Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: A Use for Treacherous Subjects
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"Hmm... Please wait a moment. Let me sort out the situation. So first, Your Highness the Princess, may I ask why you wish to bring me into your club?"
"Well, wanting to recruit capable talent is only natural, of course."
"I apologize to Your Highness, but we had already decided to take this friend first."
Kedron had appropriately interjected, attempting to block the Princess's opinion, but the Princess glared at him with a look completely different from the one she had given Beonald.
Her expression remained the same, but unlike the earnest gaze she had when looking at Beonald, her eyes when looking at Kedron were filled with a hostility as if she were staring at a hated enemy.
'What's this, she's unusually easy to read today. I thought she was incredibly strict about managing her expressions and presence... Anyway, this is a troublesome situation. But actually, this isn't a problem that needs much pondering...'
"...Even so, I absolutely will not let you go. Beonald, what terms did they offer you? Our 'Sword and Shield' side would..."
'What's going on? But did I ever do something to raise the Princess's favor to this extent?'
When they had met, they had only engaged in terse, probing conversations, and Beonald hadn't made any special effort to curry her favor, merely responding 'normally'.
Yet Princess Zelcy was looking at him with eyes filled with the stubbornness and desperation of a child seeing a doll they absolutely must have.
"If you join, I will present you with a package including one warhorse supplied to the imperial family, a set of armor, a sword, a spear, and a mace."
"Hold on! Your Highness, no matter what, luring someone with goods is cowardly, isn't it?"
"Finances are also a legitimate part of strategy!"
'...Has this Princess's intelligence suddenly dropped? Or... Ah! The Emperor?'
Unable to grasp Princess Zelcy's state of mind at all, Beonald could only guess that the reason she was acting this way was due to that Emperor, the one like Felix.
Otherwise, there was no reason for that Princess to suddenly push like this, and if the Emperor's influence was involved, the reason was all too easy to surmise.
'Indeed, "the more dangerous the enemy, the closer you keep them," is that it? I have too many things to think about, so I could never do that. I only want beautiful things in my garden!'
Beonald, recalling things he'd heard in the past, thought the reason for her sudden obsession with him was due to the Emperor's intervention, and began pondering how to handle it.
Anyway, the most correct answer in this situation was still to follow Kedron and join the 'Garden of Swords' club. No matter how you look at it, making an enemy of the Valderian family now would bring no good, and worst case, the promise to decipher the legacy Kerwell left for summer vacation might disappear.
'Hmm, but this is also difficult to refuse in its own way...'
The commonality of having a trashy parent like Felix, coupled with her earnest attitude different from their last meeting, swayed Beonald's heart.
Even Beonald, who was accustomed to beauties from having many wives in his past life, found her a stunning beauty, but the point that most moved his heart was that, like his past self, she had a trashy father.
'Brother... Father is... scary.'
'Brother, I... they say I'll die tomorrow...'
'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Please. Give me one more chance. Please. I can do better.'
In his childhood, due to his father Felix von Neumel's atrocious heir production plan, Beonald grew up alongside numerous siblings, and it was commonplace for children to lose their lives in the brutal lessons and competition.
Even the young Beonald felt pity, but he too could do nothing, and ultimately had to watch as countless siblings were killed for being useless or killed each other.
'Sigh~ I can't refuse this.'
A person doesn't break overnight.
Cracks form in the heart due to shock, and before they heal, they are hit again and again, slowly widening. If one cannot overcome it alone, they eventually need someone's help.
But most people don't recognize the seriousness when the cracks are small, and only realize it when it's too late to fix.
Beonald had seen many siblings broken like that, so he knew, and thus could not refuse the Princess.
"Well then~ There's no help for it. I'll go with Your Highness's side."
"Really?"
'To think I'd make such a foolish choice myself. But... so be it. I'll endure it, keeping that happy smile in my memory.'
The expression of a girl with an emotionless, expressionless face smiling happily must be something special.
Her own parents probably hadn't seen her like this, so it was likely a treasure only he could enjoy.
The problem was how to persuade Kedron, who was making a ridiculous face. Beonald tried subtly giving him a look, as if sending a secret signal, but perhaps due to the Valderian family bloodline, he didn't seem to catch on.
"Grrk! So you were a vulgar materialist after all?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, Senior. Please understand. Still, I will thoroughly keep our prior agreement, so don't worry too much."
"Fine. Alright, do as you please. I'll make you regret it!"
'...Sorry, nephew.'
In the end, Kedron left the spot as if indignant, leaving only Beonald and Princess Zelcy.
She seemed happy he chose her, with a glint of joy in her eyes.
Beonald, thinking he hadn't done anything to warrant such happiness, misunderstood, wondering just how much that damn Emperor had harassed her to make her act like this, and said to her:
"Frankly speaking... the reward was appealing. Ahem! I may look like this, but I'm a half-baked noble who left home, so money is tight. Yes, that's probably why I'm a vulgar materialist without 'knightly qualifications'. Are you disappointed?"
"Ah, no. It's fine. Then let's go straight to our 'Sword and Shield' club. As your recommender, I need to complete the membership process and also go to arrange for the promised warhorse, armor, and weapons."
'Anyway, seeing her happy expression makes my heart feel a bit lighter. To think such an opportunity would arise after 500 years... Hoo~'
Beonald felt his bitter heart wash away a little at the Princess's very slight smile.
Following her through various parts of the academy, they arrived at a certain building, grand enough to be considered a mansion.
One might think it housed several clubs, but seeing the sign and emblem at the entrance reading 'Sword and Shield', it seemed they used this entire building.
"Not enough spirit! Move faster! How else will you defeat the enemy?"
"The honor of Sword and Shield isn't borne by us knights alone. You squire candidates also bear part of a knight's honor!"
'...At this level, it's practically a separate joint military training facility within the academy. Was it created because of these troubled times?'
Looking closely, there was a training ground in one corner, stables for raising horses, a sparring arena for practice, and knights-in-training from the Knight Faculty teaching squires and pages who assisted them.
As Beonald said, this was less a club within the academy and more a group that, with imperial permission, conducted joint military training after classes.
'Hmm, fitting for where a royal would be placed.'
"What do you think?"
Perhaps having calmed down on the way, or perhaps mindful of others' gazes, the Princess had returned to her terse mode and asked for Beonald's impression in a calm tone.
"Yes, I'm surprised. It's hardly something you can call a 'club'... But considering what Senior Kedron said earlier, this means there's another one like it, right?"
"Correct. The 'Garden of Swords' club is similarly equipped."
"The donations and investments from faction nobles... must be no joke. And... the divided factions now gauge military strength or assess the capabilities of nobles within each other's factions by observing situations like this, and even compete to develop further—it's a well-integrated system with multiple intentions."
"To perceive that far at once, you are truly impressive."
Princess Zelcy was impressed by Beonald's insight, which saw beyond the academy's domain to how the club's purpose was utilized on a national level.
Then the two entered the club building, went up the stairs, and headed to the club president's office.
"Here, once we fill out the membership application and my recommendation letter, you'll be enrolled. Then once the president approves, that's it."
"Your Highness is not the club president?"
"Yes. No matter how high one's status, the president of a knight club is normally the strongest and most prestigious knight among the third-years."
'Well, she's a princess, not a knight. She hasn't been knighted, so it's natural for someone else to be president.'
The president's room, fitting for a knight club, had a rather fierce appearance aside from the chairs and table for receiving guests.
One wall had various weapons and armors, and the opposite wall had what could be considered club-like plaques, awards, and trophies, but seeing the row of monster head trophies made it feel less like a club room and more like a rogue or adventurer's guild office.
"Oh, Your Highness, you've arrived? How was the exam?"
Then came a man's voice. Turning his head, Beonald saw a man with neatly groomed tawny hair, intense eyes, and an aura that smelled of having experienced the battlefield as a knight, greeting the Princess with proper etiquette.
Assuming this man was the president of 'Sword and Shield', Beonald decided to listen to their conversation to understand more.
"I think I did reasonably well."
"Hahaha, be modest. Always competing for first or second in the academy and saying 'reasonably'. Most students can't even achieve 'reasonably'. By the way, who is this friend?"
"A new member. My recommendation. You must have heard the rumor. The student who entered on Sir Reparte's recommendation."
"Hmm... Is that so?"
The president's gaze, now directed at Beonald, was filled with wariness and hostility completely different from the one he gave the Princess.
This much was fully expected by Beonald.
A stunning beauty like the Princess, possessing various talents. Noblemen with some family influence would all be eyeing her, so if a 'male' knight she recommended suddenly appeared, it was only natural to be wary, even angry.
'...He's saying it outright with his eyes. The "get lost" is audible even without him speaking.'
"...But you know we can't let just anyone join our club?"
"Yes. But with the recommendation of Imperial Knight Sir Reparte, the fact that Sir Kedron of the Valderian family is also aiming for this talent, the legitimate lineage of the Callermain family eligible to attend the Grand Assembly, and my recommendation on top of that. That should be more than enough, shouldn't it?"
She seemed utterly unaware that despite all the qualifications, the president would oppose precisely because of her own recommendation.
Eventually, instead of the oblivious Princess, Beonald and the president began a male conversation through their eyes—a battle of wills between the president radiating anger and killing intent and Beonald calmly receiving it, asking with his eyes, "What are you going to do about it?"
'Get lost now. If you don't want to die?'
'...Ah, so he's openly aiming for the Princess. Well, when you're young... they're all like that. But I also refused Kedron's offer, and I'm in a position where I can't back out because I'm concerned.'
'...It seems words won't work. You don't know your place!'
And after a moment, realizing the negotiation through exchanged glances had broken down, the president abruptly stood up from his seat and spoke to Beonald.