The Academy's Troublemaker Makes His Move (1)
I wrapped up the sudden battle episode with Avon in spectacular fashion.
Alright. It was time to get back to my real job.
‘I’ve confirmed Sepiria’s abilities to some extent…’
Right now it looked like her soul had fallen asleep inside the Grey Sword. Once she woke up, I planned to ask her more about that space magic.
Anyway, this wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
The field trip served as the dividing line between the early and late parts of Avon’s arc for one simple reason: it was when Heidel launched his confession attack on Maria.
But from the very beginning, I had planned to crash that episode by joining the field trip.
In fact, it took priority over catching the Kingdom’s spy.
Time to return to my true calling as Kael Lotus, the ultimate couple-hater.
“Whatever. Hey, Avon. First order.”
I decided to make Avon my subordinate and give him his first command at the same time.
After that, I glanced around. Fortunately, no one was watching us.
“Tomorrow during free time…”
“I’m listening.”
“Confess to Maria Frendis.”
“…What?!”
Avon’s shoulders jerked in shock. The order was that ridiculous. When it came to annoying tasks, the best move was to delegate. Instead of stepping in myself to mess with Heidel and Maria, I might as well subcontract the job to Avon now that things had come to this.
‘If it goes well, I can just shove Maria onto Avon and send the two of them off to the island together. If it doesn’t, at least stealing Heidel’s confession timing should throw the mood off.’
Above all, if my prediction was correct, there was a high chance Maria would reject any confession right now, no matter who made it or how. I also wanted to see these sickening lovebirds get shot down.
Most importantly, if Avon confessed first, it increased the odds that Heidel would give up on Maria. A win-win.
“But that… has nothing to do with me becoming your subordinate, does it? Suddenly confess to Maria? You know as well as I do that even if I’m fine with it, it could hurt her.”
And there it was…
You really hit the core of it.
The fact that those words came from none other than Avon Ragnarok—the male lead of this female-oriented romance fantasy—honestly moved me.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to cancel the order…
“You’re right. The fact that someone likes you can become a wound to that person.”
It was a legendary quote.
But my mind wasn’t changing.
“So what? Confess anyway.”
“I can’t accept that order.”
Of course, I had expected Avon to react like this.
Still… how about this?
“Then let me tell you something interesting. Heidel Grace is going to confess to Maria soon. I’m certain of it.”
“What?”
“What I’m asking you to do is confess before Heidel does. And get rejected.”
“…Why would you make me do that?”
“Why? To save a person. Heidel is a love-obsessed fool. Once he falls in love, he’s ready to devote everything. Even if the woman doesn’t want it, he’ll do it anyway. Avon, right now we’re trying to save one guy.”
After hearing my explanation, Avon’s expression grew complicated.
As always, I wasn’t lying.
“Even if we assume Heidel is that kind of person, isn’t that his choice and his freedom?”
“Heidel is from the Grace family. He has responsibilities. The moment he abandons them, the Empire will be in danger.”
“Still, that’s…”
“You lost earlier, didn’t you? Why are you talking so much? So, you really don’t have any feelings for Maria? None at all?”
I hadn’t expected him to refuse this stubbornly.
But once I brought up the result of our match, he had no grounds left to reject.
“…Fine. I understand.”
Avon nodded reluctantly.
“Now get lost.”
With a dazed look on his face, Avon returned to the dorms.
I spent a while staring at the night sea, thinking about what was coming next.
‘I’ve confirmed Sepiria’s abilities. Now I should take this guy to the adventurers’ guild.’
It was finally time for me to enjoy some free time too.
The second day dawned.
The second day was the real highlight of the field trip. After all, the only scheduled activity was in the morning. The entire afternoon was completely free.
The so-called educational activity was nothing more than meeting the locals, listening to their hardships under the name of “Noble Responsibility Practice,” and writing it all up in a report.
In short, we could wander around as much as we wanted.
And the fact that we could wander freely meant…
“Kael. Where are you going? It looks like you’re running away from someone.”
“That’s right, Elia. I knew you’d follow me.”
“Since we’re here, let’s go together.”
It meant Elia was about to appear.
Elia popped out of nowhere. At this point, she was practically sticking just her head out from the forest before leaping out. I was starting to wonder if the Aventus ducal family was actually specialized in stealth, tailing, and assassination.
“Hey! Genius! Don’t you have anything to do? How about exploring a cave together?”
And then another person called out to me.
Professor Lapel Straucht. Since she was a professor, shouldn’t she be helping manage the students right now?
“What? We have things to do, kid.”
“That report? Ah, it doesn’t matter. You can just make something up. I’ll help you.”
“Can a professor really do that? Besides, aren’t you supposed to be helping supervise the students right now?”
“Aren’t you all students? Then a professor should supervise student activities. So let’s go on an adventure! An adventure!”
She emphasized the word “adventure” twice. Seeing her like this, she really did seem like a child. A kid who dreamed of adventure.
I didn’t know her real age, but…
‘She’s definitely not twenty, that’s for sure.’
Just my guess.
Anyway, if Professor Lapel was going to help with the report, that worked for me.
“Hey kid. We were planning to go to the adventurers’ guild. Want to come?”
“Really, Kael?”
“Elia, you come too.”
I had been planning to visit the adventurers’ guild while I had the chance anyway.
The locals’ hardships? Those things naturally gathered at the adventurers’ guild. I could just take one suitable request, jot down the complaint written on it into the report, and be done.
“So an adventure means the adventurers’ guild, huh? You used your head, Kael.”
“I was going to go there from the start.”
“Doesn’t matter. For that reason, let’s head to the adventurers’ guild together!”
Professor Lapel spread both arms wide and flapped them excitedly.
When we arrived at the adventurers’ guild, Hestia was already waiting at the entrance.
For some reason, Elia’s expression stiffened.
“Ah, Mister Kael! And… Lady Elia. And Professor.”
“I told you. Hestia is my subordinate.”
“…Yeah, whatever.”
Elia didn’t seem to like Hestia very much, but she still nodded.
As soon as we entered the adventurers’ guild, I picked out two requests right away.
One was to eliminate as many monsters as possible from the nearby forest, regardless of type.
The other said a monster called the “Mountain Lord” lived deep in the same forest. We were to kill it and bring back its fang as proof.
This should be enough.
“Ugh… these requests are too hard… Wait, are they? They seem too dangerous…”
“Want to sit this one out?”
“No! I-I’ll do it!”
“This student is quite timid. I’ll have to make her attend my classes more diligently.”
“Uuu…”
Hestia looked terrified after reading the request details, but Elia’s expression didn’t change at all.
She was the only one among us with zero combat ability, yet she remained the calmest in the world.
Anyway, we had to complete both requests during the morning, so time was tighter than expected.
We needed to head straight into the nearby forest.
And that was when it happened.
[That child… has decent skill and sense.]
⟨ Sepiria ⟩
‘Child? You mean Hestia?’
[No, the little white-haired one.]
⟨ Sepiria ⟩
‘You can even tell that?’
Suddenly Sepiria’s voice rang in my head.
She must have woken up.
The moment she woke, she gave me her impression of Professor Lapel Straucht.
[I’ve wandered for a long time searching for those qualified to open my coffin. Of course I can tell. That little white-haired one would meet about sixty percent of the qualifications needed to open my stone coffin.]
⟨ Sepiria ⟩
‘Professor Lapel is at sixty percent? What are the qualification criteria?’
[Nothing complicated. They must be strong. And they must understand the ways of the past.]
⟨ Sepiria ⟩
‘The ways of the past?’
[What you people commonly call ‘true silent casting.’ That used to be the basic way to use magic. There must have been various circumstances, but now people have completely forgotten the old ways. Their overall level seems to have dropped too…]
⟨ Sepiria ⟩
I didn’t fully understand what she was saying, but it was good news anyway.
There were a lot of things I wanted to ask Sepiria, and plenty I needed to tell her too.