I Returned the Keepsakes
I Returned the Keepsakes
The way back was easier than the way in.
I had already disarmed the traps on my way in, and the monster ambushes were easy to handle, since the walls already had gaping holes where I expected them.
Still, the journey wasn't always smooth.
Escaping the monster nest in the surface ruins was no easy feat, and passing through the Seal Grounds again was just as challenging.
The biggest problem was that I was short on time.
I had already spent over four days entering the ruins and completing the exploration.
I couldn't afford to spend more than two days on the way back.
If I messed up and arrived late, I might actually end up left behind all by myself.
If that happened, I might have to wander the Seal Grounds alone until the 'Practical Training'.
On top of that, there was no guarantee the 'Practical Training' would take place in the same location as it had before my death, so arriving late would be a major disaster.
Giving up on meals and giving up on sleep, I sprinted relentlessly through the Seal Grounds.
Luckily, since I had passed through here once before, I could bypass the monsters' territories and move quickly.
So, after passing through the monster nest where I had killed Ride once more, I sprinted not toward the cave where I had started, but toward the clearing where the pillar of light shot into the sky.
The sun was already high in the sky. Today was the promised seventh day, and the Headmaster would already be waiting at the Seal Grounds.
"Huh, no way?"
I gritted my teeth and ran across the treetops, then abruptly stopped.
I had caught sight of something completely unexpected.
I leapt down from the tree.
Armor and weapons were scattered across the ground. Bones and parts of corpses also caught my eye.
They were what remained after the monsters had devoured them.
It was a gruesome sight that would have made the students throw up everything in their stomachs if they saw it.
The bodies were hardly intact, but I could tell who they were.
They were the Academy Knights who had set out with me to find the students—the knights from another team who had gone missing.
Even though I had fired signal flares multiple times without getting any response and had assumed they were dead, I hadn't expected to actually see them like this.
Though time was short, I gathered the relatively intact pieces of armor and weapons scattered around and slung them over my back.
Although these were people who had become Academy Knights for duties like this, they shouldn't be forgotten as missing persons in a place like this.
If I hadn't known and simply passed by, that would have been one thing. But now that I'd seen it with my own eyes, I couldn't just walk past.
I paused for a moment to think of an excuse to give the others, then smirked to myself.
"No, with these keepsakes, I'll have an excuse to wander off on my own under the guise of searching."
I could tell the others it was out of good intentions, but I couldn't lie to myself.
It wasn't for some ethical reason like, 'Let's be a truthful person.'
It was because of a strong premonition that if I kept deceiving myself, I would eventually lose who I was amid countless deaths.
As I bound the keepsakes with a stray knight's cloak, I bound my resolve once more, shouldered the bundle, and set off again.
I headed toward where the light was shooting skyward.
At the center of the clearing, the rendezvous point for the 'Field Trip'.
Even now, as the sun was setting, a pillar of light blazed from the open box.
And in front of the box stood Katrin, pleading with the Headmaster.
"Please wait a little longer! Alex will come back!"
Katrin, the students, and the surviving knights had arrived at the clearing around lunchtime.
The Headmaster and the knights who had been waiting were overjoyed to see them.
As soon as the group arrived, the Headmaster had intended to return to the Academy immediately, but he decided to stay a little longer at Katrin and the knights' entreaties.
The deadline for staying was sunset.
And now, that time had arrived.
Katrin begged for a little more time, but the Headmaster shook his head at her words. "We've waited long enough. You said he still hasn't returned after more than five days. We have to consider that student missing as well."
"But..."
"Your intentions may have been good, but it was reckless. Sending a student alone into the Seal Grounds..."
Instead, the Headmaster reprimanded Katrin for sending Alex alone.
Katrin was the only one trying to stop the Headmaster.
The Academy Knights who had returned with them were in no position to speak up to the Headmaster, and the students were desperate to return as soon as possible.
Bria tried to back Katrin up, but Katrin stopped her instead.
Katrin had no lingering attachment to the school and didn't care about confronting the Headmaster, but Bria was a student, so it was different for her.
"We can wait no longer. We are withdrawing."
The Headmaster used his ability to bypass Katrin as she blocked his path, and closed the box.
The pillar of light disappeared, leaving only the evening glow in the clearing.
Katrin's shoulders slumped, and the students and knights gathered around the Headmaster.
"We depart now."
As the Headmaster made his declaration, Katrin began stepping back one step at a time, intending to stay behind.
It was at that moment.
"Am I very late?"
A young boy's voice rang out from atop a tree bathed in the sunset.
Whew. That scared me. I thought I was late.
I had been startled when the pillar of light vanished right before my eyes.
I had sprinted like crazy to reach the clearing, and when I saw that people were still there, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're late!"
Katrin barked angrily the moment she saw me.
But despite her harsh tone, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Still, I'm glad you returned. I have a lot to say, but since you made it back safely, I'll say nothing today."
The Headmaster was about to scold me as I approached, but shut his mouth when he took in my appearance.
Even I could tell I looked a mess. Forget washing—I hadn't slept, and I'd barely eaten anything.
On top of that, fighting monsters and braving traps had left my clothes in tatters and my body covered in more than a few wounds.
Not just Katrin, but the students and knights all looked at me with pity.
I approached the knights first.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to save the others."
"It's all right. No, it is all right. Young Lord Alex did his best. The knights who failed to return would have been glad, too."
Sir Miro, representing the knights, shook his head at my apology.
Though he had spoken informally to me until then, he addressed me respectfully for the first time. It felt a little distant, but not unpleasant.
But I wasn't finished speaking yet.
"Still, I was able to bring back the knights' keepsakes. There were traces showing that they fought the monsters with all their might. But because the bodies were so badly damaged, there wasn't much I could retrieve."
I untied the bundle on my back and laid it on the ground.
Clatter.
As the bundle came undone, pieces of armor, broken swords, a bloodstained necklace, and a handkerchief engraved with the Academy Knights' crest spilled onto the ground.
"Ah..."
Seeing the items scattered on the ground, everyone fell silent.
Not only the knights who had searched alongside me, but also the knights who had crossed over with the Headmaster this time stepped forward to the relics.
As they identified the keepsakes, they stood before them one by one and raised their swords.
In place of corpses, the knights faced worn and battered items and paid tribute to their departed comrades.
A funeral for the knights unfolded in the clearing of the Seal Grounds beneath the setting sun.
Perhaps because of the solemn atmosphere, even the Headmaster waited for the knights' rite to finish.
"Well done. You did so well."
Katrin stood beside me and patted my shoulder.
"Even after we return to the Academy, the Headmaster won't be able to say anything to you."
"Hmm... Hmm..."
At Katrin's words, the Headmaster, who had been watching the knights beside us, cleared his throat.
I had almost been late, but bringing back the knights' keepsakes had definitely been the right choice.
What's more, I hadn't returned everything yet.
I reached into my coat and pulled two artifacts out of my inner pocket.
The artifact map and the signet ring.
I showed the artifacts to the Headmaster.
"What are those?"
"I couldn't find Ride, but I discovered these while searching for him. I found them near where Ride went missing."
"Just because you found them nearby, what connection does that have to Ride..."
"The crest engraved on this ring is similar to the crest of Ride's family."
At my words, the Headmaster hurriedly examined the signet ring.
"No way... Why is this here..."
He examined the ring closely, his brow furrowing deeply.
"It certainly appears to be an item of the Chaipree family. I will deliver this to the Count myself."
He carefully tucked away the map and the ring.
It seemed the Headmaster also knew, to some extent, what the signet ring was.
"Well done. For your commendable actions, you will receive good grades and a reward from the Count."
Even when I brought back the knights' keepsakes, the Headmaster's demeanor hadn't changed from before, but after confirming the signet ring, his expression did a complete 180-degree turn.
Although his impressive abilities had given me a new perspective on the Headmaster, looking at him now, he was indeed a political creature, just as my first impression had suggested.
Before the dusk faded, the knights' ceremony concluded, and we were able to return to the Academy before the monsters swarmed in.
Unlike before, since we returned late, there weren't many people waiting in the building we'd departed from.
Only a few faculty members remained inside, along with students such as the Princess, Balea, and Piar.
Yet, they were just as delighted to see us return as they had been back then.
And the Princess apologized for asking me to stay behind.
To me, it had happened a long time ago, so her apology felt unfamiliar.
Before my death, I had grown quite close to the Princess in the ruins, but with the Princess now, unlike back then, an awkward distance remained.
Once again, a tinge of regret scratched at my heart, but having experienced the same thing multiple times already, I composed my bruised feelings and accepted the Princess's apology.
While the students celebrated their survival, just as they had back then, the Headmaster, Katrin, and Sir Miro erected a soundproof barrier and talked.
They were clearly discussing the missing Ride.
But unlike last time, the conversation ended quickly.
The Headmaster wrapped up the discussion swiftly. It was thanks to the artifacts I had given him.
I stroked the pouch hidden inside my shirt.
Although two artifacts had passed into someone else's hands, I was quite satisfied.
The map and the signet ring were gone, but the pouch held even more artifacts.
Various relics and the orb I had brought back from the ruins.
Thanks to forcing in the orb that wouldn't fit, I managed to bring it back safely.
After the 'Field Trip' ended, the Academy was quite noisy, just as it had been back then.
A student had gone missing, and knights had perished.
Traveling to the Seal Grounds was inherently that dangerous, but people dying was hardly something to take lightly.
Amid that commotion, I became even more famous.
It was because I had roamed the Seal Grounds alone to retrieve the keepsakes of the deceased.
The Academy Knights expressed their gratitude whenever they saw me, and, true to his word, the Headmaster awarded me extra credits and a scholarship.
As expected, the 'Practical Training' proceeded as planned. Neither the Royal Knights arrived nor did the Noble Officers Corps participate.
Instead, I heard that a different order of knights would accompany us on the expedition to the Seal Grounds.
And there was someone else going with us again.
It was Count Chaipree.
He paid a visit to the Academy shortly before the 'Practical Training' was due to begin.
He had come to meet me.