“... And so, for hundreds of years, the many graduates of the Royal Academy have been steadfast pillars of the kingdom and the royal family. I urge you to devote yourselves to your studies and follow in the footsteps of your parents and seniors who graduated before you...”

In the movies and cartoons I’d seen in my previous life, the academy headmaster was usually a white-haired old man in a pointed hat who gave a stirring speech. Unfortunately, this headmaster was nothing like that. He was a tired-looking man with a belly, somewhere between middle-aged and elderly. Apparently he was a fairly prominent noble in the capital, but one look at him told me he was a typical political appointee.

Even now, his mind-numbing speech went on and on. If he’d given it on the training ground, dozens of new students would have collapsed by now. Some students were nodding off, and even the little princess beside me was pinching her thigh to stay awake.

After quite some time, the headmaster finally finished, and the crowd gave him a thunderous round of applause. They must all have been deeply moved that his long speech was over. Then came the introductions of the teachers.

A Sage from somewhere greeted us as the teacher of history and etiquette, subjects everyone took. Next came a royal knight teaching a subject that might have been physical education or military drill, followed by the teachers responsible for training awakened abilities. Men and women who looked unmistakably like nobles stepped forward to introduce themselves. After teachers from various viscount and baron families had greeted us, a familiar face appeared.

“Lady Katrine de Rattenhammar, who will oversee physical awakening.”

Murmurs rose at the announcer’s introduction. Everyone knew the family of the Count of Rattenhammar, and everyone knew they were the princess’s maternal relatives.

Every eye turned to the princess beside me, then swept over those around her. Plenty of people’s eyes lit up when they saw Manuel sitting nearby, but not one of them failed to look puzzled when they saw me. Their stares rained down on me again. This was killing me. Please, just let it end.

Killing myself was out of the question for now, so all I could do was pray for the entrance ceremony to end quickly. There was an oath from the student representative and one thing after another, but I sat in a daze, waiting for it to be over.

Time passed, and the entrance ceremony that had seemed as if it would last forever finally ended. People cheered, and the students rose from their seats. Then a chill ran up the back of my neck.

“Demonic energy!”

The headmaster, who had been sitting in a daze since his speech, shouted. Several teachers on the dais sprang to their feet and looked around. Startled cries rang out, and I felt mana surge from behind us.

At the same moment, Katrin launched herself toward us—no, toward the princess—and I reflexively summoned my mana.

'What is it?'

The instant I did, I understood why the hairs on my neck had risen.

The auditorium was full of a strange energy. It was different from mana—no, it felt like mana that had been warped somehow—and it was spreading throughout the hall. I couldn’t tell where it had started or when it had reached this point. No, I didn’t have time to think about any of that.

Just as the headmaster shouted, Katrin leaped forward, and I summoned my mana—

BOOOOM!

The energy filling the hall erupted. Blinding light engulfed it, then turned to heat. A blast of scorching air filled the hall. I saw Katrin’s expression change in midair and felt the princess flinch.

But all of it dissolved in an instant. I felt as though my entire body were being torn apart and burned.

'No one in here is going to survive.'

That was my last thought. Then darkness. Then light.

[You have died. Restarting from the autosave point.]

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I saw the little princess’s back. I was just stepping into the entrance ceremony hall. The “autosave point” that had been created only moments ago.

'I’m alive again?'

The moment I realized it, my face contorted. My hands shook, and I couldn’t breathe. I stopped at the threshold and braced myself against the wall.

“Fuck. This is bullshit.”

It had been a long time since I’d cursed in Korean.

The aftereffects of the horrific pain I’d felt when I died still overwhelmed my mind. It was because I hadn’t died an ordinary death.

Fortunately, the princess and Manuel, who were walking ahead, didn’t notice. The princess’s attendant and the butler looked puzzled when I signaled them to go on, but followed the other two. Thank goodness. Being ignored came in handy at times like this. Once I was through the door, I leaned against the wall and took deep, ragged breaths.

It was phantom pain anyway, nothing but pain in my mind. I had to calm it as quickly as possible and focus on what was happening now. I used a method I’d picked up through all my deaths, breathing deeply while circulating a little mana. The pain gradually eased. I couldn’t tell whether it was fading or I was getting used to it, but either way, it was becoming bearable.

Once I could think clearly again, I swore. Thanks to the absurd save point created a few hours before my death, there wasn’t much time left. I didn’t even know what had happened.

'Natural disaster? A bomb? A mistake? An experiment? Terrorism?'

For now, I had no way to tell.

'Whatever it was, it happened inside this building. If I get out...'

I got that far before I had to sigh.

If I escaped alone and everyone in the hall died...

'I’d have to deal with the horrible aftermath by myself.'

Manuel would be dead, along with countless nobles and their children, and the academy would have suffered its first major explosion. The biggest problem was that the princess had just gone inside.

Everyone at the palace surely knew the Queen had summoned me and that I had met the princess. The Queen certainly did. If I alone survived, I would naturally be suspected of murdering a royal. The ducal family would be thrown into turmoil, and even if I was cleared, suspicion would linger. At best, I’d be assassinated. At worst, hanged.

'Damn it. Running away is out.'

Even in the worst case, I had to get the princess out alive. No, I had to save Manuel too. And Katrin...

Haah. Finding the cause of the explosion and stopping it might actually be easier. Escaping alone was a last resort. First, I had to find the cause.

A sigh escaped me.

“I don’t think I’ll get through this without dying.”

There wasn’t nearly enough time to settle it in one attempt.

* * *

The strange energy that had blown up the ceremony hall had definitely felt similar to mana.

'The headmaster noticed it first.'

He’d looked like an ordinary middle-aged windbag, but apparently he did have what it took to be headmaster. I’d noticed it too, in much the same way. Before I raised my mana, though, all I’d felt was a chill on the back of my neck.

'So I can sense it when I raise my mana...'

I’d done it too late to tell when or where the energy had begun to spread.

'Then I just need to keep my mana raised from the start.'

Oh, that was a decent idea already. I might be a fake genius, but apparently I wasn’t stupid.

“Are you all right?”

When I sat down beside the princess a little late, she glanced at my face and spoke softly. My expression must have been quite stiff. I rubbed my face with both hands.

“I seem to be a little nervous,” I replied with a smile.

Manuel gave me an odd look at that, but I ignored him and slowly raised my mana, only a little at a time. If I raised too much, the knights and nobles would make a fuss. As I concentrated on it, the ceremony began.

The program moved along. After the headmaster’s address came the teacher introductions. Several teachers had been introduced, and Katrin was just stepping forward when a hand settled on my shoulder. I flinched. Who was that? I hadn’t sensed anyone approaching. I heard someone breathing beside my ear, followed by a low voice.

“Didn’t you hear the rules? Your control is excellent, but using mana during the entrance ceremony is improper. That’s a demerit for you, Alex. A demerit at the entrance ceremony—how very unusual.”

He spoke quietly, in an ordinary voice, yet it sent a chill through me. There was power in his words. I didn’t know whether he had an awakened ability or was a knight, but he was clearly no ordinary man. And since he could give a student a demerit, he had to be a teacher.

I could feel the teachers and the headmaster looking at me. Even Katrin. Well, I’d made an impression. Definitely made an impression. A teacher who could sense such a faint trace of mana? This academy might be a frightening place after all. Manuel clicked his tongue, and the princess didn’t look pleased either. At this rate, even if everything went well, I might have to start over.

The teacher who’d warned me walked away. Perhaps he didn’t teach classes; he went to stand apart in a corner of the auditorium. He was an ordinary-looking blond man in his thirties. That gave me one more person to wonder about, but I couldn’t spare any attention for him now.

Since it had come to this, I reduced the amount even further, then raised my mana again. I immediately saw the blond teacher’s eyebrow twitch. Hmm. At this rate, I might be expelled as soon as the entrance ceremony ended. Still, he didn’t come back. I didn’t know whether that was because he’d already warned me once or because what I was doing didn’t warrant another warning. Either way, it didn’t matter. I’d resigned myself to dying this time.

'It really hurt, though.'

Grimacing at the pain to come, I surveyed my surroundings. The movement of mana. The people around me. Time passed, and at last the moment I’d died before approached.

“This concludes the Royal Academy entrance ceremony.”

The instant the announcer finished speaking, I found it. I saw where the strange energy that had caused the explosion was pouring from.

* * *

[You have died. Restarting from the autosave point.]

The princess’s back was before my eyes again. I had returned from death once more. Leaning against the wall, I drew a breath.

'If I have to repeat this a few more times, my mind won’t hold out.'

The pain of dying was too great, and the deaths were too close together. After only two, I could already feel my limit approaching. Another one or two, and I might have no choice but to give up on dying again.

'Still, that death wasn’t for nothing.'

Just before the explosion, I’d learned where the energy behind it had originated. It was somewhere I hadn’t expected, and the discovery had reminded me once again how different this world was from the one I’d lived in before. Phew. The pain was gradually subsiding. I collected myself and looked around. A few people were watching me with puzzled expressions, but most paid me little attention.

'Well, time to move.'

I straightened up, concealed my expression, and headed for the seats where the princess and Manuel were sitting.