"Talk about... overbearing..."
Mohg clicked his tongue as he watched Rellana's departure. It took him a moment to find the right word to describe her.
But truthfully, it was undeniably cool. It was a shame his current strength didn't allow him to pull off such a stunt; otherwise, he would have loved to show off like that.
Standing beside where Rellana had been, Ward's expression was uglier than it had ever been. He truly hadn't expected Rellana to show him so little respect.
Even Rennala would usually give him some face, considering he was the former Head of the Academy and many students and professors still looked to him for leadership.
But Rellana... she was a brute!
That was the only word he could find to describe her. What made it worse was that he had absolutely no way to deal with such a brute. That was the most frustrating part.
"Chancellor Ward, I shall remain within the Academy for the coming week," Rellana had said before leaving. "I expect a satisfactory answer within that time. Otherwise, I shall have to resort to my own methods."
With that, she had headed deeper into the Academy without looking back.
The Carian Knights, who had arrived at some unknown point, followed in her wake, escorting her into the inner sanctum.
As Rellana disappeared from view, the crowd turned their eyes toward Ward, seemingly hoping their Chancellor would lead them in resistance against Carian "tyranny."
Seeing their expectant gazes, Ward's face darkened further.
"What are you all still standing around for?! Get back to your quarters!! This is not something you are permitted to involve yourselves in!!"
Following Ward's roar, the crowd deflated like wilted flowers. They lowered their heads and slowly shuffled away from the scene.
"Hmph!"
Ward let out a dissatisfied snort and began to contemplate his next move.
First, refusal was out of the question. If they refused, he was certain that regardless of what happened to the students, the leadership would face a grim end.
Agreement was the only option. The only things he needed to figure out were whether he could negotiate the number of personnel down from half, and exactly who he should send.
Naturally, he had to preserve the Academy's core strength. The top-tier professors had to stay, though he couldn't keep all of them. If he didn't send anyone of high rank, there would be hell to pay.
As for the candidates... the professors of the Lazuli Conspectus would definitely be sent out first. As Chancellor, he himself could not leave. The Haima Conspectus would have to send people, but he would keep a portion of them back. After all, the Haima mages were the Academy's primary combat force; keeping some in reserve was essential for internal security.
The remaining numbers would be drawn equally from the Olivinus, Karolos, and Twinsage Conspectuses.
Having sketched out a rough plan in his mind, Ward hurried toward the conference room. All that was left was to "discuss" it with the various heads of the school.
Meanwhile, Mohg had slipped into a quiet corner, watching the direction Rellana and her entourage had gone. He was debating whether he should try to make contact with the Carians.
There was both risk and potential profit. The greatest risk lay with Rennala... he wasn't sure exactly how deep her "infatuation" went at this point in time.
If she was already hopelessly lost in her obsession with Radagon, then attempting to cooperate with Caria would be like shooting himself in the foot.
But if her "love-brain" hadn't taken over yet, and she was still the wise and ambitious Carian Queen...
Then even if the Moon eventually joined with the Gold, their partnership would likely remain a secret. After all, everyone likes to keep an ace up their sleeve, right?
"A one-week deadline... I should find an opportunity to see if I can approach Rellana and test the Carian attitude..."
With these thoughts swirling, Mohg vanished from the corner. He planned to wait until nightfall to scout the various hidden corners of the Academy. Before that, however, he needed to pinpoint the locations of the magical wards.
Unlike the game, the Academy in this reality was far more treacherous. It was littered with magical traps and barriers designed to keep out intruders and unauthorized personnel. One wrong step and he'd be hit with an exploding spell.
While such a trap wouldn't kill him, it would certainly hurt and, more importantly, blow his cover.
Obol and Sellen had already pointed out several wards to him, but those were merely common ones intended to keep apprentices out of restricted zones. To pass those, one simply needed the corresponding Glintstone Key.
As time ticked by, night eventually draped the Academy in a velvet shroud. Under the cover of darkness, the light from the stars and the Erdtree seemed to shine even brighter.
Mohg slipped out of his dormitory. He was in luck; he had been assigned a single room, so he didn't have to worry about "persuading" a roommate to sleep through his departure.
"Let me think... where should I check first...?"
Mohg narrowed his eyes, scanning the skyline. Suddenly, a specific location came to mind: the sealed classroom situated above the Church of the Cuckoo!
This was the very place that had served as the catalyst for the exile of Master Sorcerer Azur.
The reason he was targeting it was simple: Azur's Glintstone Staff. That item alone was worth the risk. His only concern was whether the security measures in this era differed from those he remembered.
After expertly bypassing several magical wards along the way, Mohg successfully reached the Academy rooftops.
There weren't many magical traps up here, but there were other obstacles: the Academy's Marionettes.
In a sense, these puppets were a nuisance, but they weren't much of a threat to the current Mohg—provided he wasn't detected.
In fact, he was tempted to snatch a few and send them back to the Blood Dynasty for his subordinates to study. He wondered if they could create something even more twisted.
If this were the game, a marionette that could inflict "Bleed" while wielding curved swords... he shuddered to think how nightmare-inducing that would be for players.
Even in this world, a puppet that only required basic resources to match the combat power of a regular soldier was a formidable weapon of war. They had their flaws—like their fragility—but compared to their utility, those were acceptable trade-offs.
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Elden Ring: As the Consort, I Reject Miquella (369 Chapters – Ongoing)
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