The Plant Family (2)
The current head of the Plant family held immense influence over the Capital Knight Order.
His name was Ryan Plant.
Come to think of it, I seemed to recall seeing him once on the front lines against the Demon King.
At least he wasn't as stupid as Lailer.
You could call him the classic father who had completely botched raising his child.
Looking back, all the successful family heads these days had failed at child-rearing.
Probably because of the war with the Demon King.
"For the Lady of Ashtar to personally take the exam like this. Duke Ashtar must be delighted."
Ryan Plant welcomed me quite warmly.
Of course he would, now that I was the Taesa and a Saint.
"Forget about that. You need to be careful with this exam."
I had to be careful for the Plant family's sake as well.
"You mean the anti-imperialists, I take it? That they might be in our Plant territory?"
"Yes."
At least this one seemed reasonable enough to talk to.
"No need to worry about that. For the past few years, with the war against the Demon King's army, we haven't had the leeway to recruit much. It's the other families in the provinces, far from the capital like us, who should be watching out."
He had a point.
Anti-imperialists weren't likely to run rampant in the capital and its surroundings.
If they were smart, they'd hide among the provincial commoners being conscripted because of the Demon King's war and spread their ideology there.
Entering a place like the Plant family's could get them killed instead.
"So you're saying the knight lines have been maintained for several years?"
"Something like that, I suppose."
I could trust knights like that. But even a few years was enough time for someone to infiltrate among them for a long while, which changed things.
"Even so, isn't it too early to feel secure? You never know."
This wasn't the time for arrogance.
"Of course, we've prepared for that as well. We plan to use a lie detector during the exam."
"A lie detector?"
"It's something developed this time by the magic tool development department that the Plant family sponsors. Would the Lady of Ashtar like to take a look?"
A lie detector, huh. The imperial military should already be using them.
The battles with the Demon King's army had greatly advanced humanity's magic tool development.
Naturally, among the tools suited for wartime, ones that detected lies to weed out spies had been developed.
"May I see it? Purely out of personal interest."
"Here it is."
Ryan pulled out something that looked like a wristwatch.
A luxurious silver watch. Just from the appearance, it looked like something nobles would favor.
"It looks like a watch, doesn't it?"
A magic tool you wore on your wrist would be great for portability. Among the detectors so far, this one looked the best.
"It's the new model that just came out. While wearing it, you can identify anyone nearby who's lying."
"It must be quite expensive."
"Exactly. That's why the tech division decided against mass production and to prevent leaks. There's risk of misuse."
If something like that fell into anti-imperialist hands, it could be used against us instead.
"Hmm. So it detects lies immediately if someone tells one?"
"That's right."
"The Empire's First Prince Aslan is far too handsome."
BEEEEEEP
The watch screeched.
"Oh. The performance is solid."
"You really hate the prince that much, do you?"
"Yes."
There was no way I could like a blockhead like him even if I tried.
"So you need not worry, my lady."
"Understood. Then I won't worry. However, something could still happen inside the dungeon."
Like black mages ambushing from within the dungeon.
At the very least, I had to consider the possibility of them using spatial teleportation.
A guy like Jerato was under Seto, after all. He could appear at the Plant family's exam site at any time.
"You mean black mages?"
"Yes. Wouldn't it be troublesome if they were lying in wait inside?"
An attack by anti-imperialists allied with black mages.
That was how far I was thinking.
Since Kwanggeom had entrusted this to me, I was essentially the administrator for this exam anyway.
I should have at least brought a Hero along.
"We plan to set up barriers in advance for that as well."
"I'll set them up myself."
"If you can cast barriers, then by all means."
Unexpected. Normally he'd get angry asking if I didn't trust him. At least if it were any other family besides Plant, that would have been the case.
So while I was at it, I should get a firm confirmation.
"Still, just in case. You never know. You must have the Plant knights protect the noble children well."
"Of course we will."
"?"
"?"
The preparations were too good?
Lately I'd only been dealing with idiots and getting pissed off one by one, but I'd met someone surprisingly normal.
He had responded so well that it almost seemed suspicious.
As the head of the Plant family, he couldn't possibly be an anti-imperialist, but he was so normal it was shocking.
I rejoined Celia, Lailer, and the others who were waiting outside.
"What? What happened?"
"Probably nothing will happen for the time being. At least not among the Plant family knights or forces."
If the family head said so, then that should be it.
"Then... won't the dungeon be dangerous?"
"The dungeon is a concern, but we plan to install barriers there too. In fact, Celia and I will clear it first."
That would be more convenient. Set up the barriers first.
But Lailer pouted for some reason.
Should I hit him? Suddenly getting cocky.
"No, but Saintess. Somehow your way of speaking has gotten fixed like that. Even if I've shown some unsightly sides in the past, I'm still the legitimate heir of the Plant family by name."
"Bullshit. You think I don't know why my mouth got filthy? I still remember your face perfectly from when you were caught by Pector."
That stupid mug of his was still vivid. And with that, he expected kindness from me?
"I'm sorry."
"Ribelt, just in case, I'd like you to protect Lailer and the students."
I couldn't trust Lailer. So better to take out a little insurance.
"Why me?"
"Or does the Tiger of the North, who is supposed to protect the Empire by name, intend to leave the nobles to die?"
Ribelt frowned but nodded.
At least that guy was more useful than a Hero.
Then in the meantime, it would be better for me to search the inside with Celia.
I entered the dungeon in the Plant family territory together with Celia.
The dungeon was an ancient ruin.
If it was an ancient ruin, there would be golems. Perfect for anti-imperialists to cause a ruckus.
"Uhohoho. Finally, a date with Lady Olivia!"
Celia clenched her fists and jumped up and down.
"I'm amazed you consider this a date."
Sometimes Celia's brain structure was truly wondrous.
What kind of head did she have to regard this as a date?
Still, seeing how she created an army of teddy bears, she was amazing.
"Lady Olivia. There's a magic circle on the wall."
Just then, Celia discovered a magic circle as well.
"This is... hold on."
"What's wrong?"
"Look at this. This intricate formula."
"Oh my. It really is a very well-made barrier. Goodness."
Looking at this, the answer was clear.
"It's not a barrier—it's a summoning circle. Shall I overhaul this completely? For example, so that when they use it, they blow themselves up right away."
They'd probably activate this magic circle during the exam. Since it was a summoning circle, I could reverse the formula so that when the other side activated it, they'd explode.
If they were using a formula simple enough for me to modify easily, they were low-level black mages. Just enough to have spatial teleportation tech.
More surprising was the low level of the Plant family's barrier.
"Looking at the level, it really is low. Completely ripping it out wouldn't be bad either, would it?"
"Should we? No, wait a second."
"Why?"
I'd just thought of a better idea.
Normally, modifying a formula planted by another mage was difficult. But since this one's level was low, it seemed possible.
I'd use it the opposite way.
"I can use it against them instead, can't I?"
"Don't tell me you're going to leave it and use it for the exam?"
"Yeah."
Anyway, I could put up barriers for each person.
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"
"If we just block them here, it'll only be to the level of stopping the anti-imperialists. Just the anti-Empire guys. I want to crush them. More than anything, if we simply fix the formula here, we won't know what moves the anti-Empire guys who might be watching from somewhere will make."
In the end, the anti-imperialists were something the nobles had to deal with.
If the Attelina noble students crushed the anti-Empire guys in this exam, it would deal quite a blow to them as well.
We could plant the impression that nobles weren't to be taken lightly.
"So you mean to have the students catch the anti-Empire guys as their exam, while preventing the anti-Empire guys from pulling any stupid tricks."
"They'll probably let their guard down too."
"I like it. I think it's a good method as well. In many ways, the anti-Empire guys will be helpful to us, won't they?"
Of the hundred or so students, seventy percent were nobles. They'd be the main force anyway.
Now the anti-Empire idiots would only boost the nobles' momentum.
"So for now, we need to look dumb too. Make it seem like we came and went without noticing a thing."
"Yes."
We'd just leave as if we knew nothing.
Then simply set up a new barrier outside. At least enough so the noble children could fight the anti-Empire guys.
So.
I went to see the students resting in the old Plant knight order's quarters.
"Alright, Heroes! Rise!"
I clapped my hands.
I clapped so hard the hallway rang.
"W-what? All of a sudden."
"I'm going to train you."
I had to train them perfectly.
"Um, Miss Olivia? No matter what, this is a bit sudden."
As expected, the magic department representative was Croissant.
And the somewhat famous ones from each department vented their complaints.
Then I had to respond in my own way.
"Anti-imperialists might appear in this exam. So the exam content might change."
"No, what on earth is that supposed to mean?"
"If you don't listen to me, I could report every last one of you."
I was a Saint and the Taesa. If someone like me reported them, their Attelina life would be as good as over.
"No matter what, isn't this a bit too much?"
"Oh? Croissant. Are you talking back to me right now? Talking back? A mere Croissant talking back?"
Hey, you said you wanted to get along, and you dare talk back?
I can't forgive this.
"Ugh. Isn't this too much?"
Ah, does she not know the circumstances at all?
"Do you think I'm doing this so you'll get hurt? I'm doing this to keep you all alive."
You should kneel before me on your own.
"What do you mean by that?"
"This body is personally going to teach you for your own good, I tell you?"
These dense bastards.
"Teach us what exactly?"
"What else? So that you can fight the anti-imperialist group. Ah, about half of you already know from the dungeon practice, right?"
At my words, about half the students' faces turned pale blue.
"W-wait a second, surely not that..."
"That's right. That."
Kids. Just because they experienced it once, they thought they knew.
Then did I even need to explain?
"Oh Goddess, have mercy."
"No! Anything but that!"
The kids who had already been through it once were screaming.
Back then in the practice, I'd gone easy on them. Why did they dislike it so much?
And I was human too.
No matter what, I wouldn't make them do the same thing again. I'd separate those who needed stage one.
"Anyway, Celia will help with stage one, so keep that in mind."
"That's right, I'll he— wait, what?"
"Hm? What? You have to help me, right? Don't you?"
Why was she making such a dumb face?
Don't tell me she was trying to skip out while claiming to like me?
Ram yourself into a wall for me. Celia.