The Oath of the Remaining
Karl had originally planned to spend more time with Selena. After all, he was just a pitiful, hapless graduate student who had to return to the academy in a few days.
But unfortunately, Selena had her own matters to attend to. Specifically, family affairs.
“Sorry, Karl. My father called me back to the family estate urgently.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know the details myself. I’ll find out once I get there.”
It would be better if it wasn’t anything serious. Karl saw Selena off with a reminder to be careful.
“Mm.”
From what he heard, Eloise had gone on a trip with the other elf students. They were supposedly bonding with one another.
But no matter how he thought about it, that excuse for friendship didn’t hold up. In his view, it looked more like they were being pulled away from the academy to some other place for more legitimate reasons.
Normally, the students from decent noble families would have protested in a group. Their families would have been furious: *What the hell are you doing with our kids?!*
There was one problem, though. The internal situation within Heigens was tense, with the old power structure clashing against the new forces that had risen after the war.
More precisely, it was the veterans who had fought tooth and nail against the Luzens elves clashing with those who had done nothing during the conflict. The latter group, especially, was centered around lower-ranking warriors.
Under those circumstances, the students wouldn’t have much room to worry about anything. Even a year ago, the Gganf had tried to cause trouble inside the academy.
Even if it had been Heigens instead of Luzens, the fact remained that they were all elves. From the elves’ perspective, getting involved with the academy any further would be politically too burdensome.
At least the Empire had brushed it off, saying *Ah, this is the bad Luzens elves’ doing, and the good Heigens are the victims, so it’s fine.* But no one knew if there would be another chance.
Poor elf students. I wonder if Eloise isn’t secretly giving them guerrilla training.
Well, it might not be a bad thing. If they came back, things would probably become even more sticky.
And they could also dedicate their remaining academy life to never falling into that hell again.
That was how it went for Eloise. Next up was our Lepia princess. No, junior…
“Lepia princess? No, Lepia junior? Apparently she joined some club right after the break and is doing well. I heard she went to the Empire’s summer resort with them during the break.”
Marcus, the senior who still hadn’t escaped the graduate program, filled him in on the situation.
Thankfully, Lepia seemed to be doing even better than expected. He had worried she might be alone at the academy during the break, but that had been a needless worry.
So the only one left is Lavrenti…
When he had gone to the Holy See, he had made the same offer to Lavrenti as to the other two women. *Will you come with me?*
At the time, Lavrenti had looked genuinely regretful and explained why she couldn’t join.
She had applied for a semester off to prepare, she said, in case her credits were short, her grades weren’t good enough, or she needed more training.
It wasn’t a bad choice. In fact, from commoners to noble students, everyone had taken a semester off when they felt they were falling short or their results weren’t up to par.
So naturally, when she returned to the academy, Karl had expected to see her in the middle of lectures…
But she’s not here?
Yeah. She wasn’t. No matter where he looked—cafeteria, library, even the corners of the academy—he couldn’t find her.
Where had she gone? It was pointless to just run around on foot. So he grabbed some first-year juniors and asked about Lavrenti’s whereabouts.
“Lavrenti? Uh… I’m not sure. Sorry, senior.”
“She was in the semester-off lectures yesterday. But she’s not here today.”
“Wait a second. I think I heard something about her going there yesterday… Ah, senior. According to my memory, she said she was going to that place today. She mentioned something about friends who were sleeping there…”
That was enough to tell Karl where Lavrenti had gone. She had skipped her intensive lectures and headed straight to the place where their fallen comrades were laid to rest.
*Ellington National Cemetery.*
…
Lavrenti stared blankly at the surroundings.
It was nothing special. Just like any other cemetery, only a little narrower.
It was a shame, but there was nothing to be done about it. It was only natural that there would be this gap between those who hadn’t done anything praiseworthy and those who had done great deeds.
“Are you all doing well?”
Some had been acquaintances before they were selected as sharpshooters. Others had been from small units that had been assigned as their first mission after becoming sharpshooters.
And finally, there was the one who had fought alongside her as a sharpshooter.
Everyone had fought with all their might. Most of them had died. There were survivors, but as always, the ones who didn’t die left more regrets than those who did.
“I entered the academy. I’m finally continuing the real meaning of my studies… It’s actually much harder than I thought. My head feels like it’s splitting.”
Being a sharpshooter wasn’t just about taking sniper shots.
Sometimes you had to watch over the middle of friendly attack lines to prevent enemies from slipping through gaps. Sometimes you had to stop reinforcements from advancing further.
You protected engineers working on dangerous front lines, and in fierce battles, you eliminated enemy mages or other sharpshooters.
Every mission was different. But there was one thing that was always the same.
Every time your rifle spat fire and your bullets pierced an enemy, one ally didn’t die. If you missed, an ally would bleed out and fall instead.
In the past, on the battlefield, Lavrenti had been known as the White Feather.
Her official sniper record was ninety-three. Unofficially, it was said she could easily reach three hundred when combined.
Whenever she was deployed, the allies had felt safe knowing her back was covered.
But Lavrenti remembered. Even those great records hadn’t been like that from the start.
No matter how many hundreds you sniped, no matter how many thousands you saved. In the end, what always remained were the bitter memories of those you couldn’t save and nothing but guilt.
“I brought some alcohol today. This is expensive. Remember that.”
Still, she thought she was lucky. Right next to her was someone carrying the worst memories. In front of that person, she was still at the level of a lucky person.
Karl Adelheit. Her mentor. A very warm man. And a generous man.
Compared to the pain he had endured, she was nothing. Lavrenti thought that as she poured a drink in front of each tombstone.
“Can I pour one too, Lavrenti?”
“…Ah?”
Lavrenti startled and turned her head. There stood Karl.
While Lavrenti was bewildered, Karl reached over and picked up the bottle.
He poured it into the cup until it was about to overflow.
“M-Master.”
“I come here sometimes too. I chat with those damn bastards. Whether you hear it or not, I still talk my head off. I hope you’ll listen.”
Karl set the bottle down, gave a light nod, and looked at Lavrenti.
“What kind of people were they?”
“…They were all good people.”
“I see. That’s good. After all, since they were good people, the gods took them away so quickly.”
Lavrenti let out a sigh without realizing it. She worried that Karl might be hurting again because of her.
“Lavrenti.”
Fortunately, Karl was smiling. Not a bright smile, but a smile nonetheless.
“As a senior. As a mentor. Ah, damn it. I don’t want to be a senior or a mentor in this part either. Anyway, I won’t say you should forget. I can’t forget either.”
“…”
“It’s not like I won. Well, it’s a bit strange. What did I win? I couldn’t win in the first place. If that had been possible, I wouldn’t have come looking for these people with you.”
Lavrenti wondered if Karl was saying that to her or to himself.
“I just want to be bold. When we meet again someday. Without a single lie, I want to be able to say that I did my best in front of those who sacrificed their lives for me.”
It was true. No matter how much you cried, no matter how much you regretted it. The dead didn’t speak. They didn’t answer.
The only ones who could answer were the survivors. You could live drinking until you died, or you could live doing your best to make up for what they left behind.
What could I do for them? What could I leave behind?
So I survived. I’m still alive, doing my best. For myself. Because what’s for myself is ultimately for them.
“How was your trip to the Holy See?”
“Too well. That’s the problem.”
“I heard you received a miracle.”
“Uwaaa! Damn it! I didn’t want to talk about that story here?!”
“But that story is already making the Empire noisy, Master.”
While watching Karl make exaggerated gestures, Lavrenti smiled brightly.
They shared the same wounds, the same pain. So, couldn’t they understand each other and comfort one another?
It was a little sad that it wasn’t the first time, but… there was no helping it. Still, she couldn’t give up.
“Did you really receive a miracle?”
“No way! I just got a little light!”
“Master. To the public, that’s called a miracle.”
The two men and woman chatted casually. Above their heads, a slightly brighter sunlight than usual fell gently.