Chapter 117
Chapter 117
“Right. He didn’t say it outright like that, but he asked me to tell him what you said and how you behaved.”
“That’s basically the same thing.”
When I replied with a shrug, Delke let out a snort of laughter.
I figured the reason the other prince’s faction approached him was because, among those around me, he was the easiest target.
Werner was a prince of the Kingdom of Demedrio. Elysia was a princess of the Britain Ducal House, and Petra and Leysias were considered powerful nobles even within the Empire, so they must have been burdensome to approach.
On top of that, regardless of family background, most of them had spent time together with me, so it wouldn’t have been easy to get close to them carelessly.
And since it probably wasn’t the prince himself but his subordinates who made the request, they would have wanted to be as cautious as possible.
Outwardly, Bayern Academy claimed to be the Empire’s greatest educational institution, one that was not swayed by power or authority—but if you looked just a little deeper inside, this was the reality.
That “not being swayed” only applied to minor nobles. When it came to counts or those above them, they wagged their tails and followed obediently. So how much more would that be the case for a prince with imperial blood.
“What are you planning to do, sir?”
“Isn’t that why I’m asking you to tell me?”
I smiled at that answer.
He wasn’t going to step in directly, but it was practically a declaration that he would take my side.
Normally, I might have suspected ulterior motives, but considering his personality, I didn’t need to worry about being betrayed.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.’
Even if the escort position weren’t Delke but another instructor, a few words leaking out wouldn’t really be a problem.
And if someone tried to do something disadvantageous to me during the escort, I could just crush it with status. One good scolding would probably resolve most things.
‘Feels like being a division commander.’
Back when I enlisted on active duty in my previous life, if some high-ranking figure visited a unit, the atmosphere that day would turn into something like a battlefield.
This world was also a thoroughly stratified society, and the title of prince was an incomparably good card. If anything, it was similar.
“For now, please do exactly what they ask of you. In return, didn’t they promise you compensation? Money, or goods, or something like that.”
“Yes. He said he’d give me a considerable amount of money if I listened to him. That it was a profitable deal for just a few words.”
“Demand the maximum amount of money and do as they want. Just make sure to tell me exactly what you said to them. Ah, and you can keep everything you receive.”
“That won’t be difficult.”
Who would feel bad about free money falling into their lap? Delke laughed, saying that his pockets would be nicely padded for once.
“And is there anything you want from me?”
“…Something I want?”
At my words, he looked at me as if asking what I meant.
“They’re giving you money, so I should give you something even better. If there’s anything you want, say the word.”
More money—or perhaps a famous masterwork sword. If not that, even a noble title.
Formally granting a title and bestowing land was the emperor’s exclusive authority, but princes and high-ranking nobles could do similar things as well.
“No, no. I said it like that, but I’m not a particularly greedy person.”
Delke waved his hands, looking flustered.
There was no such thing as someone who disliked money, but his words were close to the truth. Delke wasn’t someone with much material desire.
In fact, his connection with me was almost coincidental.
However, there was exactly one thing that caught his interest.
“Then how about this—I’ll teach you the sword later.”
“…Teach me the sword?”
Not swordsmanship, but the sword itself. As he was about to say something about how absurd that sounded, I brought my hand to the sword at my waist.
Chaang—!
At the clear sound as the blade was drawn, Delke flinched. Ignoring him, I raised the sword and pointed it toward him.
Wooooong—.
Soon, a bluish aura covered its surface. Delke himself had reached the Sword Expert realm, so using aura was easy enough for him—but what I intended to show wasn’t something as trivial as that.
“…Aura Blade?”
A blazing light shimmered atop the blade. It was a realm that anyone who wielded a sword would spend their entire life yearning to reach.
He stared at me with vacant eyes. He knew I was no ordinary person, but he must never have imagined that I had reached Sword Master at such a young age.
“…Haha.”
Delke let out a hollow laugh of disbelief. Then he sighed.
“That’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
“Exactly. Where else would you receive instruction from a Sword Master?”
Teacher and student.
It felt like our original relationship had been reversed, but so what. Good was good.
“Then let’s do that. I look forward to it, Master.”
“I likewise look forward to it, Disciple.”
With those crossed forms of address, we exchanged smiles and shook hands.
Just as four weeks had vanished into sleep, a single week also passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, the other parties made thorough preparations and drew up plans to reach their destination, but there was no need for me to do that.
Naturally, I could just use a teleport gate comfortably. However, that idea was dismissed by Chris.
“That’s something I can’t permit, as it’s a tradition passed down through generations.”
Even she, who usually granted most of my requests without complaint, refused this one, saying it was an academy regulation handed down through generations.
Elves, wherever they were, seemed to be bound by the past or by regulations like this. As if those things weren’t all made by people in power anyway.
From here to the Holy Kingdom, it would take roughly twenty days even on horseback. On top of that, I wasn’t just bringing my own party but also representatives from other years along with me, which would only make things more troublesome.
Fortunately, that concern was resolved by the other side first.
Darius was scheduled to lead the second-year representative team, and Carius the third-year team. Both suggested that we shouldn’t move together in a big, chaotic group but instead travel separately.
The funny thing was that Carius came to tell me in person, while Darius sent a messenger. He was probably worried he’d get beaten up if he showed his face.
I nodded readily to the suggestion without even thinking about it. There was no reason to spend nearly a month and a half moving together with people I didn’t want to see anyway.
When I passed the news on, the party members reacted positively. Traveling together with upperclassmen they barely knew would have been uncomfortable for them as well. On top of that, they said there had been subtle pressure because they were close to me.
For the past week, I told the group to rest well and prepare on their own. They were all capable enough that there was no need for me to nag them.
“Except you.”
When I asked if she was done preparing, Alice turned her gaze away with an awkward smile. No matter how much she had adapted to this world, the modern human habit of postponing things until the absolute limit was unavoidable.
What’s more, having spent time together, it seemed she too could only feel satisfied after pushing tasks to the very edge. I wondered how someone with that personality had become an assassin, but she just mumbled that it was a different matter.
That was why, the day before departure, I grabbed her by the back of the neck and asked Elysia for help.
“Take care of this one for me. I’d like to prepare everything for her myself, but if I do, things will just get noisy again.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything’s properly prepared.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Elysia, who belonged to the same swordsmanship department and used the room next door, nodded readily. Having grown up receiving a noble’s education from a young age, she would be meticulous about this kind of preparation. At that, Alice pulled a tearful expression.
“I can do it on my own…….”
“So this is what you call ‘on your own,’ all the way until the day before departure?”
As punishment for her insolence, I gave her head a light smack.
Another day passed, and on the day of departure, I looked over the party members.
Alice, Elysia, Leysias, Yuria, Werner, Diark, Maria, and Petra, who had been specially added.
A total of nine people—a large group. Considering that a normal party usually consisted of around six members, this exceeded the limit, but Delke took care of those trivial details on his own.
“So, are we going on horseback?”
At Leysias’s question, I grinned.
I had told them on the first day of the term to leave everything about transportation to me, so they still had no idea.
Normally, for long-distance travel, riding horses was the rule. Occasionally, children from wealthy families traveled by carriage, but that quickly exhausted the horses.
Especially since pulling a carriage required training, any trouble with the horses would inevitably put you in a bind.
“No, we’re going by carriage.”
“By carriage?”
Still, I had prepared carriages. The two carriages, painted a deep navy blue, had no particularly notable features aside from being somewhat large.
I had deliberately removed all unnecessary decorations and focused on practicality. From the outside, they looked ordinary enough, but the interiors were fully prepared.
As for the horse issue, I solved it by arranging for fresh horses at each pinpoint along the travel route. I had taken care of all the other minor details as well, so all we had to do was get in.
“…That’s impressive.”
“It really is.”
Everyone let out words of admiration after hearing my explanation. Then Alice sidled up and whispered in my ear.
“So how much did this cost?”
I answered quietly with a grin. Her eyes went wide in shock.
“…You spent that much on this trip?”
“Did you forget my status?”
The total cost of this undertaking amounted to roughly a fistful taken from the mountain of gemstones piled up in my warehouse.
Of course, it was a sum that would burden an ordinary noble or even royalty. But if you were a prince of the Empire, enormous amounts of money flowed in just from breathing.
I hadn’t used any of it and had simply accumulated it little by little, so it had piled up to an overflowing degree.
Even so, I figured my other brothers probably had three or four times more than I did. Their scale was simply different.
According to some information I happened to obtain, the two brothers had prepared replacement carriages for each sector along the way. I had thought they would use teleport gates, but it was unexpectedly diligent of them to take the exam seriously. Even so, I suspected they had spent at least twice as much as I had.
“Um, would it be all right if I joined this group too?”
Petra looked at us with an awkward smile, gauging our reactions. She originally belonged to Darius’s party and another group, but due to her grades, she ended up participating in the journey to the Holy Kingdom.
In principle, she should have joined Darius’s party, but I had pulled her into mine instead. She seemed bothered by that, hesitating repeatedly.
“It’s fine. Like I said before, going to the Holy Kingdom is us indulging their unreasonable demands anyway, so they won’t care about a few minor requests.”
In fact, Chris had told me to do whatever I wanted. Though she did tease me about whether there weren’t too many women around me.
“Let’s split up the carriages first.”
Since there were nine of us, we divided into carriages by drawing lots. My side ended up with four people, the other with five, and by coincidence, aside from one person, we were all men.
The only woman who ended up on this side among the women was Leysias. She looked slightly awkward, but when she met my gaze, she smiled as if to say it was fine.
“Then like this…….”
Just as we were about to board the carriages, since it was time to depart, Alice and Elysia said that women should ride together and grabbed Leysias, dragging her off to their carriage.
“S-scary.”
At the sight of Leysias being dragged away with a forceful attitude that brooked no objections, Werner broke out in a cold sweat.
In any case, the carriages were spacious, so even with six people, there would be enough room. It might be a bit cramped for sleeping, but when that time came, we planned to split up anyway. The men could just sleep outside.
No matter who I was, I at least had that much consideration.