Compared to Korea, it might’ve been child’s play, but still, the intense heat that lingered had finally faded by mid-September.
At the academy, which had been drifting further from peace day by day, a massive incident occurred.
Students from the Artium Empire and the Navre Kingdom had gotten into a large-scale brawl.
“They fought? I figured something was going to happen soon, but they really went at it?”
“Yes. According to the instructors who tried to break it up, they used magic and even weapons. It was like they were trying to kill each other…”
“Fantastic. We’re so screwed.”
There were a total of 130 students involved, with 74 injured—and even fatalities.
It was a group melee of such scale that there were barely any similar precedents in the academy’s long history.
The context behind it was just as complex.
Being an elite institution that brought in the best from across the continent, students usually kept up a certain decorum.
But this time, that went out the window.
They had tried to genuinely kill each other using their usual weapons and lethal spells.
“Who was involved? Just commoners?”
“Some, yes. But there were also sons and daughters of counts and marquises. Social status didn’t matter. Anyone and everyone jumped in.”
“Why the hell would these pampered little nobles who’ve eaten well and lived soft all their lives start a damn slaughter?!”
“Well, that’s…”
Even just up to this point, it was an incident that would be talked about for hundreds of years, but there was a more serious issue:the reason the brawl started in the first place.
“Hey, look at those dumbasses walking by.”
“Bunch of eastern hillbillies. They can’t even fight a proper war, so what the hell gave them the confidence to join one?”
“Beats me. Must’ve frozen their brains living in that ice block of a country.”
A month ago, the Artium Empire’s expeditionary force had suffered a major defeat against the Navre Kingdom’s army.
Coming from the cold and failing to adapt to the sudden climate shift, their combat effectiveness dropped, and they got thoroughly beaten.
It was just one defeat, but the aftermath was devastating.
Out of the 100,000-strong force, the army collapsed, and many units fell apart due to desertion.
After barely regrouping, only around 30% remained—a catastrophic loss.
“What’d you just say?”
“What, are we wrong? Your army is trash. How the hell do you go from 100,000 to 30,000?”
The Navre students mocked the Artium students relentlessly, emboldened by the victory that had been used for propaganda, with celebrations and news coverage everywhere.
“Well, even if our army sucks, we’re still better off than a country getting beat from three sides.”
“What did you just say, you bastard?”
“Again, not wrong. If you’ve got something to say, go ahead, dumbass.”
“You country hick, I swear to—!!”
Furious, the Artium students fired back, and things escalated.
If it had ended with just the original parties throwing punches, maybe a few people would’ve gotten hurt and that’d be it.
“Hey, it’s a fight! All Navre students, gather up!”
“Let’s crush those damn bastards once and for all!!”
“Everyone draw your weapons! No mercy—just kill them!”
But the two nations were at war, with relations at rock bottom.
Once a pretext appeared, students of the same nationality began to gather, and the minor scuffle instantly ballooned into a full-blown brawl.
As the scale grew, so did the violence, until it became a full-on miniature battlefield.
And the result… well, just look around.
“Damn it. How the hell are we supposed to fix this? What are we even gonna tell the students’ families?”
“Before that, I think we should worry about our own livelihoods. We let students die—do you really think our heads are going to be safe?”
“Should I go write my resignation right now?”
Caught off guard by the sudden disaster, the instructors of the academy clutched their heads in despair.
They had no idea how to even begin resolving the situation.
But not everyone felt the same way.
There was one man grinning ear to ear, thoroughly enjoying the chaos.
“Wow, now even brawls are breaking out here. Give it a bit more time, and the students will be setting off bombs and opening fire.”
That would be none other than our ideological criminal, Ismael—no, Leamis.
*****
Whenever an organization or group begins to weaken, one of the first signs to appear is internal division.
The internal factions, which had until now stayed together due to shared interests or political reasons, begin to fracture.
Because they no longer feel any need to remain loyal to the group.
‘This incident is practically the trigger.’
A staggering 130 students were involved—roughly 4% of the academy’s entire student body.
They willingly took part in a violent clash, fully aware of the academy rule that harming fellow students results in expulsion.
This wasn’t about rules anymore—it was a declaration that they didn’t give a damn.
“Miss Kalia. Do you think something like this will happen again?”
“Maybe not on the same scale… but in similar circumstances, probably. Everyone’s way too emotionally damaged.”
“I agree as well.”
Once the reins on violence are let loose, it spreads like an epidemic.
If others are doing it, what’s stopping you?
One after another, students will band together based on their nationalities and lash out at foreigners with force.
And who knows?
Maybe next time, the target won’t just be fellow students—but instructors as well.
It’d be outright insubordination, sure, but would that really matter?
In the face of nationalism and chauvinism, such minor details are irrelevant.
The only viable countermeasure would be to expel the main instigators of this incident and issue strict warnings to the rest of the students… but yeah, like that’s going to happen.
‘If you punish them all, how do you plan to deal with the backlash from their families?’
Even if the academy is a prestigious international institution, it’s not free from the influence of nobility.
If a royal enrolls, everyone bows.
If it’s the child of a grand duke or duke, special treatment is a given.
Now imagine punishing over a hundred students with the same charges at the same time?
What instructor would be insane enough to go through with that?
In the end, the academy’s future is shrouded in darkness.
And I’m the one who made it that way.
‘Ah, this feels good.’
As I basked in a strange sense of accomplishment.
The door to the faculty room opened, and a student walked in.
“Instructor? I came to submit the report you asked for the other day.”
“Already? It’s only been two days.”
It was Hermann Meyer.
The third son of the Meyer Count family from the Kingdom of Allein, and easily the sharpest student in my political science class.
“The topic was to analyze The Wealth of Nations and predict the potential negative side effects it might cause. Wasn’t it difficult?”
“It was easier than I expected. The content was interesting, so I could read through it quickly.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Well, Adam Smith was an educator, so his writing tends to be accessible.
Still, it’s not something you’d expect to understand with a 17th-century level of knowledge.
If he hadn’t been paying close attention in my class and reviewing on his own, this assignment would’ve been too much.
In that sense, this guy definitely had talent.
Plenty of passion too.
‘What a waste.’
If this were Earth, I would’ve abducted him into my lab already.
Run him through an integrated master’s and PhD program for five or six years, and he’d grow into a useful junior researcher.
“Huh? Why do I feel a sudden chill…”
I ignored Hermann, who was inexplicably trembling with fear, and glanced through his report.
[“Pursuing excessive efficiency can endanger the livelihoods of workers essential to the production of goods.
As production costs fall, wages also drop, potentially to levels that threaten basic survival—or worse.
In such a situation, workers may be driven to fight for survival or resort to collective action, inevitably leading to social unrest and resistance born from desperation—”]
Not bad.
The logical structure is a bit rough, but the core point is well made.
It wouldn’t cut it as a thesis, but for a two-week assignment, it’s easily above passing.
I’d have to examine it more thoroughly to point out the specific issues, though.
“I’ll grade it and let you know by next Monday. Good work—see you in the next class.”
“Yes, Instructor!”
Judging by the way he writes, I bet he’s into communism.
Maybe I should gift him some of Lenin’s works someday.
You can never nurture too many chaos seeds.
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, or maybe On the So-Called Market Problem would be fitting?
Materialism and Empirio-criticism could also work.
Or perhaps I could publish them later under Ishmael’s name and distribute them.
Once the war ends and this country is torn apart, people will make use of them as they see fit.
‘If it sparks a revolution, that’d be the best-case scenario.’
Anyway, after sending Hermann Meyer on his way, we got up from our seats—it was almost lunchtime.
“Miss Kalia, shall we just eat at the cafeteria today?”
“I saw the menu. It’s terrible. I’ll cook for you instead, let’s go to the dorm.”
“What’s on the menu?”
“Pineapple pizza with fermented herring.”
Wow.
That’s some high-level pseudo-food garbage.
“Guess we’re eating in the room then.”
“A wise decision.”
So we strolled merrily across the academy grounds.
Just then, we heard newsboys shouting from outside.
“—Extra! It’s an extra edition!”
“News you won’t get if you don’t hear it now!!”
An extra edition?
Maybe a scandal involving some high-ranking official?
Or did some country suffer a crushing defeat in battle again?
The voice that followed was a bit different from what I expected—but not far off from what I’d been waiting for.
“The King of the Alcyone Federation has been assassinated!!”
At last.