The Rookies
I didn't hesitate for a second. I launched myself forward.
Ugh!
I rolled across the floor, protecting my head. The real problem was the Saintess.
She'd just had her first physical contact with an outsider male, which put her one step away from being okay. If the Holy Empire's knight order saw her in that condition?
Unless the principal himself showed up, covering it up would be nearly impossible. I did plan to clash with the Holy Empire eventually, but that was supposed to come later.
I needed to establish my footing a little more before the scales could balance.
"Saintess! Are you alright?"
But life never follows the script. The knight order burst in without even giving me time to catch my breath.
At least they're keeping some distance.
If they hadn't noticed that her mind had gone haywire, we might still be okay. She'd already received treatment, so if things went south we could still fight.
"I'm fine, Ganelon."
My earlier worries turned out to be pointless. The Saintess answered in a perfectly calm tone. The blush that had covered her face had already faded long ago.
Her mask-switching skills were top-tier.
I let out a silent whistle of admiration and stood up naturally, brushing my hair back and straightening my clothes.
"What in the world...?"
Ganelon, the knight commander who had first checked on the Saintess's safety, finally took stock of the surroundings. The temple was in a pitiful state.
The barrier around the altar was cracked as if a massive scar had been carved into it. The pillars were half-destroyed, and the floor was pitted and split everywhere.
The most serious problem was that the temple's protection system had completely collapsed. There was no signal from the ancient golem that guarded this place.
"Stay back."
Ganelon extended a hand behind him as he spoke. Who could have caused this level of destruction?
His instincts were screaming the answer. The culprit was the man wearing the student uniform.
I can't gauge his strength at all.
Even if we mobilized the entire Holy Empire knight order, I wasn't sure we could win. It looked like he'd taken the Saintess hostage.
If it became clear we couldn't win, I'd have to prepare myself to abandon her. A Saintess who'd lost her purity had no value.
Of course, waiting for the next Saintess to be born would be painful, but there was nothing more foolish than clinging to something that was already finished.
"May I ask what business brings you here?"
Even as he spoke, Ganelon suppressed his disgust. Not content with wearing the mask of a child, the man had even put on a student uniform.
What a vile hobby.
"I'm sorry, but I'm a student."
"A student? There's no way a student could possess this kind of strength..."
Ganelon trailed off. But it existed.
The commoner who'd recently drawn attention inside the Holy Empire. Ganelon stayed away from internal politics so he didn't know the exact details, but he'd overheard talk of someone with abnormal power.
What was his name again? Ethan? I think that was it.
"May I have your name?"
"It's Ethan."
So the rumors were true. I'd snorted at the idea, thinking there was no way a mere commoner could do something like this.
Even among trash, a decent piece sometimes appeared.
"Ah. I misunderstood. I'll speak casually then."
He couldn't bring himself to use polite speech with a commoner.
"Whatever you prefer."
I answered indifferently.
"One question. Why did you come here? Outsiders are forbidden from entering."
"It's not like I wanted to come here."
"What do you mean?"
"I was doing special training. When I opened my eyes, I was here."
"Explain in more detail."
I laid out the full situation for Ganelon. I was supposed to land in the forest, but I fell into some unknown cave instead.
After barely escaping that place, I ended up here. Since I didn't know how to get out, I touched the barrier to trigger the alarm.
That activated the protection system and turned everything into this mess.
As I explained it all so boldly...
This guy's insane.
His thinking wasn't sane from the start. The commoner had definitely heard the Saintess's warning. He'd admitted it himself, so it was certain.
Yet he'd still caused an incident this big without considering the cleanup at all. Typical commoner behavior, I suppose.
"I acknowledge that the circumstances allow for some consideration. However, touching the barrier makes any leniency impossible. Why exactly did you touch it?"
"I couldn't just wait forever when I had no idea when you'd show up."
"Do you realize how many crimes you've committed?"
"I do."
"This cannot be overlooked."
Ganelon had to admit it. The commoner's strength had no visible limit.
That's why he'd tried to avoid fighting. He didn't want to show shame to the knights who respected him.
But his opponent was a commoner. His pride simply wouldn't allow it.
That he—the noble knight commander directly under the Holy Empire—would lose to a mere commoner, not even a hidden master?
It was unacceptable even if the sky split in two.
"You've crossed the line by far."
As Ganelon muttered those words, every knight behind him drew their swords in perfect unison.
"Enough. I'll handle him myself."
Restraining his men, Ganelon took a step forward.
No matter how strong the commoner was, he couldn't defeat a great noble. Besides, he must have been exhausted from fighting the ancient golem.
He was pretending to be relaxed, but it had to be an act. The odds were in Ganelon's favor.
He narrowed his eyes and gripped the scabbard with both hands.
Tap.
He stamped the scabbard against the ground, then drew the sword with practiced, leisurely movements.
With elegant grace, he hooked the scabbard onto his belt. In contrast, the commoner was scanning him with a sloppy gaze.
The initiative had been seized. All that remained was for this pathetic commoner to kneel...
!?
The air changed.
It felt like he'd been plunged into the deep sea, his lungs being painfully crushed. Countless blades seemed to be carving up his entire body.
He looked down at his hand. It was shaking. No—it had been shaking.
The hand was severed. The leg was severed.
How was he even standing? The moment the question formed, his torso split in half.
He couldn't continue the thought. What was he? He was...
"Are you sure you're the knight commander?"
A voice that shattered his thoughts echoed through his entire body. Ganelon realized too late that everything had been an illusion.
"Huk... Hack..."
Cold sweat poured down his back.
"For someone who's supposed to be the knight commander, you're quite the coward."
I tapped Ganelon's shoulder lightly.
"Well, you're not the real one anyway. In the original story, you didn't have much of a role."
I couldn't understand what he was saying, but one thing was clear: I'd been defeated before the fight even began.
Getting pathetically scared by a mere commoner. Spouting ugly nonsense about my leg being cut off or my torso being split in two.
Damn it...!
It was time to truly admit defeat, but I simply couldn't bring myself to do it.
Ganelon knew how despicable his next actions would look. Yet he didn't stop.
I was letting my guard down, savoring my victory. He aimed for that exact moment and swung his sword stealthily from behind.
"Predictable."
I didn't even turn around. The sword heading toward me stopped as if blocked by an invisible wall.
"You shouldn't ignore me...!"
When I looked toward the source of the voice, I saw a woman stretching her arm in this direction.
"M-Master... Please finish this quickly! It's too much for me!"
"You're holding it off pretty well for something that's 'too much.'"
"That's because I'm using every ounce of my strength!"
"Well done."
I chuckled and spun around.
"Speaking down to you seems just right."
"You bastard...!"
"Well, as long as I don't kill you, we can manage the cleanup somehow."
Crash!
My fist slammed into Ganelon's abdomen.
"Cough!"
"As expected, it has a nice feel. It's been a while since I threw a punch."
Clenching and unclenching my fist, I curled my lips into a smirk. The solidly landed strike made Ganelon gasp deeply.
To think the impact went straight through the armor. Just how powerful was that punch?
"Hmm?"
I saw Ganelon gathering strength as if preparing to charge. There was no reason to let him.
I kicked his head. Ganelon rolled across the floor until he stopped right in front of his knight order members.
One member who saw their respected commander collapse helplessly fainted on the spot. The vice-commander looked down at him with a face pale from shock.
The rest of the members were in complete panic, their will to fight gone.
Why the hell did these guys even come?
The moment the protection system collapsed, my power had already been proven. To clean up the situation, shouldn't they have sent their top elites?
As I was thinking that, a red light flashed from the fallen knight commander's chest.
Wait a minute.
It was a signal I knew well. A beeper.
Redefining the current situation...
A double alarm is a variable. Fuck!
It meant another alarm had gone to the Holy Empire. This time, a real big shot would definitely show up.
Just how many consecutive fights am I supposed to have?
There was no time to rest. I let out a deep sigh at the frustrating situation when I felt a presence.
Had they already arrived?
"You've become even stronger than before. Not much time has passed, yet your growth rate is remarkable."
Contrary to expectations, the person who appeared was the principal of Rosewood Academy, Jeron Berk.
"The slave lady has clearly become stronger as well."
The principal looked at us both with a satisfied smile.
"Was the knight commander calling for you, Principal?"
"Is that what you were hoping for?"
"I'd really prefer that it wasn't."
"As you wished, I didn't come because I received a summons. I came to find a student who got caught up in an unpleasant incident."
The principal surveyed the area.
"This is the Holy Empire's space. How did you end up getting dragged into something like this?"
"Don't you know their identity either, Principal?"
"I'm not omniscient."
You're pretty incompetent then. I swallowed the words. After all, he had come to rescue us.
"Hmm. You seem perfectly fine."
"I wasn't fine originally."
"If you're fine now, isn't that what matters?"
The principal said it with a straight face.
"Anyway, I have no intention of letting this matter slide."
The sly atmosphere around the principal vanished in an instant. Veins bulged on his forehead.
"You go back and rest. I'll handle the rest."
"That's reassuring. But how?"
The principal waved his hand. Our figures disappeared. He'd sent us back inside the academy.
"...Come out."
The principal murmured quietly.
The principal removed his fedora. The hat transformed into a cane, and the cane into a sword.
The principal grinned.