Chapter 164 : Chapter 164
Chapter 164. The Academy Before the Start of Term
“It’s been a while.”
Radel arrived at the Imperial Magic Academy together with Gusto.
The main gate, now familiar to him, greeted them, and the two passed through the scanning magic and entered the Academy.
Although the term had not yet begun, the Academy was bustling with people.
Among the upperclassmen, there were even those who had spent the entire vacation on campus.
“Did you have a good break?”
“Yeah. What about you?”
“It was fine, except my report card suddenly arrived. I was having dinner with my parents, and the atmosphere turned absolutely awful.”
“I knew that would happen, so I ran off to my relatives’ place in advance.”
First-years were exchanging greetings even in the Black Falcon Dormitory.
Radel was greeted by his friends as well.
“Your Highness!”
“Did you enjoy your vacation?”
They were the large-built friends who took mana training with Radel.
“You all came back early too.”
Radel greeted them warmly.
Having spent the vacation extremely busy taking care of his territory, it felt like it had been a very long time.
“Yes, we arrived a few days ago. We wanted to do some mana training.”
“We practiced magic at the Academy and read books.”
“We felt the need to prepare for the second semester.”
What was this, model students?
Seeing how completely his friends had changed, Radel felt a sense of pride. These were the same guys who used to pick fights with other classmates. When had they changed so much?
‘People really do mature with time.’
Radel had no awareness that he himself had forced that change.
Smiling contentedly at their growth, Radel asked,
“Preparing for the second semester? How are you preparing?”
“Huh? Well, like we said, mana training, reading books…”
“That’s just a given.”
Hearing Radel speak so casually, the large-built friends were struck with shock.
All of that was just a given?
“His Highness is right. Those are things students should naturally do.”
Gusto nodded beside Radel.
The large-built friends, who had thought they were working harder than usual, were flustered.
“Then what else should we do…?”
Radel shrugged and spoke.
“Obviously, you should prepare to choose your major. You decide in the second semester. Have you thought about what you’ll choose?”
“That is… not yet.”
At Radel’s words, they felt as though they had been hit over the head.
They had only thought about practicing their weak magic and had never considered their major.
“Your Highness, we were short-sighted.”
“We’ll go back and think seriously about our majors!”
“We’ve learned a lot again today.”
The large-built friends bowed repeatedly and left.
Watching their change, Gusto spoke to Radel.
“You’ve given them enlightenment the moment you returned to the dormitory. It sounds like exactly what they needed to hear.”
But Radel had not asked those questions to make them realize their shortcomings.
He had simply been curious.
‘I wanted to hear what majors they were thinking of.’
Since Radel himself had not yet decided on a major, he had planned to listen and take it as reference.
In the end, it seemed to have helped them anyway.
“Gusto, have you chosen your major?”
When Radel asked, Gusto nodded.
“Yes. I plan to major in Combat Magic.”
He had never wavered.
For Gusto, who dreamed of becoming an Inquisitor, Combat Magic was the natural choice.
He possessed strong Divine Power, but when dealing with heretics, greater magical strength was always an advantage.
“And you, Your Highness? Have you decided on a major?”
“I’m not sure yet. I was planning to listen to what the seniors have to say.”
They were in the middle of that conversation when someone came storming into the Black Falcon Dormitory lobby.
“How could you leave without me?”
It was Inette, seething with anger.
Spotting Radel and Gusto, she exploded. More precisely, her anger was directed at Radel.
“Who just leaves a single letter and runs off? Because of that, I had to ride all the way to the Imperial Capital trapped in a carriage with Mother!”
This had happened because Radel had rushed back to Marcellent after receiving Tunia’s telegram.
Even so, before leaving, Radel had asked Chariot to leave a letter behind.
“Wasn’t it nice spending some quality time alone with the Imperial Consort?”
“Nice, my foot! The moment Mother got into the carriage, she started talking about report cards like she’d been waiting for it! Do you know how that felt? My blood dried up! You ditched me on purpose to mess with me, didn’t you?”
Gusto looked at Inette as if he did not understand.
“His Highness is not that kind of person. And if you disliked hearing about grades, you could simply have earned good ones.”
“What? Are you picking a fight with me right now?”
Inette ground her teeth and glared at Gusto.
She had been so busy in Radel’s territory that she had briefly forgotten, but that apprentice holy knight was still as irritating as ever.
“Picking a fight? I merely stated the facts.”
“Oh? So you’re bragging because your grades were better than mine?”
“Ah, were your grades perhaps lower than mine?”
Before Inette could truly lose her temper, Radel quickly intervened.
“It couldn’t be helped back then, Inette. I got an urgent telegram from Tunia.”
As Radel changed the subject, Inette took the bait just as expected.
“…Tunia? Why Tunia?”
“There was an issue at the Dice Shop. It’s all resolved now. Still, I should’ve explained better before leaving. That was my mistake.”
With Radel speaking like that, Inette had nothing more to say.
Her eyes narrowed sharply.
“Come to think of it, where is Tunia?”
“She’s working at the Dice Shop right now. She’s coming on the first day of term.”
Radel answered casually.
He had heard it directly from Tunia earlier when he stopped by the Dice Shop. She said she wanted to focus on training the new hires until the Academy term began.
But to Inette, it was shocking news.
Not only had she not seen her first friend throughout the vacation, she would not even see her until the first day of term.
Inette shouted in disbelief.
“She worked all vacation and she’s still working? That’s a full-on sweatshop boss!”
A sweatshop boss?
If he was guilty of anything, it was hiring an acting president who worked diligently.
Radel felt a bit wronged.
CREAK.
The top floor of the Black Falcon Dormitory was still empty.
The rooms where the research-year students stayed were quiet as well.
According to Ishan Rau, even though research-year students had rooms in the dormitory, they often stayed in their professors’ workshops instead.
They also spent a lot of time outside gathering materials or doing field practice.
‘Thanks to that, I got to use an entire floor comfortably.’
Carrying his travel bag, Radel stood in front of his dorm room.
It was near the secret passage, a room he had used conveniently in many ways during the first semester.
CLICK.
Radel unlocked the door with his key.
Then something unexpected happened.
POP!
With a small bursting sound, a slip of paper fell to the floor. It was magic that activated when a locked door was opened.
Radel bent down and picked up the note. He had been hit by similar magic several times before, so he did not panic.
“It reminds me of some familiar seniors.”
A few faces crossed Radel’s mind, people who would be capable of something like this.
Students from other dormitories were not allowed to enter the Black Falcon Dormitory, but if they really tried, it was not impossible.
“Grade Representative dinner meeting notice?”
Radel read the note.
As expected, it was from the seniors he had anticipated, suggesting they meet before the term began.
It seemed other Grade Representative seniors had already returned to the Academy.
“Hmm…?”
Radel paused while reading.
One thing bothered him.
The note emphasized that he should not tell anyone about this Grade Representative meeting and should come secretly.
“Is that really necessary?”
Grade Representative meetings were officially recognized Academy gatherings.
No matter where they met, no one should have objected.
Yet the note insisted that he tell no one and avoid being seen.
‘Could this be assassins? Or a trap?’
The unusual instructions raised suspicion.
Naturally so. One could not afford to relax just because it was inside the Academy.
Still, the only way to know whether it was real or not was to see for himself.
If it was a prank by seniors who liked jokes, it would fit too.
Radel decided to go to the location written on the note.
7 p.m.
Curfew for the dormitories was two hours away.
There was a bit more freedom during vacation, but rules were rules.
“I should be quick.”
Radel moved through the secret passage.
He was heading toward the meeting place written on the note.
The location was a strange one, not the Grade Representative Office usually used for meetings.
“Is this it?”
Radel arrived near the herb garden.
The very same herb garden where, during alchemy classes, he and his classmates had worn straw hats to pull weeds or sneak herbs while avoiding flying golems.
Why meet in a place like this?
Suspicion crept into Radel’s expression. Being told to come in the evening only made it more suspicious.
WHOOSH.
At that moment, Radel heard something slicing through the air near his ear.
‘That sound!’
Radel instinctively hid behind a tree.
Most Academy students would have done the same.
SWISH!
The moment Radel hid himself, a round object zipped past.
It was one of the Academy’s flying golems, said to have been created by the principal. It was likely patrolling the Academy or guarding the herb garden.
‘I hid without thinking.’
He had done nothing wrong, yet he had felt the urge to hide.
Especially around the herb garden, seeing a flying golem always made him want to avoid attention.
There were rumors that the principal used flying golems to monitor students.
One of the Academy’s ghost stories claimed the principal watched students every day through image crystals installed in the golems.
When Inette had heard that rumor, she had shuddered.
‘It just feels like something he’d actually do!’
Whether the rumor was true or not, it was a fact that flying golems roamed the Academy, watching students.
They seemed more focused on preventing mischief, though.
As Radel moved carefully, he accidentally made a sound.
RUSTLE.
The flying golem that had just passed turned its body and looked toward Radel’s hiding place.
SWISH?
WHOOSH!
Then it shot toward Radel at tremendous speed.
‘Should I run?’
Radel hesitated.
At that moment, someone appeared and threw a firework toward the flying golem.
BANG!
Struck by the firework, the flying golem faltered briefly.
While the golem paused, seemingly unable to see, a figure in a robe revealed themselves.
“Hello, Junior?”
At the cheerful voice, Radel instantly recognized who it was.
It was the second-year Grade Representative and alchemy major, Senior Anesha.