To Caesus Academy

"A Chair Professorship? What an incredible opportunity!"

Back at the mansion, I told Winston and Riella about everything that had happened at the Count's estate. Winston rejoiced as if it were his own affair, while Riella's eyes went wide as saucers.

"If you earn the Goddess's recognition at the Academy, your nametag will finally change, my lord."

Winston had wisely cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"A fine opportunity carries its share of risk as well. House Pedia could well be extinguished for it. If things go wrong, I'll send word ahead — flee with the gold coins in the house safe."

"That will not happen."

Riella cut in, her voice firm.

"Father and I will protect this mansion until you return, my lord."

She placed a hand over her heart and looked into my eyes, her expression wistful.

"...You will come back to us, won't you?"

"Riella, do not burden our lord so. My lord, I share the same sentiment — visit us any time you take leave. And do not worry about the garden; I shall keep it in order."

I gave a light nod.

"Understood. We depart in five days, so arrange an escort of mercenaries through the guild. A party of four adventurers, B-rank or above."

"A one-way trip, ten days' journey. Very well, my lord. Is there anything else you'd like contracted to the mercenaries?"

Sharp as ever, Winston hadn't missed a single thread of my thinking since the events of that afternoon.

"Have them take down the slave merchants in the county."

Information has no good or bad nature to it. Whatever the source, if it benefits me, I take it.

Slave merchants who commit crimes are punished on sight, whenever they're spotted.

When you see a stain, you scrub it out with a rag until it's clean. It's only natural.

Besides, Winston and Riella will still have to keep watch over this place after I leave, so removing the threats puts my mind at ease.

"The details as usual."

"No questions asked, my lord."

"Understood perfectly."

I looked up the entry on the wiki and immediately got a grasp of the situation.

My current wiki level was three. The interface was nearly identical to the one I'd used before possessing this body, but the contents were quite different.

Because the information updated in real time, based on the present era I was living in.

Whenever entries were updated, a list of the changes appeared on the right side of the screen.

The wiki level seemed to rise in accordance with my experience and knowledge. Even now, barring the world's truly great secrets, I could read a great many entries.

"Winston, are these the ones?"

"Yes, my lord. All B-rank — the finest fighters this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠county has to offer."

"Well met."

The next morning, four adventurers stood waiting before me. The good-looking party leader saluted me with an easy, unhurried air.

"I trust you've heard the terms of the commission."

"Yes, my lord Baron. One bounty contract, and one escort detail lasting ten days."

"Then let's settle the part you'll like best first."

"And that would be?"

"Money."

The party leader's mouth curled into a grin. Commissions from nobles often came with a catch — the difference in station meant that even if a noble shorted them on expenses after the job was done, there was nothing to be done but swallow it.

In that light, my words must have been welcome indeed.

"I understand the two jobs were bundled together at thirty gold coins upon completion — however."

"Yes? Is that too expensive? I don't know if you've worked with B-ranks before, but usually it's about—"

"Consider it separate. Ten gold coins for a successful bounty takedown, twenty-five for a successful escort. That's your pay."

"Five gold more? Ha! What reason would we have to refuse?! You've got deep pockets, my lord!"

In an instant, the adventurers' mood turned downright festive. I gathered my gear and set off.

"Let's move out."

Myself, Winston, and the adventurers — six in all — tracked down a building deep in the city's slums.

On my signal, we stormed the interior at speed.

Inside the damp, dark building were people locked in pens, along with a sizable garrison of Bandits and Slave Merchants ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠managing them.

"We're under attack!"

"The guard?!"

"Adventurers — mercenaries!"

"Kill them!"

The bandits drew blood-caked, rust-stained swords.

But our side was brimming with composure.

"Whoa, they really are all packed in here! How'd you even know about this place when the guard never found it?"

"Two gold a head. What a windfall!"

Inside the cramped building, more than ten figures tangled together, blade striking magic, magic meeting blade. In moments, blood flew everywhere and death filled every corner of the room.

The enemies' caliber was nothing compared to the B-rank adventurers. The party carved and burned through them with cheerful abandon.

— Thud. Thud.

"What now?"

Partway through, one more figure appeared — so huge his nametag could barely be read.

Bearing the job title Butcher, the man spewed breath through yellowed teeth as he swung a massive meat cleaver, the kind that could tear a fistful of flesh from you with a single graze.

"A Butcher — an advanced class of Bandit."

"This won't be easy."

The adventurers tensed, re-gripping their hammers and maces.

Combat-oriented jobs can advance to higher classes as they grow stronger.

A Swordmaster being stronger than a Swordsman, and a Sword Saint stronger still — it was only natural.

— CRASH!

When the Butcher brought down his cleaver, the floor gave way. The adventurer who barely blocked the next blow grimaced, his arm no doubt numb.

One, two — did they throw this party together just looking at the pay?

Each of them was skilled enough, but they weren't coordinating.

"How tedious."

I drew my sword and stepped in front of the Butcher.

"My lord Baron?!"

Ignoring the adventurers' flustered protests, I settled into my stance.

The Butcher swung his broad cleaver in a wide, sweeping arc from below. The rush of wind tore violently across my eardrums.

I swung my sword, letting my body remember.

— Clang!

I deflected the cleaver's edge with the flat of the bastard sword. The angle twisted, and the Butcher's body lurched as he lost the direction of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his own force.

I didn't miss the opening. Carrying the momentum through, I whirled the sword in a great arc behind my back — counterclockwise, behind my head. Releasing the centrifugal force, I brought it down and cut.

The whole sequence: 0.4 seconds.

The blade carved a diagonal line from the Butcher's neck to his collarbone and tore it open.

KUUUOOM!

The next instant, the massive hunk of meat collapsed to the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"O-ohhh..."

"Sword aura...? What technique was that?"

I wiped the blood from my sword as I answered.

"Nothing but ordinary fundamentals."

"Hahh... My lord, are you quite certain you need an escort?"

I glanced at Winston, and he handed over the pouch containing the ten gold coins he'd promised the adventurers.

"Of course I do. Ten days — I'm in your hands."

The moment the adventurers saw the gold, their faces split into ear-to-ear grins. They pocketed the coins and set about freeing the kidnapped captives.

The reaction was as good as I'd expected. The ten gold I'd just paid was, in a sense, a retainer.

This was a long-term commission of ten whole days. If the first job proved their skill, a relationship of trust would take root.

What mattered to me was the second escort mission. That would be motivation for them, too.

Did I actually need their escort? Of course I did.

On an unfamiliar road, there's no predicting what might happen.

This is a world without insurance — you build your own. And above all, ten days of travel goes far more comfortably with adventurers as travel companions.

Once they'd finished securing the scene, the adventurers came over and reported.

"Let's head to the guild and collect the bounty, my lord."

"Let's."

"So the rumor was true — the mysterious adventurer who's been clearing the guild's dangerous commissions really is you, my lord? Well, I suppose you are the Heroes' teacher. Ah — but that doesn't mean we're giving the gold back, mind you?"

The adventurer laughed breezily. It brought back old memories.

"By the way, why take care of a commission like this at all? You only just left, didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you?"

I looked down at the corpses of the slave merchants sprawled across the floor and gave a small snort.

"I've wondered the same thing for a long time. Kill every slave merchant who commits crimes, and still more of them spring up from somewhere new."

Do the wicked choose this trade, or does choosing this trade make them wicked?

Either way, I'd cleaned up my own front yard, so there was nothing left to weigh on my mind.

"Leave the mansion to us — have no worries on that account."

Winston, dressed in formal attire, bowed respectfully. Beside him, Riella bit her lip desperately, but she was on the very verge of tears.

"Please travel safely, my lord."

"I'll be off."

I turned my back on the two of them and climbed into the carriage. The scenery outside the window began to move.

I crossed my own territory along the single road. Entering the county, I found a crowd lined up in procession to see me off — Count Caldwell among them.

"My lord Baron! No — Chair Professor Pedia!! We'll be rooting for you!"

The Count waved at me with a beaming smile.

The sight of his face nearly soured my mood, but then I saw the villagers I'd rescued from the slave merchants, and the adventurers, bowing their backs in salute to me — and the parting settled into something a little sweeter.

No. This is only the beginning.

My challenge as a professor has merely raised its curtain. I haven't achieved a single thing yet.

"Well, all the same."

The journey would take ten days, so for now I decided to enjoy a long-overdue nap.

Neither long nor short, the ten days slipped past.

Three nights camping out, five at inns. One night we slept in a strange abandoned house, and I suspect I was charmed by a ghost.

The carriage's hard seats never once grew comfortable, even after ten days. When we changed horses in a mid-route city, the new one turned out to be a proper spitfire, and I nearly got blisters on my backside.

We crossed the imperial border, skirted the outskirts of the Holy State, and traveled far along the mountain range until we reached neutral ground belonging to no nation at all.

In other words — from here on, the Caesus Academy Territory.

Sacred and inviolable land, where every act of armed force in the human realm was forbidden.

"My lord, there it is at last!"

I'd been dozing against the rattling carriage when the adventurers suddenly shouted for joy. I too opened the window, breathed in the crisp air, and beheld the imposing sight of that colossal castle.

"So that's the Heroes' Academy!"

"You do get to see the rarest sights in a lifetime."

It was a landscape like a single painted scroll. Sheer, hewn cliffs. Mountains, waterfalls, a blazing sun. Fresh greenery and unmelted snow, a broad mirror of a lake.

An ancient fortress stood tall amid strange terrain where every season and every region of the continent coexisted in one place.

Though the entrance exam was still two days away, the area before the Academy already thronged with an endless procession of carriages. Applicants from every corner of the human realm had gathered well in advance to take the test.

"The roads are immaculate."

Perhaps thanks to accumulated know-how, the systems here were impressively well built. There was even a parking lot for the carriages.

At the gate where the road met the grounds, a guard soldier tore a long strip of yellow paper with a sharp riiip and handed it to our coachman.

"What's this?"

"A parking permit."

"Pardon? We're just turning around and leaving—"

"Base rate is two silver per thirty minutes."

The coachman grumbled as he took the permit. It was, on close inspection, a rather steep usury.

"My lord Baron — or should I say Professor now? Thanks for your patronage!"

"May our paths cross again!"

I stepped down in the parking lot and parted ways with the adventurers. Their escort duty was complete. When I added two extra gold coins as a tip for a job well done, they fairly leapt about, bowing at the waist in delight.

For adventurers, it's the small pleasures that keep the fire lit. I know the feeling well.

I turned and looked up at the Academy. Beyond the high walls, a cluster of spires rose proudly in the distance. They seemed as though they could stand unshaken even through the flames of war.

"Shall we, then."

I straightened my clothes and strode boldly toward the main gate.