episode_0040

“Why are you so dead? Where is it uncomfortable?”

“No… it’s nothing… Haha…”

“Really? I understand.”

Sitting on a soft chair, I look out the window as things change rapidly, and answer Ariel’s words with a forced smile.

‘ha. why me…’

I fixed my gaze outside the window as if avoiding Ariel’s gaze, which was staring at me as if observing me. The reason why I am shaking in a wobbly carriage.

That’s because Ariel and I were currently heading to Sunset Academy.

What is Sunset Academy? The most outstanding and sophisticated educational center in the entire empire. The best educational institution, envied by all nobles and even commoners.

Just because you are a Sunset Academy graduate, you can be treated well anywhere on the continent. It is an academy of such stature.

And the current me. I, an ordinary person, not a noble or anything else, was following Ariel towards the best educational institution.

The incident happened yesterday evening. Before Ariel left, I was confused by the command to ‘prepare for tomorrow’, but I went to see Everton, the head of the house, to find out the meaning of the words.

“Ah, Mr. Venice. Starting tomorrow, you will follow Miss Ariel to Sunset Academy.”

When I visited Everton and told them the situation, they gave me a simple answer as if I was going to visit their house.

“…..Yes?!”

of course. When I heard the shocking news that I had to head to school again, I stopped in place and stayed still for over 30 seconds.

school. I really hated that space. What is the fun part about going to school?

The satisfaction of cultivating knowledge, ordinary life with new friends, delicious meals, etc. If you look, there will be many reasons.

However, all those reasons did not apply to me.

Cultivating knowledge? You can do that without having to go to school. And why should I gain knowledge?

Make new friends. This was just next to impossible for me, who had a very narrow personal relationship. At least I was hanging out with friends I had known from the beginning.

Delicious meal? The lunches at our school were extremely tasteless.

If you look further, there will be countless reasons… Anyway, I hated the space called school.

Maybe that’s why, as soon as I heard that I was going to a space similar to, or rather the same as, a school called Academy, I had a reaction of rejection like a cat that has been hit by water.

“Haaaa….”

But, of course, I had no choice. If I had refused Ariel’s command, she would have quietly looked at me with those eerie eyes.

And, ‘Don’t worry, you are going to the academy as a user, not learning.’ That’s what Everton’s head coach said…

If all I wanted to do was go to school, I could have made a hundred concessions and gone. Even if I hadn’t made any concessions, I would have had to go, but anyway.

“…………”

“Cough, Clock.”

That was the reason why I hurriedly got ready from the day before until early morning and quietly admired the view out the window in this crazy awkward carriage.

‘Okay… I heard it won’t take long, so let’s just be patient.’

The carriage I am riding now is a carriage that can run faster than a horse without a horse, using some new technology. I think it would be easier to understand it as a car. The ride comfort was similar.

Did you say that an expert in some workshop discovered a method using magic stones? It’s probably a technique that uses that.

Maybe that’s why this carriage was several times faster than the carriage I rode during my time as a Scar mercenary. Being able to use a carriage like this is probably thanks to Ariel’s family.

“Clog…Clog.”

“Miss Ariel. Did you catch a cold?”

“…Collock. huh. I think so.”

Ariel had been coughing continuously since earlier, and now she looked somewhat tired. He must have caught a cold because of the extremely cold weather.

Ariel must have grown up in the cold North all her life, but she sometimes catches colds.

“Lady, cover yourself with this clothes.”

“…………”

“Come on. My arm hurts.”

“….Thank you.”

When I gave her the coat I was wearing and made a joke, Ariel reluctantly took it and put it on top of her coat.

“Call….Call.”

So I looked out the window in the quiet silence, listening to the occasional coughing sound.

As I watched the new scenery passing by, time passed quickly and I could hear the driver’s call that we had arrived at the academy.

***

“Wow…….”

As I opened the carriage door, an indescribably gigantic building appeared before my eyes.

It seems to be much larger than landmarks around the world, and all colors harmonize beautifully with the white background.

This is the best academy on the continent.

Feeling overwhelmed for the first time in my life, my mouth widened and I stared blankly at the academy building.

“What are you doing? Let’s go in.”

“Ah, yes.”

With Ariel’s voice awakening my spirit, I hurriedly walked towards the main gate of the academy, following Ariel ahead of me.

“Stop. Please stop.”

When we reached the majestic gate of the huge castle wall, what stopped us were guards with steel armor and iron spears.

The mana felt from them and their seemingly well-trained bodies made it possible to know that they were unusually strong.

“Please show your badge to prove that you are an academy cadet.”

“Stay here. And this is my butler.”

“Excuse me.”

Ariel took out something similar to a card from her pocket and handed it to the guard, who held the card against a glass bead that looked like a terminal.

Beep beep-

-Academy cadet. Ariel Frost. welcome.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Then, please come in.”

“Yes. thanks for your effort. Let’s go, Venice.”

As soon as he confirmed the dry female voice echoing through the glass beads, the guard bowed his head and moved out of the way.

I followed Ariel, passed the guards, passed through the huge door, and finally headed into the interior of Sunset Academy.

“….huh.”

As I crossed the well-maintained small garden and headed toward the lobby to see the interior, I was literally overwhelmed.

The interior is so huge that you can’t see the end. A height that seems to be higher than several dozen floors of an apartment building.

The interior of Sunset Academy is more dazzling and beautifully decorated than the gorgeous exterior.

Every road along the way was decorated with red carpets and wonderful portraits and paintings, and each piece of furniture looked like it was worth dozens of gold coins.

Literally, it is worthy of being called an educational institution representing the empire.

I don’t know many landmarks on Earth, but wouldn’t they be more outstanding, sophisticated, and beautiful than any other space or building? That was the extent to which I could think of it.

When I lowered my head and looked around, I saw that everyone passing by was wearing white uniform-like clothes. It’s probably this academy’s cadet uniform.

But when I looked closely, I saw that everyone passing by, those who were talking, and those who seemed uninterested in anything were all focused on one place.

The main character I found where I followed those gazes was…

“….Me?!”

Well, of course not. Why would you give attention to an ordinary person like me?

-hey. Isn’t that Ariel?

-Wow, is it true? How many months have you been here? No, what year is it?

-Amazing, Great…! I can’t believe I got to see Ariel in person…!

-…But who is next to him? He’s kind of handsome, huh?

Naturally, the gazes were directed at Ariel, not at me. All of those who appeared to be cadets were looking at Ariel and mumbling, admiring, or even appearing to be moved although the reasons were unknown.

“Hmm. Lady Ariel Frost. As for me, my name is Khan Bent. He is the first son of the Vent territory that is rising these days!”

At that time, us. No, there was a man approaching Ariel. He had shiny, orange hair, and was a rather handsome young man. It seems a bit pretentious, though.

“………….”

Ariel gave her a brief glance as if watching a fly fly, then tried to ignore it and pass by, but a man who introduced himself as Carl Bent blocked her path.

The veins appeared on Ariel’s fair forehead, and she moved her lips slightly, but it seemed that Carl Bent wasn’t like that, so she continued to talk.

“Oh, Lady Ariel Frost! I’ve heard a lot about you! It’s the most beautiful flower on the continent..!”

…Wow. What kind of comment is that? I’m about to get all cocky.

As if he were the male lead in a play, he placed one arm on his chest and pointed to the sky with the other arm. Carl Bent looks at the sky with an expression filled with melancholy.

“Daughter Ariel Frost, please give me a moment-”

“I’m not interested. Okay then. Venice, let’s go.”

“…No, it only takes a moment! So…!”

“Get out of my way.”

Now it was Ariel who openly showed her disdain. I ignored him and was headed somewhere by Ariel, who was passing by, but… I felt something sinister coming from behind.

“Is it because of that insignificant guy-!”

“Uh….huh?!”

At that time, I suddenly felt like my body was being pulled backwards. It wasn’t just a feeling, it was a fact. Because Carl Bent grabbed my body backwards and threw me with an angry look on his face.

I couldn’t resist and fell.

“Ouch…”

“Take a good look. Rather than this guy who has nothing, I-!”

“……Now. What are you doing?”

Carl Bent, who had raised his foot as if he was going to kick me, froze when he heard Ariel’s voice sounding more subdued than ever.

“Eh…ehhh Lady Ariel…?”

“Don’t call my name with that dirty mouth.”

Mana begins to gather around Ariel, and soon it shakes like a storm. Due to the overwhelming flow of mana, the space itself seems to be weighted.

Carl Bent could not withstand the torrent of mana and could only occasionally take deep, weak breaths.

“Carl Bent. I’ll remember it. And don’t ever appear in front of me again.”

Growling-

Carl Bent could not bear the more concentrated mana and soon revealed his white face and passed out with crab foam in his mouth.

“Venice. Are you okay?”

“Yes…yes… thank you. Miss Ariel.”

“Thank you.”

I grabbed the hand that Ariel gave me and stood up. I felt like I was shaking a little because of the death and mana that Ariel had just released… but I think I’m getting used to it now.

“We… where are we going from now on?”

“My room.”

“….Ah.”

As soon as I heard those words spoken as if they were obvious, I looked around. Sure enough, many of the cadets who came to see Ariel started whispering.

-A young lady and a man in the same room…?

-What on earth..?

-…hmm. It seems like a good match.

-…it’s a shame. If it weren’t for Ariel, I would have snatched her.

I didn’t know what they were muttering, but it seemed like they were mostly talking about me and Ariel.

“…Ha.”

The murmurs of the cadets grew even louder as they noticed Ariel’s expression, which seemed to have heard something, but was smiling with satisfaction and then with a mocking smile.

“……Haa..”

A sigh comes out naturally. I feel like I’ve become the subject of rumors even though I haven’t done anything.

I’ve been feeling this for a while, but even though Ariel is a daughter, she doesn’t seem to be aware of these things.

please. I followed Ariel, desperately praying that false rumors would not spread.