“Since Young Lord Liolikin will be arriving shortly, we shall begin the discussion regarding the conferment of honors once he arrives. While we wait, please feel free to converse and enjoy some refreshments.”
Fjodra, who had been reading the status window of her Familiar, suddenly seemed concerned about us sitting there blankly and encouraged us to have tea and talk.
However, since I had no desire to chat intimately with the main characters of the Original Work, I simply sipped my tea in silence.
Reysir Daudabina was the same, remaining speechless.
I assumed it was because he didn’t want to engage in personal talk in front of a member of the Imperial Family like Fjodra.
He didn’t even stubbornly tilt his teacup.
Fjodra could only manage a bitter smile as she watched the two of us.
“Nyaong-nya.”
In the end, the first one to reach for the neglected cookies was my lovely baby Dragon.
The admirable Yor didn’t eat them alone; he picked up two and stuffed one into my mouth.
At that moment, Reysir looked over here with an envious expression.
‘Come to think of it, Reysir is the only one here without a Familiar.’
Because a human without a Familiar was a pitiful sight, I tried my best not to put on a boastful face.
However, I couldn’t hold back my affection for Yor. My hand automatically reached toward the baby Dragon.
Over the past few days, thanks to Yon’s care, his fur had become even softer. I was enjoying the sensation of it tickling my palm when…
“Now that I think about it, I recall Princess Ragfrid mentioning that her youngest brother was cute, which is quite unlike someone from House Austri.”
“……?!”
Where did this bolt from the blue come from?
“Did my elder sister really say such a thing to Your Imperial Highness…? Exactly when…. Ah, no. There is no need for an answer.”
Knowing when she said it wouldn’t change anything.
If those words came out recently, it was simply abominable.
And if it was a story from back when the real Karbaldr still existed in this world, it would only leave a bitter taste in my mouth for no reason.
Despite my refusal of an answer for the reasons above, Fjodra insisted on responding to my question.
“It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when. As you may know, has your sister not been in constant contact with me since childhood as a playmate? Consequently, there are many times when we share personal stories.”
“……”
“Your sister is simply not good at expressing herself, but she cherishes you quite a bit.”
I couldn’t exactly agree.
Since her younger brother, with a significant age gap, followed her around everywhere and expressed his affection first, begging for attention.
She might have found that sight quite cute.
However, she only took that satisfaction for herself.
If she didn’t actually give him any attention or express anything back, then that cannot be seen as cherishing him as a younger brother.
‘It’s a treatment not even as good as adoring a strange cat encountered by chance while walking down the street.’
But I couldn’t give voice to such thoughts.
I couldn’t very well complain about my circumstances to the Imperial Princess by accusing her playmate.
Moreover, Reysir was present.
“…I am aware, more or less. Of how my sister regards me.”
Due to etiquette, I couldn’t ignore the words of the Imperial Princess.
Thus, after letting out an ambiguous remark that could be interpreted in various ways and sipping my tea, I saw Reysir shooting me a look full of interest.
He looked like he wanted to tease me, but was restraining himself due to the presence of the Imperial Princess.
“Are you perhaps curious about what else the Princess said regarding the Young Lord?”
Fjodra spoke with a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth.
She did not refer to me with the clear second-person ‘you,’ but addressed me as ‘Young Lord,’ which could be seen as third-person depending on the case.
It wasn’t difficult to grasp the meaning behind this.
Since Reysir had shown interest in the previous conversation.
She likely intended to kill time by talking about ‘Karbaldr.’
Just as I was feeling bewildered by suddenly becoming the topic of conversation.
– Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of knocking interrupted the flow of the conversation.
“The Young Lord of the Trembler family has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
The door opened and Liolikin entered the reception room. Seeing him was an immense relief.
“U-Uh…? P-Perhaps… am I late…?!”
He surely must have come according to the time written on the invitation.
The sight of him stomping his feet in apology was truly classic Liolikin.
“No. I purposefully summoned only you later than the others.”
“Whew… T-Thank goodness. I thought I had mistaken the ti…time, but since that’s not it…. Eh? But… why only me…?”
“First, take a seat.”
“Ye-ep.”
Liolikin sat down next to Reysir, watching Yor—who had proudly taken the seat next to me today as well—with an envious gaze.
A maid then placed a teacup in front of him, poured the tea, and went outside to close the door.
Only then did the Imperial Princess speak again.
“The reason I summoned these two first was to discuss the ‘letters appearing in the air.'”
“Do you m-mean the thing with Stamina, Strength… and various other things written on it?”
“Indeed.”
“B…But why was I left out…?”
“While there is circumstantial evidence that Young Lord Karbaldr and Reysir can see ‘it,’ it wasn’t certain in your case, which is why I did so.”
“C-Circumstantial evidence…?”
Liolikin arriving late was Fjodra’s choice.
Therefore, showing no sign of annoyance at Liolikin’s series of questions, she explained the ‘circumstantial evidence’ in detail.
After hearing it all, Liolikin—
“The fact that I can see it… was I s-supposed to h-hide it? I already t-told my whole family. And it’s not just me. Lord Karbaldr, Reysir, Sister Vigdis, and Hailga… everyone can see it.”
He looked like he was about to cry, not knowing what to do out of guilt.
As he glanced at me, he seemed to think he had made a huge mistake.
However, I didn’t feel any regret at all.
This was not a matter to be troubled by.
‘An Artifact that can confirm if someone is Awakened is scheduled to be created anyway. It’s something that will inevitably be revealed someday…’
In this world’s setting, only an Awakened person can create an entrance to the Demonic Realm, and this is a vital ability for rescue operations.
Thus, in the Original Work, even an Awakened who couldn’t fight was sometimes requested to cooperate and provide support.
If one intentionally hid the fact that they were Awakened and was discovered later, they couldn’t avoid moral condemnation.
Therefore, being known as an Awakened early on wasn’t a loss.
Missing the timing to reveal the status of an Awakened was the bigger problem.
Consequently, I approached the conversation with an indifferent attitude.
“Even so, it’s a wonder the fact that you can see ‘it’ wasn’t known to the Imperial Family.”
“Ah, that. If Lord Karbaldr can see it t-too, then the word would have already reached the Imperial Family…. My father said there was no n-need for him to go all the way to the Capital just to report it. He just stayed home. Since we are a mere Viscount family, not even able to attend the High Noble Council. Is it not truly a relief?”
Liolikin spoke with a bright smile, saying things that would make his family and ancestors weep if they heard.
Fjodra looked at Liolikin with a baffled expression, as if she couldn’t understand his way of thinking at all.
“After speaking with Young Lord Karbaldr, I have concluded that it would be better not to hide ‘it.’ So, do not worry too much…?”
The end of Fjodra’s sentence trailed up, even though it wasn’t a question.
It was enough to make someone find it strange.
Instead of feeling suspicious, Liolikin was busy praising me, saying, ‘Having s-such important discussions with the Imperial Princess, you are amazing!’
It seemed he judged it was better to look good to me, whom he would meet often, rather than worry about the Imperial Princess, whom he might never meet again.
“By the way, to think that all of the Young Lord’s friends can see ‘it’…. It is only natural that the Young Lord thought most people caught in the anomaly could see ‘it’ as well.”
“We aren’t exactly friends, though…”
“Hmm? Young Lord, what did you just say? Your voice was too low to hear.”
“I was just talking to myself. More importantly, have you confirmed how many of the professors can see ‘it’?”
If I didn’t say we weren’t friends, it was obvious that Reysir would smirk and tease me after leaving the Imperial Palace.
But if I denied it too openly, I felt like I would get the question ‘If you aren’t friends, then what is your relationship?’ from Fjodra.
So, after mumbling my denial, I threw out a random question to cover it up…
“Of course. Upon checking, there was exactly one person. Although it seems they were unable to enter the Grand Hall where the Graduation Ceremony was being held.”
“……!”
It turned out not to be just a random question.
Since it was a detail mentioned in passing, many readers might not remember it, so to mention it again:
In chapter 136, I had deduced that ‘besides Skadi, there is at least one other person among the professors who has Awakened.’
However, only one person has Awakened?
“Now that I think about it, Skadi Spilov, this person is also someone close to you. To think such coincidences overlap. At this point, it is even more mysterious why your elder brother cannot see ‘it’.”
That’s because the center of this world inside someone else’s novel is Reysir, not me.
Valtraus never even made an appearance in the Original Work, let alone getting involved with Reysir, so it wasn’t even a topic worth discussing with curiosity.
Therefore, I decided to dig a bit deeper into the fact that no other professor besides Skadi was Awakened.
“Is it not just that she’s the only one who reported it?”
“That is unlikely. Not only were all professors required to write a report regarding the anomaly, but we also used the excuse of checking for health issues after the event to distribute self-diagnosis forms. These forms included items such as physical changes and the presence of hallucinations, and we confirmed the results after collecting them.”
“The possibility that they lied to hide the fact that they have the ability to kill ‘special entities’ in order to avoid responsibility for not stepping up when the monsters appeared…”
“There is absolutely none. The information that only those who see ‘it’ can kill certain monsters is currently known only to me and all of you. If they saw something, they wouldn’t hide it; rather, wouldn’t they use the strange things floating before their eyes as an excuse for being too confused to act?”
“……”
Fjodra’s argument was valid, and that made it even more confusing.
Was it because Reysir defeated the Boss Monster that the need for an ‘Awakened Extrac professor’ vanished, leading to no one else Awakening?
But the Awakening of the Extrac professor should have preceded Reysir killing the Boss Monster?
“Do not worry. Although no other professor has Awakened, this cannot be an excuse to avoid disciplinary action. Even if they couldn’t kill the monsters, they could have stalled for time, yet they didn’t even do that. Neglecting their duty when a student was in danger is a clear case of professional negligence. No excuse will suffice.”
That wasn’t the reason I asked so specifically.
However, since I couldn’t explain the real reason, I decided to just go along with it.
“Not only did they ostracize a fellow professor, but for those who became professors based on their recognized martial prowess to be so busy saving their own skins when danger struck… I was very uncomfortable with the idea of having to learn the martial arts from them. It is a relief to hear Your Imperial Highness confirm it so firmly.”
“I see now that you do not want ‘disciplinary action,’ but ‘dismissal.'”
“Is my life not worth at least that much?”
“How could it not be? I should take this opportunity to expel those with character flaws and recruit fresh talent. To do that, I must seize the authority for personnel reform at the Academy…. I wonder if the Young Lord’s father shares the same view?”
Although the Valhalla Academy is owned by the Imperial Family, Fjodra cannot simply dictate personnel rights at her whim.
She isn’t the only member of the Imperial Family who would want to plant ‘their own people’ in the Empire’s top academy.
‘And regarding this personnel reform agenda, the one who can exercise the strongest voice is undoubtedly Hard!’
As he occupied one of the four pillars of the Empire, his political voice was significant, and he had even gained the additional voice of a ‘father who almost lost his child.’
It was only natural for the Imperial Princess before me to hint to me that she wanted me to speak to my father, the Austri Duke, and ask him to support her.
‘Does Fjodra think Hard would listen if I asked?’
She really seemed to believe what I said in chapter 151—that Hard suggested I rest out of consideration for my hard work.
But unfortunately, Hard did not cherish his youngest son in the slightest.
There was no guarantee he would grant my request.
Furthermore…
Although Ragfrid had been serving as a playmate to the First Imperial Princess, Fjodra, for a long time, Valtraus had close ties with the First Prince’s side.
Hard was currently maintaining neutrality, not taking anyone’s side in the Imperial Family’s succession struggle.
Still, his family’s prestige would suffer if he just watched even when his child almost died, so he wouldn’t throw away the voice he had gained.
Therefore.
“Since he is someone who values my life, he would likely prefer dismissal over disciplinary action. Thus, I believe my father would trust the person who first and most strongly advocates for their dismissal.”
“You are telling me to win him over myself.”
“Is this not a matter that could easily be misunderstood as having political intentions? Therefore, persuading a ‘parent’ in front of everyone will result in less noise.”
─Instead of giving a definite answer that I would secure Hard’s support, I shifted the responsibility to Fjodra to handle it herself.