novelraw Chapter 164 : Chapter 164
Chapter 164 : Chapter 164
164
"That is right. A problem like this is quite trivial."
Gwen sighed.
"There was the time demons appeared and turned the entire Academy into a wasteland, making classes impossible. There was the time the former Chairman abandoned the school and fled. And there was the time the students nearly died en masse because of a Harpy Queen."
Come to think of it, those things had happened.
Those same students were now revered as heroes who had saved the Kingdom of Namress.
It had only been a year, but the growth of the students was both awe-inspiring and gratifying.
What I could do for these students was......
"Do not sit there looking all proud of yourself! Huh?! The difference in scale may vary, but this is still a serious problem!"
"You just said it was trivial......"
"I was speaking relatively! Huh? The Royal Court dispatched someone to suppress us! Fine! I will grant you that much! But what are we supposed to do about that bast — I mean, that person?"
"I took care of that bastard real good, so do not worry!"
"That is the problem!"
Hati bared his canines in a grin and raised his thumb.
"What are you raising that for!"
"Should I lower it then?"
Hati clenched his fist and turned his thumb downward.
That was even more problematic.
"Stop that!"
Even Gwen screamed in horror.
Chasing away the Royal Court's envoy could be brushed off as an action taken out of ignorance.
But killing the Royal Court's envoy?
That was simply war with the Crown.
It would be no different from a third-rate academy stuck in the countryside staging a full-blown coup against the Royal Court.
"We are neither countryside nor third-rate anymore, so could we not take them on?"
"Hmm. I agree with Big Sister too. If we are the countryside, then the Imperial Capital is also the countryside."
"The Imperial Capital is not even the half of it. If we are a third-rate academy, then every academy in the world is fifth-rate!"
"Ooh. Big Sister, you do know how to crack a joke."
"Everyone, please be quiet...... Your jokes are not funny in the slightest......"
Gwen slumped over her desk, looking as though she had truly reached her limit.
Fortunately, Rozalin and Hati ended their comedy routine and quietly shut their mouths.
Thanks to that, the Chairman slowly recovered her composure.
"Now then. What do we do?"
"Can you not just declare independence?"
"You really do say whatever you want as an outsider......"
"No, I am serious."
It was Sihan.
He continued speaking from his chair in the corner of the room, wearing an expression of genuine bewilderment.
"I think the most meaningless and useless thing in this barbaric medieval age is loyalty to the royal family. The class system too."
"A r-revolutionary!"
"I did come from a world that cried out for pitchforks and revolution. But is that not exactly the situation right now? Demons are appearing, and the world is supposedly ending soon."
All eyes turned to him.
"Humans have always been this way. At the very moment they need to unite the most, they split apart. They denounce and slander the allies they ought to join hands with, rather than the obvious enemy."
His tone was certainly just as playful as Hati's or Rozalin's had been a moment ago.
But was it because he was a 6th-circle mage?
Or was it because he had come from a civilization comparatively more advanced than the world we inhabited?
His voice carried a force that seemed to speak not merely with persuasion, but with absolute truth.
"On top of that, in the middle of all this, they dispatch a knight to oust the lord? A royal court that incompetent is nothing but a liability."
His thinking was always rational, and he measured everything by economic logic.
In a way, he bore a resemblance to Avril, but unlike Avril, he did not chase profit — he chased efficiency.
"The Academy City will only grow larger. Avril himself was planning to turn this place into a fortress city after the demon invasion, was he not? If it is that significant a strategic strongpoint, people from all over will flock here."
As it stood, countless refugees were already pouring into the Academy City.
Most came from the nearby Kingdom of Namress, but word had spread, drawing people from the Empire, the desert, and even those who had served under the Wolf King in the Great Forest.
And of course, there had been no shortage of monsters targeting those travelers along the way.
The Academy City was growing larger by the day, filled with people who had risked their lives to reach it.
"So think about it seriously. Declare independence from a kingdom that will not help you, and if independence is not possible, at least raise your voice. Tell them to stop their nonsense."
***
"......And that is how the discussion concluded."
Lord Murray sighed upon hearing our position.
"How very academy-like."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it is a story drenched in dreams and ideals. Do you honestly think such a plan can work?"
"It would be difficult."
I shrugged.
In the Chairman's office, Sihan had spoken with such condescension that I had not bothered to argue.
But his plan was far too idealistic.
There was nothing wrong with speaking of ideals.
But ideals alone did not drive change.
Change did not happen radically — it happened calmly, in stages.
Because change was always carried out by people.
And people feared sudden change.
"But it is something that will need to be done eventually."
"......You agree with what they said?"
"I believe it is a destination we must arrive at someday."
"I see."
Lord Murray said only that and added nothing more.
I understood.
The people who feared change more than most were those who had already tasted failure.
He was a man who had been consumed by failure, squandering his life away in alcohol.
The changes happening now were radical enough as it was — and now he was being asked to take the lead in breaking away from the Crown to establish a separate autonomous territory.
This was not simply a matter of mustering courage.
"Then why did you come today? If you have no intention of persuading me."
"I can persuade you on matters other than a coup."
For example, letting the self-important Commander Palmer know that this place was beyond his capacity to govern.
"You intend to go after Commander Palmer? And I am to turn a blind eye?"
"That would be too easy a path."
When Commander Palmer had briefly visited last time, I had examined his body thoroughly.
Just from the scars on his armor, I could read what kind of monsters he had fought and how he had dealt with them.
His skill was not bad, but that was the extent of it.
Pan or Bridget could subdue him with ease if either stepped up.
'The fact that Bridget could easily subdue an entire kingdom's Knight Commander is a bit strange in itself, though.'
"What we need is a stronger message than that."
"A message?"
"I mean we need to demonstrate that you, my Lord, are the most qualified person to govern Akarind Academy."
"You want me to fight Palmer and win?"
I nodded.
A path that fell short of outright rebellion but still defied the Crown.
And one that would minimize the Crown's interference going forward.
"Do you believe I can defeat him?"
A faint trace of hope colored Lord Murray's voice.
He probably assumed I was making this proposal because I was confident he could win.
He was only half right.
"As things stand, you cannot."
"......"
"The years you spent away from the sword have been too long."
Those who could easily handle Commander Palmer were limited to Akarind Academy's students.
If Lord Murray fought him, Palmer would win nine times out of ten.
"Nine out of ten. Is that so."
A faint regret passed through the Lord's eyes.
Its depth was considerable.
"It was always that way. He was always one step ahead of me, ever since the old days."
"From what I saw earlier, it seems you have known each other a long time."
They did not seem close, though.
The Lord sighed and fidgeted his fingers in the air several times.
It was a habit he displayed whenever he craved alcohol after quitting.
"He was the most outstanding among our cohort. I was slightly below him, but my skill was not bad either."
Then the transfer order came.
They called it a transfer, but it was exile.
"You can probably tell just by looking, but is he not insufferable?"
"Well, he is rather...... free-spirited."
"That is the kind of man he was. My exile was probably his doing behind the scenes. He has to be the best at everything."
"Was there trouble between you?"
"In our last monster extermination campaign, I performed slightly better than him. It was the first time."
An ordinary person would have laughed it off, chalking it up to luck or a bad day.
But Palmer did not tolerate even that single result.
It was a familiar type.
I had encountered this kind of person my entire life, from the Imperial Royal Academy onward, to the point of exhaustion.
So I knew exactly how to handle them.
People like this could not stand having their pride trampled.
"Cassian, surely you are not?"
At that moment, Lord Murray's eyes went wide, as though something had dawned on him.
"......Cassian, I ask just in case — you are not dreaming of some happy ending where I win and everything wraps up beautifully, are you?"
"Of course not."
I told you, did I not?
I had seen many people of that type.
Most of them became ugly when their pride crumbled.
They would do everything in their power to tear down their opponent, to surpass them.
And in the process, many revealed their basest nature.
It was that basest nature I wanted.
"It will serve as justification."
What would happen to Palmer after such a defeat?
Would he return to the Royal Castle and report that Lord Murray's skills were exceptional, so they could rest easy leaving things in his hands?
Or would he fly into a rage, resorting to underhanded schemes and storming back in defiance of the royal decree?
And if he did come storming back.
"Our era changed drastically the moment demons began invading."
When the tidal wave of an external enemy was crashing in, one could not simply stand on the beach picking up seashells.
If someone feared change, all one had to do was give them a push.
Having heard my full plan, the Lord narrowed his eyes.
"I have heard the rumors. They say you employ strategies as cunning as a demon's. Indeed......"
"Pardon?"
Who was spreading such absurd rumors?
But before my indignation could be addressed, Lord Murray clicked his tongue.
"Well then, hurry up and teach me."
"Pardon?"
"You said I would lose nine times out of ten. You came here to teach me that one remaining chance, did you not? Surely, after planning everything out to this degree, you are not going to tell me to just train on my own or some such nonsense."
He grinned as brazenly as if he had already entrusted his training to me.
I smiled back at him, silently apologizing for the path of hardship that lay ahead.
***
Palmer did not return to Belmain Royal Castle.
That was only natural.
He was the envoy bearing the King's decree and the lord appointed to govern this territory.
Was he supposed to scurry back to the Royal Castle with his tail between his legs just because some mercenaries had thrown him out once?
There was no behavior more disgraceful than that.
Or so he believed.
"This place is under my capable governance."
At least until Murray suddenly appeared and provoked him.
"I refuse to hand over this territory to some l-loser who cannot even hunt monsters as well as I can."
Lord Murray recited, in a halting stammer, a sentence that Rozalin had painstakingly crafted for him.
The delivery was painfully awkward and sounded like he was reading aloud from a book.
But.
"What?! How dare a mere frontier lord governing some backwater third-rate academy say such things to me, Knight Commander Palmer?! Huh?!"
The effect was tremendous.