The day Chi-Woo met Philip in the palace basement, Chi-Woo asked Eshnunna if there was a place where he could find useful pieces of equipment. Eshnunna’s expression turned odd then, and rather than thinking if there was such a place, it seemed that she was wondering whether or not she should tell Chi-Woo what was on her mind.

“…Well, I think it would be okay to tell you.” After thinking about the matter deeply, Eshnunna asked Chi-Woo to wait a bit and went off somewhere. “Honestly, I am hesitant to tell you, but since you defeated a god…”

Then, once they returned upstairs, Eshnunna opened up a book with faded pages and slowly began her explanation.

“A…Academy?” Chi-Woo blinked hard after hearing her out.

“It’s an event that happened during King Seong’s time according to Ophecialis’ record, which served as a foundation for Salem’s written history. Although King Seong was revered as a great and esteemed leader, the records show that the king’s reign was marred by a mistake he made.”

The mistake was ‘Salem Academy’.

“He had good intentions when creating the academy, and he accepted anyone with talent regardless of their age, sex, and class for his country. The royal family also covered all the expenses incurred by the academy.” In other words, this was no ordinary government school. Salem Academy was a high-class institution in charge of nurturing talents who would later become pillars of the nation’s future.

“Apparently, it cost an astronomical amount to establish and maintain the academy. Besides emptying the treasury, the administration needed to save tenaciously for several years and set aside only the minimum operating costs for the palace. For example, one of the academy’s classrooms...