Your Country Doesn't Have This, Right? - 4
It was an ordinary day. As usual, I reviewed His Highness Ryutis's schedule, inspected our nation's forces, and held the regular talks with the Yuven and Holy Kingdom sides. The same routine I had repeated every day since His Highness entered the Academy. Nothing about it was special.
The only difference was that I had been on edge over the practical exam. Even that, with last year's experience behind me, was nothing to grow truly tense about. In the end His Highness Ryutis finished an excellent duel with a student named Charles Olid and wore a thoroughly satisfied smile.
Flawless escort duty. His Highness's contentment. A day of which I wanted nothing more and nothing less than that every day be exactly the same.
"……."
It truly was.
Until the sky split open. Until a bizarre surge of mana and a thunderous roar as if space itself were being torn apart made the blue sky begin to crack.
What in the world…
I was bewildered. Looking back, I wonder whether "bewilderment" is even adequate for what I felt then, yet no truer word exists. The more elaborate the description, the more the emotion of that moment seems to thin away.
An ugly scar that seemed to insult the heavens themselves. No matter how charitably one looked at it, the sight was never pleasant, yet I could only stare like a heretic entranced by an idol. No—for a swordsman that scar was no mere idol. It was a holy stigma, divine guidance made visible.
There was no guarantee it had been made by a sword. Anyone I told would click their tongue and call me a fool. Yet I felt it in my bones. That was an achievement wrought by a blade.
I simply stood and stared. Until the sky knitted itself shut again a few minutes later, neither I nor the knights nearby could open our mouths.
"…Sir Villar."
"Yes."
A knight whose voice still trembled with shock. I nodded before he had even finished speaking.
"Report this to the homeland."
This was far beyond anything we could handle alone. Even if they scolded us for talking nonsense, it had to be reported.
That night the training ground near the lodgings was packed with knights.
"Perosa."
"Ah, Father."
Perosa was among them. How proud I felt realizing that, upon seeing that mark, she had felt competitive fire rather than despair. As a father I could not hide my satisfaction; the child was clearly destined for greatness.
But that satisfaction was soon buried under new news.
"An inspector, you say?"
"Yes. The Imperial Family made an official announcement. The Emperor himself did not speak, yet the words came from the Crown Prince, so there can be no doubt."
It was the Royal Knight Commander contacting me from home. His vacant expression had already told me something was wrong, but I never expected the Empire to officially admit that the earlier incident had been the work of a human being.
Still less that it had been the act of the Audit Officer who had been stationed at the Academy for a full year.
"…Thanks to that, Lovens Academy will likely follow Ernesto Academy's lead."
I could only hum at those words. As a knight of Armein they were unwelcome. Lovens Academy was our pride, and that pride was now forced to acknowledge the Empire's superiority.
"And the bureaucrats are in complete uproar as well. The records of the Great Northern War have been proven true."
I wondered what he meant, then understood almost at once. Among the records Armein had obtained by slipping through the Empire's slack counter-intelligence net right after the war's end was a line that read: At Kagan's sword strike the sky tore and the earth wailed.
Anyone reading such a phrase would normally take it as florid exaggeration, never as literal truth. To the bureaucrats it must have felt like a bolt from a clear sky.
"On top of that, the military has grown alarmed by the Empire's sudden display of force."
My face hardened of its own accord. Flaunting military power at a time like this was anything but normal.
If it had been meant as a warning to the three nations stationed at the Academy, last year would have been the proper moment. With smooth relations already established, needlessly provoking the three nations would only harm the Empire itself.
"Opinions are wildly divided. Some claim they simply put forward the Audit Department Chief—an Imperial Count house—to elevate the Imperial Family's prestige. Others say it is a move to crush the Zeno Kingdom completely and seize maritime supremacy. Or an eastward push toward the Leon Kingdom, pressure on our own nation, conquest of the North… every theory imaginable is flying about."
The commander gave a hollow laugh as though the whole business were absurd, yet his expression remained grim. Every possibility was one that could not be dismissed.
A sudden show of force. And it had occurred in the sky above the Academy at the precise moment when the continent's eyes were fixed there—thanks to the enrollment of dignitaries from the three nations, including His Highness Ryutis, and the mass influx of mages captivated by the Magic Lord. The Sky Slash.
Was it right to call this coincidence, or a carefully planned declaration?
"Lovens Academy does not send its people to the Imperial Academy merely to learn. Remember that."
"…I will keep it firmly in mind."
Those words were enough. Armein would lower its head for a time if necessary, to avoid the Empire's blade. My duty as the knight stationed at the Academy was to grasp the Empire's true intent beyond any doubt. Far too heavy a charge for a mere knight, yet not the worst situation imaginable.
At least it is not Armein.
The inspector I had observed would never remain calm before the envoys of a nation he was about to invade. He would either draw a clear line or provoke them openly. That, at least, was the man I knew.
If that entire personality is a thorough performance—
Then the invasion had been in preparation since before His Highness Ryutis ever enrolled.
…A horrifying possibility.
Once I had gone all-in on the Tanian coin meta, I launched an enthusiastic campaign of persuasion.
Tanian's recovery holy magic could reattach severed limbs in moments, yet reinforcement holy magic was actually his specialty—so wouldn't that mean I could cut the sky without getting hurt at all? The Crown Prince himself had asked me to devote myself to fostering the next generation, so how could I possibly refuse? I wheeled out every justification I could invent and ran my mouth without rest.
"…All right. Just this once. I'll let it pass this one time."
"Thank you for understanding, Mar."
Fortunately—whether my earnest pleas had moved them or simply because physical safety was now guaranteed—I succeeded in persuading everyone, Margeta included. Honestly the latter reason carried far more weight, but results were all that mattered.
In any case, riding the Tanian coin I managed to avoid a no-show in front of the spectators who had traveled all this way for the expedition demonstration.
"Lovens Academy says they are ready to come at any moment. The moment you give permission they will teleport straight here."
"Splendid enthusiasm. To show no hesitation in the pursuit of learning—even if it is another nation's academy, that is a spirit worth emulating."
Once persuasion succeeded, everything afterward flowed smoothly. From the principal's standpoint he was receiving Lovens Academy's surrender right after Ernesto Academy's; there was no reason to refuse. He might well go down as the greatest principal in Imperial Academy history.
"I am delighted that so many events keep injecting vitality into this old man's dull final years. This too must be thanks to the Audit Department Chief."
"Hardly. Rather than my doing, it is surely the virtue the principal himself has cultivated."
"Haha, you embarrass me."
As proof, the principal continued the conversation wearing a smile the entire time. One would have expected bewilderment or concern after the sky above the Academy had suddenly split open, yet he offered no such remarks—only gentle nods.
Whether his heart had grown generous after receiving Lovens Academy's surrender, or whether more than a year of constant trials had simply brought him to a state of enlightenment, I could not tell. Either way I counted it fortunate. As the principal himself said, if one's later years fill with vitality instead of becoming tangled, that is a windfall.
A twisted sort of windfall, perhaps, but I chose to see it that way.
Not three days after the principal's approval, Lovens Academy paid an official visit to the Imperial Academy. Unlike Ernesto Academy, which had charged in aiming for the expo from the outset, Lovens Academy had rushed over impulsively, so the timing was only natural.
"I am Narche Yohaim, vice principal of Lovens Academy. Our principal wished to come in person, but his schedule would not allow it; please forgive the absence."
An impulsive visit did not mean the visitors themselves were of low rank. Although the principal had not come, the vice principal—more renowned in swordsmanship circles than the principal himself—had arrived in person and even requested understanding for the principal's absence. Lovens Academy had shown every courtesy that could reasonably be expected.
"Had the principal come himself we would have been the grateful party; how could we express regret at failing to meet him? Please think nothing of it."
For that reason the Imperial Academy met the vice principal with protocol usually reserved for a principal, and the Lovens Academy side seemed reasonably satisfied at receiving a reception one rank higher than their own envoy.
Of course true satisfaction would come only after they had seen the sky split with their own eyes. Protocol meant nothing if they failed to obtain what they had come for.
"Might the gentleman beside you be the Audit Department Chief?"
Having greeted the principal and then the vice principal, Narche Yohaim turned and offered a greeting to me as well.
"Yes, that is correct."
"I am to receive an undeserved lesson from the Audit Department Chief. I shall regard it as an honor and never forget this day."
Watching Narche Yohaim bow his head so respectfully, I even felt a brief wave of dizziness.
Right now they were thoroughly prostrating themselves, pride cast aside. Had I failed to demonstrate the Sky Slash this time, chaos would have erupted. If the price of swallowing one's pride was a no-show, anyone would lose their mind.
Thank you, Tanian… You just saved Empire–Armein relations…
The Audit Department Chief declared he would demonstrate cutting the sky at once and led the students to the training ground.
"It is not something that takes long; dragging the matter out would be improper toward students who have come so far. Would it not be better to see what you desire and then rest thoroughly?"
To us those words were welcome. We had forced our academy schedule into shape and come to the Empire; the longer we remained, the harder the aftermath would become to manage. I was already buried under work as vice principal; I could not afford to be buried deeper.
So I accepted the Audit Department Chief's kindness. Completing our business on the first day would let us return home as swiftly as possible.
…There are a great many of them.
Rumors had already spread; when we arrived at the training ground in the Audit Department Chief's wake, students and faculty of the Imperial Academy stood gathered in throngs. For them as well it was an experience they would not wish to miss, so I understood.
The only subtle discomfort was that His Highness Ryutis stood among those Imperial Academy students.
Your Highness…
A bizarre scene: Armein's pride bowing its head inside the Imperial Academy while a member of Armein royalty looked on. As I felt that strangeness and allowed myself a faint bitter smile, a white-haired young man laid a hand on the Audit Department Chief's shoulder and murmured something.
Bright white light shimmered around the two of them; it was clearly holy magic. That young man must be the next Saint, Tanian Enes.
After exchanging a few further words with the next Saint, the Audit Department Chief nodded and took his place at the center of the training ground.
"I will begin."
At those words the murmuring training ground fell into absolute silence. As though even the rustle of clothing were forbidden, the entire crowd froze in place.
In that stillness the only person with the right to move was the Audit Department Chief.
Huh.
Embarrassing though it is to admit, the moment he took up the sword I was already filled with admiration. To a warrior the fundamentals matter more than anything else, and the solidity of those fundamentals can be read from stance alone.
In that regard the Audit Department Chief's stance was perfect. Even a simple preparatory motion revealed no flaw; the way he stepped forward, the way he extended his arm—I could not look away. How many long years must he have spent to attain such perfection?
Yes—only with foundations that solid could one achieve the feat of cutting the sky—
What?
Admiration transformed in an instant into pure astonishment. As the Audit Department Chief moved his sword with deliberate slowness, a ferocious circulation of mana erupted inside his heart. That mana raced to his right chest, detonated, and then surged outward as though devouring his right arm and the sword itself.
An abnormal mana circulation. A method of operation so deranged that any clumsy attempt to imitate it would burst a man's heart on the spot.
Everyone capable of sensing that mad flow stood open-mouthed, watching the lunatic—
—■■■■■■■■■──!!!
The madman's feat unfolded across the heavens.
Ha.
A different kind of exclamation escaped me from the one I had given when studying his stance earlier.
A black scar settled obscenely across the blue sky, as though insulting it. The wound slowly widened, as if determined to swallow the sky and become a new firmament in its place.
…An evil god?
The scriptures of the Dawn Church state that evil gods who once opposed Enen remain sealed in the northern continent.
I have never seen those evil gods, yet if they ever appeared in the world, would they not tear and insult the sky exactly as the Audit Department Chief was doing now?
This is bad. The reinforcement holy magic I trusted has betrayed me.
Outwardly the arm is fine. It is still attached, and I avoided the catastrophe of it being torn off and rolling across the ground the way it did last time.
It burst on the inside.
Unfortunately only the exterior remains intact. Whether Tanian reinforced the arm properly or not, the outer appearance is preserved—yet I can feel that the muscles, nerves, and bone beneath the skin are completely wrecked.
Still, looking all right on the outside is something. This time I can claim I was not injured. It looks normal, after all. If the arm refuses to rise I can simply say it is throbbing from a sudden burst of strength.
I can ask Tanian for treatment once everyone has left.
Fuck.
…If anyone finds out, I'm finished.