Chapter 49

The meeting with Freide ended up being a rather awkward and unproductive affair.

In the end, most of the regular students couldn’t be relied on, and the only thing worth using as a weakness was the silver plating I had prepared…

Freide wouldn’t make a move until I had solid evidence anyway.

Besides, without evidence, it would be hard to convince others to prepare for what’s coming.

Even if I forced them to prepare, the aftermath would be a problem.

After the attack, they’d definitely question how I knew about the plan, and I wouldn’t have a good answer.

If they suspected I was involved with the attackers, that would be the worst-case scenario.

Once suspicion takes root, it grows and multiplies endlessly.

No matter how well I fend off the beastmen.

Once they start doubting, even my defense could be twisted into some ulterior motive.

Confirmation bias is a real pain.

Excuses like “I smelled something beastly” have their limits.

Even Freide seemed half-convinced, so convincing others who doubt me would be tough.

At least Freide would side with me once the attack was proven real.

To the northerners, anyone who kills beastmen is automatically an ally.

Probably.

In the end, I have to hide the fact that I know about the beastmen’s attack while naturally preparing the students…

The first step is already a challenge. Seriously.

My position is still unstable, and many people are looking at me with suspicion.

As long as the stigma of being the “Witch of Ka`har” remains, everything I do feels like swimming with my hands and feet tied.

If I can resolve this incident without raising suspicions… things might get better.

I gnawed on my lip.

For now, the only thing I can do is improve the skills of those who can fight the beastmen.

Even if I train them, the best I can do is help them gain experience through repeated sparring.

The regular students have a packed curriculum, so they don’t have much free time outside of class sparring.

The ones who could be useful in a fight against the beastmen are Damien, Ophelia, Edgar… and Milia.

Realistically, the only ones I can train are Damien and Milia.

Rana and Hans might listen to me, but Rana doesn’t benefit much from sparring, and Hans… well, he’d probably refuse to spar no matter what.

…At least I don’t have to hold back during sparring anymore, which is a relief.

Though I still can’t go all out.

—

Lost in thought, I returned to my room.

Nigel was sitting in a chair, writing something on a piece of paper on the table.

“Ah, you’re back. Did your conversation with Freide help?”

“It was… ambiguous. It wasn’t completely useless, but… Anyway, what are you writing? A letter?”

Nigel put down his pen and picked up the paper.

“It’s an activity report for Marquis Ludwig. Would you like to read it?”

“A report? Sure. Let me see.”

So he’s been reporting my activities to the Marquis, huh?

I expected as much, so I didn’t feel betrayed or disappointed.

Nigel is loyal to me, but at his core, he’s still a knight of Marquis Ludwig.

And it’s not strange for the Marquis, as a sponsor, to want updates on the person he’s supporting.

In the end, when Nigel’s around, I have to avoid doing anything that would make the Marquis suspicious.

At least he’s not hiding the fact that he’s writing reports, which is somewhat reassuring.

If there was anything unfavorable, he probably wouldn’t show it to me so openly.

I took the letter from Nigel and skimmed through it.

It was a concise report, written in a very formal tone.

—

**< Current Status >**

– Good relations with the special admission students.

– Excellent understanding and rapid acquisition of Imperial swordsmanship.

– Inconsistent skill level but showing rapid growth.

**< Concerns >**

– Current reputation within the academy is poor.

– Mostly due to prejudice regarding background, past, and personality.

– *Believed to be a solvable issue. Subject shows strong will to improve.*

**< Notable Events >**

– A Dainian holy warrior infiltrated. Male named Knut. Handled via ambush.

– No further issues expected.

**P.S.**

– Expenditures are exceeding expectations. Requesting relaxation of activity budget limits.

– The Marquis’s recommendation of mana herbs has become a bigger issue than anticipated.

—

It was a fairly harmless report.

Except for the postscript, which subtly jabbed at the two mana herb addicts.

“Seems alright. Are you planning to send this to Marquis Ludwig as is?”

“Yes. If the Marquis relaxes the budget limits, that would be great… but it’s best not to get your hopes up.”

Nigel shook his head, looking like someone who buys lottery tickets every weekend out of habit.

Not really expecting to win, but still hoping for a miracle.

…Having more funds would definitely help.

I could go to the adventurer’s guild and take on extermination requests, but that would take a lot of time.

Fighting trolls or ogres wouldn’t help much with skill improvement at this point.

I handed the letter back and got ready.

I sank into the soft bed, closed my eyes, and started thinking about what to do next.

First, attend the sparring class and train Damien and Milia…

Think of an excuse to ask Asha for silver plating…

And I’ll need to visit the underground waterways again, so I should come up with a plausible reason.

There’s a lot to do.

—

I attended the combat training class.

Today’s class was outdoor sparring again.

In the morning, we had to spar with opponents assigned by Professor Kal-lain, and free sparring was scheduled for the afternoon.

As usual, I approached Damien and Milia.

They greeted me warmly.

“Ah, Hasalleur.”

“Good to see you. You’ve been attending classes more often lately?”

“Well, that just happened somehow.”

The three of us chatted about this and that while watching the students spar. Last time in the mounted combat class, someone got bitten by a horse, and during physical training, Damien set a new record for freshmen. Just trivial little stories like that.

Damien awkwardly laughed it off, saying it wasn’t anything to brag about, while sneakily glancing at my arm. Well, being the top human freshman is something to be proud of, I guess. My body’s just on a whole different level, so I’m an exception.

The morning sparring matches were arranged based on each student’s skill level, so everyone fought pretty evenly. Before we knew it, everyone had gotten serious, swinging their weapons at each other with quite the intensity.

Milia’s opponent was Edgar…and surprisingly, Milia won. Edgar kept healing his minor injuries and pushed forward, but Milia took advantage of his carelessness and landed a hit on his neck, forcing him to admit defeat. If it were a real fight, he’d have been skewered through the neck and died. Even with healing blessings, instant death is still instant death.

Milia beamed at us, waving her dagger around excitedly…until Professor Kal-lain scolded her, and she sheepishly returned.

Damien’s opponent was Ophelia. It could’ve been an impressive match if they’d fought seriously, but of course, that didn’t happen. Ophelia just stood in the corner, burning some incense, and when her turn came, she casually walked out and forfeited. The professor’s face twisted in frustration, but Ophelia just leisurely blew smoke and returned to her seat. Damien looked utterly defeated, letting his greatsword droop.

In the end, Professor Kal-lain assigned another student as Damien’s opponent—a young man from the magic department who was originally supposed to face me. He was the top scorer in the magic department’s entrance exam. The guy, who had turned pale at the thought of fighting me, brightened up when his opponent changed to Damien and confidently stepped forward. It was kind of funny.

The match turned out to be quite entertaining. Damien’s swordsmanship, centered around leaps, charges, and spins, was as bold as ever, while the young man unleashed a barrage of flashy spells. The training ground was torn up, debris flying everywhere as explosions rang out nonstop.

While Damien was sparring, I decided to talk to Milia. I noticed her swordsmanship had improved, but I still wanted to suggest she try archery.

“Milia, can I ask you something? Is that okay?”

“Huh? Something on your mind? Go ahead.”

Milia turned to me and nodded.

“Why did you decide to become a knight?”

I already knew the answer. It was because she admired Damien. But it was a good question to ease into the main topic.

Milia tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and then smiled softly.

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story.”

She turned her gaze back to Damien and continued.

“Damien and I have lived in the same village since we were kids. Damien…lost his parents when he was ten, so he came to live with my family.”

Her eyes seemed to gaze into the distant past as she reminisced.

“At first, I was a bit wary of him. He was quiet and never smiled, so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. But then, at some point, he started smiling more. He began helping out with chores around the house.”

Sounds like he was a gloomy kid back then. Hard to imagine, given how cheerful he is now. Maybe it was the shock of losing his parents?

“When we were twelve, some bad people came to our house. They were thieves, fleeing from the knights who were hunting them. They came to our house because it was isolated on the outskirts of the village. At the time, only Damien and I were home.”

Milia shivered slightly.

“I was scared. They wanted to do terrible things to me. I just cried and screamed for help.”

Her face darkened as she recalled the fear she felt back then.

“That’s when Damien saved me. He grabbed a farming tool and fought the man. He’d never been in a fight before, but he didn’t hesitate. He protected me.”

Milia’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Damien, who was now wielding his greatsword, dodging and deflecting spells as he pressed his opponent.

“In the end, Damien defeated the man. He was badly hurt, but if the knight who was chasing the thief hadn’t arrived in time, he might’ve died.”

Damien raised his greatsword as he closed in on the magic student.

“I just cried, seeing Damien covered in blood. But he smiled at me and asked if I was okay. He said he was glad I wasn’t hurt.”

Milia whispered softly. Damien’s greatsword shattered the magical barrier.

“That’s when it started. I wanted to be like Damien…no, that’s not it. I didn’t just want to be like him. I wanted to stay by his side. I wanted to walk with him.”

“So that’s why you followed him here?”

The magic student collapsed to his knees. Damien sheathed his greatsword and stood tall. The sun, high in the sky, shone brightly on the boy who would one day become a hero.

“Yeah. Damien was my hero.”

*That’s why I decided to become a knight.*

Milia smiled warmly.

…I felt a little awkward.