episode_0032

The mornings of prefects start earlier than those of other students. And Johanna’s mornings started even earlier than those of other prefects.

It was a time too ambiguous to call morning. The sun had yet to fully reveal itself, and most students were still asleep. Johanna walked, enduring the cold wind, on her way to the training ground.

Swinging her sword, enduring the wind, at a time when no one else was around. It was Johanna’s routine to start her day. Furthermore, because no one else was present, there were no gazes upon her as she swung her sword.

When she swung her sword in a crowded place, she felt the gazes of others. It wasn’t the gaze of a swordsman observing another swordsman, but the gaze of a man looking at a woman. Johanna found those gazes incredibly unpleasant.

A sigh escaped her lips. With each breath Johanna took, white mist materialized from her mouth. Her platinum-blonde hair, tied up for ease of movement, swayed back and forth in the wind.

On her way to the training ground, Johanna didn’t encounter a single soul. This was typical, so she didn’t pay it much mind.

*Thump-thump-thump.*

Upon reaching the training ground, Johanna sensed something unusual. It was the sound of someone running inside.

‘Who is it?’

Ever since her first year, she had come to swing her sword at this time every day, but… For an entire year, she had never encountered anyone else.

Half-curiosity that someone had arrived before her. And half-unpleasantness that she couldn’t swing her sword alone. However, once she confirmed the person inside the training ground, her displeasure vanished.

Recognizing the man running in the training ground was easy. He was wearing the mask he always wore.

“Lo…”

Johanna opened her mouth to call Loki, but then closed it without a word.

Loki was running in the training ground. However, it seemed his stamina had plummeted; sweat dripped with every step, and he moved too slowly to truly be considered running.

‘When on earth did he get here?’

The training ground was soaked with Loki’s sweat. Water bottles, presumably used by Loki, lay scattered across the floor. Judging by the number of water bottles, it was clear he had been there for several hours already.

Most students would still be asleep right now, so when on earth did he start running?

Loki seemed to have lost all strength in his legs; he tripped over his own feet while running and collapsed. It seemed he intended to stop running, as he simply lay there.

Johanna tried to approach Loki then, but once again couldn’t. Loki had gotten up.

A moment later, two additional Lokis appeared in the training ground. She could tell they were created by his unique magic.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Johanna’s eyes widened at the scene unfolding before her.

The two clones began to fight. When one clone held a sword to the neck of the other, that clone vanished. Then, once more, clones appeared and began to fight. The clones’ movements were smoother than before.

Only then did she realize what Loki was doing. He was using the clones to correct his own posture.

Clones appeared, fought, vanished, then reappeared, fought, and vanished again. Loki repeated this act countless times. But perhaps his mana was depleted, as he no longer created clones.

‘Is he finished now?’

But Loki was a tougher person than she had imagined. When his mana ran out, he started running again. He had recovered some stamina, allowing him to run, but he hadn’t fully recovered, so his pace was slow. However, he seemed to have no intention of stopping, as he kept running.

Time passed, and this time, his stamina seemed utterly depleted, as he slumped to the ground. And once more, he created clones and had them fight. The clones fought a few times, and he tried to create more, but he couldn’t, perhaps due to insufficient mana.

When his unique magic wouldn’t activate, he started running again. After that, Loki repeated those two actions endlessly.

Could a normal person possibly do that? He used his body to its absolute limit, and then used his mana to its absolute limit. No one she had ever seen trained like Loki. And likely, no one ever would.

Squeezing out his remaining stamina to run. Squeezing out his remaining mana to use his unique magic. This was less training and more torture.

…

Johanna possessed talent far superior to others, yet she also held immense pride in her effort. She had contemplated the sword longer than anyone else. She prided herself on having swung her sword for longer than anyone else.

But watching Loki, her pride in her own efforts began to fade. Could what she had done truly be considered effort? Wouldn’t Loki simply scoff if he saw how she trained?

In the end, Johanna, unable to swing her sword, silently watched him until Loki finally left the training ground.

. . . .

I was currently walking down the academy corridor.

After my usual morning training, I returned to the dormitory for about an hour of rest. Then, I changed into my uniform and headed out. Fortunately, no one entered the training ground while I was training this morning. If someone had entered, they surely would have tried to talk to me.

Honestly, what bothered me more than that was the fact I fell asleep without my medicine yesterday. I didn’t entertain the hope that I could now sleep without medicine. Last night, if there was anything different from usual, it was indeed talking on the phone with Yerika before bed.

‘Is it because of Yerika’s trait?’

Just as Lucas inherited the ‘Domination’ trait from the Emperor, Yerika also has a possibility of inheriting that trait from the Empress. Yerika’s mother, the Empress, was a Saint. The reason it’s in the past tense is because she stepped down from her position as Saint upon marrying the Emperor. Of course, she only stepped down from her position; her abilities didn’t vanish.

I remember the effect of the Empress’s trait, but not its name. The way to confirm if Yerika inherited that trait from the Empress is simple. Tonight, I just need to contact her via the communication orb.

If I can truly fall asleep by talking to Yerika…

‘Do I have to contact her every night?’

If the Emperor finds out, it probably won’t end with just a beating.

As I walked down the corridor, deep in thought, my steps halted. To reach the special class, I had to use the stairs in the corridor to go underground, but a scum was blocking them.

‘Those scums are quite diligent, even in the morning.’

How long had they been waiting for me? The thought of them waiting for me since morning almost made me laugh.

“It’s true that bastard hasn’t passed through here yet, right?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“You idiots, if you’d caught that bastard yesterday, none of this would have happened.”

“We’re sorry!”

In the end, yesterday, the Arshene Kingdom students couldn’t even properly speak to me. So that scum came himself? When class ended, I slipped away using the excuse of having a question for the professor, and when all classes were over, I left with Professor Alicia. So they targeted the time before class, when I wouldn’t be with the professor?

‘Hmm, what should I do?’

Honestly, getting past them was easy. The problem now was figuring out what method to use to make those scums even angrier. I considered several methods, but ultimately decided on the simplest one.

I created an illusionary clone of myself and sent it in their direction.

“Pri-Prince, he’s coming!”

“Gasp!”

My clone pretended to be startled upon seeing them, screaming and running in the opposite direction from where I was. While they were focused on my clone, using illusion and shadow steps to completely mask my presence, I descended into the basement. They were all so focused on my clone that they didn’t realize I had gone downstairs.

“Get him!”

“Don’t chase him, you idiots!”

The scum’s subordinates chased my clone, but when the Prince gave the order, they stopped, letting my clone get away. If they had kept chasing the clone, they would have realized it was an illusion.

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we chase him?”

“Just block this spot. That bastard has to come here anyway.”

Exactly. Which is why I’m already downstairs.

“Wait here until class starts.”

I walked down the underground corridor and arrived at the special class.

“Good morning, everyone!”

I swung open the classroom door and greeted them loudly. All the students in the classroom turned to look at me.

“Loki, are you okay?”

The first person to speak was Lucas.

“Okay? What are you talking about?”

“Huh? What are you referring to?”

“Weren’t the Arshene Kingdom students waiting? We were worried someone might need to go get you.”

It seemed they had seen the scum and his subordinates waiting for me on the stairs. I responded with a shrug.

“You’re not planning to keep avoiding them, are you? You can’t avoid them forever.”

This time, it was Clara who spoke.

Originally, I had planned to wait a bit longer, but the scum made his move directly, so I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore.

“Indeed, it is quite disgusting to think of those people constantly hounding me.”

“And you have a way to resolve it?”

“Of course I do!”

Everyone says they avoid excrement not because they’re afraid of it, but because it’s dirty [a proverb implying avoidance due to distaste, not fear].

“I’ll take care of it within a week, so don’t worry, everyone.”

Still, one must clean up the excrement inside their house [a follow-up idiom, meaning one must deal with problems within their own domain].