Anomaly
Anomaly
After finishing the meal with Esmue, we got back into the carriage and returned to the academy.
Normally, we would have contacted the mansion through the restaurant's servants and had a carriage waiting at the restaurant, but Esmue—who still had work to do and had to go back to the academy herself—playfully begrudged us going back to rest, so she stubbornly dragged us back to the academy with her.
I understood the wistfulness behind that gesture, so I just laughed it off, and Ragnis, still sulky, didn't bother saying anything either. After exchanging simple farewells with Esmue and parting ways, we headed toward the carriage that was already waiting as if we were transferring rides.
The only slight difference was that the reactions of the students we ran into were completely different from yesterday.
Even Ragnis took it in stride, so I was the only one in a dazed mood when I had to get into the carriage. Fortunately, Ragnis, who had a good read on how I felt, explained it: our treatment had shifted from temporary student to envoy, which meant not a single student would even approach us anymore.
Was this what they meant by feeling like official state business?
Well, it was understandable if that was the case, but I still thought it was pretty impressive that students could switch their attitudes on a dime and adapt to the situation like that. Couldn't those kids probably accept being suddenly conscripted as soldiers someday without batting an eye? Once that thought crossed my mind, I even wondered if that sort of mental switch was itself part of the empire's orchestrated education.
"Starting tomorrow, you won't need to escort Esmue."
Inside the carriage racing toward the mansion after what felt like both a long and a short day, Ragnis spoke.
"Because we're envoys now?"
"Yeah. Why? Disappointed?"
It was such an obvious attempt to fish that I couldn't help but laugh, but given my situation I couldn't even afford to laugh, so I had to manage my expression as best I could.
"It's not because you're fishing like that. I honestly don't have any particular thoughts about it."
From the start, the Eldmia Ega service that clearly distinguished public from private had been in well-received business mode for most situations ever since we arrived in the empire. There were just the occasional surprise incidents in between.
Of course, those incidents had caused major shifts in my state of mind and situational awareness, but the reality was I still hadn't gotten my head straight.
"So you didn't dislike it?"
"It's hard to openly dislike someone who says she likes me."
More than anything, I was currently having the most peaceful time I'd had in a long while.
That Rudran bastard's dog didn't even register on my stress scale, and even today's field trip had been nothing special. The past week felt less like I'd come to help Ragnis and more like I'd taken an unexpected vacation, and now someone who openly liked me had attached herself to me. How could I be in a bad mood?
"...Yeah, that makes sense."
I didn't know what she understood or accepted, but Ragnis showed no particular displeasure at my response.
"You know what? Before we came to the empire, I was unbelievably tense and anxious, but after just five days here I've stopped feeling any real discomfort."
Instead, she brought up a different topic as she looked out the window.
"Not just the affluent life in the imperial capital—unlike the atmosphere back in the kingdom where everything feels like dancing on a knife's edge, the high-ranking officials of the empire, starting with Marquis Bende, moved with incredible cooperation. Being in this situation, everything like the war with the Demonfolk and retaking our territory just feels like a distant story."
"I can relate to that part."
Would I have ever imagined, during my childhood when I might have had to do isekai hardcore survival to stay alive, that I'd end up living an academy life?
Granted, just a few days ago I'd taken a secret request from the adventurer association and beheaded Demonfolk and people, but even that felt distant. In different circumstances, I might have even wanted to settle down like this.
For example, if I'd already finished my revenge.
"But nothing's changed."
Naturally, because that wasn't the case, that fleeting emotion didn't linger. And it seemed it was the same for Ragnis.
"That's right, Eldmia. Even though... things have changed a little because of Esmue, just like you can't rest until you've taken your revenge, I probably can't rest until I return home and confirm what's left of my parents."
It was a miserable story. No matter how rationally we looked at it, in the end both of us were tied down by revenge.
What was even more lamentable was that we were still just kids barely 15 and 17.
"But there's also a separate matter from not being able to rest, isn't there?"
"...Huh? What now?"
"I told you this morning. I said I'd do it too."
Without even a moment to wonder what I'd said that morning, Ragnis rose in an instant, came over from the opposite seat, and kissed me.
Like hell I'd gotten used to it just because we'd kissed often—what 'used to it'!
Maybe it'd be different if it were always the same person, but having a new woman kiss me practically every day was bad for my heart!
With the synergy of the high-end carriage and the well-maintained road, Ragnis approached without the slightest jostle, kissed me calmly and surely, then pulled back, and once again I had to feel the threat of a heart attack and not know what to do with myself.
"You even did it with Esmue, and yet your reaction's cute?"
"Is that the same as this...!"
I didn't even have the time to register the fact that she clearly knew exactly what I'd done with Esmue, I was so embarrassed. But unlike me, Ragnis was astonishingly composed and only wore a satisfied smile.
Had she always been this bold and forward? Thinking about what the hell she'd been like up to now... Actually, looking back, she'd been quite proactive and active even back in Ogwen. She'd even roped in the Holy Light Cross Order to do orphan relief work, after all.
If you looked at her disposition alone, she was almost closer to a warrior than a mage.
"You don't seem to dislike it, right?"
Deliberately voicing the same words as earlier in a slightly different tone, Ragnis left me unable to give a proper answer until we returned to the mansion, my face just burning red.
Seeming satisfied with that reaction, Ragnis never lost her smile the entire time.
◈
The next morning arrived before I had a moment to collect myself from the embarrassment of my lips being snatched away as if they were public property.
We headed to the gate inside the academy for today's event.
For today's event—the team battle—we had to move to a simulated tactical training ground, and apparently it was located a fair distance away for security and safety reasons.
"The more I see, the more I realize they're dead serious about educating their students."
The level of investment was so obvious that the thought came naturally. The royal palace academy was also heavily focused on practical training, but its facilities couldn't even be compared. The Empire really was in a different league.
Ragnis, who had been walking while I escorted her and who'd apparently had a similar thought, asked,
"After tomorrow's schedule ends and we leave, the Hero will start receiving proper education, right?"
"Probably. I don't know when I'll see him again, but by then he'll definitely be stronger."
His swordsmanship was still sloppy, but the guy's magic was the real deal.
Other things aside, if he'd reached that level in just half a year, then if they crammed him full of everything with no gaps for one solid year, wouldn't he become one of the strongest among the empire's soldiers and knights?
"Hm. Next time we meet, I might not be able to beat him?"
Her smile and tone were almost provocative, but I naturally shrugged and responded calmly.
"There's no way I'd lose to Zeke. If I get strong enough to cut space before the next time we meet, I'd probably beat him again."
To begin with, the guy was the Hero. A god had fated him to fight the Demon King, so it was the most natural thing in the world for him to become stronger than me.
It wasn't something to take seriously, so when I answered half-jokingly, Ragnis hurriedly stifled a laugh as if she hadn't expected it.
"Pfft. You can't even use magic properly, how would you cut space? Where did you even hear that?"
"It's a supreme realm that comes up pretty often among adventurers and warriors who use swords, you know?"
It wasn't a joke—honestly, it was a story that came around more often than you'd think.
Of course, they were all stories from hundreds of years ago, jam-packed with pure bullshit about legendary sword saints and the like—tales that looked entirely made-up. But because there were actually people out there who seemed to be at a similar level of attainment, I figured the story circulated even more often.
Well... whether I could reach that level myself was a separate matter, but if I wanted to take revenge on that bastard commander of the Demon King's Army, wouldn't I need to reach at least that level?
Then I'd just have to work to be able to.
While I was solidifying that resolve, we arrived at the gate crowded with countless students and people, and the first one to spot and welcome us was, unexpectedly, Ethenera.
"Hey! Kingdom Knight!"
And surprisingly, the guy greeted me with the exact same attitude as always. I really liked that affable nature of his.
"We're seeing each other again after just a day, Ethenera."
"Hahaha! I know, right! I heard you're not participating this time. What a shame! I was finally going to show you what I can do!"
If I hadn't had my arm linked with Ragnis, he'd have been slapping me on the back freely—Ethenera welcomed me so heartily that he seemed even more hyped up than usual.
"You were the party leader in the reconnaissance, so even without seeing it in person, I can tell your skills are nothing to scoff at, can't I?"
"Well damn, with such open-minded treatment I don't know what to do with myself. Still, what's best is seeing it with your own eyes. Even if it's from the audience seats, watch my performance closely."
Laughing cheerfully as he walked away among the students, I suddenly couldn't even imagine just how hostile Zeke must have lived his life for someone as sociable—a person who'd maxed out his affability stat—to still view him unfavorably. That basically meant he'd acted like a total dog.
While walking to our designated spot, I chatted with Ragnis about Ethenera to kill time for a moment since we'd caught sight of him, and soon the ceremony began much like yesterday.
But there was one difference from yesterday.
"Unlike yesterday, today's event is a stage to display the achievements only of the Hero and the academy students. Therefore, there will be a congratulatory address by the White Star of the Empire—the first child of the great 13th Emperor Pan Krasi Bistim Tel Nua who rules the empire, and she who strives by His Majesty's side to govern the people according to His Majesty's will—Her Highness the First Princess Esmue Bistim Tel Nua."
After Professor Wade's short speech, there was a time for an address from Esmue.
"Hmm. What words are needed. I am here."
And so, starting with a self-introduction that could only be described as staggering, an extremely formal-sounding congratulatory address followed.
Honestly, I barely managed to properly hear half of it as I floundered in the flood of grand rhetoric.
"Now then, let the gate be opened."
Anyway, it finally ended, and the gate activated at her gesture. As Magic Power began moving in a flow similar to when we'd come to the Empire and the gate behind her started operating, goosebumps rose over me.
Maybe the amount of Magic Power moving was different; my body reacted on its own without me even thinking about it.
"The Hero and the students participating in the team battle will move first and prepare, after which the audience will move, starting with Her Highness Princess Esmue."
At Professor Wade's words, who had naturally taken back the speaking role from the princess, the students began to move. Even though there were quite a lot of students, they went through one at a time, which made it seem the gate was smaller in scale than I'd expected.
"Where the hell did they hide it that they're even using a gate? I'm getting pretty curious."
"Right? Did they float it up in the sky or something?"
Since just waiting was boring, I kept chatting with Ragnis. While we talked, the students' movement ended, and just as the audience's movement was about to begin according to Wade's brief announcement—a light dizziness covered me.
"Urk...!"
"Eldmia?"
Not just goosebumps, but a sensation of my entire body being wrapped in cloth.
An indescribable, extreme hue blanketing my vision.
The sensation of all the Magic Power in my body being forcibly roused at once.
It was the same sensation I'd felt passing through the Demonfolk gate opened by the mage who had been treated as a Demonfolk worshipper in the abandoned dungeon.