No Problem, Right?

Day four of break.

"Hyung-nim, thank you."

Leon dropped into a deep, formal bow before Lyman. Startled, Lyman caught him by the arms and hauled him upright in one smooth motion.

"What do you think you're doing? Why are you suddenly face-planting into the dirt? Get up this instant."

"You don't know what a bow is?"

"A bow?"

"Never mind."

Leon clicked his tongue. Apparently this world had no such greeting.

"Anyway, hyung-nim. I mean it — thank you. I just heard the news. You beheaded Viscount Tylln."

"Kid, your word choice is always so extreme."

"Man, that was badass. Right there on the spot — neck, snap, done. Just like that."

"……"

The capital was in an uproar. That morning, Lyman had personally announced that he had executed Viscount Tylln — and released the evidence footage of the scheme Tylln had been plotting right along with it.

Naturally, there was no question of Lyman facing any punishment. What Tylln had been attempting was so outrageous, and the proof so airtight, that no one could argue otherwise. If anything, the Anvers family ought to count themselves lucky that the matter had ended with Tylln alone. In a worse case, they could have lost the title entirely.

"I doubt they were planning anything, but with Viscount Tylln as an example, the rest of them won't dare step out of line."

"Yeah — if they value their necks at all, they won't."

He meant the five nobles who had already been squeezed for settlement money.

Lyman went on.

"I expect I won't be able to see you as often for a while."

"Got something to do?"

"I do. Things are about to get busy. The capital has more rot in it than I thought. Far too many innocent people suffering for no reason. I don't think I can just walk past it."

Lyman's sleek silver armor caught the sunlight and flashed.

"Especially Black Sand. This new drug is a serious problem. The effects vary wildly, and the addiction is ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off the charts. The distribution network is organized, they appear and vanish like ghosts, and I still have no idea how far the connections go."

"……"

Leon had already privately pinned it on the Demon Realm, the Gonghyeol Group, and those scouts — but he had no hard evidence, only guesses drawn from the original story, so he kept it to himself.

Instead, he said:

"Funny you mention it. I've been thinking hard about Black Sand myself. If you ever have the time later, would you share whatever information you dig up?"

"Hmm. Of course. No reason not to."

"Oh, thank you. That's my hyung-nim. Truly the embodiment of justice, the idol of every knight, the hope of the continent, the scourge of all evil……"

"That's enough."

"Yes, sir."

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

The next day.

Today was finally the first day of the capital tour itinerary. Perhaps for that reason, two additional people arrived first thing in the morning.

"Hahaha! Leon! Long time no see!"

Carotin had returned from a stop at his family estate — and he had brought someone with him.

"Everyone, say hello! This is my fiancée!"

"Ah, so this is her?"

"Hello. I've heard a lot about you from him."

Tina Bream, daughter of House Bream — a count family in the north. Carotin's fiancée. He had been engaged for some time, which was why he always wore a ring on the ring finger of his left hand. The two had known each other since childhood and got along remarkably well; they had decided to visit the capital together over the break, treating it as a little trip.

And then—

"……"

"……You. Go wash up first."

Billy had come back covered head to toe in blood. The blood, of course, was not his own.

Once he had cleaned up and explained what happened:

"You ran into a bandit gang?"

"Yeah. They hit us while we were traveling by carriage."

True to his reputation as the walking embodiment of bad luck, even the journey itself had been anything but ordinary.

"Bandits out on the open plains aren't easy to deal with…… So what did you do?"

"I cut down about twenty of them and the rest ran on their own. I had companions with me, so I didn't bother chasing."

"……"

Leon had yet to realize it, but Billy was already an upper-rank Expert. A mere bandit gang — even if they came at him in a swarm — would not have left so much as a scratch on him.

Still looking faintly unsettled, Leon asked casually:

"Family visit go okay? What'd you get up to?"

"I saw my family. Brought my little sister to the capital with me this time."

"Hmm."

Having read the original story, Leon already knew the circumstances. Billy had one younger sister, born with paralysis from the waist down. This time, he had used one of the rewards granted by the Academy — an audience with the Saintess — to bring her here and have her cured. The Saintess's holy power was nothing short of a divine miracle; it could mend any incurable disease with ease.

That was why Billy had clawed so hard for top marks at Elprime. For a poor baronial house from the countryside, the only realistic path to securing treatment from the Saintess was for Billy to succeed at the Academy.

Pat. Pat.

"You little bastard. I'm proud of you."

"?"

Leon clapped Billy firmly on the shoulder.

At any rate—

"Looks like everyone's here. Let's move."

With all ten cadets assembled, they set out under Cheren's lead. The group boarded carriages, left the Asornia estate, passed through the inner walls, and headed for the 1st District.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Long ago, a race known as dragons walked the continent.

Masters of magic. Sovereigns of mana. Demigods. Born with transcendent power, they looked down upon every other living thing as lesser.

But they were nowhere to be found on the continent now. Roughly two hundred years earlier, they had lost a war against humanity and vanished into the footnotes of history. In that Human-Dragon War, it was the Empire that had brought down the greatest number of dragons — and so the Empire claimed the foremost glory and the richest spoils.

One of those spoils had been used to build what the cadets were looking at now.

"We've arrived."

The Dragon Heart Palace.

Here in the 1st District, past layers of ironclad security, stood a palace. A vast square complex of red and gold, its skeleton forged ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from a special alloy, four low towers anchoring each corner. The cadets filed in through an entrance that yawned open like a dragon's maw.

"The Dragon Heart Palace is where the hearts of dragons the Empire once hunted have been restored and installed," Cheren explained as they walked the broad inner courtyard. "The mana dragons once wielded is said to have been purer and more exalted than anything else. By restoring those hearts, the Empire succeeded in recreating that mana."

"You're saying they made dead hearts beat again?"

"That's right. I'm a swordsman, so I don't know the precise principles — but it clearly took extraordinary technique and effort."

"Hmm."

"In any case, the place where you'll receive that refined dragon mana is the Dragon Heart Chamber we're about to enter. How well you absorb that power, and how much your body grows from it, is entirely up to you."

A magic-division cadet asked how much time they would be given.

"Making a Dragon Heart beat again can only be done a few days out of the entire year. That means access to the Dragon Heart Chamber is strictly limited."

Which made the opportunity all the more precious.

‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"You have exactly two days. In that time, I expect every one of you to give your ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠absolute best and achieve everything you can."

The cadets all nodded. By the time the explanation wound down, they had reached the Dragon Heart Chamber deep inside the palace.

Along the rim of a hollow central space, ten cage-like rooms had been arranged. Thick pipes ran into the top of each chamber, wrapped in intricate mechanisms and circuitry.

"All right. One person per room."

Leon picked a chamber, opened the door, and stepped inside.

"Hmm."

The interior was about the size of a small closet and completely empty — bare and cool, like walking into a cold storage room.

"We start in thirty minutes. I'll see you all again in two days."

Cheren swept a final glance over the cadets, left his farewell, and departed. Martial escorts and the mages who managed the Dragon Heart Chamber remained in the hollow.

Thirty minutes passed quickly.

"Closing the doors now. Everyone prepare."

"Leon, see you later."

"Catch you after, Leon!"

"Yeah. Do well."

Leon stuck his head out, waved to his friends, then ducked back inside. There was nothing particular to prepare. He set out the dagger set he had brought, placed one blade on either side of him, settled into a seated meditation posture, and waited.