Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 55: Fate Has Not Changed

As the turbulent May passes, June, the beginning of midsummer, arrives.

On the morning of the first day of June, Ritas was summoned to the headquarters of the Canopy Council, the Council Tower.

In the Council Tower, there is a place called the Council Chamber. The furnishings of this place are quite unique.

First, in the center of the deliberation room, there is a slightly raised platform, surrounded by waist-high railings. On the circular wall surrounding the platform, there are some seats embedded in the wall.

The second floor, the third floor, and so on until the sixth floor.

These seats and chairs distributed in a spiral shape on the walls will gradually decrease as the position increases.

And on the highest seat on the sixth floor, directly opposite the platform in the center, only one person can sit down.

At this moment, Ritas was in the deliberation court, standing at the bottom.

Even if he wanted to see the lowest-ranking members of the meeting, he had to look up at the seats on the second floor. And if he wanted to see the chairman of the Council, Gran, who was sitting on the sixth floor, he might have to be prepared to sprain his neck and lower his head to look at the existence that was almost deep in the clouds.

"quiet."

With the order from Speaker Gran, the "deliberation" on Ritas officially began.

Although both the name of the deliberation and the name of the deliberation court carry the meanings of "deliberation" and "discussion", the environment of the deliberation court and the situation that the summoned person must face indicate that the so-called "discussion" almost does not exist.

"Ritas Berengrom, Professor Elson."

The councillor on the third floor called out Ritas' name. However, Ritas, who was facing the sixth floor, did not turn his head to look at the councillor on the third floor who was standing to his side.

"I summoned you this time to confirm with you the various matters related to the 'Operation to Suppress the Trickery Society' that you organized on the night of the 'Summer Festival'."

The congressman on the third floor did not mind that Ritas ignored him and just started reading the contents of many documents.

".During that operation, many students and faculty members were injured or missing. The academy also suffered huge economic and reputational losses. Therefore, the main topic of the council's deliberation this time is 'Is there a better way?'"

Ritas was quite absent-minded about these words. He held the white disc in one hand and the metronome in the other. He couldn't help but sigh as he listened to the narration of the third-level councilor which seemed to go on endlessly.

"'A better way'? Like?"

The congressman whose speech was interrupted immediately fell silent, and only Ritas' voice echoed in the huge deliberation room.

"For example, summon all the members of the Trickery Society to come to this deliberation court to stand trial?"

"For example, hold a mandatory academy meeting and call on them to stop doing evil and think more about the interests of the academy?"

"For example, wait for the Council to hold a meeting to discuss a better plan, until the academy is completely occupied by them, and then join them?"

Ritas frowned, staring at the court with his bloodshot eyes.

The courtroom fell silent again until an old voice broke the silence.

"presumptuous!"

"What do you think of the historic and sacred Tribunal?"

The deep and powerful voice exploded in the deliberation room like a thunder.

Speaker Gran, who was on the sixth floor, released his pressure towards Ritas.

Before Ritas could respond, a louder and more majestic voice echoed in the courtroom.

"How dare you! You are the one who thinks the Tribunal is such a place!"

The voice of the headmaster, Levis, came from a higher position.

Although the highest seat in the deliberation court is only on the sixth floor, and there is nothing above it, this does not affect the voice and figure of Livis appearing there.

"What? Professor Elson is asking questions, why don't you answer? Speaker Gran."

In public, the way Livis speaks is naturally different from that in private. But the only difference is the way she speaks.

"Is it impossible to communicate with you in human language?"

"Are you mute?"

"If you are not feeling well, you can apply for permanent leave or long-term sleep. Do you know how to write an application? Do you need me to find someone to teach you?"

Apart from the fact that the atmosphere was a little more dignified, Levis' words were still difficult to evaluate.

Under the aggressiveness of Livis, Speaker Gran was completely infuriated, and soon began to curse at Livis with his lion-like voice.

As the protagonist of this "deliberation" but completely ignored, Ritas asked several times, "I have classes next, so can I leave?" Then, taking the lack of response as a tacit agreement, he strode out of the deliberation court.

Walking out of the deliberation room, Ritas ran into John, who also looked relaxed that day.

After seeing Ritas, John smiled and waved.

"Hey, Ritas, how come you came out so soon? As a 'witness', I haven't arrived yet."

"The teacher is inside."

Ritas's few words said it all.

"I see."

And John understood everything easily.
"But it's not necessarily a good thing. Teacher, you always make simple things complicated."

"That's true."

Ritas nodded.

For example, today, the Council couldn't do anything to him. He solved these meaningless things at once, and the Council wouldn't bother him anymore.

Livis's active "protective" behavior may also be a form of compensation psychology.

After all, on the night of the Summer Festival, Livis was held back by other cadres of the "Trickery Society", and by the time she actually returned to the academy, everything was basically over.

Although, there was nothing that could be done about it. The methods of the Trickery Society were indeed strange and difficult to guard against. And they had paid a heavy price. Levis returned to the academy with the heads of several "scarecrows". However, the dean, who always made himself sound extremely powerful and had a lot of words to say, still didn't dare to show up in front of Ritas for several days.

And now, the only thing that Ritas could be thankful for was that because of Livis's fuss, he at least wouldn't be late today.

Because Tas had been busy with the finishing touches after the operation, he had not been in the Yew Fir Wood Classroom for many days.

The “number of attendance days” that had finally taken the lead was hit hard by the “number of absence days”.

"John."

After obtaining the information from the Tribunal, John was interested in seeing how the two people, whose combined age was several hundred years old, quarreled.
"Why did you go after Malik Azan alone that night, and even made the situation worse?"

"."

John stopped, remained still for a moment, then slowly turned around.

There was no significant change in his expression from usual, he just shrugged with some helplessness.

"Isn't it a bit strange that you ask this question at this time?"

"If you had asked me that night, it would have seemed like I was the one who had been standing behind, questioning you even though you were seriously injured after fighting." Ritas stared at John with a serious expression.

"Hey! You have become more mellow."

John put his hand on his chin and organized his words, then elaborated,

"The main reason is that there are too many corrupt officials in the academy, far beyond our imagination. So, when we arrived at Malik Azan's residence, he had already escaped through the secret passage. As the main culprit, I naturally cannot let him escape. And if I act together with other team members, it will delay the capture of others. Therefore, it is the best choice for me to try to chase him myself."

"I was lucky enough to find him. However, his power is much stronger than I thought. Moreover, he can also control the students he has manipulated to a certain extent and use them as shields. Facing this situation, I feel like my hands and feet are tied."

"You should understand the last part. Both the 'Sinful Holy Grail' and the 'Star Mark Emblem' are beyond my ability to handle."

"Is this explanation okay, Professor Ritas?"

Facing John's calm face, Ritas stared for a long time and then nodded.

"It's really difficult to be friends with you. Forget it. This isn't something that has only happened in the past one or two days."

John shook his head with an expression of "I'm used to it".
"Rather, it seems that they are omnipotent at ordinary times, but problems and mistakes will occur at critical moments. Isn't this the consistent style of our 'Dean's Faction'?"

"Don't lump me in without permission."

Ritas's face couldn't help but darken.

The two "organizations" that he least wanted to join were both arbitrarily treating him as a core member.
"You can't say there's no problem on your end, can you? Although, it seems that it was all caused by your students acting on their own."

"."

Ritas's eyes dropped slightly, not really wanting to expand on the topic.

"Anyway, now that the incident has been resolved, let's look forward. Although, there may not be any good scenery ahead. In the end, is it really worth it for you to do these things?"

John stared at Ritas and asked,

"No one will thank you for removing some cancer from the academy and the surrounding areas. Instead, through a joint action, you almost offended everyone, including your collaborators, right? For example, the councilors, the Guard Knights, the Chamber of Commerce, and so on."

You may not believe it, but it also includes the kingdom’s third princess.

Ritas supplemented for John in his mind and said nonchalantly,
“All human troubles come from interpersonal relationships, so I don’t need to socialize.”

"haha, really?"

John smiled, with a slightly nostalgic look on his face.

"It's been a while since I heard you say this."

"Is there a problem on your side too?"

After John left, the voice of the Bathing Goddess was heard from the disc.

For some reasons, the Bathing Goddess, who usually does not "follow" Ritas to class, took the initiative to ask to go to the classroom of the Yew Fir class that day.

"Although I am satisfied that Mrs. Merci finally solved the incident, overall, if those little guys had listened to your instructions and not run around, things might not have become complicated."

“But is ‘not running around’ really a possible outcome?”

Ritas lowered his head, recalling what happened the day after the Summer Festival when he visited Miriam in the academy's treatment center.

Miriam, who was stabbed by a poison needle and had been unconscious for nearly a day, slowly woke up in the evening.

After waking up, Miriam quickly touched her body up and down with her extremely weak arms, and then showed a relieved expression.

Are you worried about losing some important item you carry with you?

Ritas didn't pay much attention to Miriam's actions, but just waited for her to realize that he was beside her.

After seeing Ritas, Miriam was slightly surprised, and the first thing she asked was where Engri was.

Perhaps it was due to her teenage mentality, but Miriam did not tell Ritas what happened outside the treatment center. She just expressed her worry that Engel might be involved in some incident and be in danger.

Facing Miriam, there was a look of worry, expectation, and unwillingness to admit defeat, as if she was determined to settle accounts with Engel.

In the end, Ritas just shook his head.

After the thorn maze disappeared, he did not find Engri among the rescued people.

Like Merci, Engel was far away from the center of the Star Mark rampage, so he was not involved. While everyone's attention was drawn to the Thorn Maze, Engel quietly left the academy and disappeared without a trace.

There is a high probability that Engri is a professionally trained assassin.

Therefore, even if he was injured and left a lot of blood, it would be almost impossible to track his traces afterwards.

"Sorry, Bath Goddess."

After coming back to his senses from his brief recollection, Ritas whispered,
"Changing the so-called 'forced choice between two' and allowing Cecilia and Engel to stay in the academy was the only request and wish you made to me. And I still failed to do it."

“Eh? This is the only thing I asked for and wished for? Do you usually ignore what I said? I feel like you ignored most of what I said!”

The goddess of bathing protested, then gradually softened her tone,

"But, if it's just this matter, maybe no one can do anything about it. After all, you have been triggering Cecilia's plot, while Miriam is the one triggering Engel's plot. From the trend, since the key conditions have been met, even if you leave it alone, Miriam should be able to keep Engel without permission. In other words, even if Engel was not chosen, he would have just transferred to another grade in the beginning, not escaping from the academy directly like now. Maybe this is really 'fate'."

"destiny."

Ritas repeated the word,

"I don't like the term, nor do I like the act of attributing anything to it."

"Oh? If that's the case, then why are you still depressed here? Engel just ran away, he's not gone. The most optimistic scenario is that he will become a cadre of the Demon King's army in the third year. So, from now on, there is still more than a year, almost two years. If you really don't believe in fate, then it should be not too late to think of a way from now on."

"."

Listening to the words of the Bathing Goddess, Ritas was silent for a while, and then spoke again,
"Sometimes I can't tell whether the Bathing Goddess is ignorant or wise."

"Hmm? What do you mean, Professor Kosato?"

"In short, in order for Engel to be able to return to this college in the future, I will find a time to process a long-term leave of absence for him without authorization."

In terms of name, just write "mental illness".

"That's right. And don't keep looking so sad. Today, we have to accept the 'reward' for clearing a large dungeon!"

"award."

Ritas's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch a few times.

At least for him, the so-called "copy reward" only caused him more trouble.

In front of the door of Yew Fir Wood Classroom, after closing his eyes and calming down his inner confusion, Ritas regained his calmness and seriousness, opened the door and walked in.

In addition to the five students from the Yew Fir School who were always on time, and the duo of tutor assistants who were occasionally on time, there was also a red figure that appeared beside the podium.

"From today on, a student will join the Yew Fir Wood class as a transfer student and spend the rest of his time in the academy with everyone."

(End of this chapter)