Chapter 94: Second Year (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 94: Second Year (1)
It was about time to head back.
It wasn't that my break was over already, but rather that there was a lot to prepare for next year's plans.
"Just make sure to keep in touch."
"Right. You don't need to come visit."
And so, I said my goodbyes to my family, but for some reason, the distance between us felt even greater than before I’d arrived.
"Your son is just that busy."
My second brother didn't even show his face.
"When the day comes for my second brother to get married, I'll put in even more effort than I did for my eldest brother—"
"You son of a bitch! Don't you dare!"
I successfully summoned my second brother.
A heated farewell was a bonus.
"And that’s what happened."
Upon my return, I poured out my grievances to the Captain.
"Our Royal Family evaluates people based on skill, not status, so..."
The Captain averted his gaze, muttering excuses.
Of course, there was no lie in the excuse itself.
In a class-based society, many countries claimed to prioritize skill over status in words alone. However, there weren't many places like Leon where the Royal Family stepped forward to prove it personally.
Even the Academy, run directly by the Imperial Family, couldn't get that right—to the point where Boradori had spoiled me on the fact that things were going to go to hell in the second year.
The problem was...
"Even so, this is a bit much, don't you think?"
From their perspective, it was probably just the boss inviting the family of a hard-working employee. But in a class-based society, it was no small matter for the King himself to invite an entire family.
"Do you have any idea how many rumors have been flying around lately...?"
Seriously, all sorts of rumors were circulating. From claims that the Smith family had finally turned their eyes toward politics, to whispers that an arranged marriage was being planned between the Royal Family and ours.
Thanks to that, my mother even complained that the neighboring nobles we used to be on casual terms with had grown distant.
When I asked how distant, her punchline was: "About as distant as you are from us."
"Speaking of which, should I set something up for you?"
"Set what up? An arranged marriage?"
"Exactly."
Is this man insane?
"With whom?"
"If it's you, wouldn't the Queen tell you to just take your pick? Ah, the 1st Princess is already married, so try not to pick her if possible..."
"..."
This man really was insane.
Arranged marriage aside, what did he mean by "try not to pick" someone who was already married?
Did that mean if I did pick her, they’d actually consider it?
"Is this your way of pressuring me to retire?"
If not, none of this made sense.
"Absolutely not."
"I think it is, though."
"If not you, who else could go all the way to the Empire and become the lover—fake as it may be—of the Saintess and an Imperial Duke? Who else could capture the Sword Emperor's interest, beat down dark mages, establish trade with the beastkin, and help hunt demons?"
"..."
He was just stating facts, so why did it feel like he was taking a dig at me?
"I'm so excited to see what happens next year that my heart is practically racing."
"Are you having that much fun?"
"If you were in my position, wouldn't you enjoy it too?"
Well, he had a point.
From a third-party perspective, it would be incredibly entertaining. Honestly, whenever I heard Boradori’s stories about the Holy Kingdom, I couldn't stop smiling either.
"But I can't be a third party."
"True."
The problem was that I could never be a mere bystander.
"Seriously, if you don't give me proper support this time, I'm going on strike."
"Isn't that exactly why I called you here?"
The Captain’s face was brimming with confidence.
"First, we've decided to dispatch twenty more standby agents to the Empire."
It seemed the Academy was finally starting to gain some self-awareness.
Standby agents couldn't enter the Academy itself, but they operated in the surrounding areas. They were allowed inside in case of an emergency, but... by the time they actually got in, the incident was usually already over.
Because of that, their main job was capturing Prince Ellen during breaks and dragging him back to the Kingdom... but that was also an important task, so the more people, the better.
"And we plan to insert two agents as freshmen."
"Plan to?"
"If they fail the exam, there's nothing we can do."
Of course, he was just saying that; there was no way the agents sent by the Kingdom would be idiots who'd fail. If they did fail, it wouldn't be the agents' fault, but rather a sign that the Empire had cut them out.
"And?"
"We've opened a branch in the Imperial Capital. The Empire is looking the other way for us."
One year of Academy life.
It seemed the Empire, which had plenty of reasons to feel guilty, was providing all sorts of conveniences by feigning ignorance.
"What does the branch do?"
"It allows us to more easily provide activity funds or supplies for use during emergencies."
"Is that even useful to me?"
It was more helpful for the standby agents operating outside than for me.
"Surely that's not all?"
If it was, I’d be disappointed.
Increasing the number of agents was only possible because of the Empire's conscience. And inserting field agents instead of standby ones was something we’d already discussed before summer.
And now an Imperial branch that I’d likely never visit?
"It's still an achievement..."
"If you look at the process, I'm the one who did everything."
"That's true."
The Captain nodded in agreement.
"But, there's still one thing left."
"What is it?"
At my question, the Captain answered with a face full of pride.
"I got the Finance Minister to raise our maximum budget ceiling."
"Oh..."
Now that was an achievement worth bragging about.
Before running the country, the Ministry of Finance organizes the annual budget.
The basis for that budget is data sent by the Ministry of Finance's own spies scattered everywhere.
Even our group of Royal Instructors, who were directly under the Royal Family, had those Finance Ministry types.
Legal spies who were officially under our command but sent all our information to the Ministry of Finance.
No matter how well we treated them normally, how many times had we been burned by them betraying us as soon as the end of the year rolled around!
I thought they were my comrades, I thought this time would be different, but the sound of someone lamenting that next month's budget had been cut in half was a familiar scene at the end of every year.
And yet, he had gone beyond that Ministry of Finance.
He had supposedly convinced the Finance Minister himself to not just give us an extra budget, but to raise the maximum budget ceiling.
What did that mean?
"Your salary went up."
It meant there was no longer a need to juggle the budget just to give me a raise.
—If they hadn't given me a raise, I would've quit with a light heart...
Boradori, who was working hard today as well, answered with a deep sigh.
She hadn't reported or even been in contact for almost a week; she looked utterly exhausted, as if she’d been through hell.
—So, how much did it go up?
Seeing her indifferent reaction, it seemed she didn't realize how big of a deal this was.
Well, she wasn't from Leon, nor was she from this industry.
So, I explained it to Boradori in a way that was short, simple, and made the magnitude of the situation clear.
"It doubled."
—...For real?
"Excluding bonuses. Just the pure base salary has doubled."
—I shall bury my bones in the great Leon Kingdom!
Boradori's eyes sparkled with newfound loyalty.
—Y-You're really giving it to me, right?
"The Leon Royal Family doesn't skimp on investing in competent agents."
—Hmph! I suppose I am quite competent!
She immediately started acting smug just because I gave her a little praise, but I hadn't received the report on the Holy Kingdom incident yet.
Still, since Boradori, who had been through all sorts of things, was making it very obvious that "a ton of stuff happened," I figured I’d listen first before judging.
—It was no big deal!
The words coming from her lips, which couldn't hide her joy as she probably already pondered what to do with her increased salary, were:
—Another demon popped up!
"......?"
That was definitely a big deal.
There is a very famous saying in the gaming world.
—A goblin in the final stage is stronger than an early-game boss.
It was very common for a goblin from the tutorial to reappear with a different color and be stronger than a demon from the beginning of the game.
This wasn't much different in the world of novels.
Of course, out of a sense of professional courtesy, there usually wasn't a 100-level difference between a normal goblin and a red goblin like in games.
However, it was a frequent occurrence in novels for a being that appeared as something grand in the beginning to show up like a common mob in the later stages.
The problem was...
"It appeared already?"
The timing was way too fast.
When that demon Mellon-whatever appeared, hadn't Violet said it herself?
—Why is a demon appearing already?
Since a demon had appeared that early, it would be normal to drop countless hints and have a new demon appear in the mid-section of the story.
But it seemed this world had the mindset of "since we're bringing them out early anyway, let's just send them all out."
—I didn't expect it either. Honestly, I let my guard down. I thought I’d resolved all the conspiracies rooted in the Holy Kingdom... but I didn't think a guy who was once a Cardinal would sell his soul to a demon.
It was last year... no, it was only this past summer break.
Daisy and the "Golden Generation" RoFan male leads had fought against the corrupt Cardinals of the Holy Kingdom.
Even though she hadn't been wielding a magic sword back then, Daisy had judged the Holy Kingdom with a grand and beautiful sword of light through the Goddess's blessing.
In the end, she achieved the Holy Kingdom Restoration.
In the process, the corrupt clergy who had sought power by clinging to those Cardinals—including the guilty Cardinals themselves—were purged in large numbers.
I thought the Holy Kingdom would flourish as new, devout faces emerged to replace them, but...
The evil forces that had secretly fled during that process had returned during the winter break to reclaim their positions.
"...How very RoFan-like."
—Right? If they were sane, they should've made their move after Daisy and the rest of the main party—the maximum combat power—left for the Academy. It makes no sense to charge in for revenge so openly, does it?
The logic was non-existent.
I shook my head at Violet's assertion.
"You shouldn't look for logic in things like that."
—...Why? It's basic common sense to aim for when the enemy's power is weak if you're going to launch a surprise attack. Even a kindergartner knows that.
"But... in the original world..."
—What do you mean... Ah!
It seemed she had recalled an event that provided "logic" to all modern-day authors, as Violet nodded in understanding of the enemy Cardinal.
—Right. Rather than that kind of martial law... it's more logical that he'd target the time Daisy was there for the sake of a 'perfect revenge'!
"So. Why did the demon show up?"
—Um... to put it simply, the condition for that Cardinal's contract with the demon was to liberate Bellon, who was being tortured in the Holy Kingdom's basement.
"And?"
—But he was utterly crushed by Daisy and failed. So the demon took back the power and soul it had given him. The demon then used that as a sacrifice to summon itself into the Holy Kingdom...
Violet looked uncomfortable, as if she were reminiscing about that moment.
"And then?"
—It's a bit long to explain. Simply put, there were quite a few people following the soul-stripped Cardinal. So the battle was incredibly long. Plus, there were those who wished for chaos in the Holy Kingdom...
She said it was a fairly long fight.
To the point where even the prince of the Magic Spammer kingdom—whose mana capacity was comparable to, or perhaps even greater than mine—suffered from mana exhaustion.
To put it another way...
—Shall we say he was summoned right in front of a Daisy who was not just fully charged, but in a state of overcharge?
"Ah."
What awaited the demon who had opened its eyes to the world after a long time must have been the Goddess's vanguard, who had even snatched away the Demon King's magic sword.
It must have been a massive sword of light filled with the Saintess's divine power.
—Actually, it wasn't as big as before.
"Why?"
I couldn't help but feel doubtful at Violet's words, which corrected my assumption.
She was overcharged, yet the sword wasn't that big?
How did that make sense?
—Our Daisy... she awakened Sword Energy.
"Ah."
In that moment, everything made sense, and at the same time, I felt my position as the runner-up of the Swordsmanship Department being threatened.