Field Training (1)
Though Ariel had parted with the promise that she would see me tomorrow, our paths did not cross the following day. Nor the day after that.
Then again, expecting otherwise was foolish given how busy she always was. From the moment classes began until the final bell rang, I caught neither sight nor shadow of her. Part of me had worried things might turn awkward between us, so her absence was frankly a relief.
The real issue lay elsewhere.
"Boring."
"Uh, right..."
"Seriously, totally boring."
"Right..."
That had been Yuna's flat, deadpan reaction when I caught her up on recent events.
Seeing her stone-faced disapproval brought my earlier suspicions right back to the surface. Of course, I lacked the courage to actually ask. How on earth was anyone supposed to bring up something like that between friends? If we were distant like Ariel and me, that would be one thing, but I spent practically half of every waking day with Yuna. We were in the exact same homeroom, for crying out loud. If I worked up the nerve to ask and she shot me down, I wouldn't have the will to go on living.
"...Still, is the Great Warrior really that absurdly strong?"
"So that part caught your interest, huh?"
"Yup."
"You've become a true Cradle student through and through."
Her tastes had completely aligned with the rest of this bloodthirsty student body, who perked up only at the mention of slaughter and combat.
"Even you probably couldn't assassinate him," I said. "He might look like a muscle-brained brute on the surface, but he's surprisingly calculating."
"Makes sense. A man who lives in perpetual warfare would have razor-sharp instincts."
"Worse than that, even if you managed an ambush, I doubt a blade would pierce his skin."
"...He's that tough?"
"He's a monster who rivals the Emperor on pure physical capability alone."
Cult had been chosen by God. Tillis commanded demons. Faust had lived through countless eras to master the secrets of the soul. Standing shoulder to shoulder with such horrors made the Great Warrior's ridiculous strength an obvious given. What was even more astonishing was that, compared to the rest of that rogue's gallery, he was relatively reasonable. Our recent arrangement proved as much. Strip away the savage barbarian exterior, and he was a man you could actually negotiate with.
"Haaah. So what you're saying, Yohan, is that you're going to be swamped again and won't have time to play with me?"
"It won't be that bad. Unlike last time, I have plenty of breathing room."
Back then, Ariel's life had been ticking down on an invisible timer. How could anyone relax with an apocalyptic bomb waiting to detonate at any second? This time, however, a concrete deadline had been set. As long as I resolved the issue before graduating from the Cradle, everything would be fine.
Besides, once I graduated, my research privileges would vanish anyway. I simply lacked the academic standing to carry out projects of that scale on my own. In the absolute worst-case scenario, I might be forced to attend university like Senior Jabir... Just thinking about it brought Professor Georg's smug, grinning face to mind. I would simply have to live a diligent, upright life to ensure that nightmare never became reality.
"Then are you hanging out with me today?"
"I haven't really shaken off the exhaustion yet. Mind if I just head back and sleep?"
"Nope. Denied. You are coming to the cafe with me right this second to conquer every single dessert we didn't get to finish last time."
"You really fell in love with that place, didn't you?"
"Yup!"
"My sins run deep..."
I had dug my own grave by introducing her to high-end sweets. What else could I do but lie in it?
"Wait, is the cafe already rebuilt and open for business?"
"I heard the Andvaranaut Merchant Guild helped out a lot."
"Ah. Right."
Those guys again. They seemed to stick their fingers into every single pie across the empire. It was starting to get on my nerves.
Early the next morning, an uninvited guest came looking for me.
It was neither Yuna, whom I saw every single day to the point of exhaustion, nor Ariel, who had promised to see me tomorrow and hadn't shown her face since.
"Well, well, Yohan. Have you been keeping well?"
"...Your Highness?"
"Indeed, it is I. I heard matters with the ducal house were settled amicably. Just as I anticipated, the outcome appears to have satisfied everyone involved, has it not?"
"Wait, how on earth did—"
"What is that look for? Surely you are not dissatisfied with Ariel? Objectively speaking, she is a hundred times out of your league."
"..."
Did she really have to hit me with cold, brutal facts right out of the gate?
"...Setting that aside, Your Highness hardly lifted a finger in this affair, did you?"
"How disappointing that you think so little of my efforts."
"Did you actually do something?"
"Naturally. Did I not divert the gaze of our glorious Emperor? Had the disturbance with the Great Warrior escalated any further, His Majesty would have caught wind of the secret dealings between the Ether Ducal House and the Damus County. By now, you would have been a cold corpse."
"...Your gracious benevolence knows no bounds."
Put that way, she wasn't entirely wrong, which made it all the more irritating. Thanks to Lobelia keeping the incident from blowing up, the attention directed at me had diminished significantly. To the public, the commotion was known merely as a private affair involving the Ether family; Damus County had been scrubbed entirely from the narrative.
If that was Lobelia's doing, she truly had done me a massive favor. It had nothing to do with brokering an engagement, but considering it had preserved my very life, I couldn't complain.
"Thus, my visit today is also for your own good."
"Pardon?"
"Did you not mention it yourself? That information appeared to have leaked. Even if our side concealed the matter, there is a very high probability that the opposing faction knows of the ties between the Ether and Damus households."
"Ah."
I hadn't thought that far ahead. I was so consumed by the immediate fire in front of me that I had failed to see the broader picture. Then again, if I were capable of grand strategic foresight, I wouldn't be living this pathetic life in the first place.
"That... makes sense."
"Do you have any grasp of how it happened?"
"Only circumstantial suspicions."
"I am listening."
I laid out everything regarding Andvaranaut. However, I made sure to emphasize that they were a Necessary Evil. Hostile as they were toward the Empire, their financial power was the very engine revitalizing our shattered postwar economy. Without them, the populace would still be chewing on raw grain off stone floors.
"Hmm..."
"They may be an eyesore, but I strongly advise against striking them immediately."
"True. They possess utility. Bringing them over to our side through persuasion may prove the wiser course."
The guildmaster of Andvaranaut bore a deep grudge against the Emperor, but unlike other lunatic factions, she had no desire to burn the entire empire to ash. For Lobelia, who sought to usurp the current Emperor Abraham and claim the throne for herself, winning them over might not be entirely impossible. Of course, since the guild despised the imperial bloodline on principle, it remained a precarious gamble.
Still, Lobelia was the one rolling the dice, not me.
"Very well. I must arrange a private audience with them at some point."
"You'll probably get assassinated."
I gave her the warning anyway.
"Such attempts are a daily routine for me."
Lobelia brushed off the lethal risk as though discussing the weather. Well, I had expected as much. A princess of her caliber could look after her own skin.
"Now, onto the other matter."
"There's more?"
"Regrettably for you, yes."
"Haaah..."
"Where did you learn the manners to heave deep sighs directly in front of imperial royalty?"
"Pray forgive my utter lack of grace."
"...Enough. What I came to discuss is the upcoming field training."
"Excuse me?"
"The off-campus field training."
"We're leaving the campus for practical training? Outside? Has the Chancellor lost her mind?"
How much aggro was she planning to draw by orchestrating something so suicidal? For Olga Hermod, a woman whose utmost priority was student safety, such a reckless scheme was wildly out of character.
"Who knows? Surely the Chancellor has her own designs. She is hardly one to act on a thoughtless whim."
"I certainly hope so..."
All I could envision was our transport getting ambushed by a parade of terrorist syndicates.
"Ahem! In any case, that brings me to my point. Would you not care to join my squad?"
"What? Absolutely not. Calling that a squad is an insult to words; it's practically the vanguard of the front lines."
Every shred of hostile intent across the continent would gravitate directly toward her. Ten lives wouldn't be enough to survive that meat grinder.
"You speak as though an ambush is a foregone conclusion. But it would be in your best interest to join us. Ariel wishes to see you dearly, after all."
"Can't she just come find me? She used to stand out like a beacon whenever she looked for me before..."
"She likely does not know how to calibrate her distance with you."
That made sense. With our engagement kept strictly under wraps, even casual conversation required immense discretion. Our prior interactions hadn't been particularly vast, so seeking me out without an explicit excuse would leave her hesitant. But for Lobelia to act as our matchmaker in this manner...
"I feel like this will only backfire."
Confronting Ariel one-on-one versus diving headfirst into Lobelia's party.
Given the choice, I would pick the former without a second thought. The sole reason I had tried to avoid Ariel in the first place was the mortal danger attached to her name. Joining Lobelia's squad was deliberately jumping into the active volcano.
"Yet, Yohan... without friends, how do you expect to form a team at all?"
"Excuse me? I have friends."
"A squad requires five members."
"...What are you getting at?"
"It is not as though you possess five friends, do you?"
"You—!"
Fine! I didn't!
I desperately wanted to fire back, but the absolute factual accuracy of her words choked the air right out of my lungs. Was the world always this narrow-minded and cruel?
"I mention this because if you do not secure a squad promptly, you will find yourself in dire peril."
"...What does that mean?"
"Certain external guests have requested permission to tour and observe the Cradle's training."
"What kind of aspiring warrior are we talking about?"
"Helena Hereticus."
"She's just a sheltered, naive little kid who doesn't know the first thing about the wo—Wait a minute."
"Her accompanying guardian is Cult Hereticus."
The image of the snow-haired siblings flashed through my mind, sending an icy wave of vertigo straight to my skull.
"There is an extraordinarily high probability he will request you by name. Unless you are already rostered into another squad, refusing him will be nearly impossible."
"Urrrgh..."
I wanted nothing more than to deny it, but Cult was entirely capable of pulling such a stunt. He was close childhood friends with Dietrich; if he leveraged Dietrich to summon me into their group, I would have no viable pretext to escape. My personal ties to Cult might be nonexistent, but Dietrich was an acquaintance I couldn't easily brush off. Barring a rock-solid excuse, a polite refusal was out of the question.
"Hnghh..."
Time to run the mental calculations.
Cult Hereticus: the supreme prophet and venerated supreme leader of Eden, an absolute lunatic among lunatics.
Lobelia Vicious van Miltonia: a walking, breathing taunt totem targeted by every underground faction on the continent, including Eden.
The ultimate game of Would You Rather.
Should I join Lobelia's squad and partake in an extreme survival bloodbath?
Or should I welcome Cult into my squad and endure real-time spiritual brainwashing?
"...Honestly, I think Cult's squad might still be safer."
"Are you serious?"
Well, wasn't it obvious? Cult wasn't quite as obsessed with cracking open my skull as he used to be. In the worst-case scenario, I could rely on Yuna, and Cult wouldn't dare make an overt move right under the watchful eyes of Helena and Dietrich.
"Hah... To think I commanded so little trust. Ariel will be heartbroken."
"My deepest apologies."
"Pay it no mind. I had no intention of chaining you down over a trifle like this. You have already signed the formal contract anyway. When the time truly comes, I shall blackmail you as necessary, so savor your brief taste of freedom."
"Your Highness... are you perhaps sulking?"
"Do you dare presume to pry into the imperial mind?"
Look at her. She was thoroughly pouting. Then again, born into the imperial family, how often had she ever experienced an outright rejection?
"Heavens, how could I ever? Your Highness's will is the supreme desire of the ten thousand subjects. How could a lowly servant harbor doubt?"
"As long as you understand."
Good grief. Walking on eggshells around royalty was exhausting.
Meanwhile, at the Ereticus Marquis Estate.
Holding Helena's small hand firmly in his own, Cult Hereticus walked with steady steps toward the Cradle.
"Helena, are you truly all right? If it becomes too strenuous, you must tell me at once, understand?"
Cult's voice was gentle as he watched her march vigorously ahead of him. Born with an intrinsically fragile constitution, Helena still required careful rehabilitation despite Cult having miraculously purged her terminal affliction.
"I'm completely fine, Brother! I feel even better than usual today! And if you get tired, you have to tell me too, okay? I'll help you!"
"In that case, I shall gladly lean on you, Helena."
"Yes! Leave it to me, Brother!"
A soft, serene smile graced Cult's lips.
Perhaps because their schedules had freed up recently, Helena had spent far more time by his side than ever before. This visit to the Cradle was born from that very closeness. Watching Dietrich depart the estate every morning in high spirits had sparked her childlike curiosity. Normally, she would have swallowed her longing and kept it hidden in her heart, but Cult had perceived her yearning early on and arranged this excursion.
A young girl burdened by a fragile body, and a brother outwardly known to the world as blind.
"Just... please don't let your excitement get the better of you two. Try not to get hurt..."
Walking a step behind them, Dietrich felt the crushing weight of responsibility pressing down upon his broad shoulders. In many ways, this outing served as his very first official assignment as an accredited knight sworn to the Hereticus Marquisate.
Yet, despite the tension coiling in his chest, an affectionate smile refused to leave Dietrich's lips as he watched them.
Every single time I look at those two, they seem more like real siblings than blood ever could make them.
Cult's firm grip steadied Helena so she wouldn't stumble, while Helena acted as Cult's guiding eyes, leading him forward step by step. In Dietrich's eyes, the sight of the two relying entirely on one another to navigate the world was nothing short of breathtaking.