Chapter 25

I remember.

The childhood spent holding the reins, enduring anger and humiliation, leaving behind a burning tribe.

I remember.

The youthful days filled with ambition, planting the tribe’s flag by the Barun River, dreaming of one day taming the grasslands beneath my feet.

Even after twenty years, those memories remain vivid, as if they happened just yesterday.

It begins.

“Glory to Ai-shan Gi-or! The warriors are ready for deployment, Ser Khan.”

“Yes. It seems so to me as well.”

Standing atop the outer walls of Ordos, Or-han looked down at his warriors lined up below.

The 40,000-strong army he had gathered over twenty years, ready to set the grasslands ablaze.

Beneath the four-colored banners, an endless sea of troops stretched orderly to the horizon.

Cavalry clad in leather armor, waving blue and red banners, raised their spears to the sky.

Quivers full of arrows swayed at their waists, and cavalry bows hung from their saddles.

The Blue and Red Armies—the core cavalry of the Ai-shan Gi-or legion.

The White Armies, bearing white banners, were infantry, not cavalry.

Armed with spears and shields, short curved swords at their waists, and bows on their backs, they looked up at the walls with eager eyes.

The Black Banner cavalry, clad in heavy scale armor, gripped their crescent blades, standing in perfect order.

Their horses, unlike the others, wore heavy steel barding.

The Black Army—Or-han’s elite heavy cavalry, meticulously trained.

Unlike the other noisy units, they stood in solemn silence, awaiting Or-han’s command.

At the forefront of each division, Or-han’s four most trusted warriors held their banners high, looking up at him with confident, determined expressions.

Facing his army, Or-han shouted.

“Do you hear my voice, the voice of your Khan? Warriors of Ai-shan!”

Tens of thousands of spears thrust into the air, and a roar shook the walls.

Excited horses pawed the ground, snorting.

“We have waited so long. The humiliation of ten years ago, the stagnation of eight years! Our horses grew fat, our blades rusted, our bowstrings slackened—we wasted eight years!”

Or-han’s voice rose, his veins bulging as he shouted to the heavens.

“Long, far too long were those years of humiliation, living like sheep, not wolves!”

His clenched fist trembled with emotion.

“And now, at last! The opportunity we hungered for, grinding our teeth in wait, has finally returned!”

The warriors’ roars merged into an indistinguishable thunder.

Or-han pointed to the eastern grasslands.

“Now, the great plains will be our hunting ground! Kill every enemy you see, take everything you encounter! In the name of the Blue Wolf!”

A joyous cheer shook the earth.

Satisfied, Or-han turned his gaze westward.

West. The Empire’s land.

He thought of those who would be there.

His old nemesis, who hated him, and his young daughter, who had once vented her anger.

You want to kill me, don’t you, Ludwig?

The enemy of my family.

Yes. The most common yet intense hatred.

The root of vengeance, the emotion that drives men to madness.

He recalled his daughter’s face, her eyes blazing with fury as she demanded answers about Ai-mel-ra’s death.

That’s why he let her go to the Empire.

Not knowing if she would betray him or return to Ai-shan.

Do you want to avenge your mother, Ha-shal-leur?

Or-han closed his eyes, sending his daughter’s image away, then looked east again.

Toward the land where the sun rests. The vast plains where his ambition would lead.

…Then you’ll need to prepare a lot.

It was time to march.

====================

…Was it a dream?

I jerked my head up from the bed.

Perhaps it was the shock of seeing the alcohol-addicted fairy, but I must have fallen asleep on the dormitory bed without realizing it.

I felt like I had a very serious dream, but I couldn’t remember any of it.

What was it about…?

“Are you awake, Ha-shal-leur? Perfect timing.”

Nigel turned his head toward me and smiled faintly.

He had changed into casual clothes.

Gone was the usual armor and coat, replaced by a thin white shirt and black pants—a light outfit.

He seemed to be reviewing some documents, as papers were spread out on the desk behind him.

The dim evening light streaming through the window bathed the room in an orange glow.

“…What time is it?”

“About 6 PM. You slept soundly.”

In Nigel’s hand was a stack of papers.

His neat appearance and calm demeanor as he reviewed the documents exuded a refined intellect, something I wasn’t used to seeing.

“I did sleep deeply. Though the dream was a bit chaotic. Anyway, what are you reading?”

“The academy’s lecture plan, delivered around noon. You should take a look too, Ha-shal-leur.”

Nigel handed me a stack of papers.

I yawned, sitting on the edge of the bed, and skimmed through the documents.

—-

The curriculum of Remnant Academy varies entirely depending on the department and year of enrollment.

For first-year students, it includes basic theory, combat training, sparring, and practical exercises—standard fare.

Enemy training is conducted to train the still-inexperienced freshmen.

The magic department offers specialized elective education based on talent or school of thought, but for the knight department, all students had to uniformly attend the lectures listed in the syllabus.

Of course, special admission students were exceptions.

The syllabus itself was the same, but whether they participated or not was up to them.

If regular students refused to follow the syllabus, they could simply be expelled, but special admission students had no expulsion system.

I also had no intention of attending all lectures.

Lectures like equestrian skills or basic physical training were a waste of time.

After a year of enrollment, the education system drastically changes in the second year.

The original purpose of Remnant Academy was twofold: to discover talented individuals and refine them into master-level experts, and to train immediate combat forces to fill the gaps left by regular knights.

Thus, from the second year, students are considered not just trainees but immediate combat-ready forces.

In reality, by the second year, most students had skills comparable to knights.

The academy changed their educational environment to be more autonomous, introducing a credit system.

From the second year, students were allowed to choose advanced lectures they wanted to attend.

However, to advance to the third year, a certain amount of credits was required, and failing to meet this would result in being demoted back to the first year.

If students preferred practical experience over lectures, the academy would arrange dispatch missions, and credits were awarded based on the results.

Thus, students usually took a few specialized lectures while gaining experience and recognition through dispatch missions.

In a way, it was like a higher-level version of an adventurer’s guild.

Third-year students were already considered immediate combat forces.

They were usually already decided to join specific organizations like the Imperial Knight Order and were treated as reserve personnel.

Thus, they mostly lived and ate with their respective organizations, assisting in their duties.

—

Turning the page, I read the lecture contents for the first-year knight department.

The first-year knight department consisted of four departmental subjects and three common subjects.

Utilization of weapons and coordination of martial arts.

Understanding the role of the vanguard.

Large-scale cavalry combat training.

Intensive physical training.

Analysis and learning of various personal combat techniques.

Introduction to hostile entity research.

Understanding faith.

The syllabus was strictly practical, making the theology subject stand out as particularly odd.

Even subjects like ‘History of the Empire,’ which one would expect an academy to teach, were excluded for lack of practicality.

But theology was an exception.

Even though the 11 Holy Gods Church had separated and become an independent holy kingdom, the church’s influence still deeply permeated the empire.

I decided to ignore cavalry combat, intensive physical training, and theology as they seemed unnecessary.

Unlike other special admission students, I had no support for living expenses from my home country or border lords, so I needed to free up time to earn some money.

This would leave Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays free.

For now, I could take on small requests that could be completed in two days.

From what I remember, there were still about three months before the first incident at the academy.

But it’s better to be prepared just in case.

Although it had nothing to do with Ka`har, my enrollment might have introduced some variables.

“Hmm… So, the entrance ceremony is tomorrow, right? What do I need to prepare?”

I put down the documents and asked Nigel.

The entrance ceremony, another chance to face those disdainful looks.

The strong, rejection-filled emotions trying to push me away.

But I should still go to check out the new students one last time.

I’m curious if all the freshman characters I remember have enrolled.

“No. Special admission students do not attend the entrance ceremony. It’s said that their free attire disrupts the uniformity of the event.”

They draw the line there?

It was a bit surprising, but it made sense.

For regular classes, it might be different, but such events would care a lot about uniformity.

Wearing casual clothes among uniformed students would draw too much attention.

Even in the original world, important events often required uniform attire to foster a sense of unity and discipline.

“Really? Then proper academy life starts the day after tomorrow. Let’s go get dinner.”

“Yes, I’ll guide you. Princess Ha-shal-leur. I heard tonight’s dinner is roasted duck with aromatic herbs. I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“Really? Sounds good… By the way, what do the regular dorm students eat? Freshmen haven’t moved in yet, but there should be second-years.”

“I heard it’s rye bread and fried fish fillets.”

…Isn’t the gap huge?

Even among regular students, there are nobles from the empire, and they eat that?

“Isn’t it a miracle that regular dorm students haven’t stormed the special dorm with swords?”

“Perhaps that’s why special admission students are allowed guards.”

Laughing with Nigel, we headed to the first floor.

At least, I felt relieved that I could live comfortably.