Chapter 64
Chapter 64
“Come in.”
I went ahead and headed to the Sword Saint’s domain together with Gawain.
The Sword Saint personally came out to the teleport gate to welcome us, and immediately suggested a spar, saying he wanted to see how much I had grown.
Of course, it was only a spar in name—I was beaten one-sidedly for an entire hour.
That refreshed expression on his face at the end was so detestable I could barely stand it.
Still, thanks to that, I was able to realize that I had grown by one stage.
His behavior was that of a damned old man, but in the end, he was stepping up for the sake of my growth, so it wasn’t something I could complain about.
As I dragged my aching body back to the lodgings, Gawain—who had been watching from the side the entire time—hesitantly approached me.
“Um, are you all right, Your Highness?”
“Does this look all right to you?”
“Haha…….”
“You’re laughing?”
I took out my irritation on Gawain for no good reason.
He lowered his head deeply with a pitiful expression, but from now on, he wouldn’t have the leisure for that.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get ready to go out.”
“…Pardon?”
He looked at me as if he had no idea what was going on.
Well, I had dragged him along unilaterally, so it was understandable, but the upcoming schedule was tight, so I couldn’t just let it slide because he didn’t know.
If you don’t know, you should read the room—right?
I handed him a backpack stuffed full of potions, medicinal herbs, food, and fresh water.
“O-Oh!”
It must have been quite heavy, as Gawain groaned while strapping it on.
I smiled broadly at him and said,
“That’s our lifeline for the next three days, so take good care of it.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Just follow me for now.”
As soon as we dropped off our extra belongings at the lodgings, we immediately boarded a carriage and headed for the Monster Mountain Range.
It was too far to walk, so we traveled by carriage, and Gawain still seemed clueless, only staring around at the scenery in fascination.
“We’ll be staying here for the next three days.”
“…Pardon?”
When I said that upon entering the foothills of the mountain, Gawain looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
But when I glared at him with force in my eyes, he shrank back and lowered his head again.
It was still daytime, but the sun set much faster in the mountains.
Even though evening hadn’t come yet, the dense trees made it seem as if it were already dark.
When I walked inward with unhesitating steps, Gawain followed behind me as if swallowing mustard tears.
“Y-Your Highness. No matter what, entering a place like this without an escort is……”
It seemed like he had a lot he wanted to say.
Why we had come to a place like this, why it was just the two of us, what on earth we hoped to gain by doing something like this.
And I answered those questions neatly.
Grrrr—
Not long after entering the mountain, an orc with a physique that looked two or three times larger than those elsewhere blocked our path.
And it wasn’t just one or two—there were over a dozen of them.
“…….”
When I looked at Gawain, he was so frightened he was practically foaming at the mouth.
I let out a small sigh, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and said,
“Use magic and kill them all.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“Kill them all.”
Pressed by my threatening demeanor, he trembled as he raised his hand.
A fourth-class mage should be able to incinerate orcs like these in an instant.
As an Academy graduate, it wasn’t as if he had never experienced real combat.
But he froze in place, only opening and closing his mouth, unable to do anything.
“Are you just going to die like this?”
I whispered quietly from behind him.
The orcs, while wary of us, were gradually closing in.
Before long, the murderous intent pouring out from their entire bodies thickened, as if they were about to charge all at once.
Gawain squeezed his eyes shut, his half-extended hands flailing uselessly in the air.
Seeing that, I judged that it was no good for now, drew my sword from my waist, and stepped forward.
“Well, just watch for now.”
Sword light flashed through the dim darkness.
Without even needing to raise aura, my blade cleaved through the orcs’ bodies, and soon all that remained in that spot were dozens of chunks of flesh.
“Well?”
“Ugh…….”
When I turned around holding a sword dripping with blood, Gawain was stumbling backward after having fallen flat on his backside.
His pathetic state gave me a headache, but hadn’t I been the same once?
If he just spent a bit of time, he would gradually get used to it.
And when that happened, it would greatly help him recover his lost pride and break through the wall blocking him.
On his third attempt, Gawain finally succeeded in using magic.
He raised a crimson storm of flames from his fingertips, completely burning everything around us, and even while panting for breath, he looked at me with an exhilarated expression.
And that was the beginning.
I made him fight monsters until his mana ran dry.
When he exhausted all his mana and fell into magical depletion, flailing helplessly, I stepped in and fought until he recovered.
Once his mana was restored, I put him back in front to take down monsters again.
Gawain didn’t stop groaning and complaining the entire time, but the timid, unconfident attitude he had shown before was nowhere to be found.
After repeating this about a dozen times, roughly three days passed.
Since it was time to return to the Academy, we went back to the domain, cleaned ourselves up, and teleported to Polfoardel.
Bayern Academy.
We had arrived before the opening ceremony, so the inside was quiet.
One side of the grand hall was bustling with people preparing for the event, but I passed them and moved further inside.
“…….”
Gawain wore a puzzled expression, but he didn’t bother asking me questions.
Perhaps he had gained some kind of realization over the past few days—though he kept complaining verbally, his body simply did as I instructed.
“The person we’re supposed to meet… is it the Headmaster?”
It was in front of the Headmaster’s office door that he finally spoke.
Gawain was also from this place, so he must have been acquainted with Chris.
When I lightly knocked on the door, it opened on its own and guided us inside.
“It’s been a while.”
Chris, polymorphed into the appearance of an old man, greeted us with a kindly expression.
Gawain hurriedly bowed deeply, while I merely gave her a light nod.
Gawain looked slightly uncomfortable at the fact that I was familiar enough with the Headmaster to exchange greetings, but he didn’t seem to find it particularly strange.
“What about what we talked about?”
“I handled it without issue, but honestly, it’s not something I find all that agreeable.”
Before leaving for the Sword Saint’s domain, I had contacted Chris to look into securing a teaching position at Bayern Academy.
Since I didn’t yet have a place or force I could call my base, there was nowhere suitable to let Gawain stay.
And if I kept him as a court mage, pressure would come in one form or another.
‘In that case, it’s better to let him at least pick up the scraps that fall from under Chris.’
Only a very small number of people knew that she was the sole surviving member of the elf race and, at the same time, a great archmage counted among the strongest beings in the world.
Being included in that small number would be an enormous help to Gawain.
“You’ll be working as a teacher at this Academy from now on. You understand what that means, right?”
I sat down on the guest sofa, crossed my legs, and spoke to him as he stood there blankly.
Gawain then opened his mouth with an expression as if he had realized something.
“Is it that by teaching others, one also gains enlightenment oneself? Is that what you mean?”
A hint of dejection showed in his eyes.
He was someone who had even laid hands on crystallized demonic energy to break through a wall.
He must have tried methods like that long ago.
He reacted this way because his loyalty and trust toward me were still lacking, but I didn’t mind and smiled broadly.
“Do you really think I brought you here for something that trivial?”
I then looked at Chris.
She let out a small sigh with a blunt expression.
“I told you I wasn’t keen on this.”
Despite her words, she obediently raised her hand and lightly snapped her fingers.
In an instant, the surrounding scenery changed, and Gawain’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear.
“T-This is……”
Magic that far surpassed his own level.
But that wasn’t the end of what there was to be surprised by.
Pure white mana particles scattered from Chris’s body.
The kindly old man’s appearance from moments ago collapsed, and an incomparably beautiful woman stood there instead.
“If it weren’t for his request, I would never have revealed this form. Be grateful to your master.”
Unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events, Gawain stared at Chris with a vacant expression.
I smacked him on the head, and only then did he come to his senses, coughing with a reddened face.
“She is the progenitor of magic, born of the elf race. She will also be the master who teaches you magic from now on.”
“I don’t see the makings of a great archmage in you at all……. Well, now that you’ve come under me, if you can’t even reach that level, you shouldn’t go around calling yourself a mage anywhere.”
“Y-You’re saying you’ll teach me?”
“That’s right. On the surface, you’ll work as a teacher at this Academy. After your daily duties, come to me to learn magic. Of course, giving up will not be tolerated. If you betray us, your flesh and soul will burn in the flames of hell that never go out until this world meets its end.”
She spoke words that made even me shudder, as naturally as breathing.
For a great archmage of Chris’s caliber, creating flames that never went out forever wasn’t a joke.
And those words also contained a warning directed at me.
‘No second chances, huh.’
She must have seen the seed of something in Gawain as well.
As the strongest being in the world, what she saw was surely different, but having many people know secrets of this sort wouldn’t be a good thing for her.
“…Y-Your Highness. Is this really…….”
Gawain looked at me with tear-filled eyes.
Receiving instruction from a great archmage of this level was something he could never have imagined even in his dreams.
Even if you gathered a hundred imperial palace magic tower lords, not a single one would be a match for her.
“Did you see? Your master is capable to this extent. Work hard and become useful to me as soon as possible.”
“I shall humbly accept your words, even at the cost of my life!”
When I lightly patted his shoulder, he prostrated himself completely, pressing his head to the floor in a deep bow.
I smiled and nodded at that.
For now, I had acquired one slave.
In truth, there wasn’t anything particularly special about Academy life after this.
The main events were the dungeon episode that signaled the precursor to the appearance of the demon race, and the reward episode that followed it—the acquisition of Excalibur.
As far as I remembered, time passed without much incident, summarized in narration, and was skipped all the way until just before the final term.
In the final term, a three-week-long exam was held through external activities.
The content was that we would travel to other Academies across the Empire to hold exchange events, but teleport gates and spatial movement magic were prohibited, forcing us to travel entirely on foot.
Naturally, the protagonist party would get caught up in all sorts of incidents.
According to the original work, Alice and I alone would have been more than enough to get through it, but if the story twisted like it did during the appearance of the Archduke of Hell, not even the original author would know what might happen.
“There’s a lot to prepare.”
Of course, I had no intention of taking it lying down.