Ch.9A Woman with No Eye for Men (4)

The campus hadn’t changed much. Some students were sprawled out taking naps anywhere they pleased, while others engaged in heated discussions with serious expressions.

What was different was the Royal Guard. Unlike on the streets, they didn’t shout at students to show respect to imperial personnel. Instead, they even slowed their pace to avoid disrupting student traffic.

This was due to the fundamental principle that the campus belonged solely to professors and students, and this rule was to be respected. Even the Emperor himself would observe this principle when visiting. It was the Empire’s way of showing respect to intellect and youth.

The carriage stopped at the main entrance.

A waiting guard opened the carriage door. Lily, who sat near the door, stepped out first, followed by Kain with his cane, and Anna was last. This was their own considerate arrangement to give Anna time to adjust her attire.

“It’s been a while for both of you, hasn’t it?”

“Yes.” “Indeed.”

Kain also momentarily lost himself in old memories. Everything was just as he remembered.

The professors were still aged but energetic, and the students looked young but were full of vitality.

An inexplicable sense of injustice welled up in Kain’s heart.

Kain had never thought of himself as old. For a brief moment, he fell into the illusion that the students were young, not that he had aged.

That couldn’t be true. The young Kain of those days was irretrievable. The Kain standing here now was just a weathered security bureau agent. Nothing more.

“Oh, Lily?”

“Yes.”

“I almost forgot to mention, the White Blood Knights Commander is here. He’s in the grand conference room across the cypress hall.”

Lily’s face froze.

“…You mean my father? I had no idea.”

“Why don’t you go see him? It’s been a while.” Anna opened her fan. The purple cloth fluttered. “The Commander would be delighted to see his daughter’s face.”

“I think so too.”

Anyone could see that wasn’t true. Lily was clearly disturbed. She apparently hadn’t expected to meet her father in such a place. Like lovers caught on a secret date.

“Since we have some time, go see him. When you’re done, you can wait in the lobby, or perhaps take a stroll around the campus after so long.”

Anna showed no mercy. Lily bowed deeply and withdrew.

Because of this, Kain couldn’t stop or retrieve his document bag that Lily took with her.

“Yes. It brings back memories, doesn’t it, Kain?”

“Yes.”

“For just a moment, I’d like to relive the old days a bit more. What do you think?”

Anna’s hair fluttered in the wind. She looked incredibly warm and comforting.

It was strange. While Kain felt resentful about his own aging, Anna, who was much older, seemed more carefree and liberated.

“That would be nice.”

* * * * *

Like other professors, Anna had her own research office and private library. While her research office was not small, her library was so vast it could better be described as a book hall. It wasn’t just a single room but an enormous hall.

Bookshelves were packed tightly, and students seeking degrees moved about. They organized books, dusted off old parchments, and copied texts onto new parchments. Some were revising books, while others replaced leather covers.

Assistant life. Kain had done this too.

Once you passed the entrance exam, you didn’t need to worry about tuition. The Imperial Academy operated completely free of charge for both registration and tuition fees.

The problem was living expenses, school supplies, and textbooks that were rarely used.

The capital’s cost of living was high, and many sought jobs. The reality was that even working all day might not earn enough for a single meal. For those like Kain who had left home in secret, these were hungry days.

Anna didn’t let such students slide by.

“Stop those odd jobs immediately. They’re of no help to the Empire’s future. If you have that energy and capacity, manage my library instead. I have many books but not enough hands.”

Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling.

Anna rang the bell. A bell from his memories. When that bell rang, everyone had to gather at the professor’s office without exception. Young, fresh-faced students gathered around.

“It’s lunchtime, isn’t it? Leave early today. I’ve put today’s wages in the basket, don’t forget to take them.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Like a flock of sparrows from a clothesline, the students flew away. Only then did Anna lean back in her leather chair. Kain sat in the hard chair opposite the desk. He placed his cane on the floor.

“Chaotic, isn’t it?”

“But the energy is nice.”

“You were like that too.”

Anna gazed softly at her former student.

“That’s why I find it hard to believe. Why do you want to quit?”

It was a disconcerting question. Kain hesitated, looking at his respected mentor. Clearly, Anna hadn’t called him just to reminisce about old times.

Yet, Anna spoke of “old memories.” When meeting with students, Anna had emphasized several times:

Don’t speak outside about what happens in the classroom. Don’t discuss conversations from the professor’s office elsewhere. What happens inside stays inside.

‘So she wants to have a confidential conversation.’

Anna was a strategist. She had caught Kain off guard when he wasn’t prepared. Kain tried to buy time.

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew. I should know. I’ve been receiving continuous reports about you from Director Verneith. The evaluations were good, but Verneith was worried about you. Said you lacked motivation. When a report suddenly came in that retirement procedures were underway, I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

Kain found it hard to believe that the grumbling old man had written such things.

“As it happened, I had business at the Security Bureau. It was my good fortune to see you there. Even more so that Lily was with you. I can’t tell you how relieved I was that heaven hadn’t abandoned the Empire.”

It was puzzling. Anna never gave praise without reason. Such embellishment was unfamiliar.

Was a chance meeting on the street really such a momentous event?

“I want to know why.”

“Verneith is your superior, and Lily is your subordinate. As far as I know, Lily is upright. I was concerned about her excessively righteous character, but that child would break before she would bend. As for you…”

Anna turned her head briefly. Only after laughing for a while did she face Kain again.

“I can’t be objective. But what I wanted to hear was about your behavior at the Security Bureau. Some people show different faces to their superiors and subordinates. And yet another face to their colleagues.”

As expected. She hadn’t been having meaningless chatter with Lily after all.

How much had Anna planned? What had she seen and how much did she know? Kain couldn’t tell.

“Some trees grow crooked. Some trees die for no reason, and others become twisted. But you didn’t seem to be like that. You were just as I remembered you from your student days… Kairos. Exactly the same.”

Kairos. Kain’s real name. A name he himself had forgotten. A name he thought he had left behind.

“Professor.”

That was all Kairos could say.

“Kairos. I won’t demand an explanation for your decision. You’ve probably been asked many times about your reasons for retiring, and the fact that you haven’t changed your mind means you’re already determined. I respect your decision.”

“Professor.”

Kairos couldn’t hold back anymore. He couldn’t read Anna’s thoughts and intentions at all. Yet Kain—no, Kairos—was being stripped bare.

She was trying to peel away Kain and bring out Kairos. She was trying to remove even the last rag that covered his shame, which wasn’t particularly something to be proud of.

Kairos didn’t want to show that side of himself.

“Professor, you could have done it if you wanted to. You could have given orders if you wished. If you had ordered me, I would have obeyed.”

“Kairos.”

Anna’s voice was calm. Enough for Kairos to cool his excitement a little.

“Kairos. That’s the Emperor’s job.”

Anna stood up. She turned her back to Kairos and faced the window. Even after all this time, talking about the Emperor seemed difficult for her.

“The Emperor is not someone who finds answers but someone who determines them. The path itself is the answer, and decisions are right because they are decisions. I knew that answer from a very young age, but I hesitated at the last moment. The moment I reached out to my beloved husband, I was already unworthy of being Emperor. If I had resolved to stand alone, I should have walked alone until the end, even if I fell.”

She was a woman called a genius. A woman who was to be responsible for the Empire’s future. Such a woman was now confiding in Kairos.

Kairos didn’t dare speak. What could he possibly say to someone who had aspired to become the sun itself?

“Yes. That’s the path of the Emperor. One must become the answer oneself, become the purpose itself. When everyone questions their lives, the Emperor must be the answer. That’s why the Emperor must always be correct. There can be no mistakes. Those who serve the Emperor live to turn even wrong answers into right ones. If one cannot live believing they are right without knowing they might be wrong, the Emperor’s laurel wreath becomes the gallows rope. I believed I knew what an Emperor was, but…”

Anna, who had been looking at the sky, turned back to Kairos. She sat in her chair and caught her breath. Like the brilliant sun breathing within the clouds.

“The Academy was my new dream, the future of a new Empire. An empire where anyone with ability, not just those of certain status, could fulfill their ambitions. But the results weren’t coming as expected. Before you enrolled, I was considering studying abroad again. Kairos. You changed me.”

“…Why me?”

“Because you were the first commoner to be admitted. I saw hope in that. You don’t know how relieved I was. How much I smiled. I didn’t smile that much even when I was pregnant. Finally, the Empire was responding to my struggles. The Empire was accepting my will. Just the fact that you enrolled, that you graduated and found a place in the Security Bureau, made me happy.”

“I… Professor. Professor. I…” Kairos couldn’t continue. He didn’t know what to say. Yes. He didn’t know.

“I didn’t know.”

“A pebble…”

Anna sighed softly.

“A pebble thrown into a lake doesn’t know. It doesn’t know what ripples it creates on the surface. It just sinks toward the bottom according to its nature. All the pebble wants is to settle at the quiet bottom and find stability.

Kairos. You were my first pebble.

More students came after you, and seeing your case, I was able to help many others. If you hadn’t taken the lead, if you hadn’t unknowingly paved the way, I couldn’t have done it.

Those twenty-two bright students who just left are all commoners. Like you. If you hadn’t shown your trial and error, those children would have had difficulty adapting to academy and capital life. Thanks to you showing the way, I learned how to care for those children.

So isn’t it natural that I’m interested and curious about your future?”

“It was empty.”

Kairos lowered his head. In place of the stripped-away Kain remained a student who had come to visit his old mentor.

“I thought I was devoted to the Empire, but the Empire only seemed to get worse day by day. Even though I really, really thought I had given my all, the Empire seemed to be taking steps backward. Like running in mid-air. Everything I did felt meaningless. That’s how I was broken.”

“Like Goetz von Bärringen?”

The hide-and-seek was over. Anna knew everything. Kairos silently nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Kairos looked up. Anna was crying silently.

“If you were in such pain, why didn’t you say anything? Why did you just keep it all inside? At the very least, to me. I was happy watching you. Not knowing you were festering… I’ve done something terrible to you.”

He couldn’t even say he was sorry. Anna wiped her tears with her fingers.

“Still, I’m glad I can tell you this. Goetz will never see the world again. If that gives you even a small comfort…”

“…What?”

Kairos gripped his knees. Anna gave him a faint smile.

“He’s been handed over to the Holy Grail Knights. He’ll be investigated for heresy charges. No later than a month from now, the Pope will issue a decree. Anyone who engages in trial by combat or condones such acts will be excommunicated. Whatever answer Goetz gives, he will burn at the stake. It is the Pope’s decision, so it will come to pass.”

The Holy Grail Knights.

The forgotten, temporarily discarded Kain returned. The reason the Pope’s personal guard, the Holy Grail Knights, had visited the Security Bureau building was because of Goetz.

The remaining puzzle pieces began to fit together. The bandit knights would no longer be able to conduct trial by combat. Those who tormented the people would now starve and perish.

But at the same time, it was strange. That the Pope would readily give such a large gift to the Empire. Moreover, the duel law was not church law but secular law.

The Emperor had essentially allowed the Pope to interfere in the secular imperial law.

“Professor.” Kain took a breath. His voice became urgent without him realizing it.

“The Minister of Justice had requested Goetz’s release.”

“Yes. He knew about our movements. Verneith bought us time well. Soon, the Minister of Justice will step down. The Treasury is already moving.”

An electric shock ran down Kain’s spine. He remembered the report that had troubled Lily.

“They spent a lot on hiring new soldiers and buying weapons, but reduced the budget for maintaining troops… They said they needed to increase patrol guards, but there aren’t many bandits in Taranto…”

“Because of the bandit knights, right?”

“Yes. People like Goetz brought bandits to their side… Bandits joining the standing army or knights…”

“The Minister of Justice says to release him if there’s no physical evidence. Immediately… A hundred nobles have petitioned… There’s no justification to hold Goetz…”

“The Minister of Justice will step down. The Treasury is already moving.”

“So Bohemond I created a slush fund to bribe the Minister of Justice. And the bandit Goetz was essentially Bohemond’s subordinate.”

“It’s not just the Kingdom of Taranto, Kain.”

The professor and student were gone. In their place were the Empire’s sister and a Security Bureau section chief facing retirement.

“It’s happening everywhere. The same thing is occurring in all the Elector territories. Bandit knights are maintaining order that soldiers should be maintaining, and in return, the Electors are employing them like mercenaries. Like establishing small territories within their domains.”

Only then did Kain understand the true meaning of trial by combat. If the Pope declared both the participants in trial by combat and those who condoned it as heretics, the Electors could not maintain the bandit knight system.

These men, already closer to dishonorable thieves, would naturally attack the Electors’ territories. The nobles would be hamstrung, and their influence would rapidly diminish.

But this was not a positive signal for the Empire. The fact that they had to borrow the Pope’s hand clearly meant there would be a price to pay.

Allowing the Pope to interfere in secular law was tantamount to declaring that the Empire could not overcome this crisis with its own strength alone.

Yet the Empire was willing to pay that price. If so, why had Anna brought him here with Lily?

Why was Lily’s father, the White Blood Knights Commander, on campus? And why was Anna so readily sharing all this information?

Kain suddenly recalled the report Lily had been analyzing. A report about the Elector’s territory where Goetz had established himself. It didn’t seem like a mere coincidence.