—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The news of the annual freshman dungeon exploration going haywire caused a great commotion among the students.
Such an incident occurring at the Academy, which advertised safety as its most important selling point…
As the students, children of prestigious families, were on the verge of exploding with anxiety, the headmaster quelled their unease with a completely different method.
“Such things are quickly quelled by counteracting them with an even bigger issue.”
Andy Robinson, the instructor in charge of the class involved in the incident, and who actually rescued the students from the rampaging dungeon, was made into a hero.
Public opinion should have been against him.
He had conducted a preliminary survey of the dungeon and confirmed its safety before entering, yet the dungeon went berserk.
Due to insufficient on-site investigation, it was originally a major issue that could have led to a written reprimand or even dismissal.
Whether or not the Devil’s Church was behind this incident wasn’t even important.
Society always needs someone to take responsibility for incidents that occur, regardless of the cause.
But here, the headmaster went in the opposite direction.
A courageous instructor, a former member of the Royal Knights, who rescued all the students trapped when the dungeon went berserk and the entrance was blocked.
If he hadn’t handled it properly, there would have been many casualties, but he emerged as a hero, rescuing all the students without a single casualty.
The picture was quite good.
Andy was handsome and skilled.
The fact that he was a former Royal Knight, and not from a particularly prominent family, was also favorable.
Because the foundation of that knight order was commoners, or those from insignificant families who achieved great things, dragons rising from small streams.
A major incident like the dungeon rampage occurred, but an Academy instructor rescued everyone without a single casualty.
His name is Andy Robinson, a former Royal Knight and current swordsmanship instructor at the Academy.
The Academy, in this way, strives with excellent educators for its students.
As a result of this large-scale effort with Count Malcolm of the newspaper club, the anxious students were calmed by the emergence of a new hero.
In fact, the problem was that an accident occurred in the dungeon that the Academy boasted was “safely under control.”
But such a trivial matter was quickly buried with the appearance of more interesting and stimulating news.
However, while many admired this hero from the Royal Knights, there were also those who were displeased with his existence.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“[You… you call yourself the eldest son of Lemnos?! Look at this state you’re in!!!!]”
“I apologize, Father…”
In a dark room where not a single ray of sunlight entered, Edgar Lemnos hung his head.
Edgar was alone inside, but he bowed his head towards an unseen someone.
Before him was a fist-sized metal orb, from which the resounding voice of his father, Edward Lemnos, echoed.
Bowing his head towards the orb, he appeared as if bowing to Edward, who was not present.
It might seem strange to bow to someone who isn’t present, but to Edgar, this was not strange at all.
Even when communicating, he bowed his head out of respect for the head of the family.
It was a behavior he had learned since he was very young.
“[You, who should be leading the Five Pillars…!! How could you not only fail to make a difference in such an incident, but let that greenhorn from the Royal Knights receive a medal?! At the Academy, of all places!!]”
Edgar’s class was scheduled to go for practical training the next day.
On the day of the incident, Edgar was attending classes in the main Academy building, so by the time he learned about it, everything was already over, but he didn’t bother mentioning it.
If he brought it up, he would surely be reprimanded for making excuses.
From long-learned experience, Edgar didn’t say anything unnecessary.
“[And… you lost a duel… to a fellow freshman?! You’ve barely left home and you’re already slacking off!!!]”
Edgar’s expression hardened as the topic he had been dreading was brought up.
His defeat by Atlas was a fact.
Up until then, what he had heard was indirectly related to him, but when his actual defeat was pointed out, his heart sank.
“[Lemnos has always been the guiding torch of the Five Pillars!! What will become of the family’s honor if you’re defeated like that!!!
That’s why those arrogant Royal Knights walk around with their shoulders squared and chests puffed out!! Those impudent bastards… just swaying and flattering next to His Majesty…!!]”
Once again, Edward was enraged, mentioning the Royal Knights.
When associated with the Royal Knights, Edward… no, all of the Five Pillars became emotional.
Even that Golden Lord, a man who only cared about “numbers,” would show emotion when it came to matters related to the Royal Knights.
Edward’s emotions intensified, and the usual old story began.
The deep-seated resentment between the Royal Knights and the Five Pillars, passed down through three generations.
Edgar, who had silently waited for his father’s reprimand to end, heavily opened his mouth.
“I will definitely win the next duel.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
River and Amy, hospitalized, were sharing the same room.
Most of the other students had only minor scratches and didn’t require hospitalization, but the two were different.
They had been exposed to the demonic energy of a greater demon.
Hospitalization was unavoidable.
In Amy’s case, her demon-repelling coat had provided considerable protection, but if she were an ordinary person, she would have already needed her leg amputated. It was that serious.
“I’m telling you, this really isn’t a big deal, so why are you acting so tough?”
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, it hurts…”
I was pulling Amy’s cheek in the hospital room.
She was sitting up in bed, both legs bandaged.
“You almost lost the use of your legs, you know?”
“Y-yes….”
The materialized demonic energy of a greater demon was eroding her flesh and bone.
If it had been even a little later, she would have been deemed unrecoverable and her leg would have needed to be amputated, but miraculously, she had recovered.
From now on, I need to properly educate her.
It would be troublesome if another incident like this occurred and she struggled alone until it became irreversible.
“Atlas, don’t bully Amy!!”
A soft impact on the back of my head caused my head to snap forward.
River had hit the back of my head with a pillow.
“Amy… was trying to save me..!! If you bully her, I won’t let you get away with it!!”
River, who had safely escaped to the dormitory thanks to Amy giving her the artifact, even though they were trapped together, was yelling at me with a face that looked like she was about to cry.
As I continued to be hit with the pillow, my head wobbled.
It wasn’t painful, but it was annoying.
Compared to Amy, she had fewer external injuries, but her internal condition was the problem.
She had faced a greater demon without any protection.
Due to the demonic energy’s influence, the mana flowing through her body had become slightly tangled, and she was gradually recovering.
If things had gone even slightly wrong, she would have suffered lasting aftereffects.
“Then you scold her. She sent you away alone because she was going to die.”
“I’ve already done that plenty while you were gone.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
She had already done so plenty, I see.
It seemed they had opened their hearts and deepened their friendship while sharing a room in the hospital.
It was a story that had nothing to do with me, who had slept soundly in the dormitory.
I opened the nicely wrapped wooden box I was holding and placed it on the shelf next to the bed.
“Then eat this and recover quickly.”
“Are you sure we can accept this?”
Inside the wooden box were two humanoid-shaped roots, still covered in soil.
They were two Prometheus roots, a medicinal herb that could only be found in the deepest parts of the deep forest.
I had gathered them when I was pretending to be a herbalist in the deep forest, thanks to a certain someone who sent assassins.
They looked a bit strange, but there was nothing better for restoring vitality.
River, holding the box containing the Prometheus roots, widened her eyes.
From my perspective, having gathered them myself, they felt like weeds picked from the backyard, but if I took these Prometheus roots to the capital and sold them, I could probably get about 20 gold coins.
For reference, one gold coin is equivalent to about three months’ living expenses for a commoner.
It was expensive for commoners, but not incredibly expensive for titled nobles, so their hesitation was strange.
“Just take it and eat. Why are you so stingy about accepting others’ kindness, a recommended student like you?”
“But even so, something this expensive…”
“I gathered them myself. It didn’t cost me anything, so just take it and eat. If you know how precious these are, try not to get injured again.”
If they didn’t eat them, I would have to force-feed them.
They looked strange, but if I extracted the active ingredients and made them into pills and called them nutritional supplements, they’d be fooled.
Seeing Amy licking her lips while looking at the Prometheus roots, I didn’t think I needed to worry about her.
At that moment, the door to the hospital room suddenly opened.
“It’s checkup time.”
A woman with a very tired-looking face entered abruptly without knocking.
The first things that caught my eye were the thick, large glasses and the white coat.
With a stooped posture, she had a chart tucked under one arm and held a mug containing a suspicious-looking liquid in the other.
She looked short, but damn it, she was still taller than me.
With such a stooped posture, if she fully straightened her back, she would probably be over 160cm tall…
Her unruly light green hair was tied back, and large emerald eyes shone from her dark-circled face.
Her most distinctive feature was the pair of pointed ears sticking out from her hair.
She was Nico Praha, Professor of Magical Biology, the only elf among the Academy staff.
And she was also the witness for my duel.
I felt a strong sense of resistance when I heard she would be treating the two.
A magical ‘biology’ professor treating people?
It felt somewhat dangerous, like she was about to experiment on them…
But it was Amy who had asked her for treatment.
Amy had requested Professor Nico Praha, saying she was the most suitable person.
I couldn’t refuse a request from the patient herself.
But I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
“Don’t worry too much. I also have a medical license from the Empire.”
“Wow… look how faded it is! It’s from a hundred years ago!!”
“A medical license is for life. It’s no problem.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
