Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Looking Forward to It
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I'm looking forward to it.
Adelin stared at the empty tent of Haribal.
“This kid, where the hell is he wandering off to at this late hour?”
A few days ago, she had heard the rumor that Haribal had stepped up as a special examiner for the Ruidel Academy entrance exam.
A kid who couldn't even take care of himself serving as an examiner—it was utterly absurd.
When she grilled him about it, all he said was that he had submitted his application late and had no choice.
She had warned him so many times, and he still forgot? He was a subordinate who made her more anxious every time she saw him.
Adelin stepped inside the tent and ran her fingertips over Haribal's sleeping bag.
She had first met Haribal right after he was assigned to the 2222nd Unit.
Her first impression of him was a stony, emotionless boy.
A kid who had closed off his heart due to past wounds and traumas, clinging only to things like knighthood and honor. That must have been why he even punched the face of the duke's precious golden boy.
But after training with him, Haribal turned out to be completely different from what she thought.
‘He was actually quite expressive with his emotions.’
He might look stiff on the outside, but when clashing swords directly, it was clear.
In the eyes of the boy who freely wielded lightning-fast strikes that even Adelin struggled to block, there was always a burning desire for self-improvement and a competitive spirit.
That made her even more worried.
A boy who valued his sword over people. Adelin saw fragments of her own past in that.
She was an imperial top-tier swordmaster who had mastered the Belhart Style swordsmanship—created by her ancestor, the Mercenary King Belhart Winter—even up to its secret techniques.
She had even reinterpreted sword arts centered on greatswords to complete the ‘Adelin-style Belhart Style.’
Yet Haribal had arbitrarily modified it and reborn it as his own unique art, the ‘Haribal Style.’
It was astonishing talent.
But Adelin knew. Those whose talents bloomed early always paid a corresponding price.
For that, the boy would have to endure unnecessary pain far too soon.
When he came back twice with severe wounds from elite beasts, Adelin felt like the sky was collapsing.
And not only that—he had even soloed a beast dungeon boss without reporting it. Her worries were beyond measure.
So in Adelin's eyes, Haribal was inevitably just an innocent child who knew nothing of the world and could bolt anywhere.
That was why she wanted to teach him more.
Swordsmanship, and how to live in the world.
So far, she had only taught him up to the second form of the Belhart Style.
Of course, even with just the second form, Haribal had transformed it into his own swordsmanship, but the problem lay ahead.
Once he entered the academy, he would learn the Ruidel school's swordsmanship.
Adelin, with her exceptional sword talent, knew well. Mixing other sword arts into a path already forged was poison to a swordsman.
Like getting lost on a proper road because of misguided advice intruding.
And now, in Adelin's hand was an invitation from the Ruidel Academy board of directors. They had long wanted to bring her on as an instructor.
Of course, she had refused at first.
She had already admitted to herself that she was paying special attention to Haribal.
But she had the Stormstrike Squad, comrades she had shared life and death with even longer than Haribal—no, even more so.
Heading to the academy just for one boy while leaving them behind didn't make sense.
‘It would be wrong to both of them.’
At that moment, a familiar face entered the tent.
“Captain, you're here again?”
“Crus.”
It was Crus, the vice-captain of the Stormstrike Squad and her comrade from academy days.
“I'm starting to wonder if this is Haribal's tent or yours, Captain.”
“Don't be ridiculous. You think I've moved in here?”
“Of course. You're just ‘passing by’ every single day.”
Adelin narrowed her eyes at Crus's joke.
“Your mouth's getting more and more insolent.”
“I've heard that since academy days. Too late to fix it now.”
Adelin shrugged, and Crus's gaze shifted to the invitation in her hand.
Uncharacteristically startled, she hid it behind her back.
“Why hide it? Between us.”
“What ‘us’ is there?”
“What us? You're the lifelong enemy who set me up with my nagging wife.”
“Hey, Bella was too good for you.”
A brief laugh passed between them.
Adelin and Crus had been friends since their school days, so when alone, they always talked casually like this.
“If you want to go, then go.”
“Go where?”
Crus nodded toward the invitation.
“It's just their annual routine. You know, they sent it last year and the year before too.”
“I know. This is the first year I've kept it instead of throwing it away.”
Nailed to the point, Adelin scratched her head, and Crus smirked.
“You think I don't know how you've led the squad as captain? You've always taken the most dangerous spot alone. Now you're worried we'll resent you for going to the academy?”
“Crus.”
“Honestly, I'd love it. No more cleaning up after you. With Haribal gone too, my workload halves.”
Adelin burst into laughter at Crus's deadpan remark.
“I'm not going. Where would I go leaving guys like you behind?”
At that instant, Crus drew his sword from his waist and thrust it straight at Adelin.
Reflexively, Adelin drew hers too, and the two swords clashed after a long time.
“Even drawing swords now? You're not desperate for a promotion, are you?”
Crus shook his head at Adelin's joke.
“No. I just wanted to tell you your sword is faster than before.”
Adelin's eyes widened at his words.
Whether a sword had grown or not was something the opponent knew better than oneself. She had long been called the empire's greatest sword and had been in a plateau.
At this point, the only ones who could be walls for her were absolute powerhouses like Duke Ren, the imperial knight commander, or old masters like the Extreme Divine Sword.
Opportunities to clash with them were rare, so until recently, Adelin believed her growth had completely stopped.
Yet Crus—the second-best swordsman in the squad after her—said it directly.
Her sword was faster than before.
There was only one thing it could be.
‘Because of Haribal?’
She wasn't certain.
But if receiving his rapid strikes daily had grown her swordsmanship, it wasn't impossible.
While Adelin was lost in thought, Crus spoke again.
This time, his face was utterly serious.
“Don't misunderstand, Adelin Winter. Your place isn't as the Stormstrike Squad's captain. It's as the unbreakable empire's greatest sword. That's where you belong. You should run toward that, not chain your own growth to stay here.”
“……”
“Think about yourself for once. Don't you have enough justification? You've always said the sword path has no end. Thanks to sparring with Haribal, you're taking steps again. So instead of forcing yourself to stay, find a way to be with that kid.”
With that, Crus pulled a familiar item from his bosom.
“So go without worrying about us.”
“Hey, who said you could touch your superior's stuff?”
“Come on. You're not feeling the pinch without this anymore, right?”
What he held out was the Abyss Core Adelin had entrusted to him, one she hadn't used for her growth.
Crus's intent was clear.
She could advance without the Abyss Core now, so there was no need for him to hold it anymore.
The moment Adelin took the Abyss Core.
“I'm back.”
The tent flap opened, and Haribal returned.
He glanced alternately at the two and bowed politely.
Seeing it, Crus clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“You're a soldier, yet you wander off so freely?”
“Sorry.”
“Does going to the academy mean military life ends?”
Haribal tilted his head for a moment.
His expression plainly showed he thought, ‘Doesn't it?’ Adelin let out a hollow laugh and asked.
“So, where have you been until this late?”
“Ah.”
Haribal pulled a leather pouch from his bosom.
The shard pouch where he kept shards he didn't usually use. It was completely empty.
Holding out the empty pouch, Haribal smiled contentedly.
“I made an investment for the future.”
“……?”
Adelin and Crus froze simultaneously.
Investment? Haribal had over a hundred low-grade shards.
Did this kid even know how much one low-grade shard was worth?
What kind of investment had he thrown them away for?
Inevitably, they reached the same conclusion.
‘He got scammed.’
To them, Haribal was a kid who had lived with a sword his whole life. It was natural he'd be naive about the world.
That was partly why they hadn't refused when he said he wanted to go to the academy.
Adelin sighed pityingly at the triumphant Haribal.
“…And you want to send a kid like this off alone?”
“……Yeah.”
It was certainly true.
Of course, oblivious to it all, Haribal straightened his clothes and prepared to wash up.
“Mind if I wash up and talk then?”
“Go ahead.”
Once he left, the two were alone again.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Sigh… After seeing him like that, what choice do I have?”
Adelin looked at Crus apologetically.
If she left, the squad's burden would fall entirely on him.
But he wasn't wrong. If going to the academy helped her growth, she should go. And above all…
Adelin glanced toward the tent flap where Haribal had disappeared.
Reading her conflict, Crus drove the nail in.
“Think positive. If worst comes to worst, go find a husband or something. Over thirty and unmarried? Tough luck.”
“You lunatic. The age gap between me and him is over ten years.”
As Adelin glared, Crus grinned meaningfully.
“I meant go seduce the instructors.”
Adelin's face flushed red in an instant.
Her golden hair barely hid her embarrassment, but she couldn't avoid her old friend's gaze.
“You, don't tell me?”
Pow!
“Ow!”
Adelin's fist slammed into Crus's face.
Leaving him comically crumpled, Adelin looked down at the invitation in her hand.
For a long while.
⁎⁎⁎
‘Did I overstep?’
From what I saw at the entrance ceremony, mentioning Valhillar was still a trauma for Ellier.
So I was pondering how to lure him in after he fled from me there and get my hands in his pockets.
Thus, on the way to Neivil's workshop after the ceremony, I devised a few strategies.
Like approaching naturally under the pretext of checking Rene, or pretending to discover the shard converter by chance and slipping him some shards.
But things resolved easier than expected.
“Haribal Belder. You're… the sword of the Red Scales, aren't you?”
“……?”
Ellier mistook me for Alicia's spy.
I don't know how he reached that conclusion, but it wasn't bad anyway.
In the original story, Ellier was set as oblivious. More precisely, the engineer-minded type who overconsiders every possibility unnecessarily.
Thanks to that, I just kept quiet, and he led me to the unfinished shard converter himself.
Ellier began rattling off the shard converter's history and effects to me. I half-listened since I knew it all anyway.
After his long explanation, he looked at me with a stern expression.
“…This is an invention for humanity. Can't you put in a word with Her Highness?”
Word or not, I came here because I need it.
But the misunderstanding wasn't bad—in fact, useful—so I went all in.
“Her Highness is always watching over you.”
“……As I thought!”
Ellier's face froze, then his eyes widened as if realizing something.
“Wait. Does that mean… the imperial family permits production?”
“Of course. Her Highness values this machine highly too.”
Total lie.
In the original, Alicia doesn't even know about the shard converter until chapter 4—no, 5.
That's why even as students started wearing high-grade shards one by one, she just reacted with ‘Wow, cool,’ and only jumped into shard production in a panic after learning about it late.
But for my situation, borrowing Alicia's name was a free pass to anything—perfect.
I immediately started the sleight of hand.
“This is Her Highness's gift.”
“Th-this is…?”
Ellier's eyes bulged at the shards pouring from my pouch.
Nearly a hundred low-grade ones scattered on the floor, and he gulped.
From memory, activating the shard converter needed sixteen of each color.
I had brought the exact amount.
“You mean I can use all these freely?”
I nodded instead of answering, and Ellier counted them before facing me with resolute eyes.
“…There must be a price, of course. What do you want?”
“I want it installed in the academy by the semester start. Can you finish by then?”
“…Inside the academy? That's Her Highness's will too?”
Of course not.
I just didn't want the hassle of visiting the workshop daily for shard crafting and fusion.
Better to let students use it too.
Naturally, I nodded instead of answering.
Ellier’s eyes sparkled as he replied. A smile appeared on his lips for the first time since we met.
“With the shards you gave me, I can finish by tomorrow if I pull an all-nighter.”
No need for that.
Anyway, confirmed it's doable.
That settles the top priority.
“Thanks. Haribal Belder.”
“It's all Her Highness's grace.”
“Right. Tell her thanks too. See you at the academy.”
Who knows. Alicia might thank me later instead.
Heading straight back to the tent, I ran into Adelin and her vice-captain Crus.
Why are these people barging into someone else's tent? No privacy?
‘Ah, right, this is the military.’
Check.
I'd already switched to student mode, it seems.
After chatting appropriately with them, I headed to the washroom. My steps felt strangely light.
‘In a week, farewell to this place too.’
I'd spent quite a while in this world as a soldier.
Fighting, surviving near-death, enduring. Somehow, I'd climbed pretty high.
But from now on, the stage changes. The real stage of the Doomsday Academy, Ruidel Academy. There, I'll survive not as a soldier, but as a student.
Normally, I'd be anxious, but what came out of my mouth was the opposite.
“Looking forward to it.”
Muttering that while splashing water in the washroom.
The week flew by.