Ch.160159. Journey? (1)

# 159. A Trip? (1)

A train heading to our destination.

We had taken the very back seats on that train.

Of course, the seats were separated from each other, so it didn’t really matter.

As soon as we settled in, Chris plopped down in his seat and immediately started talking.

He seemed to have had quite a struggle packing his luggage in a hurry since morning.

“Wow… it’s been so long since our last school trip. Around this time last year, we were taking exams.”

“So what?”

Raicle responded coldly.

Of course, since he was always like that, I didn’t think much of it.

“Wow… look at this guy’s personality…”

“By the way, what did you do yesterday?”

“Who? Me?”

“Not you.”

“Come to think of it, you weren’t in the dorm yesterday…”

These high schoolers, pretending not to care while secretly expecting something.

I smiled leisurely and told them:

“I have my secrets.”

“You’ll find out eventually when we get there anyway…”

“Then you can find out when we get there.”

“Tch…”

These guys seemed really curious about what I did yesterday.

Of course, I wasn’t going to tell them just because they reacted that way.

“By the way, where are we going?”

“Leicester.”

“Leicester? Wow… we’re probably going to visit museums and such from day one.”

Leicester.

Though now vanished from history, it was a region close to the Kingdom of Lenil, which existed until just 400 years ago, leaving behind numerous traces of war.

“How boring…”

“The Leicester War…”

The Leicester War.

A conflict involving the Kingdom of Lenil, the Kingdom of Babylon, and the Kainis Empire—it was larger than any other war in history.

Of course, it wasn’t during our generation.

Raicle seemed to dislike even hearing about the Leicester War, probably because he’d been exposed to it through so many media sources.

“That thing we’ve studied to death…”

“But if the celestial race disappeared after that, why does the Black Knight Order still exist?”

“You never know, and it’s kind of difficult to just get rid of something that’s been around for so long.”

The Leicester War held quite significant meaning on a global scale.

It led to the merging of two demon nations, the emergence of the Orion Kingdom, and the extinction of the celestial race.

“What if we had been born back then?”

“There you go with the ‘what ifs.’ That’s all useless.”

Chris posed a somewhat interesting question, while Raicle gave an extremely practical answer.

If I had to choose sides, I was closer to Chris’s.

“Then we would have had to go to the battlefield too, mandatorily. The circumstances were different back then.”

According to records from that time, not only adults but also minors under 20 were mobilized for war.

Regardless of gender, of course.

“Come to think of it, the Grand Magician must have been in his prime then, and the Emperor was supposedly very strong too, yet still…”

“Back then, there were only those two.”

When discussing history, Merlin’s name was inevitable.

After all, Merlin’s life story was practically indistinguishable from the history of the Kainis Empire.

“Now we have the Special Forces people and the Heroes… there are many more people.”

“But is the Demon King in the Kingdom of Babylon really that powerful?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Good point…”

Chris seemed curious about why they didn’t invade the Kingdom of Babylon with all the powerful forces they had now.

Although Bael had recently participated in battle himself, he couldn’t display his full power since it wasn’t his own kingdom.

“From what I saw in that video, he didn’t seem that strong. Looks like our Emperor could just kill him with one strike!”

“If it were that simple, they would have done it already.”

“That’s true.”

As always, he was a boy without much thought.

Still, he seemed to be giving his future career path some serious consideration.

“But… what should I do after graduation?”

“Why are you asking us?”

“Should I join the Special Forces like you? What do you think? Do I have a chance?”

“It’s not impossible, but you couldn’t do it right after graduation. I could, though.”

While Chris’s abilities were indeed unique, he lacked the fundamentals, so it seemed unlikely.

Of course, with his connections, he could probably get in through nepotism…

‘That wouldn’t be right…’

No matter how I thought about it, that just wouldn’t be right.

Especially in the current wartime situation.

Of course, since we were still young, it wasn’t completely impossible.

“But we’re still only first-years.”

“If I really train hard, could I make it?”

“Maybe a 50% chance?”

“That’s doable. If I fail, I can just find a party to join.”

“Would any party actually accept you?”

Though Raicle said it jokingly, in reality, any party short of the absolute top-tier ones would accept him.

A healer who could reliably stand on the front lines was as rare as stars in the sky.

“You never know, right?”

“I guess not. Anyway, good luck with that.”

“Hey, you should help me out.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

In truth, all I could do was put him through some intense training.

Though that would probably be more than enough.

But now wasn’t the time for such trivial talk.

“By the way, Raicle.”

“Huh?”

“Are you really going to do it this time?”

True to his apparent elf fetish, Raicle had shown interest in Luna throughout this semester.

And according to what Chris had told me before, he was planning to confess during this school trip.

When I brought it up, Raicle suddenly glared at Chris.

“Hey, did you tell him about that?”

“If he knows, I must have, right?”

“Wow… this guy’s mouth is so damn loose.”

“You already knew about that, right? But I only told him. Really.”

It seemed Raicle had asked Chris not to tell anyone else when he shared that information.

“Of all people to tell, you chose him? Seriously…”

Raicle must have already known how loose-lipped Chris was.

The fact that he still confided in Chris despite that meant he probably didn’t want to keep it a secret anyway.

“But I heard Luna is also planning to confess during this trip.”

“Huh?”

“For real?”

Chris reacted as if he couldn’t believe it, while Raicle seemed to have expected it to some extent.

I said to Raicle:

“But I don’t know who she’s confessing to.”

“How could you not know? It’s obviously going to be you.”

“Me? Why?”

“That’s not the important part right now.”

“Then what is important?”

Raicle’s tension was similar to usual yet somehow different.

He was serious as always, but somehow comically so.

“So, are you going to reject her?”

“No?”

“Huh? You trash…”

“I was joking, but your reaction is great.”

Raicle looked embarrassed at the revelation it was a joke, while Chris burst into laughter at his reaction.

Chris said to Raicle, who had taken it too seriously:

“As if that would be true~ Ah, this is hilarious.”

“So… what do you think about her confessing to me after being rejected by you?”

“But what if she’s actually going to confess to you?”

“Are you going to keep talking nonsense?”

From Luna’s perspective, this had been an unfamiliar place, so I had helped her out a bit, but that was all. If anything, Raicle had been closer to Luna this semester than I had.

I hardly spoke to her, but Raicle had been on the same team during survival training, trained together, and had many other points of contact.

“But she’s not particularly close with me. She’s closer to you.”

“Being close isn’t good, you idiot.”

“Why?”

I asked out of genuine curiosity, and Chris sighed deeply before answering.

“If you’re close, you’re just friends.”

“You can become lovers after being friends.”

“That’s true, but from what I see, they’re not in that kind of situation. From my perspective… they’re just friends.”

“Hey.”

One deadly serious word.

That single word contained numerous emotions.

“Sorry, but honestly, even I wouldn’t date you.”

“You really want to die?”

“Sorry!”

“Anyway, if she confesses to you, reject her, got it?”

“Uh… okay…”

At that moment, my phone suddenly rang.

I immediately checked it.

I thought it was just an ordinary text, but it was different.

‘What’s this?’

The message was from Riel.

She sent me a shocking message along with a photo of her and someone else.

‘Is this real?’

***

Graduation.

The crown jewel of the Academy and the ultimate goal of students.

Currently, the graduation exam, a task to realize that goal, was in full swing.

Although only third-years took the exam, there were many of them, so some students were still waiting for their turn.

And those students were doing whatever they wanted while waiting for their turn.

“Princess, what did you do yesterday?”

“Stop asking already…”

She seemed tired of the constant questioning.

Riel must have noticed this and changed the subject.

“By the way, you know how Luna is planning to confess during this school trip? Wouldn’t it be better to just accept it?”

“Why?”

“There’s a lot to gain if you accept, from various perspectives. And knowing Albert’s personality, he probably won’t engage in skinship if he’s not interested.”

It was a valid point.

Still, the uneasiness was unavoidable.

“I still don’t like it…”

“Are you perhaps intimidated? Luna is certainly more attractive as an elf than you, Princess.”

“What did you say?”

Riel seemed to be stirring up trouble again as she provoked her.

“I’m asking if you’re afraid he might be taken away if he accepts her.”

“Of course not.”

“Then let’s make a bet, how about it?”

Aelin, who was watching this scene in real-time, pretended not to see or hear anything and just went about her business.

“What kind of bet… I don’t like bets…”

“Scared?”

“Ah… fine, let’s do it! Let’s!”

She seemed to have lost her patience at the word “scared.”

And since she had nothing to lose, she appeared to have accepted the proposal.

“Then, if they kiss before the vacation, the loser grants the winner’s wish, deal?”

“Don’t try to back out later.”