Our Nobles Have Changed!
If I prodded a little more, they would probably reveal themselves on their own. Not that I was hoping for that much. Seeing how they couldn't even regulate their emotions, they were useless.
A bottom-tier punk.
If they had left a watcher this sloppy, this attack probably wouldn't require that much preparation to handle.
"Ah. Of course you should. But tell me, Sir Knight—would you rather look after a dog that has no ability to guard the house yet still lunges to bite you every single time, or a dog that can't do anything but eat, yet still wags its tail and plays cute?"
"!!"
Murderous intent flashed across his face for an instant.
What, did I hit a nerve with the facts? I had spoken from a noble's perspective just to provoke him, but honestly, it wasn't entirely wrong.
No matter how rotten and struggling the Empire was, it was still the nation that represented humanity.
The moment the Empire fell, the entire front against the Great Demon King would collapse at once. And the anti-imperialists were simply inferior stock.
"Looking at your face, it seems you've figured it out. That's exactly how it is. If you're a bastard dog, you have to bow like a bastard dog if you want any affection. These types have nothing special about them, yet while the Four Heavenly Kings keep attacking, they try to overthrow the Empire? People who can't even tell time and place—if that isn't a pack of idiots and morons, what is it? Ah, for reference, I treat every subject living in Ashtar with loving kindness."
"I-Is that so?"
At this level, I would just look like an ordinary noble.
"There's a saying: he who does not work shall not eat. If you're incompetent and won't even put in the effort, you shouldn't even think of setting foot in the Empire. Watching them pitifully go, 'Why not me?!' and gather among themselves to plot overthrowing the Empire—there's really no hope for them."
"I-I see."
His face was an open book.
"Those kinds of people have to be pulled out by the roots. All the way to the root tips. Without leaving a single one. Only then will this Empire become even a little cleaner."
Without leaving a single one. Completely. Just like that.
"So... does that mean the anti-imperialists are filthy?"
"Of course they're filthy. Why should I look kindly on morons who won't stand on their own and instead try to destroy the country they were born in?"
That much was true.
Overthrowing the Empire in the middle of a war with the Demon King.
It was a truly idiotic idea. Anyone could guess the Four Heavenly Kings were behind it. Next would probably be Clanis.
"I understand."
"Since you say so, Sir Knight, you must protect me well. Understood?"
I gave the knight's shoulder a couple of pats.
"Yes. I will protect you without fail."
He answered through gritted teeth.
He had thorns all over his tongue.
See? He didn't want to admit it. If he admitted it, he couldn't act like this. He was the type who gritted his teeth and waited for later.
The knight trembled with rage until the very end.
He was still young. He danced to whatever was carved into him. Probably someone in his family had been used by nobles or high-ranking people and suffered for it.
That was usually how young ones became anti-imperialists.
The older ones simply had no ability of their own, so they tried to overthrow the Empire through agitation.
Either way, I was on the Empire's side.
Even if those bastards had their reasons, that was their problem, not mine.
"Well then, I'll be going. See you later."
When I returned to the training ground, the students were sprawled across the floor, drenched in sweat.
Oh man. What a beautiful sight.
The hourglass had probably been released the moment I left the training ground.
"Haaah... haaah... haaah..."
"Heeek... heeek... heeek..."
"Huk... huk... Oli... vi... a..."
Whoa. Everyone had turned into complete bastards. Croissant in particular was sweating so hard her chest was practically see-through.
Looks like she got a serious dose of venom on her own. The look she gave me was full of force.
"Yes?"
"Olivia... how... huk... huk... much time... has... huk... passed?"
How much time had passed? Probably a week.
The last time I checked Habel's Hourglass it had been day six, so today should be exactly day seven.
"Roughly a week? Of course, time didn't flow outside."
"Huk... damn it... so we got worked without a single break for a whole week? Right now?"
"Yes, that's right. But the nuns kept restoring your stamina with miracles, didn't they?"
The nuns would have used miracles in my place.
"Th-that's not something you say right now... haaah..."
"Well, the students' opinions aren't important anyway. Professor?"
Looking at Galedo's face, he seemed to have completed his mission.
"Yeah. Right."
"How was it?"
"When I used your method, the kids came charging at me like their lives depended on it."
What was my method again?
"Yes?"
"If you hate being taught by an adventurer, then try beating me."
Galedo spoke with an extremely irritated expression.
Ah, right. That one. That would work well, wouldn't it?
Wait—had I really made that kind of face too?
"Wow. It works great, doesn't it?"
"Tell me about it. Since they're noble kids, that line hits hard. Anyway, these types put pride first even when they're about to die."
"Still, if they bulked up a bit thanks to that, it's a good thing."
For nobles, noble pride was more important than anything. If you focused on tormenting that one point, they would fall on their own.
"Fuck it! Anti-imperialists or whatever—come out, all of you!"
"Oh?"
The word "fuck" just came out of Croissant's mouth?
She copied my swearing so well. That was excellent. Exactly. People can't live without swearing. The reason nobles take their anger out on their subordinates is because they have no way to spit out even a little of their rage. They don't even know how to curse.
"Isn't it because of those bastards that we're going through this goddamn hell?"
"Oh. That's true, but..."
Her face had completely lost it. Who would have thought the word "goddamn hell" would come out of that refined little mouth.
"What's with that face that looks like a pigeon just got punched? Olivia!"
"No, you just changed so suddenly."
The nuns had been the same, but this kind of transformation really wasn't ordinary.
Well, they had put in the effort, so I decided not to tease them.
"For a whole week we couldn't even collapse—we kept getting back up like some kind of undead, continuously, continuously learning every single thing!"
Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. Looking at their faces, it really shows.
It wasn't just Croissant—curses were flying from the other young ladies' mouths as well.
Worse than the boys?
Ah, right. Young ladies had their own pride, didn't they? The need to look good in front of their fiancés and all that.
Some of those fiancés were probably here right now.
Of course they had shown unsightly sides as young ladies, so the venom must have risen. Or maybe the blood of the nomadic ancestors from the distant past had awakened.
"That's right! We can even beat the Capital Army right now—I guarantee it!"
"Even the Capital Army?"
Their confidence was overflowing. The Capital Army was a bit past the line, though.
I didn't think these kids could win against the Capital Army that bombarded from long range. Still, having that much confidence was what mattered.
That was satisfying.
At this level, I could send them into a dungeon right away.
"Well then, shall we go take the exam right now?"
"Right now?"
It was best to start while the words were out.
"Don't tell me you're not confident?"
"No! Let's do it! Let's go!"
Yes. That's the spirit.
First I called Ryler, who was training with the knights.
"What on earth are you doing at this hour?"
"I just want to take an exam—what's the problem?"
"I-Is this how you're going to do things?"
"What do you mean, 'this is how'?"
Ryler really looked down on people, didn't he.
What was so 'this is how' about me? Today they had done it all on their own.
All I needed to do was provide a dungeon.
In fact, if we made a big show of it tonight, the anti-imperialists would get even more active.
"What exactly did you do to make people look like that?"
"Who cares why. As long as it turned out well, that's what matters, right?"
"Are you seriously saying that right now? Do you know what time it is? Will the other students even agree to this?"
Surprisingly, they said they would.
I pointed at the nobles lined up behind me with blazing eyes.
"Huh. Unbelievable."
"If it's not words, then what is it? Legitimate heir of a knight family who got played by Lily?"
Did I really have to go that far?
"Why do you keep... please stop. No matter what, how long are you going to keep bringing that up?"
"Until you die?"
"I lost. Fine. You want the dungeon opened right now?"
Of course it had to be opened.
We had to do it while the words were out so these kids could catch the anti-imperialists while they were still strong. If we waited until tomorrow, they would clearly go soft again.
We had to start while the momentum was there and strike the anti-imperialists when they least expected it.
"There's no winning or losing—just hurry up and let us take the exam. Open it immediately, and make a huge racket about it everywhere."
"What?"
"I'm saying there are anti-imperialists here, so we need to catch them fast."
I had said enough that he should understand.
Ryler looked around at my words, then whispered softly into my ear.
"Will they really come out? In the dungeon?"
"That's what I'm saying. Look—Croissant is furious right now. With that momentum, it looks like she'll cut them down any second."
"That Croissant? No way."
I kept telling him not to take her so lightly.
Right now Croissant was in a truly perfect state. Of all the Croissants I had ever seen, this was the one closest to perfection. A Croissant good enough that even as bread, she was pretty impressive.
I showed Croissant to Ryler directly.
"Go take a look yourself."
What state was our Croissant in?
"I'll go right now and blow the heads off every last one of those rebel bastards!"
Just from the momentum, it really felt like she was about to kill someone any second.
Uh. Had she lost her mind this badly?
"Saintess. Please don't use any strange magic."
"You're calling this magic?"
Anyway, after half-threatening the suspicious Ryler, we entered the dungeon—and it was just as expected.
Crackle-crackle!
The magic circle activated.
The anti-imperialists must have rushed in as well, because they started barging in right from the middle.
They appeared, summoned with great momentum.
"Kill every last one of those Attelina student bastards!"
"Kill all the Empire's rulers and fan the flames of the anti-imperial movement!"
"Kill the nobles!"
However, watching them pour in from all sides in a disorderly, ragtag fashion, it was exactly as I thought.
To put it plainly, they never expected us to come out like this.
I was originally this kind of person. Once I started something, I saw it through to the end.
That was why those idiots had no idea how broken this side had become.
Blood vessels rose in the eyes of the Attelina students as they looked at the rebels.
You chose wrong.
The current Attelina students... had completely lost it.
"Perfect timing, you fucking bastards!"
"Because of you I went through hell for a whole week! All of you die!"
"Smash the heads of every last one of those traitors!"
Whoa. Scary.