59. Oh, that’s a shame.
The Imperial Capital.
Mysteriously, only two people remained in the splendid office of Emperor Siegfried IV, a middle-aged man with deeper wrinkles than the Marquis of Lemnos.
It is said that a private meeting with an emperor who can hold an empire in his hand and move it is worth more than ten million gold.
There are not many people who can have a private conversation with the emperor in the office, not the audience room where the ministers gather.
“I was surprised to hear that he went to inspect the academy out of the blue. Was it something he had to keep secret even from Jim?”
“Yes. There was something I had to check.”
And Linda, the sign master of the empire, was one of those few.
The two speak without hesitation and have been friends since their academy days.
The combination of royalty and commoners was famous in the academy.
In the end, though, he was the one who became emperor.
The two still maintained a friendly friendship, which was the basis of Emperor Siegfried IV’s powerful sovereignty.
What could be stronger than having the most powerful person in the empire as your friend?
“The Western Kingdom sent me asking how about an exchange meeting between our academy students and their own academy students.”
“At Clover..? Wasn’t that a place where we refused to do it even though we asked for it for about 10 years..?”
Siegfried picked out and talked about information that she should know about her.
All headaches can be handled by yourself or by the ministers, but problems that only the ‘master’ can handle often come up.
There is nothing wrong with exchanging academy students from different countries.
However, after the victory or defeat becomes a battle of pride between countries, the reality is that academies with clearly different skills cannot even start an exchange meeting willingly.
Because the Empire always selects excellent students through exams, recently, other academies have not dared to step over it, but it has been a long time since an exchange competition has entered.
No problem so far.
“Yeah.. It’s a strange thing. And yesterday, I was notified that the Sword Saint would accompany me as an advisor for the exchange meeting.”
However, if the kingdom’s master… The swordsman comes along, the story will be different.
“You’re going to let the Sword Saint into the Empire? The cheeky bastard hasn’t grasped the subject yet.”
A master is a strategic weapon of a country, and to send such a thing into the heart of the empire along with the students is clearly a declaration of war.
The corners of Linda’s mouth went up.
“That arrogant thing can’t really say that he’s going to the academy to watch the younger students…. Will you take care of this?”
There was also the option of refusal, but it was not mentioned.
I was already familiar with the character of the swordsman as I was facing the border.
I’m not the kind of guy who won’t come even if I block him.
If you ban it, they’ll try to infiltrate through an invisible route, which makes it more troublesome to manage.
It’s convenient to manage after you enter with confidence.
“… That’s right, let’s just watch until we get into the academy.”
“You didn’t watch until the end?”
“I have a lot of work to do. It’s very inefficient to spend all your time on that guy.”
The Emperor was surprised when Linda said that she would be left somewhere.
She was on the verge of wondering if it was the best sword in the empire she knew.
Grinda, who never turned down a challenged fight and was always looking for a place to fight with all her might, threw away the opportunity to face the Master?
“If you refuse to fight, the sun will rise in the west.”
“You don’t have to worry about the academy. There are shadows hiding there.”
The emperor’s eyes widened.
“Is that the reason for the sudden inspection… Then you won’t have to worry.”
“Still, let’s bring in at least one spare.”
—————————————————
On the evening not long after the academy class ended, dry metallic sounds resonated against the background of the dusky sunset in the empty lot near the dormitory.
-Chang!!
“Awesome!!”
River lost his sword and fell backwards.
When he tried to attack Atlas’ wrist with a real sword, he was counterattacked and fell down.
I was hit with a strong counterattack that made me miss the sword I was holding tightly, but I couldn’t see any cuts.
It was very dangerous as it was a sparring with a real sword, but it was terrifyingly well controlled.
But as if River didn’t like it, he picked up the sword that had fallen on the ground and kicked it up violently.
“Come on, calm down. What do you think went wrong?”
I stopped River from starting sparring again because the atmosphere seemed overheated.
Your chest can get hot, but it’s not good if your head gets hot too.
“Haa.. Haa.. You are adjusting to my level, but I moved impatiently again..”
“Yes, there is a difference between thinking quickly and being impatient.”
River pondered and gave the correct answer.
It wasn’t like that in the morning, but it wasn’t that good.
Simoa’s arcane swordsmanship is a quicksword that attacks her opponent’s vitals first, approaching quickly like a wolf.
As much as you move fast, you have to calmly judge whether you are deceiving your opponent and trying to get into the gap, but today that part was lacking.
“Let’s end here for today.”
From noble mtl dot com
“No, I can still do more..!”
“You can’t even concentrate properly.”
Because of the results of the training and the elixir, the river became faster.
That part is definitely paying off.
It got stronger and faster, and the aura blade got thicker.
Technology has to come up in line with that, but there is a problem if this happens.
“That… Sorry.”
I know that I’m in a strange state right now, but River couldn’t bear to meet my eyes.
I was sure then, the current river is not the usual river.
“What are you worried about?”
“I’ve said it before, but… everyone around me is stronger than me…”
“It’s not like that now.”
River’s face showed that she was embarrassed.
As soon as I heard what he said, it was all in his face. Seeing that, he is an honest kid.
But he didn’t say it out loud.
I’m sure I have concerns, but I don’t think I have any intention to tell them.
Is this a problem you don’t want to find out?
“If you can’t concentrate, you have to work harder to be effective. Come take a shower, let’s have dinner.”
I had a very uneasy feeling.
This time, instead of simply skipping over it, I’m going to try the extreme drug prescription.
————————————
The academy has a cafeteria available to students, faculty and staff.
Instead of having only one restaurant, it was a space where golems that could cook all sorts of dishes were busy, and it was a gracious place that provided free food that commoners would never have seen in their lifetime.
It’s a flaw if it’s noisy with so many students gathered together, but the inside is decorated quite nicely, so it’s always a good place to come.
“Isn’t Amy trustworthy?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
And then he started lamenting his life with Amy, who came out to dinner with him.
“As expected, this is not a trustworthy image.”
I have an ideal image of myself that only I have set.
With this face and this strength, he is taller than 185 and his shoulders are wide open… Yeah she wanted to be like Andy.
Amy and River are like that, so they don’t rely on me because they think I’m not trustworthy.
“Ah.. No!! Atlas is very reliable and dependable.”
Amy was taken aback when I said something very self-deprecating.
As soon as I heard it, my brows furrowed.
“You’re funny, that guy is alone! Did you die!”
“Ah, that’s petty. It was a question I always lost..!!”
“This is sad. There is no one like me who helps with training. He listens to all your concerns and solves them.”
I’m sorry. Really, after coming to the academy, the top priority was the care of the two.
They wouldn’t know how worried they were about going into a strange place and exploding alone, encountering an enemy they couldn’t handle because they were too weak, and bursting like a sunfish.
I’m still afraid of that.
Amy has a previous case, so it’s more like that.
“Rather than Atlas being unreliable… It will be a very personal matter.”
Amy narrowed her eyes at my words.
“You probably don’t do it because you think it’s a problem that can’t be solved by talking to someone.
If you say it unnecessarily, a secret you don’t want to be revealed is revealed, and the relationship becomes awkward… Isn’t Atlas like that too?”
“Are you introducing yourself?”
“Mr. He answered seriously, but it’s too much.”
She jokingly said and hit my arm with her left arm.
“Sorry sorry. I am… well I’ve told you all about my problems.”
No matter how much I think about it, I said it all.
I have only one unresolved problem.
“… Are you growing taller?”
“There is nothing more important than that.”
Really only one.
Only one.
The conflict with their parents was forcibly resolved as they suddenly died on their own… Everything big and small has been solved in the past, so there is nothing left.
“I hope Atlas’ wish comes true.”
As soon as I said one wish, Amy smiled.
Then someone shouted loudly right next to me.
“Isn’t it too much to do in front of me?”
“I told you to listen, don’t worry.”
River, who was sitting next to me, frowned slightly and glared at me as if to eat me.
It seems that River, who had been listening to everything he said so far, burst out after holding back.
Did you tell me if you had any complaints?
“… It’s not even that serious.”
An angry River ran his fingers through his hair and said it was no big deal, but who would believe that?
“A problem is a problem.”
There is a case where a person next to me just groaned and exploded.
It seems that Amy, River, and her don’t know how important they are.
You should be aware that your problems may be the flapping of a butterfly’s wings that are connected to a bigger… World’s destiny.
I absolutely don’t know, but since I know, I have no choice but to accept it sensitively.
“Are you really going to be childish like this?!”
“Oh, he’s small, so his speed is small.”
I changed my expression to a teasing one to look as childish as possible.
It may look petty and childish, but I will keep doing this until you tell me.
As long as the fork is broken, events I don’t know about will continue to happen.
I couldn’t hear everything, but at least I had to know the clues.
“Mr. Okay, you can tell me.”
River, whose face was red from the continued attack, finally opened her mouth.