Surviving the Magic Academy (1)
The legitimacy of the imperial family began with the First Emperor. The First Emperor, who ended the era of the Outer Gods and ushered in the age of mortals, was humanity's savior. Everyone wanted to serve under the First Emperor, and naturally, immense authority was granted to the imperial family. Of course, with the passage of too much time, the glory of the past had faded, but as the saying goes, even a ruined rich family lasts three generations. Even faded glory still reached the heavens—that was the current reality. And the nobles were a kind of parasite that thrived by riding on the back of this imperial family.
They were the people who helped the First Emperor found the nation. That was the origin of the nobility. They helped establish the empire. This had to be clearly understood. It wasn't helping on a journey to save the world, but merely assisting in building an empire. The difficulty between the two was like heaven and earth. Of course, as time passed, the justification of being a founding contributor grew thin, and nobles appeared and disappeared for all sorts of reasons. I liked these nobles. Why? Because I was now a noble too. Long live the nobility.
I read the certificate I received from the messenger, then picked up the signet ring. The ring was engraved with a pattern of intertwined trees and flames. Just from the design, it was clearly a new crest made because of me. Ruina Elfiniel. That was my new name. Baroness Elfiniel. Not bad.
The title I received was hereditary. This meant my successor would also be nobility. Such hereditary titles weren't granted lightly. Usually, even when titles were given, they were non-hereditary. The reason was that granting hereditary titles would lead to an excessive number of nobles. However, the achievement of saving the emperor seemed to easily override such side effects.
I had also received a fief. It was exactly the average size for a barony, and since its productivity wasn't particularly outstanding, it wasn't very useful. Still, it was a fief, so managing it properly would steadily generate income. Currently, my fief was being managed by an agent appointed by the emperor. The messenger had advised that I could fire him anytime and replace him with someone I preferred, but I planned to just leave it as is. There were far too many things I had to do to worry about something like a fief.
"Baroness Ruina…"
Chris spoke in a dazed voice. Her eyes were blankly unfocused, and her expression looked somehow dangerous, so I moved behind Jerry. Noa muttered quietly.
"Master felt threatened and ran away."
"I didn't run away."
"Then what was it?"
"Go, Jerry."
I had Jerry restrain Chris. Chris struggled and shouted.
"Lady Ruina! How could you do this to me! We promised we'd become beggars together on the same day, at the same time!"
"When did we ever promise that? Get a hold of yourself."
"Quickly use your noble authority to make me rich!"
"Nobles aren't gods."
Commoners sometimes misunderstood this. Nobles were certainly a privileged class, but they weren't gods. Their capabilities were limited, and the power to make others wealthy wasn't something lower nobles could wield. Well, a baron with a fief could at least grant some benefits by appointing someone as their exclusive merchant, but still.
Looking at it all together, being a noble was ridiculously good. As expected, nobles were the best.
I placed the signet and certificate into Labyrinth. One of Labyrinth's abilities—an extradimensional space. The unique magic Labyrinth was briefly described as magic that manipulated a special space called the Labyrinth, and this Labyrinth had quite a few special abilities. It was extremely useful. If someone asked whether it was magic that could handle parallel worlds, the answer was no. The reason Bais, the original owner of Labyrinth, had pulled various tricks related to parallel worlds was because he was the Third Finger of Greed. Labyrinth had merely served as seasoning for the countless things Bais had done. It wasn't the main course.
"Still, thanks to the Labyrinth, I don't have to carry luggage around anymore."
"Lady Ruina. What about me?"
"The capacity isn't that large. The space allocated as an extradimensional storage within the Labyrinth's zones is small. Please move Lady Chris's goods by carriage."
"Got it."
Chris groaned as she organized the carriage. I helped her with wooden soldiers, then turned my head. Leon, who met my eyes, opened his mouth.
"Are you leaving already?"
"All my business here is finished."
"That is true."
Leon was wearing neat yet splendid pure white garments. What that signified was simple. Leon had become a paladin. Although his skills were lacking, making it practically a parachute appointment, if one had to argue, retrieving the Holy Grail was also a matter of skill. It could be considered a legitimately earned position.
Leon stared at me intently. I met his gaze, then tilted my head.
"Do you have something to say?"
"No, I don't."
"For someone with nothing to say, you're staring quite desperately. You're going to bore a hole through me."
"I wasn't staring desperately at all."
I tapped my cheek, then called for the judge.
"Lord Jerry. Please deliver your verdict. Did Lord Leon just look at me normally, or was he staring holes through me?"
"Lord Leon wins."
"This is unfair! Change the judge!"
"If you're not going to accept it, why did you appoint me in the first place?"
Jerry sighed and went to sit in the carriage. He was preparing for departure. Noa and Muran also sat in the carriage. Finally, Chris climbed aboard, and I spoke quietly.
"We'll be going now."
"Yes."
"Drink milk in moderation. If you grow any taller there, you'll hit two meters."
"I've already passed my growth period."
"Then, farewell!"
I cheerfully boarded the carriage. The wooden soldier took the reins, and I pointed forward with my finger and shouted.
"Destination: Magic Academy Lapiel!"
The carriage departed. And from behind, I heard Leon's small voice.
"Someday, let us meet again."
"Lord Leon, if you whisper it like that, no one can hear you! Everyone! Lord Leon says he wants to meet us again someday!"
"Lord Leon! Let's meet again!"
With Chris waving her hand excitedly as the last sight, we left the Holy Kingdom.
*
Leon blankly gazed out the window. The afternoon sunlight was truly warm, but it didn't reach Leon. He tapped the wooden giant statue with his finger. It was something Chris had left as a gift. Leon carefully examined the wooden giant's shoulder, then toppled it with his finger. The wooden giant fell too easily, and Leon let out a small laugh. The real one wasn't like this. The historical accuracy was off.
Leon recalled the events of that morning. Ruina, saying her final farewell and leaving the Holy Kingdom. Truly, even to the very end, she toyed with people's hearts. Ruina's image flashed through Leon's mind. Silver hair like starlight. Light green eyes filled with vitality. Snow-white skin. Leon had known for a long time that Ruina's eyes sparkled. Even when she was burned, her eyes had shone clearly. However, her original appearance was still shocking. Leon wasn't the type to obsess over people's appearances. He embraced the word "justice" too greatly to care about such things. But separately from that, Leon was shocked. Why? Because it was Ruina. Even if it were someone else, it wouldn't matter, but Ruina was someone who could shake Leon.
Leon remembered Ruina laughing playfully under a night sky pouring with stars. Hello, Lani. It was a very fitting thing to say. Leon and Ruina had spent quite some time together, but regardless, that was the phrase that needed to be used then. That was the atmosphere.
Leon shifted his gaze to the distant mountains. Now Leon had become a paladin. Paladins were the Holy Kingdom's core fighting force. They received many missions, and Leon was no exception. Soon, a mission that only a paladin could undertake would be assigned to Leon as well.
"……"
Leon had wanted to become a paladin. Like the paladin who had once saved him, becoming a paladin and upholding justice was Leon's dream. But why was it? Now that he had actually become a paladin, the position felt heavy. If he weren't a paladin. If he were just an ordinary holy knight. Then Leon too would have followed Ruina and traveled again—
"Leon."
At the sudden voice, Leon snapped out of his thoughts. It was the Cardinal Secretary. When Leon jumped to his feet, the Cardinal Secretary gestured to stop him and spoke kindly.
"Don't be like that. I merely came to deliver a message."
"What is it?"
"Your mission has been decided. It's a mission you must depart for immediately."
Mission. At those two words, Leon steeled his heart. What kind of mission would it be? Tracking down the Evil God's sect? Or eradicating some other evil?
"Leon."
"Please give your orders."
"You must go to the Magic Academy, Lapiel."
……
……?
Huh. Did I hear wrong?
"You didn't hear wrong."
"You really mean the Magic Academy?"
"That's right. You know, don't you? The Holy Kingdom sends exchange students to the Magic Academy every time. I would like you to stay there and manage the priests of the Holy Kingdom on-site."
Leon briefly wondered why that role was being given to him, but quickly figured out the reason. Leon was lacking in many ways to be called a paladin. He was a legitimate paladin, but his skills were only at the level of a high-ranking holy knight at best. Such a Leon was a very ambiguous existence. Assign him a dangerous mission? A paladin? Are they just trying to let him die? Assign him an ordinary mission? A paladin? Are they trying to waste manpower? In other words, after considering everything, the best option was to assign Leon a mission that only a paladin could do but was safe. And there was usually only one such mission. A politically oriented mission. Yes. Leon had been assigned to the Magic Academy to gain political advantages.
Thinking about it now, the Cardinal Secretary hadn't been wearing a gentle expression. He had been hiding feelings of guilt. He was giving a mission to a holy knight who had barely become a paladin to be stuck at the Magic Academy. One hundred out of one hundred would be angry. The old Leon would have been angry too. He would have protested that this wasn't what he wanted. However.
"Understood."
"I'm sorry."
The current Leon obediently accepted the Cardinal Secretary's request. At the words "Magic Academy," Leon slightly raised the corners of his mouth, then suddenly lowered them again. But. If this was the case, wasn't it like saying goodbye forever only to meet again right away? …If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have said that final farewell.