Chapter 365
Chapter 365
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.76 – The Knight Leaves the Stage (5)
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...He didn't head home.
Instead, he bought a few sheets of letter paper, scribbled something on them casually, sealed them, and left a request with the guild.
"Please send these."
"Right away, Sir Lee Han!"
"I'm not a knight anymore, just call me Lee Han."
"How could I do that to you, sir!"
"What's with all this enthusiasm?"
"Haha, it's a request from Sir Lee Han, isn't it? Of course I have to handle it like this. ......But really, are you leaving the kingdom like this?"
"They're calling it exile."
"...Those idiots, really."
Simon clicked his tongue in contempt.
As if utterly fed up with the nobles' foolishness.
"Don't do that. Why not join forces with the guild instead?"
"Scouting me?"
"I could even give up my position."
"No thanks. I'm not as smart as you. That spot shines because someone clever like you is there. So I'll politely decline."
"Sir Lee Han...."
"Cut it out. Don't act like we're parting forever. If fate allows, we'll meet again someday."
"......"
"Take care. See you next time."
"...I'll make sure the letters get delivered, no matter what."
The letters he left were mostly for those he had ties with.
The butcher's cleaver.
The fruit vendor Hans Junior.
The baker Anna.
And countless others he'd crossed paths with.
It would be polite to meet each face-to-face, but given the circumstances, it was better for him not to seek them out.
What if his acquaintances got dragged into misunderstandings just because he showed up?
'If I go to them, I'd just end up getting targeted by those weirdos.'
So, leaving letters with his gratitude and apologies was the way to go.
However....
"It's not like you're dropping out, right?"
Even in his current situation, Lee Han hadn't forgotten there were still people he needed to meet in person, not just send letters to.
[Pendragon Royal Academy.]
That was the next place his footsteps led.
...As expected, the academy wasn't in a stable state either.
For starters.
"Another leave of absence?"
"Plenty of expulsions too."
"I heard a lot of instructors and professors are taking leaves or quitting...."
"...Yes."
"Are you leaving too?"
"......"
"...I see."
Who suffered the greatest damage from King Edmund's betrayal?
No, who felt the deepest mental shock and sense of betrayal?
None other than.
"Thank you for everything, Dean."
"Mm."
The faculty and cadets of the Royal Academy.
They had been exposed to crises multiple times and even endured disasters that could have killed them without warning.
Especially, according to recent revelations from the guild and others, during last year's war games, the 'illegal mages' gang had stolen the faces of academy staff, potentially putting hundreds of cadets at risk from those illegal mages.
...Ironically, it was 'that knight' who had spotted and eliminated those illegal mages in advance.
In any case, this left the academy with a massive sense of betrayal.
The faculty and cadets were furious that the king had tried to kill them.
So they left the academy.
Unable to forgive the royal family for insulting their loyalty and honor.
As a result, the academy's interior was eerily empty, even without an official closure.
It was still vast and grand, but the lack of people made it feel desolate.
"......"
Rustle.
In this desolate academy, the only place with lights on was, as always, guarded by the one who held that position.
The dean.
"Haaa...."
Allen, dean of the Royal Academy.
The former prime minister of the kingdom and former head of the Guinevere family.
He sighed with a face that looked a decade older, pressing his furrowed brow.
Even his beloved books weren't turning easily today.
It wasn't because of the secretary who had just announced retirement.
Simply....
"I'm worn out."
His energy was just sapped somehow.
"......"
Allen simply wanted to surrender to the silence and catch some sleep.
But then....
Knock knock.
"Don't you get lonely all by yourself?"
"...Huh."
His head turned at the unexpected voice.
The face of the troublemaker who'd been causing issues steadily from last year to now appeared, and Allen unwittingly sighed in response.
"It's nice for reading when it's quiet."
"I see."
"...That was a joke. Don't take it seriously."
"Oh, was it?"
But as the saying goes, familiarity breeds affection.
Just facing him and chatting brought a slight sense of warmth.
"Have you been well?"
"...Do I look well?"
"Hm, no."
"...Very honest."
"I hear that a lot."
"Not a compliment."
"Haha, I know."
"......"
Allen eyed him with a prickly gaze.
As if that slyness was annoying.
"Sigh, so why are you here?"
"To submit my resignation."
"...Resignation."
Allen's eyes twitched at the words.
He'd heard them too often lately.
But....
"To be precise, they've issued an exile order. It's like being forced out of my job."
"Hm, I see."
"Yes."
"...Normally there'd be procedures, but given the circumstances, no choice."
Allen had no right to stop him.
Nor should he.
"Haha, thanks."
"...You're taking it too well."
"Can't exactly grieve over it."
"......"
He seemed intent on handling his business and leaving, bowing lightly and heading for the door.
For a moment, Allen.
"...I'm sorry."
"Pardon?"
...Offered an apology.
To other faculty, he'd just said 'good work,' but strangely, he wanted to apologize to him.
On behalf of the fools?
No. Allen wasn't altruistic enough to apologize for those guys.
So this apology was.
"No one in the world is without circumstances, but he wasn't like that originally. In his youth, he had passion and a sense of justice. But.... he was crushed by the weight, by the weight...."
A proxy apology for the 'old friend' he'd shared his youth with.
"...Ah."
He realized the meaning of Allen's apology a beat late and wore a subtle expression.
As if he hadn't expected an apology here.
"Friend, you said?"
"Yes."
"...You sure are nosy. Apologizing for a friend's deeds."
"He won't apologize himself."
Because the friend had changed too much.
"Heh, don't worry. I have nothing to apologize to that guy for either."
"Is that so...."
"Yes. Besides...."
"?"
"I couldn't care less about that guy's circumstances. I just don't like him, and he touched my kids, so I punched him."
"......"
"So you don't need to apologize, Dean. I swung my fist because I wanted to."
At his firm, unshakable words showing no regret, Allen felt the tension in his brow ease for the first time.
Arrogant, yet not sounding arrogant at all.
"...Your life won't be smooth either."
"Dean, you should choose your friends more carefully. Or better yet, time your cut-offs right."
Allen made a baffled face at the nagging advice, but soon snorted.
As if it was the first time hearing such counsel in his life.
Still.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Allen said he wouldn't brush it off.
Without a hint of falsehood.
Even as everyone chose leaves or expulsions, two rare departments remained at the academy.
One was the Magic Department.
Spellcasters who walked their own path anyway, unconcerned by the king's betrayal, guarding their domain.
And the other.
"Spears, swords, and guns?"
"Yes, you told us to gather anything usable as weapons."
"Hm, good work. But the guns are short on powder and ammo."
"Ah, someone promised support for that."
"That's great news!"
The Swordsmanship Department.
To be exact, no second-year cadets except first-years had dropped out or taken leaves.
As if waiting for something, preparing for something.
At a glance....
"...You guys preparing for war or what?"
"Ah! It's the instructor!"
"Instructor!"
"You finally escaped."
"Who's escaping? More importantly, what are you really doing?"
A scene that made one wonder if this was the Swordsmanship or Warfare Department.
Lee Han looked incredulous at the cadets who'd turned a secret passage he'd made into the academy into a warehouse piled with countless blades.
Wondering what the heck they were up to.
"Nothing much. Young Master Roan warned us. 'Things are moving faster than I knew, so we need to prepare.' Didn't fully get it, but he said to prep like this, so we've been diligently at it."
"...What."
"And I agreed with stockpiling weapons. Feels like we'll need them."
"......"
...Planning a revolution or something?
Lee Han felt dizzy seeing his disciples gearing up for a revolution on their own, when he'd never taught them anything like that.
But that lasted only a moment.
"By the way, Master."
"?"
"...The exile order, it's real?"
"......"
"Master?"
"...Bear cub."
"Yes."
"...Let's take a deep breath together first."
"......"
"...Where you going with that sword."
"No, just...."
"......"
...He was starting to find his disciple's fierce affection burdensome and a bit scary.