Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 53 Upgrade
Going back to a little while ago, the bathing goddess who had just "returned" was still as energetic and relaxed as ever.

"Hey~ Xiao Li, I haven't seen you for a few days. What have you been busy with? Or rather, where is this place? Wow, what's the situation with the number of slices? Why are they so crowded? I really haven't been here for a few days, right? I didn't accidentally hibernate for a long time or something like that! How about I wish you a happy new year now, otherwise I might not be able to flirt with you the next time I go online—"

The words of the Bathing Goddess are still so eccentric.

Ritas, who was busy with the documents, was sighing in his heart. Every time the goddess of the bath appeared after a few days, the emotion that emerged in his heart was never missing her, but regret.

Regret, carrying around a disc that makes noise from time to time.

The goddess of bathing first complained as usual that she was exhausted physically and mentally from taking extra classes, and then she praised the "mini terminal" she bought a few days ago.

“Although the immersion is incomparable, the advantage of the mini terminal is that it is convenient! Whether in the living room, bedroom or bathroom, whether on the sofa, bed or bathtub. Just lie down and sleep well when your eyelids are drooping. This kind of experience cannot be replaced by any amount of immersion.”

In other words, the reason why the Bathing Goddess suddenly disappeared these days was simply because she was so engrossed in playing the original "Star Pattern" after overtime work that she forgot the time.

Ritas could only say that among all the people he knew, the Bathing Goddess was probably the only one who would not feel strange or worried at all even if she suddenly disappeared for a while.

Right now, Ritas is actually very busy. Not only does he need to deal with the piled-up documents in a short period of time, but members of the Guard Knights also come in and out of Ritas' office from time to time, adding to his workload.

In fact, even though Ritas was closely related to this operation, he was still an outsider. Therefore, the current work should be done by the Knight Captain Black Heben of the Guard Knights. But Knight Captain Black ran away, and Ritas could not find him.
Of course, these things have nothing to do with the Bathing Goddess.

So, seeing that Ritas just looked gloomy and ignored her, the goddess of bathing digested the slices and kept shouting, "Xiao Li is so cold, his favorability has dropped again~" and so on.

Unable to withstand the entanglement of the Bathing Goddess, Ritas could only briefly explain some of the current situations in his spare time.

“Hey~ So, tonight you plan to use the ‘Big Yellow Hair’ as a breakthrough point to catch all the members of the ‘Trickery Society’ hiding in the academy and this city? Well, why don’t you wait for me to join you on such a big project!”

"Wait for the Bathing Goddess. Can you help with the current situation?"

"Uh well, not really."

The Bathing Goddess said this with great self-awareness.

If she had been involved in the planning stages, she would probably have kept nagging Ritas to challenge "Big Yellow Hair" in a one-on-one duel.

"Besides, I don't know when the Bathing Goddess will have some free time. Malik Azan has gone completely crazy now, so we can't afford to delay for too long."

Ritas continued to explain.

In the past, Malik was actually very low-key. He used years to slowly and secretly use the students to perform strange shadow-driving rituals. And Ritas had no way of knowing and could not stop it.

But recently, Malik's actions have become more radical. Now, he seems to have ignored the risk of being exposed, and has gone to great lengths to involve the new students who just enrolled this year.

“Well, I understand what you said. But is it really okay for you to lie here now? Since you initiated the action, you should be catching the big yellow-haired guy in the academy now, right?”

"I'm just a civilian. So, it's the right choice to leave professional matters to professionals. What's more, the academy has the dean and John, so I don't think there will be any problems."

The net was set, but the one who closed it was still the "sage". Ritas wanted to know what kind of problems could have happened in the academy.

Although he always dislikes his teacher, Ritas still trusts Levis at critical moments.

And he doesn't know yet that he trusts.
"Moreover, as the initiator, planner, and coordinator of this operation, I cannot abandon the Guard Knights who bear the most pressure."

It was relatively easy to catch the pests in the academy. With the help of the magic tools brought back by Livis, at least nine out of the ten people caught would not be innocent.

In contrast, among the many people related to Malik and his family arrested by the Knight Guard in the city, a large number of them are innocent suspects.

Therefore, even if there is an excuse like "the lord was assassinated", no matter how powerful the Guard Knights are when they arrest people now, they will be just as embarrassed when they release them later.

Moreover, because Spring City casts such a large net, there will inevitably be many fish that slip through the net in the end.

What Ritas is doing now is to avoid these things as much as possible. However, as a civilian, he can only do "as much as possible".

"Hey~ Let's not talk about the civilian staff for now. I can only say that it's a good thing you are not in the world of cultivating immortals. Otherwise, you would definitely kill the other party's entire family as soon as you fight with him."

Although, Malik was most likely the assassin who tried to assassinate Ritas before, so no matter how Ritas fought back, it would not be excessive. But after not being online for a few days, seeing that Ritas wanted to uproot the power of the Trickery Society in the academy, and was also trying to arrest Malik's entire family, the goddess of bathing still felt that it was a bit outrageous.

Maybe in Ritas' eyes, Malik has never been an individual. What he cares about is only the organization and family behind Malik.

In the chaotic city of Spring, the Knight Guard’s headquarters was brightly lit.

The bathing goddess was quiet for a while as she examined the slices, but not for long.

"Huh? I just realized that there seems to be an extra option on this UI. It was a CG before, right? Did you come up with some kind of 'memories' this time, Xiao Li?"

"?"

Although he didn't quite understand what the Bath Goddess was saying, Ritas could tell that her tone was really a little panicked.

"Calm down. Calm down. There's no difference between the flashback and the CG! They both have green healthy types. Eh? 'Upgradeable'? Huh. What? I was nervous for nothing."

There seemed to be a hint of complicated disappointment mixed in with the goddess of bathing's sigh of relief.

"'You have reached five followers and can upgrade.'"

"ha?"

"what?"

Not only the Bathing Goddess felt puzzled, but Ritas was also confused.

Five people? Where did these five people come from?

Even if we count Mercy, a member of the Bathing Seminar who is associated with the Bathing Goddess Church, and Ritas who insists that he is not a believer, there are only three believers of the Bathing Goddess in total.

Who on earth has nothing better to do than to secretly believe in the Bathing Goddess, a deity that doesn't sound like it has any intelligence or divine power?
"What's the matter, Bishop Kosato? Even though you say you dislike it, you are still doing a good job in promoting the church."

"No! I'm not! I'm not!"

Ritas was really a little anxious.

"Anyway, now that the options are here, there's no reason not to click on them! Bath Goddess Church, upgrade!"

Following the words of the Bathing Goddess, the white disc immediately began to move slightly. First, some black patterned things appeared on the top of the disc, and then a part of the bottom of the disc separated, and then stood up and spread out in all directions, as if it had four legs for support.

"."

So what exactly is this white disc?
"Is the upgrade successful already? It feels like nothing has changed. Or rather, does Star Mark have such a church system? Before that, if my followers increased, I could level up. Doesn't that mean I'm really a goddess?"

While looking at the long-legged disc, Ritas listened to the goddess of bathing muttering to herself some words that shook or even destroyed the foundation of faith. He felt that the moment the goddess of bathing clicked the upgrade button, the whole world became a little more bizarre.

"Oh! Found it, something added after the upgrade. Can you please stop flashing red light in this little window? It's making me nervous. Hmm? Eh? Hey hey hey hey? This, this is..."

"Xiao Li Xiao Li!"

"Something big has happened at the academy, at Merce's place!!!"

Inside Earls College, around the tree house.

Merci, who was thrown far away by Iris, was feeling a familiar sense of despair. Suddenly, a large number of thorns emitting green fluorescence stretched out from the ground, sweeping away Iris before she could even scream. Then, countless thorns and vines grew wildly, tangled intricately with each other, forming a forest and a maze that blocked Merci's way.

Not only Iris, but all the people who were around were attacked by the fluorescent thorns, and all of them fell into a coma due to the thorns' needles.

At this moment, all the people who were taken away by the thorns were hung in the air above the thorn maze. Their appearances were visibly becoming haggard and dry over time, and it was obvious that the thorns were draining away something like vitality.

Merci couldn't see the whole picture of the thorn maze in front of her. On the one hand, it was very huge, and on the other hand, her current field of vision was too narrow.

In addition to the darkness that occupied her vision, Merci could also feel her body trembling and a chill spreading throughout her body.

She just wanted to stand up, but her body was not very responsive.

"Mercy, Mercy."

Merci only felt a sharp tinnitus, as if it was going to penetrate her brain.

The reason why she could only sit on the ground and look so miserable at this moment was not only because of the previous scene and the scene in front of her, but also because she "felt" more.

She saw Malik's atrocities, heard the screams of the green-haired girl, and noticed the star-marked emblem on her back.

At that moment, all the negative emotions surged up from Merci's heart, and the shadow in her heart gradually filled her heart.

The star pattern on Mercy's chest was faintly visible, causing a dull pain.

Only she knew what it felt like to be desperate when the Star Mark Emblem went out of control, the power in the body gushed out uncontrollably, everything about it seemed to be erased, and she was no longer herself.

And now, she remembered everything vividly.

"Mercy, can you hear me? Time is running out, this is not the time to be surprised. You may feel confused, but please rest assured, this is not some evil voice, but guidance from the goddess."

Amid the constant ringing in her ears, Mercy vaguely heard a woman's voice.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to convey some words to you from Professor Ritas. 'Calm down and take a deep breath, Merci.'"

"professor?"

The constant ringing sound in Merci's ears seemed to disappear suddenly, and her eyes gradually regained their usual spirit.

"I feel like I was treated very differently just now. Never mind. This is not the time to dwell on this. 'Anyway, move to a relatively safe place first, Merci.'"

"Yes Yes!"

As her body's functions "miraculously" recovered, Merci began to move, wondering "What is going on now?"

Who was whispering Professor Ritas' words to her?

Rather, is that really what Professor Ritas said? Although, the atmosphere is indeed quite similar.

The Bathing Goddess is undoubtedly one of the few people in the world who can catch the speaking style and characteristics of Ritas, and Merci is also one of the few people who can notice these details.

After moving a few steps away from her previous position, Merci stopped.

because
“It seems to be quite safe here.”

Merci herself felt a little unbelievable when she said this. Clearly, in front of her, within her field of vision was the explosion site of the Star Mark Emblem.

"Indeed, it is different from Merci's incident. After someone's star pattern went berserk, it was confined to a certain area and did not spread to the surrounding areas."

In fact, the fire that spread during Merci's rampage was not the blue flame in Merci's body, but an ordinary flame after it burned.

Listening to the words of the Bathing Goddess, Merci couldn't help but lower her head.

"Ah, sorry, that's not what I meant. Uh, that's not what I meant. Anyway, my problem! It's that I shouldn't have mentioned it—"

"My words don't matter. Compared to that."

Could you please convey more of the professor's words?

"'Since you are in a relatively safe place, can you give me a brief account of the situation you are facing?'"

"Ok!"

Merci began to give a brief account of what she had seen and heard.

Merci really can't be called a good narrator. On the one hand, she doesn't know much. On the other hand, her ability to express herself is limited, and now she is in a state of confusion to a certain extent.

"Malik? Isn't he the one we need to catch in this operation? How come he not only escaped to the tree house, but also caused such a big commotion? No, before this, where is Malik now?"

Perhaps because Merci could hear her own words, the Bathing Goddess did not even use the very easy-to-call-her nickname "Big Yellow Hair".

"I, I'm not sure either. But when the star pattern of that senior sister went berserk, he was nearby. Where the thorns were densest. So."

So, it should be rotten?
Mercy's guess caused a brief silence from the Bathing Goddess and Ritas on the other side.

They didn't know whether it was because they were not present that they felt the current development was quite strange.

At least, Ritas could not have imagined that the plot in the academy would develop like this.

Moreover, the most abstract is the person of Malik Ezzan.

The first time he triggered Merci's Star Rune to go wild, he lost his own "shadow seed". Unlike the first time when he was somewhat unaware, the second time he triggered the Star Rune to go wild knowing everything, he lost himself completely.

What on earth is he doing?
“Ahem, ‘First of all, student Merci, your current situation is not as bad as you thought.’ Eh? Is that so?”

The Bathing Goddess only started screaming when she saw the star patterns running wild and a large number of fluorescent thorns breaking out of the ground. It wasn't that she didn't analyze the situation at the scene at all, but she was too worried about the safety of "Mercy's wife" and fell into a state of confusion due to her concern.

"'Since the execution team of the Genlusi and the Council has basically controlled the interior of the academy. As long as Malik Azan cannot act, there will be no more enemies that can harm student Merci. The only problem that needs to be solved is the thorn maze that cannot expand outward. So student Merci, you just need to ensure your own safety as much as possible and wait for the arrival of support. Although I may not be able to make it in time, I will rush to the academy as quickly as possible from now on. Damn, what the hell is the dean doing'. Ah, don't you need to repeat the last sentence?"

Even though it came from the mouth of the goddess of bathing, Ritas' words gave Merci enough sense of security.

According to Ritas' instructions, Merci should have moved further away from the danger zone.

However, placing her hand on her chest which was still slightly aching, Merci stared in the direction of the thorn maze.

Compared to the previous group that was captured and hung in the thorn maze, they are even weaker.

Merci thought of Iris, who prioritized her safety over her own. She also recalled the pain and helplessness she felt when the green-haired girl's star pattern went berserk and her star pattern lit up as if in resonance.

Is it really too late to wait for support that may arrive at an unknown time?

"Professor. I want to do something for them."

As her hands, which had been shaking not long ago, slowly clenched into fists, Merci, who was always so fragile that she seemed to fall down at the slightest gust of wind, gradually showed a glimmer of determination in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)