The Hero is Noticeable
The village where I lived before being conscripted was rural.
Although there was currency, most people lived by exchanging goods with each other. If I gave the eggs my chicken laid to the neighbor uncle, he would give me potatoes he dug from the field. That was the way it was.
So the food I ate in the village was extremely limited.
Boiled potatoes. Vegetable stew. Occasionally, if a hunter brought in a wild boar, I got to eat a piece of meat that made my mouth water. That was the entirety of my meals during the 14 years I spent here after being reborn.
That's why.
I couldn't hold back the smell wafting from the academy's central area.
Sweet syrup scent. Spicy seasoning scent. The sizzling meat scent in oil. Stimulating aromas that pricked the nose mixed together, making the air itself feel like a single dish. My salivary glands reacted madly. Saliva slid down my throat with a gulp.
When I came to my senses, I had a chicken skewer in my hand.
The glossy red sauce. The oil at the tip of the skewer sparkled in the sunlight. When I bit into it, it felt like fireworks exploding on my tongue. Sweetness, saltiness, and spiciness all hit at once. Maybe the reason I survived until now was to eat this chicken skewer.
I finished one skewer in two bites.
And bought ten more.
Sitting at the edge of the fountain, I nibbled on the skewer while observing my surroundings. I needed to gauge the atmosphere of the academy. I had to live here for the next three years.
The palace had space divided like a knife according to status. Soldiers with soldiers, knights with knights, nobles with nobles. Even in the same corridor, there was an invisible line so that they didn't intrude on each other's territory.
But here it was different.
A noble accompanied by servants was eating street food. Students in uniforms walked shoulder to shoulder with people of different status. Merchants shouted their deals loudly to anyone without distinguishing the customer's status. The uncle selling chicken skewers probably noticed I was wearing military uniform, but he didn't care at all. He just yelled "One for five copper coins!"
What can I say? It smelled similar to the society of my previous life.
My heart felt a bit at ease. If it was here, I could probably blend in as Citizen Arthur rather than War Hero Arthur. Of course, there was Princess Isabel and the mission from the king, so for the next three years I had to be careful. After finishing my professor role, it wouldn't be bad to open a small shop somewhere and live.
I took another bite of the skewer.
Sauce got on the corner of my mouth. I wiped it with the back of my hand. The oil glistened on the back of my hand. Why didn't anyone in the village ever eat seasoned food? Lack of skill? Lack of taste? Probably both.
That's when.
"How dare you! You low-class food scent got on my clothes!!"
The noble-looking man was kicking and breaking the things at the skewer shop with his foot. The owner who had been selling me chicken skewers just now was lying on the floor bowing his head repeatedly. The man was trampling on the owner's head and acting tyrannically.
I clicked my tongue.
As expected. Such humans exist here too.
I observed the reactions of the surrounding people. Most frowned and watched the situation, then soon they scattered in a daze. Two merchants who had been doing business nearby whispered in low voices.
"Sigh, probably a freshman. There are always guys like that who do as they did in their country every year."
"Shh! Be careful with your words. Look at the embroidery on their clothes. It means they're royalty. Before it sparks at us, report to the student council and let's close business for today."
Seeing the two merchants hurriedly leave, I understood the situation to some extent. Royalty. Too far and untouchable for a commoner like me. I ate the skewer deliciously, but I had no ability to help.
I tidied up the eaten skewer and cautiously got up from my seat.
I threw the empty skewer stick into the nearby trash can. I wiped my oil-stained hands on my pants. It was the moment I was trying to slip away unnoticed.
My spine went cold.
Someone was glaring at me. When I traced the direction of the gaze, a knight standing next to the noble was staring at me intensely. His eyes were filled with intense fighting spirit. I quickly averted my gaze. But the gaze didn't fall. The feeling of needles sticking to my skin continued.
I was sweating cold sweat inside.
I didn't know why. I hadn't done anything wrong. I had just eaten a chicken skewer. But why. As I moved my feet to leave, the knight walked towards me with thudding steps.
"Hey you. Stop."
A voice that called me even if you looked at it.
The few people remaining around me scattered. I was left alone. I wanted to mix with the scattering people and pretend not to know and escape, but the knight blocked my way.
"That military uniform. From Leon?"
The familiar emblem was engraved on the knight's armor up close.
The torn flag.
The Basil Kingdom's banner. The symbol I had seen in the 10-year war and in the attack a few days ago. I immediately understood why he was calling me.
There were already almost no people around. But a few were watching us from a distance. I sighed inwardly. The moment the name Leon Kingdom came out, I was no longer Citizen Arthur. In front of others, I had to pretend to be War Hero Arthur.
I nodded.
And I quietly placed my hand on the sword hilt. If I showed I was below the opponent, they might try to kill me like the attack a few days ago. My fingers wrapped around the leather-wrapped handle. Although I had no memory of gripping it, the feeling was unnaturally familiar.
"Hah, looking at your arrogant face, you think you won the war because you're stronger than us?"
The knight lowered his voice.
"Thinking you won the war because of luck and then acting arrogant."
I didn't know if his words were true or not. When I came to my senses, the war had already ended. I only knew that it wasn't overwhelmingly won. If they had been suppressed by crushing the Basil Kingdom, they would have been absorbed into the Leon Kingdom by now.
The noble who had been tyrannizing from afar approached.
In his hand, he was dragging the shop owner's head by the hair. The owner couldn't even struggle and was being dragged on the floor. Glancing at him, there were no wounds. Only soot and sauce were on his clothes. The clothes were already tattered. The owner was just trembling as he was dragged.
"Hey, soldier. What are you doing over there?"
The noble looked at my clothes and opened his mouth with an 'aha-'. A vile smile was on his lips.
"Leon? It wasn't a good feeling, but it was good timing. Soldier, you know? Play with it and kill it."
"Prince."
The soldier called Fanse drew his sword. The blade sparkled in the sunlight. Sparks flowed along the blade.
"This place is the empire. Even if it's a mere soldier, if I kill him casually, the responsibility will be huge. Therefore......"
The tip of the sword pointed at me.
"......From now on, I'll make you unable to raise your head before our Basil, turning you into a cripple."
Gasps could be heard from around.
I was still with my hand on the sword hilt. My palm was slightly warm. My body remembered. This tension. This street. This temperature. Unlike my hair standing on end, my heart was still calm.
The opponent's sword was already drawn.
My sword was still in the scabbard.
Should I draw it now? Just as I was hesitating, the knight took a step forward. The sound of the sole kicking the ground. The movement of the shoulder. The direction of the pupil. All information came rushing in at once. My head didn't understand. But my body had already given the answer.
At that moment, the knight's body seemed to spin in the air, and he fell with a thud.
Silence.
The Basil prince dropped the shop owner's hair he was holding. His face turned pale. His lips trembled. To assess the situation, he looked at the fallen knight on the floor, and he was barely raising his upper body while looking at me from the fallen state. His eyes were wide open. His pupils were shaking. He looked like he was terribly afraid and scared.
Next to the fallen knight, his two legs were still standing straight.
The cut surface was clean. Up to the shin that was filled with greaves, it looked like it was placed there separately from the beginning. A little blood came out late. The knight, not realizing yet that he had no legs, was flailing with just his upper body.
I looked at my right hand.
The sword that had been drawn at some point. Blood droplets were hanging at the tip of the sword. It didn't fall, but was dangling on the blade and sparkling. The knight's greave. It looked like a solid metal greave. Apparently, he had cut it off instantly including that greave.
It was the second time seeing blood.
Unlike the first time, my heart wasn't shaking madly. Gradually, the beating of my heart subsided. This calmness was more terrifying. I was splitting a person in half without any problem now.
"Sold...ier, is this a joke? Just a mere soldier... Kuaaaaaak!!!"
The Basil prince screamed and ran away. Exactly, he tried to run but was caught by the newly appeared students. He was wearing a uniform with the flag on his left chest. The female student in front grabbed the prince's back hair. The student council that the merchants had called earlier, I guess.
"Student Council! We are controlling the scene——"
The female student shouted and stopped. She saw the lower half of the knight lying on the floor and closed her mouth. One of the male students behind her vomited. The other one saw the sword I was holding and brought his hand towards the weapon. His expression was stiff.
The knight still lying on the floor twitching. The shop owner covered in all sorts of filth. And the Basil prince still screaming like a piglet "Kuek-" and wailing. And in the center, me standing with the sword.
It seems like something big has happened.
The student council members slowly approached me in a surrounding formation. The female student in front opened her mouth. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were full of tension.
"Put down your sword."
I carefully put the sword back into the scabbard without being seen. The female student's eyebrows rose slightly.
With the sword lowered, I raised both hands.
Surrender. Surrender.
"This person... is our ally."
The shop owner said in a trembling voice. The female student turned to him. The owner was lying on the floor and pointing at me with his finger.
"This person... saved me."
The female student's gaze returned to me. She scanned my military uniform's rank insignia. Eventually, she stared directly at my face. Her eyes were as if trying to confirm something.
Arthur nodded urgently.
Thank you, skewer shop uncle — I'll come eat again next time.