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Reinhardt and I sat quietly in our seats without saying a word.

It was this guy who called me here, yet he sat there without uttering a single word. I could have spoken up first, but for some reason, I just didn’t feel like it at the moment. We were waiting for the entrance ceremony to start like any other ordinary students.

Thinking back, this really was a significant moment.

The boy with blue hair sitting next to me wasn’t just any ordinary boy; he would eventually be known as the best swordsman on the continent when Elena was referred to as the greatest magician.

The best swordsman of the continent, Reinhardt Cromel.

Right now, he wasn’t yet a Sword Saint, and his father was still around, so it wasn’t the case, but in time, he would acquire that title. That was the guy sitting next to me. Well, the fact that he was the best swordsman on the continent didn’t hold much weight for me; what mattered more was that he was one of the male leads.

I had already met Richard and Orcus, and now I was finally meeting the last of the three male leads referred to in the original story. So, there had to be some significance to this meeting. As Elena’s fiancé, as a reincarnated reader, and as Damian Kraus, this was destined to be a profound encounter.

‘It’s so quiet.’

I silently muttered this as I glanced at Reinhardt, who was tightly keeping his mouth shut. It was as if someone had instructed him not to speak. Or was he just completely devoid of thoughts?

His deep navy blue eyes were like the deep sea, and even when I peered into them, I could not tell what he was thinking at all.

Previously, when I met the other two, I assumed I would feel anxious or peculiar, but strangely enough, now that I was face to face with him, I felt absolutely nothing. Just a thought that this guy was the one.

Having spent considerable time with Elena, I had developed trust in my relationship with her, so perhaps that was why, or maybe I had just stopped being hung up on such setups.

Reinhardt, sitting quietly with his mouth shut, looked exactly as I had pictured him in my head when reading the book. He was just as described in the book.

Even when gathering all the words he spoke in the original work, it wouldn’t exceed a thousand characters. Among the characters in “<The Princess is Loved>“, he was probably the author’s favorite. He could set the mood just by being ‘…’ without any issues at all.

“….”

“….”

As befits the male lead of a romance novel, his face was captivating enough to evoke imagery even when he said nothing. Add a bit more description, and there would be no shortage of words to convey him. At least, it would be easier for the author than writing for a talkative supporting character.

Maybe that’s why I could never shake the feeling that the author favored him every time I read the story. Considering how I thought of Reinhardt as the male protagonist while putting the others aside, I guess it wasn’t entirely a mistaken belief. The author’s thoughts tend to seep into the writing to some degree.

“Hmm.”

As I entertained these thoughts, I was simultaneously intrigued by my own lack of feelings regarding Reinhardt.

Typically, I would think my inner Damian would be acting prickly by now, but today he was oddly subdued. Interesting. He had been ready to snap at Richard right away. I tried to dig up some old thoughts as a test, but as before, not a single thought came to mind.

I wasn’t sure if I had changed or if the one within me had changed, but one thing was certain: something had altered. Well, I still felt like I had a long way to go before confirming it through conversation with him. Still, the fact of the matter was that something had changed.

After organizing my thoughts and maintaining silence for a moment, I suddenly reached out my hand to him.

Reinhardt seemed quite flustered, caught off guard by my sudden gesture. It was something to see emotions breaking through his previously expressionless demeanor. For a moment, he quietly stared at my hand before extending his own to grasp it.

“I’m Damian Kraus.”

Traditionally, it was polite to introduce oneself after shaking hands, so I stated my name. He already seemed to know who I was, but etiquette is important. Upon hearing my name, Reinhardt introduced himself too.

“I am Reinhardt Cromel.”

Perhaps because he didn’t use his mouth often, the sight of Reinhardt moving his lips reminded me of a clumsily made robot. His jaw moved rigidly.

When he said his name, I interrupted to respond.

“I know.”

“…”

Was that being too rude?

Reinhardt slightly narrowed his eyes at my words.

But I didn’t pay his change in demeanor any mind. It was him who had been rude first. Calling someone out and then going silent for several minutes was far from polite.

I didn’t think Reinhardt had any other intentions behind his aura.

It was clearly intended to pull me out; anyone could see that. No matter how low the level of the knight academy students, they were all capable of wielding aura, and there had to be a reason behind him sending me precise signals like that.

“So what do you want to say? Why did you call me here? If you call someone, you ought to state your purpose. The one who should have spoken up first was you, not me. If you had nothing to say, you shouldn’t have summoned me in the first place. That’s improper behavior.”

As I finished my words, Reinhardt seemed to realize something, and his expression relaxed. He appeared to collect his thoughts for a moment and then, just like earlier, slowly began to speak.

“I’m sorry. I’ve never had a conversation with anyone outside of family, so I was thinking about how to start a dialogue.”

“Well, I guess that can’t be helped. But don’t do that in the future. If you call someone, you have to say something. That’s just common courtesy. What kind of person calls someone and leaves them hanging in silence for several minutes?”

“…I see. Thank you for telling me.”

Reinhardt nodded indifferently to my words.

Was he some kind of learning golem or still socially underdeveloped? I would have preferred it if he had just gotten angry; with his response like this, I couldn’t quite bring myself to be mad at him. Besides, I wasn’t that angry anyway, so I shook his hand and accepted Reinhardt’s apology.

Anyway, we had exchanged names, and the atmosphere wasn’t bad, so I spoke to Reinhardt in a more relaxed tone.

“Don’t take what I said too much to heart. I was just as unsure about how to begin a conversation as you were. But it is indeed a fact that I pointed it out, so it’s something worth correcting in the future.”

“Is that so? I’ll keep that in mind.”

With the change in my tone, it seemed like Reinhardt’s expression softened a bit too. On the surface, he still seemed as expressionless as before, but that was the feeling I got.

I had no interest in holding hands with another guy, so we both let go simultaneously.

After I finished speaking, silence still lingered between us, but unlike earlier, I didn’t feel the need to speak up again. Reinhardt explained the reason for the silence to me, and I decided to wait until he thought of something to say. That was all.

Gradually, the seats in the main auditorium began to fill up. This indicated that the start of the entrance ceremony was drawing near. Individuals who appeared to be key figures of the academy ascended to the podium. It was then when Reinhardt decided to speak.

“I heard that the Lesser House of Kraus defeated the Heretic Cardinal. My grandfather and father explained to me their strength and danger since I was little, so I became quite interested in the one who managed to defeat them. That was why I called you here.”

The question he wanted to ask me was quite simple.

It didn’t require much thought, and although it took quite a while to express that much, I still thought he had spoken a fair bit for Reinhardt, who was generally talkative. It was certainly much better than remaining frustratingly quiet with ‘…’.

As we continued our talk, I understood why this guy had kept his mouth shut in the novel.

He needed someone else to break the ice before he would start to talk.

However, his unique aura seemed to discourage people from approaching him, leaving no one able to converse with him. It didn’t seem like he disliked talking to people since he appeared perfectly comfortable speaking to me.

I recalled my earlier feelings and responded as Reinhardt wanted.

“The Cardinal… definitely an eerie man. I’m not sure if it’s due to the traits of the divine power unique to the heretics, but just the aura he gives off made me feel like he could kill a person. Watching him bleed in the chapel while his prayers remained unchanged felt like staring at a living ghost.”

“How interesting.”

Was he addressing me, or was he referring to what I had said about the Cardinal? I wasn’t sure if he found it amusing that I had survived against someone like that or if he viewed the description of the Cardinal as intriguing.

Nonetheless, since he was listening intently, I continued without throwing out such questions.

“However, despite the aura he gave off, I didn’t get the feeling he was actually that strong. By the time I arrived there, he was half-dead already. Furthermore, all his senses were focused on the princess in front of him, so I had no trouble taking him down. Realistically, if I were to ask someone, it would be more accurate to ask those two who were fighting him at the time.”

“No, what you just said was plenty.”

Reinhardt’s expression was extremely serious as he pronounced those words, leaving me wondering whether he was just being polite.

With the end of our conversation, we inevitably fell silent once again. The entrance ceremony had begun. We had no intention of playing around during the proceedings, so Reinhardt and I quietly stared at the podium like we did when we first sat down.

The entrance ceremony was not significantly different from what I had known. They introduced the main figures, and the representative of the new students would ascend the podium to take their oath. Afterward, there was the principal’s tedious speech. The events were nearly identical to those from my past life.

“Wow! Damian!! Elena!!”

The new student representatives were Noel and Orcus; Noel ascended the podium and scanned the area until she found me and Elena. Although she didn’t say this out loud, it was clear from her eyes that she was thinking something along those lines.

An unusual detail was that the head of the Department of Knights was absent. However, since the guests typically only made appearances, it was not a major concern. The entrance ceremony concluded smoothly.

“Oh, it seems the head of the department has just arrived. I will call him now.”

I thought it was just me, but… at the end of the ceremony, the announcer informed everyone that the head of the department had arrived.

It was unfortunate to bring up something that could have flown under the radar right before the closing of the ceremony; the audience’s reactions were far from favorable. Regardless of who the head of the department was, being late didn’t look good. Since the audience didn’t consist solely of students, it was even worse.

“Then, Sir Nicolas William, head of the Department of Knights, please come up to the podium… Huh?”

The announcer made a strange noise and fell silent upon seeing the person ascending to the podium. No one dared to point out the announcer’s odd behavior. Everyone watching felt the same way.

The old man in a tailcoat standing on the podium was not the originally appointed head, Nicolas William. As far as I knew, he was just a middle-aged man in his early fifties, so it was a stretch to call him an old man.

Despite this being my first time seeing him today, I felt like I knew exactly who he was.

I peeked over at Reinhardt. The expressionless boy from our earlier conversation was now shaking like a leaf. So it seemed he hadn’t expected this person to show up either.

The old man scanned the room filled with anxious attendees before locking eyes with me. It was just a fleeting moment, so others might not have noticed he had briefly paused at me, but I certainly did.

I subtly nodded my head in greeting.

Is it true what they say about blood? I could faintly sense satisfaction flickering on the old man’s expressionless face.

“I am Maximilian Cromel, the newly appointed head of the Department of Knights. I look forward to working with you.”

A deep voice emerged from his slightly moving lips, and finally, the surname Cromel was revealed.

The Sword Saint had arrived here.

 

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