The Noble Knight
The Academy in the Capital was not a place reserved solely for nobles.
Regardless of birth, regardless of gender—everyone except criminals could enter. It was a sacred ground of opportunity.
Which meant finding commoners at the Academy was hardly difficult.
"Everhart…"
"It's the Iron-Blooded Knights…!"
"Could I become a knight like that someday?"
Just as every capable commoner hungry for success flocked to the capital of an empire that produced semiconductors so suspiciously well it might as well have been the Korean Peninsula, so too did they gather here. Not because jobs were concentrated in the capital the way stocks rose in a certain suspiciously booming nation—but because of the Academy.
To well-fed nobles it was little more than a social salon. To commoners who had climbed up from the countryside, it was the chance of a lifetime. Graduate safely and becoming one of the Empire's elite was practically a matter of time; that was the terrifying prestige the Capital's Academy commanded.
And that held true not only for ignorant rural commoners, but for middle-class commoners and wealthy bourgeois commoners as well.
Want to succeed in business? Secure one noble connection at the Academy and everything falls into place.
Want a stable life as a civil servant? Impossible without connections either.
Want to become an honorable knight or a wise mage? You still need a noble willing to employ you steadily. Without anyone to recognize your skill, you are nothing more than a freelance adventurer.
…It might sound as if the only thing the Academy offers is noble connections, but there is no helping it. That is simply the truth.
In this world you cannot rise without connections. Of course an awl always tears through the pocket and reveals itself—so the rule does not apply to true geniuses. But not everyone is that exceptional, are they?
That is why the Academy becomes the chance of a lifetime for commoners.
Without forging ties with nobles, there is a ceiling to how far you can climb…
For those reasons I found myself on the receiving end of countless commoner gazes.
"Whoa…"
"So that's an Everhart."
"A real noble…"
Hearing only the words, one might think there were fake nobles running around, but their reactions were not exaggerated in the slightest.
The Everharts were different from other nobles.
And that fact was so famous that everyone around me was slowly trying to approach.
Fortunately, the knights who had forced themselves along with me did not simply stand by and watch.
Thud.
One knight took position at my side.
The others fell into neat ranks behind him, forming a wall at my back.
"Eek…!"
"Scary…!"
People blanched under the pressure the knights radiated and scrambled backward.
Watching them, I felt a twinge of guilt.
The side effect of possession had turned me into a cold capital man who could only spit icy words, but at heart I was a warm person. The countless knights who had followed me in my previous life could attest to that.
So I decided to say something to the knights who were needlessly scattering killing intent around.
"You're making too much of a scene. We've arrived at the Academy safely; withdraw now."
Their reaction, however, was strange.
"Hngh!!"
The knights clenched their teeth, holding back tears.
"Khh…! Young Master!"
"How merciful can one man be…!"
"We of the Iron-Blooded Knights will follow you forever!!"
…I could not understand their reaction and asked again.
"Merciful?"
"Khh! You're looking out for us so we won't oppress fellow commoners!"
"There is no other noble who cares for us the way you do, Young Master!"
"As expected of the Young Master! We revere you!"
Fellow commoners?
Aren't you knights? Why are you commoners?
Before I could even resolve the question that had sprung straight into my head, the knights prepared to leave.
"All salute the Young Master!"
"Loyalty!!"
And just like that the knight order departed.
They were like the wind.
"………."
Apparently the words I had once left with a knight had been twisted somehow and created a misunderstanding among them.
…It wasn't negative, so maybe I should just enjoy it?
"Fascinating. I don't think I've ever seen the Iron-Blooded Knights look like that before."
I turned to the black-haired maid who still remained.
"You should return to the mansion as well."
"I intend to wait here so that I may escort you home once today's schedule is finished."
I did not tell her there was no need and that she should simply arrive at the proper time.
Even someone as thoroughly corrupted by modern society as I knew that "a maid wasting time waiting for her master" was common sense in the Middle Ages.
Besides, I had no desire to exchange many words with the shadow of House Everhart.
"Then I'll see you later."
"Yes. Safe travels."
Leaving her bowing toward me, I walked on.
Countless gazes still fixed on me, but I would have to grow used to them even if it took time.
In this world I had to play the part of a noble.
"Look over there. That's the Everhart young master."
"…He looks scary."
"Should I try talking to him?"
"Don't. You'll get marked."
Whispers upon whispers.
But I still had no idea when I would adapt to this kind of life.
Regardless of what I wanted, a battlefield of blood and torn flesh was far more familiar to me than an itchy, peaceful back.
I knew nothing about the Academy's layout.
It was a little ironic that I knew what would happen in the future yet remained ignorant of something so trivial, but there was no helping it.
I knew the future because I had read a novel, and the novel I had read was not so thoroughly shitty that it rambled on in minute detail about the Academy's geography.
Still, I prided myself on not having a terrible sense of direction, so it should not have been a problem.
No—could anyone even get lost here in the first place? Simply following the overflowing crowds would bring you to the site of the entrance ceremony.
…And yet that very thing happened.
"…Troublesome."
While walking I discovered a place filled with beautiful landscaping. Seeing a path leading into it, curiosity got the better of me and I stepped inside. The direction was the same, so I thought the destination would be the same as well…
Should I look for someone to ask directions from?
Ignoring Sirius's body, which reacted with the thought that asking others was beneath his dignity, I continued walking—when suddenly:
"Aris~ Still wandering alone without any friends today? Want some help? Introducing you to people I know would be easy."
"Get lost."
I saw a man wearing a sly smile and a woman who clearly found him annoying.
"Ouch! There she goes again. That's why you have no friends."
"Allen. Step aside while I'm still being nice."
I recognized them instantly.
How could I not? The name the man had spoken was the name of someone I had to protect.
So I revealed myself before them.
"Aris."
For an instant I saw panic fill her eyes.
"It's been a while."
It was my first time seeing her, but she was Sirius's blood. Therefore the greeting I offered was one of reunion.
"…Brother."
She called me that and simply stood there dazed.
It had probably been a long time since she last saw this face, so her confusion was understandable.
House Everhart had committed countless sins against her, after all.
The man, however, was different.
His sly smile turned toward me.
"Well now, who do we have here? Isn't this our cute little Aris's real older brother?"
Between eyes curved into crescents I read the malice.
"What brings you here? Don't tell me you came to see your little sister? The sister you discarded with your own hands?!"
Wanting to provoke me, he forced his sly smile wider as he looked at me. The corners of his mouth stretched so far they almost reached his ears; it looked like pure mockery.
What he failed to grasp was that I was not the Sirius he knew—and that I knew exactly who the man before me was.
I spoke his name without emotion.
"Allen."
I looked straight into eyes overflowing with the superiority of having stolen my sister.
"Pathetic."
In that instant Sirius's body began to resonate with me. The original also found the man before my eyes disgusting.
"The way you try to inflate your meager pride by making me angry is one thing."
My words grew fierce of their own accord.
Words I myself could not have spoken.
Sirius's body automatically filtered them.
"But the way you don't even consider the face a noble should maintain—"
And so what emerged was more aristocratic than anything else.
My gaze looked down upon him.
"—proves you are nothing more than a lowborn upstart. That is why you are pathetic."
The malice he displayed.
Knowing the source of that emotion, I found it utterly trivial and laughable.
That a supposed sub-male lead would walk around leaking this much malice was absurdly funny—and the fact that he believed Aris had not noticed that malice made me angry.
"…Haha! To think the Young Master of Everhart worries about me so much—I hardly know where to put myself."
I saw him desperately force the corners of his mouth upward.
He was swallowing his rage toward me.
There was nothing he could do to me right now, after all.
"Aris."
I ignored the man and turned my head.
My eyes met a pair of trembling ones.
"Return to the mansion. I cannot bear to watch you keep company with such a base fellow."
She shook her head from side to side.
Aris left her unmoving lips alone and simply refused.
I waited for her as she hesitated and faltered.
And at last she opened her mouth.
"…If I go back to the family, the other brothers will torment me."
Hearing that trembling voice, my fist clenched on its own.
I empathized with her pain.
Not simply because I had read her story written in text.
…It was something deeper, something difficult to explain.
When I returned to the modern world after defeating the Demon King, I was alone.
My mind still stood in the middle of the battlefield, buried under longing for the comrades and friends I had left behind.
I was no longer a hero.
In reality I was nothing more than a basic livelihood recipient.
There was no friend or family in the world who could understand me.
What saved me as I floundered in despair were the stories of three people.
And among them, I understood Aris's suffering better than anyone.
"That will not happen. I promise you."
Azehar was dead and Evancal was in no position to do anything. Right now I could bring her back to the family.
But she still did not know of "Sirius's" change.
"Liar. You're weak, Brother."
At her cold words Allen burst into laughter.
"Kwahaha! What a disgrace this is!"
Naturally, neither Aris nor I paid him the slightest attention—enough to startle him.
"There's something you don't know, Aris."
I spoke while looking into eyes filled with distrust.
"An Everhart does not speak falsehoods."
"……."
"I'll hear your answer later. Do well on this entrance examination."
I turned and decided to retrace the path I had come.
If I returned to the main road I would find my way soon enough.
I might arrive a little late, but that was better than getting completely lost and never arriving at all.
And…
If she sees my skill, she'll change her mind.
I intended to display an overwhelming performance in the upcoming entrance examination and earn Aris's trust.
Please give a round of applause to His Highness the Prince and Her Highness the Princess for their speeches!
Clap clap! Clap clap!
Having finished their speeches for the entrance ceremony, the Prince and Princess returned to their specially prepared seats and looked down upon this year's incoming students.
The entrance examination will now begin! Please wait a moment!
Listening to the host's booming voice, the Princess lifted her head indifferently.
"The entrance examination, is it…"
"Elena! Fighting! I'm rooting for you!"
Ignoring her noisily shouting older brother, the Princess gestured to a waiting attendant and received the match bracket.
"The first match is…"
The Princess looked down at the papers in her hand.
"Interesting."
Elena Belgard.
Sirius Everhart.
She had heard both names before.
"A genius born of an obscure noble house, and the mediocrity of Everhart…"
Tap. Tap.
Fiddling with the armrest with her fingers as she studied the bracket, the Princess soon set the paper aside as if it had grown boring.
"Hey, who do you think will win? Elena, obviously, right?"
"Well… I've heard the youngest of Everhart is pitifully weak."
"Kyahat! Right?"
Ignoring the Prince who laughed in satisfaction, the Princess sank into deep thought alone.
Right now she needed an outstanding subordinate.
Elena… She's said to possess decent skill, but I can't be sure.
House Belgard of the barony was a family she had never even heard of. It would not be strange if they were simply somewhat wealthy commoners.
What mattered to her was not lineage but personal martial strength.
In that regard Sirius was already eliminated.
No matter how great the family, if the individual was weak he was completely useless.
"I don't expect much."
The Princess looked down with languid eyes.
She saw the youngest son of Everhart entering late.
"Begin the match!"
.
.
.
"Match over! Winner: Sirius Everhart!"
When the battle ended, the Princess realized she had tensed up and laughed in disbelief.
"Ha. So 'weak' was by Everhart standards."
She shook her head as she looked at the half-destroyed sparring grounds.
"That thing is just a monster."