episode_0066

“I promise not to be a hindrance, even though my power is weak.”

Ethan Richard Blackwood glanced at me once in response to Orion’s recruitment and then walked forward.

His sudden assertive behavior caught me off guard, and for a moment, a small question popped into my mind.

“Why is he suddenly so proactive?”

Why did he choose to showcase his abilities and participate in Orion’s proposal in this situation? As a newcomer who had not even entered the academy yet, he could have just waited quietly in the main hall without anyone questioning him.

Although he had faced monsters under Harold’s supervision until now, he must have understood the danger of monsters better than anyone here.

His willingness to participate in a front line prone to sudden situations like Monster Waves was quite unexpected to me.

“Considering Ethan’s recent actions, he probably didn’t just impulsively agree to this.”

Undoubtedly, there must be a valid reason behind his decision, but what could it be?

Perhaps he wanted to show his courage among the gathered nobles or impress a girl he liked by displaying his cool side.

However, Ethan I observed recently was not someone who acted based on such simple thoughts.

He had patrolled his territory to assert his presence to secure the Blackwood’s succession, and he had grown up as a thoroughly calculating noble who would get angry over a maid’s dirty clothes just to owe a debt to a prominent noble.

For Ethan to voluntarily step into danger, he must be expecting something significant in return.

“Perhaps he hopes to receive some gratitude from the royal family for his dedication to combat?”

“Ah.”

Yes, the royal family.

Ethan had responded to the monster suppression unit recruitment to seize an opportunity to build a connection with the royal family in his current state.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the royal family would reward him for repelling the Monster Wave, and even if they did, it would likely be a minor injury and a thank you at most.

However, that was enough.

Gratitude from the royal family held sufficient value in transactions with other nobles.

Moreover, a favor once granted could be used as an irresistible excuse to refuse future encounters with the royal family.

In short, it was a decent gamble to showcase his skills once for a potentially good return.

Especially if he fought alongside capable royal guards, his safety would be somewhat assured.

“Seems like my brain is working faster than usual.”

I had quickly thought through all this from Orion’s spontaneous proposal.

Well, if Ethan had thought it through, I had no reason to be surprised or worried, to be honest.

At his current level, Ethan was not someone who would easily get hurt and return.

“Alright then. Do you have any combat experience?”

“I’ve killed monsters a few times in the mountains. The notable ones among the recent kills would be Thorn Boars and Shadow Spiders.”

Based on my calculations considering the experience Ethan had gained, his current level was around 7 to 8.

For reference, Thorn Boars were level 10, and Shadow Spiders were level 11.

In other words, despite his basic level, his actual skills were almost at that level.

Most likely, he would be more than helpful, as he had started to utilize his energy slightly in his recent swordsmanship and could also use body enhancement magic.

Maybe they haven’t reached the level of palace elite soldiers yet, but they must have reached a certain level.

Orion seemed to agree with Edan’s words and nodded in acknowledgment.

“If that’s the case, it should be helpful enough. I’ll count on you, Edan.”

“I’ll do my best, Orion.”

“So, are there any other people besides Edan that we can rely on?”

“…”

Other students who were hesitant to step forward despite Orion’s call for assistance.

Normally, in situations like this, when one person showed courage, others would follow suit, but it seemed that Edan’s mention of the “Thorned Boar” and the “Shadow Spider” had become the criteria for determining who could step forward.

It seemed that each person had made their own judgment that they needed to have at least that level of skill to step forward.

Considering this indirect level of restriction, if there were anyone suitable to participate, there would only be one person in this ballroom…

“Agnes Elizabeth Blaze.”

Yes, the prominent heir of the Elizabeth family, Agnes of the Inferno… Huh?

“The next heir of the Elizabeth family. The next Chief of the Academy’s Magic Department. The next Master of the Red Tower of Towers.”

“…”

“I, Agnes, will also join the group going to stop that ‘Monster Wave.’”

A confident red-haired magician appeared in the crowd.

With that bright red hair that had never been seen before, it seemed like they had just used transformation magic to attend this gathering.

Without hesitation, with a confident expression and a self-assured voice, and even a bold self-introduction that seemed to suggest they didn’t doubt their ability to help.

All eyes in the ballroom suddenly focused on Agnes, who had just appeared.

As the long-awaited main character of the Luminaire Academy appeared, a certain emotion naturally came to mind.

“…That statement is really embarrassing to listen to.”

Agnes’s shameless self-introduction was something that never seemed to get familiar.

Even though it was a line that had been heard many times due to the character’s high performance, it was still uncomfortable to hear such self-praise.

Even though it could be seen as having a level of arrogance that matched their actual skill, it was still awkward from an outsider’s perspective.

Listening to the shameless voice that made my hands and feet feel dry, I found it difficult to even look directly at the main heroine of Luminaire Academy.

Just as Agnes’s shameless remarks were about to continue, they were quickly stopped by the “omission expert, Orion.”

“My specialty is fire magic. Given enough time, I can use large-scale fire magic as much as I want. My maximum magic power is a whopping one thousand and fifty…”

“Yes, yes! You’re Agnes, right? A fire mage with a thousand magic power will definitely be helpful!”

“Wait, I haven’t finished my story yet…”

“Come on, let’s go down to the front line quickly! Now is the time to prove your skills!”

“Wait a moment, Orion! Allow me to guide you!”

Agnes quickly interrupted Agnes’s self-introduction, which made everyone uncomfortable, and grabbed Edan and Agnes’s hands, hurriedly leading them out of the evening rose hall.

Following them, three soldiers among the ten soldiers also rushed out of the hall.

Those of us left in the ballroom were still standing there, unable to shake off the cringeworthy self-introduction speech we just heard.

“…Others will be guided to the shelter. Please follow us without rushing.”

Ah…

Come to think of it, I should have participated as well, darn it.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

A long procession of evacuees going down to the first floor under the guidance of the guards.

I seemed to be walking alongside the noble guests with a troubled expression.

“Is there anything uncomfortable, Miss Fiancee?”

“Oh, Edan is worried, that’s why…!”

“Oh, I see… I guess… it does seem a bit worrying…”

What’s there to worry about? With Edan’s skills, he’ll do just fine even without my concern.

If we were to face off one-on-one, he already had the skills to overwhelm me.

Even if I considered using Mana Blast in a serious battle, I wasn’t confident that I could beat Edan 100%.

Mana Blast is a magic used against monsters, not humans.

Maybe with the old chubby Edan, but now he could probably dodge my Mana Blast with a casual stroll across a crosswalk in front of an elementary school.

And now that I think about it, I didn’t seem to fit well into that monster wave response party.

“If I had joined in, I would’ve been lucky not to be treated as a weird girl.”

Although I felt a bit disappointed seeing Orion going down with just Edan and Agnes.

Thinking rationally, if I had said I would participate, there was a high chance Orion would have cut me off.

“What’s your name?”

“I can’t reveal it due to personal reasons.”

“Then, experience in monster subjugation?”

“I have experience subjugating a Gargoyle.”

“Oh, quite a skilled mage?”

“No. My main weapon is a dagger.”

“Hmm…?”

“And since I don’t have the weapon with me now, if you lend me something similar, I’ll definitely be of help. Oh, by the way, when I subjugated the Gargoyle, I used a crowbar, not a dagger, but my skills are decent…”

“….”

Certainly, my self-introduction seemed suspicious even to me.

Stories like subduing a Gargoyle with a crowbar instead of magic, or asking to borrow a weapon since my main one is a dagger.

It was likely too absurd and rambling to be believed.

It would be fortunate if I didn’t stand out as a strange woman.

Of course, if Edan vouched for my skills, there was a possibility of participating in the battle, but he probably wouldn’t explicitly vouch for me.

With fewer people for the monster wave suppression, Edan’s actions would be more noticeable, which would be advantageous in the eyes of the royal family.

And if I really felt the need to participate in the event, I would have forced myself to join, but considering the difficulty of this event, the current group seemed sufficient.

I was roughly grasping the situation of this episode in the history of ‘Luminor Academy’ that took place a year before the academy entrance, the ‘Royal Palace Attack Incident’ event.

As the main character, I could not directly participate in the event, so I only knew the outline of the story, but just by looking at the flowing content, it was probably accurate.

An incident where a demon officer deliberately caused a monster wave and attacked the Argentia Empire palace to destroy it.

Although the attack itself was prevented by the efforts of the imperial guards and some main characters, it was also an incident where some noble members of the empire died or suffered fatal injuries.

And starting with this event, the Argentia Empire, feeling a sense of crisis, decided to significantly increase the number of elite students in the academy.

Thus, the start of Part 2 of “Luminor Academy” was about various characters specializing in combat skills such as swordsmanship and magic gathering at the academy from all levels of society.

In other words, it meant that with the characters originally planned to be active in the storyline, the attack that occurred this time could be adequately prevented.

Seraphine, Orion, and even Agnes.

With Ethan, who had grown quite decently, joining the front lines, the overall strength was actually a plus.

Perhaps they could easily prevent it more than in the original story. Ethan now had enough power that he wasn’t weak.

Moreover, with Ethan’s joining, they might even be able to save some characters who were supposed to die in the original story.

“I’d like to secretly sneak out and defeat a few monsters to gain experience, but… there are too many eyes watching here to do that.”

I had already done many conspicuous things and was in a dangerous position in many ways.

If I did something conspicuous here, there was a high possibility of revealing that I was a commoner who could use magic.

Above all, there were too many eyes to deceive easily.

Even if I could somehow deceive Ethan, whom I had faced for a long time, deceiving all fifteen or so guards would obviously be impossible.

I had no choice but to quietly wait for the story to unfold as planned.

“As long as I gather in the waiting room with the guards, nothing special will happen.”

Let’s just behave today. That was the best solution to avoid causing any problems and move on.

…I had the same thought not long ago.

However, as soon as I entered the main hall of the palace, a strange sense of unease began to shake me.

“….Ah.”

“Eek…?!”

A familiar young lady with sky-blue hair that I met again at the shelter.

After meeting Lize Lin August again here.