The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 88

Boris, who came from a rural village, loved meat.

It was only natural since he had eaten nothing but potatoes and barley from farming at home.

In other words, while he didn’t exactly hate them, he certainly didn’t like potatoes and barley.

The voice of Boris, who had a choked tone, was heard.

“Please, teacher, at least let me have some barley porridge.”

“No. Instead of barley porridge, let’s put one more potato from our territory in your stomach.”

“Ughhh!”

In response to Amon’s firm words, Boris, who looked like he was on the verge of tears, had a mountain of potato dishes placed in front of him.

Potato salad, mashed potatoes, steamed potatoes, potato pancakes, and even raw potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces!

If Brestle had seen it, she would have wagged her tongue in hunger at such a delicious-looking spread, but for Boris, who had eaten only potatoes for an entire week, it was a sight no different from a hellish feast.

For Boris, who was at the age where he loved meat, it was an unbearable ordeal!

‘No wonder Chloe and Raymond kept asking me why I smell like potatoes…’

During this process, Chloe, with a frown, had even asked, “This smell… it smells like potatoes from Amon’s territory,” and interrogated him.

But, since he had promised with a pinky swear to Amon, “It’s a secret that you’re eating potatoes, okay?” he couldn’t tell her the truth.

In the end, Boris was suspicious to Chloe outside, and inside, he was living with a bloated stomach after eating potatoes to the point of bursting.

‘Clearly, the headmaster and others have said that the potatoes from the teacher’s territory are special, but… I still don’t get it, even though I’m the one eating them.’

At first, he was grateful for the taste, but Amon’s relentless insistence on feeding him potatoes was beginning to arouse unnecessary suspicions.

Meanwhile, Amon, who was watching Boris chewing on raw potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces, smiled contentedly.

‘He grumbles about not wanting to eat, but in the end, he eats it all up.’

Amon, with his chin resting on his hand, watched Boris eat the potatoes with satisfaction.

Boris, sensing the gaze, felt uneasy, and suddenly Amon spoke.

“Boris, has it already been about a week since you started eating our potatoes?”

“Ah, has it only been that long?”

“Yeah. It’s been that long. In just one week, you’ve eaten an entire sack of our potatoes. Don’t you feel anything?”

“Well…”

Boris, tilting his head, rubbed his stomach.

“My stomach feels like it’s going to burst.”

“Hmm, really? Then, how about we test things out and go to the dungeon?”

It was said as if the time had come, but perhaps due to the traumatic memory of repeatedly failing magic in the dungeon, Boris’ face darkened slightly.

“Maybe a little later…”

“Well then, eat all the remaining potatoes, and we’ll go. But you’ll need to eat faster than this.”

Upon hearing Amon’s words, Boris, who had become pale, hurriedly spoke.

“Let’s go right now!”

“Good thing you changed your mind!”

Although the decision to go to the dungeon was made hastily, Marion also accompanied them.

On their way to the Magic Guild’s illusion dungeon, Marion cautiously spoke.

“Hmm, Amon.”

“Yes, senior?”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been taking Boris here and there after class lately. Can you finally tell me what you’re up to? It’s already been a week since you said you’d explain it soon.”

Upon hearing Marion’s concern for his disciple, Amon smiled softly.

“Hehe, it would be faster if you saw it for yourself.”

With Amon’s confident words, Marion couldn’t help but sweat slightly.

This made him even more worried.

‘He’s so confident, but it’s happened before where he screwed things up.’

However, seeing him so certain, there must have been a good reason for it.

A short while later, Amon looked around the dungeon in awe.

In fact, this was Amon’s first time coming here.

‘This is a cave-type dungeon, which is the most common type seen in the dungeon guidebook.’

It was a shabby-looking dungeon shaped like a cave.

But, because it was artificially created, Amon, who knew what truly run-down places looked like, wasn’t impressed.

‘Tch, tch, tch, look at those walls. They intentionally made them look worn out by rubbing them! Compared to the walls in my house, they’re practically brand new!’

Suddenly, clutching his chest in discomfort, Marion spoke.

“Amon, we’ve arrived, but what do we do now?”

“Hehe, just watch.”

“‘Watch,’ you say? You’ve been saying that since earlier. Do you actually have something planned?”

At Marion’s sharp remark, Amon gave a relaxed smile.

“Just watch.”

“Sigh… fine, forget it. I won’t ask.”

Shaking his head, Marion walked up to Boris.

The boy still looked timid, almost like he was unsure of himself.

“Boris, relax, and let’s try again.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Then, think of the mana circle spinning in your heart, and slowly try casting the spell. Don’t worry, teacher is behind you.”

Seeing Boris nodding as if understanding, Marion spoke.

“Appear. Illusion.”

As soon as the incantation was spoken, monsters made of illusion appeared.

Goblin-like creatures holding rusty swords, grinning wickedly!

At the sight of their grotesque appearances, Boris took a step back.

“Ugh, ughhh…”

“Boris! Teacher is behind you! It’s okay if you fail, just try using your magic!”

“Yes, yes!”

Boris, who tightly shut his eyes, reached out his hand.

“Magic Arrow!”

At that moment.

Boom—!

With a tremendous sound, the illusions and the dungeon walls exploded.

The recoil caused Boris to be thrown backward, and he slammed his head into Marion’s abdomen.

“Kkhhkk!”

As a result, Marion, clutching his stomach, staggered and fell to the ground, vomiting. Boris, who had been lying on Marion’s back, blinked in confusion.

“Huh?”

Magic Arrow was a basic 1st-circle attack spell.

Well, to be precise, it wasn’t even really an “attack” spell, as its power was quite weak.

But what kind of power was this?

Seeing the shocking sight of the wall being destroyed and collapsing after being hit by Magic Arrow, Boris spoke in awe.

“T-teacher…”

Hearing Boris’ trembling voice, Marion quickly looked up.

“Yes! Boris! I’ve always believed in you!”

“Teacher!”

At the repeated call, Marion was about to embrace Boris, but then—

Whoosh—!

In an instant, Boris dashed toward Amon and jumped into his arms!

Marion’s eyes widened at the sight.

“B-Boris?”

“Teacher! Thank you so much! I can use magic now!”

Seeing Boris jumping around in joy while clinging to Amon, a look of despair spread across Marion’s face.

Boris, whom he had taught so hard, was happily clinging to someone else!

The shocking reality of serving the wrong person made Marion look at Amon with a hollow expression.

Gulp—!

When Marion looked at Amon’s face, he began trembling in fear.

Boris, who had reserved all his gratitude for Amon, wore a face full of superiority.

‘That bastard…!’

‘Heh heh, senior. Didn’t I tell you to watch? Now, just sit there and watch Boris rejoice!’

‘Yesss!’

Just as Amon was about to break into a victorious laugh—

Clunk—!

The guild’s manager, who had entered the dungeon, shouted.

“What the hell is going on here! I’ve told you time and again that this dungeon is only designed to withstand 2nd-circle magic! What are you doing, destroying the dungeon like this! You’ll have to pay for the repairs!”

Amon’s face turned pale.

Amon was absentmindedly fiddling with his emptied pockets.

‘Why would it cost that much to repair a shabby cave?’

No matter how much he turned the pockets inside out, they remained completely empty.

‘Could I have been scammed?’

He wanted to rush to the Mage Guild and demand his money back, but since the destruction was indeed his fault, there was nothing he could do about it.

“Sigh…they say a clumsy person will end up breaking his backside if he falls.”

Amon sighed and turned his head.

Despite his grumbling, Marion continued to glare at him, still with his arms crossed.

“So, you want me to explain Boris’s condition?”

“Yeah.”

“Tsk. I fed him some of our potatoes.”

“Potatoes…”

“Yeah, I fed him potatoes for a whole week. He ate an entire sack, the size of his torso, in one go.”

The potatoes from Amon’s domain.

At that, Marion nodded as if he now understood.

Boris seemed to have a low aptitude for mana.

‘But according to Elder Reinbelt, Amon’s body seems to have adapted to mana itself. The reason being that he grew up eating potatoes from a young age…’

At that moment, Marion suddenly felt irritated.

Potatoes.

Could something so trivial break all the conventional wisdom about magic, and allow Boris, with his low mana aptitude, to suddenly wield magic at the third-circle level?

‘But when I checked Boris’s body, the circle hadn’t been formed yet. That means he’s becoming like Amon…’

Scratching his head, Marion cursed under his breath.

“Damn it, I just can’t figure it out.”

“Why curse? The end result is good, so it doesn’t matter how it happened.”

Marion thought that way too, but deep down, he was uncomfortable with the fact that all his hard work and teaching had been overshadowed by something as trivial as potatoes.

“Sigh…fine, I’ll let it go. But still, Amon.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll give you a warning—don’t let outsiders know about those potatoes.”

Amon fell into thought.

How many outsiders had visited the domain before he became a teacher at Amonis Academy?

‘I don’t think there were even ten.’

And how many people would be crazy enough to come all the way to the remote Drake domain and care about something like potatoes?

“Well, I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Right. If anyone eats potatoes and turns into a monster like you…”

“Monster? There’s someone right in front of you, and you’re saying things like that.”

“Ahem! If someone were to turn into something like you, I can only imagine the chaos it would cause. I’m sure there’d be a huge commotion over the potatoes from Drake’s domain. Probably, countless people would spill blood over it.”

Amon imagined the scenario.

“Hahaha! A raid! Harvest the potatoes!”

“Stuff all the potatoes into sacks!”

In his imagination, the potato thieves were quickly subdued by the villagers and thrown deep into the Drake Mountains.

Anyway, the thieves who coveted potatoes were monsters themselves, so Amon didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But in the first place, I only fed Boris those potatoes. I’m not planning to give them to anyone else. After all, they are the potatoes I’ve raised with great care.”

Even Sloth would have to marry Amon if she dared to eat the potatoes!

That too, only on the condition that she handed over the economic rights of the Pid Marquis family!

“Well, don’t worry. It’s not like I’ll be feeding them to anyone else.”

“I see. I’m just saying this out of concern, so don’t take it badly.”

“What’s there to take badly? It’s the truth, after all.”

“I’m glad you understand. But…”

Marion spoke quietly.

“I’m not an outsider either. Couldn’t you give me some potatoes? The seventh-circle is within my reach.”

“No.”

“…”

Amon was ruthless when it came to anyone other than his students.