C104
Iruki, who was lying on the table, said.
"Did you have any progress in the meantime? Until yesterday, you were determined to chase them down and beat them up."
Amy didn't even have the energy to get angry. Iruki probably felt the same way. They were too exhausted from a week of stress to even lift a finger.
Amy propped her chin on the bed and said,
"At least now I can see there are people fighting for Shirone. "
Nade, who was watching the protest from the window, chimed in.
"Even so, our side is mostly made up of lower and upperclassmen. In contrast, most of the protesters are about to graduate. If they really come in, we won't be able to stop them."
Cerielle said.
"But we should be fine for now. We have the teachers on our side. The Principal, Sienna, and Ms. Ethella are on our side."
"You don't know, senior. They... their actions have been suspicious since yesterday."
"Huh? What?”
Cerielle turned to Nade and asked, but Iruki answered.
"Some of them seem to be missing, especially Amira and Fermi. At least one of them should be left to instigate the crowd."
Amy snapped angrily.
"Hey! Why do you keep using informal language with me while being polite to Cerielle?"
Iruki looked away as if it was annoying. There was no special reason for it, but they simply thought that if Shirone's girlfriend was their friend, then Amy should be their friend as well.
As the door to the infirmary opened, Alpheas entered with Sienna and Ethella. The persistence of the student council had left the teachers' faces increasingly haggard..
"You've been through a lot. How's Shirone?"
"As you can see... still the same."
"I see. It is unavoidable.”
Now Alpheas couldn't help but have doubts. It had already been a week. If some Absolute Being being were to appear and say that Shirne would come back to life, they would wait for a year or even ten years. However, the problem was that no one could prove that Shirone would return alive. It was a race against time.
“I will cast a spell on Shirone.”
Amy and Cerielle opened the way. Alpheas put his hand on Shirone's chest and cast a Slow Magic. It was an embalming treatment that could be done without harming the body.
After finishing the magic, Alpheas retreated again. Now Shirone will be able to get through another day.
But for how long? Although the teachers were silently watching now, complaints would inevitably arise as time went on.
Sienna stared at Shirone and stroked his hair. The more she thought about it, the more unfair and resentful she was. To think that a promising mage would end up like this before he even blossomed.
'That's why I said I should stop him.'
Shirone passed Overflow well. But the price he paid was frequent contact with the Immortal Function. At that time, Ethella had said she would take full responsibility. She had no intention of criticizing now. If something went wrong with Shirone, she would spend her entire life comforting his soul.
"Teacher! There's big trouble!"
Cerielle shouted. Amy and Nade were also looking out the window, unable to hide their anger. Sienna walked to the window. Amira and Fermi, who had not been seen until yesterday, were pushing documents toward the infirmary.
"We, as representatives of the Alpheas Magic School students, will submit a lawsuit against all teachers! Please allow us to take over Principal Alpheas’ employment!”
Sienna's head ached. In the end, her concerns had occurred. The student council had gone all out. They not only intended to punish Alpheas, but also to enforce penalties on other teachers.
If the lawsuit was filed, the situation would spiral out of control. If the families of the students got involved, the school would collapse without any chance of recovery.
When Sienna opened the window, the protesters instantly fell silent.
"What on earth is this commotion? Is it the job of the student council to incite students and shake the school?"
Amira walked towards the window.
"It's not incitement. We don't want to go this far either. That's why we haven't submitted the lawsuit yet. However, there are too many suspicious points. It's already been 7 days since Shirone died. Still, the teachers are still hesitant to make it public.”
“Shirone is not dead. He’s just in a state of suspended animation.”
“There can be no suspended animation without a beating heart. We can't accept the fact that there's no decay. Couldn't it be possible with Principal Alpheas' magic?"
The student council seemed to have reached this conclusion. It was an accurate guess.
However, there are things in the world that should not be judged by the result alone. The student council didn't understand why Shirone had to be preserved.
The cause of the problem was the Immortal Function. Even the students of the magic school couldn't respond emotionally because they had no knowledge about the realm.
"You're right in your thinking. Currently, Shirone is being preserved with Slow Magic to prevent decay."
Sienna readily admitted. The student council, as well as the opposing students blocking the entrance, were all stirred up.
"Do they admit the suspicion?"
"Don't be hasty, Amira. Suspicion can only be used when it's thought that the teachers intended to use Shirone as a shield."
"You're right, teacher. But we haven't heard any circumstantial evidence to judge that. The student council cannot understand the teachers' actions."
"The teachers did not acknowledge Shirone's death. They also have no intention of escaping. That's why we're asking for your understanding."
"Teacher, Shirone's death is sad for us too. But the student council doesn't want our precious alma mater to fall like this."
"I understand that you can't trust the teachers right now. But we have also carefully considered and made the best decision. Whether you believe it or not is up to your judgment."
Amira pondered Sienna's words. She couldn't rule out the possibility that the teachers knew something she had missed. After all, humans tend to believe in what they think is right.
However, even after thinking it over a hundred times, she couldn't understand. Shirone is already dead. No, honestly, whether he was dead or alive, it felt wrong for all the teachers to protect him.
'Is this the right way to go? Am I being rational? What if Shirone comes back to life somehow? But that's absolutely impossible...'
Amira, too, didn't want to resort to a lawsuit if not for her position as student council president. But if she backed down, the students would suffer the consequences.
Fermi, who was watching, did not like the way Amira was conflicted. Worried that things might fall apart, he decided to step in himself.
“In the end, a compromise cannot be found. In that case, we have no choice but to use our last resort."
Sienna looked at Fermi with a displeased expression. She had never encountered such a student in her four years as a teacher. Fermi was a person who had great talent, but was even more skilled at hiding it.
Believe in lies, and enjoy using that power to control the situation. While this might be a necessary ability for a mage, it wasn't something students should possess.
"Go ahead and file the lawsuit if you want. In the end, you'll be the ones regretting it."
"Fine, let's do that! We'll recover Shirone's body first and proceed with the lawsuit! Let's go! We'll rescue Shirone with our own power!"
Fermi advanced to the infirmary, led by the graduating students. No one could stop them now, as they were caught up in the crowd mentality.
"Let's hold Sienna's funeral and accuse the teachers! The school belongs to the students, not the teachers!"
"Wait! Don't do this!"
The students of the Shirone faction, including Maria, stood in their way, but to no avail. The path was soon cleared. The majority of those on Fermi's side were senior students about to graduate. Having numerical superiority didn't matter if it came to a contest of skills.
"Isn't this too much? It's still a matter of life and death for a fellow student!"
Mark tried to block the way with his unique assertiveness, but the graduating seniors didn't even consider Class Seven's juniors worth talking to.
At that moment, a window on the third floor shattered. Students scattered as glass fragments fell. Nade jumped out of the building. The wind from her Fly Magic pushed dust away from the ground, causing the protesters to squint.
Nade raised his head slowly, and fierce stare in his gaze.
"Get lost, all of you, before I kill you. No one can lay a finger on Shirone."
Seeing the situation escalate, Amira decided to abandon her thoughts and take action. The water had already been spilled, and if they lost momentum, they would lose public opinion as well.
"What is this? Don't you know this won't work by making a scene? And telling your seniors that you'll kill them? Where did you learn such language?"
Nade didn't hear any of the words. All he could think about was protecting Shirone.
"You want to take Shirone? Then come in, but I can't guarantee your lives."
A blue bolt floated above Nade's head, and he unleashed powerful lightning around him. It was the electric magic, Lightning. But more terrifying was the plasma emanating from Nade.
Amira widened her distance, showing a look of bewilderment.
'How the advanced class uses plasma....'
To cast Plasma Magic, one must either construct a superheated battery or virtually create superheated plasma with Omnipotence.
However, since the former method was not developed, all plasma mage belong to the latter, and it was difficult to reach because it was not something that could be learned through theory.
Iruki looked down at Nade with a displeased look.
'Stupid bastard. You've held back until now.'
The only person in the school who knew about Nade's past was Iruki. Five years ago, Nade was a completely different person. However, he had vowed never to show his true face again and wore a mask. But now he had taken off that mask, all to protect Shirone.
'I feel a bit sorry for this.'
Iruki smiled bitterly and turned around. And like the man he never was, he slipped out of his infirmary without anyone noticing.
The protesters were quite taken aback. They knew how dangerous plasma was because they had seen the "Electric Monster" Raikon in the graduating class.
Nade glared at Amira and said.
"This is my last warning. Get lost."
"Why are you doing this? What does protecting your dead friend mean to you?"
“Shirone is not dead.”
Nade shed tears with wide eyes.
"What do you know? What do you know about Shirone to blabber like that!"
Seeing Nade's tears, Amira sympathized with him. But she had no intention of giving up.
"If you want a physical confrontation, I won't stay idle. I'll subdue you before the students get hurt."
Amira stepped back and clenched her fists. White clouds swirled around her, a magic of Climate System called Cloud. t was a great match against electricity. In fact, at Amira's level, she could even charge Nade's electricity into the clouds and counterattack.
"Anyway... Why are you doing something you can't handle?"
Iruki walked out of the front door. Nade frowned, wondering what kind of trick Iruki was up to now. But Iruki stopped next to Nade, not Amira.
"What? Don't interfere. This is my fight."
“But from now on, it will also be my fight.”
"Weren't you on their side?"
Nade's tone was harsh. Although there was no lingering resentment between friends, there was no reason for Iruki, who believed Shirone was dead, to join this battle.
---
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
