A Changed Life #3
The moment Rie heard that my sister was coming to the academy as a swordsmanship assistant instructor, her expression twisted into something strange.
How to put it? If I had to find a comparison, she looked exactly like a student sprawled out in a rented room who suddenly watches their parents burst through the door shouting, What on earth is this mess?!
"Um, Lucian? That… I misheard that, right?"
"Nope. My sister's coming here. To Minerva Academy. As a swordsmanship assistant instructor."
"…"
"It isn't that strange, is it? Knights with deep mastery of the blade often take posts as swordsmanship professors, and outstanding knights still on active duty are sometimes given assistant instructor roles so they can experience life as educators early on."
"…"
"Father said the higher-ups seem to have done something without precedent this time, hoping Sister will pick up the skill of teaching others while she's at it."
My sister was the kind of person you could call nearly perfect in every respect.
She had been the first person I ever looked up to. If not for this peculiar ability of mine, I might well have remained a dullard who could never even lift his head in her presence.
It was a blessing that she showed such warmth toward her family. Had we been like the siblings of other houses, locked in competition over the seat of the next head…
I could swear something truly dreadful would have unfolded—something I didn't even want to imagine.
To keep from shaking her position, I had always taken care to keep myself suitably hidden.
She was seven years older than I was, and even though she had already been named heir to the Viscounty of Deodor, there was that old saying that the people you most needed to watch in matters of power were your own family.
I had to be careful—careful that I might block her path, or worse, unsettle Deodor itself.
Of course, every time I lowered myself, Sister would get angry and tell me to stop.
If I only put in the effort, she insisted, I could stand on equal footing with her—and even if I didn't, she had more than enough strength to claim the headship on her own. So why was I cutting off my own future out of worry for her?
We even had one huge fight over that, once.
In my previous life I had taken a fair interest in history. Even without that, every historical drama you watched was full of brothers and sisters tearing each other apart over a single seat of power.
From where I stood, I was always afraid that my mere existence might bar her way.
It wasn't a resolve made for Sister alone. I cherished Father and everyone in the house every bit as much as I cherished her, so I had to be careful—doubly careful.
At any rate, even after she was commissioned as a knight, Sister had apparently continued to serve as an ace. She herself said nothing, but word of her exploits reached the family through the people around her.
According to Father's letter, she really ought to have remained longer on border duty—but the higher-ups had judged that sending a talent like hers to the academy to help raise excellent juniors would be of greater benefit to the nation as a whole.
Considering how reluctant the military was to set precedents that might disrupt internal cohesion and the chain of command, Sister's case wasn't so much unusual as it was extraordinary.
"Ugh…"
"What is it with you, Rie? You've been like this for a while now. Is something wrong?"
"W-when exactly did you hear that news?"
"Not long ago. The letter arrived yesterday. It would have taken Father some time to get word of Sister as well, so… by now she may already have left the border."
"This is a disaster!!"
What, exactly, was the disaster supposed to be?! She needed to explain it in a way that made sense!
I looked at her with pure bewilderment, and she clutched her head with a long uuuugh. Then she started muttering under her breath. Listening carefully, I caught something about not being ready to look presentable and not having finished preparing her heart—odd things like that.
Nobles from other houses might fuss over formalities of that sort. But I would stake anything that if Sister traded a few blows with Rie, she would break into a thoroughly satisfied smile.
She was even more unpretentious than Father, and yet she guarded a noble's honor with absolute thoroughness. There was a reason she had been the first person I ever admired.
"Don't worry, Rie. You've met my sister before, haven't you? If anything, seeing you as you are now, she'd be very…"
"Very worried! That's exactly what she'd be!"
"Huh?"
"Lucian, I should have helped you grow even further! Someone like her—Lady Fleta—would worry that I might be making things hard for you!"
"No… Sister looks after me, sure, but she doesn't coddle me to that extent…"
Whether she was listening to me or not was anyone's guess.
Rie rolled her eyes this way and that, then suddenly shot to her feet. The next instant she had seized me by the scruff of the neck and hauled me upright as if she meant to dangle me in midair.
"Ghk!"
"Get up this instant, Lucian! Your sister—Fleta unnie! No—Lady Fleta Presto von Deodore is coming, and you have to show her how much you've grown, even a little more!"
"Cough, cough! Wait a second! Even as I am now, Sister will be incredibly proud of me! There's no need to rush like this, Rie! Please, just calm down…"
"Of course you can say that! You're bound by blood! But I'm not! I was told you only earn love by showing an even better side of yourself! Now get up!!"
No—my sister would be happy with me no matter what I looked like!
And the fact that I had grown this much at all was entirely thanks to Rie; that much had already become common knowledge around the academy!
I would swear Sister would thank her instead!!
No matter what I said or how I said it, none of it seemed to reach Rie's ears. She was already telling me to grab a wooden sword and take my stance, declaring that from today she would drill me properly on offense and that I had better brace myself.
The reason she was acting this way was probably simple: she desperately wanted to make a good impression on Fleta.
Having known me well since we were children, she knew perfectly well that Fleta was the one I had always looked up to. She clearly understood that earning Sister's recognition—and staying in her good graces—would only work in her favor going forward.
Still, it's going to be weeks before Fleta even gets here! Why is she like this?!
If Sister had only just set out from the border, even riding through the night it would take more than a week to cover the distance.
No matter how I looked at it, this was excessive, and I was about to raise another objection—when a small box suddenly appeared in front of my face with a soft whoosh.
"A box of chocolates. Consider it an advance payment. From now on, focus, Lucian."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll work myself like a dog for you, Lady Rie."
Valian Francois, Chancellor of Minerva Academy, was smiling as he read through the professors' reports.
There was nothing particularly worrisome. Once again, the kingdom's finest talents were growing little by little—sometimes through competition, sometimes through harmony.
A steady stream of capable people had to be produced and stationed throughout the realm. In keeping with that doctrine of cultivation, Minerva Academy had poured every effort it could muster.
And in the midst of it all, a thoroughly intriguing piece of news had arrived.
Students of the Literary Division had always been considered incapable of beating those of the Martial Division in swordsmanship. Yet a Literary Division student had boldly challenged a Martial Division opponent to a spar—and won.
And not even against a peer. A first-year had defeated a second-year upperclassman.
Lucian Theodore von Deodore.
The second child of House Deodor. There were those who lamented his lack of talent in swordsmanship and magic, but he was a young noble who had been making a name for himself by asserting expertise in other fields.
Hannon Lizicot von Deodor, the current Viscount and head of the house, had once said his son was every bit as capable and outstanding as his daughter. At the time, Valian had taken it for ordinary parental boasting. Apparently not.
It was said that Rie Arche von Haniel—the one they called a genius—had attached herself to him and helped him along. But the fact that he had taken that instruction and actually grown from it was remarkable in itself.
Without effort to match, even a Sword Master could have shown up in Rie's place and nothing would have changed.
Thanks to that boy, a peculiar atmosphere has taken hold. Not a negative one—a positive one. Literary Division students who used to show little enthusiasm for swordsmanship lectures, convinced they could never beat the Martial Division, have suddenly thrown themselves into their training. Spurred by that, the Martial Division students are working harder than ever.
Hadn't someone once said that the finest teacher of all was rivalry?
From a single external stimulus, students the professors could not freely crack the whip over were now throwing themselves into effort with a roar—and from Chancellor Valian's perspective, nothing could have been more satisfying.
There was a reason Rie had named Lucian her rival. She had seen the potential in him, confirmed his effort and iron resolve, and made up her mind.
She would compete with that man, earn recognition, and at last become the best in the truest sense of the word.
Anyone else might have looked at the overwhelming gap in swordsmanship and decided he wasn't even worth competing against. Rie had identified what she still needed to learn, and resolved herself accordingly.
That was how Chancellor Valian saw it.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
It seemed the guest he had expected tomorrow had already arrived. He had told her she was free to rest a little on the way, given that she was traveling under orders—but she was said to be a woman utterly cold toward herself, so the odds of that had been zero from the start.
The door opened, and a woman stepped into the Chancellor's office.
Her balanced frame radiated robust health, and the aura flowing from her was so pure and clean it felt like gazing at transparent ice.
"It has been a long time, Chancellor."
"It truly has. Well then—was the journey hard on you?"
"Not at all. If anything, it was so quiet I grew bored."
"Coming straight from border service, I suppose that makes sense. But it won't be quite so easy from here. From an educator's standpoint, teaching someone else is the hardest work there is."
"I am prepared. The Commander also told me it would be every bit as demanding as border duty, and that I was to prepare thoroughly and take nothing for granted."
At that, Chancellor Valian laughed heartily, as if to say of course it would be. He offered her a seat, regarded her for a moment, then spoke in a carefully casual tone.
"Since you're here, I may as well mention it—about your younger brother."
"Lucian, you mean?"
The moment her brother's name was spoken, the expression of the knight who had entered the Chancellor's office—Fleta Presto von Deodore—shifted in a peculiar way. She was intensely curious, yet unable to interrogate him outright, and the room filled with the air of barely contained impatience.
"Is there some problem with Lucian?"
"No, no. Quite the opposite. The truth is, your brother defeated a Martial Division student a few days ago."
"…I beg your pardon?"
"It seems Viscount Deodor never managed to get word to you."
"No. He only told me that if I went to the academy, a most astonishing piece of news would be waiting."
"That astonishing news is precisely this. Student Lucian defeated a Martial Division opponent—and a second-year upperclassman at that. Even among the professors, it's caused quite a stir."
"…Is that so?"
Fleta's voice dropped abruptly. It almost sounded as if she were thinking, So what am I supposed to do about that? I don't particularly care, so why are you explaining?—but Chancellor Valian, who knew exactly when that particular tone tended to appear, could only smile.
She seemed to believe that reacting this way would hide her true feelings. Watching the corners of her mouth creep steadily upward, it was plain she was so proud of her brother she could barely contain herself.
"You can hear the details from him yourself. You've come a long way and must be tired; sitting here any longer listening to a superior talk would count as overtime."
"Understood, Chancellor. Then I will be assigned to the third-years as planned?"
"That will be the case. As an assistant instructor, you will cover everything the professors cannot fully attend to, and you will learn what it means to lead and support others—after having only ever followed as a single knight until now."
"I shall do so. With that, I will take my leave."
Fleta rose, offered her respects, and vanished at once. Watching the space she had left behind, the Chancellor wore a look of deep satisfaction.
If a proven figure like her were present at the academy as an educator, it would be an unparalleled opportunity for the students.
Meanwhile, once she had stepped out of the Chancellor's office and confirmed that no one was nearby, Fleta allowed a soft smile to bloom across her face.
She had kept her return secret even from her brother and her father, sending word only once she was nearly at the academy—and yet he had prepared a gift like this for her.
The news that the younger brother she hadn't seen in so long had grown almost beyond recognition lifted her spirits of its own accord.
Since he had prepared a surprise for her, it seemed only fair that she return the favor in kind.
Lucian would be thinking she wouldn't reach the academy for at least another two weeks.
But Fleta was already inside its walls.