The Vote

“It seems we’ve been in the dark for too long. We’re behind on a lot of what’s happening in the outside world,” the stern-faced old man sighed. “Something big must have happened that we don’t know about.”

“That old coot Planck seems to know something, but he won’t tell me. It looks like it’s because of that damn Vow of Silence again,” Professor Glen shrugged.

“If Planck knows, then it doesn’t matter. He knows what he’s doing. And even if we, a bunch of old men with one foot in the grave, knew, what could we do?”

“So carefree,” Professor Glen whistled habitually.

“Hmph. I’d rather not make a bet for myself before I’m about to take a long nap,” the old man sneered, then looked at Professor Glen and asked, “So you’ve dragged us all out of bed. You’re not just looking to catch up with us old geezers, are you?”

“I’d love to catch up, but now doesn’t seem like the time,” Professor Glen said, his expression unusually serious. “I’ve called you all here for one thing only. —Should we wake her up now?”

“…”

With Professor Glen’s words, the dim room fell into a dead silence. All that could be heard was the sound of one of the old men’s wheezing breath.

It seemed that everyone was seriously contemplating the heavy meaning contained in those light words, “wake her up.”

After a long time, the stern-faced old man was the one to break the silence. He sighed. “Has the academy really come to this?”

“Who’s to say it hasn’t?” Professor Glen looked out the window. At this moment, the twelve towers had just risen, nailing the entire academy back to the ground. “With the protection of the second layer of the Great Sealing Instrument, and Planck’s own strength, it can be said that unless the Pope himself came with his scepter, no one could defeat him. But the opponent, after all, is not human.”

Professor Glen couldn’t help but sigh. “Two Evil Gods attacking the academy at once, and one of them is even a partial descent. This is unheard of in the academy’s thousand-year history. So, regardless of whether Planck can win or not, we must have a backup plan. Or rather, the worst-case scenario.”

“What about reinforcements?” someone suddenly said. “This is Belland, after all. There are plenty of powerful people. And the palace can’t just sit by and watch.”

“Good idea,” Professor Glen snapped his fingers. “But, Professor, haven’t you noticed a problem?”

“What?”

“It’s too slow. If there were reinforcements, they would be here by now,” Professor Glen said. “How far is this from Belland? How far is it from the palace? And how fast can a Crown One travel? Or do you think that with all this commotion, all those powerful people are blind? I’ve done a rough calculation. The top powerhouses in Belland, from the moment they noticed the anomaly here to the moment they came to investigate, would at most need three to five minutes. And how long has it been now? The fact that there’s no movement at all means…”

Professor Glen looked up, his gaze fixed on the slowly approaching blue moon in the sky. “The entire academy may have been sealed off by that one. In other words, the so-called reinforcements were never an option from the beginning.”

“That sounds like a desperate situation.”

After a brief silence, the stern old man lowered his eyelids, as if he had made a decision. “Then there’s nothing to hesitate about. The old rules. Let’s vote. Those in favor of waking her up… raise your hand.”

The stern old man was the first to raise his hand.

Then Professor Glen.

And then, one by one, withered arms were raised.

“Then, the number of people in favor… is sixteen in total.”

Professor Glen glanced around and saw that, except for the professor who had just raised the question, everyone had raised their hand.

“I still think this is not right,” that professor sighed. “This is too cruel to her.”

“But if we don’t wake her up at a time like this, when she does wake up and finds that the academy has been destroyed, she’ll definitely be angry, right?” A bitter smile appeared on the stern old man’s face, as if he were remembering some unpleasant memories from the distant past. “I don’t want to be chewed out by her again.”

“In that case, let’s just do it. There’s no need to get hung up on this,” Professor Glen clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention. “Then, the second question—who’s going to wake her up?”

“…”

The moment Professor Glen finished speaking, the room fell silent once more.

But this time, it was different. In the silence, Professor Glen felt a dozen or so gazes all fall on him at once.

“…You’re not thinking of sending me, are you?” Professor Glen’s cheek twitched.

“Then who?” the stern old man raised an eyebrow. “You’re the only one here whose legs still work.”

“There’s a lift that goes straight to that room, you bastard! It’s not like I’m asking you to run a marathon!” Professor Glen roared. “I just finished evacuating all the students, and I even risked my life to save some perverted naked man! And now you want me to do something so dangerous? Where’s your conscience?”

“Ah, well, ahem…” The stern old man’s eyes darted around, and then he suddenly clutched his foot and cried out, “No, my old cold leg is acting up again! I can’t move!”

“But isn’t your old cold leg always your left leg? Why are you holding your right leg?”

“…It… it’s spread recently?”

“An old cold leg is not a fungus, you bastard!”

Professor Glen then looked at the others. “What about you? Are your old cold legs acting up too?”

“…Ouch, I’ve thrown out my back.”

“My hemorrhoids are acting up…”

“Slipped disc…”

“My granddaughter is being too naughty. I have to go and teach her a lesson…”

Before Professor Glen’s shocked eyes, a group of old professors who could barely walk on a good day, all began to complain about their various ailments and then scattered like birds. But Professor Glen had never even heard of their ailments before. And especially the one who said his granddaughter was being naughty… his granddaughter was in her sixties!

The professors scattered quickly.

A few who really couldn’t move much, silently took out coffins from their storage spaces, silently lay down inside, and then, before Professor Glen’s speechless gaze, silently closed the lids.

“…”

Finally, in the cold, quiet room, only Professor Glen was left, his face a mixture of grief and indignation. “So when Planck is not here, I’m the unlucky one who has to do everything?”

“No, I can’t be the unlucky one. With her morning temper, who knows what will happen to the one who wakes her up. I have to find another unlucky one to take my place.”

“Huh? Speaking of an unlucky one…”

Professor Glen stroked his chin as if he had just remembered something, and his expression gradually turned to one of joy. “I seem to have a good choice.”