After the Terror (2)
After the Terror (2)
A freshman named Ivana.
She might have caught only a brief glimpse of me on the night of the terror, making this her first proper look at me, but I had seen her once before my death.
Back then, just as now, Ivana had come looking for me.
"Senior Alex, could we talk for a moment?"
The words she'd spoken then were exactly the same as now.
At the time, I'd refused to meet her, claiming I was busy.
This time, however, I intended to talk with her.
"I have a drawing room reserved. Let's go there."
At her words, I let out a quiet snicker to myself.
Given her confident air and the crowd gathered around her, her behavior wasn't unusual.
But it didn't suit her position as the adopted daughter of the person acting as proxy for the Viscount's estate.
Thanks to the Crown Prince's support all this time, Ivana didn't properly understand her current position.
Though she presented it as a grand ability, if she kept acting this way, others were bound to see through it in no time.
But I had no intention of telling her that.
There was no reason for me to stick my nose into the affairs of a junior who was so self-conscious, especially when we weren't even close.
Besides, no matter how I looked at it, in my previous life, I'd been killed by this female student's brother.
To be honest, there was no way I could feel good about her.
That was why I couldn't answer with a bright expression when Balea asked me about it a while ago.
At the time, Balea had asked if the person I'd rescued was a female student.
Although I'd answered that she was, my expression hadn't been very pleasant because of my complicated feelings.
Fortunately, everyone seemed satisfied when they saw my expression.
I still didn't understand why they were satisfied, but thankfully, the atmosphere hadn't turned sour afterward.
Now was no different from then.
I had no desire to kill her, but despite her pretty face, I didn't feel like getting close to her.
The place she'd reserved was the very drawing room where we held our group meetings.
She entered the luxurious, spacious drawing room first and took on the role of host.
As the maid, who had arrived ahead of us and was waiting, poured tea and prepared refreshments, I waited for Ivana to speak.
After taking a sip of tea, she frowned slightly, set down her cup, and spoke.
"Thank you for saving me. I still don't understand how I got caught up in such an incident, but without your help, Senior, I would certainly have been in danger."
Seeing her express her gratitude right away put me a little more at ease, too.
At least if she knew how to show gratitude to the person who'd saved her, she wouldn't be the sort of person her brother was.
"I didn't do it to hear your thanks, but since you're expressing them, I'll gladly accept. It was an honor to rescue a lady."
Feeling more at ease, I offered the sort of polite line knights often used when courting ladies.
'Oh dear, is this her first time hearing something like this?'
At my words, Ivana's ears turned bright red.
Come to think of it, Ivana was still just a country girl who hadn't even set foot in high society.
She was bound to be susceptible to this kind of smooth talk.
Still, she was only susceptible to such words. Ivana quickly regained her composure and continued speaking.
"Hmph, you say the strangest things. More importantly, the reason I asked to meet is that I want to repay you for saving me."
Repay me? Was there anything Ivana could actually do for me?
"You know Gael—or rather, the young master of the Pisen Marquisate, right?"
"Ah, of course I know him. He's the first person I've ever seen challenge someone to a duel with so little skill."
At my words, Ivana let out a sigh. Things didn't seem to be going quite as she'd intended.
"The duel ended quickly, but he was still the strongest student among the first-years. He wasn't that strong when he first entered the academy."
It seemed our conversation had gotten sidetracked because I'd thrashed the Marquis's son.
A story involving the Marquis's son. If that was the case, there could only be one thing...
"He became incredibly strong in just a single week. Of course, there was still a huge gap between him and you, Senior. The reason he grew so strong was my ability."
Though the results of our sparring match kept pulling the conversation off course, I finally understood what she wanted to say.
The revelation left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Based on our conversation just a moment ago, I'd thought Ivana was merely a country girl who'd lived a sheltered life, ignorant of the world, and had developed slightly warped ideas.
But unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"I can make other people stronger quickly. Gael grew that fast because of my ability, too."
The revelation had left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I thought it best to hear exactly what her ability could do.
"His physique and mana were decent, but his swordsmanship was downright awful... I guess not everything gets stronger."
When I said that, Ivana's eyes widened.
"You believe me right away."
Even though I'd pointed out the weakness of her ability first, she seemed more surprised that I'd believed her so readily.
I shrugged.
"I've seen plenty of strange abilities."
I hadn't just seen them, either. I was using them myself.
She let out a sigh of relief.
"It was hard to get people to believe me at first, so this is a relief."
She might be relieved now, but who knew what would happen later...
Ivana agreed with my observation that not everything seemed to get stronger.
"That's right. There are some limitations when it comes to things like experience or developing the ability itself. Still, later on, I'll be able to draw out all of that person's potential. I'm still growing, too."
But that meant it was only because her own ability hadn't fully matured yet.
If what she'd said was true, then my assumption was wrong.
If even experience and abilities could grow rapidly, this really was a cheat key.
It meant she could produce a fully developed ability user with only a short period of training.
"For now, I can only do it for one person, but that number will increase as I grow."
At Ivana's words, my excitement cooled.
In the end, what she was talking about was just her wishful thinking that everything would be possible once she grew.
She might not be able to grow any further, or some completely unexpected aspect of her power might develop instead.
On top of that, the worst part was...
"The problem is that once you withdraw the ability, they return to normal, right?"
"No, that's... You saw Gael, didn't you?"
I hadn't seen it happen in this life, but I'd confirmed it in my previous one.
Even when she withdrew the ability, it seemed to leave something behind, but it was nothing more than a tiny fragment.
If anything, that fragment meant the Marquis's son couldn't forget what it had been like to be strong, and I didn't like that.
As I continued pointing out the weaknesses, Ivana's expression soured.
But I wasn't finished speaking yet.
"More importantly, is this really a reward for saving your life? Surely, if you cast your ability on someone strong, your own growth will accelerate. No matter how I look at it, this seems to benefit you more than me."
"Ah..."
At my words, Ivana stared blankly at my face.
And this time, her entire face flushed bright red.
Ivana hung her head low.
Could it be that she'd genuinely thought of this as a reward until now?
She probably had.
After all, everyone would have wanted it, and she would have bestowed her ability as though she were doing them a favor.
But she must have realized just now.
That something which benefited her more couldn't be called a reward.
Looking at Ivana with her head lowered, I clicked my tongue.
'If you wanted to offer something like that as a reward, you should never have let the other person find out.'
If I hadn't known about the weaknesses, I would have readily accepted it, too.
I stood up and spoke.
"I had no intention of receiving a reward from the very beginning."
Even if only because of the Crown Prince, I couldn't accept a reward from Ivana right now.
Especially since it was a reward that came with a leash.
"Still, if it weighs on your mind, let's make a reservation so I can use it once in the future."
At my words, Ivana nodded, her head still lowered.
Good.
With that, I'd secured the ability to use Ivana's power whenever I wanted.
While it wouldn't do much for my own growth, Ivana's ability wasn't entirely useless to me.
When facing an opponent who was difficult to defeat, her ability could serve as a sort of trump card.
If I could control the timing, it could become a weapon unique to me.
And for someone like me, who could repeat time, a single use could turn into multiple uses.
Some time passed after my meeting with Ivana.
As time went by, the Academy stopped talking about the exchange students who had suddenly vanished.
Instead, news arrived of the current freshmen's field study in the sealed grounds, along with news of the Knight Commander's return.
The royal family and the capital's nobility seemed preoccupied with the Knight Commander's return, but I was incredibly busy preparing for our group project.
That was because our destination was the Pisen Marquisate.
In my previous life, the Grand Archduchess had handled everything on her own, but this time, I had to run around and work hard, too.
They said it was because the place I'd first suggested was completely bizarre, but there seemed to be more to it than that.
On top of that, because we had to include someone who wasn't a student alongside our group members, I had to step forward and negotiate.
Fortunately, the person we slipped in was an ability user skilled in artifact appraisal, so things didn't go awry.
The Grand Archduchess also didn't object to bringing along an ability user like herself.
Since her primary ability was different, she had no reason to object.
Just as we finished our preparations and were about to depart for our second destination, a strange rumor began circulating in the capital.
It was an embarrassing royal scandal.
There was a rumor that the deceased first queen had had an affair with someone else before her death.
It was the kind of rumor that, if the King were in good health, would have led him to track down its source and have them drawn and quartered.
Fortunately, the King was bedridden, and the rumor didn't reach him.
The First Prince, the deceased queen's son, naturally flew into a furious rage. But the Royal Knights, who had once been his hands and feet, now had their former Knight Commander back.
The Royal Knights could no longer be moved at the First Prince's whim.
If the Royal Knights weren't going to handle the matter, the security forces or the noble officers had to take charge, but those factions were dominated by the Second Prince's side.
They merely stood by with folded arms, like spectators watching a fire across the river.
Some of them even eagerly fanned the flames to make the rumor spread even further.
Perhaps because of this, the rumor continued to swell until people were whispering that the Queen might have a hidden child.
Amid the circulating rumors, we were leaving the capital in a carriage.
The female students rode in the front carriage, while I rode in the rear carriage with the Auction House Owner—the 'Divine Sword Tracker'—instead of Joachim.
Once the carriage left the capital, the Auction House Owner cautiously spoke up.
"By the way, is it really all right to spread such rumors?"
The rumor he was referring to was none other than the royal scandal currently causing a massive stir in the capital.
"It's fine. Because it's the truth."
I was the one who'd spread that scandal.
It was the result of my diligently spreading it through the Auction House Owner, the capital's information broker and rumor mill.
With my own power, there was no way to strike at the First Prince other than to stir up the Royal Knights a little by using the Knight Commander.
I couldn't exactly march into the royal palace with a sword, nor did I have the political power to oppose him.
All I had was his secret.
Weaknesses and secrets were bound to lose their efficacy as time passed.
I wasn't going to blackmail him, and in the end, keeping it bottled up would only cause trouble.
It seemed the Senior Royal Knight had also intended to spread scandals about the two princesses over the Joachim matter.
A scandal for a scandal.
There was only one person around me who could spread a scandal.
Since I had no intention of letting him tag along to the Marquisate for free, this sort of condition was a perfect fit.
The Auction House Owner, though, let out a sigh.
"Why did I have to get caught up with someone like this..."
It seemed the condition wasn't very satisfying for him.
But as long as I was satisfied, that was all that mattered.
By coming to the Marquisate, the Auction House Owner had learned my entire identity.
But it would be difficult for him to sell my identity to others now.
Since he was the one who'd spread the scandal, we were now bound together as partners.
With the scandal's spread as the final touch, I'd done everything I could.
The rest was just a matter of deciding what to do based on how the First Prince reacted.
Now that I'd cleared everything up, it was time to move forward.
First, I intended to unravel the secret of the Divine Sword held by Marquis Pisen.
With the sighing of the man who would unravel the secret as our background music, the carriage continued its journey toward the Pisen Marquisate.