To the Duchy (1)
To the Duchy (1)
The academy had a lot in common with the schools from my previous life, but there were plenty of differences, too.
One of them was a truly fundamental difference.
Unlike the schools in my past life, the Royal Academy had only one vacation break: winter.
Since few students actually lived in the capital and most needed more than a month just to travel to and from their noble domains, a short summer break would have made visiting home nearly impossible. Yet the academy had no summer break at all.
Instead, they held an event called 'Dispatched Classes' that continued right up until the autumn second semester began.
Unsurprisingly, the name of this event was terrible, too.
To make matters worse, the founding king who had built the academy had personally named these courses, so it seemed their mediocre names were destined to persist forever.
At any rate, the 'Dispatched Classes' were organized to send academy students to various domains, military units, and monster-defense frontlines so they could gain practical experience.
The event seemed designed to serve several purposes: giving students field experience, bringing students together to encourage communication between domains, and inspecting each domain and military post through the officials assigned to supervise them.
But as time passed, even these 'Dispatched Classes' had deteriorated considerably.
Powerful high nobles turned the dispatch destinations into their own domains, summoning their children attending the academy—and their friends—back home.
The original purpose had vanished entirely, and the event had devolved into an opportunity to build high-society networks and enjoy luxurious vacations.
That privilege was reserved exclusively for influential high nobles.
And the Duke of Gracia was one of those powerful nobles.
The Duke of Gracia's domain was among the dispatch locations the professor was writing on the blackboard in front of the gathered group leaders.
That was because of Manuel, and it was undoubtedly the work of his mother, the Duchess, rather than the Duke himself.
"The Duke's domain is on the list, too. Are you going home, Young Lord? If so, will we be on duty at the municipal office, or staying at your family mansion?"
Seeing the ducal domain written on the chalkboard, Balea kept asking questions beside me.
She didn't seem particularly concerned with getting an answer, so I didn't bother replying.
Instead, I fell into deep thought.
What would happen if I returned to the domain with Manuel?
I'd get to see my mother for the first time in a while and catch up with the friendly knights and soldiers.
I'd also get to see my personal maid, Flora, and, if my prospective sister-in-law was still at the estate, her as well.
'On the other hand, I'd have to see His Grace the Duke and face the Duchess directly, wouldn't I?'
On top of that, Manuel would undoubtedly tell the Duchess everything that had happened at the academy.
Others had recognized my achievements, but they were the very last things the Duchess would want to hear about, which would make any time spent at the mansion far more uncomfortable than I could imagine.
And if Balea came along, too...
"Mm, going home is on hold."
I absolutely couldn't let Balea and my mother meet.
The professor continued writing domains on the blackboard.
Some were famous for their scenery, while others had military posts established along the borders.
I also spotted a unit nestled deep in the mountain range west of the Kingdom, and even the Kingdom's capital was on the list.
If the destination was the capital, it had to be the Princess's 'Dispatched Class' location.
Since other high nobles had designated their own domains as dispatch sites, there was no way they would leave out the 'capital' for a royal like the Princess.
'Then maybe I don't need to tag along this time.'
The Princess didn't seem particularly fond of the royal palace, but with the Queen there, spending this dispatched class at the palace didn't seem so bad.
She'd have to do her assigned coursework while there, anyway, so the chances of running into other royals would be low.
Besides, there didn't seem to be many dangerous situations inside the royal palace.
Unless the King died out of nowhere, that is.
'I don't feel like walking on eggshells at the palace, either.'
There was no telling what sort of remarks an illegitimate son of a duke might have to endure if he set foot in the royal palace.
There was no reason to go out of my way to visit somewhere I'd only get badmouthed.
"I'd rather there be a team heading to the Duchy..."
"Why the Duchy?"
"It's not an easy place to visit unless an opportunity like this comes along."
I came up with a plausible excuse to answer Balea's question.
Unlike in my past life, traveling was far from easy in this world.
Even though superhumans existed and living conditions were better than they had been in the medieval era of my past life, traveling to another domain or another country was several times harder than it had been back then.
"Still, there are plenty of other places worth visiting besides the Duchy. Lots of domains have beautiful scenery."
As Balea said, the other domains weren't bad, but I really wanted to visit the Duchy.
It was rumored to be home to someone capable of repairing artifacts, and the place seemed to harbor secrets in every corner.
On top of that, situated right between our kingdom and the Empire, it was the perfect place to gather information about the Empire without actually setting foot inside it.
"Huh? Is the place the professor is writing down right now the Julian Duchy?"
I was looking at the place name the professor was writing on the blackboard, too.
"Wait, is it possible to go to the Duchy for a dispatched class? Even though it's technically still affiliated with the Kingdom, it's already declared independence as a duchy. This isn't an exchange program with a foreign country, so can this really happen?"
I had a similar question.
As far as I could recall, no dispatched class had ever been sent to the Duchy before.
The Duchy had been established only a few decades ago, but not once during those decades had students been dispatched there.
So why now, all of a sudden?
If anything was different now compared to before...
Just then, having finished writing all the dispatch locations on the board, the professor raised his voice so everyone could hear.
"I've already informed the team leaders which domain they've been assigned to. Now, let the team leaders announce their respective dispatch locations and recruit their members."
The professor concluded by explaining that any team short on members would have unaffiliated students assigned to it by force.
The team leaders then began announcing their dispatch locations.
One by one, they stated their destinations, until a team leader stepped forward and announced that their location was the capital.
That team leader wasn't the Princess.
From the whispers beside me, I learned he was the top third-year student in the Department of Administration.
Contrary to what I'd assumed, the capital dispatch didn't mean a stay at the royal palace. It meant being put through the wringer at the administrative branch.
Then the Princess announced her dispatch destination.
"My dispatch location is the Julian Duchy."
As expected, an unusual student was behind the unusual dispatch location.
"You said you wanted to visit the Duchy, right? Did you know this in advance?"
I shook my head at Balea's words.
As if. I hadn't expected things to turn out like this at all.
When the Princess returned to her seat, I heard from her how it had come about.
"At the ball, I had a chance to speak with someone I've known for a long time. I even heard news about a close cousin of mine."
A cousin, huh.
Wait, if she's the Princess's cousin and her father is the King, then that would mean the children of the King's younger brother.
Then she must be talking about the Grand Prince of the Duchy's children!
Could the acquaintance she'd mentioned be the mansion steward who had spoken with her near the end of the ball?
I hadn't thought much of it at the time, but who would have guessed it would lead to this?
"I have a close cousin in the Duchy. It's difficult to meet in person because of the distance, but we've stayed in touch through letters."
Just as I'd expected, it really was the child of the Grand Prince.
"While we were talking, the subject of the dispatched class came up. They pulled a few strings so I could go to the Duchy."
It seemed the noble who had spoken with the Princess wasn't just an ordinary estate steward, either.
Why were there so many surprisingly important people once you got to know them?
I asked the Princess why she hadn't told me in advance.
"I didn't mention it because it was a personal matter. Aren't you going back home, Young Lord?"
I'm not going. Not a chance.
"I can't possibly sit this out when you're traveling so far. I'll accompany you."
I decided to go along to protect the Princess.
Though completely different ulterior motives kept flashing through my mind, I definitely made this decision for the Princess's sake!
"Having spent time together, I feel like I'm starting to understand what you're thinking, Young Lord."
"What? You understand the Young Lord's thoughts?"
The Princess tilted her head in confusion at Balea's remark.
"Ah, he's resolved to pro-tect you even more diligently, Your Highness."
Everyone else understood my true intentions, but Balea seemed to have misinterpreted them in a completely different way.
I really wished she'd just go somewhere else.
But she promptly joined the same team.
"I'll participate, too. Please take good care of me, Your Highness."
"I'd love to have you join us, Balea."
Thus, the first-years were settled in a flash, while an upperclassman—a famous third-year student—brought a junior along to join the group.
"I am Havier from the third-year Department of Knights. Together with Benjamin, the top student in the second-year Department of Administration, I would like to join Your Highness's team."
The third-year student who had dragged the second-year junior along was Havier, famous as the top student in the Knight Faculty.
"Um, Senior, aren't you serving as a team leader?"
"The moment I heard Her Highness had become a team leader, I immediately gave up my position as one."
"Pardon?"
"Watching Her Highness during the practical training class made me reconsider what true chivalry means. Though graduation isn't far off, I wish to serve Her Highness until then!"
'You are my Master!'
I felt as though I'd heard a voice echo those words, but I immediately shook my head to clear away the hallucination.
Even without recalling my past life, it was a remarkably grand declaration, but the Princess looked quite uncomfortable.
It was a heavy statement for the young Princess to process.
Perhaps because of Havier's cringe-inducing declaration, the second-year student he'd dragged along took a step back with an awkward expression.
"Wait, I need a little more time to think..."
"Tsk, you promised me. You said you'd grant me one favor in return for last time."
But Havier grabbed him by the back of his hair once more and forced him to stand in front of the Princess.
"No, I didn't know it would be something like this. My future career prospects..."
"It's all right. You don't have to participate if you don't want to."
When the Princess gave him an apologetic look, he looked not just awkward but ready to cry.
Even to him, it seemed as though he was putting the Princess on the spot.
"No, Your Highness, that's not what I meant..."
Glancing back and forth, Benjamin ultimately let out a sigh and agreed to join the Princess's team.
"Phew, I'll participate, too."
Since the visit to the Duchy had been arranged on short notice, a large party couldn't travel together.
On top of that, regardless of the circumstances, a royal princess of the Kingdom was visiting the Duchy.
Because the Princess's personal attendants also had to accompany her, these five students made up the entire student party for the 'Duchy Dispatched Class'.
A few days later, the area in front of the academy was packed with carriages.
They were there to pick up students departing for their 'Dispatched Classes'.
For high-ranking nobles, it honestly didn't look much different from returning home for break.
But many students looked crestfallen.
Some were heading to frontline military bases, while others were condemned to push pens in the capital all summer long.
As expected, Manuel returned to the domain with the group heading to the Gracia territory.
I asked Manuel to pass along my regards to the family back in the domain.
Honestly, I didn't expect much.
Since I was already keeping in touch through separate messengers, it didn't really matter whether he passed along my regards or not.
Our team, bound for the Duchy, boarded a royal carriage provided by the crown and headed to the palace.
The Princess was waiting for us at the royal palace.
An official had arrived there to guide us to the Duchy.
He was an executive administrator responsible for handling practical affairs with the Duchy and overseeing our group.
Contrary to my expectations, the official wasn't a stranger.
"I am Viscount Daniel. I will be accompanying you all to the Duchy."
The man who was the Second Prince's confidant and strategist was traveling to the Duchy with us.