I Ended Up in a Magic Academy

Chapter 4: The Stillness Before Everything Breaks

A week had passed since Emil Remington first approached Elira Frostborne. Life at the academy continued as if nothing had changed: classes resumed, magic training continued, and rumors spread.

The world here moved fast, but never truly forward. It was easy to lose track of what actually mattered. But far away from the academy's noise, something was happening.

Remington Residence

Inside the estate, a man stood at the center of a wide chamber.

At first glance, he looked more like a warrior than a mage.

With long black hair tied loosely back, a rough beard framing his face, red eyes, and a body built like iron forged through years of battle, no one would mistake him for a scholar, and yet he was a 7th-class Wind magician, one of the highest ranks known, where only eight classes of magic power existed and even reaching the seventh in one's forties was considered monstrous.

This man was Nile Remington.

Head of the Remington family, and more importantly, the current head of the Black Sovereign Order, the ancient underworld organization said to be guided by dark mages beyond the empire's reach, whose leadership and secrets have been passed down through generations steeped in shadow.

Across from him stood the elders, their voices sharp and impatient.

"Why did you send the only heir to the academy, and the only one who can reawaken the unique trait passed down by this lineage?" one of them snapped. "Four years away from the core of our influence is far too long!"

The room grew tense.

Another elder leaned forward, his voice firm with conviction. "That child carries the future of our organization. He could shape the balance of power itself. There's no reason to waste four years at that academy. We should be giving him everything, every piece of knowledge he needs, so that by the time he turns twenty, he's ready to take his place as the new head."

"I will go to the academy and bring the young master back myself," another declared.

At that moment, the air changed.

A heavy magical pressure spread through the room like a sinking weight as he remained unmoving, his presence alone enough, and he quietly said, "Don't you dare," his calm words carrying absolute authority.

The elder who spoke immediately fell silent, sweat forming at his temple.

From the side of the room, Miro Remington stepped forward, a black-haired man with features similar to him but green eyes, his younger brother who, unlike Nile's overwhelming presence, carried a quieter yet no less dangerous aura, glancing between the elders as he said, "Enough. Let's just chill out, okay? Calm down, we're not here to argue in circles."

The elders clicked their tongues but said nothing more.

Nile turned away, ready to leave, and then one of the elders spoke with a voice edged in warning, saying, "You'll regret this, they won't take this lightly."

But the meeting was already over in his mind.

As he walked out, Miro followed and, once they were out of earshot, said lowly, "Nile, you know what they're going to do next."

"I know," Nile replied.

"They'll try to pull Emil back," Miro continued, his tone low and cautious. "Or worse, bribe the academy staff, manipulate them. Especially the instructor."

For a moment, the room felt heavier, like the air itself had tightened.

Nile didn't respond immediately, instead letting out a faint smile as if the concern had long been accounted for, before softly saying, "He'll be fine."

Miro tilted his head slightly. "You sound unusually confident."

"I am," Nile replied without hesitation. His voice was calm. "That boy… he isn't fragile."

A brief silence settled between them.

Then Nile added, quieter this time, almost to himself, "…He's like us. No." His eyes darkened slightly.

Miro's gaze sharpened as he studied him more closely, knowing Nile rarely spoke like that, especially when it came to family.

Nile turned slightly toward the window, his reflection faint against the glass as he looked distant, and after a moment he slowly said, "...Sometimes I look at him and feel like I'm looking at our father again," leaving the words lingering in the air.

Silence followed as if something unspoken had been acknowledged and buried at the same time, and his expression shifted subtly like a shadow passing over his face before settling into something heavier. "I wish this organization never existed." The words weren't loud. They didn't need to be.

Miro didn't answer right away, standing in silence as if any response would only make it more real, because they both knew the underworld was never just business but blood disguised as trade, corruption dressed as law, alliances built on hidden knives, deals that erased people without a trace, and worse still, demonic human experiments that were no longer rumors, but transactions.

Miro exhaled slowly, finally breaking the silence with a voice that carried no comfort as he said, "It was never meant to exist in the first place."

Nile didn't look at him, his gaze distant as he stared at something only he could see, and he replied almost absently, "...And yet it does."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Nile let out a slow breath, the kind that came after holding too much weight for too long, and said quietly, "Miro."

"Yeah?" Miro answered almost immediately.

Nile looked at him, his expression calm but carrying a tired weight as if he hadn't truly rested in years, and he asked quietly, "...Do you have someone you can send to the academy?"

After a short pause, Miro shifted his stance and said, "I do. An adopted child, same age range as Emil, currently assisting Emil in every operation, I think. She can pass as a normal transfer student."

Nile gave a small nod, as if that was all he needed to hear, and simply said, "That's good to hear. Send her."

Miro didn't move immediately this time, and after a careful pause he said, "The elders don't know her, but still, if they start looking too closely."

"That's exactly why it works," Nile replied without raising his voice.

A brief silence settled between them.

Nile glanced toward the corridor outside the room for a moment, then subtly raised his hand as a faint barrier activated, just enough to cut them off from everything else, ensuring no servants passing by would hear and no lingering presence would reach in.

Nile lowered his voice and said quietly, "...We need to start moving against them."

Miro's expression changed instantly. The casualness was gone now. "You're serious!" he said quietly.

"Yes," Nile said without hesitation, and then his gaze hardened slightly. "While Emil is in the academy, and while your adopted child is there as well, alongside my wife and children who are in a secured location."

He stopped for a moment, letting the weight of it settle. "…this is the only window we're going to get."

Miro exhaled through his nose like someone accepting a path they already knew they couldn't avoid, then nodded once and said, "Alright, I'm in."

For the first time in the conversation, something almost like relief crossed his face, a small, restrained smile.

"Good."

__

Eilram Magic Academy

Two weeks had passed since my talk with Elira.

And I still had no concrete evidence I could present to her.

The lead I had been following had gone quiet. Worse, it seemed like the people under me in the Order were no longer responding to my requests.

Something was clearly moving behind the scenes, but not knowing what it was left me completely frustrated.

I was still lost in thought when my mind drifted, only to realize a girl wearing a large, slightly tilted witch hat was suddenly standing directly in front of me as I sat immersed in my book.

"…Emil!" she called, crossing her arms while looking down on me.

Blinking once, I replied with a faint "…Yeah" while focusing on my book about a dense mage academy prodigy, completely ignoring every single word she said.

"Oi, arrogant noble!" she shouted even louder, starting to get pissed that I wasn't listening to her.

"…I heard you the first time," I said, a little startled that she actually did that.

We're not even partners yet, I thought to myself.

She crossed her arms immediately, looking unimpressed. Her blue eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at me.

"…Where's your bravado now, Emil?" she asked. "What happened to that proof you promised?"

I let out a small sigh. Then, I closed the book I was reading and shifted my gaze to look at her.

"I don't remember giving you a deadline, though," I replied.

She clicked her tongue.

Trying to lighten the mood with a joke, I looked at her and said, "Please take off that big hat of yours, Elira. That hat is distracting."

"Distracting?" Elira's gaze turned fierce.

"Yes. It makes people look at you longer than necessary," I said while meeting her gaze.

"What the?!" Taken aback, she now had a slight blush. "How is wearing a witch hat 'distracting'?"

I chuckled a bit as we went back and forth like that for a moment, our words simply bouncing off each other, but from the outside, it probably looked very different.

Students inside our classroom had already started whispering.

"Hey… isn't that Elira, the fallen noble, and Emil, the mysterious noble?" a guy with brown hair with green eyes said.

"Are they close?" a yellow haired girl with pink eyes asked a girl with dark blue hair, who didn't seem to care.

"No way… is she flirting with him?" the yellow haired girl continued.

Sighing again, I muttered under my breath, "I can hear you two."

Across the room, Lucia, with her bright blue hair, happened to glance over. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched us.

I noticed her looking, then I nodded, and she did the same.

Elira, meanwhile, noticed it and spoke again, her tone calmer this time.

"By the way, Mr. Arrogant Noble," she said, tilting her head slightly.

"We're assigned cleaning duty together later. Check the board."

I followed her gesture toward the announcement board.

"…Of course I've been looking forward to it since this morning, you know," I said, letting out a small breath that was almost a joking smile.

She immediately gave me a disgusted look. "Why do you look happy about it?"

"Hmm," I hummed lightly. "I kind of like the face you make, Elira." I looked at her with a serious expression.

"…Hah?" Her teasing expression immediately changed to an embarrassed one.

"Just kidding," I added quickly.

She looked even more disgusted now, which honestly made it harder not to smile.

__

It was now lunch break, and the hallway was quieter.

Most students had already left for the cafeteria, their voices fading into the distance.

I walked at an easy pace, hands in my pockets, still turning thoughts over in my head.

Then footsteps matched mine from the side. I didn't need to look to know someone had fallen into step beside me.

A girl with long violet hair and a familiar build stopped slightly ahead of me and immediately bowed.

"My lord," she said, aligning her pace with mine as we walked to the cafeteria.

"No," I cut in without even glancing at her. "Speak normally. Drop the 'my lord' thing. We're at school."

She straightened a little, hesitating. "Understood… Emil." Then, almost instinctively, "My lo"

I sighed.

She cleared her throat and continued walking beside me like nothing happened.

"Your uncle Miro sent me," she said more quietly now. "There's been movement in the Remingtons."

That made me slow down. Then I stopped completely and looked at her. "…Details?" I asked.

She shook her head slightly.

"Not everything is confirmed yet, but your mother and sibling are currently staying in one of the Duke's private estates for a vacation. They've been relocated for safety."

I let out a slow breath. "Do you know where exactly?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

"No. Your father and Miro didn't disclose the location. It was kept sealed for security reasons."

"…I see." I nodded once. So my gut feeling wasn't wrong. Something bigger was already moving, something they were actively trying to hide, even from me.

I glanced at her properly for the first time. "Your name?"

She blinked, slightly startled, then lowered her head again. For some reason, she looked dejected.

"Zinnia." Then she quickly added, "It's my name, my lord"

"Nice meeting you, Zinnia. I'll need your help soon. Also, just call me by my name, okay? I don't want people's attention."

"…Understood, my lord, Emil."

I stared at her.

She stared back, completely serious.

I exhaled. Yeah, that's not changing anytime soon, huh.

We walked a few steps in silence.

The air between us wasn't tense, just awkwardly familiar. Like talking to someone who had been with me for too long, I started to ask if she was part of my covert operation, but caught myself.

Still, this timing is too convenient. It aligns too perfectly with everything else going quiet at once.

My thoughts drifted again to Elira and the lead I couldn't fully grasp yet until something suddenly clicked, causing me to stop walking and call out, "Zinnia."

"Yes, my, Emil."

After a pause, I looked at her intently and continued, "…Can you still access information inside the Order?"

Her expression shifted at once, and she replied sharply, "Yes, I do believe so. Why, my Lord?"

"I need you to look into something." I slipped a folded piece of paper from my pocket, scribbled a few lines, then handed it to her. She took it carefully, as if it carried more weight than ink and parchment.

"Find everything you can on this."

She gave a single nod. "As you wish." She bowed her head and turned to leave, but paused after taking a single step.

"…There's one more thing," she said, looking back at me.

I glanced at her.

"Your customized staff is complete," she said. "Since I was assigned here as a transfer student, I retrieved it myself and delivered it to your dorm."

For a moment, I just stared at her, caught between surprise and something dangerously close to excitement. It felt oddly similar to receiving a long-awaited gift.

"…You didn't have to go that far, Zinnia," I said, shaking my head slightly. "But, thank you."

"My lo" She caught herself mid-word, flinching. "It's nothing. It's my duty."

A faint smile tugged at my lips.

"…Alright. I'll see you around, Zinnia."

She nodded once more then vanished without another word.

__

The results came back within twenty four hours, which was much faster than I expected; that girl really works quickly.

I sat alone in my room, the door locked, the silence only broken by the soft rustle of papers as I went through everything she had delivered.

Documents. Reports. Recorded messages stored in magic crystals and, finally, the newly delivered customized staff.

As I picked it up and let a small amount of mana flow through it, the staff responded immediately, its metal contracting and reshaping until it settled into a short sword that I studied with a slight tilt of my head, murmuring, "…Not bad."

A faint, almost amused expression crossed my face.

Since it had already been delivered inside the academy, that meant it was approved. If it hadn't been, Zinnia wouldn't have been able to bring it in.

Exhaling slowly as I rested the blade against my palm, I felt satisfied that it was fine and ready to be used in the upcoming exam.

After testing the new customized staff, I shifted my focus to the documents she had provided.

Everything in them pointed back to the Frostborne downfall and the betrayal that followed.

I leaned back in my chair, the papers spread across the desk as my eyes moved steadily from line to line.

Names. Dates. Reports. Fragments of incidents stitched together into something far uglier than rumor.

Then one word caught my attention and made me pause.

A Rare dungeon.

An underground site filled with infinite mineral resources. Rare Magic Minerals, used mainly for research, especially in flying boats and carriages. Not for direct spellcasting, but as a stable energy source. Something like a permanent magical battery.

The reports labeled the magic mineral wealth as valuable beyond measure.

What began as a mutually beneficial joint operation of shared excavation between the Frostborne family and another noble house eventually fell apart when things changed due to betrayal.

Slow at first, according to the reports. Quiet shifts in resource control. Missing shipments. Silent agreements made without Frostborne approval.

Eventually, it became clear that the other house wanted full control of the dungeon, as they started cutting the Frostborne out piece by piece.

I frowned slightly as I kept reading until the turning point was revealed: the opposing duke had secretly signed a contract with the Black Sovereign Order, which explained everything.

The records being here explained why it felt so familiar, especially since the Order began assisting the opposing house through covert influence, manipulation, and information control after the contract was sealed.

Then came the unconfirmed rumors of kidnappings, mass killings, and monstrous experiments spreading false reports through the capital, which was more than enough to doom Frostborne territory without needing proof.

Fear spread faster than truth, and once fear took hold, people stopped questioning. They stopped thinking.

The Frostborne name collapsed under its own weight. The alliance broke instantly, and the family was declared enemies of the empire. Rebellion followed, bringing chaos and purges to the ducal House Frostborne.

As execution orders were issued and the head of the Frostborne family finally disappeared, I lowered the papers slightly, realizing that was exactly what had happened.

But the final section made me pause longer than anything else, revealing that the Frostborne head and his wife were never actually confirmed dead.

The official records stated they were last seen alive inside the dungeon, still trapped and still unaccounted for.

I stared the page for a long time.

Elira Frostborne.

Seventeen years old now. If the incident happened seven years ago, she would've been just a child when everything collapsed.

I still wonder why they keep Elira Frostborne alive. If her family is branded as traitors and enemies of the empire, I thought. Maybe they see her magic as useful to the empire, or maybe something else?

I exhaled slowly.

"…Now this is getting interesting." My fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the paper. "Should I tell her everything?"

I then looked at the window. The moon was so bright. I thought to myself, If I told Elira her parents might still be alive, would it help her? Or would it just give her false hope? Seven years is a long time.

I set the documents down on the desk and rubbed my face slightly.

…I need a walk, I muttered to myself. I need to analyze all the information and clear my head.

I stood up and left my room.

The air outside was cooler, and some students were still lingering in the plaza since it was still early evening. As I walked through the quiet path near the dorms, I noticed a familiar figure ahead.

"Samantha?" I called out to the familiar red-haired girl, my eldest sister.

She turned immediately when she heard me. "Emil," she called, waving slightly. "Good timing."

I raised a brow. "What is it?"

She stepped closer, clearly eager to share something. "Did you know? Mother and Alice are currently on vacation."

"…Vacation?" I repeated. I already knew this since Zinnia had informed me about it earlier, but I didn't tell her.

She nodded.

"And the location is," she said, smiling. But the moment she was about to complete the sentence, I instinctively reached out and covered her mouth. Her eyes widened.

I quickly scanned the surroundings.

"Not here," I said quietly. She blinked, then nodded once.

I lowered my hand and then said, "Let's go to my dorm."

We arrived at my dorm and then Samantha sat across from me, legs crossed casually as if she had completely forgotten the seriousness of earlier.

"Your dorm is so plain, Brother! You need to decorate this," she said. "You need help? I can help you with that, but you do need to help me with my student council work if I do." She flexed her muscle, but there was none.

I just sighed and said, "No need, Sister. My room is normal. But if you need help with the council work, just tell me." Then I continued, "So? Where are Mother and Alice located now?"

She leaned back slightly. "They're at the Lozano family estate."

I froze for a second. "…Lozano?" I repeated.

Thinking about the Lozano family, a ducal house known for their control over mana circuits and research networks, I muttered, "The blue-haired mages?"

"Yep," Samantha said casually. "The girl you introduced before."

"…I see." I exhaled slowly. At least it wasn't anything suspicious.

"Thanks, sister."

"No problem," she said, standing up and stretching before walking toward the door, only to pause and add, "Oh, and Emil?"

"Yeah?" I looked at her, tilting my head.

She grinned slightly. "Try not to look so serious all the time. It's creepy."

I stared at her. "…Get out"

She laughed and left the room, the door closing behind her as silence returned.

Sitting there for a moment before leaning back in my chair again, I let out a slow breath as the threads of Elira, Frostborne, the dungeon, and now the Order's involvement all connected at once.