Three Springs (6)

No longer an adolescent but not yet an adult, Cel had a strange charm about her. The love letters that arrived for her were too many to count as she twisted cute girls around her finger.

‘Even though there is no Arthur fan club among the juniors, there is one for Cel. Even though it’s a coed school, there’s a reason why she always takes on the role of the theater’s prince during the school festivals. No, I still understand…’

Yes, the real prince in this school knew nothing but how to practice swordsmanship and drink, so the freshmen were quickly disillusioned when they saw him in person.

On the contrary, Cel, whose real-life persona was more wonderful than the pictures and had good manners, played the role of the academy’s prince. Ezra and Kleio were talking about it as five more collisions came and went, and Arthur finally took the victory. He quickly grabbed Cel’s sword, which had clattered on the ground, moved inside her range, and sliced through her shoulder.

Shaaaaa!

Cel’s uniform was torn, causing bright red blood to spill over the white fabric.

“Kaaaah-!”

“What can she do?!”

“Cel!”

Somewhere, there were girls screaming. Cel tried to follow up with an attack of her own, no concern for her injury, but Rosa and George, who knew her temper, ended the match quickly.

“Third-year mid-term final, Arthur Reignan wins! Student Celeste Tanpet de Neju, please head directly to the treatment room.”

The loud announcement cut through Cel’s protesting. Lippi shook her head, and Isiel, who pretended not to see her housemate’s uproar, immediately began their match.

“977 is a fun class to watch. Even that little deer is like a brave leopard~. She won’t be pushed around by the next Rose Knight!”

Isiel, her hair red like a rose, was beginning to be called the ‘Knight of the Rose.’ When it came to swordsmanship, Arthur had won first place since the second year, but she was still first place in all subjects’ overall ranking. It was the result of her devotion to training day and night.

“They’re not training to have fun, Mr. Sergey. They are excellent and sincere friends.”

“Hey, who doesn’t know that? I can’t even tell you how surprised I was to see you, taller than ever before, standing with them and crossing the parade grounds.”

“No, why do you remember that?”

“Hey, it’s a sight that I won’t see twice in my life, how could I forget it~? Ahh.”

Lippi and Leticia were now about as tall as Isiel. While Isiel was one level higher, Lippi’s attacks, which used a shortsword and rapier together, were rather complicated to deal with.

“Hey, all those kids will come to the Defense Force next year. It’s very exciting to think about.”

In principle, graduates of the school were required to serve in the Defense Force for two years. If one were a swordsman, they would spend that time as a knight, and were they a wizard; they would become an apprentice in the magic team.

After the obligatory service period was over, those who would officially receive knighthood were separated from those who would not. Arthur and his friends couldn’t choose either, as the end of their compulsory service would be a turning point in the narrative.

In preparation for that, he worked with them to increase Viscount Kision’s influence. Through Isiel, he was persuaded to attend both the new year’s party and the New Year’s Eve, acquainting him with the other junior aristocrats that Cel lined up. The sincere and innocent Viscount was of a temper favored by those who ran the border camps. Each one had a little support, but it was an arrangement that would have an impact should something happen.

‘Even if the last manuscript isn’t completely helpful, the big picture remains the same. Even then, the first decisive battle took place during compulsory service, delaying the [Covenant] as a knight. If Arthur makes a [Covenant] with Melchior, it won’t work. It will start around the time they start their duty, theoretically.’

It was a future that felt far away still. Kleio himself would be avoiding the compulsory service. Since he was known as Zebedee’s research student, he was expected to become a ‘visiting’ wizard to the Defense Force after graduation, thanks to an enthusiastic recommendation on behalf of the magic team’s vice-captain. Visitors didn’t have to stay at the barracks and only needed to go to work once a week. Zebedee could never send his apprentice to the army, so he conspired with Ezra to make this happen. Professor Maria was stunned, commenting that Kleio had brought together those two unlikely allies. Kleio had felt ashamed as he listened to her undeserved praise.

‘I haven’t caught the criminal who took the demon’s blood… phew.’

After the first incident, demonic blood had spread through the world, making it nigh impossible to track the route the by-products of took.

‘Now it’s possible to mass-produce the hydra poison that Aslan made.’

After the battle with the demons was concluded, Aslan, having received the highest honorary medal, asked for command of the knights of Cruel and moved to the base of the Southeast Defense Forces. Juleika also often went to Lake Nineveh’s palace, way there.

‘It’s only half a day by carriage away. That’s no coincidence.’

Friedrich, Juleika’s father, lay in a bed, sick, near there. Juleika was using that as an excuse to hide whatever conspiracy she was up to.

‘That was already a few months ago; she’s not really going to care for the sick.’

However, he wasn’t letting it go, however, as he supported Fran’s pursuit of the Hydra poison with his full might. With the enthusiasm and will that would’ve changed Albion’s science, he delved into investigating the Hydra’s poison. His journey, which began in Pesseln, had brought him to the Cruel estate in southern Albion and western Brunnen before eventually taking him back to the Pintos mountains. In a recent letter, he said that people with symptoms similar to Geheim were found around the Mainrat manor.

‘The Mainrat territory is part of Brunnen land that comes right out of the Kision territory, crossing over the Pintos mountains. It is also Juleika’s home. There’s a strong possibility that it’s Aslan’s hunting grounds.’

That wasn’t Fran’s only achievement, as he was still contributing to Clarion under Gibril Blanche’s name.

‘He can do anything.’

It was also clear that Fran was the anonymous author, commonly known as Saint Folio, of the posters that called for the strike, that triggered the capital strike.

‘There couldn’t be another guy who could print such a text.’

Fran was likely to finish his investigation soon. A letter arrived last month stating he had found substantial evidence of the experiment.

‘It’s already been a month, so it’s time for the next letter. I have to check the post office tomorrow.’

Ezra shook his empty cup in front of Kleio’s eyes as if he knew his thoughts had wandered.

“Junior? Junior~? Have you lost your mind?”

“No, I was listening. Are you trying to make a new exchange?”

“I will! Before that, I had something to do first. I was dispatched this time and bought a fossil called a, uh, unicorn horn!”

“Weren’t you scammed?”

“No, no, no, no. You’ll give me an appraisal. Dione said that you’re a genius at such things~.”

“If you pay for the appraisal fee, then anytime.”

“I save the gold sand of time and the mana stone opal, and I’m going to craft the silver hoof. If there are horns there, it’s worth trying a unicorn.”

“Hmm. Even if you make it, unicorns only allow the innocent near them, as far as I know. Otherwise, they stab them with their horns.”

“That’s no problem! I’m sure! So pure! This body has no spots!”

Ezra’s fists clenched, almost breaking his cup. Kleio quickly used his magic to save the glass.

“Stop talking; I don’t want to know.”

“That… You know… Dione won’t reply to my letters… If I make a unicorn, you can tell her to come to play again.”

Ezra, his face suddenly reddening, looked away.

‘Bringing a unicorn, would Lady Dione care? Tsk.’

Rather, the unicorn’s horn was said to be a panacea, so it would be easier to get a reply if he ground it up and sold it.

“I’ll only ask once. Has Lady Dione ever replied to your letters before?”

Ezra’s voice grew fainter and fainter.

“…Once… when there were a lot of demons.”

“Then, wait for them to come out again.”

“No way, I hate it. When the demons come out, all the events stop. I wanted to ride a unicorn with her and bring us to this year’s world expo…”

He wouldn’t reach Dione even after a thousand years that way, but he didn’t have the will to give love advice.

“The venue for this year’s fair is Brunnen. Even if you can really make one, it doesn’t seem like it would be good to ride there.”

“It’s in Brunnen? Aren’t they always held in Lundane?”

Kleio was struck speechless by the ignorance of the vice-captain and focused on drinking instead.