What Was Bound to Come... Too Soon
What was bound to come had finally arrived… but wasn’t this far too soon?
He had said it clearly. The Emperor had personally invited these two men and women to the Imperial Palace.
This was nothing like the neighbor next door casually asking someone over for dinner.
The absolute ruler of the Empire, out of the goodness of his heart, had merely chosen the word “invitation” instead of an imperial decree.
There was no room to decide whether to go or not. One simply had to go.
No circumstance in the world could rank higher than a personal invitation from the Emperor.
Even if the invited party were already dead, someone else would have to be sent in their place.
“We’ll go later.”
And yet the man standing right in front of them had rejected that imperial invitation to his face.
“….”
“….”
An icy silence instantly wrapped around everyone present.
Aside from the two from the John Nassen family, every person gathered here was a limb of the Emperor.
Three ministers, knights, and the agents under their command—every last one of them.
They were people who had sworn, over and over, to devote their absolute loyalty to the Emperor.
And now, right in front of them, someone had defied the Emperor’s will.
Ordinarily they would have immediately displayed hostility and proven their loyalty.
No one would have considered it rude if they had exploded in fury and shouted him down on the spot.
“….”
“….”
But not a single one of them could do any such thing.
The knights and the Special Affairs Ministry agents, in particular, were pouring cold sweat.
If we clash right now… today would be the last day of my life.
I can feel it. Ten out of ten, we die for sure. We won’t even get our swords out.
These were people who could reasonably call themselves skilled. That was exactly why they felt it so clearly.
They would stake their lives on it: not a single person present could do a thing to those two.
Right now they couldn’t even defeat the fingers of the woman standing beside that man, never mind the man himself.
Instinct was screaming it. The sixth sense of the strong was roaring at full volume.
Don’t do anything stupid—just stand there quietly. That way you’ll at least avoid dying like a dog!
“…Is that so. You’ll go later, you say.”
Unexpectedly, the ministers did not look particularly flustered or angry.
In truth they had already received separate orders, so while they were startled, they calmed down at once.
They probably won’t accept it immediately. In that case, leave them to do as they please. Once they finish their own business they will come find me without fail. There will be no delay.
Recalling the Emperor’s command, the ministers showed no major reaction.
“Then why do you intend to go to the Academy?”
At the Minister of Education’s question, Lear and Leah answered almost simultaneously.
“To see the youngest.”
“To check on our little brother.”
There were things they needed to discuss with Kyle, things they needed to hear from him.
And as a bonus, they wanted to make sure he had been keeping up with his training properly.
Those were the sorts of reasons that were taking them to the Academy.
Just as I expected.
Even the John Nassens can’t help being family, I suppose.
Well, this is only natural, really.
The youngest child was always the one who received the most love, no matter where they went.
Apparently that held true even for those people living their utterly incomprehensible lives up in the north.
Come to think of it, Kyle was quite a bit different from the image that sprang to mind when one said “John Nassen.”
Perhaps that was exactly why they wanted to look after their little brother even more carefully.
Having reached the same conclusion through silent glances, the ministers nodded.
The Minister of Internal Affairs then stepped slightly forward and opened his mouth.
“Actually, His Majesty left us with these additional words as well. ‘Issue the invitation, but it need not be today. What could possibly be more urgent than meeting family from whom one has been long separated? They are welcome whenever they please these next few days—let them do as they wish.’ That is what His Majesty said.”
They were trying to emphasize the Emperor’s magnanimity as much as possible without stimulating the John Nassens.
That was the absolute maximum these pitiful ministers, trapped between the John Nassen family and the Imperial Household, could manage.
“We offer our sincere gratitude for His Majesty the Emperor’s great mercy.”
Fortunately, Leah managed to notice the ministers’ tearful efforts.
The men in front of them were pouring enormous effort into this, adopting an extremely humble posture.
When the John Nassens witnessed such sincerity, it was only proper to show something in return.
Those people would need something to report back, so a small show of deference was called for.
Having offered her greeting while mentioning the Emperor’s mercy, Leah once again jabbed Lear in the side with her elbow.
“Older brother. They’re being considerate of our situation.”
“Ah… We express our gratitude for the kindness.”
On the surface they looked like nothing more than a lovely young lady of a noble house and a somewhat taciturn young nobleman.
In fact that description was accurate. The woman was beautiful, and the man was not particularly talkative.
It was just that monsters whom even the Imperial 10 Strongest could not handle happened to be living inside those shells.
“Then, Minister.”
When the conversation seemed to be wrapping up, the Minister of Special Affairs suddenly seized the Minister of Education’s hand.
He then used honorifics he had never once employed before and even put on a bright smile.
“Please take those two to the Academy for us.”
“E-excuse me?”
“Do that for us, won’t you? The two of us are simply swamped with official and private business.”
The Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Special Affairs laughed heartily and climbed into a carriage first.
Then, before the Minister of Education could even get a word out, they hastily vacated the premises.
“….”
Only then did the Minister of Education finally understand why those two had dragged him all the way here.
Those two were going to the Academy, weren’t they? They said they were going to see their little brother, and that little brother was an Academy student, wasn’t he?
In other words: from this point on it’s your jurisdiction, the obstacle you will have to overcome yourself.
They had completely dumped everything that followed onto him—in vulgar terms, they had left him holding the bag.
Son of a bitch!
He spat a vicious curse inwardly that in no way suited a minister’s dignity.
Even so, he laughed outwardly and tried speaking to them. “Well then, shall we head to the Academy together, everyone?”
“That’s all right.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s perfect for some cardio. My older brother and I will run there, so just follow along at your own pace. Luckily both of us still remember the way.”
At first he thought it was a joke. Even riding a carriage without rest, it took several hours to reach the Academy from here.
But the Minister of Education soon accepted Leah’s words and quietly closed the carriage door.
Those two men and women standing there were monsters among monsters who had already shortened a journey of more than ten days down to five.
Student Kyle. I’m counting on you alone.
He was now nearly certain just how much the John Nassens loved their youngest.
In that case, the one who would keep anything major from happening would also be that youngest—Kyle John Nassen.
Please, let him control those two properly at the Academy.
The entire way to the Academy, for several hours straight, the Minister of Education prayed and prayed again to the gods.
All while watching the two who had already left the carriage far behind in the dust.
Scoop—.
“…Mmmmm!!”
The Saintess, her mouth stuffed full of ice cream, wore an expression of pure bliss.
Watching her from the side, Tisha let out a small, amused “Pfft” of a smile.
“Is it that delicious, Saintess?”
“Yes! Sister Tisha! It’s exactly like eating clouds!!”
“I suppose it is. More than that, though, it’s surprising. I didn’t realize the Saintess hadn’t eaten much ice cream before.”
“There wasn’t any special reason. I just never really had the chance…”
The Saintess trailed off vaguely and scooped up another big spoonful of ice cream.
It was the café’s strongly recommended menu item: chocolate cookie ice cream.
At the same time, it was also the dessert Kyle, sitting beside them, liked most of all.
“How have things been lately? Is Kyle teaching you well?”
“Yes, Sister. Brother Kyle is guiding me so well that I feel like my body has gotten much stronger!”
Cough—.
At the Saintess’s vigorous declaration, Kyle, who had been eating ice cream, suddenly choked and coughed.
Apparently the Saintess’s claim that she had gotten stronger left him a little speechless.
It’s not that you’ve gotten stronger—being able to do that much is just normal, Saintess…
He was by no means speaking according to John Nassen standards.
If you grabbed a random passerby and made them do the squats or planks the Saintess did, they would manage more than that.
The Saintess he was looking at right now was the very picture of severe exercise deficiency, and a complete exercise novice to boot.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t exercise because she had put on weight. She had simply never had the slightest connection to exercise from the start.
The result of his desperate struggle to somehow turn that Saintess into someone who exercised was this:
Kyle had barely managed to raise her to a level that put her inside the category of a normal person.
“I will make absolutely sure Brother Kyle’s hard work doesn’t go to waste!”
Still, the fortunate part was that the Saintess was following along extremely well.
She never slacked off or made excuses; she simply did whatever she was told.
As a trainer, a member like this could only be described as an absolute angel.
“That’s wonderful, Saintess. I’ll work hard too, so would you like to go mountain climbing with me sometime later?”
“With Sister Tisha? Yes! I’ll be looking forward to it!”
Hold on, mountain climbing is still way too early. She’ll collapse before she even makes it halfway up.
Just as Kyle, worried, was about to open his mouth to stop the Saintess—
“Kyle.”
For a moment he thought he had misheard. It was a voice that absolutely should not have been heard in this place.
But he immediately realized he had not misheard. Because of the presence he could feel behind his back.
Yes—it was unmistakably that overwhelming, heavy aura that only that man could produce.
His body froze solid; he could not so much as twitch a single finger.
All Kyle could do was gulpingly swallow his saliva.
No way, right? Please no. Gods, please tell me I’m wrong.
The Saintess was right there beside him. He had been looking after that Saintess pretty diligently, after all.
If there really was a god, that god would answer this desperate cry—Kyle believed it.
Unfortunately, the gods cut Kyle off yet again this time.
“What is this?! Kyle! What on earth is all this!!”
Instead, the gods went so far as to commit the atrocity of doubling a disaster that was already more than enough on its own.
“Su-sugar bombs! You’ve been eating—eating things like this?! Kyle! You can’t do this! This is terrible!”
The one snatching the spoon from Kyle’s hand with a sharp flick was his older sister, Leah John Nassen.
“Chocolate, cookies, ice cream! It’s all sugar!” she gasped, covering her mouth in shock she could not contain.
And the one who said nothing in particular yet stood there with his mouth slightly open as if thoroughly astonished was—
“L-Lear hyung.”
“Kyle.”
The next head of the John Nassen family, Lear John Nassen.
Wearing an expression of deep concern, he continued.
“Youngest.”
“Y-yes, hyung.”
“If you eat stuff like this, you might not be able to get up the next day.”