novelraw Chapter 81 : Enrollment (2)
Chapter 81 : Enrollment (2)
Enrollment (2)
The enrollment process for the academy wasn't all that special.
Roughly, the principal and other high-ranking figures would give speeches, and a student representative would go up on stage to take an oath.
It was very similar to the entrance ceremonies Louis had experienced in his original world.
The only difference was that at this entrance ceremony, a social party for new students was being held simultaneously.
Since it was a school attended by all sorts of nobles, such banquets were a mandatory rite of passage.
'This is the country's highest educational institution. It'd be weirder if it didn't have things like this.'
And, even though the ceremony hadn't even started, that atmosphere was already thick in the air.
The ceremony and party were all scheduled to be held in the same venue.
Inside the banquet hall where all the new students had gathered, everything was already set up for the event.
'The magitech device for disguise is working fine.'
Louis checked the condition of the golden bracelet tied to his right arm.
It was a top-class magitech device improved by Dean Ferus. The moment you wore it, it allowed you to have a different appearance than usual.
Louis, whose hair was usually black close to ashen, now had blue hair.
His eye color was also completely different—orange—so he could fully disguise himself.
For the past four years, Louis had traveled here and there as a member of the special task force.
There were more than a few rebellion groups and corrupt nobles he'd taken down, so his name was infamous among the nobles.
However, no one knew his real face. This was all thanks to the magitech device.
'But what is she doing over there?'
While most of the students were already mingling, Rio was standing awkwardly at the very center, her face tense and rigid.
"Why are you just standing there?"
Louis approached Rio with a puzzled expression. Rio, as if petrified by some magic, replied to him.
"Young master... what is this place? All we do is stand, but just being here makes it hard to move."
Was she really under some kind of status ailment magic? But her words were only a metaphor.
In truth, she just couldn't adapt to this unfamiliar atmosphere. To put it simply, she was just nervous.
"Is this your first time in a place like this?"
"Yeah. I've never been anywhere like this. I don't even understand why I'm here."
Rio couldn't help but react this way. She had nothing to do with nobles, nor did she have any experience with formal schooling.
On top of that, she had spent her childhood in the 7th Legion, a place of blood and slaughter instead of academic pursuits and refinement.
Having grown up marinated in that environment, her values were inevitably different from others.
An environment where only the strong survive. A place where the idea "kill or be killed" is ingrained as the natural order.
For someone steeped in such surroundings, this sort of atmosphere was like something out of a dream.
"But I don't need a disguise like yours, young master?"
"You're not really famous like I am."
There was simply no need for Rio to be in disguise—she wasn't known on the outside.
Louis was the only one who had ever moved about so openly.
"Can't I just wear a disguise too?"
When Louis asked why, Rio turned pale and said,
"This place is too scary for me...!"
She was actually trembling. Even when she first put on her uniform, she'd seemed uneasy.
She couldn't wear such fancy clothes without the help of maids.
She'd gotten used to it by now, but that was just the beginning.
"Is this a new demon realm or something?"
"It's not."
Now she was even imagining ridiculous scenarios. Where would you ever find a demon realm so elegant and clean as this?
"This really is just an ordinary place, not the demon realm, so relax."
"That's even weirder. Why aren't those people drawing their swords and instead are clinking their cups together?"
In Rio's eyes, she saw students socializing and sharing drinks.
Beyond that, there were the foods laid out, the people laughing and chatting, even the religious atmosphere created by those from the holy church.
It was all in stark contrast to the 7th Legion. Unable to adapt, Rio's stomach ached from the stress.
"Young master... I need to go to the bathroom for a minute...."
"Go ahead."
Luckily, the bathroom was right nearby.
She probably didn't even have anything in her stomach to drain out, but regardless, Rio disappeared into the restroom—only to emerge about ten seconds later.
"Why are you back so soon?"
"The bathroom's weird too!"
What was he supposed to do about that?
Louis could only sigh at how completely Rio failed to adapt.
Honestly, for someone used to blood like Rio, this place was a total unknown.
Normally, a hothouse flower thrown onto a bloody battlefield would wet his pants in minutes.
Rio was the exact opposite—a monster raised in the shadows, now suffering under sunshine for the first time.
"Sorry, young master. I'll just wet my pants here."
"Are you actually going to do that?"
"Yeah. I've done it a few times where you couldn't see me, so I'll be fine."
Look at that—she said she'd wet her pants in public with zero embarrassment.
This said a lot about how twisted her social skills were.
"But how long do you plan to stay in this scary place, young master? Will you leave right after you capture the Crown Prince?"
Their infiltration's goal was nothing less than the capture of the Crown Prince and his courtiers.
It was something His Majesty wanted, and Louis had his own business with the Crown Prince.
He wanted to know the reason behind his contract with the Great Devil.
"Of course I'll leave as soon as he's caught. That's the official objective."
Once Louis achieved his goal, he had no reason to stay. There was no sense wasting time in such a place.
"But I have another purpose, too."
"Something else?"
"This place overflows with knowledge, just like Zodiac. Maybe I'll find a clue here to control my strength, too."
It wasn't just a random guess. Louis remembered the game he had enjoyed in his previous life.
When playable characters reached a certain level, they changed classes, and the location varied by class.
For the mage's "Priest" track and the warrior's "Holy Knight" track, the advancement happened at this academy.
Of course, the exact story was never depicted.
But the condition for advancement was to fully accept the holy energy sleeping within this academy.
The source of this power was the strength of Laias, the hero of old.
The place where the hero who once fought the Chaos Dragon rested.
There was no way there wouldn't be information about the Chaos Dragon here.
"Besides finding them, I have something I have to do. I'll probably stay until then."
"Then I'll...."
"You don't have to stay that long if you don't want to. You're already struggling to adapt here."
"......"
Realizing she couldn't argue, Rio fell silent.
"And while we're here, don't call me 'young master'. Call me 'older brother'. We're supposed to be siblings in status."
"Okay, young ma—older brother."
As Rio changed her term of address, Louis looked satisfied.
Rio turned away in embarrassment, even though it was only nominal.
'Now that I think about it, wasn't there a prophecy about the appearance of a Saint and a Hero here?'
Just like the Hero of prophecy, there was also a prophecy regarding the Saint.
Both were playable characters, and both had been Louis's teammates in the past.
'They both died, though.'
Unfortunately, that prophecy would never be fulfilled.
The people destined to save this world were dead, and no one could guess what might happen next.
The prophesied Heroes were dead, while the potential Demon King had survived.
"Young ma... older brother! Don't leave me alone!"
Amazingly, it was that very Demon King who was now clinging tearfully to Louis.
Louis was merely reaching for food, but even that made Rio nervous.
"Eek!"
Now even the slightest brush with another student scared her.
Was this really the same girl who used to cut down monsters and humans alike without hesitation?
Was this really the one meant to become the Demon King? Louis couldn't help but be puzzled by the sense of disconnect.
"Ah!"
In her haste to rush towards Louis, Rio ended up colliding with another student.
The student, of all things, was holding a drink, which spilled onto his pants from the impact.
"Ah...."
As Rio gawked absently, the student stood up and shouted,
"What do you think you're doing?"
"......"
He was justifiably angry.
The hall wasn't crowded—it would take real carelessness to bump into someone here, enough to make it seem almost intentional.
"Why aren't you answering me!"
"I, um...."
Pressed by the student's intimidation, Rio fidgeted with her words.
All eyes suddenly locked onto the scene. Then, reflexively, Rio spoke up.
"Why did you pee your pants?"
A hush fell for about five seconds after that line.
Neither the watching students nor even Louis could say a word.
"You don't have to be so embarrassed. You won't die from something like that."
Only when Rio spoke again did the silence break, replaced by laughter and whispers from the other students.
"You little...!"
Of course, the student whose pants had been spilled on was furious.
"Is that something to say right now?"
His face turned red and blue as he berated Rio. Anyone would have flared up in such a moment.
"But did I say anything wrong?"
"What?"
"Oh, if it's the smell that bothers you, don't worry. You can just change."
Despite the student's bloodshot eyes, Rio continued.
"If you're embarrassed, I can do it too. It's not that big a deal."
With that, Rio grabbed her skirt. Huh? Why was she holding it? The moment Louis wondered that, he moved at lightning speed.
"Hey, you crazy brat!"
In the split second—0.01 seconds—before Rio could lower her skirt, Louis intervened and smacked her on the head.
"Ow!"
"Are you out of your mind?"
When Louis threatened her as well, Rio again looked as if she might cry, unable to comprehend what she'd done wrong.
"Older Brother, why are you being like this..."
Almost calling him 'young master' before correcting herself to 'older brother', Rio watched as Louis scolded her fiercely.
"If you run into someone, at least apologize."
Rio replied, perplexed,
"Isn't it the person standing in the way who's at fault?"
In the 7th Legion, the collided-with was always at fault.
Lives were short for those who didn't understand this.
"And besides, I wasn't the one who peed, but that person...."
"That wasn't pee!"
Louis knew she lacked social skills, but hadn't imagined it was this bad.
He'd completely underestimated how 'broken' Rio really was. Such were the issues with 'evil route' characters.
"Sorry! She's just clueless about everything...."
The student, narrowing his eyes at Louis's apology, retorted,
"How did someone so clueless get into this academy?"
"......"
From the entrance ceremony, things were tangled. Louis sighed deeply at Rio's surprising lack of sense.
"I'll remember your faces."
The student, who seemed about to make an even bigger scene, instead chose to leave.
But in his eyes, a clear hostility had taken root.
Before long, the official entrance ceremony commenced.
As expected, the procedures were as Louis had heard—a series of speeches from the academy's upper echelons.
Then came the student representative's oath.
When the representative ascended the stage, Louis grimaced. It was the very student Rio had bumped into earlier.
"Oh? The pants-wetter."
As Rio muttered next to him, Louis felt a headache coming on.
Throughout the oath, the representative shot looks at them that could kill.
To be in that spot, he had to be a capable man from a powerful family.
'He just got his pants wet, so why is she calling him a pants-wetter?!'
Louis's worries piled up like mountains thanks to Rio.
He began to suspect it would be bad for her to stay here long, but there was no need to send her off just yet.
After all, as long as he could quickly identify the Crown Prince before Rio caused any more trouble, that would be enough.
With that in mind, Louis pushed all his senses to the limit to find the Crown Prince as quickly as possible.