Ch.6262. Festival (1)

The duel had boasted great expectations and splendor, but ended rather anticlimactically.

Because of this, some swallowed their disappointment, while others departed with anger and emptiness.

Princess Ophelia took responsibility for cleanly dispersing the crowd gathered in the courtyard. With her efficient handling, there would be no gossip afterward.

As Ophelia found a moment to rest, someone approached her.

“How was it? Wasn’t our senior amazing in that fight?”

Surprisingly, it was Renias, another imperial princess who seemed to have known about his skills earlier than most.

The conversation between the two princesses, meeting after a long time, was remarkably honest. The subject was, naturally, the scene they had just witnessed.

“Excellent movements, and even the performance was impressive. It was a good spectacle.”

“Right, right? Isn’t there anything else?”

“Actually, I had hoped it would go all the way to the end. That was a bit disappointing.”

“Exactly! I felt so unsatisfied. It’s a shame it was interrupted midway. I thought he was going to show us everything.”

Renias agreed enthusiastically, making punching motions in the air.

“Ophi, Senior Junon trains incredibly rigorously. He could probably match most knights from noble houses.”

“Was he that good?”

“Yes, yes! You’d be surprised if you saw him directly. The senior? He invests most of his day in training—”

Renias typically didn’t talk about other people, so seeing her speak so freely suggested she must be quite close to him.

At this, Ophelia smiled mischievously like a fox and caught her prey.

“What kind of relationship do you two have? It seems peculiar.”

“Eh?”

At that, the single strand of hair sticking up on Renias’s head stood even more erect. A sign of her being flustered.

Why ask about their relationship? Finding the situation quite amusing, Ophelia covered her mouth and laughed.

“Th-that! It’s not the kind of relationship you’re thinking of! We’re just senior and junior, and I’m in a position where I receive advice from him about physical training and various other things…!”

Renias was a person honest with her emotions. That’s why Ophelia occasionally teased her like this.

But today, her reaction seemed particularly strong.

Seeing Renias desperately trying to explain herself to prevent misunderstandings, Ophelia couldn’t laugh it off as usual.

“Ah.”

As Ophelia’s response became awkward, Renias’s antenna-like strand of hair settled back into place.

Realizing she had been rambling alone, Renias puffed her cheeks and glared at Ophelia with dissatisfied eyes, thinking she’d been tricked again.

“That’s mean, Ophi.”

“Hmm hmm. There’s a certain pleasure in teasing Reni whenever we meet.”

“Ophi, you’re the one with the lovey-dovey atmosphere with Lord Mihail!”

“Oh my. We’re actually married, you know? Jealous?”

“Uuu…!”

Though she tried to counter by targeting Ophelia’s relationship with Goden, Ophelia deflected it skillfully.

True to her words, while they were extremely close, Renias had no way to match Ophelia’s eloquence in conversation.

But Ophelia was actually serious.

‘I never expected Reni to open up this much.’

Though Renias had a bright personality, few people knew what she was like inside.

Not many knew that what appeared on the surface wasn’t everything, and Ophelia was one of those few individuals.

Renias treated everyone warmly regardless of who they were, as long as they weren’t evil, and she was generous even to those who had repented their sins.

Righteous. Beautiful. Good and pure.

She might deserve all these adjectives and more, but in summary, she was someone loved by all. That was her publicly known exterior.

Conversely, it meant she showed the same face to everyone. That was the true inner self and dark interior of Princess Lantana, Renias.

In other words, Renias had never shown such deep interest in a single person before.

“Ophi, are you listening? If you tell the senior, I’ll be angry!”

But now it seemed different.

Showing such unique interest meant that Renias considered Junon quite special.

The number of love letters Renias had received could easily fill her arms, but had she ever shown this much interest in someone else? Ophelia tried hard to recall, but such instances were extremely limited.

‘Surely not… could it be?’

She seemed to have a personal fondness for him, but…

This was the first time she had shown such a distinctive reaction to an outsider.

“I’m leaving. I hate you, Ophi.”

Oh dear. Coming back to her senses, Ophelia found Renias thoroughly upset with her cheeks puffed out.

“Alright. I’m sorry for teasing you, Reni.”

“Tch. You always tease me like this.”

“Hehe. You just looked so cute today, Reni. By the way, could you continue what you were saying earlier?”

“Hm? About Senior Junon?”

“Yes. I’d like to hear more.”

Looking at Renias, who expressed her emotions with her whole body including that silly strand of hair standing up, Ophelia couldn’t help but worry.

***

The complaints about the end-of-term evaluation once again erupted within the welcome duel system.

Needless to say, the items Professor Muniher had asked them to be aware of were fully applied this time as well.

Patience. Judgment. Improvisation. Vigilance. Practicality.

Since it wasn’t a pair exercise, teamwork was excluded, and since it was a duel, direction was omitted. Otherwise, almost identical reasons were attached.

Since it was the same process, the results of the class assignment test were announced quickly.

Those who stubbornly stuck to elemental magic and firepower, as if wearing ill-fitting clothes despite being given the same opportunity twice, were relegated to the lowest positions.

‘This should be enough.’

Though only two duels were conducted this time, it was sufficient as a demonstration.

There had been forces ready to oppose this class assignment test, and this was perfect for suppressing their resistance.

Having created such a precedent, things should remain quiet for a while.

This should allow Professor Muniher to easily begin the next phase.

Now was the time to stay one step ahead.

“The festival…”

At Lebrant Academy, an annual festival is always held around this time.

Freshman welcome party. Celebration for students promoted in the class assignment test. Encouragement for those who drank the bitter cup of disappointment. Recognition for all students who took the exams, and so on.

Based on these reasons, students begin the semester with the festival.

Until now, for lower-class students, especially those in vanguard positions, it was more stress than encouragement, but this time would be different.

“And that’s precisely the problem.”

Professor Muniher had proposed the welcome duel as a test to remove the academy’s bad customs and traditions.

Unlike Professor Muniher who sided with the Principality, the noble alliance would immediately oppose this move.

They would obviously harbor discontent and try something.

To maintain customs and traditions so they wouldn’t lose the privileges that only nobles and rear and middle position holders enjoyed. That would likely be their reason.

What needed to be prepared was actually simple.

“If only the merchant group arrives properly…”

The problem was that this merchant group was quite mysterious… there wasn’t much information.

When the merchant group, hindered by the noble alliance, arrived, it was already after events had unfolded.

The Grand Duke had departed belatedly, but the merchant group hadn’t arrived intact.

Meanwhile, as the noble alliance argued that the festival could no longer be postponed, they ended up hosting it, causing the festival to fall back into their hands.

So what could be done? It had to be prevented in advance.

During these few days of the festival, in this chaotic time, the only option was to move secretly.

“Hello. Could you tell me if there are any jobs available for pay?”

“Right now, there’s only work with the merchant group.”

“That’s fine. Just tell me which merchant group and what kind of work needs to be done.”

Then, using work as an excuse, I could naturally make contact with that merchant group.

***

“There seems to be more goods than usual today.”

“You think so too? I was wondering if it was just me…”

“Come on. How many years have you worked in the merchant group to not notice something like that?”

“Well, you have a point.”

“Even with all our personnel, we might be a bit short-handed.”

Two senior officials with considerable experience in the merchant group were tilting their heads while looking at the inventory.

“Hello.”

“An outsider? Did you call him?”

“No, not me. I wouldn’t have any connection with such a young fellow.”

Automatically, the two officials shifted their eyes to the boy, expecting an answer. To this, the boy responded.

“I’m here to work. I heard your merchant group was looking for labor. Is that not the case?”

“If we called for workers…”

“I heard the guild master called for them.”

The two men said they would check with the guild master about hiring external workers and asked him to wait a moment.

After a while, the two returned from the guild master and checked the boy’s profile before asking.

“Well, I never expected to solve our labor shortage with academy students. Your name is Junon, a third-year student at Lebrant Academy? Is that correct?”

“Yes. Here’s my leave permit and student ID.”

“It seems you’re here to work because you need quick money, but we have quite a lot of goods today. We can pay you generously, but it might be tough. Is that alright?”

“I don’t mind. As long as you give me time to rest and eat in between.”

“Such vigor in youth. Follow me. Let’s start with moving goods. I wonder why the others who said they’d come aren’t here yet. Tsk.”

Following the complaining man while looking around, it was as expected.

‘Everyone is hiding their appearance.’

Lewen Merchant Group.

As a merchant group responsible for supplying the Principality, it wasn’t particularly famous.

However, the fact that almost none of the guild master’s policies or internal confidential information had leaked outside was a blind spot.

Typically, when a Principality’s guild master hires someone, they check at least once before entrusting them to the officials. After all, they could be spies from another merchant group.

Would it make sense for people who live on trust and information in any merchant group to not even see the face of a worker, which is representative information about a person? There’s a reason for everything.

That’s why this merchant group’s importance increases.

Although affiliated with the Principality, I couldn’t find out what happened even in my previous life.

Deliberately pretending to look for work and choosing this Lewen Merchant Group among many was with that intention.

“Here, wear this, change out of your uniform into work clothes, and come back. From now on, you’re Number 229. While working in the merchant group, you can’t converse using names. Understood?”

“Understood.”

Another characteristic of the Lewen Merchant Group.

They have their own unique work clothes, and they wear hoods and masks to cover their faces. Instead of using names, they respond to the numbers written on their work clothes.

Name, age, strength scale, origin, disease status, etc.

It’s to fix information related to the identity of people belonging to the merchant group to just the guild master while completely hiding the identity of the subject.

The reason is unknown, but even as a custom or tradition, it had the merit of being able to hide one’s identity, which wasn’t a bad condition.

After changing clothes, another person had arrived beside the man who appeared to be an official.

“Say hello. This person will be your escort from now on.”

It might seem ironic given that they hide and guarantee identity, but they provide an escort.

It also meant that the Lewen Merchant Group was particularly careful about protecting its workers.

“I’m Number 229.”

It was a title used as a rule in the merchant group, which they asked to be maintained.

But something felt off.

“…?”

Not me, but the other person.

I had planned to exchange a simple greeting and then divert the escort’s attention to deliver the tasks and instructions, but the person who stepped forward as an escort wasn’t even responding.

What’s this? Why is the reaction like this?