In the staff room of Ouboro Academy, the homeroom teachers of every class had gathered. Simmering fury was written clearly across each of their faces.
"A worthless incompetent, daring to mock a ceremony hosted by us! Lord Rasputin was in attendance incognito, for heaven's sake!"
Cries of indignation erupted one after another. And rightly so. Rasputin Grahart was Babel's second-in-command as well as a duke of the Holy Amelia Kingdom. Above all else, Rasputin championed absolute meritocracy, having firmly declared that those with talent would receive preferential treatment in every single matter.
This extreme meritocracy aligned perfectly with the Gift supremacy upheld by the nobles of the Holy Amelia Kingdom, and the Holy Amelia Kingdom nobles across most of Babel's academies practically worshipped him. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say he was their spiritual pillar. And that very Rasputin had visited Ouboro Academy's entrance ceremony incognito. As the leadership of an institution rooted in Gift supremacy, the faculty had to take a resolute stance against their utterly talentless students, or they would never be able to look Rasputin in the eye. That was how things were supposed to go—yet of all people, Kai Heinemann, the most talentless person in the world, had wrecked the ceremony. It was nothing short of a slap in the face. Their outrage was entirely understandable.
"He walked out right in the middle of the ceremony! Let's expel him on those grounds!"
A teacher with slicked-back black hair barked the suggestion, but—
"Are you an idiot?! If it were that simple, we wouldn't have a problem!"
Bellowed at by the headmaster of Ouboro Academy, the dark-haired teacher shrank back in fright.
"Are you referring to the stricter expulsion criteria adopted this year? It's true that for merely ditching the entrance ceremony, we cannot penalize him if he simply claims he felt unwell. That damn Elf! Always meddling where she isn't wanted!"
An elderly, white-haired vice headmaster spat venomously.
"It merely means grounds for expulsion are restricted to specific clauses. The moment he triggers one, I'll banish him from this academy at once—no, from all of Babel!"
Just as the headmaster raised his voice—
"Well now, that's fine, very fine indeed! That is precisely what you should do, yes!"
Startled by the sudden presence, every head snapped toward the doorway where the voice had come from.
Standing there was a man in strange, foreign, crimson attire, a cane resting in his right hand. His face was caked in pure white makeup, with bright red lipstick extending well past the corners of his lips, giving his mouth the look of a grotesque maw.
"Who the devil are you?!"
When the headmaster demanded the obvious, the man cleared his throat with a polite cough, straightened his posture, and announced:
"I am Chips, the messenger delivering the words of Prince Knut, yes."
Raising his right hand, he leaned back slightly as he spoke.
"Prince Knut's—our deepest apologies for the disrespect!"
The faculty scrambled to their feet, pressing their right hands to their chests and bowing in unison.
"Dispose of the Royal Guard of the state enemy Rosemary without delay! I repeat: Dispose of the Royal Guard of the state enemy Rosemary without delay! Those are Prince Knut's words, yes."
When Chips grandly delivered the decree—
"Oh! We have Prince Knut's backing! Then there is nothing left to hold us back!"
"Ah, surely Lord Rasputin came in person today to communicate that very wish to us!"
"Let us show that traitorous woman what for!"
Their faces flushed crimson with excitement, they pumped their right fists and voiced their resolve one after another.
(Yes, yes, what admirable lower life-forms. For the sake of my Chief God, Lord Charybdis, please work like dray horses until you break, yes.)
With the corners of his mouth curling upward all the way to his ears, Chips murmured beneath his breath. His faint words were quickly swallowed up and erased by the teachers' boisterous declarations.
—Thus, the King's younger brother, Knut Loto Amelia, stepped on the worst possible landmine. Indeed, he should have simply ignored Rosemary's Royal Guard. To the Knut of today, her guard was nothing more than a pebble on the side of the road. The option to leave well enough alone had been open to him. Yet at this very time and place, Knut had willingly stepped right into an insane ordeal—a torment orchestrated by the strongest, most terrifying monster alive.