Ch.369EP.77 – After He Left (4)

*Whoosh.*

“Fortunately, you didn’t kill him. Have you developed patience?”

While some people felt a sense of freedom like shackles being removed as they watched the burning royal castle, others were feeling calm.

“The tea has a nice aroma.”

Even showing the leisure to enjoy tea deliciously.

It was truly a scene that didn’t match the situation, but neither she nor the hundreds of servants attending her showed the slightest hesitation as they bowed their heads.

In such a situation, uniquely.

“…Shouldn’t you, as the client, not be acting like this? That burning over there is your father, and that palace should be your inheritance, shouldn’t it?”

There was one person who uniquely challenged her.

Or rather, it was a question that seemed quite reasonable from a certain perspective.

Well.

“Hmph, it’s just a broken object anyway. If it’s damaged beyond repair, it’s easier to completely destroy it and start anew.”

She merely snorted, but.

“My, you’re quite confident?”

“I can’t exactly look dejected, can I? Above all, a person needs confidence.”

“Hmm…”

The man sighed at the woman’s exceedingly bold statement.

‘A remarkable person is truly remarkable.’

It was questionable how such an exceptional person came from beneath such an unworthy father.

Isis.

The princess of Pendragon gazed at the burning royal castle with serene eyes, using it as a backdrop while enjoying her tea time and pouring another cup of tea.

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No, thank you. I’m too tense for tea to go down.”

“You’re not very bold for a man. Your master is counted among the boldest in the south.”

“My old man and I are different.”

The man objected but smiled awkwardly.

That made sense because his master wasn’t so much bold as simply someone who didn’t care about others’ opinions.

Rather, he was someone who made others conscious of him.

Truly troublesome…

“—No, I’m not talking about that master. Don’t you have a new master recently? I’m referring to that one.”

“……”

“Well, if you don’t consider him your master, this becomes a meaningless conversation, —Sir ‘Agravain’.”

“…You’re still mischievous, aren’t you.”

He frowned, tasting bitterness at two facts.

One was the mention of a second master, and the other was the name Agravain, which he hadn’t heard in a while.

Both gave him a disturbing feeling like something scratching his throat, but what bothered him most was definitely the name.

“Huh, I’m not teasing you. I just wondered what you want to do now that the request is over.”

“……”

“Ah, I wanted to ask, did anyone figure out your identity?”

“Not completely, but there was someone who saw through me as being somewhat strange.”

“Who?”

“…Who else could it be?”

The man.

“None other than the instructor.”

Agram Garand de Agravain.

The disciple of the Mercenary King, more commonly known as ‘Garand’ at the Academy.

* * *

Last spring.

Isis commissioned her most beloved knight to monitor two people who threatened her power.

To watch them…

However, given her personality, she found it inefficient to rely on just one person, so she also placed a request with a mercenary group with whom she had quite a connection.

Fortunately, that mercenary group had someone who more than met her conditions.

In his twenties, similar to the age of the students, with excellent intellectual abilities and combat skills sufficient to pass the Academy exam…

And due to ‘certain circumstances,’ he was now with the mercenary group, but once, at just a teenage age, he was an excellent person called [Agravain’s Wild Horse].

And he performed his duty admirably.

Without revealing his identity, he naturally blended in among the students, monitoring all individuals from the closest position and sending information to her in real-time.

“I received great help thanks to you.”

It was a rare compliment from her, but to the listener, it somehow sounded sarcastic.

…As if it meant he had excellently betrayed his friends.

“Sigh… Please don’t make me out to be such a villain, client. I was merely doing a ‘job.’ But if you try to make me into a villain like this, we’ll just end up embarrassing each other.”

Garand, or rather Agram, grumbled that her high praise made him sigh instead.

Agram clearly considered himself a mercenary.

It had been quite some time since he left his family, and it was the mercenary guild that took him in.

So he had no regrets.

Although it meant he had deceived his friends and betrayed the second master he had gained in his life, he was still a mercenary, and he had merely fulfilled a request.

Moreover.

‘The instructor seemed to already know something was off about me.’

Yet he didn’t blame him.

‘…I would have felt less guilty if he had just condemned me.’

Understanding him only made his heart ache more.

“Yes, he would have treated it as a trivial matter. Or rather, he might have seen through me.”

Isis nodded.

They had known each other for a long time.

Would he not have known her personality?

‘Of course he would.’

He probably realized she had sent someone.

And yet.

‘He pretended not to know.’

How ironic that even after leaving, he still shook her.

As soon as Isis thought of him, she wanted to drink strong alcohol instead of tea.

A strong spirit that would wash away the bitterness in her mouth.

But she thoroughly concealed her emotions and incinerated her feelings.

Since they weren’t necessary for what lay ahead.

‘The die has already been cast.’

She cannot stop.

She.

‘Will become king. I will make it so no one can treat me carelessly.’

Isis had her own firm purpose, and because of that, she forcibly buried even her own emotions.

She didn’t need feelings that would weaken her!

“…What’s past is past.”

“You were the one who brought it up first…”

“Are you interested in taking the next request?”

“……”

“Think about it seriously.”

“Hmm…”

“Ah, by the way, your master said he would accept my request.”

“W-which master are you referring to?”

“Of course.”

*Slide*

“The leader of the Wolves of the Wilderness.”

“……”

…If her beautiful smile somehow felt like a spider’s web, was he the strange one?

“…Ah, right. May I ask one thing?”

Agram, who had essentially already accepted the request, asked a question.

To satisfy a curiosity he had wanted to ask about but hadn’t had the chance to.

“What is it? Are you curious about what I promised to give the leader of the wolves?”

“I’m not interested in that. That old man does whatever he wants, so he probably agreed to receive something that suits him.”

“Correct. You know him well.”

“I expected as much. He’ll probably demand something outrageous as payment again. But what I’m curious about is something else. There’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“Something bothering you?”

“Yes, namely… who exactly is the ‘Delinquent Second Prince’?”

“…?”

“You know, the Delinquent Second Prince. The one said to have a mental illness. And currently enrolled as a student at the Academy. Who exactly is this person?”

Delinquent Second Prince.

That was a figure whose rumors were already widespread when Agram entered the Academy, and Agram had heard about this famous person so much that his ears hurt.

However.

‘Strangely, I’ve never met such a person.’

There was someone suspicious.

A gray-haired boy of unknown identity but extraordinary brilliance.

‘Derrick…’

He was a person with remarkable abilities recognized even by the instructor, but no matter how you looked at him.

‘He wasn’t a delinquent. Nor did he seem like royalty.’

He might lack the arrogance typical of royalty, but he didn’t know any royal etiquette either, and as for having a mental illness, he showed no signs of that—he was just a kind boy.

So Agram couldn’t guess at all who this rumored Second Prince was.

“You would know his identity, wouldn’t you? Being royalty yourself.”

It wasn’t just a question to satisfy curiosity.

The Pendragon royal family had fallen with this incident, but the Pendragon legacy remained.

And those who had inheritance rights to that legacy would be the Pendragon bloodline, and only five remained besides Edmund.

‘The client and the duke, and the captain of the Order of the Silver Lion’s 1st Knight Division, and finally the little lady and the baby prince.’

Princess Isis, Duke Blake, Aren, Lady Irene Windler, and Crown Prince Arthur.

Only these five people would be qualified to inherit the Pendragon legacy, but Duke Blake and Irene Windler wouldn’t be interested in the wealth anyway, and in Aren’s case, he was a supporter of Isis, so he wouldn’t be greedy.

Not to mention the baby Crown Prince Arthur.

In other words, only Princess Isis had the sole qualification to inherit everything, but if the rumored Second Prince actually existed, it would mean more people eligible to inherit the legacy, which could potentially cause problems…

“Second Prince? What on earth are you talking about?”

“?”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it, a Delinquent Second Prince…?”

Isis tilted her head, completely baffled by what he was saying, and showed a rare expression of bewilderment.

In a way, such a reaction was inevitable.

In Pendragon…

“There is no such person as a Second Prince.”

Most princes were dead, and even Aren only held the title of Eighth Prince.

“At least as far as I know, such a person does not exist.”

“……”

A definitive declaration.

Agram blinked at such firmness and.

‘Then, what was that rumor about?’

And the boy named Derrick…

‘What exactly is his identity?’

Agram’s questions only deepened.

*

*

*

“Achoo!”

“Derrick, what’s wrong? Did you catch a cold?”

“Ah, no. Just a bit itchy.”

“How careless. Here’s a handkerchief.”

“Ah, no. I’d just dirty Karin’s handkerchief…”

“I said it’s fine.”

“……”

“Mm, you’re handsome.”

“…Go somewhere else to get cursed at.”

“Just do it. It’s enough if you look handsome in my eyes.”

“Ka-Karin…”

“You’re so cute.”

“!!”

The young couple exchanged affection, showing their fondness for each other.

It was truly a pleasant sight to see, but…

“Hmm, Kunta thinks displays of affection should be distinguished by time and place.”

“……”

“Ah, but Kunta understands. It’s the natural order for males to take care of their females! Learned it in cultural studies.”

“…What kind of lectures have you been attending, Mr. Kunta?”

“It was a very good lecture!”

“……”

“Ah, the lecture said that when males and females grow closer, it’s usually for mating…”

“I-I was wrong! Please, stop teasing me!”

“…Kunta, not teasing?”

The barbarian exchange student tilted his head, looking wronged.

If that was acting, he should immediately go to the theater.

He had the talent to become an icon of the era.

But they knew it wasn’t like that, and Derrick just blushed with embarrassment.

Conversely, the woman shamelessly took care of Derrick, finding him cute, making it clear who held the initiative in the situation.

…But as the barbarian exchange student said, it was right to share affection according to time and place.

Especially.

“-First, I want to express my gratitude to all of you. I’m embarrassed to have such an undeserved position, but I will do my best. To prove that your choice was not wrong.”

…Especially in a situation like this.

A girl was giving a speech.

She was short in stature and somewhat fragile-looking, a beautiful girl reminiscent of a blue hydrangea.

But the girl’s eyes were strong.

She exuded a unique charm that felt like a kind of charisma, as if she embodied the freshness and allure of not just a single hydrangea, but hundreds or thousands of them.

It had been about ten days, and that period of ten days was enough time to make the girl strong and resilient.

There had been partings, there had been confusion, and the girl, who didn’t break in that situation and had the wisdom to see the flow of the times, stood there with the support of everyone.

Yes, the girl…

“As of today, I declare that the One Hundred and Eight Arhats has become an independent ‘force.’ And I clearly state that this is not for seeking power, but a force created for those who have no power but carry goodwill in their hearts. Our purpose is one. In this chaotic political situation, we need to protect what is precious to us.”

Therefore…!

*Thud!*

“May our [Turtle Alliance Knights] never succumb to power and capital, and become a strong order that does not back down even to the strong. Thank you all for listening.”

-Waaaaaaaaah!!!

People cheered and responded enthusiastically.

Not only the 80 students from the Swordsmanship Department, but also those who gathered to support her from the Temple, Lohengrin, Ophen, Modred, and Tristan.

Additionally, even Simon from the Guild Association was present and applauding.

What remarkable leadership and bold action!

It wasn’t the kind of experience one would expect from a girl who hadn’t even had her birthday yet and was just 19 years old.

‘The real cheat ability user was Ms. Levi…’

Derrick could only shake his head in amazement at the series of events.

As evident from the lineup supporting this force, this group will definitely rise to prominence.

Not only were Roen and he investing funds, but they were also gathering talented individuals who had left the Academy.

In just a year, no, even half a year, they would become a force that couldn’t be ignored.

It’s like, how should I put it.

‘Isn’t Ms. Levi like a combination of Liu Bei and Cao Cao?’

She is undoubtedly a person with the tolerance and leadership that reminds one of heroes of the era.

……However.

‘The emblem on the flag is a bit…’

Why, of all things, why?

Why did they engrave that?

The axe and plum blossoms, I understand.

They symbolize the master they respect, so that makes sense.

But why…

‘The swastika symbol is a bit, ah, I know it’s not that, but still…’

Derrick knew it wasn’t that kind of symbol, but a mustache kept flashing in his mind. He shook his head in denial.

…The discomfort was unavoidable given modern sensibilities.