Chapter 15: Anyway, I'll Serve You Awesomely (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: Anyway, I'll Serve You Awesomely (4)
Dinner time had become a familiar routine.
Perhaps because her "cooldown" hadn't reset yet, Prince Ellen—who was eating with me instead of Daisy—was still regaling me with stories of his club activities, his eyes sparkling.
"So, you see, the Sword Emperor said..."
The only difference from before was that Daisy’s "stock," which used to account for 90% of his stories, had seen a slight dip.
I suppose even a romance fantasy male lead is still a swordsman at heart.
Stories about the Sword Emperor, who had become their club advisor, now made up about 10% of the conversation.
"So, I was thinking—!"
"I'm not joining."
"...I haven't even said it yet."
Prince Ellen looked hurt, but I wasn't budging.
Unless I lost my mind and started sprouting flowers from my head, there was no way in hell I was joining the Flower Arrangement Club.
"By the way, Your Highness."
"Ellen."
"Prince Ellen."
"I told you to drop the 'Prince' part."
He looked even more dejected than before, but I had spent more than half my life calling him Prince Ellen.
I had known him since back when he didn't even know I existed.
"It’s a royal decree."
At that, Prince Ellen even pulled the "royal decree" card.
"Did you start a rebellion without me knowing?"
"I can just contact my father and have him send the order."
"No, let's not go that far."
"I've been at the Academy for over a month! Even Esid, a Prince of the Empire, is just called 'Esid' here!"
He had a point.
According to Academy regulations, even commoners were technically supposed to call Esid by his name.
The person who made that rule was the very Emperor who founded the Academy.
Since Prince Esid had a duty as a member of the Imperial family to uphold his ancestor's will, he tried his best to stick to that principle.
"But that’s the Empire’s business."
"And we’re the ones who entered the Empire’s Academy."
"I suppose that’s true."
After hesitating for a long time, I finally forced the word out of my mouth.
"Ellen."
"Yeah?"
His strangely beaming face was incredibly annoying, but what could I do?
This RoFan male lead was my liege.
"But why are you guys learning the sword in a flower club instead of arranging flowers?"
"Uh, well... we, we do learn flower arranging too."
"You were already doing that."
"Is it so bad to do a little bit during breaks? Everyone seems to like it!"
"Really?"
Even if they weren't on the level of Prince Ellen or the Minor Sword Emperor, that second son of the Border Count would obviously love it.
I’d heard the Prince and the prospective merchant guild master had also learned the sword for self-defense, so if the Sword Emperor was teaching, there was no reason for them to refuse.
However...
"What about the Magic Spammer and the Club President?"
There was no reason for Magic Spammers to pick up swords instead of staves.
And if that narrow-eyed President liked it, I was going to consider him a mastermind regardless of what the possessed protagonist from the original work said.
"W-well, about that..."
"Our poor President. He worked so hard to maintain the Flower Arrangement Club throughout his Academy life."
"Wait, since when was he your President?"
"And then these guys just roll in, take over the clubroom, and start swinging swords around..."
"You're making us sound like villains! The President said it was fine!"
"Ellen. If a Prince and a Prince-level noble barge in and ask if it's okay..."
"...Why are you being like this?"
Why? Because if you learn from the Sword Emperor and become a Sword Master...
The higher-ups are probably going to tell me to become a Sword Master too...
"Don't go around bothering people during their club activities. If you want to swing swords, go to the Swordsmanship Club."
"Hmm..."
Finding himself speechless at my words, he just poked at the salad on his plate with his fork.
"I-I'll do it after club hours starting tomorrow."
"You're not saying you'll stop, I see."
"Yeah, I'm definitely doing it."
It was a firm statement, quite unlike Prince Ellen.
The RoFan heroine is terrifying. To think she could make Prince Ellen this determined.
"Is it because of Miss Daisy?"
"Y-yeah..."
It was my first time seeing Prince Ellen so obsessed with something.
Is this the charm of a RoFan heroine?
Damn, I hope I don't get stabbed by Ellen if he finds out I'm rooting for someone else.
If this kid comes after me with a sword, I might as well just die.
"So, have you made any progress?"
"Yeah!"
...What?
Shouldn't he be acting frustratingly slow like a typical RoFan male lead?
I was momentarily lost for words at the unexpected answer.
"We decided to study together at the library to prepare for the midterms."
"When?"
"Tomorrow!"
"Just the two of you?"
"I wish, but Arwen, Hedrick, the President, and Violet are all coming along."
Arwen was the Magic Spammer. Hedrick was the name of the prospective merchant guild master.
Add the RoFan heroine, her friend who was also a possessor, and finally, the narrow-eyed President.
It was a classic "slice-of-life segment" lineup.
Therefore...
"Care for a quick round?"
After dinner, I headed to the training grounds and approached the Minor Sword Emperor, who was swinging his sword alone.
"...Gladly!"
Seeing the Minor Sword Emperor smile brightly as if he’d been waiting for this, I raised my sword.
"Gwaaargh!"
And so, I forcibly dragged the loser, who was too clueless to join the slice-of-life segment on his own, right into it.
Sneaking into the library, I spotted the RoFan group that was drawing everyone's attention in the center.
"There they are."
Seeing the Minor Sword Emperor there, even though he wasn't originally supposed to be, I breathed a sigh of relief.
The Sword Emperor was looking over the Swordsmanship Club, and the Minor Sword Emperor had tried to skip the slice-of-life segment to participate in that, so I had to break one of his arms to "persuade" him.
I was worried I’d have to break both arms if he still showed up there, but it seemed that wouldn't be necessary.
"Nothing bad should happen."
At most, it would be some flirting, and since it was early in the story, it would just be a simple event.
Having confirmed the Minor Sword Emperor's presence, I left the library to proceed with my scheduled duties.
"Is it here?"
Classes were over, and most students had headed to the Old Building, which was used for clubrooms.
Consequently, the New Building, used for lectures, was relatively empty.
"You're late."
In a corner of the New Building, in a small, unlabeled storage room, several people were gathered.
"I was just double-checking something."
Since I seemed to be the last one to arrive, I threw out a quick excuse.
"Checking what?"
"The Flower Arrangement Club."
"I thought they weren't meeting today?"
Your news is slow.
"It's a club rest day, so a few of them decided to meet at the library to prep for midterms."
Didn't you know?
When I answered with that kind of vibe, everyone’s expressions soured.
"Who's participating?"
"You and your master."
I tilted my head toward the ones in charge of the Magic Spammer and the merchant guild master.
That’s right.
The people gathered here were all in a similar position to mine.
A gathering of shadows who, despite being students, spent their time cleaning up after Princes, Kings, and other RoFan male lead bastards.
"Lord Arwen didn't mention anything about that."
Dale’s Fire Spammer glared at me with suspicious eyes.
"It means he didn't want you tagging along and ruining the mood."
"But how do you know?"
"It’s a difference in trust. Prince Ellen told me."
"Urgh!"
His hair, color-coordinated with his magic, shook violently.
He looked like a tragic heroine betrayed by someone he trusted, but I had no reason to care about a mage.
"I see."
In contrast, the one from Ilias accepted it immediately and nodded.
"Is it just those two?"
"The Minor Sword Emperor, the Club President, and Daisy’s friend are there too."
In any case, no one related to those three was present here.
"What are they doing?"
"What do you think they're doing in a library? They're studying."
Of course, they were drawing all the attention in the room, but nothing special was likely to happen.
"Damn it. Why didn't you stop them? We agreed not to get involved."
The Fire Spammer from Dale, whose situation was similar to Leon’s, growled.
They were also trying their best to prevent their Prince’s romantic escapades.
"You think they'd stop just because I told them to? Why didn't you stop them, then?"
"Urgh!"
"Besides, you didn't even know the meeting was happening. You're not one to talk."
"..."
"This is why mages are..."
"You damn sword-swinger..."
He muttered with a truly frustrated expression, but he seemed to have already accepted his defeat.
Unlike the mage who tried to snap at me like a jackal at every opportunity, I was a refined swordsman.
I should be generous to the loser.
"Your Prince is sitting right next to Daisy."
"Gah!"
"Hearts are practically shooting out of his eyes. Just watching him made me..."
"Waaaaah!"
I generously shared what I saw, and the Fire Spammer ran away crying.
"...Wasn't that a bit much?"
"This is just how Leon and Dale play."
"Is that so?"
Since the party involved said so, the other man nodded naturally and moved on, showing his years of experience.
Wait, is it just because of his face?
To think he claims to be the same age as us with that face.
Even if the Imperial Academy is an institution under the Empire, I feel like this is pushing it.
"Let's get down to business."
Prince Esid’s shadow—who definitely looked over thirty but claimed to be a nineteen-year-old named Aeryun Klyde, insisting his premature aging was due to accidentally consuming the wrong elixir as a child—looked at me and initiated the conversation.
"You were right. After deploying our informants, we found several traces near the Academy."
What I had told them wasn't anything special.
I had simply informed the Empire of a plot development that was all too common in Academy stories: a group planning to attack the Academy around the time of the midterms.
"See?"
I had worried that for the sake of the plot, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau might be too incompetent to find any traces, but I guess the Empire was still the Empire.
"It’s a relief. We have guests from various countries studying here. We almost made a grave mistake."
Even as he said that, his eyes seemed to be asking, 'How do these bastards know things even we don't? How many spies have you planted here?'
"That's good to hear."
I narrowed my eyes into a pleasant curve at Uncle Aeryun, trying to mimic the Flower Arrangement Club President.
Showing a narrow-eyed smile here was basically like saying, "I'm suspicious as hell, right? But what are you gonna do about it?"
"Thank you, truly. I'd like to reward those who helped the Empire on a national level."
"It was nothing. You can just give it all to me."
I brushed it off with a laugh, like those "Congratulations, you've won a prize! Just give us your address!" scams from my past life.
In truth, I really was the one who did everything.
Our intelligence department was currently too busy planning the Minor Sword Emperor's dating courses.
"Well, if you say so. I'll prepare a suitable gift set for you later."
With that, he pulled a few sheets of paper from his bag and handed them out like school worksheets.
"Based on the traces, it seems to be a radical faction of the Eres Liberation Front."
Eres was the name of an old kingdom now part of the Empire's territory, a kingdom that had fallen well over two hundred years ago.
"Did elves live in Eres or something?"
To think they’d attack the Academy to 'liberate' a kingdom that vanished two centuries ago.
They seemed to have way too much time on their hands, but according to the original story Violet told me, I knew this was basically a chain quest.
The early villains were actually backed by dark mages.
Those dark mages were actually backed by cultists worshipping an evil god.
Behind them were demons who had escaped from the Demonic Realm.
And eventually, the gates to the Demonic Realm would open and the Demon King would emerge, or something like that?
"So, anyone want to help catch the Eres guys?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Why would we do that?
At the silent pressure, Aeryun sighed and nodded.
"We'll handle this on our end."
I wondered if Uncle Aeryun, who spoke with such confidence, would actually be able to stop the God of RoFan!
"It's an attack!"
Apparently, it was too much to ask.