Ch.74The Mysterious Young Master in the Forest (1)

## Morning. The professors who had arrived at work were buzzing with conversation.

“What on earth is this…”

Complex magic circles were embroidered in the air.

“It’s a… barrier,” Fenicia said, touching the magic circles with a dazed expression.

It was a freshly created, warm barrier that seemed to be in the process of activation. At this rate, it would take three or four days to complete.

“Who could have done this?”

“This is an extremely high-level barrier. Something of this caliber would require several imperial magicians working together… Vice Chancellor, did we receive any official documents from the imperial family about reinforcing the barrier?”

Fenicia shook her head.

“No. And even if the imperial family had stepped in, completing a barrier of this level overnight is impossible.”

The professors wore bewildered expressions.

They whispered among themselves.

Just then, Clifford Finance approached with a solemn expression.

“Tsk, tsk. Are all your eyes knotted?”

“Fath—I mean, Chancellor.”

“Who in the academy—no, in the entire empire—could design a barrier of this caliber?”

Clifford looked up at the sky.

The countless magic circles covering the sky were truly a magnificent sight.

“Unless the great magician Dellin has risen from her grave, only one person could create such a barrier. Ruide Christopher.”

Clifford chuckled.

“That lazy boy must have felt bad about blowing up the main building.”

**

Ruide walked toward the academy with a refreshed expression.

“Simplicity really is best.”

After putting aside his various complicated worries, his head felt lighter.

‘Yes. This is how to live lazily from now on.’

Ruide decided not to hesitate anymore.

Until now, he had hesitated to act because of concerns about what a decent human being should do.

He decided not to care about anyone’s opinions anymore, whether about the original story or anything else.

However, Ruide made sure to remember one thing:

Anyone who disturbed his daily life and his laziness would be removed, no matter who they were.

…Except family.

“It’s amazing every time I see it.”

“Right? What could it be?”

“We might be witnessing history in the making.”

“We should remember this scene.”

‘Huh?’

When Ruide arrived at the academy’s main gate, he looked up at the sky.

Actually, he didn’t even need to look up.

Colorful magic circles were visible everywhere he looked.

And flowing from them was… Ruide’s own magical power.

“…”

Ruide entered the academy with cloudy eyes.

‘I didn’t expect this to happen.’

He knew it would take time for the barrier to be fully applied since he was the caster.

But he hadn’t expected such geometric magic circles to keep floating in the air.

‘…Why are people gathering?’

There were many people near the main gate.

Ruide headed toward them with curious eyes.

BOOM!

When he got closer, he saw professors huddled together testing the strength of the barrier.

Fenicia’s fireball mercilessly struck the wall.

“Even though the barrier isn’t complete, it’s this strong.”

“It’s more incredible than I thought.”

“Damn, when is Young Lord Ruide coming?”

Ruide turned around without hesitation.

“Th-there! It’s Young Lord Ruide!”

“Catch him!”

Ruide ran away with all his might.

**

“Phew.”

Ruide wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Though he had used magic to escape, the sweat was from the tension.

The professors running after him with crazed looks were scarier than a zombie apocalypse.

‘I’ll have to hide for a while.’

He would leave the barrier explanation to Hersy.

Ruide entered Dellin’s Forest as usual.

But then…

“!!”

He discovered a yellow furball lying face down on the ground.

It was Amelia.

“Sis, are you dead?”

Ruide crouched in front of Amelia and poked her head with his staff.

She didn’t move at all.

Ruide made a sad expression.

“Goodbye.”

He would make sure to give her a proper funeral.

He covered her with a large leaf that was nearby.

“Kuhh…”

“…You’re alive.”

Amelia suddenly raised her head. She reached out to Ruide, trembling.

“H-hungry.”

“…”

GRRRRRR!

‘Thunder?’

Ruide opened his eyes wide and looked up at the sky.

…It was clear.

The sound was coming from Amelia’s stomach.

‘Can a human stomach make such a noise?’

“F-food…”

Ruide sighed and took a leaf from his pocket, putting it in her mouth.

This wasn’t just any leaf.

It was an all-purpose leaf with nutrients magically modified. Theoretically, one could maintain nutrition by eating just this.

“Eat this.”

However, Amelia didn’t chew the leaf and spat it out.

Looking at Ruide cautiously, she said:

“M-meat…”

Ruide’s eyes narrowed coldly.

**

Amelia said she had been starving for the past week.

She hadn’t told him because—as an older sister, she couldn’t bring herself to ask her younger brother to prepare meals for her.

‘Then she should have just starved.’

Amelia was a proud fool.

Ruide had no choice but to call Miho and ask her to catch some meat on the way.

Miho was, as she claimed, a useful fox. An arctic fox that hunts wild boars. Must be quite unfair from the boar’s perspective.

Chomp, chomp.

The large barbecue in Amelia’s hands quickly disappeared.

Amelia ate an enormous amount.

Being a knight, she consumed a massive amount of calories daily.

Ruide had no doubt that if Amelia came to the modern world and did mukbang videos, she would be top-tier.

“Here, this is for the fox.”

[Thank you!]

‘Now I should eat mine.’

After taking care of Miho’s share, Ruide began grilling his own meat. His menu was steak. Classic, but a menu no one could dismiss.

“…”

While grilling the meat, he felt someone staring and turned his head.

Amelia was already holding a boar leg with only bones remaining.

For reference, the wild boar Miho had caught was named Giant Grill. True to its name, it had a massive body, and the leg portion given to Amelia was larger than Amelia herself.

And she had eaten it all in less than five minutes…!

‘How hungry was she?’

“S-sorry.”

Amelia’s face turned bright red with shame, and she lowered her head.

Grumble.

She still seemed hungry.

“I-I won’t complain if you eat my kaymak when we go back home.”

“I’ve never stolen your kaymak.”

“…That wasn’t you?”

“Must have been Sister Irene.”

Ruide shook his head and grilled more meat for Amelia.

Cooking was a very cumbersome task. However, grilling meat could be done very simply with magic.

Sprinkling salt, Ruide spoke to Amelia, who looked like she might die of shame:

“No matter how broke you are, how can you starve yourself?”

Amelia’s shoulders flinched.

“W-well, Ruide.”

“Don’t you have sponsorship money?”

Typically, Windsors who left home lived on sponsorship money.

Nobles who wanted to make connections would line up—it was normal.

No matter how much he had been covering Amelia’s expenses until now, it didn’t make sense that she hadn’t received any sponsorships.

“…No.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Ruide opened his drowsy eyes.

Amelia laughed awkwardly and avoided his gaze.

The truth was, she did have offers. However…

-I don’t accept your gold. I only did what was natural as a knight.

-I’m sorry, but I cannot accept sponsorship. I cannot take responsibility for any future obligations.

She had rejected them herself!

Well, it seemed cool as a knight… and people’s reactions were indeed, “As expected of Lady Amelia. So noble, so noble!”

She had thought she only needed minimal money. Thanks to Ruide, her room and board were taken care of, so she had no reason or need to spend elsewhere. But she hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.

“Couldn’t you just hunt and eat?”

“Ahem, Ruide. Even though I look like this, I’m the captain of a knight order… hunting and eating just any animal would compromise my authority…”

“Idiot.”

“…!”

Amelia’s eyes trembled.

‘My authority as an older sister…!’

Ruide gave her the fully cooked meat using telekinesis, his face full of disdain.

Amelia tore into the meat, half-crying.

‘Why is this so delicious?’

**

Imperial Palace.

“Your Majesty. A new barrier has been created at the academy.”

“A new barrier?”

Lucius looked up from his documents.

Although he could handle multiple tasks simultaneously, he often showed this behavior when receiving interesting reports.

“Interesting. Continue. What level is the barrier?”

“…Well, it’s reported to be a 5-star barrier.”

Lucius widened his eyes in surprise.

“A 5-star barrier is on par with the one installed in the imperial palace, isn’t it?”

“That’s just because 5-star is the maximum rating we can measure. Reports indicate it’s actually worth more than that.”

“Amazing. Who is the talented individual who created this barrier?”

“…Ruide Christopher.”

“What?”

Knowing how many magicians had to be sacrificed to create a single barrier, Lucius couldn’t hide his astonishment.

“Are you saying Ruide completed the barrier alone?”

“Yes. Suddenly, overnight…”

Lucius couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Is that even realistically possible?”

He knew Ruide was talented, but he never imagined to this extent.

Lucius smiled brightly.

“I was worried about unwelcome guests swarming the academy where the empire’s talents gather. This is truly good news.”

However, Mikael broke into a cold sweat.

“About that…”

“Is there something wrong?”

“He used Dellin’s Staff as the medium.”

Mikael bowed her head, anticipating the emperor’s wrath.

Dellin’s Staff was a gift from the emperor.

“Hahaha!”

Lucius laughed loudly.

“What’s the problem? He returned to the empire what I gave him to use. He deserves praise.”

The Imperial Academy, true to its name, belonged to the empire.

Actions beneficial to the Imperial Academy ultimately benefited the empire.

‘…A 5-star barrier would be sufficient to respond to foreign invasions. It could be crucial in future wars.’

The emperor smiled bitterly.

To interpret the goodwill of a child who was like his nephew in such a calculating way.

Despite being the emperor responsible for the empire, Lucius didn’t like his own calculating aspect.

But with a bright smile, he said:

“I can’t just sit idle after receiving such a gift. I should bestow something useful on Ruide.”

“Yes. I will deliver it immediately. What would you like to bestow?”

Lucius pointed at Mikael with his finger.

“…?”

“You.”

“Pardon? N-no, I must have misheard?”

“I should do this much for my nephew who struggles with classes. My gift to Ruide is you, Aide Mikael. Select about five people from the Imperial Knights and go. Ensure he doesn’t experience even the slightest inconvenience until he graduates from the academy.”

Mikael blinked.

“What?”

She committed the disrespect of questioning the emperor.