Chapter 101

As time passes, everything eventually fades away, bit by bit.

Like the foam from raindrops falling into a stagnant puddle, disappearing without a trace when you look away.

The downfall of a noble family was no different.

A family that, at the point of its collapse, no longer held any influence or significance.

It didn’t take long for people to lose interest.

The Empire was still peaceful.

On the surface.

Like the fading, discolored books in an old library, change always comes from the unseen corners.

The signs were already there.

Reports of monster appearances, which used to be rare—maybe once a month—had now happened five times this month alone.

A small village on the outskirts of the Empire was completely wiped out by a swarm of undead.

A giant spider-bird that appeared near the border with Panam left two hundred casualties before being exterminated.

The guardians of Alvheim were occasionally spotted near the border.

In the north, the once-routine attacks by beastmen had completely ceased.

Something had changed. How many people had sensed it?

At least the Capital hadn’t noticed yet.

But the transformation had already begun.

Slowly. Very gradually.

Irreversibly.

The cup was filling.

Just one more drop before it overflows.

—

“Dispatch support?”

Freide, who had been helping Milia with her training, turned to look at me.

I waited for Damien, who had been sent flying, to get back up, and grabbed the greatsword I had been swinging in the air, planting it into the ground.

“Yeah, the new academy policy that just changed. Heard about it?”

“Of course I’ve heard, but why?”

Milia, who had ducked to avoid Freide’s wooden sword, rolled on the ground from the follow-up kick.

Her green hair was now covered in dirt.

She managed to block it with her bow, but her unstable posture meant she couldn’t fully absorb the impact.

“I need your help with that. Damien and Milia are at the point where they need more实战-focused training, right?”

“实战, huh… Yeah, I guess so.”

The virtual experience lectures are useful, but… they only increase combat experience. The real important stuff doesn’t get built up.

Damien, who had rushed toward me, suddenly scattered a handful of dirt and sand.

This kid’s even resorting to cheap tricks now.

Guess getting beaten so much made him ditch his pride.

I swung my open hand to the side.

A gust of wind swept the brown debris away.

It’s not like getting hit by this would really hinder me, but having dirt clumps stick to my face is just annoying.

Meanwhile, Damien grabbed the hilt of the greatsword I had planted in the ground and pulled it out.

He spread his legs wide, twisted his torso, and swung the greatsword in a powerful arc.

A heavy whooshing sound followed the blade’s path.

I placed my left hand on the back of the wooden sword and blocked the greatsword head-on.

The shockwave flattened the surrounding grass, and a dull metallic clang rang in my ears.

The wooden blade shattered instantly, and the iron core within clashed against the greatsword.

Splinters of wood flew in all directions.

My body was pushed back slightly.

Like, maybe 2 centimeters.

“Ugh…!”

Damien gritted his teeth and retracted the greatsword.

It was a good call not to try to overpower me.

That wouldn’t have worked anyway.

But seriously, these wooden swords are starting to feel pointless…

They just break every time we clash.

Might as well use real swords and request some hardening gel from the academy for sparring.

While deflecting Damien’s relentless strikes, I continued my conversation with Freide.

“If we send them under regular second-years, most of those kids are weaker than Damien. It’d be useless.”

“Well, second-years are just regular students. Newbies who’ve just stepped into knighthood.”

Even when Damien first enrolled, he could’ve beaten most second-years.

Now, he’d probably win against almost all of them.

Damien, growing impatient, pulled the greatsword back and twisted his body for a big swing.

Bad move, Damien. I was just starting to think highly of you.

Didn’t I tell you before?

When facing a faster opponent, don’t recklessly go for big attacks.

I kicked him in the side, sending him flying.

Damien tumbled to the ground, coughing.

“So, Freide, you’re gonna have dispatch missions too, right? Let us tag along. Damien, Milia, and me.”

Damien, me, Ophelia, Rana, and Milia.

That was the basic party I had in mind.

If Asha, Freide, and Lacey could join, it’d be perfect…

But those three probably can’t move around freely due to their statuses and roles.

For now, we’ll have to start with just the three of us.

Rana’s still not strong enough for proper combat, and Ophelia’s busy plotting to kill her sister.

“You’re coming along too? With you included, the firepower might be overkill.”

Freide swiftly swung her wooden sword, deflecting Milia’s arrows.

Broken arrows rained down like a shower.

“Yeah, but thinking ahead, I need to build up some reputation too.”

That would be the first step toward taking down Isabella.

I still didn’t have a way to directly confront her.

If I were to point a sword at the Empress of the Empire without solid evidence…

I’d probably end up branded a traitor and become an enemy of the Empire.

So…

First off, we need to keep the pressure on until Isabella, who’s getting all jittery, starts making her move.

Sure, she’s been good at hiding her shady deeds so far… but the bigger you get, the harder it is to stay in the shadows. Sooner or later, Isabella’s true colors will show.

She probably knows I support Leopold. The more my reputation grows, the more power I gain, the more she’ll feel the heat.

“Well, you gotta do something to boost your rep, right? You just added another notch to your infamous belt, huh?”

“……”

Friede let out a light chuckle at my silence.

Let’s just ignore that. I don’t really have an excuse for that incident anyway. I mean, I’d need to remember something to explain myself, but from the looks of it, I just beat a drunk guy to death after picking a fight.

“Haah!”

“Stop jumping at people like that.”

I threw a wooden sword at Damian, who was leaping at me, and knocked him out of the air. He tumbled to the ground, rolling around.

Honestly, this guy loves jumping around even though he doesn’t have wings.

But he’s definitely gotten stronger. If this were before, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him and would’ve been skewered.

“Well, it’s fine. With the recent surge in monsters, there’s no shortage of dispatch requests anyway.”

Grabbing Milia by the collar and slamming her to the ground, Friede readily agreed.

Against the backdrop of the unconscious boy and girl, I lit a cigarette.

I offered one to Friede, but she refused. Guess they don’t like magic herbs up north?

Well, with the flames and smell, the beastmen would easily detect it.

—

Friede soon headed towards the main building. Since the topic came up, she said she’d register the three of us as her backup forces right away.

I informed Damian and Milia, who had just woken up, about this.

“Dispatch missions… can I really do it?”

Unlike Damian, who nodded without hesitation, Milia seemed a bit uneasy. Probably still bothered by not being able to take down a troll not too long ago.

“With your skills, there shouldn’t be much danger. Besides, Friede and I will be there too.”

The monsters that appear early on are mostly ones that Damian, at his current level, can handle as long as he’s prepared.

“Plus…”

I leaned in close to Milia’s ear and lowered my voice so Damian wouldn’t hear.

“You said you want to stay with Damian, right? Then you gotta improve your skills and stick close. Married warriors usually… end up marrying their female comrades. If you stay apart, someone else might snatch him away.”

Milia’s face turned bright red.

“Th-that… Damian wouldn’t…”

“Milia, think about it. No one knows what’ll happen. Friede, for example, said she’d take a man strong enough to overpower several beastmen warriors as her son-in-law… If Damian gets that strong, what do you think will happen? I really don’t know. Do you, Milia?”

I shrugged and painted a plausible future. Imagining Damian as the son-in-law of the northern duke, Milia’s eyes trembled. She looked almost pitiful.

“If you don’t want to lose to some random rock, you gotta work hard, right? I’m rooting for you, Milia, so I’ll keep helping you. Just trust me.”

“Okay. Thanks, Hashalleur. I’ll do my best.”

My genuine concern must’ve gotten through, as Milia nodded firmly, as if making a promise to herself. Good.

“What are you two whispering about? Just between yourselves?”

Our suspicious behavior must’ve caught Damian’s attention.

“Uh, well…”

“Stuff that clueless guys shouldn’t hear.”

I cut him off before Milia could stumble over her words. Unless it’s a proper confession, Milia probably doesn’t want her feelings accidentally revealed like this.

She’s such a frustrating type. No wonder she couldn’t confess properly and just ended up suffering in silence before losing him.

“Ah, like a girls-only secret talk?”

Damian nodded as if he understood.

“Yeah, I used to see girls back home doing that too. Whenever I tried to ask what they were talking about, they’d just say it’s something I can’t hear and run off. Is that just how girls are?”

Did this guy leave his common sense in his mom’s womb or something?

Now I get why sweet Milia ended up falling in the original story. With that pretty face, I can only imagine how many girls he’s unconsciously charmed since he was a kid.