――The top floor of the World Mage Academy Babel.
In that scenic room, Chloe let out yet another heavy sigh.
That incident had shaken Babel to its core, ushering in an era of upheaval in every sense of the word.
First, Vice Headmaster Crab Einstein and his close aides vanished without a trace, only for their mangled corpses to be discovered shortly after. At the same time, the truth came to light: during the latest exam, the vice headmaster had conspired with several factions to orchestrate the murder of examinees. Babel was thrown into utter turmoil, prompting the immediate formation of a large-scale investigation team.
As a result, an unprecedented scandal surfaced—a member of royalty had commissioned the assassination of examinees.
Though the details remained classified, that royal was none other than His Highness Prince Gilbert, First Prince of the Holy Amelia Kingdom. Apparently, he had harbored a bitter grudge ever since Kai Heinemann publicly humiliated him, driving him to concoct the scheme. Of course, anyone with the slightest comprehension of that monster would never have dared to even dream of assassinating him.
Regardless, a mere nip from a little rabbit would never have driven that monster into a frenzy. What truly infuriated him was dragging Laila Helner into the plot. Upon learning that young examinees—starting with Somni Barrel—were also slated for slaughter, the monster's wrath instantly blew past its boiling point. A sweeping purge followed, leaving the masterminds, the vice headmaster and his cohort, as nothing more than gruesome corpses.
Had the matter ended there, it would have conveniently eliminated the vice headmaster faction, whose overbearing arrogance had grown increasingly intolerable, delivering an ideal outcome for Lady Inea and the headmaster faction.
However, taking responsibility for provoking the wrath of Kai Heinemann, the strongest Transcender in recorded history, Lady Inea announced her resignation as headmaster. The seat, long thought to be an unshakeable fixture, was suddenly left vacant. The Tower of Babel was plunged into peak chaos.
The Magic Academy Council, a dominant force that split the Tower of Babel in two and essentially formed the vice headmaster faction, declared that the misconduct was entirely the result of Crab Einstein acting on his own authority, disavowing any connection to the affair.
In the end, a fierce political feud erupted between the headmaster faction and the vice headmaster faction, leading to an extraordinary headmaster election to settle the score.
Under relentless pressure from the headmaster faction, Chloe was forced to run. She won by a razor-thin margin, ultimately saddled with the burden of becoming Babel's headmaster.
"Lady Inea, if anyone deserved to retire, it was me..."
Ever since the incident, Lady Inea seemed to have had her fangs thoroughly drawn. The imposing aura that once made one's skin prickle in her presence had vanished completely, leaving her as gentle as an entirely different person.
With a strangely refreshed look on her face, she had announced her intention to live a quiet life immersed in research at a mansion on the outskirts. In a way, that was the very future Chloe had coveted most. At the very least, she wouldn't have been forced to make such stomach-churning decisions.
Picking up a document from her desk, she muttered,
"'Kai Heinemann and select others are hereby granted admission to the D-rank academy—Ouboro, due to scoring Zero on the practical test'...is it?"
She read the words aloud before tossing the sheet back onto the table.
Given Kai Heinemann's sheer power, proper protocol dictated that he be enrolled directly in the Tower. Yet, the reality of his exam scores remained: zero on the practical test and thoroughly mediocre results on the aptitude test. There was simply no avoiding his placement into Ouboro Academy—the bottom-ranked institution, frequently derided as the rundown academy.
Above all, with Kai Heinemann's trust already hanging by a thread, she was terrified of the repercussions should she unnaturally tamper with the results. For now, the foremost priority was demonstrating to him that Babel was, at its core, a legitimate educational institution.
Bly and Sigma had voiced considerable dissatisfaction with the decision, but she had pushed it through regardless.
Knowing that Transcender's temperament, she was certain this was the safest route—one that would avoid provoking his displeasure.
Besides, she was thoroughly sick of the academy's recent obsession with ranking everything. If a student's entire future was dictated solely by entrance exam scores, an educational institution like Babel had no reason to exist in the first place. For that reason, Chloe believed this course of action would serve as a much-needed shot in the arm. Though, naturally, she would have to tread carefully so the shock wouldn't send the entire system into cardiac arrest.
Still, interference from the Magic Academy Council—who remained blissfully ignorant of just how terrifying Kai Heinemann truly was—seemed inevitable. The road ahead would undoubtedly be fraught with peril.
That was precisely why Chloe had formulated a plan.
"Lady Inea, you're the one who stirred up this hornet's nest. I'll make sure you see it through to the bitter end."
Gazing down at the sprawling cityscape far below, Chloe muttered to herself, the corners of her lips curling into a faint smirk.