Blue flames scattered.
Rodelin’s clean vertical slash.
Baron Kelven, who had stepped back, frantically felt around his body. Orobas, who had moved to his arm, did the same.
“Wh-what?”
“A-are we alive? I’m sure we were cut…”
No matter how much they touched, there were no signs of being cut.
Baron Kelven’s mouth split wide to both sides, and Orobas’s eye curved like a crescent moon.
“You couldn’t even cut from that distance? You’re nothing but vermin.”
“Kuhehe! Vermin! Vermin!”
“This is why I hate those noble family bastards! Those without skill who act out with their families backing them!”
“To think a secret technique is weaker than a regular swing. Even a passing demon would laugh!”
Sharp mockery from human and demon alike.
But we showed no reaction. Because.
“Sky Splitter…? Did it work?”
“Keke, impressive. To think you pulled off the ‘real’ Sky Splitter.”
“You bastards… what the hell have you been talking about since…”
There was no need to waste our breath explaining and clearing up their confusion.
If that was the real Sky Splitter, the results would show soon enough.
Crack.
In an instant, with the sound of something splitting, a fissure appeared on Orobas’s body.
A fissure running vertically through his single eye.
The crack was so clean it felt like it had been there from the beginning.
Perhaps sensing something, Orobas muttered in disbelief.
“This can’t be… I… to fall to mere humans… like this…!”
Crackle—!
Splat!
Orobas, who had been attached to Baron Kelven’s right arm.
His body split in half, spewing dark purple liquid.
The sound of ‘splat’ as it hit the ground.
That was the last sound Orobas left in this world.
“Impossible… to pull off Sky Splitter at just sixteen! Even sister Lucia only succeeded after turning eighteen…!”
Lowell shouted in disbelief from the distance.
That’s right. The truth was, the [Sky Splitter] Rodelin had been using until now wasn’t a completed technique.
The path where the sword swings down vertically.
Concentrating all power into that thin line—that was the technique called [Sky Splitter].
‘During the Demon Shard incident, she couldn’t focus the power, so wind whipped around everywhere.’
Wind pressure strong enough to blow us all away and knock us unconscious.
That wind pressure was now concentrated into a single line, so you could imagine how powerful it was without even thinking about it.
“Congratulations, senior.”
“Thanks. Even I can hardly believe it…”
Rodelin looked at her hands with a dazed expression.
Actually, in Trash Village, there’s a scene where Alex and Rodelin talk about [Sky Splitter].
‘If I succeed with that technique… even my second sister will surely acknowledge me.’
Completing [Sky Splitter] before graduation was her goal.
She had confided her worries to the protagonist Alex and made that vow.
And she’d succeeded at the mere age of sixteen, in actual combat no less, so it was no wonder Lowell was shocked out of her mind.
“K-kyaaaah!!”
And what Rodelin had cut wasn’t just the demon.
Splat!
Baron Kelven’s right arm dropped off.
A fountain of blood erupted from his forearm.
“Kugh…!”
Baron Kelven desperately circulated his mana and managed to stop the bleeding.
To think he could even stop bleeding. I’d felt it in the game too, but mana was truly a mysterious thing.
“It’s over.”
“Yeah, it was really a long fight.”
“Everyone worked hard. I know it’s tough, but hang in there a bit longer. Alex, restrain him, and Zero, go report to Sir Caron.”
Now we just had to finish cleaning up and this episode would be over.
Huh? Why did this end so easily compared to other times?
‘Because this is normal, damn it!?’
That’s right. This was only the latter half of Chapter 2. This level of difficulty was normal.
Upper-level demons attacking, enemies with not just 3 phases but even desperate last-stand mechanics, powerful figures grabbing me by the throat, being put in situations where dying at any moment wouldn’t be strange!
‘That’s what’s abnormal! If there’s a game like that, is it even a game? It’s a trash game!’
While ‘Hero of the Academy’ was rated as a trash game, the early difficulty wasn’t particularly high.
It meant it was a really good game that even beginners could play.
I was about to start walking to call Caron when it happened.
“My Lord!”
Out of nowhere, a knight appeared.
His identity wasn’t hard to figure out. It was Pjol. Pjol, said to be the strongest in the Trash Knights.
I take back what I said about it being a good game. This damn trash game!
“Oh, you’ve come! Pjol! My loyal knight!”
“Damn it! Delin! Fall back! Right now I… kugh!”
Lowell, who had been trying to stand, collapsed again.
Yeah, I see. We have to handle this ourselves again? This damn game!
“Kill those bastards right now!”
While Baron Kelven shouted excitedly, we entered a brief strategy meeting.
“How is everyone’s condition?”
“Not good. Let’s end this quickly. I’ll hold his sword.”
“Don’t overdo it. And I think I’d be better for that role.”
“Keke, my head hurts so… can I sit this one out?”
“Denied.”
Rodelin shot me a sharp look.
Receiving an unexpected reward(?), I thought.
‘No need to show my full power.’
This situation was new, but facing Pjol wasn’t.
What do I mean?
‘In the original game, Pjol participates in the previous battle along with Bickerd and Redington.’
That’s right. The final defense line battle.
This time the story had changed for unknown reasons, but I couldn’t count how many times I’d fought that battle.
I knew Pjol’s combat abilities and mechanics inside and out.
“I’ll handle defense. I’ll definitely block the first attack, so you two dig in from both sides. We’ll match the pace to Alex, whose leg is injured.”
Us preparing to charge and Pjol slowly approaching.
Just as that gap was gradually closing.
“My Lord, please stop now. It’s all over.”
“…What?”
“I’ve realized what we’ve been doing isn’t right. My Lord… no, Baron, please… stop now.”
“You! It’s an order! Kill them! Kill those arrogant bastards right now!”
“…I’ve made my decision. I will no longer follow unreasonable orders.”
“Y-you traiiiitor!”
Baron Kelven had a fit. Pjol deliberately ignored him and spoke to us.
“I am Pjol, knight of Trash. I’d like to have a word with the Baron… would that be alright?”
“What’s your purpose?”
“Persuasion, surrender, and apology.”
Rodelin narrowed her eyes for a moment, then withdrew her sword and cleared the path.
“The time won’t be very long.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“It’s natural courtesy toward one who practices chivalry.”
“Though it’s very late.”
“No matter how late it is, there are many who never return at all.”
“…I suppose so.”
An indescribable smile appeared on Pjol’s face.
I didn’t quite understand the situation, but Pjol seemed to have no will to fight.
‘At least I can tell the story is progressing.’
Baron Kelven screaming and crying out like a madman.
The lines that would conclude this long story were bursting from his mouth.
“It’s unfair! Why is this world so unfair!”
The reason Baron Kelven hated prestigious families.
It was envy and jealousy born from different starting points.
“If I… if I had fertile land too. If it hadn’t been a crumbling family! If I’d had outstanding knights instead of trash like them, it would’ve been different. I could’ve been a hero!”
“What do you think?”
“…Pathetic. He’s even more pathetic than I thought.”
Everyone’s start is bound to be different. That’s not something you can choose.
Besides, someone like Baron Kelven had started life with considerable advantages.
The title of Baron. Plus enough wealth to live on until he died.
Compared to commoners or lowborn, it was an incredibly advantageous life.
“The more you have, the more effort you need to sustain it, the more power to protect it. You were someone who paid that price yourself… and yet you didn’t know that?”
“Stop acting so smart! I tried too! If that damn bastard hadn’t shown up in the last battle! No, if those ancestor bastards had just made proper efforts from the start, I wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
Perhaps because Baron Kelven’s cry was so loud, the mine shook greatly.
Cracks spread everywhere and stone fragments fell.
“Why! Why should I have to suffer! When this unfair world is what’s wrong, why do I…”
Baron Kelven whimpering like a child.
I picked my ear and stood before him. Partly because his tantrum looked too pathetic.
But also because it was time to reveal the ‘truth.’
“Because you were a coward.”
“…What?”
“Your ancestors and you… the problem was that you lacked the courage to take one step forward and turned your feet elsewhere.”
That’s right. A problem that seemed impossible to solve.
A problem that seemed to have no answer, like a tangled ball of yarn.
Surprisingly, the answer was often right in front of you, near you.
Thwack!
I struck the wall with my sheathed sword. After a few strikes, cracks appeared and it began to crumble.
“Light…?”
“Magic stones? But I’ve never seen light this bright before. That means high purity…”
Magic stones embedded in the walls here and there along with the rocks.
I pulled one out and held it up, saying.
“Top-grade magic stones.”
“T-top-grade magic stones!?”
“All of this…?”
It was too early to be surprised. What was before our eyes was only an extremely small part. Just the tip of the iceberg.
According to information provided in the game, the estimated reserves were about 15 tons.
The Empire’s Eight Pillars?
It was an enormous deposit that could mock them.
“To talk about starting points when you had more fertile land than anyone else. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Baron Kelven, who had been wearing a blank expression, suddenly snapped to attention.
“How could… how could anyone predict this! Without luck, you couldn’t even discover it!”
“No, you were given plenty of hints.”
The glowing wooden club the woodcutter carried around.
Its true identity was none other than a solid chunk of top-grade magic stone.
Because the purity was so high, it boasted light strong enough to illuminate the surroundings, and no one suspected it.
Even finger-nail-sized top-grade magic stones were rare, so who could have imagined that huge thing was a top-grade magic stone?
That wasn’t the only hint.
“You remember there was a magic beast at the place where you took the woodcutter to remove the trees blocking the mine, right?”
Magic beasts are animals transformed by the influence of mana or magic energy.
The magic beast the Trash Knights encountered long ago had evolved under the influence of top-grade magic stones.
“It’s also the reason magic beasts have been appearing at the mine entrance recently. As time passed and the terrain changed, mana slowly leaked out.”
That’s right. If they had just waited a little longer, if they had just endured a bit more while managing the territory.
Trash Village could have achieved greater development than ever before.
“But you didn’t do that.”
They chose the easy path instead of the difficult one.
The ancestors killed the woodcutter to use the fairy tale for tourism.
And his descendant, Baron Kelven, relied on the base method of territorial war and the power of demons.
All without knowing there was a fortune beneath his feet.
“Your ancestors and you lacked courage.”
The courage to break through this thin wall.
The courage to take just one step forward.
–TL Notes–
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I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 429
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I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 431
3 thoughts on “I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 430”
RS69 says: November 30, 2025 at 10:52 am
At last, this story is coming to its end
Not that it was boring, but it lasted a bit too long.
Now, time for rewards 🙂
Last power-up occured more than 100 chapters ago!
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theodor says: February 15, 2026 at 2:01 am
Zero just got the 100% activation hour glass less than a dozen chapter ago though?
It turn Sword defense and Adonis style counterattack from useless to Ultimate skill that allow him to negate any damage that about to hit him and use the strongest attack at the same time!
And getting cheat skill Wandering storm with Divine imitation is also a big power boost
But I’m looking forward to what he will get as quest rewards and from predation too! He will not get something like Demon thorn would he? Or perhaps block sensation?
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theodor says: February 15, 2026 at 1:57 am
Damn what a plot twist! Insane foreshadowing! Maybe there will even really be a holy sword around here too
Rodelin must surpass Lucia if she wish to take on the final boss after all!
And ‘that bastard’ that show up on Baron Kelvan final battle and crush him…I wonder who it is? Caron?Douglas?Elster? Someone from Teron family perhaps? Or perhaps the Lester?
Next up Pjol! I’m so excited! Will Daike get to see it in person or do Zero have to tell him?
