Chapter 232 : Chapter 232
Chapter 232
A single expedition couldn't mend every rift between the students.
Their fights hadn't been born of simple emotions—they'd been rooted in bloodline and origin.
"Hey. Those Namress brats have been getting real uppity lately, haven't they? Must've had some fun on the expedition."
"The way those Empire kids have been cozying up to us lately is kinda gross, don't you think? Oh, the poor Belmein Kingdom. How patronizing."
"They're just comfortable because their bellies are full......"
"Must be nice having a mother."
But the expedition hadn't been meaningless.
"So what?"
"Huh?"
"Even we can see our own kingdom's pitiful. Is it gross to call something pitiful what it is? Does it make you feel inferior?"
"What......?"
Students who'd labored body and mind through the expedition now understood each other better than before.
The student who'd tried to start gossip hadn't expected to hear that from someone of the same kingdom.
His face flushed crimson.
He was about to say something more when—
"I'm from Belmein too. Our kingdom is kinda pitiful."
"Mm. I'm from the Empire, technically, but I think the Empire's obnoxious too."
Pan and Rozalin appeared out of nowhere, and the student couldn't get another word out.
The two of them mechanically exchanged such remarks as they roamed the campus.
Every time a conflict was about to ignite, they'd show up and it would fizzle into silence.
There was a reason the two were this desperate.
"Those students—they were all from your assigned teams, weren't they?"
"......No, they weren't."
"Nope."
"Quiet."
Under Cassian's sharp gaze, both bowed their heads.
"I appreciate that you two came to save me. But because of it, you botched the assignment, and your students came back just as green as before."
Field trips existed so that field experience would grow students physically and mentally.
But the mentors had abandoned their students and gone off doing their own thing.
The students left behind had done nothing more than go through the motions of meeting Belmein nobles and being wined and dined before returning.
And those particular nobles were the very ones Pan and Rozalin had strong-armed commissions out of.
Geographically, those territories weren't far from Akarind Academy.
Other territories might not have known, but those two certainly did.
They'd benefited enormously from the trickle-down.
Transforming Akarind Academy into an industrial hub required massive resource flows.
Those territories had served as trade intermediaries.
They knew exactly how many resources were being invested and how many people were moving through.
They'd bent over backward to please the students and personnel.
Proper learning was impossible under those conditions.
"Minus ten more points."
"W-wait! That puts me at failing!"
Pan let out something close to a scream.
Rozalin had dropped out—well, voluntarily withdrawn—so it didn't matter for her.
"And due to your performance review as Guard Captain, you could face a rank demotion."
"......What?"
"Meaning Hati could become Guard Captain instead, or a professor like Sordian might take on the role concurrently as a department head. You scored a failing grade on your job performance evaluation."
Inside Rozalin's head, a colossal CRASH seemed to reverberate.
What did he just say?
Removing her from the Guard Captain position?
And by whom?
By Cassian himself?
"T-Teacher. That's a really, really unfunny joke!"
"It's not a joke."
"How can you do this to me?! You! Teacher! What kind of relationship do we even have?!"
"......?"
"You saw everything! Right?! I—I saw it too! You, holding that massive bottle no one else could see, smashing it over someone's head......! You must've seen it too! Right!"
Her shouting drew every passing student's gaze in the corridor.
"Huh?"
"What? Cassian saw someone's what?"
"Someone saw Cassian's what?"
Absurd misunderstandings piled up, but there was no stopping Rozalin once she was in full meltdown.
"You said I was your Top Disciple!"
He had never directly said that.
"You said you were grateful I saved you, that you were counting on me! You said I was the best as Guard Captain—that's why you put me in that position!"
She had seated herself in that position.
"And now, after all that, just because I—I disobeyed one little order, you're throwing me out?!"
It hadn't been an order.
He'd simply assigned her a task to carry out properly.
And Rozalin had spectacularly botched it.
"Rozalin......? Calm down."
"I hate you, Teacher!"
Rozalin ran off in tears.
True to a Sword Master's form, within seconds her retreating figure was nowhere to be seen.
All that remained were Pan, Cassian, and the murmuring crowd of onlookers.
"......Pan. Next time you see Rozalin, tell her it's minus twenty points."
"If I deliver that well, can I get five bonus points?"
"I'll consider it."
Pan vanished just as quickly.
Cassian was left alone with nothing but a swallowed sigh.
***
"I intend to proceed with the Aislard trip as the final exam. That hasn't changed."
At Cassian's declaration, the professors let out a collective groan.
This time, since every student was mobilized, the professors had accompanied them and surveyed the state of the Belmein Kingdom firsthand.
"Aislard is essentially in a state of chaos. Demons and monsters are everywhere."
"The Wolf King hasn't moved up there, and the Triban royal family can't exactly step in to fight."
"It was a region the Empire had already abandoned, wasn't it? It'll only have gotten worse."
The professors' assessments were precise.
And they pinpointed exactly why Aislard needed to be addressed.
"Which is why we must go."
Queen Charlotte was also present at this meeting.
At Cassian's request.
"This isn't merely an Akarind Academy issue—it relates to the survival of the entire Belmein Kingdom."
If Aislard wasn't dealt with, every southern kingdom—Triban, Namress, Belmein—would crumble.
"The Empire is in decline. We need to unite the southern kingdoms and expand our influence while we have the chance."
"You know that's a very dangerous statement, right?"
Charlotte regarded him with her characteristic cynical tone.
"You call it a union and influence, but Namress is practically lawless, Aislard is the same, and Triban—which relied solely on military might—would get steamrolled by our single city alone. That could sound like we're declaring ourselves the next Empire."
At her words, several of the assembled professors drew sharp breaths.
Most of them were from nations that had been colonized by the Empire.
Some Imperial-born professors glared at Cassian with wide eyes.
"Teacher. Is that really your intent?"
Chairman Gwen studied him as if trying to read his mind.
"That's not my decision to make."
So I met both their gazes squarely.
"I'm still just an instructor. Political matters like that fall to you, Lord Murray, and ultimately the three of you, along with the other nobles."
Politics was difficult.
I could say that with the authority of someone who'd majored in political science, public administration, philosophy, and history.
Politics was ultimately about moving to change the world for the better.
But the world right now was not better.
No—it was slowly self-destructing.
"Within a year, the Empire will fracture—geographically, culturally, and for a host of other reasons. Honestly, it's a miracle it's held together this long."
The aftermath of the Empire's collapse would be hard to imagine.
"What we can do in that situation is give our all to protect what's ours."
"So the official line is...... we focus on defending the Belmein Kingdom?"
"As for whether we eventually become a union or an empire—that's for the politicians to decide."
Even that Empire.
Even those greedy people.
At the very end, in their last desperate stand, they'd formed a unified human army and installed Rozalin as Grand General.
"Right now, this world has no reliable center of gravity."
The Wolf King was undeniably strong.
But the Wolf King was hegemonic and dangerous.
Perdius and the Emperor of the Empire possessed powerful charisma, but they were insidious.
Could Charlotte or Gwen project that level of charisma?
That wasn't my concern.
It was something they needed to reach for.
"We're simply going to save families, students, and the future of the Belmein Kingdom."
"......"
"And from Aislard, we'll bring back anyone still clinging to survival."
The faculty meeting was brief.
"All right. Then we'll need to prepare for the aftermath once you return."
"Thank you."
Permission was granted.
***
Akarind Academy began to move in earnest.
This was on an entirely different scale from the Belmein Kingdom circuit.
A massive expedition with all two thousand students marching toward a single objective.
"Mother. I'm going to need your help."
"I already retired."
"With an operation this large, your involvement would be far more efficient."
"Oh, this child. You're perfectly capable on your own—stop being needy. Be honest. You just can't stand watching me with your Sihan oppa, can you?"
"......Oppa......"
Abrahal foamed at the mouth.
In any case, Merea—dragged along semi-forcibly—distributed resources with remarkable precision.
"Two thousand people on the move? Then the most important things are latrines and bathing facilities. These aren't ordinary mercenaries—they're students. Isn't this the age when they want to look their best?"
"Mm."
"Plenty of them are probably nursing little crushes too. Even on a long march, no one wants the person they like to see them looking ragged."
When twenty-odd people traveled, sourcing food, water, and managing hygiene was straightforward.
But at scale, every one of those tasks demanded more than double the effort.
"Sleep too. How are two thousand people going to get a proper rest? Supply wagons for transporting gear become critical."
Abrahal was a capable military merchant in his own right, but Merea's long years of experience gave her the edge.
"In times like these, rations and travel equipment are outrageously expensive."
The global situation was growing increasingly dire.
At least Belmein's agriculture was still functioning, but the major production regions had all taken heavy hits.
A sudden spike in military supply demand wasn't going to be met easily.
"We'll have to scrape together what already exists rather than make anything new."
"......Mother, you don't mean?"
In a situation like this, who had military supplies on hand?
Only military merchants who dealt in them professionally.
And which military merchants had ample reserves stockpiled for times like these?
Only the personnel of Goldline—the premier guild that had once dominated the Empire.
"I sent one child off, so I should check in on the others. Mama might be getting remarried, after all—I should at least see their faces."
A summons went out from Akarind Academy to the Goldline Merchant Guild.
"And naturally, I'll tell them to bring everything they've got."
A rather powerful summons—calling in both people and goods.