Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga – Chapter 88

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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As I precariously entered my fifth day of academy life, Esmée and Lagnis clearly distinguished between public and private matters.

While I was practically dragged by Esmée to our destination, not even knowing where we were supposed to go, I witnessed the two of them smoothly exchanging greetings with nobles and envoys from other countries that we met along the way.

This made me acutely aware that they were indeed royalty and nobility.

Even when they conversed with each other during this process, they chatted with smiles, without a hint of tension.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but wish they would continue like this for the remaining period.

Of course, that was impossible.

It was meaningless for me, the cause of all this, to have such hopes.

“Today’s schedule only includes dungeon exploration,” Esmée explained.

“Although it’s a dungeon operated under strict management for student education, it’s at a level where even average adventurers would need to form parties to navigate comfortably.”

Esmée, noticing that I hadn’t properly grasped today’s schedule, was explaining it to me in between greeting the passing crowds.

If I hadn’t seen the performance in the arena on the first day, I might have been quite surprised by the dungeon’s level.

But having experienced it firsthand, it was perfectly understandable.

Rather, those who had built up some teamwork within the academy’s framework were likely better than mediocre adventurer parties.

This class seemed to focus more on situational awareness, improvisation, and role distribution rather than just checking their ability to handle danger.

“Then how will the Margrave and I participate?” I asked.

“That has already been arranged,” Esmée replied.

“As the representative of Margrave Levien, you, Eldmia, will participate in the exploration with Hero Siegfried. The remaining members will be filled by attendants brought by envoys from each country or the envoys themselves.”

“There are over ten kingdoms I know of on the continent, but surely not all of them are participating?” I inquired.

That meant there were ten countries large and famous enough for the Empire to send invitations to.

If we included the smaller nations, there must be at least ten more countries I didn’t know about.

But that turned out to be exactly what happened.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Esmée responded.

“It’s a matter of continental interest. However, we’ve divided those who want to form parties directly with the hero and observe him up close, and those who want to compete in dungeon exploration. Including the parties formed by academy students, a total of four parties will explore the dungeon simultaneously.”

“By the way, each party consists of five members.”

Her last words made me feel strongly uneasy.

“They say that when five people gather, there’s always one trash among them.”

Sieg muttered with a blank expression, having overheard Esmée’s words.

“That’s quite a unique yet strangely credible saying. Who said that?” Esmée asked, intrigued.

“There is a wise man called Master Jirobo. Even he judged humans too rationally,” Sieg replied.

“Oh… That’s a name I’ve never heard before. Are there any other teachings?”

“Probably not.”

I could barely hold back my laughter at Esmée’s seemingly disappointed reaction to Sieg’s casual lie, which he delivered with such familiarity that it was clear he had done this many times before.

As I gritted my teeth to suppress my amusement, Lagnis asked a question from beside me.

“Four parties seems quite a large number, doesn’t it? I can understand the dungeon’s scale given it’s in the Empire, but is there another reason for having so many people explore simultaneously?”

“While it’s done to showcase the hero’s achievements, the academy isn’t just nurturing just one hero.” Esmée explained.

“By including two parties of students and one party of envoys, it inevitably became four parties.”

The hypothesis and question I had held since the first day was that the Empire had no intention of putting all its eggs in the hero’s basket.

In a normal situation, having the hero’s party composed of external members and making them compete with other parties would have been seen as quite disadvantageous.

But because I was paired with the hero in the same party, it made things much more complicated to think about.

For a dungeon of this level, the hero and I alone could probably clear it.

Unless we were completely at odds, there was no reason we couldn’t accommodate each other’s opinions now.

“Esmée, was putting me and Sieg in the same party planned?” I asked quietly, unable to find an answer even after pondering it myself.

Esmée, who had just waved naturally to a passing noble, answered just as quietly, “It was hastily arranged when suspicions of ulterior motives arose.”

That was all the explanation she gave, but it was enough.

In this situation, the implications of detecting ulterior motives and providing the hero with a safe party member were clear.

The question was whether it was an assassination attempt, or if someone outside the Empire was trying to tarnish the hero’s reputation…

If they were wary of demons, there would be no need to reorganize the party, so it was likely a power struggle between nations.

And that led to the conclusion that there were people who viewed the hero, chosen by the gods to oppose the Demon King, simply as a military asset of the Empire.

The irritation and displeasure that suddenly welled up inside me was even greater than what I had felt before coming to the Empire.

It was Esmée’s touch, as she had her arm linked with mine, it helped me compose my face before it could contort unattractively.

“Are you nervous because there are many onlookers? With your and the hero’s skills, there shouldn’t be any problems. You’re surprisingly timid,” she said.

When I looked down at Esmée’s eyes, they conveyed a different meaning from her words.

I was genuinely impressed that she had accurately grasped my emotional change from just a moment of tension and gave me a heads-up in advance.

My admiration even swallowed up my irritation.

“…I see. I suppose I’m not used to such public activities,” I replied.

“No matter how nervous you are, you must exercise restraint. The dungeon exploration isn’t the end.” she advised.

Even if there would be an attempt on the hero’s life, I shouldn’t kill them.

Understanding what Esmée meant to say, I nodded with something resembling a smile.

I wasn’t sure if it looked like a real smile, but Esmée smiled back at me anyway.

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The entrance to the dungeon, located in the forest near the academy and leading underground, boasted a rather clean and modern style, as if it had been newly built and maintained.

It might even be an artificial dungeon.

The faculty members leading the exploration, the makeshift wooden spectator stands, several crystal balls, and the people filling those stands were as noisy as if it were a festival.

While I wondered if anyone would dare to try and backstab the hero in such a setting.

I sighed again, realizing that the possibility existed, which was why they had made these preparations in advance.

“Well, it’s a common occurrence. Don’t worry too much about it, little brother.” Sieg said casually, approaching me as I stood with a sour expression, having left our companions who had moved to the spectator stands.

“Aren’t you too calm about a potential assassination attempt on yourself?” I asked incredulously.

Sieg must have heard Esmée’s earlier explanation since he could control wind spirits and would have been able to hear any conversation within earshot.

That’s why I could ask without a shred of doubt, and Sieg, seemingly having no intention of hiding anything, just shrugged and answered.

“You’re from a country that directly faces demons, so you don’t know, little brother. Some inland kingdoms even consider the very existence of the hero to be a huge scam perpetrated by the Empire.”

“A scam?”

“They think that demons are actually nothing, but the Empire is hyping it up using the name of God, trying to suck up all the benefits.”

Honestly, I had suspected that they planned to use the hero for their own benefit.

But… to ignore the threat of demons entirely and accuse them of forging divine will?

That was going too far.

It was unbelievable that people living normally in this world, not Otherworlders like Sieg and I, could come up with such notions.

“Don’t the inland kingdoms have faith?” I asked.

“There’s a saying: ‘Tragedy when seen up close, comedy when seen from afar.'” Sieg replied, sounding unusually intellectual and heroic today.

“That’s why I consider all these bastards to be complete assholes.” Sieg continued.

“They lack a sense of reality, they don’t make any effort, but when they feel like they’re losing out, they rise up and try to bite as if it’s the truth. Instead of thinking about becoming stronger or improving their abilities, they’re more inclined to depend on others.”

I hadn’t thought that being reincarnated as a hero would have been all pleasant experiences, but it seemed Sieg might have seen more unpleasant things than I had imagined.

“But they’re not all like that.” Sieg added.

“There are some admirable ones who say, ‘We acknowledge the threat of demons, but it’s impossible for the hero to overcome it alone. We won’t rely solely on the hero!’ That’s how people should be, but it’s a shame it’s not a universal mindset.”

Just as I was about to feel sorry for him, caught up in such sentiments, Sieg patted my shoulder and grinned, showing his teeth.

“Above all, this time you’re here too, right, little brother? You don’t like those kinds of bastards either, do you?”

“I really don’t.”

“Right. That’s all that matters. Whatever fuss they try to kick up, how could they possibly outdo the hero and the guy who beat the hero? If you think about it as a chance to round them up and beat them like dogs, it actually becomes something to look forward to, you know?”

This kid.

If nothing else, his mentality was truly befitting of a hero.

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[Im down for the action and politics, these chapters have been really good lately]