Chapter 240
Chapter 240
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Dispatched to the Academy (2)
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“Here, this way.”
The corridor of the beautiful Imperial Academy.
As we headed to the administrative office, we strolled through a splendid arched colonnade.
“The chairman is waiting inside.”
“Got it. Let’s head straight there.”
I walked down the grand hallway alongside a young male professor, making our way to the reception room.
Miya, who was with me, looked around the place with the curious gaze of a kitten fresh out into the world.
“You’re not an academy alum, are you, senior?”
When I asked her, Miya slowly shook her head.
Then, for a moment, she flashed a pure smile, as if regressing to her girlhood days.
“No, I am. Though I didn’t graduate.”
After her family fell on hard times, she’d had no choice but to drop out two years before finishing.
It seemed tuition had been the issue.
In this empire, where connections and grades from the Imperial Academy formed the foundation of every career, dropping out like that.
She must have been deeply disheartened back then—her eyes held a distant look.
“Well, things turned out fine for you anyway, didn’t they? You became the top knight of the Guard Bureau’s first half.”
I playfully patted my senior’s shoulder.
Then, suddenly, I furrowed my brow.
“…!”
Normally, I’d feel the soft skin of her arm through her thin dress shirt.
But my finger had snagged on her bra strap.
The strap that should’ve been over her shoulder had slipped down to her arm.
“Well, I suppose so….”
Miya subtly adjusted her jacket, trying to hide what had happened in the carriage.
Then, with a sly, amused smile, she replied.
“Yeah. And thanks to that, I got to meet you.”
“Ahem….”
The male professor leading the way cleared his throat at our friendly banter.
He pointed to an ornately carved wooden door.
As if requesting we observe proper etiquette from here on.
“Please, go right in. We’ve arrived.”
We followed him inside.
My eyes fell on a luxurious leather sofa placed beneath a beautiful chandelier.
There sat a middle-aged red-haired man who had arrived first and was waiting.
With his monocle, haughty features, and hair slicked back, he looked every bit the arrogant noble with a nasty personality.
“You’ve arrived, Marquis Veil.”
Even as chairman, he wore a crisp white uniform adorned with flashy golden epaulets.
He approached in that attire and offered a handshake.
“It’s truly an honor to meet the empire’s Sword Saint like this.”
“No need for such flattery. I merely got lucky with good results.”
I tried to brush it off with formalities.
However, the chairman clasped both my hands tightly and…
“That humility in turning down a marquisate… What beautiful chivalry…!!”
His red eyes lit up brightly within that arrogant face.
Like flames roaring to life.
‘What’s this…? He’s not just some haughty noble?’
As I slowly withdrew my hand, the chairman stared intently at his palm, still clasped from the shake.
“Ah, this isn’t the time.”
He hurriedly pulled a handkerchief from his uniform jacket pocket and rubbed it against his fingers.
As if trying to preserve the moment.
“Hoo…. Hoo….”
Miya and I stared blankly at the sight.
The male professor who’d guided us sighed deeply, as if this was expected.
“To be honest… the chairman is a fan of Sir Veil…. He says he was inspired when you pierced the heavens….”
“Ah, I see….”
I watched him cast a spell on the handkerchief to preserve the scent.
A rich mage who was my fan….
‘Hm? This feels familiar somehow….’
A certain radiant golden-haired imperial princess came to mind.
Now that I thought about it, quite a few mages and sorcerers seemed to hold me in high regard.
“Haha…. My apologies. I’ve committed a grave discourtesy right upon meeting you…. I am Glenn, chairman of the Imperial Academy.”
Only after finishing with the handkerchief did the chairman compose himself.
He scratched his red hair and gestured to the sofa.
“I’m such a fan of yours, Sir Veil. In fact, I’m the one who requested you for this dispatch lecture.”
“I’m grateful for the invitation.”
As we sat, he snapped his fingers.
A teapot and cups floated up gracefully, pouring tea on their own.
And the powerful mana centered firmly in his chest.
A true powerhouse of the generation that had lived through war.
“We mages have always thirsted for progress and growth. That’s why it’s so fascinating to see you, Sir Veil, wielding mana so powerfully without spells.”
As the conversation turned serious, his red eyes gleamed.
Like a scientist who’d found a research subject.
“Our academy’s students are the same. They’re all talented, eager prospects hungry for advancement and learning.”
He gazed steadily toward the door.
Following his gaze, I sensed a cluster of mana approaching from afar.
‘The students, I suppose.’
“The students who’ve been looking forward to today are waiting outside the door. All promising talents.”
“Yes, I can feel them even from here.”
Miya blinked her round, cat-like eyes, sensing it too.
But soon, as if noticing something off, she asked the chairman in my stead.
“But there are only six students enrolled?”
“Yes, that’s right. Is there a problem?”
Chairman Glenn tilted his head.
Miya then pressed on in a matter-of-fact tone.
“According to the documents, the lecture was supposed to be in the auditorium for all the students.”
Ever the secretary, she recited the details precisely.
Working under Camilla had honed her professional edge.
“Ah, that was the original plan, but I changed it. Teaching the whole group would tire you out too much, Sir Veil.”
He flashed a grin at Miya’s dark eyes.
As if he had no ulterior motives.
“So I selected a ‘carefully chosen’ group of students to represent everyone, and they’ll distribute the knowledge to the others.”
On the surface, it sounded reasonable.
Like he was being considerate, limiting it to a small elite group so his admired knight wouldn’t be exhausted.
But.
‘Something feels off.’
Strictly speaking, this was an unequal education system.
Everyone had paid the exorbitantly high tuition equally.
Some got premium instruction.
Others got none.
I suddenly grew curious about the chairman’s criteria for ‘careful selection.’
“My apologies, but what exactly are the criteria for that ‘selection’? Six seems too few for enrollees.”
Miya, who had struggled with tuition herself.
Had she suffered under such unequal policies too?
“With the busy marquis making the trip here, it’d be ideal if more students could receive your guidance.”
My senior voiced her doubts about the strange lecture format.
“….”
Glenn fell silent at Miya’s words for a moment.
Then, in a calm voice, he continued.
“I’d love to do that if I could….”
He turned to look at the numerous medals and plaques hanging in the chairman’s office.
Among the recipients’ names were the empire’s highest grand dukes and nobles.
“The academy’s sponsors have different views….”
Even as my fan, defying them was tough for Glenn.
He’d had no choice but to adjust the schedule so the sponsors’ heirs got priority.
“As chairman, I’m ashamed, but the situation left me no option.”
“….”
I stared intently at him, his smile now gone.
Fortunately, his eyes showed genuine regret for the other hard-earned students.
‘Despite his looks, he has a conscience.’
I didn’t find him all that unpleasant.
“Marquis, what would you prefer?”
Miya addressed me formally in this official setting.
She politely sought my opinion.
Given the circumstances, she seemed inclined to follow my lead.
“….”
I pursed my lips and gazed steadily out the door.
All six had middling, unremarkable skills.
Their mana, which should’ve been solidly anchored within, churned unstably.
Pitiful compared to Chairman Glenn or Miya here.
‘Well, they haven’t seen real battlefield experience.’
Even worse than Richard, who’d loved showing off after endless sparring.
But one among them had mana quietly settled in place.
The serene ripple, like when I first met Senior Miya, quite appealed to me.
“Chairman. Is there anyone out there I might know?”
Glenn furrowed his brow slightly at my unexpected question.
Then, slowly recited their family names.
“Let’s see…. The current academy principal’s second son, the northern grand duke’s youngest….”
I shook my head firmly—not the name I wanted.
Then, I mentioned a familiar child’s name.
“Is there perhaps a seventeen-year-old student named ‘Cynthia’?”
「――――――」
In the corridor before the chairman’s office.
There gathered the offspring of the empire’s eminent figures.
Boys and girls who flaunted their prestigious backgrounds.
Over their standard academy uniforms, they wore expensive epaulets, necklaces, rings, and the like.
Yet among them stood one girl who was plainly dressed, making her all the more conspicuous.
Her blue hair cut short into a bob for effective training.
Fingers free of rings to avoid snagging on her sword hilt.
Her slender fingers instead bore a bandage stained vividly red with blood.
And finally, her bare neck, free of any gaudy necklace.
The knight with the emotionless, cold face—Cynthia—waited in line alongside the elite heirs.
“Doesn’t she stink of sweat or something?”
Right beside Cynthia stood the academy principal’s second son, Eric.
He snickered with a duke’s daughter from another house.
“Yeah—. Who comes to an event like this without washing up?”
The blue-bobbed knightess heard them but said nothing.
She merely blinked her sea-blue eyes like a young fox.
“You. Yeah, you!”
Frustrated by her lack of response, Eric pointed at her, trying to embarrass her outright.
Only then did Cynthia turn her doll-like face to the young noble.
“Yeah, I came straight from training.”
“Jeez. Trying to appeal to the Sword Saint as a hard worker or something?”
Eric smirked at her emotionless face.
He’d apparently found Cynthia grating for a while now.
“Let it go, Eric. It’s a plucky commoner idea, whatever.”
“Yeah, I think it’s a solid strategy, actually?”
The other elite heirs laughed it off leisurely.
As if they didn’t even see her as competition.
“She probably tagged along as the top student from last semester’s evaluations.”
“Chairman Glenn always insists on including one commoner in these elite spots for some reason.”
Listening silently to his peers, the northern grand duke’s son, Duncan, spoke up.
“Guilt, probably. The guy’s short on funds, so he has to watch the sponsors’ moods.”
The black-haired boy with tiger-sharp eyes glanced at Cynthia.
He gave her a pitying look, as if eyeing a young fox.
“Sitting where she doesn’t belong must be tough. Let’s cut her some slack.”
The words were aimed at Cynthia too.
Sympathy for a commoner daring to invade the nobles’ sanctum.
“Her effort’s kinda admirable, right?”
He, born a black tiger’s heir, pitied her as an nameless fox’s spawn who’d clawed her way in.
“….”
But even under that gaze, Cynthia showed no shame.
“Odd.”
She responded to their mockery like a machine, devoid of feeling.
“My master always said to come to him drenched in sweat.”
“…?”
The elite heirs furrowed their brows at the blue knightess’s cryptic words.
Bewildered why she’d mention her own master here.
As if in response, Cynthia turned toward the opening chairman’s door.
Soon, sturdy military boots appeared from within.
“I greet the Empire’s Greatest Sword.”
The heirs hurriedly showed their respects.
They stood in a line, fists over their left breasts.
Seemingly genuine admirers of the Sword Saint, they bowed their heads solemnly.
“….”
Unlike them, however, Cynthia didn’t bow an inch.
The lowliest in status, she instead kept her face raised squarely.
“What’s she doing…?”
The heirs whispered.
They were bowing, yet she stood ramrod straight.
But their murmurs halted abruptly.
Because I approached silently along their line.
“….”
I passed the flashy young knights without a glance.
Then, I stopped squarely before the familiar blue bob.
“Cynthia.”
“…?!”
The ones who’d bowed snapped their heads up.
They stared, dumbfounded, at the knightess daring to address the Sword Saint so casually from the start.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Master.”
“Indeed. Did you come straight from training?”
As I peered down at her crown and sniffed, Cynthia nodded quietly.
“Yes, the chairman called me suddenly.”
“Good. I like seeing you still working hard. Looks like you’ve grown well because of it.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Master.”
An unmistakably close mentor-disciple exchange.
The heirs gawked in unison.
“Who’d have thought her master was him….”
Especially Duncan, who’d pitied her.
He’d seen Cynthia as just some unremarkable fox.
But she was actually a disciple of the empire-shaking titan.
“….”
Still, the heirs maintained poker faces for now.
Even if Cynthia knew the Sword Saint, receiving his instruction was their exclusive privilege.
But.
“Are there other classmates here for the lecture?”
“There were, but I’m the only one called here for now.”
I glanced back.
I gazed steadily at the anxious-looking chairman and Miya.
“Yeah?”
My sly eyes curved into a crescent smile.
Like I was about to play a prank.
“Then let’s go find those friends. Wouldn’t it be better to learn together?”
I completely bypassed the haughty heirs.
With Cynthia beside me, I strolled leisurely toward the public training grounds.
“That’s Veil for you.”
Miya watched my back warmly.
Then, secretary-like, she joined at my side.
The mood among the leftover chairman and heirs, however, was quite different.
“What the hell? Why are the others joining now?”
“This isn’t what Father said.”
The boys and girls grumbled, displeased at losing their privilege.
The chairman, sensing their glares but feeling relieved at heart.
“Ahem.”
The rest headed to the training grounds, each with their own mindset.
Eyes full of anticipation for the enjoyable lesson ahead.