Zeppelin's Casual Remark
Zeppelin, the low-ranking official at the bottom of the Imperial Information Bureau, straightened up the moment his superior issued the order to follow him.
Even someone with no sense of danger could sense trouble just from the tone of voice. The remark that he was being singled out for special attention meant the problem had everything to do with him.
Without a word, the superior pointed behind him, turned, and began walking. Zeppelin hurried after, heart already racing, until they reached a quiet stretch of the government building where no one else ever came.
It was one of those places the lower staff liked to sneak off to for a quiet cigarette. Too familiar now for comfort, but every time he arrived here he still felt the same sharp jolt of nerves.
The superior had arrived first. Anger practically radiated off him as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it without a single word.
“Um… Sir.”
“Shut it. I’m too furious right now and I might actually kill you. So just stay quiet.”
Zeppelin clamped his mouth shut at once, staring at the floor as if the carpet held all the answers.
Two cigarette butts already lay on the ground in front of the superior’s chair.
The superior took a long drag, exhaled smoke, and finally turned to look at him.
“The report on the academy-related information you compiled for this month’s security-level sharing document… was that you?”
The Empire’s vast size meant that officers stationed at key border fortresses or far from the capital—like Duke Edelian—received vital updates compiled by the Information Bureau.
Every month the documents arrived. Some read them carefully, others ignored them completely. Some treated them like newspapers, others flipped through them while sipping tea. The important thing was the information itself, and the Bureau worked hard to ensure the delivery was flawless.
Zeppelin nodded nervously.
His boss was still seething, yet the way he answered without a word only made him feel even more exposed.
Zeppelin Hookraden. The useless son of the Hookraden Marquis. Even his own father had given up on him years ago, calling him hopeless. The assessment of the Hookraden family was that bad.
And the superior who had been assigned to train him had felt that verdict in his bones within three months of working together.
The Information Bureau never judged people on single documents. Unless an urgent mission was at hand, every new agent was monitored for at least a year, data compiled, then a proper report written. Everyone in the department was practiced at long, careful analysis.
Zeppelin had only worked with the man for three months, but the superior was already ready to quit on the spot.
If this brat weren’t here, the superior would happily transfer to any other department.
No matter how many times the man scolded him, no matter how many lectures he gave, no matter how many times he lost his temper, Zeppelin’s stupidity never improved.
He had lost important documents, fallen asleep on his desk, and once accidentally spilled ink on the only copy of a single critical report from an investigator. Just three months of this had already resulted in dozens of major mishaps.
Others might risk one huge disaster in a lifetime. Zeppelin treated them like routine Tuesday morning accidents.
The superior had once seriously considered reporting the man to his superiors to have him removed from the Bureau.
Now he simply sighed, watching the trembling figure before him.
“When you sent the document to Duke Edelian, was there any academy-related material in it?”
“Yes, sir. I included it.”
Zeppelin sounded far too confident. The superior stared at him, fists clenched, trying to suppress his rage before it boiled over.
But the superior swallowed the words and kept his voice calm.
“Good. Then you did report it?”
“Um… no, I didn’t. I just sent it without reading it.”
The documents were compiled at the Information Bureau. They were sent in bulk to the security level, so the recipient didn’t need to read every page.
But if a specific order was given, at least a quick glance and a check should have been made.
This month’s sharing document contained six academy-related items. And Zeppelin had reported none of them.
The superior looked at the young man’s defiant expression and felt his fury rise so high that he actually grew calm.
He let out a short laugh instead.
Zeppelin, catching the same thought, laughed along.
Of course the Bureau gave the same information to everyone. But in reality the department controlled what was sent out.
Not always, but sometimes they quietly modified a couple of sensitive items before forwarding them.
Duke Edelian was one of those cases.
The superior didn’t even know why academy information needed special handling. He had guessed, but the real reason was that Vice-Minister Joshua himself had ordered the change.
The Devil of All Nations remaining hidden inside the Empire was the deepest of all secrets.
Only ten people in the entire country—even including Emperor Julius, the Information Bureau Minister, and Vice-Minister Joshua—knew the truth. The ones who actually managed the man were the lower staff like Headmistress Celenas and Leila.
Even Duke Edelian, who ranked third in pure power after the Devil of All Nations during the War Era, didn’t know.
Why? Because the duke was a pure combat maniac.
He had once looked at the annexation of the Caelen Kingdom as a great gift from heaven because it gave him another land to rule. He had even demanded to be sent to the Northern Army border to fight.
When the rumors reached him that the Devil of All Nations had been freed, the duke had immediately prepared to run straight to him.
So every time information was sent to Edelian, the Bureau quietly removed the academy-related sections.
After all, the academy had been stirring up major incidents lately. The superior had been forced to report to his superiors many times.
One of those reports had been the assassination attempt on the Sixth Princess Emilia. The original information had mentioned that the instructor Rai had eliminated the assassins. That part had been removed before the document reached the duke.
The superior still suspected that Rai and Edelian were connected somehow, but it was none of his business.
His job was to stay silent and not let any information leak.
That effort had completely gone to waste.
Zeppelin, the infamous blunderer, had simply skipped reading the documents and sent them straight to Edelian.
The superior had been summoned by the Minister an hour ago and had barely escaped with his life.
This was his first time seeing the Minister’s actual face, and the first time he had heard a direct scolding.
Normally he would have been reprimanded by his immediate superior. Being called directly to the Minister meant he was now facing more than dismissal—his life itself was on the line.
The ruined man stared at Zeppelin in silence.
Yet even in his darkest hour a sliver of light had appeared.
The Minister had changed the young man’s assignment.
“Zeppelin, you find document preparation bothersome, don’t you?”
“Huh? No, not at all. It suits my temperament perfectly and I’m very good at it.”
The superior placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled.
“From today your new mission is to deliver information from academy agents to the Information Bureau.”
“Wow! I finally get to work in the field! I’ll work hard and get promoted, right?”
No, you idiot.
The superior kept the smile on his face, though his hand trembled slightly.
“You will receive the information the agents have already sorted and forward it to the Bureau. In other words, a delivery boy.”
Putting someone who handled the Empire’s deepest secrets into a delivery role was impossible.
Yet the Minister had made the decision himself, so the superior could only feel overwhelming gratitude.
This was exactly the kind of menial task normally given to disposable agents. But thanks to one massive blunder, Zeppelin was now being entrusted with it.
“This is exciting! Do I get any secret equipment or anything?”
Zeppelin’s eyes sparkled with genuine enthusiasm.
Yes, just be happy. That was all that mattered.
The superior had almost considered poking the man’s stomach if he started complaining, but since Zeppelin was clearly thrilled, he simply nodded and smiled.
Once Zeppelin left, the superior would have to take over the man’s old duties until the new arrival came. But was that really a problem?
After all, from now on the amount of work would shrink by three-quarters—because the three-fold increase caused by Zeppelin’s accidents would vanish.
* * *
“When riding with a partner, it’s important to match the horse’s rhythm. They all seem similar at first glance, but each horse has its own subtle differences. By adjusting to that rhythm, you’ll reach your destination much faster.”
Agnes Selint, the undead Twilight Knight, demonstrated on the massive Black Horse.
The academy students watching from a safe distance sighed in admiration.
Agnes looked like an ordinary timid girl, yet she was an excellent instructor. After discarding her heavy black armor and switching to light riding gear, her beauty drew even more attention from the male students. But her teaching was so detailed that the students gave her glowing reviews regardless.
She wore only black. The clothes, the armor—even the black aura that seemed to flow from her—had all come from Rai himself. No wonder he had felt embarrassed when she licked his helmet.
“The rhythm is like ta-da-ta-da-ta-dok. When running, it’s to-to-to-tok.”
Agnes stroked the Black Horse’s mane and spoke.
Her lectures were sometimes hard to follow because she had little teaching experience, but every student—except one—found her classes incredibly satisfying.
Rai watched from afar, expression cold, as the Black Horse shamelessly begged for more rides after just one try.
“Any questions?”
Seeing the shy look on her face, the male students including Cuthbert broke into grins.
“Is there a special technique for feeling a horse’s rhythm?”
“Um… it’s different for every horse, so I can’t give one-size-fits-all advice. One good way is to let the horse run freely, close your eyes, and feel the rhythm. Or you can ride different horses back and forth—after riding several, the small differences become obvious.”
Even Philia’s question received a prompt answer.
“Can unicorns be ridden by anyone who is a virgin?”
“I’ve only seen Tora, so I don’t know. What about Tora?”
In the background Agnes and Tora were already chatting, but no one paid attention to that question.
The unpopular male group glared at Tora and growled. The others secretly watched Peter Grayson.
Peter Grayson. Engaged to Piara, yet secretly suspicious of whether his fiancée was still a virgin.
His eyes kept drifting to the beautiful woman standing still in the distance.
Piara Pollen. Engaged to Peter, yet clearly not a virgin.
The moment the students heard that a unicorn could only be ridden by a virgin, they immediately imagined Peter taking his ordinary-looking girlfriend for a ride. Watching the tense, nervous expression on Piara’s face, the students felt a strange mix of excitement and mischief.
“Unfortunately, Tora only allows pure virgins to ride him. All unicorns are the same, apparently. He probably has to fall in love with you first.”
The students sighed again.
Whether their sigh was because they couldn’t ride the unicorn or because they wanted to witness the romance and war’s ending was unclear.
“Any more questions?”
“Me! Me!”
Cuthbert waved his hand high.
“Since you can ride a unicorn, does that mean you, Instructor Agnes, are still a virgin?”
“Ah… um… that… well…”
Unaccustomed to such direct questions, Agnes blushed bright red.
The female students glared at her in contempt, but Cuthbert was more than satisfied just to see her embarrassed face. He smiled with pure delight.
Some of the male students who had been quietly admiring Agnes also decided Cuthbert was a bold and noble fellow.
“Looks fun.”
Far from the group, leaning against the fence, Rai let out a low chuckle.
The Black Horse was a Death Knight, yet he had been assigned night lectures because the students could not come during the day. The students were satisfied.
The supervising instructors had grown busier and felt a little irritated, but Rai didn’t seem to care at all.
“I have separated the academy students into teams according to their abilities for the upcoming martial tournament.”
Sierra handed him a thick stack of documents.
“What is this?”
“For the upcoming martial tournament, I’ve divided the students into teams based on their skills.”
“Hmm…”
This year’s grand training event included half-team competitions.
Starting with horse racing, then obstacle courses, relay races, and territorial battles—each event had its own unique challenges. Sierra had evaluated every student and assigned them accordingly.
Rai skimmed the documents with a blank expression.
“Territorial battles involve ten people each. I chose the students with the highest individual skills for those. Diana Deschubella is outstanding in every way, so she could easily join an individual category, but the territorial battle awards the most points, so…”
“I see.”
Before Sierra could finish her long explanation, Rai cut her off.
“It’s still early, so analysis is difficult. You’re really impressive.”
“It wasn’t hard. Even at the beginning, most students have riding experience. Some, like Diana, have definitely studied mounted combat. Others, like Zeroa, have basic riding skills but no knowledge of mounted warfare.”
While listening to the long answer, Rai noticed the same ridiculous horse-evaluation score for Aslan and nodded.
“You analyze well. Did you do something similar in the military?”
“…… Anyone who served in the military can do the same thing.”
Sierra answered a little shorter than usual, swallowing the rest of her words.
A faint smile touched Rai’s lips as he closed the documents and handed them back.
“I didn’t ask you to analyze them. Thank you. But I’m letting them do exactly what they want.”
“You’re competing in half-team matches. You’re really just going to leave it to them?”
“Yes. I have to live as I please.”
Sierra looked genuinely puzzled. He was supposed to organize teams according to ability, not abandon the competition.
Rai simply answered without hesitation and stood up.
“Take care of the students for the rest of the time.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have plans to have dinner with Sierra.”
“Huh?”
Sierra looked startled.
“No, I mean the other Sierra. The one who knows about me.”
“Oh, I see. Understood. Leave the students with me and go on your way.”
Technically Rai was the instructor in charge of supervising the students, yet he was now sneaking off during working hours. Sierra didn’t seem to mind at all and simply waved him off.