Artifact Investigation Squad
Artifact Investigation Squad
Looking at the Marquis's son lying on the ground, I gathered my thoughts.
The Pisen Marquisate's Mana Cultivation Technique was indeed the Mana Cultivation Technique of the first king, Carlos.
I had been able to confirm that for certain while sparring with the Marquis's son.
I realized once again that possessing a Mana Cultivation Technique was of no use without a proper opponent.
The Hero Carlos's Mana Cultivation Techniques originally required a unique style of swordsmanship and 'Mana Resonance,' which was known as the King's Ability.
That was also why a member of the royal family who possessed 'Mana Resonance' would become the next king.
Without Mana Resonance, one couldn't properly make use of the Mana Cultivation Technique or swordsmanship. This was true of the knights of the Gracia Dukedom, and the Royal Knights were no exception.
And learning from such people meant one could never truly understand the proper Mana Cultivation Technique and swordsmanship.
It wasn't as if Carlos's ghost was going to teach me swordsmanship or the Mana Cultivation Technique, either.
In the end, even without Mana Resonance, what I needed was a master who had done everything possible to research and develop the Mana Cultivation Technique and swordsmanship.
There had to be a master of that Mana Cultivation Technique and swordsmanship, like the Duke of Gracia or the Duke of Ceuta, who was said to be an advisor to the Royal Knights.
It would have been nice if the ability that had caused the Marquis's son to grow so rapidly had also developed his Mana Cultivation Technique and swordsmanship, but unfortunately, they had remained unchanged from the beginning.
Since I had won, I should make my request, but the Marquis's son was in no condition to listen to me right now.
"I'll tell you what I want later."
Seeing that he looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment, I left at once.
I could feel many eyes on my back. One of them was particularly intense, but I ignored them all and returned to the Academy Dormitory.
In any case, I had sparred twice in a single day.
It had been an exhausting day.
The duel with the Marquis's son sent the Academy into a frenzy.
The current students, who had seen and heard about my exploits during our first year, were rather indifferent to the news of my victory.
But the downfall of the Marquis's son, who had been making waves with his explosive growth, became a huge topic of discussion among the freshmen.
Thanks to that, I became famous among the freshmen as well.
But to those around me, it was just one more thing to tease me about.
"Look, it's the celebrity!"
The moment I entered the drawing room, Balea spotted me first and shouted.
"The terrifying senior who dragged a freshly enrolled freshman into a duel and shoved him into the mud. The Honor Destroyer, the Duel Terminator."
The list of nicknames Balea used to tease me had grown yet again.
On top of that, rumors that strayed from the truth, like the one Balea had just mentioned, were circulating quite a bit.
"Are you all right? I heard it was a fair duel."
The Grand Archduchess asked in a worried voice, but I shook my head.
"It's not as if this is the first time rumors have spread about me."
Before I received my etiquette training, even wilder rumors used to circulate. This was practically cute by comparison.
I could tell from the fact that no one besides the Grand Archduchess was worried. Plenty of people were teasing me, though.
Come to think of it, why wasn't Joachim, the imperial noble, surprised?
"Oh? Was it not true? I thought all the stories I've heard so far were true..."
Did he seriously believe all those terrifying rumors? Why on earth did he keep planning to spar with me, then?
Everyone looked dumbfounded by the imperial noble's sheer composure.
This was our first gathering since the initial group project session.
A lot had happened in just one week. It was hard to believe things were already like this when not even a month had passed since the semester began.
No wonder a new 'Save Point' had been created at the start of the semester.
After talking about me and exchanging pleasantries,
Clink, clink.
The Grand Archduchess tapped her teacup with a spoon.
Once she had everyone's attention, the Grand Archduchess spoke.
"Then, shall we discuss what we've researched?"
At the Grand Archduchess's words, everyone turned their attention back to the group project.
"I'll go first. I haven't done much, but I've compiled a list of artifacts through the channels available to me. I haven't been able to identify which of these were used by the Hero, but I hope this helps, even a little."
The Grand Archduchess spread several sheets of paper across the table.
Not much?
Looking at the artifacts packed tightly across multiple sheets of paper, I couldn't understand how she could call it that.
While everyone stared at the Grand Archduchess in disbelief, I examined the papers.
There were artifacts with unclear origins, and many that had gone missing at some point.
I also saw several artifacts rumored to have been broken.
By contrast, intact and famous artifacts were rare.
I thought I understood why she had prepared the list this way. The Grand Archduchess was planning to use the group project as an excuse to search for damaged artifacts.
Since she couldn't openly say so, she had undoubtedly prepared the list in this manner.
Stealing a glance at the Grand Archduchess, I saw her avert her gaze, embarrassment on her face.
Knowing I would surely notice, she was avoiding my eyes.
"I prepared something as well, but compared to the Grand Archduchess's, it's truly not much."
This time, the Princess pulled out some papers.
Glancing over them, I saw that they listed artifacts held by lords living far from the capital.
'Is she taking the lords' location and status into account?'
Seeing that dungeons near the border fortresses were also listed, it seemed the Princess intended to use this group project to avoid the notice of the two princes and curry favor with the lords.
By comparison, Balea and Mirisa's preparations were ordinary.
"I asked the students whether their families had any heirlooms passed down through the generations."
On the paper Balea pulled out, the names of the students, their families, and their artifacts were listed.
"I'm sorry. I looked through the Academy Library, but there wasn't much information about the artifacts."
On the paper Mirisa pulled out, stories about artifacts passed down through legend or history were written.
But the last two male students, Joachim and I, had no papers to show.
"I don't know much about the Kingdom side... If we go to the Empire, I shall guide you."
Once Joachim had finished speaking shamelessly, everyone looked at me.
I showed them my empty hands.
I'd been so busy that I hadn't had time to research anything. In any case, my original plan had been to ride on their coattails.
Since everyone knew my situation to some extent, no one said anything.
"But we can't just show up in a territory and ask them to show us their artifacts. They might comply if the request came from the Grand Archduchess or the Princess, but wouldn't that cause political issues?"
At Balea's words, both the Princess and the Grand Archduchess looked troubled.
It was just as Balea said.
At such a sensitive time, a request from the Princess and the Grand Archduchess could easily be taken as a political solicitation.
It could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, and some might even refuse precisely because they viewed it politically.
But if we couldn't make use of the two of them, there was no way to inspect the artifacts held by the nobles.
Perhaps imagining herself standing before the nobles and asking them to show her their artifacts, Mirisa had already gone pale.
"In that case, should we start by looking for places like dungeons?"
The Princess spoke cautiously, but everyone looked hesitant.
A dungeon... The difficulty would be far too high right from the start.
Besides, known dungeons had long since been cleared out, and finding unknown dungeons wasn't easy to begin with.
It wasn't for nothing that I had gone through all that trouble in the sealed grounds.
"Does the Young Lord have any ideas? You were too busy punishing the Marquisate's child to have time for research, so you should at least offer an opinion now."
When everyone remained silent, Balea jabbed at me.
What did she want this time?
She wasn't one to needle someone for no reason—she'd sooner kill them—so she had to have an ulterior motive.
When I looked at her, Balea grinned.
"If no one has any other ideas, please tell us what you demanded from Gael—no, the son of Marquis Pisen. Everyone's been curious."
As expected, she had an agenda.
And, just as Balea had said, everyone seemed curious.
The eyes fixed on me glittered with curiosity.
Her words brought back the memory of the Marquis's son, whom I had met yesterday.
When I laid out my conditions, he stared blankly at me for a long time.
Even afterward, he asked me several times whether my conditions were correct.
I repeated to everyone what I had said yesterday.
"I asked him to show us all of the Pisen Marquisate's artifacts for the sake of our group project."
I ended up seeing the exact same expression the Marquis's son had worn. Everyone stared at me blankly.
Balea was the first to snap out of it.
"No way! You used your duel demand for a group project?"
There was no reason for me to lie.
Balea didn't actually think I was lying, either.
Though it wasn't a duel to the death, it was a duel in which the honor of high-ranking nobles' children was at stake.
On the condition that his honor be preserved, I could have received a huge sum of money or a formal apology. Or perhaps even political backing.
She was simply flabbergasted that I had thrown away so many opportunities just to use the demand on a group project.
Still, as far as the group project was concerned, there was nothing better.
It was a request backed by honor. Although it wasn't a contract made at a temple, given the importance of honor, it was no less binding.
Treating access to the artifacts as a condition of the duel was something even the Marquisate would find difficult to refuse.
There was no room for political interference, nor for strange rumors to spread.
Though, in any case, it was certain that the Marquis's son would be utterly destroyed by his family once he returned home.
But then again, it was entirely his own fault.
At my words, not only Balea but the Princess as well was incredibly shocked. The most astonished, though, was the Grand Archduchess.
"No, you didn't have to go this far for my sake..."
The Grand Archduchess seemed to think I had made the request solely for her sake.
It wasn't entirely wrong.
To repair the orb I possessed, I had to develop her ability. That was why I had set this condition.
Looking around, I saw our group members watching the Grand Archduchess and me with keen interest.
Though they didn't know the exact circumstances behind it, they seemed to realize that something highly entertaining was unfolding.
Mirisa edged back slightly, watching the Grand Archduchess and me as though she were watching a movie. It looked as though she would happily munch on popcorn if someone handed her some.
Until just a moment ago, her complexion had been changing wildly as she listened to the conversation, but now she had given up completely and was watching as if it had nothing to do with her.
I honestly couldn't tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Beside her, Joachim nodded.
Undoubtedly, that guy seemed to think there was a perfectly good reason for everything I did.
I felt a little apologetic toward the Grand Archduchess, who kept expressing her gratitude.
I hadn't made that decision solely for the Grand Archduchess.
The Marquisate, famous for its wealth, possessed many artifacts.
Many of them were listed on the paper the Grand Archduchess had brought, but there were also many that had been damaged or were no longer seen.
Even so, there was one artifact that remained famous to this day.
It was an heirloom that had been passed down to descendants ever since the Marquisate was founded.
The sword always bestowed upon the Marquisate's greatest knight: the 'Divine Sword of Pisen'.
That sword was currently held by the Marquisate's strongest master—the Knight Commander, who was the Marquis's younger brother.
And I intended to use the artifacts as an excuse to meet him.
In the end, our first destination was decided exactly as I had planned.
Fortunately, the Marquisate wasn't very far from the capital.
Two days by carriage would be enough to get there, and even with taking care of business and making the round trip, it wouldn't take more than a week.
Still, we couldn't set off right away.
We had to coordinate our group members' schedules and notify the Marquisate in advance.
The Grand Archduchess decided to take care of all of that. She had stepped forward first, saying she hadn't contributed anything yet.
A group leader who led by example.
I was incredibly pleased with how smoothly the group project was progressing, far better than I'd expected.
But the moment I stepped out onto the street after the meeting, my good mood plummeted.
Because another freshman was blocking my path.
This time, it was a girl.
The girl who had watched the previous duel from behind.
The ability user who seemed to have caused the Marquis's son to grow so rapidly was now blocking my path.