If You Can't Handle It, You're Weak!
The attack on the Academy was forgotten in a matter of days.
Not a single student had died—there had not even been any injuries—and the buildings stood perfectly intact. The outskirts had taken a little damage, true, but nothing approaching astronomical losses. The wounded knights and soldiers had already returned to their posts under the Church’s support.
If anything, the earlier incident that had half-destroyed the Academy had been far more shocking, both materially and psychologically, than this latest raid. That was how poorly prepared the kingdom had been back then—and how overwhelmingly strong the John Nassen family had proven itself. The Imperial family also made it perfectly clear they did not welcome prolonged discussion of the affair. The fact that Fifth Princess Yulika’s role in subduing the intruders was never heavily publicized was proof enough. The Imperial Household Ministry’s single day of activity followed by complete silence was another part of the same quiet policy.
What truly became the hottest topic instead were the two students who had drawn every eye during the incident. Both were freshmen, and both had already been the targets of less-than-welcome stares. One was the commoner Tisha, who had protected three students not with magic but with Shamanism. The other was Kyle of the John Nassen baronial house, who had subdued the invaders in a matter of minutes.
Whenever students gathered, conversation inevitably turned to those two. And the newspapers poured on the seasoning with reckless abandon. Reporters competed to fling the most sensational headlines and copy, drawing even greater attention.
Crunch.
Kyle crumpled the newspaper he had been reading and let out a long sigh.
These damn reporters…
Just looking at the headlines, anyone would feel compelled to buy a copy. He had never imagined people like this even existed in this world’s setting. Judging by their behavior, they belonged in a modern story, not a fantasy. Where the hell had these pests suddenly crawled out from? Then he thought about it and nodded to himself. This was not a pure traditional fantasy. It was a romance fantasy with weird modern elements mixed in. So of course newspapers and reporters could pop up out of nowhere and create this kind of mess without breaking the setting. Damn it all.
“Congratulations.”
Elga, who had been quietly sipping her tea, spoke up at last.
“What am I suddenly being congratulated for?”
“Is it not something to celebrate? People who previously held only negative impressions of the John Nassen family have now gained a positive view of you thanks to this opportunity.”
Whether this truly counted as a positive view or merely a temporary flash of attention that would soon fade, Kyle still could not decide no matter how hard he thought about it. Good deeds were forgotten even after a hundred repetitions, while a single bad one lingered forever. He himself felt no particular pride over the recent exploits. He had not moved to save the Academy, nor to rescue the protagonist’s party. He had simply wanted to see with his own eyes exactly what those maniacs had done to their bodies. That had been his only real goal.
More importantly, the Litorio Grand Duchy must be extremely unhappy about this whole affair.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs was a Litorio man; the house specialized in diplomacy and politics. Not that their military or financial power was weak—those simply were not their primary focus. And in that situation, the western kingdom alliance had pretended to engage in diplomacy while preparing a dagger behind their backs. From the Empire’s perspective—and Litorio’s—they had been thoroughly stabbed in the back. The Foreign Ministry could not claim complete innocence either; they had failed to notice the signs at all. When the Emperor’s displeasure arrived in the form of an official warning, Litorio’s expression had darkened right along with it. Cracks might even appear among the three carefully balanced grand ducal houses.
Sip.
Yet Elga, the young lady of that very Litorio house, showed no sign of discomfort. If anything, she seemed in an oddly good mood—so much so that anyone watching might have asked whether something pleasant had happened.
“Thank you, Kyle.”
At the sudden expression of gratitude, Kyle could only answer with a bewildered “Pardon?”
“Thanks to you, the Academy suffered no major damage. If the losses had been severe, a simple warning to the Foreign Ministry would not have been the end of it. Litorio’s prestige would have taken a heavy blow as well.”
“….”
“You solidified my position further and allowed Litorio to save face. The list of things I must thank you for keeps growing. So does the debt I owe.”
The debt she owed him kept growing. Coming from a grand duchy’s young lady, those words should have been delightful. Instead they only made him anxious about exactly how she planned to repay it.
Please, I beg you, repay it in a normal fashion, my lady.
Today, too, Kyle offered up a tiny private prayer.
The more I look at you, the more of a rare treasure you seem.
Though he suspected every one of those prayers was destined to be in vain.
“We should get up. Lecture time.”
Today was finally the day they would present that agonizing group project. It should have been finished days earlier, but the incident had canceled classes. As a result Kyle had spent yet more days dragging his group members through repeated checks.
“Today’s presentation is… Group Seven. Presenter, please come forward.”
At the professor’s words Kyle rose from his seat and walked up to the podium. A mild stir ran through the students, but he deliberately ignored it. He knew perfectly well why they were restless.
“Then Group Seven will now begin their presentation…”
As Kyle stood on the platform delivering the group project they had suffered and toiled to complete, the students seemed far more focused on him than on the content. The hottest topic of recent days had just stepped onto the podium; of course they were distracted. So it was only natural that the final question period produced queries completely unrelated to the presentation.
“I’ll take questions now. If anyone has something to ask, please raise your hand… Yes, go ahead.”
“Did you really clear out every single invader in just a few minutes?!”
“I would prefer questions related to the presentation content. Next person.”
“I know some of the knights, and they said every single invader ended up with full-body paralysis.”
“That was their own fault. I didn’t do anything wro— No, before that! I clearly said to ask questions related to the presentation!”
“Is it true you used nothing but a single hand—just one hand?!”
“….”
No matter how many times he tried to rein them in, the students showed not the slightest sign of listening. Instead every one of them raised a hand and fired questions about the Academy raid. He tried desperately to stop them, but the situation had long since exceeded any manageable level. Looking thoroughly at a loss, Kyle turned toward the professor with a clear plea: Please stop these pointless questions during lecture time for me.
“Ahem.”
As if answering the silent request for help, the professor who had been sitting quietly finally rose from his seat. At the sound of that throat-clearing the students lowered their hands and glanced at the professor for cues.
“Now, everyone, it would be best if you all settled down. Student Kyle, I truly enjoyed the presentation content.”
See? The professor was cleaning up the room quickly after all. If he had known, he would have asked for help with a look much earlier…
“And with that said, I would very much like you to tell us a little more about the events of that day.”
“….”
You absolute bastard. And you call yourself a professor after that?!
There is a saying: looking back, you realize that time was spring. Kyle felt the full weight of those words right now. What had happened in the lecture hall—telling that day’s story in front of the professor and the students—had been the easy part. At this very moment he was receiving a commendation in front of countless students and staff.
“…and so, regarding this incident, we offer our highest praise for the moving achievements of these two students…”
He had half-expected something, but he never imagined it would go this far. He had assumed the Academy Headmaster would simply appear, say “You’ve worked hard” or “Thank you,” and that would be the end of it. Instead the Minister of Education himself had come in person and was now handing over the commendation while looking them straight in the face.
“You’ve truly worked hard. Hahaha.”
“….”
The Minister of Education Kyle had seen through the magic communication sphere had always looked exhausted to the bone—or else so mentally drained he seemed one step from ending it all. The man standing before him today was so different he barely seemed the same person. The smile plastered across his face made Kyle wonder whether this level of expression required a five-hundred-percent performance bonus.
Thinking that, Kyle accepted the commendation after Tisha.
“Kyle John Nassen.”
As they shook hands, the Minister of Education leaned in for a quick whisper.
“If you could just keep doing things like this, I would have no further wishes for the rest of my life.”
Kyle simply laughed—“Haha!”—and dodged any real answer. The minister in front of him might not know it, but the letter Kyle had sent home had probably already arrived. He could not be certain how his family would react, yet if he had to guess…
The high-ranking folks are probably about to faint from shock.
After receiving the minister’s commendation in front of the entire student body, strange rumors began circulating inside the Academy.
“If even the minister came in person, it must be huge, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. He’s a terrifying person after all. Better not even make eye contact.”
“I heard he took down all the invaders with a single punch.”
“No way he used a whole punch. He’s a John Nassen! It was probably just one finger.”
“One of the knights said Kyle John Nassen toyed with the invaders while holding nothing but a pen. He went stab! with the pen and three of them went down at once!”
“With a pen?! H-how?!”
“Well…”
It was only several days later that Kyle realized he had, overnight, gone from John Nassen to John Wick.