Holy Knight (1)
Holy Knight (1)
As soon as I saw the message window, I checked my status window.
- Death Regression: Level 3
Just as the message window said, the level of Death Regression had increased.
Even though the level had gone up, it still didn't tell me what had changed this time.
I really needed to fix the orb soon.
Still, since it had suddenly prompted me to set a 'Save Point', I could make a guess.
Unless this 'Save Point' was a one-time thing, it meant I'd be able to set one after a major incident concluded.
If it had been the automatic save method from Level 1, I might have thought things had actually gotten worse.
But now that I could make the final decision myself, it was bound to be an immense help.
And it was already proving helpful.
I immediately said, 'Yes.'
I'd obtained the sword I wanted, and I had no desire to fight the Monster King again.
Maybe I'd fight him again later, once I'd gotten stronger, but for now, the fact that we'd all survived felt like a miracle.
After the second-year practical class ended, the Academy returned to its usual routine.
Perhaps as a result of the practical class, the favorability I'd worked so hard to build with the other students reset to square one.
Since I'd received special treatment and skipped the practical class, it was inevitable that people would talk behind my back.
It was hard for them to say anything to the Princess, the Grand Archduchess, or Balea, who all had wide networks of connections, so in the end, all their dissatisfaction was bound to be directed at me.
No, things might have gotten even worse than if I'd just gone back to square one.
At first, everyone had simply ignored me. Now, there were many who actively disliked me, so you could say things had deteriorated.
But no one picked a fight with me openly.
That was thanks to the rumor that I might be the strongest person in the Academy.
Still, a few people I'd befriended in the meantime remained close to me, which was a relief, at least.
"Are you still eating alone like this?"
It was lunchtime, and I was enjoying a leisurely meal.
A third-year senior asked as he set his meal tray down in front of me.
Thanks to Senior Havier's graduation, he was the only close senior I had left.
He was Senior Benjamin, the top student in the third-year Administration Faculty.
He sat down and looked around.
The cafeteria was as bustling as ever, but the area around me was completely empty.
The other students were reluctant to sit beside me.
Quite some time had passed since the practical class, but, as Senior Benjamin had pointed out, things were still like this.
It wasn't always like this, of course. When I was with the Princess or my team members, the place around me sometimes felt quite crowded.
But I couldn't always hang around with my team members.
Besides, although I was the Princess's escort knight, we often went our separate ways inside the Academy.
Balea was busy, too, since she had so many friends.
In the end, I often found myself eating alone like this.
"What brings you here, Senior?"
"What do you mean, 'what brings me here'? It's almost time for the summer dispatch class."
Come to think of it, there wasn't much time left in the first semester of my second year.
Even after the practical class had ended, I'd been incredibly busy.
I'd been training with the Duke of Ceuta, learning to use the Divine Sword, and even sparring with the Royal Knight Commander.
Honestly, I'd been so busy that I hadn't even had time to care about the other students ostracizing me.
And yet, it was already time for the summer dispatch class—the end of the first semester.
"Have you decided where you're going?"
Senior Benjamin asked, picking up a piece of bread from in front of him.
A dispatch class, huh.
Come to think of it, last year we'd gone to the Duchy for the dispatch class.
It had certainly started as a normal trip to visit the Grand Archduchess.
But somehow it had turned into such a grand, action-packed drama...
Even thinking about it now made me shake my head.
Recalling last year's dispatch class, I answered his question.
"Well, since I'm the Princess's escort knight, I'll probably go wherever Her Highness does, just like last year, unless something special happens."
Until now, we'd chosen our destinations for group projects according to the Grand Archduchess's wishes and mine.
For this dispatch class, I intended to follow the Princess, as befitted my role as her escort knight.
As I listened to his questions, I thought I understood what he wanted.
"I believe the Princess is planning to go to Soroka Fortress."
"Soroka Fortress?"
Benjamin furrowed his brows. It seemed he hadn't expected that location.
Soroka Fortress.
It was the Kingdom's premier fortress, located at its northeastern end. It was also the name of the fortress city that surrounded it.
Soroka Fortress stood south of the Northern Mountain Range, which stretched across the continent.
The Northern Mountain Range was a massive range that began at the Seal Grounds and stretched across the entire continent.
Thanks to those rugged mountains, our kingdom had been able to easily thwart the Empire's ambitions all this time.
Unfortunately, the Northern Mountain Range wasn't completely continuous.
In two places—the Julian Duchy and the area where Soroka Fortress was located—the range was broken.
In the Julian Duchy, a relatively wide plain formed by erosion lay between the Kingdom and the Empire, but where Soroka Fortress stood, a narrow valley connected the Empire and our kingdom.
It was a massive valley said to have been carved out when an angry god split the mountains in ancient times, and Soroka Fortress's purpose was to block an invasion by the Tsar Empire at the end of the valley.
And as a fortress at the Kingdom's eastern end, it also bordered the country to the east, the Epirus Kingdom.
To defend against the Empire's attacks and resolve disputes with the Epirus Kingdom, the Kingdom's finest soldiers were still stationed at Soroka Fortress.
The Princess had been planning to visit the fortress for some time.
Although she gave various other reasons, to me, her real purpose seemed to be getting acquainted with the generals and officers.
She wasn't quite building a faction, but she likely intended to increase the number of people who viewed her favorably.
It didn't seem like the kind of politics an eleven-year-old girl should be engaging in, but in times like these, it was necessary for survival.
"Soroka Fortress... At a time like this, it might indeed be the place Her Highness needs to go..."
Benjamin stopped eating and fell into thought.
Since Benjamin was also a talented student at the top of the Administration Faculty, he would have been able to infer, to some extent, why the Princess was heading to the fortress from what I'd said.
"The members haven't all been decided yet. If you'd like to join us, Senior Benjamin, you'd be more than welcome."
"You caught me."
Senior Benjamin grimaced awkwardly.
"There's no way I wouldn't realize after hearing those kinds of questions."
He was a smart man. There was no way he'd seek out someone like me, who was being ostracized, for no reason.
Benjamin had come to tell me he wanted to join the Princess's dispatch class.
"I'll speak to the Princess. Traveling with Her Highness should be quite helpful to you, too, Senior."
Benjamin nodded, seemingly agreeing with me.
Looking at him, I grew curious, too.
"But why do you want to go with us?"
At my question, Benjamin wore an awkward expression.
He looked a little embarrassed, to put it mildly.
"Because you're the most important connection I have. At a time like this, if I entered the royal court or the administration without thinking it through, it'd be the perfect way to get my head chopped off."
Indeed, though people were turning a blind eye to it, a civil war was just around the corner.
If you entered the royal court or the administration without giving it a second thought, it would be all too easy to get swept up in the civil war and die.
Even though I was part of that connection, even I thought the rope Benjamin was grabbing onto looked a little precarious.
"But she's only a Princess?"
For someone like Benjamin, it seemed better to line up behind one of the two princes instead.
At my words, Benjamin smirked.
"At worst, I can just go as a scribe wherever the Princess gets married off to. And if things go well, who knows? Maybe I'll climb all the way to the very top."
He pointed a finger toward the sky.
I couldn't tell exactly where that 'high place' would be, but I could tell he'd decided to take a gamble.
From the two Academy knights to Senior Benjamin.
People were making their decisions one by one.
My own time to make a decision was gradually drawing near, too.
What to do once the King died.
That was my biggest worry right now.
"All right. Then I'll see you during the dispatch class."
Benjamin picked up his half-eaten meal tray and stood up.
As expected, he didn't seem to have any intention of actually eating with me.
"By the way, I heard you've been doing nothing but training since the practical class. Are you going to do nothing but train until the dispatch class?"
Whether the rumors about me had spread that far or he'd heard about it from someone else, Senior Benjamin knew my daily routine well.
"I'll keep training, but..."
Senior Benjamin's words reminded me of something I had to do.
"There's a place I need to stop by before heading out for the dispatch class."
I had to meet the 'Divine Sword Tracker', who was also the Auction House Owner.
I'd been debating whether to meet him all this time, but now I'd made up my mind.
In any case, I also needed to gather information about the 'dispatch class'.
It was time to meet him.
The inner part of the commercial district where the black market was located had changed a lot since I first came here.
The buildings were the same, and so were the people inside them, but the area no longer felt as relaxed as before.
Rough-looking people roamed around in groups, fights broke out here and there, and thieves watched for opportunities.
As the economy worsened, there seemed to be more work to go around.
To keep things from getting troublesome, I pulled my hood low and spread my mana around me. A wave of killing intent rippled through the area.
A thief who was about to sneak up on me flinched and stopped in his tracks, while those looking to pick a fight backed away.
Using mana to project killing intent had become fairly easy for me.
If I used it excessively, I could even render an ordinary opponent completely unable to move.
I passed the people avoiding me and entered the building, only to find a few hulking figures blocking my way.
They were familiar faces.
Previously, they'd let me go straight up to the third floor, but with the streets growing more hostile, it seemed they'd tightened security.
Still, when I showed them the ring as always, they let me through immediately.
Seeing them bow their heads at a 90-degree angle felt strange; they looked just like the gangsters from my past life.
When I went up to the third floor, a neat-looking woman greeted me, just as she had a year ago.
"What brings you here?"
It was the exact same question as before. Back then, I'd thought she sounded just like a bank teller from my past life.
Instead of showing her the ring, I pushed my hood back.
Seeing my face, the woman rose from her seat.
"Welcome. We have been waiting for your visit."
Although I'd only shown my face to the Auction House Owner, it seemed the woman knew what I looked like after all.
Or had she realized who I was simply because there was only one person with such a young face?
In any case, I asked where I should go.
"You may go to Room 1, as always."
I already knew where Room 1 was.
"Excuse me... Is it alright for you not to hide your face anymore?"
As I thanked her and was about to leave, the woman asked.
"Yes, I even traveled here with the owner. There's no reason to hide my face."
Though there were other reasons, too, I simply waved a hand and walked toward the innermost room.
Creak.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Inside the room sat an ordinary-looking man—the Auction House Owner, who was also the 'Divine Sword Tracker'.