Ch.136136. Killing Two Birds with One Stone

“…I won’t ask why.”

Beatrix sighed as she threw those words into the dimly lit training hall.

“You should stop now. It’s getting hard to deal with the aftermath.”

“…”

Following that, she looked at her friend of ten years with a worried expression.

The sight of Elnore sprawled out in the middle of the training hall, drenched in sweat, was certainly a familiar one.

Whenever this woman’s mind became troubled, she would always come here and sweat until her entire body was soaked—it was her usual routine.

However.

“…What is all this? The budget will be ruined at this rate.”

It was quite a famous rumor within the academy that the Tristan duchess had recently been renting out the fitness room and training hall, subjecting herself to training that bordered on self-abuse.

Beatrix sighed as she looked around the training hall, which appeared as if it had been hit by a storm.

In response, Elnore silently wiped her sweat and tossed aside the magic dumbbell she had been using for strength training until just now.

It was an item with magic stones embedded on both sides, allowing the user to adjust the weight as desired.

Beatrix glanced at it without much thought, but when she read the number “750kg” written on it, she turned to Elnore in shock.

She exercised with that in both arms?!

“…How many sets did you do with that?”

“Only 300 repetitions.”

“…”

Right. The rumors were quite accurate.

It’s truly unbelievable that someone could exercise with such a thing, but this had long surpassed the realm of training.

This was nothing more or less than self-harm!

“…What’s going on with you? You’ve been avoiding everyone and shutting yourself in the training room. I knew you were exercising hard, but you’ve never gone this far before.”

“…”

Elnore remained silent as she wiped her sweat.

Seeing this, Beatrix’s expression also furrowed.

This was a familiar sight of Elnore from before.

Stubbornly hiding her inner thoughts, obstinately refusing to reveal her emotions.

She had clearly learned as a child that showing emotions was a sign of ‘weakness.’

If that’s the case, then the reason for this attitude is simple.

Unlike before, she had resolved to erase such ‘weakness’ as much as possible.

Her next words followed the same logic.

“…I just realized I had been dreaming beyond my station.”

“What?”

“Our family’s cursed bloodline always attracts tragedy.”

Elnore’s somber voice spread throughout the dimly lit training hall.

“…I simply forgot that for a while because that man had been handling things so well.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“If I fail to protect him again, and again. If he gets hurt because of something related to me. If, by any chance—”

If he were to die.

Several images flashed through Elnore’s mind.

From their first meeting, that man had been battered and broken before her.

The second time too, he had become half a corpse while resolving some matter somewhere.

And recently.

Truly.

Right before her eyes, she had almost lost him.

The pain and helplessness of being unable to do anything but watch still remained vividly in her nerves.

‘…Luminary.’

Recalling the masked woman, Elnore clenched her fist.

No.

She couldn’t lose Darwood to a woman like that.

So this level of training was nothing.

She needed to become stronger, even stronger—

“…I understand how you feel, Elnore.”

Beatrix barely suppressed another sigh as she looked toward Elnore.

“But we need to deal with urgent matters first. There’s a summons from the Imperial Family.”

“…”

Hearing those words, Elnore’s eyes widened as she abruptly stood up.

She seemed pleased to hear this.

“…Has His Majesty summoned me?”

“The Imperial Princess… no, since she’s been enthroned now. Unfortunately, His Majesty doesn’t seem to be attending.”

“…”

Elnore’s expression furrowed again.

Beatrix gave a bitter smile and continued.

“It’s been quite a while since you last saw her, hasn’t it?”

“…She’s always been busy.”

“She still checks on your news regularly. Given the Imperial Princess’s personality, there’s no way she wouldn’t care about her childhood friend.”

“I know.”

She seems a bit upset about it though.

Well.

If you were to name the two people in the world that Elnore could open her heart to, one would be Beatrix herself, and the other would be the Imperial Princess… no, His Majesty the Emperor.

Even then, they haven’t seen each other for several years, so this sulky reaction is understandable.

Beatrix let out a small laugh and handed her a document.

“However, it seems she plans to stay at Elphante soon. Both you and the Grand Duke of Tristan need to attend for that.”

She finally let out the sigh she had been holding back as she continued.

Considering Elnore’s usual attitude, it wasn’t a pleasant sentence for her to bring up.

But the response was quite unexpected.

“…That works out well.”

“What?”

Is this really coming from Elnore’s mouth?

When she questioned with an incredulous voice, Elnore continued in a calm tone.

“I have something I need to find out from that old man.”

“Find out? What?”

Beatrix asked, but instead of answering, Elnore pressed her lips tightly.

In her mind, words she had heard before were flashing by.

Demon fragment, Demonic Vessel—she had heard such terms from the linguamancer who had confronted her before.

And.

-Still, the Tristan Dukedom is quite an old vessel family, so it’s absurd that you can’t resist at all. Didn’t your mother teach you how to use it?

What did that mean?

At the very least, she needed to ask a ‘relevant person.’

Elnore’s red eyes glowed brightly in the darkness.

●

“…What are you thinking about so deeply?”

As class ended, Talion looked at me sitting at my desk with my chin in my hands.

“Just thinking about the class we just had.”

The Emperor will be visiting the academy soon. As Atalante said, I don’t want to be held accountable, so I should attend classes diligently.

“Ah, I’ve noticed you’ve been attending classes faithfully recently. Are you studying well?”

Talion said as he looked down at my notebook filled with dense notes.

“As expected of you, brother. Did you organize all this in the meantime? You’ll certainly get high marks for your notes—”

“No, I’ve given up on grades.”

“…”

Talion looked back and forth between me and the notebook with disbelief.

“Then what is all this?”

“The Holy Lady organized it for me.”

“…”

Talion fell silent for a moment after hearing that I had used someone at the pinnacle of ordinary believers as something like my note-taking tool.

“…You made such a person do that for you, and yet you’re giving up on studying?”

“What doesn’t work, doesn’t work.”

Talion clutched his head as if he was about to lose his mind, but I’m serious about this.

To make up for all the credits I’ve missed, I would need to get perfect scores on the written exams, but to be honest…

I’ve never thought of myself as particularly stupid, but the amount of learning required of students at Elphante is no joke. There’s no way I can reach a level to get perfect scores just by studying now.

I’ve asked the Holy Lady for one-on-one tutoring on the subjects, but even with tutoring from the most knowledgeable person on the continent, I’m barely keeping up with the classes.

At this rate, it’s a foregone conclusion that I won’t meet the ‘qualifications’ to meet the Emperor.

‘…The Emperor, huh.’

Setting aside the simple title of ‘ruler of the Empire,’ they are the key to unlocking Elnore’s exclusive quest, ‘Family Madness,’ in the future.

Even if they’re busy now, I can’t afford to greet them carelessly.

“…Then how do you plan to handle the comprehensive capability assessment? It’s not far off now.”

“Simple.”

Saying that, I place a copy of the document posted on the central bulletin board on the desk.

Befitting its origins as an institution that cultivates talent related to combat, Elphante values achievements in that field the most.

This tendency is clearly evident in the scoring for this comprehensive capability assessment.

The highest-scoring section is not ‘theoretical knowledge’ but the practical exam that evaluates ‘actual combat’ related areas.

For the second-year corps especially, scoring high in this section can dramatically boost your grades.

If I somehow manage to get average scores in the written portion by receiving intense tutoring from the Holy Lady, I can find an opportunity for a comeback here.

“I’ll crush everyone there.”

“…Brother, aren’t you nominally a priest?”

“…”

“Priest-class students are usually devout students who focus on volunteer work or theological studies. Why are you thinking like someone from the knight faculty or magic faculty combat courses…”

That may be true.

Don’t be so strict.

After all, the way I’ve been solving problems so far hasn’t been typical of a priest class at all.

“By the way, isn’t the practical exam format always randomly determined?”

When I asked Talion that question, he stroked his chin and nodded.

“That’s true, but you can roughly predict it based on who the supervising professor is. This time, it’s Sir Conrad, the dean of the knight faculty, so a mock occupation battle is most likely.”

A mock occupation battle… that’s probably it.

A few upper-class students prevent a larger number of lower-class students from entering a specific area.

It’s a content I’ve encountered several times in the game as well.

“We had a test like that when we were freshmen too. Elia recorded the highest score then. It would have been helpful if she were here.”

“…What is she doing anyway?”

I heard Kasa tell her to visit him once before leaving, but she hasn’t returned to Elphante for days now.

Riru said she’s late because she has things to sort out, but what about her?

“Well… I heard she applied for an extension of her stay. It seems it will take some time before she returns to Elphante.”

I slightly furrow my brow as I listen to Talion.

It would be better if she returned quickly. That way, I could sort out various matters related to the next chapter.

Chapter 4, ‘Red Night,’ has three key figures.

Elia, who will become the owner of the Holy Knight, and Faynol, the boss of the chapter.

The remaining one is…

“…”

I silently look at the amulet on my arm.

[Why?]

‘Just something.’

I inwardly chuckle as I respond to Calivan’s voice.

It’s this person.

The soul that will act as a ‘hidden card’ in this chapter.

Anyway, this is someone who has experience killing a vessel filled with this person’s fragments. Now he’s just like a neighborhood older brother who teases me, but.

“…”

Well, anyway.

“A mock occupation battle…”

Then, what I need to do is clear.

I need to find teammates.

I’m in the second-year corps now, so I’m likely to be assigned to the defense side.

“The maximum team size was three, right?”

“That’s true, but I won’t be able to help you this time. I’ll be grouped with my peers as part of the occupation attack team…”

“No, it’s fine. I can’t always rely on you.”

Still, it’s disappointing. With Talion, I could trust and delegate.

As if I don’t have enough headaches already, now I have to go around looking for teammates.

Yuria can’t be used in such exams due to her nature, which could lead to real safety incidents, and Elnore being paired with me might violate school rules.

Above all.

< System Log >

[ Target ‘Elnore’ is experiencing extreme helplessness! ]

“…”

She’s not in a normal state.

Unlike Yuria and the Holy Lady, she seems to be avoiding all contact with me, making it difficult to help her.

It feels like it will take some time for her to return to normal.

‘…As if I’m not busy enough.’

I have a pile of things to do.

In terms of priority, Faynol’s request to seduce him within a month is the most urgent. It carries the greatest risk if I fail.

Of course, considering his nature, rushing won’t help, so I’m leaving it alone for now.

But missing even one class means my head is on the line. For now, I have no choice but to devote time to this.

On top of that, there’s a Grand Assassin stalking me, constantly hanging on the back of my head.

There’s no sign of an immediate attack, but I can still feel the watchful gaze monitoring me.

“…”

Hmm.

Hmmmm.

I close my eyes and think for a moment.

I have no choice.

If they’re going to torment me like this, I’ll have to make a radical choice.

I need to appease Faynol, there’s an assassin constantly clinging to the back of my head, and in that state, I still need to do well on the practical exam?

“Talion. Let me ask you one favor.”

“Yes? What favor?”

“If you go to the clearing on the back mountain, there will be a magic faculty student with red hair. His name is Faynol.”

I continue as I stand up.

“Could you tell him I want to see him?”

“Yes, that’s not difficult, but where are you going now?”

“To find my last teammate.”

I continue with a sigh.

“I know someone whose skills are exceptional.”

Exceptional enough to be one of only two on the continent.

Since the ‘groundwork’ has been laid to the extent that they won’t kill me immediately, what I’m about to do should work reasonably well.

‘…I’ll have to work on both of them at once.’

Characteristics of a real man.

When annoyed, handle everything at once.

[…Are you insane?]

“…”

[Are you now too lazy to juggle them separately, so you’re handling them simultaneously?]

I never said that.

Don’t fabricate things.

●