The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 64

First, Amon listened closely to the detailed explanation from Anar’el about the current situation.

‘Hmm…this situation is worse than I thought.’

The recent disaster stemmed from an initiative led by the Emperor and key officials of the Imperial Court.

However, an unforeseen natural disaster completely ruined the endeavor.

‘Because of this, the Emperor is bedridden. And since investments come with personal responsibility, recovering the invested funds in this situation is nearly impossible. Of course, Anar’el is acquainted with the Emperor and has some connections, so one could hope for some compensation. But with the Emperor incapacitated, pressing the matter is out of the question.’

The immediate problem was that workers from the trading guild were actively seizing the Academy’s belongings.

‘The Gold Road Trading Guild—money-obsessed vultures. I’ve never had a good impression of them.’

Amon’s history with the Gold Road Guild was not without its share of grievances.

When he first started at the Academy, he had dealings with them over the “King of Mango” incident.

‘Not to mention I lost two gold coins of my own when their Blaton Temple venture failed.’

Because of that, his opinion of the Gold Road Guild was particularly low.

‘In any case, Imperial support, which comes quarterly, is still pending. Compensation directly from the Emperor cannot be expected in the short term. Meanwhile, the Guild is actively slapping seizure notices on Academy properties.’

As stated, the situation was worse than it initially seemed.

It was only a matter of time before the entire Academy building was plastered with red notices.

“Uh, Amon, do you have any ideas?”

“Hmm.”

At Anar’el’s worried inquiry, Amon gave a brief sigh before responding.

“I do have ideas, but there are several things I need to confirm first.”

“Confirm? What kind of things?”

“Yes. The Guild is seizing Academy property because they think it’s impossible to recover their loan, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“The borrowed amount is several thousand gold…roughly equivalent to the quarterly Imperial funding.”

Amon, deep in thought, furrowed his brow.

“But hold on, why did you borrow so much?”

“Antonio said it was a guaranteed success and urged us to invest big…”

Amon silently vowed that, given the chance, he would ensure the Emperor would meet the same fate as the vice principal.

“So you maxed out the loan limit.”

“…Yes.”

“Excellent. You’ve really outdone yourself.”

“….”

“In any case, you maxed out the loan, and the Guild, upon hearing the project failed, is now scrambling to recover the principal by seizing Academy assets.”

“Exactly.”

With a deep sigh, Amon stood up.

“First, I’ll have to visit the Gold Road Guild. We need to get those seizure notices removed immediately.”

“Wh-what? How?”

With another deep breath, Amon reached into his bag, pulling something out. The dazzling sight of it caused Anar’el to reflexively shut her eyes.

Inside the Branch Manager’s Office of the Gold Road Guild.

On the table rested a gold ingot the size of a human head.

It was gold Amon had received during his recent vacation from Caselag.

Seeing it, the Branch Manager, Delmons, broke into a broad grin.

“Haha! If you had the means to pay, you should’ve come sooner! Welcome!”

As Delmons reached to grab the gold ingot, Amon firmly gripped his wrist.

“Hmm? What is this?”

“As you said, I have sufficient means to repay the loan.”

“Yes? Isn’t that why you’ve come now?”

At Delmons’ words, Amon shook his head.

“No, I’m here to ask you to restore the original repayment schedule.”

“What?”

“You’re seizing Academy property because you think we can’t repay the loan. But as you can see, we have enough funds to settle the debt.”

Delmons clicked his tongue and released his hold on the gold ingot.

“That’s certainly true. But what is your plan for repaying the loan? We’ve already confirmed that there’s no remaining liquid funds in the Academy.”

At the Branch Manager’s skeptical look, Amon smirked.

“I have a business venture currently under review.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Therefore, there will be no issue repaying the loan. But since mere words aren’t enough, I’ll leave this gold with you as collateral.”

“…!”

“This way, even if the plan fails, you can immediately recover the loan. There’s no reason for the Guild to rush and seize property.”

“Hmm…”

As Amon suggested, there was no longer any reason to hurry.

The Guild had been acting swiftly to minimize risks, assuming the Academy lacked repayment ability.

‘But if this gold serves as reliable collateral, there’s no longer a need to press so hard.’

Ultimately, the gold would serve as a safety net.

Delmons nodded in agreement, prompting Amon to continue.

“By the way, I’ve precisely measured the weight of this gold.”

“…What?”

“Don’t even think about shaving or skimming off any of it. I’ve noted the weight down to the decimal.”

The Branch Manager heaved a sigh.

“Our Gold Road Guild in Amur Branch moves tens of thousands of gold coins every quarter. As long as we recover the principal, that’s all we care about.”

Reassuring Amon of their professionalism, Delmons dismissed any concerns.

Still skeptical, Amon finally rose to leave.

“Well then, I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Yes, take care.”

Amon left the Guild.

‘Hmm…I’ve bought us some time.’

For now, the ruthless debt collectors raiding the Academy would withdraw.

‘But that’s all it is—time. If the debt isn’t repaid, they’ll come back and take everything again.’

Determined to protect the gold ingot, Amon resolved to find another solution.

‘I’d be insane to pay off the Academy’s debt with my money.’

He needed a way to retrieve the gold intact.

‘The next step is crucial.’

Amon hurried back to the Academy and approached Anar’el.

“Principal, did you find it?”

“Yes. I located it quickly using farsight magic, but honestly, I’m not sure if it will work out.”

“It will. It has to.”

For the sake of retrieving his gold, it had to succeed.

“Well then, shall we set out?”

“…Alright.”

Anar’el began casting warp magic. With the location pinpointed by her farsight magic, the two prepared to move.

“Hu…”

How much time has already passed?

Sadly, the middle-aged man, who had been staring blankly at the devastated land, lowered his head in despair.

‘The imperial investigation team isn’t moving. Should I give up on everything now?’

Was this the end of a lifelong dream, something he had devoted his life to?

There is a saying that despair can build a man, but excessive hopelessness devours everything.

“Hehe…well, there’s no helping it.”

At least, he would settle this deep grudge.

He could never forget that hateful face.

A devil, whose face was that of a beautiful woman, slowly appeared in front of the middle-aged man.

‘Hahaha, look at this! How deep must the grudge be if I’m seeing an illusion like this?’

The middle-aged man, gritting his teeth, grabbed the blood-stained sickle that was lying beside him.

And at that moment, when he swung the sickle toward the illusion as if rehearsing…

“AAAAAH!?”

A scream rang out, and the illusion fell backward.

‘…No, it’s not an illusion?’

As soon as he realized this, a fiery rage blazed in the middle-aged man’s eyes.

“I’ll kill you!”

The loathsome elf, who had trampled on his long-held dream, his hopes, and everything!

At that moment, the middle-aged man lunged fiercely at the elf.

“Wait, just a second!”

A young man suddenly jumped forward and grabbed the middle-aged man.

“Calm down!”

“Let go! I will rust this sickle with the blood of that loathsome demon!”

The elf, Anar’el, was the very one the middle-aged man, the owner of the King of Mango farm, was trying to kill with the sickle!

Anar’el had repeatedly come to the farm and danced to pray for good harvests, which had led to an unprecedented flood and disaster in the continent’s history, ruining the farm!

Since there was no clear evidence, and the imperial investigation team had not taken action, the poor farm owner had not been able to receive compensation, and his mind had gone white with grief.

He was now sobbing as he vented his anger.

“Because of that demon, nothing is left for me! Let go!”

“Mm…”

The young man, Amon, who was holding the farm owner, glanced at Anar’el.

She was sitting down, trembling and lost in thought.

‘There’s no helping it.’

In order to calm the farm owner’s anger, Amon pulled out his secret weapon.

“Look at this!”

It was a magical item that could calm anger and hatred in any living creature with blood and flesh!

It was a gold nugget the size of an orc’s head!

When the farm owner saw it, his jaw dropped in disbelief.

“Hey! Get that out of here! What is this nonsense?”

The gold nugget was thrown into the muddy, flooded ground!

Amon screamed at the sight.

“AAAHHH!”

In a panic, Amon grabbed the gold nugget back, feeling a trace of fear at the farm owner’s immense fury.

‘Even after seeing the gold, he reacted like this? Just how angry is he…’

Anyway, since Anar’el was about to be killed by the sickle, Amon hurriedly restrained the farm owner and shouted.

“Calm down for now!”

“AHHH! You expect me to calm down? That wicked demon took everything from me!”

“And that’s exactly why we’re here! To help rebuild the King of Mango farm!”

“What?”

The farm owner flinched as he looked at Amon, and Amon, seeing his reaction, thought to himself.

‘Rejecting the gold and suppressing his anger for the sake of rebuilding the farm. What an unusual person.’

It’s not wrong to say that there are all kinds of people in this world.

At any rate, when the farm owner showed interest, Amon quickly continued.

“As I said, we came to help rebuild the King of Mango farm.”

“Is that true? But…”

The farm owner gestured to the surroundings.

“Look. The farm is nothing but mud from the flood, and the buildings have all collapsed. And I can’t even hire workers to clean it up.”

“What about the savings you had?”

“I spent all that on expanding the farm after I paid the academy’s dividends. There’s no savings left.”

Amon thought the man wasn’t quite sane and spoke up.

“Do you have saplings or seeds?”

“I managed to save those. That’s the only thing I’ve managed to hold onto with my life.”

“That’s good. At least that’s one thing.”

“What’s good about that?”

Looking at the vast fields, now turned into a muddy mess, Amon said,

“Since the flood was so severe, once it’s cleaned up, the soil quality should improve, right?”

“…If we can clean it up, maybe.”

Floods are great natural disasters that cause huge damage to humans.

But from the perspective of the earth, it’s not entirely a bad thing.

Floods mix organic matter into the soil and balance the layers, enriching the soil.

But for the farm owner, who needed results today or tomorrow, rich soil in the distant future was a luxury.

“So…?”

“Hm?”

“Then…?”

“…Huh?”

The farm owner’s eyes widened.

“Is that really possible?”

“I think it will be.”

“Hmm…”

The farm owner, who had been mumbling, looked at the trembling Anar’el, who was sitting there, and Amon also looked at her.

And at that moment, both of their gazes landed on her.

“…?”

Anar’el, feeling an unknown sense of unease, dropped her ears.