Peace Hunter

That afternoon, at the academy gates.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you, uncle. Let alone seriously injuring him, I even lost against him," said Senior Vyn.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. Besides, we just found out he's so powerful​ he could defeat you," said Duke Remy.

Senior Vyn was chatting with Duke Remy near Duke Remy's carriage. Duchess Arnett was already inside the carriage.

"If I unleash all my power and use all the high-level magic I possess, I can definitely defeat him," said Senior Vyn.

"But you didn't use it in the end, right? That's good because you were able to control your emotions. If you had used too much high-level magic, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Her Majesty the Queen would have been suspicious of you. Since Her Majesty already knows about the 'subject,' there's a chance she'll also suspect you if you overuse your magic. Don't act foolishly like Marquess Marcelo's son did. Because of his foolish act of overusing magic during the previous academy entrance exam, he became under Her Majesty the Queen's surveillance," said Duke Remy.

"Is he being monitored?" asked Senior Vyn.

"Yes. After he committed that foolish act, many unknown individuals are currently moving around in Rovinj. I suspect those individuals are Her Majesty the Queen's intelligence personnel," said Duke Remy.

"I see. Ok, Uncle, I'll be careful from now on," said Senior Vyn.

"Then I'll take my leave, and don't forget to answer my offer. My offer will be useful to you after graduation," said Duke Remy.

"I'll give you an answer as soon as possible, uncle," said Senior Vyn.

"Ok. By the way, did you meet your father earlier?" asked Duke Remy.

"No, uncle. Did my father come here?" asked Senior Vyn.

"I invited him to watch your match today. He said he would come, and I saw him earlier. So you didn't meet him, huh?" said Duke Remy.

"Yes, uncle. I just found out that my father was here," said Senior Vyn.

"Hmm, I see. Well, then I'll be going. See you later, Vyn," said Duke Remy.

"Yes, uncle. Be careful on the road," said Senior Vyn.

Duke Remy walked to his carriage and got into it.

"W-what did you talk about with Vyn?" asked Duchess Arnett.

"Just casual conversation," said Duke Remy.

"I-I see. By the way, I wanted to come back during the academy festival because Amelia said she wanted to show me around. I-is that okay?" asked Duchess Arnett.

"Of course, especially since Amelia herself requested it. Then I'll come too. But if I'm not mistaken, this year's academy festival lasts three days, from next Monday to Wednesday. What day did you and Amelia agree to come to the festival on?" asked Duke Remy.

"Wednesday, the last day. Amelia said there would also be a closing party that day," said Duchess Arnett.

"I see, then we'll leave together on Wednesday," said Duke Remy.

The carriage carrying Duke Remy and Duchess Arnett slowly began to move towards the city of San Quentine.

-

At Chloe's dormitory.

Since the academy tournament was over, we held a celebration at Chloe's dormitory. Usually, when there's a celebration, we always hold it at Chloe's dormitory.

"Is there enough food and drink? If not, we'll buy more and I'll pay for everything," I said.

"The tournament winner has a lot of money to be able to treat us like this, huh," Noa said.

"Well, it's rare for me to treat you guys. I also appreciate your congratulations," I said.

"Aren't you afraid you'll run out of money, Rid?" Chloe asked.

"No need to worry, after all, I got prize money equal to 5x my monthly allowance. Plus, I still have the monthly allowance from the academy. So even if my prize money runs out, I'll still have plenty of savings," I said.

"Okay then," Chloe said.

"By the way, with you winning first place in the academy tournament and earning 10,000 points, how many points have you earned, Rid?" Charles asked.

"Hmm, if I do the math, I think I've accumulated around 62,000 points," I said.

Hearing that, everyone there was shocked. Except for Irene, who looked normal as she sipped her drink.

"62,000 points?" Charles said in surprise.

"No way," Lily said.

"The requirement to advance to the second year is to collect 30,000 points and exchange them for a silver badge. But you've already collected 62,000 points?" Leandra asked.

"The requirement to advance to third year is to accumulate 60,000 points and exchange them for a gold badge, right? Doesn't that mean you should go straight to third year, Rid?" Julie asked.

"Even though I've accumulated 60,000, I have to advance to second year first. How can I go straight to third year from first year?" I said.

We continued chatting throughout the celebration. We celebrated in Chloe's dorm until the evening. Then that evening, after we finished celebrating, we returned to our respective dorms.

-

The next day.

The Elevrad members, including myself, went to the Elevrad room for a meeting. As I entered the Elevrad room, the other Elevrad members congratulated me on winning the academy tournament. They also congratulated Senior Gretta.

As the other Elevrad members congratulated me, I could tell that Senior Vyn was unhappy. Well, that's understandable, since Senior Vyn lost to me. If Senior Vyn saw someone congratulating me, he'd probably be reminded of his defeat in the tournament final.

"The academy tournament is over. Well done to all the members who prepared and made this event a success," said Senior Vyn.

Senior Vyn began clapping, followed by the other Elevrad members.

"But there's still an event we need to make a success of, the Academy Festival. So far, preparations are going smoothly. Decorations have been installed in several locations around the Academy. Booths have been set up in front of the lobby and around the academy building. We've also registered all the vendors who want to sell their wares at the designated booths."

"At the previous festival, students from each class sold their wares at the designated booths. We also held a competition, and the class with the highest revenue at the academy festival would receive a prize. But this time, all the booths will be occupied by vendors we've invited," said Senior Vyn.

"Excuse me, senior. Why is this year's festival different from previous ones in terms of who's selling goods?" Charles asked.

"You first-year students don't know, so let me explain. The tradition of the San Fulgen Academy festival is like that. There are times when vendors are invited to sell at the academy, and there are times when students are required to sell. We're alternating the festival themes,"

Last year's festival required students to sell, so this year it's the vendors' turn. The goal is to ensure that each festival doesn't involve students constantly selling their goods. If they were, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the festival. But on the other hand, we also want the students to participate and sell their own goods at the festival. Therefore, Elevrad and the academy decided to alternate festivals with different themes," said senior Vyn.

"So that's how it is," Charles said.

"I can't imagine what it would be like for students who usually only train and compete with other students every day to suddenly be asked to sell merchandise they've created and chosen themselves. I couldn't even imagine that this academy would hold a festival," said Enzo.

"Ahahaha, I thought the same thing when I was a new student at the academy. I wondered how an academy where students are required to study, train, and even compete against each other every day would hold a festival that's meant to be fun. They even told me to sell things, too,"

"But after I attended this academy festival for the first time, I understood why the academy holds an academy festival, especially near the end of the school year. It's because the academy wants us to enjoy this festival, aiming to let go of our previous burdens and problems during the school year. So that when we enter the new school year, we'll feel like carefree people. Even selling can make us forget our previous burdens and problems. Well, that's because we have a new burden to think about, sales," said senior Gretta.

The other Elevrad members laughed.

"Well, you'll know the reason after attending the festival," said senior Gretta.

"Back to the topic of the Festival. Regarding the merchants, as I mentioned earlier, they've all been registered and will likely begin arriving tomorrow. We've also prepared rooms for them in the building specifically for guests. As for the noble guests, none of them have said they'll be staying overnight, so the guest building will be occupied solely by the merchants,"

"Regarding their merchandise, I've instructed them to offer their merchandise to the students for free, only twice a day at each booth. I've asked them to register each student who buys their merchandise to prevent any fraud. As for the citizens attending the festival, I've asked the merchants to sell at a reasonable price."

"Since this festival will be attended by a wide audience, from commoners to nobles, I've requested assistance from the kingdom to borrow their knights to patrol the academy during the festival to minimize any crime. In addition to the knights, we, as members of Elevrad, are also assigned to patrol the festival. You are still allowed to enjoy the festival while you're on patrol. In addition, the Academy also prepares its staff to help," said senior Vyn.

"I didn't expect Senior Vyn to coordinate with so many parties. It seems like the Elevrad leader has a lot on his plate," I thought.

"For your information, this year's academy festival will be held over three days. It will begin at 8 a.m. on Monday without an opening ceremony. As soon as the academy gates open to the public at 8 a.m., the festival begins. It will end at 7 p.m. on Tuesday as well. On Wednesday, the festival will still start at 8 a.m., but it will end at 9 p.m. because there will be a closing party held by the academy that evening. The next day after the festival, we will begin tidying up and cleaning the decorations and booths that were previously set up."

"Are there any questions so far?" asked Senior Vyn.

None of the other members asked.

"Then, that's all I have to say. Let's all work together to make this festival a success," said Senior Vyn.

"Yes," said all the Elevrad members.

-

Monday, 8:00 a.m.

The academy festival was now open to the public. The citizens and nobles who had been queuing at the academy gates began to enter the grounds.

Meanwhile, outside the academy gates, a luxurious-looking horse-drawn carriage, escorted by several knights, had just stopped after its long journey. The knights lined up and stood in front of the carriage door. Then, one of the knights opened the door. After the door opened, a small girl with golden blonde hair emerged from the carriage. The girl began walking toward the academy gates. As she walked, several of the knights in the line followed behind.

"Why are you following me?" asked the little girl.

"Of course, to guard and protect you, princess. That is the duty your mother has given us," said one of the knights.

"No need, you may go home," said the little girl.

"But, princess—" said one of the knights.

But before he could finish his sentence, the little girl immediately ran into the academy grounds.

"Wait, Princess Caroline!!" one of the knights shouted.

The knights then began running after the little girl into the academy grounds.

-To be continued