The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 84

Amon, Ami, and Rustianel were running as if their feet were about to burst.

Although they could have used the warp gates found in every city, Amon, who was more concerned about the safety of his coin pouch than anything else, did not accommodate their whining at all.

‘Oppa! Just spend some money!’

‘No way! With that money, we could buy 120 sacks of black bread to eat in our territory!’

‘Let’s run!’

Rustianel was also whining.

‘Please tell me the coordinates! Then I can use the warp magic!’

‘I don’t know the coordinates!’

In fact, even if they knew the coordinates of Barbaran Village or Zorga Territory, it would be nearly impossible to find someone who knew the coordinates of the Bog Mountain Range.

The problem was that the first goal of the three destinations was Bog Mountain Range.

Though not as difficult as the Arma Mountain Range, which was Amon’s territory, the Bog Mountain Range was a rugged mountain located in a rural area!

‘Then let’s spend the money! Let’s use the warp gates that humans use!’

‘Three gold coins per person!’

‘What, what did you say!?’

‘If it’s three, I’ll discount it and it will be eight gold coins!’

Rustianel couldn’t forget the sweetness and crispness of the gold coins she ate yesterday.

To think that she would have to use eight of those delicious gold coins!

‘Let’s run!’

‘Wise decision!’

That was why Amon, Ami, and Rustianel were running so hard.

Fortunately, the good thing was that their bodies were far from ordinary human ones.

Even though the Bog Mountain Range was several days away by horse from the city of Amur, where the academy was located, the three of them were able to arrive in less than half a day.

Of course, that did not mean they were in perfect condition when they arrived.

No matter how well trained she was in Drake Territory, Ami was still a girl not much older than Chloe!

“Ha! We’re here! Hahh! Ughh!”

With her hair disheveled, Ami was panting heavily, on the verge of collapsing.

And despite being a dragon, Rustianel, who had just reached adulthood and was unfamiliar with a human body, was lying flat on the ground, wriggling.

She looked like a caterpillar, but Amon, worried about the dragon’s dignity, intentionally ignored the sight and looked around.

“Hah, we left in the morning and arrived around lunchtime. We’re a bit late.”

At his murmur, Ami shuddered.

‘I knew Oppa had good stamina, but I didn’t expect the difference to be this huge…’

Rustianel also trembled.

‘Is this how humans are? Humans are scary…’

Anyway, as Amon wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around, he furrowed his brow.

Although Ami and Rustianel looked like they were going to die, Amon still had some energy, so he had already asked passersby for directions and was sure this was the Bog Mountain Range.

‘…But why is it so peaceful?’

Even the village just below the Bog Mountain Range was extraordinarily calm.

‘Bog Mountain Range is the site of the ogre horde, a high-difficulty request. But why is it so peaceful here?’

Amon, who had shared a close bond with ogres whenever possible in Drake Territory, knew well how violent they were.

Ogres were monsters so vicious that they were called “cannibal demons” by people.

Additionally, now that he had some knowledge about knights, Amon judged that even a mid-level sword expert would have difficulty handling more than one ogre alone.

‘Not now, but if it were the skills of senior Sloth from back then, meeting two ogres would have been a hearty meal…No, maybe just a light meal.’

If it were the plump Brestle, it would have been a solid meal.

Anyway, as Amon was deep in thought, he suddenly looked at something.

Despite being a shabby village located below Bog Mountain Range, there was a fine building right next to it.

‘What is that building? I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere…’

Amon stared at the building intently, his eyes widening when he saw the emblem of the “Goliath Knights” from the city of Amur, where the academy was located, carved into the building’s outer wall.

‘No way…!’

A bad premonition rose in his mind.

‘These bastards must have already wiped out the ogre horde!’

Thinking that his meal ticket had been stolen right in front of his eyes, Amon rushed toward the knights’ building.

And as he ran to the building, Amon knocked on the door furiously.

“Is anyone there! Is anyone there!!”

After a moment, a disheveled man came out.

“Who… huh!?”

“Eh?”

It was a familiar face.

Though they hadn’t known each other for long, Amon recognized him immediately because of the unforgettable first impression.

“Are you senior Sloth older brother…Lancelot?”

“Then you must be the damn fiancé who’s trying to corrupt our lovely and beautiful Sloth!”

Amon exclaimed in shock while waving his hands.

“No! We’re not fiancés. There were circumstances behind that.”

“What?”

Lancelot, crossing his arms and glaring as if demanding an explanation, was quickly interrupted by Amon.

“Then what happened? I’m sure there was a request to subdue the ogre horde here, and I rushed over, but to think the Goliath Knights are stationed here?”

“Oh, well, you see, something happened.”

“Something?”

Lancelot nodded and continued.

“You know I was assigned to the Goliath Knights in Amur, right?”

No, Amon didn’t know.

But Amon nodded enthusiastically and replied.

“Of course! I was so surprised to hear that Sir Lancelot of the Marquis Pid family had been assigned to the rather insignificant Goliath Knights.”

Lancelot smiled contentedly at Amon’s praise.

“Haha, I’m still in training, but with someone like you praising me, I don’t know what to do. Anyway, as you said, the mission of the Goliath Knights is to protect Amur. But Amur itself is an incredibly peaceful city.”

“Well, of course.”

“The problem was that the surrounding area of Amur was the issue, which is why I was stationed here.”

“Eh? Ah.”

Amur was a commercial city.

Thus, the surrounding area revolved around Amur.

So, even though Bog Mountain Range was far from Amur, it still counted as an area near Amur.

“Phew, I see. So, the Goliath Knights subjugated the ogre horde.”

“Subjugated the ogre horde, huh…”

Lancelot scratched his head awkwardly.

“Rather than subjugation…”

“Eh?”

“What should I say, more like interaction, cooperation, and friendship?”

“…What did you say?”

Amon blinked at the strange combination of words that did not fit with ogres.

‘What kind of nonsensical talk is this?’

If he had spoken without a filter, he would have cursed them, but Amon desperately controlled his words and said something more restrained.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Hahaha…I know it’s surprising. We were also quite shocked.”

Lancelot chuckled bitterly and then looked inside the building.

“Ugak! Come out for a moment!”

A loud crash came from inside, and something large crawled out.

It was an ogre.

But it was wearing clothes and had something resembling poorly made glasses on.

“What…!?”

Shocked by the sight, Amon alternated his gaze between Lancelot and the ogre.

“What… is this…?”

Lancelot scratched his cheek and spoke.

“Hmm, let me introduce you. This is Ugak and he’s here as a peace envoy and translator with the Empire for the chief of the ogre tribe in the Bog Mountain Range. Ugak, this is Amon.”

The ogre, Ugak, awkwardly bowed his head and said.

“I, Ugak. Ogre. Strong. Kind. Human, befriend.”

Amon stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape.

‘What is this nonsense…?’

Out of sheer disbelief, Amon kept alternating his gaze between Lancelot and Ugak, and sensing an explanation was necessary, Lancelot whispered into Amon’s ear.

“The chief of the ogre tribe in the Bog Mountain Range is a leader who united hundreds of sub-tribes. And he’s the ‘Ogre Lord,’ who comes once in a thousand years.”

“O-Ogre Lord?”

“That’s right. As you know, the Ogre Lord is famous for having a higher intellect than most humans. So, the Ogre Lord, Zagalak, wanted to make a peace treaty with humans. He figured that fostering cooperation was far more beneficial than hostility.”

“T-That’s possible…?”

But Amon, who had shared a deep bond with the ogres in Drake Territory, knew that their nature was extremely dangerous.

“But isn’t it dangerous?”

“Well… at first, I and the upper echelons of the Empire thought so too. That’s why I came here personally. But after meeting Zagalak myself, I found he was more civilized than our sixth brother.”

“Sixth brother?”

“The biggest one among the thirteen swords you saw.”

“Ah.”

The ogres and trolls were so ferociously ugly that they looked as if they’d have to pee their pants while pulling apart their bellies, with a scarred, bald, massive figure.

That must have been the sixth one.

Anyway, the Ogre Lord wanted peace with humans, and judging by the fact that Lancelot was with the ogre envoy, Ugak, it seemed the Empire was positively considering it as well.

However, Amon’s eyes were still gleaming with a murderous intent.

‘Even though it’s a high-level request…if I just beat up the ogres, the money would roll in like pumpkins and vines…’

Perhaps sensing the murderous intent, Ugak sweated nervously and said:

“I, Ugak! Bread good!”

“…”

“Pork good! Glasses very good! Eyes see well!”

“…”

“Human culture good! I love Empire!”

Staring at Ugak, who was desperately trying to appeal for friendship with humans, Amon suddenly turned his head.

Then, from the fields in the corner, he saw ogres and humans working together, sweating as they cultivated the land.

“Kukukukuk! Ogres stronger than old cows! Ogres wield plows!”

“Oh my! If not for Jagarak, what would we have done!”

“Old human granny! Sitting and resting! Ogres working hard with sickles!”

“Our Sgarak! Take it easy!”

Instead of cows, the ogres were wielding plows and plowing the fields, and holding huge sickles like one-handed scythes to cut down the thick weeds.

Amon closed his eyes as he saw the scene where an old cow was chewing on the weeds the ogres had cut.

‘They’re all insane.’

Not only had the academy collapsed, but now it seemed like the whole world was falling apart.

At that moment, Lancelot came out of the building and handed something that was the size of a human torso.

“Here, have one too.”

“… What is this?”

“It’s bread made by the Ogre Chief, Jagarak. He recently got into baking bread with a newly built oven, and he’s been making a lot of it. In fact, recently, the knights only eat this bread.”

“…”

Amon absentmindedly took the bread and took a bite.

It was an incredibly soft and delicious bread.

The request for the Ogre tribe in the Bog Mountain Range!

‘… My purse has sprouted wings and flew up to the sky on its own.’

With the first destination being a bust, Amon felt like crying, but he immediately planned to head toward the next destination.

‘The closest place from here in the Bog Mountain Range is the Zorga Domain.’

And the request there was to exterminate the “Undead Lair” in the back mountains of the domain.

‘Undead? They have no intelligence. Since they’ll never make peace with humans, I can just smash the skeletons and earn money.’

With that in mind, Amon walked forward with a lighter heart.

“Alright, Ami! Rustianel! You two must have rested enough by now!”

Although both of them looked like they were on the verge of death, Amon shook his clenched fist and said,

“Then, let’s push ahead and go!”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“Ahhh…”

Both of them followed Amon with a teary expression on their faces.

Anar’el was deep in thought with a serious look on her face.

‘The request for the Ogre tribe in the Bog Mountain Range was secretly canceled…’

Well, that could happen.

Among monsters, occasionally, some intelligent individuals appear, and when one of them leads the group, the tribe’s level can dramatically increase.

‘If it’s an Ogre Lord, an exceptionally intelligent individual among the ogres, it wouldn’t be impossible for the tribe to be civilized. Then, they might try to make peace with humans.’

But the problem was…

“The request for the Undead Lair extermination in the Zorga Domain… this is the most critical one.”

She wanted to inform Amon directly about this with warp magic, but she couldn’t due to Rustianel, who was right next to him.

Due to the dragon, often referred to as “mana itself,” near Amon, the warp point near him kept distorting.

‘Teacher Amon…you must stay safe.’

Muttering to herself, Anar’el looked at the ceiling.

The ceiling pattern shimmered, and it almost looked like Amon’s face was there.