Chapter 68

Time keeps ticking away, not giving a hoot about my worries.

While I was idly spending day after day in the hospital bed, Nigel came to visit, and we reunited.

It seemed he hadn’t fully recovered yet, as his left arm was still in a splint. Still, his complexion looked much better. That’s a relief.

It was so good to see her again after so long. The last time I saw her, she was half-dead, groaning after the ambush.

As soon as Nigel entered the room and made eye contact with me, she immediately bowed her head deeply and apologized. Well, I expected as much. She’s always been earnest.

“Princess Hashalleur, I am deeply ashamed for failing to fulfill my duty as your guard to the very end.”

“No, you did well. If you hadn’t stopped Boris, we’d all be dead by now. So, lift your head.”

To face a Suin’s grand warrior one-on-one, you’d need at least a master-level fighter. Or a group of highly skilled knights working together.

Originally, I planned to train Damian and Milia for another month and then take down Boris with the help of the instructors. I didn’t expect to face him with fewer numbers.

After calming Nigel down, who kept bowing repeatedly, I finally managed to lighten the mood. When I asked about her condition, she said her arm still felt cold, but the rest of her injuries were almost healed. Her stamina was recovering smoothly, and unlike me, she’d be fit for battle in a week.

“By the way, I heard you took down the enemy’s grand warrior alone. Does that mean you’ve awakened your ‘Art’?”

Ah, the Art. Yeah, I can use it now. Though, given my current condition, it’s still tough.

It was a ridiculously rapid growth. To become strong enough to defeat a Suin grand warrior… I used to barely hold my own against a master even at full strength.

“Yeah. As I fought, I suddenly realized it at some point.”

“As expected…! Congratulations on reaching the level of a master. You might have even surpassed me now.”

Hmm… Maybe? Even if my martial skills are slightly behind, now that I can wield the Art, my specs probably surpass even a Suin grand warrior.

“Well, 80% of it is thanks to you. You taught me swordsmanship and helped me train so hard.”

“What I did was just a little push. Reaching the level of a master is the result of your own efforts, Princess Hashalleur.”

Nigel smiled, shaking her head, then clenched her right fist as if making a resolution.

“To fulfill my duty, I must strive even harder from now on.”

“You’re still injured, so don’t push yourself too hard.”

Even if I say that, I know she’ll dive right back into training once she leaves. What can I do? If words could stop her, Marquis Ludwig would’ve done it long ago.

We also talked about the letter the Marquis sent.

Nigel already knew that Marquis Ludwig was coming to the capital. But even she had no idea what the Marquis wanted to talk to me about.

—

The saintess candidate visited me every weekend. There wasn’t much conversation—she just checked on my condition, cast a healing spell, and left. But before leaving, she always stared at me intently. I never figured out why.

—

Damian and Milia visited me a few more times. Once, Rana came along too.

It seemed everyone had shaken off the shock, as the atmosphere was brighter than before. I felt the same.

“You’ve become the youngest to reach the level of a master. Impressive.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll train you until you get there too.”

Damian nodded solemnly at my response, saying nothing.

That’s right, Damian. Sparring won’t stop anytime soon. Be grateful—you survived this time thanks to my training, didn’t you?

The Art seems to require actual combat rather than training, so it’ll be tough, but at the very least, you’ll need to grow quickly to reach near-master level.

After all, the level of a master isn’t the end goal—it’s just the midpoint. It’s more like the starting line to becoming a hero.

…For some reason, no one ever mentions the level of a hero. It’s as if such a level doesn’t even exist.

—

We also chatted about other things. Rana, being a skilled healer, said she’s been swamped lately.

Damian and Milia also received letters from the royal family. Thanks to their achievements—defeating one pure-blood warrior and two mixed-blood warriors, and buying time against the grand warrior. Good for them. Though Milia seemed a bit burdened.

“Damian did most of the work… Is it really okay for me to receive this too?”

“Mil, your archery support helped us win. Of course you deserve it. Hold your head high.”

At Damian’s words, Milia blushed and lowered her head. I’d appreciate it if you two didn’t get all lovey-dovey in front of me. I’m already feeling down enough as it is.

—

While I was lying in the hospital, the academy also underwent significant changes. After all, many students were lost.

Deploying the students at that time was an unavoidable decision, so no one really blamed the academy. Instead, the Imperial Army and the knights, who failed to provide proper information and just got dragged around during the palace attack, received a lot of criticism.

There were two major changes.

First, the basic curriculum shifted from theory to…

The proportion of lectures has decreased, and the frequency of sparring and group practice has increased.

And now, even first-year students can participate in dispatch missions as assistants, which was originally only for second-year students and above.

It seems they concluded that the biggest reason for the severe damage to first-year students was the lack of real combat experience.

Not entirely wrong, but…

They also plan to significantly expand the number of personnel.

Since less than a hundred first-year students remain, and the semester isn’t even halfway over.

They say the damage would have been much less if there were more people this time.

Well, I’m not sure about that.

Once the recovery work is done, they plan to conduct a large-scale additional recruitment.

I wonder if there will be any useful ones. There are still original characters I haven’t seen yet. Maybe they’ll show up?

And.

The rumors about me eventually merged into one.

The princess of Ka`har looks like a monster, is of mixed blood with a beastman, and is a warrior who eats other beastmen…

Even Milia laughed a little while saying it.

I just laughed along. It was so absurd.

Maybe this is better than being the Knight of the Goddess. Honestly, I don’t know.

I probably never will.

—

“It’s about time to leave the hospital room.”

On the third weekend, Lacey gave me the discharge notice.

I’m not in a condition to fight yet, but I should be able to move around.

Actually, when I tried moving, I stumbled a bit, but I could walk well enough.

When asked if I wanted to stay longer, I said I’d just leave.

Lying down for a day or two is fine, but it was getting suffocating.

Upon hearing about my discharge, Nigel came to the shelter with a carriage.

His injuries seemed mostly healed, as he looked no different from usual.

There was only one horse pulling the carriage. My horse had died that day.

It was a good horse.

To think it ended up as roasted horse meat. What a sad thing.

The city beyond the carriage was gradually recovering.

Considering the time I was unconscious, almost a month had passed, so it’s natural.

Still, if you look closely, some scars from that time remain.

Like the piled-up debris in the corners, the skeletal remains of unfinished buildings, or the smoke from the crematorium in the distance.

Except for soldiers and laborers, there were hardly any people around.

Well, that’s to be expected.

Buildings can be rebuilt, but lost lives and vanished vitality are hard to restore.

I just kept it in my memory. I decided to bury my emotions.

And so, I returned to the special quarters.

The windows on the third floor, which had been shattered that day, were all repaired.

The garden was just leveled, with no time to plant grass, so it was still bare dirt.

Calix, Asha, and Freide welcomed me.

“Ah, it’s been a while, Princess Ha-shal-leur. It’s good to see you healthy.”

“Good to see you too, Calix. Healthy… I’m not so sure about that.”

My body moves, but it’s not at full strength like before.

According to Lacey, it’ll take a few more weeks to fully recover.

Luckily, there shouldn’t be any need to fight in that time. Probably.

“You do look a bit tired still!”

“Well, yes. It’s best to rest well today.”

Calix laughed and nodded.

I didn’t need to say it. I planned to wash up and sleep deeply.

“So, nothing unusual happened at the special quarters?”

“Nothing at all. Just the same as always.”

“Nothing? When I came back, my room was almost destroyed. Isn’t your room the same, Calix?”

Freide, with her arms crossed, grumbled irritably.

Calix scratched his shiny scalp awkwardly and smiled.

Asha just laughed.

…So the explosion that day must have blown away the entire third floor.

Judging by Asha’s expression, it wasn’t her doing. So, was it Ferne?

“Lord Ferne probably didn’t do it out of malice… I doubt it. What can we do? Rooms can be refilled.”

“Anyway, you’re so forgiving. I really can’t stand a woman who burns down someone else’s room and doesn’t even apologize.”

So it was Ferne.

Who would have thought that drunken fairy could be of any help. Even drunk, a fairy is still a fairy.

“If you want an apology, you might have to wait a hundred years? History books say that fairies apologize once every few hundred years, which is shocking.”

At Asha’s words, Freide clicked her tongue openly.

What, are fairies so rare that their apologies get recorded in history books? What kind of beings are they…?