83 – Becoming a 2nd grader – 8
“What are you doing, Charles, all alone, in such a difficult situation?”
On the evening of the day after the swordsmanship tournament, I was depressed and was drinking coffee with Glacia on the terrace in front of the cafe when I felt something strange. I felt like people were glancing at me.
It wasn’t just that. I felt like she was whispering at me, so I asked Glacia.
“What are they saying?”
“There is an additional cost for eavesdropping. “Is that okay?”
“… That’s it.”
I didn’t want to know that much. I was just concentrating on my coffee when Bertolph jumped up from a distance, waved his hand, and ran towards me, making a fuss of his own.
“Charles~!”
“Bertolf.”
“What? What’s wrong with your expression? What’s going on? “Isn’t it a little strange that the protagonist of the gossip that heated up the Academy seems depressed?”
“Gossip?”
What does that mean? I’ve never heard of it.
“The story is spreading throughout the school that the most beautiful woman in the Taspilia Peninsula and the most beautiful woman in the Arcadian Empire fought over you. Don’t you know yet?”
Are you saying that such a rumor spread? I was so dumbfounded that I looked at Glacia, but Glacia avoided her eyes. It seems she also knew Glacia.
“Nonsense. “Where does such a rumor spread?”
“It seems like that wasn’t just a rumor, right? It seems that right after you and Salome’s sparring, Princess Leonia threw Salome away and pinned her against the wall. Thanks to that, Salome is injured and lying in her infirmary. “Do you have any idea?”
“… “
It exists. Princess Leonia kissed me, and Salome, you know… Follows me around
“You idiot… I’m jealous. Just put on a calm face and do everything behind the scenes. Where did you seduce such beauties? Salome, along with Princess Lucrezia, is the second most beautiful woman on the Taspilia Peninsula, and as you know, Princess Leonia is the best in the empire and even has a pretty face. Would you be proud as a man?”
“I’m not really interested.”
“Why! Whichever one you choose, you’ll be indebted to me, right? Salome Don’t you know that her father is the Holy King? The leader of the world-wide Lydia religion! Is there a lot of money there? On the Taspilia Peninsula, the richest family after the Plos family is the Hiron family. Also, I have ties to Cylonia, so I am politically confident. And as you know, Princess Leonia is a duke and third in line to the throne. “When you get married, you will become the duke’s husband!”
“If a person eats food that is not suitable for his body, he will die.”
“Really? I think a vessel the size of you would be enough to hold it. Anyway, it’s surprising. “You’re saying you’re not interested in either side, right?”
“What… “You can still see that as the case.”
It would be a different story if one of the two suddenly rose to prominence and became closer to world hegemony.
“So there is still hope?”
“What?”
“My cousin. Luna von Ruitwert.”
I laughed because it was absurd.
“That’s my opinion. Even if that’s the case, Luna probably hates me, right?”
“Why? “Because I told you to betray His Highness the Crown Prince before?”
“… What? Did you know?”
“Of course. Actually, there isn’t much information I don’t know about within Arcadia Academy. I am the Academy’s best source of information. “If Princess Lucrezia holds all the information on the Taspilia Peninsula, then would Princess Lucrezia of the Academy be me?”
Unlike Princess Lucrezia, she just seems like a luxury.
“And the way I see it… Luna is interested in you.”
“This is the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”
Perhaps Luna von Ruytwert considers me a faithless person who cannot even rise to the top of nobility. I also told her to betray the crown prince, prepared to be treated like that.
“No. Listen carefully. On the outside, it looks like Luna doesn’t like you, but she asks me a lot about you. Her feelings of dislike are clear, but she is also interested. And in this situation, when that interest turns into affection, that’s it… !”
“Cousin oppa.”
“Wow, what a surprise!”
Bertolf fell backwards on his chair in an instant, but Luna suddenly appeared and caught him.
“Are you okay? Why are you so surprised? “As if I had seen a ghost.”
“Luna you… “Did you hear that?”
“What are you listening to? I was just passing by and saw it so I spoke to it. What are you doing here anyway? Make an appointment with me. Since the appointment time is almost over, don’t think about cheating again and follow me quickly. “Professor Mercatz is also coming to today’s research group.”
“Oh really? I wish I couldn’t hear it. Charles! “I’ll bring it and see you next time~”
The guy waved his hand and walked away. He was a really loud guy. Meanwhile, as Bertolph was walking away, Luna glanced in this direction and saw that she was holding onto the back of Bertolph’s neck and dragging him.
‘With that kind of attitude, what do you like?’
I thought he was a guy who was saying nonsense. Salome is a little out of her wits, but Luna, the number one strategist in the world and a strategist on par with Princess Leonia, doesn’t seem that easy…
While she was thinking that, she continued to enjoy her coffee.
—–
“Is your cousin close with that person?”
“That person? Who?”
“Charles Jean Rochepol.”
“Ah~ Charles? You are my best friend. No, I don’t know, last time you said you wanted to share a drink with your sworn brother?”
“No matter how you look at it, that seems like a lie.”
“Why!?”
“I think that person is selective about making friends.”
“… “
Bertolf flinched for a moment at the merciless verbal abuse, but Bertolph soon looked interested in Luna’s next words.
“I don’t like that guy.”
“Why? You don’t really like people, right? “This is the first time I’ve seen you say you don’t like someone at the academy.”
“That man has no master.”
“What? “How can that be a reason to dislike it?”
Then Luna sighed and said.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t decide on a lord simply because there is no one worth serving. But now is a time when all kinds of heroes are on the move. From Princess Leonia to Grand Duke Emilia von Cronor, Princess Lucrezia du Flos, there are many talented nobles from Swadiana and Silonia. But what does it mean to not choose a master among them?”
“Are you looking at your liver?”
“The expression is crude, but the meaning is correct. The intention is to guess which side will win and stick with the winning side. A strategist must make his master win, but he is the opposite. He said that he would serve the monarch who fought among the monarchs and won. “How arrogant and cowardly is this?”
Bertolph felt like his heart was being stabbed. That’s because he wanted to do it too, if only he could do it.
“What… Even if I tell you, his cousin is probably closer to that side than me. “He is a person whose personality does not match mine in many ways.”
“Even though you don’t like him, you seem to be very interested in him? “You talk about that guy every day these days, right?”
“What do you mean? I am… “
Luna, who was answering, soon found herself speechless. Because, she thought to herself, she really was. If he just hates me, why is there so much interest in him? Why do I keep looking at him?
“That’s… “
Seeing Luna worrying, Bertolf felt proud. This is because she felt that Luna, who was born later than her and looked at her from above as if she was older than her, gave her a blow.
Luna thought for a while, and soon she came to a conclusion. She says that Charles-Jean-Roche-Paul is of interest to her because she simply hates him.
Luna thought. No, she promised. She said she would never like Charles-Jean-Roche-Paul in her life.
“From now on, I will never talk about that person or have anything to do with him.”
Luna said that, but that promise was soon broken.
From Noble mtl dot com
—–
A month has passed since the cannon and sword testing. Although the Department of Military Management was still weak, Krusenstein’s capabilities as a professor were not that bad. He taught his cadets various elements necessary for a strategist. And thanks to this, the cadets gained quite a few abilities.
This was the same for Charles. As he had never commanded more than 3,000 soldiers, he did not know much about supply or administration when leading a large army. Professor Krusenstein explained that when the cadets later became military officers, In preparation for this, we also diligently taught administration and supply.
‘With this, even if a large-scale battle breaks out, I will be able to fight to some extent.’
Charles thought so, but in fact, there was a separate field that Krusenstein really focused on. That was an internal decision. From the beginning, Krusenstein himself was a desk worker with little skill in war, and instead, he was the type of administrator whose administrative skills were outstanding. To that extent, the cadets who learned from Kruzenstein were also becoming very familiar with administration.
“It is often said that military leadership is a field that must be guided by talent or intuition. They say there is a limit to how high you can rise through effort alone.”
When Kruzenstein said this, Charles thought it was true. There are many mysterious events in history, such as a country bumpkin who lived his entire life as an unemployed person and crawled between the legs of a local gangster, reads a military book, kills the most powerful general in history through war, and becomes king himself, or a low-level administrative officer with a broken desk. There were often absurd incidents, such as suddenly running out alone with a weapon and returning after killing an enemy general. This was evidence that war is greatly influenced by innate talents and senses.
“But administrators are different. Public administration is a field in which you can play your part if you study hard, work hard, and keep your mind calm. Learn and keep working hard. Refine your mind. Then you too will be able to dedicate yourself to your country.”
Charles had no intention of dedicating himself to the country. All he wanted was to go home and play games. It wasn’t a life-threatening game, it was just an ordinary sandbox console game.
“In that sense.”
Professor Krusenstein spoke, and Charles thought he had come. There was an event happening around this time.
“The next exam is for apprenticeship and assistance in actual administration. You will be scattered throughout the empire’s various territories to observe and assist administrators in their work. Inevitably, it will be the local administrators who will evaluate your work.”
And during this test, a big accident happens. Charles was planning to get a good score on the test and prevent accidents.