Welcome to Polaris Academy (6)

“The Saint?”

I muttered, tracing my memory.

“The current Saint is the 13th, right? What was her name, Corfe…”

“If I may say so.”

At that moment, Oswald’s voice dropped.

“Please refrain from casually calling the Saint by her name.”

“Oh, okay.”

It was like the tone of scolding an outsider who had committed a major discourtesy.

Perhaps it was because I was completely unfamiliar with such situations? I nodded bewilderedly, but Delphina apparently couldn’t accept this situation so calmly.

“Hey, you bastard, who do you think you are?”

“De-Delphina!”

“…”

Toward Oswald, who was silently looking at her, Delphina raised her finger and glared.

“What are you looking at? You also casually called the Princess by her na… mmph.”

“Delphina, calm down!”

I personally covered Delphina’s mouth and laughed awkwardly.

“Ahah, ahahaha…”

“Mmph, mmm!”

She’s more fiery than I thought.

“So, when does the Saint want to meet…?”

“Right now. She specified immediately after the Knight Department training ended.”

“This mmph, puhah. Who the hell are you guys to be specifying and so on, mmph…”

While somehow trying to calm the struggling Delphina, I quietly said to Oswald.

“I’m sorry, but I have a prior engagement today. Could you please tell the Saint that I apologize?”

“…”

Oswald silently looked at me and Delphina for a moment.

But judging by Delphina’s intense reaction… some kind of power struggle seemed necessary.

Even so, I’m not so tactless.

I smiled at Oswald, and soon he opened his mouth.

“…I understand. I will tell the Saint so.”

It was Oswald who backed down first.

Oswald, who had been looking back and forth between Delphina, who was glaring with her mouth held by my hand, and me, nodded and bowed.

“I apologize for the intrusion. Then, until next time.”

“Take care.”

I waved the one hand that wasn’t holding Delphina.

Only after he had left did Delphina shake her head to escape my grasp and grumble.

“Puhah! Damn, those cursed fanatics.”

Delphina said, breathing heavily.

“All the Holy Knights from the Holy Nation are like that. They think their saints are gods. Why should knights from other countries show respect to their saint?”

Even as she spoke, Delphina was still not calming down, exhaling with frustration.

“Their religious reformation or whatever was already 300 years ago, and in all that time they’ve only been rotting rather than developing…”

“Calm down. You’ll lose your hair if you get too heated.”

“Everyone in the Eastern Continent knows how rotten the old priests in your country are, so what are they so proud of…!”

Delphina, who had been venting her anger for quite some time, finally managed to calm down after a while.

“…I’m sorry. For showing such an unseemly display.”

Delphina, who was calming down with deep breaths, suddenly asked me.

“By the way, Princess. Was the prior engagement just something you made up?”

“No?”

I lightly shook my head and tilted it.

“I actually do have someone to meet?”

“…She refused, you say.”

“I have no excuse.”

-Thud…!

Slamming his head loudly on the floor, Oswald spoke in the same emotionless voice.

-Drip.

From the forehead slightly raised from the floor, a drop of blood formed at the end of a thinly torn skin fell.

“It’s alright. If she had a prior engagement, it can’t be helped.”

White.

A girl dressed in clothing where only white existed, without any other impurities, quietly spoke with her eyes gently closed.

Her appearance suggested a young age. Perhaps around 14-15 years old at most.

However, her actual age was definitely not that.

A Saint chosen by the oracle has slower physical growth than others.

However, her lifespan is rather shorter than that of an ordinary human.

Saints are the incarnations of God and the only perfect creations that God forms on this earth.

They do not age or become unsightly. Their breath naturally stops at the same time their appearance fades.

Such is their fate. For a Saint is no different from an incarnation sent to this earth by God as a representative to deliver His words.

“But, what could this prior engagement be, I wonder?”

The 13th Saint of the Solaion Holy Nation—Corfe Lilac—tilted her head like a girl of the age she appeared to be and muttered.

“Has she met an old friend at this academy? Or perhaps found a clue about someone she’s been looking for? Or maybe an unexpected thread of fate has been connected?”

The Saint, who had been murmuring in a calm voice alone, soon shook her head and said.

“…Well. It’s no use speculating here.”

And then, she slowly turned her head toward the back.

Toward a sword emitting a brilliant light, the only thing not pure white in the room filled with nothing but white things.

“It’s been a full 100 years since the oracle indicating the next hero descended.”

“…”

“The poor people are trembling with anxiety, and the wicked groups, certain that there is no sword to punish them, have stirred twice to threaten us.”

With an elegant gesture, the Saint placed both hands on her chest and whispered as if in prayer.

“We need a hero.”

Her closed eyelids opened very slowly.

“A symbol to lead the hearts of the people and once again lead a holy war.”

Two more things that were not white in this room revealed themselves.

“Even if it is a fake hero, forcibly created.”

Blood-red eyes emitted a fierce light.

“I’ve been waiting, Princess.”

“…Don’t call me that awkwardly on purpose.”

At Lore’s words, I shook my head and replied.

“Other princes, princesses, nobles, and such, they’re all just students here, aren’t they?”

Hearing my words, he smiled silently instead of answering, and I sat down next to him on the bench.

Late afternoon with the sun slowly setting. The sky was stained red with the soft glow of sunset, and a cool breeze tickled the tip of my nose.

Three benches, placed isolated behind a corner building within the academy grounds.

Sitting side by side on the rightmost bench, Bell Lore spoke softly.

“Nice place, isn’t it?”

“…It’s quiet and nice.”

“It’s my little secret spot. I spend time here whenever I’m free.”

Lore, who was looking up at the reddened sky while leaning back on the bench, said as if surprised.

“I didn’t expect you to want to meet today right away.”

“There’s something I wanted to ask as soon as possible.”

I glanced toward Lore and said.

“And there’s also something bothering me.”

“…”

“First, I’ll ask directly. Cornelio Difind, where is that bastard now?”

“…Earl Cornelio.”

Lore seemed to think for a moment, then instead threw a question at me.

“…I’ll ask at least formally, but why are you looking for him?”

“Because I need to separate his bones from his flesh.”

The charge is desertion, the punishment is death.

“Is that a metaphor?”

“I’m serious.”

Lore asked again, and I shook my head once more.

“Military desertion during wartime calls for immediate execution as a principle, doesn’t it? I’m just making him pay a corresponding price for his actions.”

“…I see.”

Lore, who had been nodding, was silent for a moment, then said.

“Do you resent him?”

“…Resent?”

At the unexpected choice of words, I turned my head to look at him.

“Why should I resent him?”

“I heard that Earl Cornelio’s crime was military desertion during wartime.”

Lore hesitated briefly, then carefully continued.

“And the Holy Nation… knowing this fact, still employed him to maintain the defensive line. Naturally, without informing the Kingdom.”

“I know.”

“You could hold resentment toward him, or even briefly resent me who fought alongside him.”

“Well.”

I lowered my head.

“Do I even have the right to resent anyone?”

“…What does that mean?”

Lore asked back with a puzzled expression.

“Due to my lack of ability, due to my errors in judgment, more than thousands of people have died.”

“…”

“Not just those who died, but their parents, children, relatives, friends—they must all resent me.”

I forced myself to shrug.

“How dare I, who’s busy receiving the resentment of others, resent anyone else?”

“But, that’s.”

“I’m just carrying out my duties according to principles.”

Lore, who was about to say something to me, closed his mouth for a moment.

“…Well.”

He opened his mouth softly.

“For someone saying that, when you asked me about Cornelio…”

Lore trailed off, then took a deep breath and said.

“You seemed quite, unable to control your emotions.”

“Is that so?”

“Do you remember our duel earlier today?”

Lore asked. However, as if he wasn’t expecting any particular answer from me, he continued again.

“In your eyes, I saw an endlessly deep abyss.”

Lore’s legs trembled slowly, unable to hide his nervousness.

“At that time, I thought it represented the depth of your vision.”

He suddenly smiled as if finding it amusing and muttered.

“I arbitrarily thought I envied you. I was jealous of your talent. I thought the world reflected in your deep eyes would be much wider than the shallow and narrow vision of an ordinary person like me.”

Lore paused for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating which words to choose to construct his speech.

“…But, that wasn’t it.”

He looked into my eyes and asked.

“Princess Knight, no… Princess Evangeline. Where are you now?”

“…”

“Where are you standing, and what are you looking at?”

Looking intently at me who didn’t answer, he eventually turned his head and said.

“I don’t know where Cornelio Difind is now either. After the war ended, he suddenly disappeared again.”

“…I see.”

He wasn’t lying. Rather, I had somewhat expected his answer.

If he had continued to stay in the Holy Nation, he would have been quickly captured and returned to our country through belated joint investigation between the two countries.

It was obvious that he would know that much unless he was a fool, so the only path left for him was to flee again.

He’s probably hiding somewhere in the Empire or the Republic, or in one of the small city-states that don’t belong to any of the four countries.

Lore stood up from the bench. And toward me, sitting quietly, he said softly.

“I think I vaguely understand why the academy didn’t invite you as an instructor.”

“That’s right.”

I answered with a shrug. It wasn’t something to be surprised about at this point.

“…There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

Toward him, who was about to turn away weakly, I quietly asked.

“What did you mean by ‘a real knight’?”