Chapter 65

Chapter 65 . Terror Attack (2)

The event had not yet begun.

“Hurry and sit down.”

The princess spoke differently from before. Fortunately, it seemed I had hidden my expression well.

“I am sorry, but I will sit somewhere else.”

At my words, the princess and Manuel looked surprised.

“What? What do you mean by that?”

The princess looked around with a bewildered expression, then soon seemed to understand something.

“I see. Is it because of the gazes around us?”

Huh? At her words, I looked around.

Gazes from every direction were gathering here.

Mm. I see.

It was the perfect excuse to use.

“Given my position, this much attention feels rather excessive.”

At my words, the little princess looked disappointed, and Manuel also clicked his tongue quietly.

It was understandable for them to be disappointed, but I did not care at all.

To be honest, if I were an ordinary illegitimate son of a noble house, this was a perfectly natural thing to say and do.

I did not know why the Queen or Katrine was trying to connect me with the princess, but friendship with the illegitimate son of a noble house could not possibly be good for the princess either.

Leaving the princess’s disappointment behind, I moved to another seat.

“Excuse me. I will sit here for a moment.”

When I squeezed into the seat, the princess, who had been watching me from the corner of her eye, looked utterly dumbfounded.

After all, I had said I was moving because I felt uncomfortable under everyone’s gazes, yet instead of moving to a corner of the hall, I had sat near the front of the hall, right beside the students who would take the new-student pledge.

However, I had no choice. The energy I had found moments ago had started from this very place.

“Hello.”

I greeted the boy sitting beside me.

---

At the moment of the second explosion earlier, I had been able to discover the starting point of the energy that caused the explosion.

The strange energy seemed like a kind of transformed mana, but contrary to my initial expectation, it did not pour out from a relic. It poured out from a person.

‘This must also be an inherited ability.’

In the end, it was a terror attack caused by a person. On top of that, since he had been caught up in the explosion himself, it was a kind of suicide bombing.

That suicide bomber was sitting beside me now.

He looked displeased when he saw me suddenly squeeze in beside him.

‘It must be because of the seat I forced my way into.’

The male student sitting to my right and the female student sitting in front of me were the noble new-student representatives, respectively. The future suicide bomber, who had been pushed aside because of me, was the ‘commoner new-student representative.’

‘Is it a revenge attack?’

‘A foreign spy?’

‘A terror attack for class reform?’

‘A proletarian revolution?’

As I looked at the ordinary-looking boy, all sorts of thoughts occurred to me, from a child who had lost his parents to nobles awakening an ability and taking revenge, to a terror attack meant to enlighten commoners suffering under nobles.

The boy, whose face had been stiff, eventually let out a small sigh and relaxed his expression.

Well, it would have been difficult to say anything just because I had squeezed into the seat.

It was not as though anyone else would say anything either.

“You lack manners.”

No, there was someone who would say something.

The red-haired girl sitting in front of me looked at me and rebuked me quietly.

This girl was also one of the students taking the new-student pledge. I had heard she was the daughter of some count’s house, but I had not listened properly during the pledge, so I did not know her exact name.

She should know well enough that I was not a commoner. Did she not see me come in with the princess?

“If you are a noble, you must set an example even in small matters. If you know someone of high status, you should also understand that your actions may cause trouble for that person.”

No, she had seen me come in with the princess.

The words she continued to speak, despite her rather pretty appearance, were not loud, but they were extremely firm.

‘Oh, was she a girl who dreamed of noblesse oblige?’

I did not know which house she belonged to, but it seemed she had been educated very properly. However, she did not seem to have learned much about practical affairs.

Unlike her, the other boy sitting on my left smiled and greeted me.

“This is our first meeting. I am Ride de Chaifri.”

This boy was the last of the new-student pledge representatives.

This one was a noble who properly understood reality.

Of course, if he learned that I was an illegitimate son, he would immediately turn away.

If it had been any other time, I would have learned more about the two of them, but right now, I had to focus all my attention on the commoner representative sitting to my right.

“I am sorry for suddenly barging in. I thought you were someone I knew.”

“Ah……. I see. It is all right.”

When I bowed my head to the boy, he hurriedly bowed his head as well.

“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Alex de Gresia.”

“Ah! The Gresia family……. Oh, I am Piar.”

Then, once I gave my name, he became visibly tense and gave his own. In his eyes, it seemed the flag of the ducal house was fluttering behind me.

‘In any case, his name is Piar the terrorist. Since he is a commoner, he probably has no surname.’

Fortunately, the name of the ducal house seemed to have worked fairly well. There was still some time before the event began, and I intended to draw out the conversation to obtain information.

However, the boy sitting on my other side ruined my plan.

“Gresia? Was there a child by the name of Alex there?”

The boy looked at me and furrowed his brow.

“The first is Simon, the second is Manuel, who is beside the princess, and they should only have a younger sister, no?”

Oh! His information network was quite impressive.

On top of that, his contempt for illegitimate children was impressive too.

The girl in front of me, whose expression had softened at my apology, also stiffened at his words.

“You are not impersonating a noble, are you? In the worst case, you could even be executed!”

Oh, had I underestimated the information networks of noble houses too much?

On top of that, thanks to that rigid girl, it seemed difficult to brush this off vaguely.

Letting out a sigh inwardly, I opened my mouth.

“Alex de Gresia. I am an illegitimate son.”

“Ah…….”

“…….”

At my words, the girl opened her mouth wide and let out a meaningless exclamation, while the boys on either side of me frowned.

“Sorry. I was thoughtless. I apologize.”

The girl immediately composed her expression and apologized to me.

Informally.

As expected, she had been educated properly.

Noble etiquette was etiquette based on discrimination. Their consideration was merely charity offered to those beneath them. An illegitimate son was not a proper noble either.

Because of her informal tone, her apology did not feel like an apology at all. She probably thought she had apologized properly, though.

The boy with the good information network did not even think of apologizing, let alone looking at me.

‘This is ruined.’

The suicide bomber sitting on the other side also turned away from me.

No, you are a commoner.

Was it because he had become the commoner representative for the new students? It seemed his desire to rise in status was far stronger than I had expected.

The glittering background of the ducal house vanished in an instant with the single status of being an illegitimate son.

After that, throughout the entire event, I could not even speak to any of the three of them, including the terrorist.

“……I swear that I will inherit the will of the first king and do my utmost for the prosperity of the kingdom.”

“I swear.”

After some time passed, the three went forward and took the pledge, and we also rose from our seats and repeated the pledge along with them.

As all the new students swore the oath, I could see mana flowing through the hall.

Since it was not a contract performed in a temple, it had no compulsory force. However, the oaths of nearly a hundred people with inherited abilities were bound to possess a certain degree of compulsion in their own right.

It was not enough to completely prevent them from thinking other thoughts, but if they tried to rebel or betray the nation, it would produce an uncomfortable feeling in their hearts.

This was likely another reason why inherited ability users were gathered into the academy.

Only awakened noble children and commoners were allowed to enter this Royal Academy.

In the beginning, all awakened people enrolled in this academy, but as time passed and the nation gradually grew larger, several more academies were established in the capital and in other regions.

Those other academies, modeled after this academy, allowed not only awakened people but also wealthy commoners, aspiring knights, aspiring officials, and other non-awakened students to attend.

In exchange, the Royal Academy remained the greatest academy, where the heirs of powerful noble houses, the noble children and commoners who had received good inherited abilities, and awakened people who had not received especially good inherited abilities but were sponsored by influential families could enroll.

Naturally, as an illegitimate son, I was not someone who could enter this place. However, thanks to the grand sponsor known as a royal personage’s backing, I had managed to enroll like this.

After the new-student pledge ended, I glanced toward the princess.

My eyes met the princess’s by chance as she looked around. The princess frowned and turned her gaze away.

Oh dear. If I managed to survive this time, it seemed my sponsor would scold me quite severely.

Both because of the present situation and because of what I was about to do.

After the new-student pledge, various procedures continued, and now the entrance ceremony was almost approaching its end.

‘Is he really the terrorist?’

I had not been able to speak to him, but throughout the entrance ceremony, I had kept watching Piar the terrorist.

However, no matter where I looked, he did not seem like a suicide bomber.

He did look somewhat nervous, but that was only the level of nervousness shown by new students entering the academy. He was not looking around, nor was he preparing to do anything suspicious.

If he was a terrorist, he had to be an incredible professional.

I could not understand it, but what I had to do did not change.

I clutched my stomach and drew in a deep breath.

Then I let out a loud groan of pain.

“Ugh, urgh, my stomach! My stomach!”

The students around me all looked at me in surprise.

I felt a teacher who had been passing nearby approach me.

I grabbed the thigh of Piar, who was sitting beside me, curled up, and continued to groan.

The murmuring grew louder, and the proceedings came to a halt.

The teacher who had rushed over asked me,

“What is wrong?”

“My stomach, my stomach hurts so much. I think my intestines are twisted from nerves.”

It was not something a sick person would say, but I worked hard to explain my condition while pretending to be in pain.

It would be troublesome if they mistook it for some serious illness.

“I think I just need to rest in the infirmary for a moment.”

I leaned toward Piar and kept muttering.

Not only the teacher, but also the surrounding students frowned.

“It cannot be helped. You, take him there.”

The teacher pointed to our terrorist and had him support me.

It could not be helped. Among the people around us, he was the only commoner, so they had no choice but to leave me to him.

Piar supported me with a bewildered expression, and the people around us shook their heads as they watched me leave the hall.

The princess also looked dumbfounded, and Manuel clicked his tongue.

Mm, it seemed my academy life was definitely ruined.

Before the ceremony ended, I was able to leave the building with Piar.

Fortunately, there was no priest among the people gathered at the back of the hall.

“I will take him to the infirmary. You go back to your seat.”

Instead, a female teacher from the back stepped forward.

However, I could not let that happen. I grabbed the clothes of Piar the suicide bomber.

“Please come with me to the infirmary. I am begging you.”

His expression showed that he had lost all affection for me, but as a commoner, he could not bring himself to ignore an illegitimate son of the ducal house clinging to him and pleading.

The female teacher also gave up with a reluctant expression. Instead, the butler from the ducal residence stepped forward to support me.

Piar and the butler took me outside the hall.