Chapter 93: She Should Be Here By Now
The day the imperial investigation team that had caused a commotion at the academy left, the strange incident that had occurred in St Aimar’s Hall was slowly buried, removed from everyone’s interest due to the lack of clues.
“Even the Imperial Investigation Team didn’t find anything?”
“So you’re saying that it was a natural phenomenon?”
“I’m not sure, but I heard somewhere that old undead often go berserk when they die.”
The fact that the investigation team arrived but found nothing led to speculation that there must have been a good reason for it. The theory that the undead Saint Aimar went berserk, wreaked havoc in the hall, and was destroyed gained ground. This rationale gained more certainty since no traces of an intruder were found.
It was a bit disappointing for some students, who were expecting something exciting to happen at the academy, but most were breathing sighs of relief that nothing big had happened like they had worried about.
As was the way of things, the truth was not always revealed.
“Your Highness, we will depart now.”
“Oh, Sir Ornette. Certainly.”
The investigation team left the academy. Fortunately, the expressions on the faces of the investigation team heading to the imperial palace weren’t dark.
Delphione said to Prince Edward, who was walking beside him, “I will prepare the report and submit it to Your Highness.”
“Do so. I am afraid that His Majesty will be disappointed,” Prince Edward mused.
“I think it’ll be fine. We found no signs of intrusion, and we didn’t find anything unusual internally…”
“Hmm.”
“Above all, didn’t Your Highness reap a great harvest?”
At those words, Prince Edward smiled and raised his hand. “I wonder how His Majesty will react.”
“Honestly, I still can’t believe that Your Highness’ hands were healed. All of the renowned priests and even mages and sorcerers in the continent couldn’t solve it…” Delphione clicked his tongue.
Delphione was someone who had seen all of the efforts the emperor and the imperial family had made to heal Prince Edward’s hands. That was all the more reason why he couldn’t believe that a boy of only fourteen had healed Prince Edward’s hands.
“I still can’t believe it. Honestly, I still feel like I’m dreaming. I feel like when I open my eyes, I’ll still have those trembling hands.”
Delphione smiled at Prince Edward’s words and reassured him, “This is the harsh reality, Your Highness.”
“Really? Then would you hit me?”
“Y-your Highness?”
“It’s a joke.” Prince Edward looked at the flustered Delphione and smirked.
Delphione soon counterattacked quietly, “To be honest, at first… I was worried that there might be something wrong with Your Highness.”
“Is this revenge for just now?”
“Haha. I’m just kidding. Anyway, this is a great thing. Now Your Highness can do whatever it is you want without any worries.”
Edward nodded. There were so many things he wanted to do right away.
“First, I want to eat comfortably with one hand, and then I want to shower without anyone’s help. Then, I want to write a letter to His Majesty without straining myself.”
They were all very simple wishes.
“Oh, I want to climb up the spire, too. I was secretly jealous. You know, holding onto the ladder and climbing up. Now I can go up without using the elevator.”
The unexpected wishes continued.
“I want to try growing flowers in the Orthenion Garden and shake hands vigorously with the soldiers guarding my palace. Also…”
Delphione smiled happily. How long had it been since he saw Prince Edward looking so happy?
Then, Delphione was startled by the prince’s sudden declaration.
“And I want to quickly surpass my brothers.”
The Third Prince.
The public opinion was that he was furthest removed from imperial power compared with the First and Second Princes and that he couldn’t even function normally as a human being. The prince who had lived such a life was now making a pledge.
“It’s a little late, but since I’m a prince, I should at least have this level of ambition.”
It was a ridiculous ambition. But why was it…
‘Your Highness…’
Strangely enough, it didn’t sound like complete nonsense.
Delphione also responded with a pledge of his own. “I will help you, Your Highness. If you have any questions about the sword, simply ask and I shall do my utmost to help, day or night.”
“Yes. I will have to see if I have talent with a sword… Even if I don’t, I have to swing one at least once. Please take good care of me, Sir Ornette.”
Edward then thought of Dane, the amazing boy who healed his hands. And…
The first ‘friend’ he had made.
“As expected, the imperial seal alone is not enough.”
“Sire?”
“Sir Ornette. I’m planning to visit the Academy again soon. Could you help me with that? I’m having trouble figuring out how and when to do so.”
Delphione’s eyes widened. “The Academy? Oh, if you want to do a re-investigation…”
“No, that’s not it.” Edward smiled expectantly. “I want to meet with some of my friends.”
* * *
The prince was gone, and our club was back together again. This time, it wasn’t in the Forest of Bonia but in our club room, Room 506.
“We really met the prince…right?” Ernest looked at the imperial seal the prince had given him as a gift, his expression blank in disbelief.
The same went for Leila. “…What the heck has been going on since I entered the academy?”
I had some doubts about that, too. I didn’t know things would end up with this dynamic. Really, though, it was still too early to be surprised.
“He said he’ll come visit soon.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. He said he was going to come secretly.”
“Oh my God…” Leila muttered. “It’s a good thing that members of the imperial family can’t enroll in the academy. I’m still shaking…”
“I almost fainted back then.”
It seemed that the two of them found interacting with Prince Edward very difficult.
“How can you be so calm?”
Of course, the same didn’t apply to me.
“It’s just… He’s human, too,” I said.
“Yes, he is. But he’s not an ordinary person, is he?”
I’d been through a lot on the battlefield. I’d even had a go pick a fight with a troublemaking noble, so this was nothing. Of course, it was my first time meeting a member of the imperial family, so I was a little nervous.
“Haah. Anyway, really… I feel like all sorts of things have happened since I met you, Dane,” Leila stated.
“That’s right. I thought I would study moderately and do some exploring once I entered the academy…” Ernest said.
I chuckled at the vivid comments from my two friends.
Anyway, the incident at St. Aimar’s Hall had ended smoothly. The imperial investigation team also returned without finding anything, and we weren’t even suspects. Rather, we developed a deep relationship with a prince and were able to reach out to him when needed. We even received an imperial seal that could be used anywhere.
Considering the ‘help’ that the prince promised as ‘compensation’, what we received this time was truly enormous.
Oh.
Other than Prince Edward, there was one more thing.
“She should be here by now.”
“Huh?”
Knock knock.
As I muttered to myself, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
It was Priscilla.
“What? What kind of fun things were you talking about?” she demanded.
There was nothing to hide, so I explained briefly.
Priscilla exploded with anger. “I should have joined a little earlier! Then I could have met a prince!”
That was why she was so angry? I thought she was sad that she didn’t receive a seal.
“Leila, you saw him, right? Right? What did he look like? Was he really handsome?” Priscilla grabbed Leila’s shoulders and asked urgently.
Even though he wasn’t physically very handsome, he had an air about him that made you think he was. Of course, Prince Edward was good-looking. His bright red hair gave him a mysterious vibe.
“He was handsome.”
“As expected…”
Priscilla sat down with a bereaved look on her face. It would have been one thing if she had been upset about not receiving an imperial seal, but this…
“Such good looks should be stored away…”
I quickly changed the subject at that dangerous remark, saying, “Anyway, like I said last time, Priscilla is now a member of our club. Let’s all get along well.”
“Oh, that’s right. I joined the club. Please take good care of me, everyone!”
Priscilla was quite lively and had a personality that wasn’t particularly harsh. Well, she did make some really harsh remarks sometimes, but that was something I could control.
Anyway, with Priscilla’s addition, our club’s diversity had increased.
“So, when are we having our next club activity?”
“I guess it’ll have to be after the midterms.”
It had been about a month since I entered the academy. The academy consisted of two four-month semesters and two two-month vacations. That meant there was only one month left until the midterms.
“Alright. When you’re a freshman, just play around. If you coast along and come to your senses around your third year, you should be able to graduate. I’m living proof of that. For reference, I played around until my fourth year!”
She truly was a great senior. Of course, there was no one here who would take her advice.
I wasn’t the type to do things half-heartedly, and Leila was second to none in terms of competitive spirit. Ernest was also the type of person who tried hard at everything.
“…Now that I think about it, I also have a midterm. What a pain.” Well, actually, Priscilla had it harder than us. After all, she was our senior. “I have to go on an ascetic training trip and do temple practice… When will I prepare for the midterms?”
As her ascetic training came up, I asked, “You said you were going during vacation, right?”
“Yes. I haven’t decided where to go yet, but I’m thinking of going to the place where Saint Aimar practiced asceticism. Why?”
“Can we go along too?”
Priscilla’s eyes widened at those words. “You’re crazy. You’re going to follow the path of asceticism? You weren’t joking back then?”
“Why would I joke about something like that?”
The northern Atalia Island, the place where Saint Aimar, after much asceticism, found the treasure the emperor coveted. I planned to search for traces of the ancient magic kingdom of Archana there.
“…Are you crazy? Why do you want to follow my path of suffering?”
“Exploration, exploration!”
Thankfully, Adventure Addict Ernest encouraged me to go—even though I was going to go with or without him.
“Yes, well. Exploring is good. It won’t be boring if we all go together, right? After all, many people go on ascetic journeys together.”
“Alright then. Shall we go together?”
“Sure. But you should know, we can’t use teleportation, and you have to leave your subspace behind. You can only take one backpack that has been certified by the Holy Church.”
I shrugged at that. “That would add to the fun, right?”
I remembered when I went on an undercover mission. I probably lived off a bottle of water and a few loaves of bread for a month?
“Oh my God… This is a golden opportunity to gain exploration experience.” Ernest, of course, agreed.
“…Yes, you’ll go even if I stop you. Alright, let’s go.” Leila also decided to follow, seemingly against her better judgment.
Thus, our vacation schedule was set.
Priscilla muttered, still in disbelief, “If students from three different departments other than the Theology Department were to follow along on an ascetic training trip, it would be interesting to see the expressions on the professors’ faces…”
Well, whatever.
Our club wasn’t an ordinary club, after all.
