The Ghost That Eats Iron (1)
Shagalor’s abundant wealth had been secretly loaded onto the carriage procession. Besides me, there were maids and other attendants serving my lady, so if any of them were spies she had planted, the whole scheme would be exposed. Not that it mattered—there were definitely spies. It was only a matter of time before she learned the truth.
But so what? The procession had already departed. Calling it back now would be awkward at best. And since Shagalor had done unforgivable things to my lady, we had plenty to say in our own defense. Making excuses and playing innocent would fall entirely on my lady’s shoulders.
‘If she makes an issue of it, I’ll talk her down. Imperial education includes rhetoric, after all. Might as well put what we’ve learned to use, right? Hehe.’
Listening to my lady speak like that, I finally reached the capital.
It was the dead of winter, so moving the carriages had been more difficult than expected and the journey took longer than planned. Still, fortunately, neither my lady’s attendants nor any of us had suffered serious injuries.
…But the news that greeted me upon arriving in the capital of Karlangk was exactly what I had anticipated. To be precise, it happened the moment we tried to enter the grounds of Sigmund Academy.
“Yohan Kim, you may not enter. Please turn back.”
“Pardon?”
Sigmund Academy stood like a second citadel just beyond the heart of Karlangk. The place essentially functioned as a satellite city for the capital’s residents. Because we bore the Grand Duchy’s crest, we had entered Karlangk without any real inspection. But getting into Sigmund itself was an entirely different matter.
“I am Lady Karalin’s attendant. By regulation, attendants are permitted entry, are they not?”
“The thing is, we issue residence permits only after verifying the list of attendants provided by the respective house. However, the list we received from Vitagarte does not contain your name. Not at all.”
‘Ha, of course…’
Shagalor was hardly the type to sit idle while her plans unfolded. She had clearly taken measures. That merciless woman was second to none when it came to pettiness. No matter that they shared no blood and the age gap was barely a dozen years—a daughter was still a daughter. Yet after exiling that daughter to the academy with her own hands, she couldn’t even spare her a “little” of those gold bars.
Still, expecting things to resolve so easily would have been arrogant. This wasn’t unforeseen. From the beginning, those people had made it crystal clear: There is no support for me.
I had already considered far worse scenarios. If this was all they threw at me, it was almost manageable.
‘They’ve already sent her away, so interfering directly would be difficult. And they’re annoyed that I keep shielding my lady, so they decided to cut me off at the root for now.’
Even so, it was merely unpleasant rather than a fatal blow. I could sense it. Something major must have happened back in Vitagarte. Perhaps the wyvern invasion had begun sooner than expected…
But confirming that would have to wait. Right now, entry was the priority.
While I stood there facing trouble, my lady cracked open the carriage window, intending to help.
“Gatekeeper.”
Her voice was so cold it seemed to freeze the air itself. The sheer murderous aura made the gatekeeper snap to attention.
“G-Grand Duchess! It is an honor to behold you!”
“Yohan is my one and only servant and attendant. If I say I am bringing him with me, are you really going to cause a scene simply because his name is missing from a list?”
“Th-that is… During admission season we host so many distinguished guests that we gatekeepers must strictly control entrants in order to block dangerous outsiders…!”
“I will vouch for him.”
Contempt and hatred dripped from every syllable.
“I just said I would guarantee him. Are you telling me there is still a problem?”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“And mind your tongue. My servant is not a dangerous person, as you so carelessly claimed.”
Even I felt chills listening to her, yet the gatekeeper kept sweating bullets while stubbornly holding his ground.
“I-I’m terribly sorry, Your Highness! Th-this is beyond my authority. It is merely a safety measure, so I beg your cooperation…!”
A man with genuine professional spirit, I had to admit. But once he put it that way, there was little we could do.
“…Sigh. Never mind. Forget it. You’re only doing your job.”
“Th-thank you!”
He was simply performing his duty. I couldn’t exactly kill the man for refusing me entry.
“Yohan, I’m truly sorry… Perhaps I shouldn’t have provoked Mother.”
“No. This is something we did together. I was prepared for this. It’s all right.”
“Thank you for saying that… I’ll look for some way to resolve this from inside. In the meantime, wait nearby. Understood? I will contact you without fail.”
“Yes. I’ll see you inside soon, my lady. Don’t worry.”
My lady comforted me in a tone completely different from the one she had used on the gatekeeper. Yet in the end, I was left standing there alone.
‘Damn it…’
After parting from the group, I could only circle the gate leading into Sigmund, racking my brain for a legal way to slip inside. If I were willing to break the rules, I could bribe the gatekeeper, find a hole to crawl through, scale the walls, or use my ability and some unconventional methods. Entering would be child’s play.
But if that caused identity problems later? Getting back into Sigmund would become nearly impossible. And that would make it difficult to achieve my goal of staying by my lady’s side at the academy. So I refused to take that path.
…Yet even in such a tangled situation, a hole appeared.
I discovered it by pure chance. It happened while I was leaning against a roadside tree, catching my breath.
Clop, clop, clop—
The sound of galloping hooves approached from afar, growing steadily closer. An instinctive warning prickled at the back of my mind—something unpleasant was about to happen.
And then—
Whoosh—
Just as I feared. As the horse thundered past, a cloud of dust swallowed my vision.
“What the hell…!”
He had clearly seen me yet still sprayed the dirt. Even a child knew that was inexcusable. I immediately ran after him and stopped the rider.
“Hey. Get down.”
“Hm?”
The man on horseback showed no intention of dismounting. He simply looked down at me. A noble with long, garish purple hair who looked thoroughly unpleasant at first glance. And the words that came out of his mouth were even worse.
“A northern barbarian? I don’t know why you’re standing there, but get lost. I have no time to waste.”
Ha. After kicking dust all over a perfectly stationary person… he tells me to get lost?
“No. An apology comes first. To me, the fact that you sprayed dirt matters far more than your precious schedule.”
“…Hey, commoner.”
The man shook his obnoxious purple locks and drew his sword.
Clang—!
“Do not be rude. I am Roban von Sorbe, first successor to the Sorbe Baron family. I heard the deadline for Sigmund’s entrance examination is near, so the road is urgent.”
‘…Roban von Sorbe?’
The moment I heard the name, something deep in my memory stirred violently.
‘Ah, I know this guy.’
He was a character from Eternal Eclipse, the world I now lived in. Specifically, the idiot who got spectacularly crushed during the protagonist’s entrance exam—Roban. His skills were certainly high-tier, but he was an aggro-spewing fool hated by everyone.
Perfect. I was already in a foul mood because of the entry refusal. Looks like you walked right into it.
“You’ve been rude from the very beginning, yet you lecture me about manners?”
Having remembered his face, I kicked his words right back at him—hard.
Thud—!
“Whinny—!!”
“Kagh! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Retaliation.”
“Crazy barbarian bastard!”
Startled by my kick, the horse reared. Roban yanked the reins hard, struggling to calm it. He didn’t fall, but the sight was thoroughly undignified. Impressive rodeo skills, I’ll give him that. How insulting.
“Tsk… Fine! Wasting any more time here is my loss. Expecting etiquette from a barbarian is embarrassing anyway.”
But what was this? Earlier he had drawn his sword with clear intent to fight. The moment I responded without flinching, he turned tail. As expected, he was a shabby excuse for a noble and a disgrace of a swordsman.
If he had actually charged me, I would have treated it as a duel and killed him on the spot. My resolve had been wasted.
And then—
“Yah!”
Whoosh—
“Ha, you son of a bitch!”
The fleeing Roban deliberately kicked up another cloud of dust over me before vanishing into the distance. A guy who wouldn’t even pass the exam anyway, acting all high and mighty. Enduring this would make me a saint. This had to be settled immediately.
Unfortunately, my own horse was tied to a post nearby. And once he entered Sigmund, I wouldn’t be able to follow. There didn’t seem to be any quick way to chase him down.
Just as I resigned myself to letting him go—
…Wait.
It felt as if lightning had struck my skull. A truly coincidental spark of inspiration born from that petty quarrel.
‘Entrance exam…?’
Let’s think. The reason the gatekeeper had turned me away was because I was being treated as a mere visitor rather than a pre-listed attendant.
But if I became a prospective student here to take the entrance exam… the gatekeeper would have no justification left to block me.
If the plan worked, I could both settle things with Roban at the exam site and enter Sigmund. Two birds with one stone.
A grin spread across my face.
‘Killing two birds with one stone.’
As expected, there was always a way. Since I had come up with an excellent plan, it was time to put it into action.
I ground my teeth.
Roban von Sorbe. You messed with the wrong person, you bastard.
That was what I muttered to myself.
“I am a prospective student.”
At my return with those words, the gatekeeper couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“Wait. Didn’t we just speak a moment ago?”
“It appears so.”
“But earlier you said you were an attendant…”
“Yes, I was an attendant earlier. Since you wouldn’t let me in, I decided to simply enroll instead.”
“Wha—what?!”
“There’s on-site screening in addition to pre-screening, isn’t there? The same one that purple-haired fellow from earlier went to take. I know all about it.”
Now, let’s see how you react.