Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Return to the Agrit Estate
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56
1
"Ah~ Finally, vacation. I have to head back home, so see you when classes start."
"Don't you guys hold a banquet during break?"
"Not this year."
"I'm just planning to sleep when I get back...."
"Lucky. I have to help with the farming. Especially around now, we're short on hands...."
The dormitory lobby was busier than usual.
Seeing them all buzzing about their vacation plans, it felt truly fresh and innocent.
Most of the students seemed excited about returning home after a semester away for the first time in ages.
There were hardly any who didn't want to go back.
Except for one: me.
The place I'm heading back to is the Agrit Count Family.
Just thinking about pretending to be Theo made my stomach ache already.
Fooling classmates or professors I'd only spent one or two months with wasn't hard.
Humans naturally reveal new sides the longer you spend time together.
But fooling a family you've lived with for over twenty years... that was no easy task.
In the worst case, they wouldn't figure out I'm not Theo, but it would get pretty annoying.
They'd sent me to the academy, and just a few months later, I'd come back with a completely different personality.
What to do about this.
Should I just pretend I got amnesia from hitting my head or something?
Maybe taking a gamble like that...
"Sigh, what am I even thinking."
Even gambles have their limits.
No matter how much this Broken World overflowed with bizarre settings.
"Right, Choco?"
I headed back to my room through the dormitory lobby.
As I packed my belongings neatly into a large suitcase, Choco, who had brought his own food and toys to stuff inside, nodded.
"But seriously, is this all the luggage?"
Even after pulling out everything of Theo's, it didn't fill half the suitcase.
Choco's stuff took up about thirty percent of it.
Even excluding textbooks and school supplies, this was...
"Is he just that frugal...?"
A fleeting thought crossed my mind about Theo's letters.
Excluding the uniform, there weren't even proper clothes set aside—maybe he was preparing to leave the academy.
Ready to bolt out at any moment without needing to pack.
"Well, no point dwelling on it."
Suspicion alone wasn't enough for deduction.
I'd confirm everything about Theo directly at the Agrit Count Family.
I stood up the half-empty suitcase.
Choco scampered over and climbed onto my shoulder.
We went back down to the lobby.
Leon approached through the crowd of bustling students.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah, it's vacation, so I should head back even a day sooner."
"Have a safe trip."
Leon was as composed as ever today, with no luggage.
"What about you?"
"I have some business, so I'll leave tomorrow or the day after."
"You're busy even on break."
"In truth, there's not much difference."
You're the only one who'd say semester and break make no difference.
Such a diligent, earnest guy.
"See you when classes start, then."
I waved casually.
Leon nodded and added,
"When break ends, I have something to say."
His red gaze pierced me more gravely than ever.
A gaze so transparent it laid his thoughts completely bare.
It gave me chills without warning.
If you have something to say, just say it.
Why put it off?
Flags like this are bad—very bad.
But the guy was Leon.
Even if I asked, he wouldn't tell me until break was over.
"Yeah, got it."
I gave up and left the lobby.
I had to erase this from my mind until break ended.
First things first: heading home.
And so, I set off on the long, long journey home.
2
"It's pretty far...."
I got out of the carriage and stretched.
Choco seemed stiff too, planting his four paws on the ground and extending his body fully.
It had been half a day since we left Esterro Academy on the express carriage.
Finally, we arrived at Tatron, the heart of the Agrit County, after an arduous trip.
Tatron brimmed with vitality, likely thanks to the Agrit Count Family's presence.
The castle towering in the city center was the Agrit residence, surrounded compactly by homes and shops.
All enclosed by sturdy walls.
It was a medieval fantasy city straight out of a painting.
"Alright, before going in, let's review...."
The Agrit County lay on the eastern edge of the Tekat Kingdom.
Bordering the small nation of Balamut across a forest, it thrived on active trade.
Thus, besides Tatron, it boasted four small towns and nine villages.
Despite its size, it prided itself on abundant resources that kept life prosperous.
Glancing around, the passing people looked cheerful.
No signs of exploitation by the lord.
Well, the current head of the Agrit Count Family was Johan Agrit... Theo's father.
Evaluated as having no great ambitions or even greed, he barely featured in the original story.
Perhaps it was a blessing that he had no ties to any villains.
His son barely appeared, dropped out as a failure; the father had no major role, neither enemy nor ally, just an ordinary noble without ambitions....
In a way, they made a perfect pair.
To put it nicely, he was a noble without sharp edges.
Which made it harder to pin down his stance...
"No helping it."
Theo's direct appearances in the Broken World totaled less than five minutes, even including flashbacks and background.
Mostly just fleeting mentions by others.
Patching those together, Theo Agrit was taciturn, prickly, and fierce.
Yeah, a personality I absolutely didn't want to emulate.
I'd base it on that as much as possible... but frame it as maturing at the academy, becoming more serious.
A natural, plausible story—it should work.
Alright, I can do this.
With Choco on my shoulder, I headed to the Agrit Count Family.
I reached for the large gate to knock, but it opened on its own before I could.
A vast garden stretched from the gate to the entrance, enough for a five-minute walk.
No time to admire the manicured lawn as servants lined up in a row, bowing.
"......"
I'm not used to this....
At the academy, everyone was just a student, so nobility felt abstract.
But being treated like this made my stomach twist.
"Welcome home, Young Master Theo."
An elderly gentleman who had silently appeared at my side whispered.
The butler, with his round glasses, had a very gentle demeanor.
Still, his sudden arrival startled me.
"We'll send your luggage to your room. The master is waiting in his study."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, please head straight to the study."
The butler nodded slightly and led the way.
I followed him into the castle.
The Agrit Count Family's castle... how to put it? It was perfectly ideal.
Stone floors and walls, ornate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, artwork adorning the corridors.
Not quite the Tekat royal palace, but a visually pleasing sight.
As I glanced around, the butler leading ahead chuckled kindly.
"You must be glad to be home after so long, Young Master."
"Well, something like that. My horizons have broadened, so even familiar things look new."
"I see. I was surprised—you used formal speech with this old head butler, which you never did before."
Theo... even spoke informally to the head butler?
With no reply, the butler stopped before a door in the corridor's center.
"The master is waiting inside."
Knock knock. The butler rapped on the door.
"Master, it's Vangelis Pulich."
So the butler's name was Vangelis.
A quiet response came shortly after, inviting us in.
Vangelis stepped back.
I took a deep breath and opened the door.
The study was more modest than expected.
Plain compared to the Agrit family's wealth.
No flashy decorations anywhere.
The furniture was high-end but well-worn, full of lived-in feel.
The neatly arranged bookshelves suggested a focus on practicality over ostentation.
"You're back safely."
Johan Agrit sat with his head buried in documents.
His face, visible through straight black hair, was quite handsome.
Fine wrinkles marked the passage of time, but they added a mature charm.
As expected of a noble, he looked healthy.
Sturdy build, suit fitting perfectly—like the castle, Johan seemed the ideal lord.
Though, working busily even with his son back after months was questionable.
For me, less entanglement was better, so fortunate.
"Yes, I'm home, Father."
"How was academy life? Bearable?"
"Quite to my taste."
Though the real Theo tried to run away.
Still, I planned to stay at the academy.
Whatever Theo saw, it was the safest place—that was fact.
"To your taste, you say... yet your midterms were failing grades."
Still staring at his papers, Johan brought it up.
Not my doing, but it stung.
"...No excuses."
"Go on, explain."
"Being away from home... it took time to adjust."
"I see."
......
This is awkwardly tense.
The conversation won't go beyond three exchanges.
"You've adjusted now, it seems. Top marks in practical finals. Excellent."
Praise, right?
What else could "excellent" mean?
"Thank you."
I replied suitably.
Then Johan finally looked up from his papers.
His obsidian-black eyes fixed on me squarely.
"You've grown up. Your speech and bearing are more mature now."
"As an adult, it's time I did."
Too late to turn back.
Stick with the "matured away from home" concept.
I stated it firmly, and Johan dropped his gaze back to the papers.
"I see. We'll hear the details over dinner. Go to your room."
"See you later, Father."
I turned quietly and left the study.
Only then could I exhale the held breath.
"Haa...."
It worked, right?
Johan's reaction suggested it had, to some extent.
The biggest hurdle cleared.
Relief drained the strength from my body.
"For now, back to the room...."
As I muttered, one fact hit me.
...Where is my room?
3
"I'm dying... so tired...."
I collapsed into a chair the moment I entered the room I barely found.
Maneuvering carefully yet precisely to avoid odd looks while locating Theo's actual room had been this hard.
Still, I'd cleared major hurdles back-to-back.
Just survive dinner, and it's a win.
Dinner with the whole family would be the toughest...
"Somehow, I'll manage."
Dodging it now just delays the inevitable.
Better settle it firmly before it drags on.
"Anyway... this room's huge."
Theo's room was impressively spacious.
The dorm was plenty big for me, but this was more.
Enough space for hide-and-seek, and a bed big enough for four.
From the chair I lounged in, to the desk and wardrobe—every piece outshone the study furniture.
"Isn't it usually the opposite?"
Well, not my family, so I can't meddle.
Time to kill before dinner.
I approached the bookshelf for amusement.
"Novels, histories, classic poetry, academic texts... quite the variety."
Theo's shelves were a jumble of genres.
Scanning spines for something fun, a familiar title caught my eye.
"This is...."
I carefully pulled out the book: 'Kulinski Cryptology.'
A masterpiece on encryption and decryption techniques by Kulinski, the royal intelligence gatherer.
It covered mathematical, linguistic, and magical methods for protecting or restoring sensitive info—tough, but useful.
Miss this.
I first dug into it to unlock an ancient ruin's seal.
Never imagined they'd fix the concept of language via rune magic into an unbreakable cipher.
Memories flooded back of poring over this in-game book, scribbling notes, agonizing to crack one code.
Did Theo have an interest in cryptology too?
No, the scattered genres suggested curiosity across the board.
The more I dug, the less I understood the guy.
Knock knock.
"Young Master, dinner is ready."
Vangelis's soft voice followed the knock.
Dinner already? But...
I'd gotten hungry from the long trip anyway.
I put Choco on my shoulder and headed to the dining hall.