Chapter 232

Jeilliris easily gave her permission.

The worry of misunderstanding felt foolish.

Helena blinked in disbelief.

“Your Majesty. Did I hear that correctly?”

Jeilliris nodded her head, then promptly wrote an order and handed it over with her seal ring.

“For the sake of the arrangement, you will remain under the Brass Knights, but command and personnel rights will be solely yours and mine.”

“However, should any issues arise with your personal guard, and you are unable to lead your unit, the commander of the Brass Knights will have the discretion to assign officer knights.”

“But the authority to disband the unit or assign members to another unit rests solely with you and me. Is this sufficient?”

Helena saluted crisply.

“Yes! Your Majesty! I will train day and night to create the strongest unit!”

“Let them sleep at night. Ha ha.”

I stared intently at Jeilliris.

“…….”

It was unlike Jeilliris, who had been so cautious around royalty.

Perhaps sensing my gaze, she turned to me and, leaving behind the gleeful Helena hugging the order, smiled haughtily and languidly.

“Why do you look that way?”

I spoke with an awkward feeling.

“I… didn’t expect you to grant permission so easily.”

“Weren’t you here to seek approval? I’ve granted it, so what’s the problem?”

“I thought you would take your time to assess me, so I brought along about ten papers discussing the pros and cons of establishing a standing elite force. That time and effort feel wasted.”

Jeilliris burst into laughter and snapped her ringed fingers.

“I have received numerous requests for the expansion of the Brass Knights’ standing army until now. If I don’t know, I will at least have read some of the papers you would read. While it is the age of the elite knight being the strongest, I also know that knights cannot do everything.”

She continued as if to elaborate.

“While I was beyond the Magical Realms, Duke Helena commanded hundreds of central region knights and thousands of regular soldiers. During that time, she did not show even a hint of suspicious movement, so you must have let her be.”

I flinched, and Jeilliris laughed as if she could see right through me.

As she said, I had been subtly keeping an eye on Helena.

Before Jeilliris returned, if Helena had attempted a rebellion leading the central knights, it might have succeeded.

“No matter how busy I am, I can handle half a dozen corruptions myself, and it seems she has learned to manage her ambitions as royalty, so there is no reason for me not to employ a talent like her.”

A commander who genuinely enjoys training soldiers and honing herself is indeed rare.

Thinking that way, it made sense for Jeilliris to employ Helena.

I nodded and thought about starting recruitment tomorrow with Lady Trentia.

“Also, there’s that belief. Since your brother came to recommend her, she must have prepared quite well. Look. Even now, she’s so tense, only thinking of what to say.”

At that moment, a bright, high-pitched voice echoed in my ears.

I startled and looked up.

Helena was still cheerful, while Jeilliris tilted her head questioningly at my reaction.

In no time, she was holding another document.

It was a report concerning the situation in the west of the Empire.

“My dear. No matter how beautiful I may be, that intense gaze is burdensome.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. …I apologize.”

I bowed my head and dragged the still cheerful Helena out of the office.

I could hear giggles echoing like an hallucination, but I didn’t bother to turn back.

*

Valencianus headed to the Street of Learning with Trentia.

“Run away!”

“The Bandit Duke has come to catch us!”

“Enemy knights! Enemy knights have arrived!”

He surrounded the scene of the brawl with a ring of flames, completely trapping the students, then climbed to a nearby building to observe the cadets with the eyes of a seasoned administrative officer and field marshal of 40 years.

‘Sword users are acceptable. Destruction mages also pass. The theological students might draw some attention from the church. It’s unfortunate, but they fail. That spearfighter must pass unconditionally. In this brawl, perhaps around 15 out of about 200?’

Once he selected the talents, he would tell Rudi.

“Rudi. That girl with the long sword, the one hiding behind that shield wall, and the one with two short spears, be sure to get them.”

Rudi shot a soft, fluorescent-colored pellet from a slingshot and marked the chosen talent.

Then Trentia would push through the flames and bring the chosen one to Helena.

“I warmly welcome you as a soldier of His Majesty the Emperor!”

“No, when did I ever?”

“We will start collective combat training from now!”

Helena and the Brass Knights also had policing duties, and maintaining a standing elite force had long been the objective of the Brass Knights.

Thus, the Brass Knights returned their days off to help train Helena’s unit.

“Helena! I will teach the lecture on the poison technique!”

“I’ll take responsibility for the magic bombardment response training!”

“Is there no need for mounted archery training?”

Helena’s unit had to produce results for Jeilliris to expand the standing elite force, which meant receiving more budget and authority.

Of course, the cadets, who had been dragged in from living as alley leaders on the Street of Learning, found it maddening.

“The meals here are incredible!”

“Did you see the salary? It looks like I could pay off my student loans in three months.”

“We’re receiving magic tools in our equipment.”

They were not mere disposables but elite soldiers.

As the leading cadets disappeared from the Street of Learning, the brawls grew less frequent.

“I will live, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“May you be safe, Your Highness.”

Jin, Katalin, and the student members bowed their heads at the mere presence of Valencianus.

However, Valencianus was the type of person who required something to be fully consumed once he moved his body.

“Jin. Being a temporary solution, it is ultimately just a stopgap. Brawls will continue to occur, and we cannot take them along each time.”

“That’s right, Your Highness.”

“In the end, we have to expand the space itself.”

“But the Street of Learning has now reached its expansion limit. It’s surrounded by large workshops and shopping districts, and the land prices there are unbearable at the academy level.”

“Then we raise it upwards. The construction and civil guild members still have materials piling up. We’ll procure them cheaply and have the construction completed by summer vacation.”

Jin stared wide-eyed, and Valencianus grinned confidently.

“I am Valencianus.”

The building owners on the Street of Learning had had too many deaths during the foreign matter incident, causing inheritance complications, and the landowner was either the royal family or court nobility very close to it.

Valencianus deftly navigated around them, obtaining construction permits within a day, and Jin issued the bidding notice.

“What is this?”

And Jin gaped at the bidding document that reached from floor to ceiling.

“What did I say?”

“No, I never imagined it would be this much. Can we really get an eight-story masonry building with this budget?”

“It might be at cost or below it.”

“I’ll create a conference room for cadets on the first floor. I’ll arrange for the window tax exemption through a noble elder, ensuring cadets can enjoy a clear living. Doubling the size allows for classrooms to be constructed inside the building so we can invite professors directly… it says here.”

The academy essentially existed only on paper, with most students attending classes in various professors’ living spaces or in vacant lots.

Fierce battles between professors for even a few common lecture rooms were commonplace.

Jin irritably brushed his gray hair aside.

“I can’t believe you’ve been able to maintain this state despite being able to do this all along.”

“We only extend a hand when desperate. It’s a competition of goodwill.”

“Then… are there competitions of malice as well?”

*

Tenitia entered the joint student council room where Valencianus and Jin were staying.

“Your Highness. It’s said that three died after a knife fight within the construction guild. And—”

She couldn’t finish her sentence as the joint student council was busily counting silver and gold coins around a long table.

“We have three silver coins here.”

“93, 94, 95. Yes, that’s 95 gold coins total. It comes to 595 coins.”

“There is no problem with the gold bars. Three silver coins have been deducted for evaluation. Here’s the receipt.”

“Good. Well done. Now, give me the guild list. 200 coins from Cheolmyeong, 300 from Moguang.”

Tenitia quickly grasped what was going on.

“Your Highness!”

Her lord, Duke Valencius, was teaching the student members how to accept bribes.

“What the hell is going on here?”

The students trembled and exchanged glances under the knight’s roar.

Valencianus answered without raising an eyebrow.

“I was teaching them how to fill their pockets without getting caught, how to refuse without retaliation, how to cover up when discovered, how to take bribes from unscrupulous artisans and disappear, and how to receive a fair amount of bribes and hospitality from qualified artisans.”

Saying such absurdities with a serious expression made it sound convincing.

“Your Highness. That’s… very… good instruction?”

Tenitia stammered, and Valencianus grinned mischievously as he continued.

“While all the students are working so hard to help, shouldn’t they enjoy a little privilege?”

Tenitia tried to say something but let out a deep sigh instead.

“…….”

The student members were all battered and bruised.

The closest cadet to her had been severely injured while trying to break up a fight and was unable to recover even after receiving healing prayers from the church.

Moreover, due to their dire family circumstances, if Jin hadn’t provided funds from Valencianus, they might not have even received that prayer.

“Please be moderate. Moderation.”

She said this while recounting the tale of the three dead artisans from the fight, the disputes among the poor over day labor, and how the bourgeois were flocking to consume the buildings in the Street of Learning due to tangled inheritances.

“Count Rudi came to inform us.”

“That’s right. I must express my gratitude later. However, the second and third issues have already been resolved.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Valencianus silently turned to Jin, who presented a series of documents to Tenitia.

The well-dressed boy with neatly combed hair moved with great courtesy, but the contents were anything but.

Tenitia sighed deeply upon seeing the details.

“Are you saying all the new buildings will be under your name, Your Highness?”

“Firstly, that way I won’t have to pay taxes. I am royalty, after all. Secondly, it is only in name. Actual operation will be managed by the Academy Union.”

Tenitia paused for a moment to understand, and Jin began to explain politely.

“There are still academies that haven’t joined the Union. As soon as all these buildings start to be recognized as the Union’s property, then they will have no choice but to join. After that, all the heads of academies can gather to negotiate dormitories, living spaces, classrooms, and many other things. It will at least improve from the current situation.”

Tenitia looked into Jin’s blue eyes.

“And you will lead that Union even after graduation.”

“Exactly.”

“You are a loyal subordinate of Duke Valencius.”

“Indeed.”

“Ha.”

Since it had become a public secret, none of the student members seemed surprised.

Tenitia smiled faintly as she looked at Valencianus.

“Your Highness, you are truly wise.”

“Isn’t it beautiful that filling my pockets can help everyone?”

“Then please consider donating the bribes you received today to the church as part of my compensation.”

“Ah… I understand. But I probably can’t give much.”

Valencianus made a genuinely troubled expression.

“Why is that? Haven’t you already collected a lot of expensive wine from those merchants?”

Tenitia questioned what he was planning to buy next.

“I’ve heard that the old slums have been struggling. It seems support will be needed for Konel. If we can just hold out for a few days, we can reclaim that afterward and then donate.”