pitifully.

Ritas might not have been able to understand this under normal circumstances, but today he could understand the feelings of the goddess of the bath.

Anyone would be stunned to learn that Valentine, whom he had been calling "wife" so loudly, was actually that kind of person. "Actually, Goddess of Bath, you don't need to worry too much. Faith Behemoth is a real person, Valentine's sister. Because Valentine was in Ers during her school years, she ended up attending the Brascher Royal Magic Academy. However, I recall that she also had a lecturer qualification, so she could have worked at Ers Academy."

"Does Ms. Fafesse really exist?"

The goddess of the bath, who was on the verge of death, has shown some signs of life again.

“I have no reason to fabricate lies, Goddess of Bath. It is precisely because Miss Faith truly exists that Valentine’s disguise makes sense. Otherwise, a nameless mage could not have suddenly come to serve in Ers. Even if he could, he would have been quickly detected by those who are hunting him down.”

What Ritas didn't mention was that Valentine was quite notorious. Therefore, unless Livis was the headmistress of Earls Academy, no one else would allow him to take a position at the academy.

Livis agreed not only because she found it interesting, but also because she knew Valentine quite well.

Although Valentine was a womanizer, likely encountering a lover every ten steps on the streets of Spring City, he also had his own bottom line and principles, and would not lay a hand on his students.

So he worked around Earls for quite some time, but those scandals involving men and women mostly happened between him and his colleagues and people outside the college.

"Oh, I see! Whew. That puts my mind at ease. If Ms. Faith really was Valentine in disguise, I don't know how I would face her from now on! Speaking of which, I remember in some of the affection-building storylines, Ms. Faith would mention that she kept a pest in her house or something, which sounded quite interesting."

As always, the goddess of bathing only recalls many crucial details "afterwards".

"Just a 'pest'? Miss Faith, you truly are as described, possessing an angelic heart."

Ritas couldn't help but sigh.

"Just how much do you dislike him? Even though we haven't known each other for very long, I already don't really like him anymore."

The goddess of bathing said in a subtle tone.

Since there was no need to keep Valentine's identity a secret, Ritas gave a brief introduction to the goddess of bathing before going to the ward.

Valentine Behemoth was the former deputy director of the "Tree Witch Research Institute".

Because the director of this research institute, Livis, had never been involved in any affairs. Therefore, during the time Ritas joined, Valentine was effectively the highest authority in the Tree Witch Research Institute.

However, Valentine himself was not arrogant at all and never acted like a "boss." Instead, he led Ritas, a clueless young man who had just graduated from the academy, to do a lot of absurd things.

Finally, the relationship between the man and woman completely detonated the Tree Witch Research Institute, leading to its temporary disintegration and the members going their separate ways.

Although she didn't manage affairs, Livis, who cared about her reputation, once even considered killing Valentine.

The fact that Valentine was able to survive the Tree Witch's clutches and eventually receive her forgiveness shows that he is no ordinary person.

As for the Goddess of Bath, she could clearly sense that Ritas and Valentine had a very good relationship.

The person who brought "King of Counterfeits" into the business and then encouraged the creation of "Master of Extraordinary Brilliance" for the sake of the reward was none other than Valentine. Furthermore, all of Ritas's protective and escape magic was basically taught to him by Valentine.

The Goddess of Bath had once wondered why Ritas, who had never actually fought in combat, acted like a seasoned veteran only when it came to activating his shield and escaping. At the same time, she realized once again that Ritas truly lacked "originality" in magic.
On the other hand, the goddess of the bath could clearly sense that Ritas and Valentine didn't get along at all. After all, they were completely different types of people, and there was a real feeling that they couldn't see eye to eye.

When Ritas was listing his friends, he would probably include Valentine first, then after a moment's thought, frown and throw him out.

Therefore, the goddess of bathing felt that the relationship between the two was truly mysterious.

"So, does Valentine's position mean he's replaced Ms. Faith in the forced choice between the two options?"

"Well, I guess so? After all, Valentine has already come all this way, so Ms. Faith probably wouldn't have a seat anyway."

"The goddess of the bath said uncertainly. At the same time, she was somewhat puzzled as to why Ritas would suddenly care about the 'forced choice' issue."

"So, if we don't choose him, he'll die naturally, right?"

"It's not a mandatory choice between two options this semester. Those who aren't chosen will simply be kidnapped by the corresponding villainous organization before the end of the semester, triggering an end-of-semester incident. After the incident, they will simply resign and leave because they no longer want to stay in the dangerous academy."

What the Goddess of Bathing didn't say was that although there was no immediate danger to their lives, the one who wasn't chosen was captured while protecting the trainees. Therefore, the forced choice in the "Star Pattern" game, as always, is a test of the soul.

"Was it just a kidnapping? If they don't rescue him, there's a real possibility he'll be killed."

"Hey!"

Now that I finally understand why Ritas cares about the Bathing Goddess who forces a choice between two options, I can't help but speak up.

However, she also understood that Ritas was probably just joking.

After all, even if the villainous organizations wanted to kidnap, there are very few of the four major organizations that still have the strength to cause trouble.

"It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Lady Livis, the 'Tree Witch'."

While Ritas and the Bathing Goddess were discussing Valentine's affairs, in the golden tower built by the Tree Witch during the winter break, Headmistress Livis was facing a group of people dressed in gray.

The leader of the gray-clad men was a young man with two vertical black scales on his face.

“I am Kragdo, the ‘Gatekeeper of the Mountains’ who serves as the guardian of the seventh level among the ‘Stone Whisperers’.”

The young man placed his hands on his chest and bowed respectfully. Livis, sitting opposite him in a swivel chair, seemed uninterested.

"To avoid taking up your valuable time, I'll get straight to the point about our 'Stone Whisperers' purpose. Ten months ago..."

Suddenly, Kragdor's eyes turned bloodshot, filled with raging fury. But he quickly calmed himself, suppressing his emotions as he slowly continued speaking.

“A month ago, our father, Lord Ominas, the creator of the Stone Whisperers, was unfortunately attacked and killed.”

"Oh?"

Livis finally stopped. She shook her finger and changed into a black mourning dress.

But rather than surprise or respect for Ominas, her reaction was more like amusement and schadenfreude.

"And the murderer who killed the 'Thoroughbred' is in this very academy!"

(End of this chapter)