chapter_0012

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
12

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
12

I had been thinking that I
needed at least one knight to follow my orders.

There were various reasons for
this, but above all, I needed a knight to secretly accompany me to
find Ruel’s trial in Evans Dungeon.

Think about it. Despite how I
might seem, I am still a Noble Lady. Even if I somehow managed to
enter the dungeon, do you think people would leave me alone?

Of course not!

There would always be soldiers
and knights sticking close to me, serving as my guards.

No matter how much of a fuss I
made, I wouldn’t be able to be alone.

This is a matter of safety,
after all.

They would rather deal with my
tantrums than face Benedict’s wrath.

Couldn’t I just claim it was
a coincidence and force my way in where everyone could see?

Impossible.

The location hiding Ruel’s
trial is a secluded spot that you’d only visit intentionally.

Even if I stubbornly forced my
way there, would anyone believe that I just happened to stumble into
Ruel’s trial?

Anyone with half a brain
wouldn’t believe that.

This is where Karl comes in.

With his high reputation and
the trust he has from others, if he were by my side, I’d have a
considerable amount of freedom to move around.

Moreover, regarding Ruel’s
trial, if I could just get this Sloppy Knight to agree with me, I
could explain everything convincingly.

“Knight Commander. Excuse
me, but could I speak with Miss Lucy privately for a moment?”

While I was cheering inwardly
at my unexpected stroke of luck, Karl spoke to Possell.

“It will only take a
moment.”

“…If Miss Lucy allows
it, I’ll step out.”

“Miss.”

Huh? What’s this about all of
a sudden? He wants to talk privately?

Great! I needed to ask you for
a secret favour too!

‘Commander. Could you step
outside for a moment?’

“Foolish Possell. Just
wait outside.”

“Understood, miss. I’ll
be waiting outside then.”

After hearing Possell’s
footsteps fade away, I asked Karl,

‘Knight, what do you want to
say?’

“Sloppy Knight, have
something to ask?”

“Miss, do you happen to
have a blessing?”

A blessing.

It’s what NPCs at Soul Academy
call a skill. While we understand skills through the game’s system,
the characters in the game perceive them differently.

They don’t know the concept of
skills and instead consider them blessings from the gods.

“I want to know whether
the fact that I tried to harm you yesterday was simply due to my own
inadequacy or if some other force was at play.”

Karl’s voice was mixed with
tension and self-reproach. For my part, I didn’t think much of it,
but Karl was different. He believed the act he committed was a grave
sin.

“I understand it’s a huge
impertinence to ask what blessings you possess. I also know how
disgraceful it is for a beast who tried to kill you to make such a
request. But please, just this once. Just tell me this once. I will
believe whatever answer you give!”

That’s why Karl was hoping.

He hoped that his mistake
wasn’t entirely his fault.

He wished there was some other
excuse he could cling onto.

He wanted a justification for
his wrongdoing.

Seeing Karl bow his head to
the stone floor of the prison, I unknowingly took a step back.

I felt overwhelmed by Karl’s
determination, as if he might offer his life if he found out the deed
was entirely his fault.

“Please!”

It wasn’t hard to tell him
about my skills.

I don’t know how the people
in this game perceive it, but to me, skills were just skills.

They weren’t something
special; merely tools to gain and discard based on their utility.

So, I had no qualms about
sharing it with others.

Moreover, if I didn’t say
anything now, I felt like he might actually kill himself.

While I decided to tell him, I
was still frustrated about him almost harming me, so I couldn’t do it
for free.

I had to get something out of
this for sure.

This was a deal in my favour.
I was the one in control, and the other party was at a disadvantage.

In these situations, it’s best
to start by demanding something outrageous and then gradually reduce
it over time.

What I really wanted was just
some cooperation in Evans’ Dungeon, but there was no harm in getting
more, right?

So first… yes.

‘Alright, Karl. But there’s
a condition.’

“Alright, Sloppy Knight.
I’ll tell you. But there’s a condition.”

“What is it? I’ll do
anything I can.”

“You must swear to the God
of Oath to become my loyal knight.”

Karl froze at my words.

He probably never expected me
to make such a demand.

Swearing to the God of Oath at
the Soul Academy means pledging your past, present, and future to
keep the oath.

If you break this oath, the
Oath Mark that gets engraved on your body will turn black.

That’s all there is to it.
Nothing more.

Characters in the game would
talk about having their souls tainted or being dragged to hell for
eternity, but in reality, there were no significant penalties.

At most, your reputation might
take a hit.

That’s how it was from a
player’s perspective, but for Karl, who actually lived in this
world, it would be different. Because breaking an oath is considered
a great dishonour.

Could Karl endure this
dishonour, given his knightly honour that would cause him to agonise
throughout the night?

Probably not. So, to Karl, my
proposal would sound like this:

Live as my loyal slave for
life.

No sensible person would
accept such an offer.

So, I waited in silence for
Karl to inevitably reject the proposal so I could present a different
one.

“Alright. I will.”

But the answer that came from
Karl was different from what I expected.

‘What?’

“What?”

“I will swear to the God
of Oath.”

No way. Huh? Is he being
serious?

There’s no way that someone
who has lived in this world all their life wouldn’t understand the
meaning of an oath!

Karl, who had been kneeling on
the floor, stood up in front of me. Then, he bit his thumb and used
the blood to draw a mark on the back of his hand.

‘Wait a minute!’

“Hey. Wait! Sloppy
Knight! Stop!”

No. Damn.

I can’t get inside because of
these iron bars.

‘I’ll just tell you! So
please stop!’

“I’ll tell you. Isn’t
that enough? So, stop!”

Should I call Possell? As the
Knight Commander, Possell would have the means to open this prison.

Yeah. Let’s go get Possell.
As I urgently tried to move, Karl’s voice came out.

“Oh, Saitrasi, the God of
Oath. I stand here as a knight.”

Karl’s usually gentle voice
was filled with strength.

His magically infused voice
held me in place.

Damn it! How can his magical
density be this high?!

I can’t move!

“I will confine the days of
my past spent walking the path to becoming a knight within this
boundary.

I will confine my present life
as a knight within this boundary.

I will confine my future life
for my dreams within this boundary.”

Struggling to escape his
magical grip, I soon realised it was impossible and watched Karl make
his oath.

I etched the sight of him
pledging his life deeply into my memory.

Ha. Damn it. Fine. Do whatever
you want. You’re the one who’ll end up in trouble, not me.

“Oh, great Saitrasi. Within
this boundary lies everything about me, a single person. So, I swear
here. From now on, I will live as the devoted knight of Young Lady
Lucy Allen.”

After finishing his
declaration, Karl swept his hand over the mark drawn on the back of
his hand. As he did, the back of his hand began to glow, and the Oath
Circle was engraved onto it.

Once the series of events
ended and I regained control over my body, I stared at Karl’s hand
before looking up and shouting sincerely.

“Karl, did you go crazy
after getting hit by my father?!”

“You told me to do it, my
lady.”

“Who in their right mind
actually swears an oath when they’re told to?! You sloppy, trashy
idiot!”

Fine, I did tell him to.

But swearing to the God of
Oath isn’t something to be taken lightly, you insane fool.

Why are you looking at me like
that, as if what you did wasn’t insane?

Ugh, this is infuriating.
Really.

“Since I was saved by your
mercy, it is only right that I devote my remaining life to you, my
lady. I always intended to do so and I’ve now made an oath proving
that.”

He spoke so nonchalantly that,
for a moment, I wondered if I had misunderstood something.

So, I recalled various side
quests from Soul Academy.

The conclusion I reached was
this:

I wasn’t the one who was
wrong. The only thing twisted and crazy was this guy’s head.

Benedict, just how hard did
you hit him?

How hard do you have to hit
someone to mess them up this badly?!

“Now, will you tell me?”

After witnessing his oath, I
couldn’t refuse to listen to what he had to say.

‘Yes, I…’

“Yes, I possess a blessing
that provokes others.”

“Then the reason I couldn’t
control my emotions…”

‘Must be because of the
blessing.’

“Yes, it must be because of
the blessing.”

“I see. So, I was right.”

Watching Karl murmur to
himself in relief gave me a headache.

Was it really worth making an
oath over just that?

I can’t understand you at
all. Seriously.

Even the Lucy from before I
possessed her was a major lunatic, but you might just be on par with
her.

‘Are you satisfied now?’

“Sloppy knight, are you
satisfied knowing you’re not insane?”

“Yes, thank you, Miss. I
look forward to your continued guidance.”

Watching Karl bow politely, a
flood of thoughts filled my head.

If I only considered the
results, I now had a skilled knight who would follow my words for
life. So why did it feel so unsettling?

Sigh.
I don’t know anymore.

Although Karl had sworn to
become my loyal knight that day, his temporary detention wasn’t
over yet.

Karl would have to stay in
prison until just before the expedition.

That meant I needed to find
another knight to spar with me.

Ruel’s trial was something I
had to face alone. No matter how capable Karl was, if I neglected my
preparations, I would fail. So, I couldn’t afford to slack off,
even for a moment.

I asked Possell to find
someone who could help me, and he enthusiastically replied, “If
it’s that, I will help you myself!”

The Knight Commander’s offer
to personally train me and help me gain experience was certainly
generous, but for some reason, it made me uneasy.

Think about it. Why did Karl,
a knight of the Allen Family, work me so hard the first day?
Obviously, it was because he was trained that way himself.

So, who was the person who
trained Karl like that?

It was definitely this Knight
Commander who was now offering to help me.

I was certain that training
with him would be beyond my imagination in terms of intensity. So,
trying to decline, I told Possell that he must have many tasks to
attend to and asked if he could assign someone else, but Possell was
adamant.

“It’s alright! For Miss,
I would give my all! I can grind you down as much as needed!”

Unlike my father Benedict, who
could be swayed easily due to being a doting dad, or others who could
be overpowered by my status as a count’s daughter, Knight Commander
Possell was someone who could ignore my wishes.

Having secured himself as my
sparring partner, Possell enthusiastically exclaimed, “Miss!
That was excellent how you used your shield to block and then pushed
to create an opening! Let’s try that again!”

He proceeded to put me through
an exhaustive training regime (Hellish Bootcamp) that made me feel
like I might lose my mind.

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