Chapter 4: Letter

Kreppel Imperial Royal Academy.

Or, Imperial Royal Academy for short.

Since the time of the Empire’s first emperor, it has been a hall of achievements that shares the Empire’s history, and a cradle of learning that cultivates the talents responsible for the Empire’s future.

Naturally, as the Empire’s sole Imperial Royal Academy, only the most exceptional talents could gain admission.

Neither noble nor humble birth, nor an ancient prestigious family, nor wealth capable of piling up mountains of gold, none of it mattered.

Admission was granted only to those who possessed a fragment of talent sufficient to pass the entrance examination.

The Academy’s entrance examination was divided into three branches: Magic, Martial Arts, and Administration.

Simply gaining admission meant receiving a calling card as a person with a bright future, officially recognized by the Empire, and a complete reversal of one’s life.

In contrast, there was only one condition to take the entrance examination.

To be seventeen years old.

Thus, every year when the Imperial Royal Academy’s admission period arrived, families with seventeen-year-old children from across the Empire would pour into the imperial capital, creating a kind of festival.

The entrance examination, lasting a week due to the sheer number of applicants. Even though I had deliberately adjusted my schedule to arrive on the last day to avoid the commotion, the area in front of the Academy’s main gate was a human sea, without even a small gap.

However, the chaotic sea of people parted like the Red Sea as a certain group approached, creating a straight path directly to the main gate.

“Look over there…”

“It’s the Whitefelt family…”

Whitefelt. The family that dominates the northern part of the Empire, a guardian deity protecting the Empire from monsters and barbarians, a tough knight who knows no defeat, and warriors like wolves, devoid of blood or tears.

Some thanked them for their dedication in protecting the Empire in extreme environments, while others made way, unable to withstand the beast-like aura they exuded.

I subtly opened the carriage window, observing the scene, and spoke.

“Wow. It seems my brother really holds sway in the Empire.”

Even though there were countless carriages bearing family crests, only the Whitefelts commanded people’s respect.

Wasn’t he one of only two Grand Dukes in the Empire? Indeed, with such power, he must have pulled some strings for me too.

Special Instructor of the Academy’s Martial Arts Department. That’s the role I’ll have to take on for three years.

I thought I’d just have to casually watch over Aria, but to be thrust into such an absurd position.

The thought of dealing with kids that age, who barely listen, already made my head ache.

No, no. I should think positively. My brother wouldn’t be unaware of my abilities, so he must have put me in a position I can handle. It’s called ‘Special Instructor,’ but perhaps it’s just a sinecure with little actual work?

Anyway, what’s done is done, and I should at least pretend to make an effort.

“Aria. Time to wake up now.”

It seemed we had arrived inside the Academy, so I called out to my niece, who was sitting opposite me, leaning against the wall and sleeping.

“Mmm… Ah… I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Alright. Let’s say you dozed off then.”

“I didn’t even doze off…”

“Alright, alright. Anyway, it’s a relief you don’t seem nervous. Go and do well on your entrance examination.”

“Aren’t you coming to watch…?”

“Oh, goodness. I’d love to watch my niece take her exam myself, but your uncle has an interview.”

Even if it’s a direct ‘parachute’ appointment from the Grand Duke, I can’t just become an instructor without any verification.

That’s why a one-on-one interview with the Academy’s President was arranged. I’d never even had an interview in my past life, so I was somewhat nervous.

“Hmph… Be on your way…”

“Alright. When your exam is over, let’s go eat something delicious. Your uncle will treat you.”

“Really? Let’s definitely go just the two of us. It’s a promise.”

Her expression softened as if she’d never been sulking, which was cute, so I habitually ruffled her hair and opened the carriage door.

Since the Whitefelt knights were thoroughly controlling the surroundings and forming a perimeter, I could quietly disembark and look around.

“Oh… it’s much bigger than I thought.”

Had I underestimated fantasy too much? Its vastness exceeded imagination, as if mocking me for thinking, ‘How big could it be?’ The American universities I’d seen in my past life couldn’t even compare.

One might wonder how to find the President in such a vast place, but it was surprisingly simple.

“They said she was the strongest person.”

The strongest person in the Academy. I heard she was also called by names like ‘one of the Empire’s Ten Strongest,’ and though she’s retired now to serve as the Academy’s President, she gained fame in conquest wars during her youth.

Tien, my brother, described her as ‘an old lioness,’ didn’t he?

Finding such a person was easy. Even more so if she had no intention of hiding herself.

From afar, I could feel a thrilling wave of ki spreading out, striking my entire body.

It was definitely calling me.

“It’s been a while.”

I let out a soft chuckle.

Instead, I found it amusing. In the North, no one dared to challenge me anymore.

This must be why people say one should travel around and broaden their horizons.

To think something so entertaining would happen as soon as I left the North.

With a willing heart, I lightly stepped towards the one calling me.

****

An old woman was sitting at a desk made of lustrous, high-quality wood, reading a letter.

A letter brought by a Whitefelt squire who had just arrived.

“How absurd.”

Astra Lionheart, President of the Kreppel Academy. She reread the letter repeatedly.

No matter how many times she read it, she simply couldn’t comprehend its contents.

The sender of the letter was Grand Duke Tien Whitefelt. A whelp she had met several times on the battlefield in her younger days.

She knew that whelp’s daughter was taking the Academy entrance examination this year. Especially since this year was one where many notable individuals were taking the exam.

So, she had expected it to be a customary letter asking for a favor or extending greetings.

“Hah, truly. What on earth is he thinking?”

Instead, there wasn’t a single line about his own daughter. All it said was that he would send a person and requested her to be hired as a special instructor for the Academy.

Yes. It was a letter asking for a so-called ‘parachute’ appointment. She wanted to question what a Grand Duke was doing acting so undignified, but up to this point, she could exercise maximum patience and endure it.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t received such requests before, and it was a matter that could simply be resolved by refusing.

But the following content was even more outrageous.

“‘You may test him yourself, but as one grows old, even small wounds do not heal easily, so please act wisely…’”

No matter how wide she opened her eyes and reread it, the content did not change.

A phrase that twisted no words and completely hid no intentions, clearly provoking her to anyone who read it.

“Is he insane?”

It had been nearly thirty years since someone had provoked her.

Moreover, for such words to come from a whelp she had met on the battlefield, not even someone unfamiliar with her.

Had he forgotten her because it had been nearly 10 years since he last saw her? Or did he think she would have rusted enough after 10 years?

Beyond being dumbfounded, her head began to heat up, growing slightly warm.

*Thud.*

She took out a cigar from the drawer, clipped it, and wrapped ki around her finger to light it.

*Inhale. Exhale.*

A single, deep drag that burned down nearly half the cigar in one go.

Even so, she couldn’t calm down, and her hands trembled.

Who was she? Based on her achievements in the conquest wars, the previous Emperor had bestowed upon her the surname Lionheart, meaning ‘valiant like a lion,’ and though she considered it a vain epithet, she held a seat among the Empire’s Ten Strongest.

Yet, such a person as herself was being treated like an old foggie who should be recuperating in the back room.

*Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble—*

Even as she tried to suppress it, the ki that involuntarily leaked out vibrated throughout the office.

The chandelier hanging from the ceiling swayed as if it would fall at any moment, and fine cracks appeared across the marble floor.

“I won’t let him off easy…”

Still, since he was sent by the Grand Duke, she wouldn’t take his life, but she intended to take one of his limbs.

Considering the insult inflicted upon her, she probably couldn’t formally protest for just that much.

Even if she tried to protest through indirect channels, she would only hear the nagging she’d heard countless times about taming her fiery temper.

*Knock, knock.*

“What is it?”

“President. The guest sent by Whitefelt has arrived.”

“Hmph…. Tell him to come in immediately.”

She didn’t know what kind of man he was to earn the Grand Duke’s trust and be parachuted in, but he would certainly pay dearly for this futile scheme.

She took a final drag from the remaining cigar, extinguished it by crushing it on the letter, and rose from her seat.

And the moment she saw the man who entered.

She understood everything.

“That son of a b*tch…”

That bastard sent a monster.