Hero
Hero
The meal and drinking session with the Hero hadn't stretched on very long.
Surprisingly, the Hero was a complete lightweight when it came to alcohol.
"Hey fucker, huh? I said don't do it, so don't fuckin' do it."
"You're absolutely insane."
I had no idea what the hell he was telling people not to do, but Zeke, who could at least form complete sentences when his head was intact, was now at the stage where his brain omitted the entire content and only spat out the conclusion.
"Zeke. It's late now. Let's head back."
"Huh? Yeah? Alright, let's go. Girls shouldn't be wandering around late at night in a fucked-up world like this."
"Ugh. I told you to speak more politely."
Unlike Ragnis and me, who could only stare at Zeke with ice-cold eyes as he got drunk and made a complete goddamn fool of himself, the three women looked at him and smiled as if even that was endearing.
But I couldn't deny that the venom he usually displayed so openly in daily life was completely gone, replaced by a docile, doe-eyed look, which gave me the feeling of looking at a younger brother who needed a few more marbles in his head. Instead of clicking my tongue at the sight, I poured and drank the remaining alcohol, and Eselua took Zeke's cup away and spoke to me.
"Sir Ega drinks remarkably well. Even among the people I know, it's rare to find someone who drinks this well."
"Is that so? I thought it was about average."
As expected, Yekaterina and Gin really were beyond the scope of common sense. Although, to be fair, if the alcohol here had been beer, I wouldn't have been able to drink much because it'd fill me up, and if it had been something like soju, I wouldn't have drunk it because it tastes like shit, but since it was closer to whiskey in both flavor and strength, I'd genuinely enjoyed drinking it quite a bit.
They were the kinds of expensive, high-quality liquors I couldn't have even put to my lips in my past life, so I figured I'd better drink up while I had the chance.
"Anyway, as Eselua said, it's late, so let's get up, Hero. Tomorrow isn't a holiday, after all."
"Uuuugh. There's a sad legend tomorrow..."
"What the hell are you babbling about?"
"I don't believe in any damn legend..."
I had been managing my expression, but I couldn't help it and grimaced before I knew it. The first completely shitfaced wreck I met in this other world was the Hero. The world really is something you can never fully understand.
"And hey. Huh? What's with this 'Hero' shit? Just call me Zeke, damn it."
"What could I possibly be lacking in life that I'd call some guy by a pet name? Cut the creepy talk and just get up, will you? The Hero gets knocked out by a single bottle of booze? How embarrassing."
"I'm fine, you bastardddd."
Naturally, Zeke was not fine. In the end, Eselua had no choice but to lift him with magic, and we left the restaurant and parted ways like that.
"A drinking party with the Hero from the very first day. You really do have a knack for things."
And the moment we stepped out of the restaurant, I couldn't help but be quite surprised to see Radnelbandes leaning against a carriage, watching the Hero's party heading off to their lodging from behind and letting out a hearty laugh. What the hell was he doing here?
"Surprised? The Fourth Princess contacted the lodging and asked for a carriage, so I decided to tag along."
"The Fourth Princess?"
"Hmm? I mean Princess Eselua. You didn't know?"
That woman was a princess?!
I was so shocked I couldn't even get words out, but once we boarded the carriage, Ragnis sat next to me and explained.
"She's a princess in name only, really. She has practically no succession rights, so it's more like an honorary title. That's why people see her hanging around with the Hero and whisper that she's trying to use him as an opportunity to gain succession rights."
"No, never mind that. So that bastard Zeke was just walking around the academy anywhere he pleased, groping a princess's ass or tits? Does the Empire not have something like lèse-majesté?"
"How could it not? It's just that it doesn't apply to her because she has no rights at all. They call her a princess, and give her decent funding so she's not lacking, but that's where it ends."
It was a reality my common sense couldn't easily accept, but since both of them treated it as entirely normal, I didn't raise any further objections.
Instead, I listened to Ragnis's voice as she gave Radnelbandes a rough summary of the day's events, and I replayed the conversation I'd had with Siegfried in my head.
Since the guy wasn't completely brainless, he hadn't laid everything out on the table at our first meeting. In the end, for both him and me, this meal had been close to a probing exercise.
But one thing was now certain: he wasn't just acting like some punk without a thought in his head. Siegfried, crude but not stupid, clearly recognized that this world wasn't some fairy-tale fantasyland where dreams and wonder unfolded.
He was doing his best to protect his own hide under the grand premise of the 'equality' the academy guaranteed. He was diligently trying to concretely grasp and understand a world he still didn't properly know, constantly probing the limits of his freedom within the title of Hero.
Though, between all that, it was also true he was faithfully indulging his own desires.
"I can't be certain yet, but I think we can safely say the Hero is worthy of the title after all. Thanks to you, Eldmia, we at least learned that his first impression was nothing more than an act. That's probably the biggest gain of this visit to the Empire."
"From one to ten, I keep feeling indebted to you. I should repay you, somehow."
"It's just something I stumbled into."
"If you're the kind of talent who can stumble into solving things other people couldn't manage even if they tried, that's all the more reason to repay you and maintain a good relationship."
Maybe it was because it was night, but Radnelbandes answered with a much calmer smile than usual. He really was an elder worthy of respect, a man of sound common sense—worlds apart from the senseless people who took kindness as their rightful due.
"Well, we can think that over gradually. The lodging Marquis Bende secured for us was a remarkably nice place. It was hard to believe it was a house prepared for people staying barely a week."
"If you say so, Master, then my curiosity, which was nonexistent all day, is suddenly piqued."
"Seeing it might turn your curiosity into suspicion. I have no clue what ulterior motives the Empire is harboring."
I wondered if a single house was really a situation that warranted this much deliberation, but thinking back to the welcoming party that morning and the whole business with the Hero, it felt like perfectly rational suspicion.
Above all, I didn't consider Radnelbandes to be the kind of person who jumped to conclusions or made a fuss. Unlike me, just an ordinary commoner, he and Ragnis were people whose standing in the Kingdom set them apart from the start.
It might not have had anything to do with me, but it was clear this visit was a very important and serious matter for both of them.
"Why wouldn't it have anything to do with you, you idiot."
"Huh?"
"Do you really think the Margrave of Levien's butler and attendant beating the Hero—even if it was only a spar—will end as nothing more than today's surprise event?"
"Heh heh. There's no way that's possible. The rumor had already spread like wildfire, even to our servants who were unpacking at the lodging."
"Huh?"
Was the Empire hooked up to the internet or something? How the hell was this possible?
"And on top of that, you even ate with the Hero today. During our stay in the Empire, you might end up busier than me."
I had nothing I could do as I faced Ragnis, who explained with a snort.
I just... stared at Ragnis with the expression of a beaver watching a zookeeper who had just demolished the dam it had barely finished building.
◈
As Radnelbandes had said, the lodging Marquis Bende had arranged was out of the ordinary. The mansion, like a villa that wasn't too large and seemed precisely suited to our headcount, was already filled with objects that looked top-of-the-line even to my untrained eye.
But with the alcohol buzzing and my head in a fog from the shocking facts I'd heard from Ragnis, I had no time to admire such things and could only wash up and fall asleep.
Before I fell asleep, I prayed with my last conscious thought that nothing would happen, and having fallen asleep just like that, I forced myself up to greet the morning that had arrived when it felt like I'd only dozed off briefly.
There was no hangover. I just didn't want to get up because I knew a reality that prayers couldn't change was about to crash down on me. And so, after eating the meal the servants prepared at the lodging, getting ready for school, boarding the carriage with Ragnis, and passing through the eon-long commute to arrive at the academy, in that very moment.
The nightmare became reality.
"Sir Eldmia! If it's not too much trouble, would you perhaps have a serious discussion with me about swordsmanship?!"
"Sir Ega! How long do you plan to stay in the Empire? Our family is holding a small dinner party in 7 days, and perhaps... yes? You're leaving in 6 days? Since it's a small dinner, shifting the schedule forward is an extremely simple matter! I beg you, please visit...!"
"Eldmia! Please, grant us your instruction in swordsmanship!"
It wasn't even some club activity trying to lock down the super rookie early on; a goddamn ridiculous number of students were tracking our every move and approaching us.
At first, I naturally thought Ragnis would be harassed just like me, but guess what? There wasn't a single bastard who actually tried to talk to her.
"We're in a position where we've stepped one foot outside the academy rules, remember? I'm the Margrave. You, even if you beat the Hero, are the Margrave's attendant. Meaning, you're a commoner who's easy to approach."
Ragnis, who concisely resolved my question during Magical Engineering Theory class, just laughed playfully as if mocking me.
Laughing? This was funny?
"You can laugh right now?"
"Of course. Of course I can laugh. The Margrave of Levien of Itisel, whose attendant's skill is also exceptional. The Margrave of Levien of Itisel, who can even use chantless casting. My evaluation skyrockets even if I just sit still."
"That is a situation worth laughing about."
Once I heard it, it was just a nuisance to me, but for her, it was actually quite a helpful situation, so a little of the venom drained out of me whether I liked it or not.
Still, thinking about being plagued by this for the remaining 6 days was enough to make me dizzy, and I still wanted to cry. I wore a grim expression, and Ragnis laughed at the sight.
Just as I was stewing in that despair, when Magical Engineering Theory class finally ended.
"Eldmia! I love you!"
"Would you please consider dating me with marriage as the premise?"
"If you would come to our family, we have every intention of preparing a knighthood for you right away, however..."
Ragnis's expression, upon witnessing the sudden appearance of this new type of female student group, began to turn as icy cold as a sheet of ice.
Why the hell was she biting her nails again...?