13
Chapter 13
The day of the Academic Festival had dawned.
Flowers bloomed profusely on the Academy's roadside trees. Petals drifted with the wind toward the plaza, while banners announcing the festival fluttered slowly above.
As the murmur of crowds echoed from the Main Gate, Enoch, who was in the laboratory, looked out the window and muttered.
"...I wonder if they've arrived by now."
#
The first to arrive at the plaza was the representative of the Sharan Republic.
To be precise, it was a woman appearing alone with three luggage bundles.
Nadia al-Harim.
With sun-kissed bronze skin and short-cropped brown curly hair, she stopped before the plaza fountain, looked up at the Academy building, and let out an exclamation.
"Wow."
Her admiration was so genuine that two passing students stopped in their tracks and looked up with her.
"Is that marble?"
Nadia asked, stopping one of the students.
"It's a luxury even in Sharan, so it's hard to find."
The student reflexively confirmed that it was.
"I knew it."
With a satisfied look, Nadia nodded and set her luggage bundles on the ground.
—Thud.
"I'm dying from the weight."
As Nadia stood there rubbing her shoulders, a shadow fell over her without a sound.
Someone was behind her. She couldn't even tell if they had been there before she arrived or had just appeared. In an instant, they were simply there.
Garrett Ironshield.
A massive man nearly 200cm tall was looking down at Nadia's luggage. A face full of scars. Deep green eyes.
He was expressionless. More accurately, he was unreadable.
"...They've increased again."
It was a single word spoken in a low bass.
Nadia turned and looked up at him for quite some time.
"Oh? Knight Commander."
She spoke with a face that showed no sign of surprise.
"You're here?"
"Yeah."
"Could you help me with my things? I feel like my arms are about to fall off."
Without a word, Garrett picked up all three bundles.
"Thank you."
Nadia said with a smile.
"There is no need for thanks."
"Then I won't."
She gave him a beaming smile.
"Oh— what a touching scene."
The sound of applause drifted from somewhere. A single person was clapping.
At the top of the stairs, long Platinum Blonde hair flowed in the spring breeze. The hem of a silk cloak. A pair of rubies in the ears.
Lionel de Mabil.
A cousin of the current King of the Mabil Kingdom. A member of the Mabil royal collateral line.
A man descending the stairs like an actor on a stage. His every step was already a performance.
"Anyone watching would think this is a play."
Nadia chuckled.
Lionel stopped at the final step and looked at Garrett with a light smile.
"The Knight Commander of Phileon carrying luggage? I'd say this is the most surreal sight at the Academic Festival."
The atmosphere shifted.
Garrett's eyes turned toward Lionel. His expression remained blank. However, an invisible pressure could be felt.
"...Mabil."
"Phileon."
Lionel smiled and spoke as he stepped into the plaza.
"I saw the carriage on my way here. I was glad to see it."
"I wasn't."
"It'd be scarier if you said that with your face."
Lionel shrugged.
"Smile a bit. It would make that face of yours actually bearable."
Garrett's eyebrow twitched.
The border between the Phileon Kingdom and the Mabil Kingdom had changed five times over five hundred years.
The relationship between the two nations was being summarized in a few words between these two.
Nadia, who had been standing still, looked back and forth between them.
"...Are you two always like this?"
"Yeah," Garrett answered shortly.
Lionel agreed at the same time. Nadia let out a scoffing laugh, as if it were absurd. Just then.
"I've been waiting for you."
The three of them turned around simultaneously.
In the shade beside the fountain. He was standing there. When Nadia first arrived, when Garrett came, and when Lionel descended the stairs, no one had noticed someone was there.
Isael.
Golden hair. A white robe. A smile like a mask.
The smile was so perfect that those with sharp senses felt an indescribable discomfort.
"How long have you been there?"
Lionel asked.
"From the beginning."
Isael replied. He was still smiling.
"But we only just arrived."
He simply agreed.
Silence followed.
Garrett spoke very softly.
"...Are people from the Holy State always like this?"
Lionel replied just as softly.
"I don't know. And don't ask me."
"I wasn't asking you."
Even while Garrett and Lionel bickered, Isael's smile did not change in the slightest.
He might have heard them, or he might not have. That uncertainty was Isael's intention.
Then, the sound of wheels echoed.
A black carriage was entering through the main gate of the plaza. A crest was engraved on the carriage. A crest anyone would recognize instantly.
The Valois Duchy of the Elysia Empire.
The carriage stopped.
Before the coachman could open the door, it was opened from the inside.
Edouard von Valois.
Silver-white hair. A frock coat with gold embroidery. A man whose movements, even the way he put on his gloves as he stepped down, were natural.
He scanned the plaza. One could feel the air shift slightly as his gaze passed over them.
'He's sizing us up.'
"You've all arrived before me."
Edouard spoke gently with a smile. Yet, there was a strange sense of condescension.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting."
"No, we just got here too."
Nadia replied brightly.
Edouard's gaze lingered on Nadia for a moment. There was something held within that look.
"It must have been quite a journey from Sharan."
Edouard continued.
"It must have been a long journey."
"Not really."
Nadia replied quickly.
"I enjoyed it."
"That's a relief then."
Edouard smiled softly.
Relief.
The word lingered in the air for a moment. Nadia's expression stiffened slightly.
Lionel noticed. He silently stepped closer to Garrett.
"...I feel like there's something between them."
He spoke by moving only his lips.
"Leave it."
Garrett answered while looking straight ahead.
"But it looks interesting."
Garrett didn't respond. He didn't even glance at Lionel, as that would be admitting it.
Just then.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
The sound of a staff echoed.
At the plaza entrance. Since everyone was watching the carriage, no one noticed her.
She was slow. Definitely slow. Yet, in an instant, she was in the center of their vision.
Esme Arcana.
An old woman with snow-white hair tied up loosely. With a stooped posture and frail frame, she seemed to rely entirely on her staff.
Eighty-three years. For sixty of those years, she had stood at the apex of magic.
The Magic Lord of the Vermes Magic State. The strongest Archmage in existence.
Esme stood in the center of the plaza. VIPs from six nations were now all gathered.
She didn't rush. Slowly—very slowly—she looked at them one by one.
Nadia. Garrett. Lionel. Isael. Edouard.
And back to the first.
No one spoke first.
Even Edouard, who had been picking on Nadia, couldn't utter a single word now.
Esme opened her mouth.
"Everyone's here."
That was all.
With those words, the tension in the plaza settled.
The five of them, who had been awkwardly maintaining their own distance, subconsciously corrected their posture.
Only Garrett pretended not to. But Nadia saw it—how his back straightened just a little more.
It was Lionel who broke the silence.
"Archmage, was your journey peaceful?"
Esme's gaze stopped on Lionel.
"A royal is the first to speak."
"...I'm not sure if that's a compliment."
"It is a compliment."
Esme spoke slowly, leaning on her staff.
"Because most are too afraid to even speak."
Edouard naturally shifted his gaze elsewhere.
It seemed even the head of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses was helpless before the strongest Archmage.
Isael bowed his head slightly toward Esme.
"Those who have lived long truly have a different gaze."
"...You're quite a handful yourself."
Isael smiled softly. Esme gave a thin smile, as if finding him arrogant.
A few students nearby stepped back. Their instincts screamed that getting too close was dangerous.
Clap—
Nadia clapped her hands.
"Right! Then."
She spoke brightly.
"We've got representatives from all six nations here, right? Since it's a rare Academic Festival, let's all have dinner together later. I brought plenty of ingredients from Sharan."
"I'm good."
Garrett answered immediately.
"But the Knight Commander is already carrying all my luggage."
Garrett fell silent for a moment.
"...I'll think about it."
Lionel chuckled.
"I'm definitely in."
He turned to Nadia.
"Ms. Nadia, can you actually cook?"
"My cooking—"
"What a disappointment."
Garrett cut her off before she could even finish.
"My chef will be doing the cooking, not me!"
"Now I'm looking forward to it again."
Edouard tilted his head toward Nadia. It was a polite and elegant gesture.
"If you'll have me, I would be delighted to attend."
Nadia glanced at Edouard. For a brief second, her eyes darkened.
"...Of course."
It was an unusually short answer for Nadia.
Isael spoke while clasping his hands.
"I shall join as well. The Lord will be pleased simply by our gathering at one table."
"I'm not sure if the Lord eats Sharan cuisine, though."
Edouard interjected smoothly.
"The Lord does not discriminate, Duke."
Isael replied with a smile.
"...I see."
This time, Edouard's face stiffened slightly. The two continued to smile at each other. The conversation had ended, yet it hadn't.
Esme began to walk, leaning on her staff.
"I'll go too."
She added a moment later.
"After living this long, I've found that a meal prepared by someone else is the best."
Nadia's eyes sparkled.
"I like you the most, ma'am!"
"I know."
The six of them walked toward the Grand Auditorium.
At the front, Esme walked alone and slowly. Beside her, Isael followed with a smile.
In the middle, Lionel and Nadia were already chatting about three different topics at once.
Edouard followed a step behind, hands clasped elegantly behind his back.
Garrett brought up the rear, carrying all of Nadia's luggage by himself.
The Academy students watched the sight from a distance. No one had anything to say. No one even wanted to.
If they had to put it into words—it would be this.
This year's Academic Festival is going to be something else.