Back to the Academy (1)
Back to the Academy (1)
A blue light shimmered along the blades of the daggers drawn by the men and women in choir robes.
The blades had been coated with something, probably poison.
I stepped in front of the bride and groom to shield them, then dashed toward the assassins.
"Aaah!"
Crackle!
Screams rang out as mana erupted from all directions.
I could feel mana barriers unfolding and the nobles gathering their mana.
I couldn't understand what they were thinking, attempting an assassination at a wedding.
This was a world populated by nobles who could use special abilities and wield relics.
It wasn't a world where you could easily kill someone with nothing more than a poisoned dagger.
The assassins in front of me seemed capable of manipulating mana, but their skills fell short of even an ordinary knight's.
The assassin who had come to kill me when I was a child had been skilled enough to cut down a knight in a single strike.
Yet even an assassin of that caliber couldn't defeat the Duke.
And not only was the Duke himself here, but dozens of other nobles were also attending as guests.
At their level, these assassins wouldn't just fail to pull off an assassination; they'd struggle even to graze the hem of the bride's dress.
Still, as someone hired to guard her, I couldn't just stand by and watch.
I reached the front of the choir loft and swung my sword.
At that moment, I heard the bride gasp behind me.
"Ah, to think they would ruin even this..."
I didn't know what she meant, but I had no time to look back.
Still, it was clear something had gone wrong. If so, I needed to put an end to this even more decisively.
The moment my sword severed one assassin's neck, the others scattered in all directions.
They readied the daggers in their hands to throw.
But they weren't the only ones with throwing daggers.
Using the momentum of my swing, I lunged to the left. As I closed in on an assassin who had dodged in the opposite direction, I drew a dagger and flung it.
Thunk!
Before the poisoned blade could leave the assassin's hand, my thrown dagger pierced his throat.
Without waiting to see the result, I thrust my greatsword straight into the chest of the assassin directly in front of me.
Ugh.
The assassin let out a breathless gasp and died instantly.
I released my grip on the greatsword embedded in his chest and swept my hand to the side.
Clink!
A dagger bounced off my gauntlet.
The assassin behind the one I had just impaled had thrown it, but it glanced harmlessly off my gauntlet.
I threw another dagger at the female assassin visible behind the collapsing body.
Her eyes widened as a dagger appeared in my seemingly empty hand, but her gaze instantly went lifeless.
As she collapsed, the dagger in her other hand clattered to the floor.
Four in all—the same number of people from whom I had sensed that sinister mana, and the same number who had drawn weapons in the choir loft.
And now, they were all dead by my hand.
As expected, protecting someone else was far more difficult than simply killing the enemy.
That had been a close call.
If I hadn't been able to throw and instantly recall my daggers, I wouldn't have been able to stop them from throwing theirs.
Phew.
I let out the breath I had been holding and turned around.
I needed to check whether everyone was all right, and I also wanted to find out what the bride had meant.
As I turned, I felt countless eyes fixed on me.
In fact, every single person inside the temple was staring at me.
They had probably been watching the assassins at first, but now that the threat was dead, their attention had naturally shifted to me.
I broke out in a cold sweat beneath the overwhelming pressure of the mana directed at me.
And it wasn't just raw mana filling the temple. Orbs of red flame and spheres of water hovered in the air, and swords brimming with mana had been drawn.
Seeing the mana barriers erected all over the place, I realized just how formidable a gathering of nobles could be.
Judging by their reactions, if I hadn't killed the assassins—or if I had been even a second slower—the choir loft would have been utterly obliterated by friendly fire.
The innocent choir members trembling in their seats would have been wiped out.
Unfortunately, though, it seemed unlikely those choir members would be going home unscathed anyway.
Having been so close to the assassins, they were bound to face a long, grueling investigation.
Looking past the crowd of nobles, I checked on the groom and the bride.
Simon stood in front of the bride, his sword drawn.
Dressed in fine wedding attire, he cut a dashing figure as he held his sword to protect his bride—except he had only stepped forward after all the assassins were dead.
I couldn't judge his special abilities, but his skills as a knight and a swordsman seemed somewhat lacking.
The bride, Adria, was slumped on the floor.
She wasn't looking in my direction. Instead, she was staring at her finger—or rather, at the ring on it.
A ring had been slipped onto her finger.
Since they hadn't exchanged rings yet, it couldn't be her wedding band.
It looked like an older piece—a relic ring.
Come to think of it, while mana barriers had gone up all over the guest seating, no such barrier had protected the bride and groom.
Given that Simon carried a sword, was the Duke's heir, and had trained in the family's mana cultivation technique, it wasn't unusual for him to go without a defensive relic.
But it was highly unusual for the bride to have been left completely defenseless.
No, looking at the ring, she had prepared a defense.
'Is that what she meant when she said they ruined it?'
Besides, Adria had spoken as if she knew exactly who had broken it.
Wait, Adria had specifically requested a highly skilled escort knight.
She had also mentioned being surprised when I was recommended for the job.
That meant the escort knight she wanted wasn't just for show.
She had needed someone who could actually protect her during the ceremony.
In other words, she had anticipated that an attack might take place at her own wedding.
She probably hadn't expected them to go as far as breaking her ring, but...
If there was someone capable of doing such a thing, someone who had a reason to do it...
A single figure came to mind.
Despite the chaotic uproar, the wedding was not called off.
The choir loft was cleared out, and though the bishop was sweating bullets, the ceremony was eventually brought to a formal conclusion.
To go ahead with a wedding right after an assassination attempt...
I was utterly baffled by the sheer grit of the people in this world, but to the nobility, the dishonor of a canceled wedding was apparently far worse than a minor brush with death.
No one complained, and not a single guest left the venue.
The bride and groom concluded the ceremony amid congratulations, and the reception that followed was a grand success.
Following the attack, ironclad security was naturally established around both the temple and the reception hall.
Knights who had previously kept their distance were stationed at key points, and soldiers were deployed to patrol the perimeter.
I faithfully carried out my duties until the very end.
After the incident, the attending nobles were burning with curiosity about my identity, but none of them dared approach a knight on active guard duty.
I later heard that the knight who had lent me his armor had a miserable time dealing with a barrage of inquiries from the nobility.
With the wedding over, the newlyweds began their married life at the estate.
Normally, the newlyweds would have traveled to the Marquis's estate after the ceremony.
They were supposed to pay their respects to the Marquis—who had been too ill to attend—and the rest of Adria's family, but the couple canceled their visit, citing the wedding attack as an excuse.
With the wedding, the reception, and the Duke's meetings with the visiting nobles all wrapped up, it was finally time to return to the capital.
On the evening before my departure, I sat down with my mother for tea and refreshments, just as I always did.
We talked about the wedding, my life at the academy, and various other trivial matters.
There was nothing of grave importance, nor any decisions to be made—just light, casual conversation.
Yet it was a far more rewarding and peaceful time than any high-stakes meeting.
Still, I felt it was finally time to ask her.
"Mother, how would you feel about leaving this place and living with me once I graduate from the academy?"
I had turned the idea over in my mind countless times, but I had never asked her so directly.
Until now, I hadn't had the confidence to support her, nor had I been sure of my own path.
While I still wasn't entirely sure whether taking her away from this estate was the right choice, I wanted to hear her thoughts.
At my words, my mother, Amanda, gazed at me quietly.
Then a gentle smile touched her lips.
"Even while staying quietly in this estate, I hear all sorts of rumors about you. Some are grand, and some are hard to believe."
"Like a princess, or a grand archduchess..."
Hearing her murmur those titles was slightly embarrassing.
"Even as a child, you were never ordinary. You were so easy to raise—in fact, I often felt as though I barely had to do anything at all."
Her next words, though full of praise, carried a faint trace of bittersweet regret.
"Since you were always a genius, I suppose all those wild rumors must be true."
Then she looked at me and asked:
"Have you finally gained the confidence to take care of me?"
"Yes. I believe I can manage at least that much now."
It would completely derail my original plans, but with my current strength and the volatile political climate edging toward civil war, I could easily secure a barony or a non-hereditary knighthood.
If all else failed, I could probably ask the Princess or the Grand Archduchess for a favor.
With a modest title and a small estate or village far from the capital, I would be able to live peacefully with my mother without facing any major dangers.
Honestly, there were still many things to consider.
I had to weigh who would emerge victorious in the civil war, consider the consequences of the Empire's intervention, and figure out how to cleanly sever ties with the Duke.
But with my current strength, securing a quiet life for just the two of us was well within my power.
At my response, my mother's smile widened.
"It will likely be far more difficult than you think, but the fact that you can say that means you've grown stronger than I could ever imagine. However..."
The reason I hadn't worried when I asked was that very smile. Behind her gentle expression lay an unyielding resolve.
"I have no intention of leaving this house."
My mother was not some tragic figure from a story, suffering in silence under the abuse of a legal wife.
"I am your mother, Alex, but I am also the wife of Duke Andres. Even if others look down on me or whisper behind my back, this was my choice, and this is my place."
Her smile grew firmer. She hadn't married the Duke blindly. She had chosen him fully aware of the hardships and pain that would follow.
Whether her reason was love for the Duke or something else, I had no right to question her choice.
"My only worry was that you were suffering because of me. But now that I know you can stand on your own two feet, I have nothing left to worry about."
Just as I worried about her, she had been constantly worrying about me.
"Besides, that isn't what you truly want, is it? Do not abandon your dreams on my account."
She didn't know the secrets I harbored, yet she still understood me better than anyone.
"Are you happy right now?"
I asked her one last time.
She let out a soft chuckle.
"Are you happy?"
I couldn't find an immediate answer to her question.
Seeing my hesitation, she spoke again.
"I don't know if 'happy' is the right word, but I am doing much better than before. Especially since my son keeps sending such wonderful news."
After she answered, our conversation was cut short.
A servant had arrived to inform me that the Duke was summoning me.
As I bowed and turned to leave the room, she spoke to me from behind.
"No matter what, Duke Andres is still your father. Do not forget that."
I had always wanted to be a dutiful son, but this was the one thing I couldn't agree with.
"If I am his son, then the Duke is my father. But for me to remember my duty as a son, the Duke should not have forgotten his duty as a father."
I had no desire to harbor useless hatred toward him. I merely intended to treat him exactly as he had treated me.
With a soft sigh, I left my mother and stepped out of the room.