Chapter 69

Chapter 69. First Day of Class (2)

The Administration Department was attended by the children of lower nobles who would not inherit their houses, as well as commoners who sought a stable life and social advancement.

The Knight Department was attended by those who possessed body-enhancement abilities or combat-use mana circulation arts.

However, regardless of that, most heirs of noble houses and children of great nobles attended the Inherited Ability Department and graduated from there.

To be honest, for great nobles, learning and training their inherited abilities within their own houses was the most advantageous.

The training at the Royal Academy was meant for those who could not receive such education, and in another sense, its main role was to keep the children of nobles as hostages.

In the end, proper nobles spent their time attending the Inherited Ability Department and strengthening their friendships and cartels with one another.

The princess, Manuel, and even the two noble new students who had stepped forward at the new-student welcome event all belonged to the Inherited Ability Department.

“I may be from a ducal house, but I am only an illegitimate son. My awakening is not something useful for administration either. I would be grateful just to become a sworn knight.”

Well, if this had been a short while ago, the words I had spoken would have been true. But now, I did not know what there would be for me to learn in the Knight Department.

However, I could not say that, and to be honest, it was important to avoid the eyes of troublesome people in high places.

They had asked me to look after the princess, but there was no way anything would happen to her during class. No, my heart was full of the desire to stay as far away from her as possible.

Piar’s expression was ambiguous, but it seemed I had made him understand roughly enough.

Then it was time to move on to the next step.

“As for me, since I am on the physical ability enhancement side, becoming a knight was only natural……. By the way, what kind of ability do you have, Piar?”

I looked at Piar and threw out the question.

Now, spit it out. Your ability.

---

It was a large semicircular lecture hall.

All the new students were taking their first class in the lecture hall.

“Good to meet you. I am Bogard, in charge of history.”

The old professor, whose hair had turned completely white, finished introducing himself with a single sentence and immediately began the class without any other remarks.

“You may consider this world to be divided into the world before the Great War and the world after the Great War. The culture, technology, and history of the Old Empire before the Great War were all scattered and lost because of the Great War, and now they are only discovered as relics. The current culture, politics, and nations were all formed after the Great War…….”

Unlike his elderly appearance, his voice carried strength, and his manner of conducting the class was not bad.

However, his passionate class did not reach the students’ hearts.

Only a small number of students listened, while most had little interest in a history class that was nothing more than liberal arts.

Everyone attended because it was an integrated first-year liberal arts class, but its grade weight was not large, and most of the students had already heard the contents from tutors at home.

I was the same. After all, when I was at home, I had already read every history book in full and had also debated diligently with my tutor.

“……No one can disparage the great victory of the Great War or the achievements of the Heroes who brought about that victory. However, as a historian, I can only feel great regret over the records and relics destroyed during that war. Even now, most people believe that the world before the Great War was far more backward than the present, but when one considers the Old Empire of that time…….”

As expected of the Royal Academy. He is saying something a little different from what is written in the history books. But I wonder whether it is all right to say such things at the Royal Academy.

Well, they must be letting him remain as a teacher because words of that extent did not matter.

I withdrew my curiosity. In the end, it was only the professor’s personal opinion and theory, without any unusual relics being presented.

While pretending to listen to the professor, I looked around the lecture hall.

Since all the new students had gathered, the large lecture hall had hardly any empty seats.

Perhaps because there were no assigned seats, the new students had gathered here and there.

Broadly speaking, there were three groups. At a glance, they felt distinctly different from one another.

Perhaps because of yesterday’s preliminary education, it was obvious they had gathered by department.

At the very back of the lecture hall, sturdy-looking students were seated.

Most of them were men. On top of that, even while sitting still, they exuded a distinctly valiant air.

At a glance, they were clearly students of the Knight Department.

And in front of the Knight Department group, in the center of the lecture hall, the students who appeared splendid were seated.

Their relaxed behavior, postures full of affectation, and gazes that looked down on others.

It was obvious that all of them were children of noble houses of some significance.

Naturally, at the center of them sat Princess Aisha, who looked several years younger than the other students.

She was still young, but a princess was still a princess.

She did not look anxious, and she was taking the class with a relaxed demeanor.

Rather, I could see at a glance how the students sitting around her were fidgeting, trying to receive even a little of her attention.

‘Oh no, our eyes met.’

When our eyes met, the princess lowered her head slightly.

Unlike before, her gaze seemed to contain a faint sense of acknowledgment. It seemed the princess had also heard the news.

The others did not notice the princess’s gaze, but Manuel seemed to notice immediately.

After seeing the princess’s appearance, he furrowed his brow.

I hoped he would stop paying attention to it since it was nothing important.

Aside from the princess and Manuel, I could see several students who seemed to be heirs of impressive houses.

I did not know who they were, but I could probably ask Manuel or someone else.

Finally, at the very front, unlike the other groups, ordinary-looking students were seated.

They were the new students of the Administration Department.

They were all students I did not know well, but I did know the male and female students sitting directly in front of the podium.

Piar and his cousin, Mirisa. The two of them were diligently listening to the class, unaware of all the hardship I had gone through.

Well, since they had not received a proper education, it was only natural for them to listen so earnestly.

Come to think of it, Piar and his cousin had come from a village in a small territory. Perhaps the fact that they had received even that level of education was impressive in itself.

In any case, while the groups were gathered among themselves, I was sitting alone, away from everyone else.

Since I had not been present yesterday, there was no one I knew, and no one approached me separately.

The princess also seemed to be pretending not to know me in public, and Manuel, naturally, was pretending not to know me as well.

My roommate Piar was completely ignoring me too.

It seemed all the effort I had put into coaxing him last night had vanished in a single day.

‘Still, I was able to hear various things yesterday.’

Where he had been born and raised. How he had come to the Royal Academy. Even his ability.

I had been able to hear many things.

---

The place where he was born was the territory of a noble called Viscount Soat.

“I was born and raised in a small village in the territory ruled by Viscount Soat…… sir.”

“Where is the Soat territory……? Mm. Do you know the Argosia territory? Or Messesia? Ah, you know Messesia? It is directly below the territory of Baron Messesia.”

I did not know the Soat territory very well, but I knew the House of Messesia well.

It was the place I had stopped by before coming to the capital.

It was the place where the baron, who had been under the influence of the exiled Second Duchess’s ability, had tried to kill me—no, had actually killed me.

Was it a coincidence?

In any case, I stored that information in my memory.

“Fortunately, my father was the village chief, so Sister Mirisa and I were able to properly learn letters, unlike the others.”

“How did I obtain my ability? I do not know that very well either. I thought something was a little strange, but I lived without anything particularly unusual happening. Then a certain person passing through the village saw Sister Mirisa and me and said we might have inherited abilities. That was how I found out.”

Was he one of those ‘passing strangers’ I had heard about in my previous life?

There was something that bothered me, but I stored this in my head for now as well.

“My ability and Sister Mirisa’s ability are similar. They are a kind of amplification ability. When I heard about it during the entrance test, they said it was a kind of buffer ability.”

As he spoke, Piar raised his hand.

Mana gathered into his hand.

Damn!

I recoiled in horror and stepped back.

“What is wrong?”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

His hand, where the mana had gathered, was glowing faintly.

“They said I can slightly increase other people’s abilities. I can also extend the duration. Some people called it a kind of storehouse, but in any case, it is not an amazing ability, so I applied to the Administration Department. I think I have to learn more about my ability at the academy.”

Well, of course he would not have entered the academy with a self-destruct ability.

Because I had made a horrified expression, the conversation ended there. Since it happened to be time to sleep, I was able to let it pass vaguely, but I had truly been startled.

---

While I was combining the various suspicious details in my head, the liberal arts class ended.

The next class was another liberal arts class, ‘Fundamentals of Inherited Abilities.’

“The students gathered here have mostly completed their awakenings and are ability users.”

The middle-aged female professor spoke while looking across the lecture hall.

When she said the word ‘mostly,’ her words wavered slightly, but not only I, but all the students pretended not to notice her mistake.

That was understandable, because there was only one person in this lecture hall who was not an ability user.

That person was Princess Aisha, who was sitting in the center of the lecture hall.

She was still ten years old. There were still one or two months left until her Awakening Day.

Originally, one was supposed to enter the academy after awakening, but Princess Aisha had broken that custom.

Of course, there was no way Princess Aisha, who was royalty and a princess, would fail to awaken. However, there was also no reason for her, as royalty, to break custom and enroll early.

I had also wondered about it and asked the Queen when I met her.

“Katrine has returned, and the atmosphere in the royal family and the capital is becoming complicated, so I thought it would be better for her to finish the academy even a single day sooner. On top of that, if she enters this year, she will take classes with you, which makes it even better.”

The king was suffering from illness, and the succession struggle between the princes was intensifying, so now that her aunt Katrine had returned, was the plan to send her to the academy first and divert attention?

It seemed like a decent plan in its own way.

‘If not for me, everyone would have died at the entrance ceremony!’

Then had the entrance ceremony terror attack been aimed at the princess? Was that why Katrine and the senior knight had moved so busily?

Hmm, now that they knew it was dangerous, could they not cancel her enrollment and just send her back to the royal palace?

No, had I blocked the terror attack so thoroughly that they did not feel much danger?

My continuing thoughts nearly made me laugh hollowly.

It seemed the situation had become thoroughly tangled. If things went wrong, it might become even more tangled as time went on.

In the end, I had gained even more reasons to catch whoever had done this.

The class that followed was not very different from the history class.

The types and dangers of abilities, the importance of nobles who used inherited abilities, loyalty to the royal family, and so on.

Rather than education about inherited abilities, it had become a kind of political education.

‘Surely this class will not be like this all semester.’

It was not my major class, but I had come with some expectations. If this kind of class continued, I could only feel troubled about what exactly I would learn.

‘Surely this is not an academy where socializing is everything?’

If things were like this, I had no choice but to place my hopes on my major, the knight classes.

With a sigh, the Fundamentals of Inherited Abilities class also ended, and with it, the morning classes ended.