Peace Hunter

The 1218 Academy Festival finally began. Many people, from civilians to nobles, attended and enjoyed the festival. Not only them, but all the students also enjoyed the festival. They began to crowd the booths selling food, accessories, and other things.

As members of Elevrad, we began patrolling to maintain the security and safety of the festival. We also wore brooches to identify ourselves as Elevrad members. If we saw any criminal activity or actions that disrupted the festival, we were required to reprimand them. We could even resort to violence if reprimands weren't enough to stop them. Whether they were commoners or nobles, we would take action against those who disrupted the festival and force them out.

Meanwhile, I was currently patrolling the academy lake. Visitors were not only around the merchandise booths near the academy buildings, but they were also everywhere within the academy, and they were even permitted to enter the academy building. Therefore, all areas of the academy were required to be patrolled, including the academy lake.

So far, there had been no trouble at the academy lake. There had been no commotion among those sightseeing and touring the lake, despite their differing social statuses. While there were some arrogant nobles, there were also some kind-hearted ones. Perhaps one of them was the nobles who were viewing the lake. They weren't bothered by the presence of the commoners who came to the lake. They even greeted the commoners and returned the greetings of those who greeted them first.

But there was one thing that made me uncomfortable. Although they appeared kind, they were touring the lake with their slaves in tow. Some were human and some from other races. Indeed, the academy allowed outside visitors to bring slaves, although the academy didn't allow students who owned slaves to bring theirs. Those slaves might be well cared for because they had good masters, but what about the unfortunate slaves who had bad masters? I wanted to abolish this system of slavery immediately, but first I had to graduate from the academy.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared from my blazer pocket. I took out something that glowed brightly, ​it was a communication crystal. Before we were assigned to patrol, we were loaned communication crystals from the academy so we could communicate with other Elevrad members while on patrol. This also allowed us to report on the situation of the area we were patrolling without having to see each other. I held the communication crystal. I wondered who was contacting me.

"Hello, Rid," said the voice from the crystal.

"Charles?" I asked.

"Yes, it's me, Charles," Charles said.

It turned out to be Charles who had contacted me via communication crystal.

"What's up, Charles?" I asked.

"I just wanted to chat, to relieve some boredom. Is the area you're patrolling safe right now?" Charles asked.

"Well, nothing's happened here. Besides, there are several royal knights and academy staff on guard at various points. What about you, Charles?" I asked.

"I just resolved a problem that occurred here. A nobleman was abusive to the slaves he brought with him. Because it was causing discomfort in this place, I reprimanded him. But he continued his behavior, so I immediately took harsh action against him. I beat him until he was unconscious," said Charles.

"I didn't expect a prince like you to do that," I said.

"Ahahaha, the people around me who saw me were also very surprised. But what can I do, he didn't respond to my reprimand. Because his actions were causing discomfort in this place, that's why I decided to beat him," said Charles.

"Well, what you did was according to procedure, so it's no problem," I said.

"Yes. I have to turn off this communication crystal first, Rid. It seems there's another problem here that I need to resolve because I see a crowd in front of me," said Charles.

"Ok, let's deal with that problem first, Charles," I said.

"Yes," said Charles.

Then Charles turned off the communication crystal. Our conversation ended.

I tucked the communication crystal into my blazer pocket. After that, I looked around. Several people were looking at me.

"Since I won the previous academy tournament, it seems like that's made me the center of attention," I thought.

But I didn't think much of it. Since the academy lake was safe, I decided to leave the lake and continue my patrol elsewhere. As I was walking along the path connecting the academy park to the academy lake, I saw from a distance a little girl wearing a hood running towards the academy lake. However, as she ran, she bumped into a someone in front of her. The little girl fell, along with the person she hit.

"You insolent brat, what are you doing?" said the person she hit.

He got up and grabbed the little girl's arm with his left hand, preventing her from running.

"Where are your parents? Didn't they teach you to use your eyes when walking?" asked the person he hit.

The little girl remained silent despite being scolded and restrained by the person.

"Why are you so quiet? If your parents can't teach you, let me do it. It seems you really need a lesson," said the person who had been hit.

The person raised his right hand and prepared to slap the little girl in the face. The little girl remained silent, offering no resistance. Then the person started to move his right hand, but just as his hand was about to reach her cheek, I immediately caught it. The person was shocked.

"Stop it. Aren't you ashamed of causing trouble with a little girl? Plus, what you did just now attracted a lot of attention," I said.

Because of his actions, many people had come over to watch.

"That's because she hit me first," the person said.

"I know she was in the wrong, but you can't just act like that. She's just a little girl, after all. I hope you'll stop what you're doing. If you insist on continuing, I won't let you sit idly by," I said.

The person remained silent for a moment, then began to speak again.

"Tch, fine. I won't continue what I was doing. It was a waste of time anyway," the person said.

The person then left, leaving me and the little girl. Then, I dispersed the crowd that had gathered because of the incident.

"Everyone, I apologize for the trouble this caused. You can continue your activities at this academy festival," I said with a bow.

The crowd that had gathered here began to disperse and they slowly began to walk back to their respective destinations.

"The matter is settled now. By the way, why were you running, little girl?" I asked the little girl, who was still nearby.

"Before that, first of all, I'm not a little girl. I'm 11 years old," the little girl said.

"Is 11 years old not a little girl?" I thought.

"Sorry then, I said that because of your height," I said.

"I know I'm still very short now, but in a few years I'll definitely be the same height as my two older brother and sister," said the little girl.

"Brother and sister? Did you come here with them?" I asked.

"No, I'm here alone. In fact, I came here because I wanted to see them," said the little girl.

"You came here to see your older brother and sister? Wait a minute, you came here alone? You're not even with your parents? Isn't it dangerous for a girl as young as you to come here alone?" I asked.

"I told you, I'm not a little girl."

"Actually, I came here with some people. But I decided to run away from them because they wanted to follow me around the festival. I ran away from them because I wanted to freely explore the festival," said the little girl.

"I see. By the way, you said you wanted to meet your two older brother and sister, right? Maybe I can help you instead of wandering around the academy looking for them all by yourself," I said.

​"You don't have any hidden intentions towards me, right?" asked the little girl.​

"Do you think I'm someone with ulterior motives?" I asked.

"Hmmm, no," the little girl said.

"Besides, I'm a member of Elevrad. I'm one of the people in charge of this festival because it's organized by Elevrad. So it's my job to help the visitors at this festival," I said.

"Elevrad? If I'm not mistaken, my two older brother and sister are also members of Elevrad," the little girl said.

"Really? If that's the case, the search will be easy. What are your two older brother and sister's ​names?" I asked.

"Hmm, I can't tell you. But I can give you another clue, my two older siblings are first-year students, members of Elevrad, and have the same hair color as me," the little girl said, removing her hood.

I could see her golden-blonde hair.

"First-year students, members of Elevrad, and golden-blonde hair, aren't those Charles and Chloe? Then, could this little girl be..." I thought.

Suddenly, the communication crystal in my blazer pocket glowed again. I took it out.

"Excuse me, I have a call," I said.

"Please, big brother," the little girl said.

I moved a little away from the little girl. Then I held it and waited for the person to contact me.

"Hello, Rid," said the voice from the crystal.

"Chloe? What's wrong?" I asked.

It was Chloe who contacted me.

"I received a report that there are royal knights wandering around this festival. The problem is, those knights aren't the ones we borrowed for patrol. They look like they're looking for something. Did you know about that?" Chloe asked.

"No, I only found out after you told me. I've been patrolling the academy lake since earlier, so I don't know what's going on in the area ahead," I said.

"I see," Chloe said.

"By the way, Chloe. Are you free right now? If so, could you come over? I'm on the path that connects the academy lake and the academy garden," I said.

"I was going to patrol somewhere else, but I'm not far from the place you mentioned earlier. I'll be there now," Chloe said.

"Ok, I'll wait," I said.

Then the communication crystal stopped glowing, signaling the end of the conversation. I put it back in my blazer pocket.

-

Not long after, Chloe arrived at my place.

"What's wrong, Rid?" Chloe asked.

"It seems like someone wants to see you," I said.

Then the little girl approached Chloe, taking off her hood.

"Big Sister Chloe," the little girl said.

"Carol?" Chloe asked, surprised.

The little girl immediately hugged Chloe.

"Big Sister Chloe, I missed you," the little girl said.

"Why are you here, Carol?" Chloe asked.

"To see you, of course, big sister," the little girl said.

"Ah, Mom said you'd be coming during the academy festival," Chloe said.

"So it's true, she's your little sister, Chloe. I offered to help her earlier because she said she wanted to see her two older siblings. She didn't directly tell me her sibling's name, but hinted that she was a first-year student, a member of Elevrad, and had the same golden blonde hair color as her. I assumed the sisters she was referring to were you and Charles,"

"What a coincidence, when I was thinking that, you suddenly called me. So I immediately told you to come here," I said.

"Yes, she's my sister. Her name is Caroline Estella San Fulgen," Chloe said.

"Well, actually, I already knew Chloe's sister's name from my conversation with Her Majesty the Queen in Lady Karina's room," I thought.

Chloe and Caroline continued hugging.

"Where are Mother or Father, Carol?" Chloe asked.

"Mother and Father are at the palace. But they both said they would be attending the festival on the last day, so I came here first. I'm going to enjoy this festival until the very end," Caroline said.

"I see, but wouldn't it be a bit of a hassle if you kept going back and forth to enjoy the festival until the very end?" Chloe asked.

"That's right. So, please let me stay here, sis," said Caroline.

"Stay here?" Chloe said, looking surprised.

-To be continued