Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

“…….”

I quickly started to think. Among the porridge and rice balls they had brought me as a patient meal, which one was made by Brynhild? Although I couldn’t fully grasp the intention behind the question, I knew that getting the answer wrong would lead to some serious teasing. Brynhild was watching me with a mischievous grin, clearly ready to make fun of me for at least three days if I messed up.

‘Was it Brynhild who made the porridge? Or was it the other way around? What did the rice balls look like? Were they ordinary or a bit misshapen? As for the taste… I don’t remember much of a difference.’

I racked my brains to recall the details from that lunchtime, and after a moment of deep thought, I finally managed to deduce the answer.

“Brynhild, you made the rice balls, and Aria made the porridge.”

“Uh… Uh? How did you know?”

Luckily, it seemed I had guessed correctly. Her golden eyes widened, and she stammered, clearly surprised that I had gotten it right. Brynhild was genuinely taken aback, not expecting me to answer correctly.

“There’s no way you just guessed… right?”

“Of course not.”

Anticipating such a question, there was no way I could admit to guessing.

“Then how did you figure it out?”

Brynhild probed for an explanation, hoping to find something to tease me about. This was an easy question to answer, as I just had to explain my thought process.

“You mentioned that it was your first time cooking when you brought out the lunch box. When I looked at the rice balls before eating, they were a bit misshapen. They weren’t uniform in size, and the seasoning was uneven, with some parts being too bland and others too salty. Those are common mistakes for someone new to cooking. On the other hand, Aria said she had cooking experience, so I deduced from that.”

“…….”

Her expression turned complex. But to ensure she didn’t feel like I was solely criticizing her cooking skills, I added another point.

“Of course, that was just an additional factor. The decisive clue was your expressions. Every time I took a bite, your faces changed. When I ate the porridge, Aria looked tense, and when I ate the rice balls, you looked tense. It seemed like you two couldn’t lie to save your lives.”

“…Really? Did I make such a face?”

Instead of answering, I smiled slightly. Brynhild seemed frustrated that she couldn’t tease me and upset that it was due to her not being good at cooking, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmph. Whatever. Why should I talk to someone who makes fun of my misshapen rice balls? Let’s just watch the sparring.”

At her obvious display of pouting, I couldn’t help but chuckle. When I asked why, she turned her head away dramatically. However, she didn’t move from her spot, indicating she wanted some reassurance. If she were genuinely upset, she would have moved away first.

I reached out with my left hand and gently patted her head. Her blue hair felt silky between my fingers, and as I expected, Brynhild didn’t pull away from my touch.

“So what if they were a bit misshapen? They were still delicious.”

“Didn’t you say they were ugly?”

“I didn’t. I just said they were a bit misshapen. Besides, I didn’t even notice until you asked. They were so good that I didn’t care about the shape while eating them. As long as the food tastes good, that’s all that matters.”

I held back from saying that compared to basic rations, which only met minimal nutritional requirements and were barely edible, her rice balls were a hundred times better. There was no need to complicate things with unnecessary details.

To Brynhild, unaware of these intricacies, I probably seemed like a wealthy young man who didn’t mind eating anything as long as it was tasty.

“…….”

As expected, Brynhild’s reaction was intense enough to be noticeable. She fidgeted but tried to maintain her pouting facade, mumbling quietly.

“…Alright. I’ll believe you. But keep patting my head until I say it’s enough.”

“All day?”

“…If you can’t, don’t speak.”

Brynhild chuckled slightly and changed her posture, pulling her knees up and hugging them, resting her left cheek on them, and looking up at me.

After a while, Aria, covered in dust from sparring, approached, tilting her head in curiosity.

“What are you two doing, Mira?”

“Brynhild was pouting, so I was comforting her.”

“What?”

“Hey, why would you say that?”

Brynhild elbowed my side and brushed my hand off her head, but she was still smiling. Aria, looking confused, sat down on my right side.

“Mira, are you really not going to spar? The professor said we wouldn’t have to compensate for any damage to the golems.”

“I will. I’m just waiting for everyone else to finish.”

To carry out my plan, I needed to destroy the golem’s core, which would cut into other students’ sparring time. Without knowing my true intentions, the two seemed to accept my reasoning.

Time flew by quickly. As the lesson neared its end, the lines in front of the magic stone golems began to disappear, with students having been thoroughly beaten.

“Looks like it’s my turn. I’ll be back.”

Brynhild seemed surprised that I was actually going to spar, while Aria remained calm.

I approached the magic stone golem. The students still standing there moved aside as if on cue. Even Jake, who was busy replacing the magic stones, paused his work.

‘Can I destroy the core cleanly? That’s the priority.’

I had to destroy the core no matter what. It needed to be so thoroughly shattered that repairing it would be more expensive than simply making a new one. That way, it would force them to replace it later.

These golems would eventually be corrupted by the Holy Grail brought by the demons, becoming endlessly operational without magic stones due to the artifact’s power. Dealing with those golems would naturally fall to the protagonist’s party.

” Starlight Order has been in the hands of the demons for quite some time now…”

Considering the almost certain situation where the relics of the order have fallen into the hands of the demons, there was an urgent need to dismantle and repair the core’s structure as soon as possible.

“Ingrid can be asked to deliver the new core.”

If Priscilla has been frequently absent from lectures recently due to her dedication to research, it would be understandable. Moreover, since the new core is not only better than the original but also more efficient with mana stones, there would be hardly any reason to refuse the request.

Of course, while Ingrid might be the one explaining how this idea came about and what it entails to the Wizard’s Association, it’s me who will ultimately make the decision.

“Who will be the opponent?”

I almost blurted out that it wouldn’t matter if I took on all seven of them at once, but I managed to refrain from doing so just in time. There was no need to showcase my skills to that extent.

“I’ll choose this one.”

I selected the stone golem wielding a longsword and a medium-sized shield, the most conventional combination. From their perspective, it might be a longsword, but from ours, it was practically a greatsword in terms of size.

Jake nodded and ordered the other magic stone golems to exit the arena. The other students, now seated around the arena, were watching me with anticipation.

“Swift and concise.”

I didn’t want to drag this out unnecessarily. The magic stones were starting to show through the surface, and with the lecture time running out, it wouldn’t be long before everyone needed to go for dinner.

As I took my stance, the stone golem began to move. Watching it head-on, I waited until it initiated its enhancement spell and charged. The speed at which it raised and lowered its arm wielding the sword seemed rather slow. It was a familiar swing. Although it would be challenging for others to react properly, I managed just fine. After all, I deliberately adjusted the speed.

I deftly dodged the sword swinging down like it would split my head open and twisted my body, slashing its wrist as I passed by.

“Kwa-ck!”

Fragments of the shattered joint flew off the golem’s body. However, it quickly reconnected with mana, as expected. I hadn’t expected it to fall with just that.

The golem grasped the longsword in reverse grip. Given its original stance, it would be unclear whether it could attack effectively from this distance. That’s precisely why I had gotten close on purpose.

Moreover, gripping the sword in reverse turned its attack area from horizontal to a point. I dodged the descending longsword and twisted my body to sever its wrist.

As Eternity passed by, the longsword soared into the sky, and in the distance, Professor Jake’s voice could be heard, seemingly calling for an end to the sparring.

Feigning ignorance, I moved my leg. With my left foot, I stomped on the golem’s foot, immobilizing it, and pushed the shield away with Eternity’s hilt.

The shield, twisted by the impact, shielded me from the view of the students as my body remained stationary. With that, the stage was set.

“Extreme Twist.”

Mana began to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise around the blade of Eternity. A torrent of mana that twisted everything it touched surged into the chestplate of the stone golem, penetrating it accurately and hitting the core.

“……!!!!!!”

As I felt the core shatter definitively, I withdrew the blade. It took about a second from when I used the shield to block to now. I released Eternity, dispelled the summon, and deactivated my physical enhancement. I turned toward the direction of the professor.

“Just now, you said something—”

“Kbang!!!!”

Before I could finish speaking, a magnificent explosion erupted from behind me. A dense shadow loomed over me, and the swirling wind caused my uniform and hair to flutter in all directions.

There wasn’t any impact, but I was taken aback by the unexpected situation and stopped in my tracks.

“Huh.”

I hadn’t heard about the core exploding when broken.