The academy was still quiet since break hadn’t ended yet. If it were during the semester, it would have been a peaceful night when students would eat dinner and each enjoy their own time.
Mahoff, who was in charge of all magic-related courses at the Imperial Academy, was drafting a class schedule in his office when he lifted his head at the sound of presence coming from afar.
However, the presence disappeared in an instant and outside remained quiet. Mahoff took a sip of coffee and looked at the window.
“…Am I imagining things?”
Was it because the early summer night was too quiet? Suddenly he missed things that normally felt annoying.
For instance, the sound of male students bragging to each other to feel their muscles, or the sound of female students chatting softly while taking walks.
“It’ll get noisy soon, but somehow I feel empty.”
Usually everything was bothersome, but still, his job being professor, he smiled contentedly at the thought of the students and stood up from his seat.
That’s when it happened. Mahoff stiffened as he felt the flow of mana rippling noisily outside.
“…I knew someone was there.”
The moment he parted his lips to chant a spell at the ominous energy, the office door burst open and several soldiers rushed in. They knocked Mahoff to the floor and roughly pinned him down.
“…Khuh!”
“Mahoff Judre! You are under arrest for the crime of attempting to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince!”
At those words, Mahoff’s eyes widened as he struggled on the floor. At the same time, the books scattered in the office began fluttering like birds and attacking the soldiers. With the opportunity created by that attack, Mahoff immediately got up and chanted a spell.
A large vortex of wind surged from inside, sweeping away everything in the room and striking the intruders.
“Kwaak! Catch him!”
“The wind is too strong! Uwak! Watch out in front!”
Large furniture like desks and chairs got caught in the vortex and attacked the soldiers. In that gap, as Mahoff tried to rush out the door, more soldiers blocked his way. He snapped his fingers and chanted a spell again.
But this time nothing happened. While the flustered Mahoff slowly backed away, the soldiers roughly pushed forward and captured and bound him.
“Krgh! I didn’t do anything! Let go! I didn’t do anything!”
However, the soldiers paid no heed and bound his hands and feet with thick rope and even gagged him. A man in priestly robes approached the bound Mahoff with a smile. It was Heiss Eurofield, Mahoff’s academy classmate.
“Hello, Mahoff.”
“Krgh!”
“Rope imbued with divine power, so magic doesn’t work on it, what to do. You know too. That before divine power, most magic is useless.”
– Thud!
Heiss stomped his foot hard right next to Mahoff’s face. Mahoff kept squirming but it was useless as the soldiers beside him were restraining him.
“To think you, my closest friend, tried to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince, it’s truly frightening. You were the one who came out from the academy to greet us during this Homecoming too.”
“……!”
“Right. Come to think of it, it’s strange. An excellent mage who could break through the academy’s sacred barrier was right next to me, yet I wasted time catching innocent people.”
“Krgh! Krggh!”
At those words, Mahoff went wild and moved. Mana began gathering around Mahoff, but soon dispersed again. Even so, he kept squirming while gathering mana.
“Remember when we were at the academy? We were both commoners, but you were a talented person who handled mana well and I was just a kid who enrolled with a commoner’s subsidy. I studied until my nose bled late at night, sucked up to people, and worked hard, but was always ignored and trampled. I was so upset. But you always surpassed me, and because of that great mana ability of yours, even nobles couldn’t treat you carelessly.”
“……!”
“To think wealth and ability are determined from birth, what could be more despairing than that. That’s why I prayed to the Lord God every day. Please, just for one day. I prayed every day to live comfortably just for one day.”
The resisting Mahoff’s eyes turned red, but as the soldiers covered Mahoff’s face with burlap, even that became invisible.
“Then, really. I received the Lord God’s grace. Isn’t it ridiculous. When divine power twice as strong as others manifested in me, suddenly nobles bowed their heads to me. To me, a mere commoner! That’s when I realized. The hardships until then were trials given by the Lord God. And I passed them!”
Heiss began giggling as if mocking him.
“Did you think you could become something if you harmed His Highness the Crown Prince while we were briefly wavering? Do you think I’d simply let go of power I worked so hard to obtain?”
Kekeke. The small giggling soon turned into a loud, bizarre laugh.
“That’s why you should have received the Lord God’s grace too. What could a mere mage do, walking around with your head held so high? Isn’t it funny? Kuhahaha!”
Mahoff had already been dragged away by the soldiers. However, Heiss remained for a while in that now-empty office that had become a mess in an instant, bursting into loud laughter.
* * *
Having crossed the Principality’s border by carriage, we were briefly waiting to take the teleport to where the academy was. I was playing with Mitche in a corner.
“Mitche, do something cute.”
“Pyo~.”
Mitche’s eyes sparkled as he tilted his head this way and that. I don’t know who he takes after to be this cute. I put a Pillsbury in Mitche’s mouth and requested again.
“Do something even cuter.”
“Ppyo!”
I melted all over again at Mitche who grinned while doing a flower calyx pose.
“It’s art! Our Mitche is the prettiest! Our Mitche could be an idol, no, a bard!”
“Chuu. Chu.”
Mitche stretched out his short arms and stuck out his lips. It seemed like he was asking for a kiss, so I hugged him and smooched his lips and cheeks. Mitche giggled and snuggled into me. To think he’s a byproduct of Cesare and me, he’s an even more lovable creature.
“Lionel. We’re going to teleport now. What are you doing over there?”
“Yeah. There was a cute ant so I was watching it.”
“The ant is cute? Sometimes you’re hard to understand.”
As I dusted myself off and stood up because Cesare came to get me, Mitche flew over and sat on his shoulder. Then he pointed at Cesare, stuck out his lips, and started going chu-chu again.
“Chu! Chuu!”
These days, Mitche whined like this whenever he saw Cesare. From what I could guess, it seemed like he was telling me to kiss Cesare.
‘No. Don’t throw a tantrum.’
I slightly shook my head with a smile so only Mitche would notice. Then Mitche immediately laid down flat and waved his arms and legs, throwing a tantrum.
“Ppappa! Chuuu! Chu!”
“Hm? Something on my shoulder… Is it the wind?”
When Cesare felt something strange and brushed off his shoulder, Mitche rolled and fell to the ground. Perhaps feeling wronged for falling with a thud, Mitche whimpered and soon burst into loud tears.
“Huwah… Ppaaa!”
But what won’t work won’t work. Mitche, you live here crying. Mom, no, I’m going. You have to nip kids’ tantrum habits in the bud.
When I stuck to Cesare’s side and left, Mitche followed while crying squeakily and grabbing my pant leg. Well, it’s not like he’s asking me to buy him a toy, I don’t know why he’s throwing a tantrum about kissing Cesare.
Ignoring Mitche, I approached where the excursion group students were gathered. And with a beaming smile equipped, I parted the guys standing in line. No, I cleared them out.
“Hey, friends. Doesn’t it look better if Young Duke of Yanox goes first? Move those butts!”
“Who’s pushing! Hieek. It’s Yanox. G-go first!”
“Thanks. We’ll go first~.”
“The guy cutting in line… Ah, it’s juniors Mellans and Yanox. Stand in front!”
“Thank you, senior!”
I absolutely couldn’t let Cesare stand in line with other ordinary guys. Having pushed past all the guys like that, the only person we couldn’t push past stood before us. Royalty, no, the imperial family’s Cedric.
Seeing us, Cedric smiled and gestured forward.
“So it’s you two. Ah, since junior Yanox was very active this time, shall I yield the front?”
“No need. Senior should always go in front. As always, continuously. All the way. Until the end of life.”
Cesare’s answer, which took the initiative before me, sounded as chilling as ‘go to the underworld first too.’
“Oh, no. I’m sorry because I was very rude to you during the last Homecoming. Since I heard the news that the culprit was caught today, let me formally apologize to you, junior. Sorry for making you out to be the culprit.”
“The culprit was caught?”
When I asked in surprise, Cedric smiled gently at me and answered.
“Yeah. They said they took him into custody two days ago. I just received word from the Imperial Guard.”
Cesare and I exchanged glances and shared our mutual confusion.
“Who is it?”
“Sorry, but that’s imperial confidential information so I can’t disclose it.”
“By any chance, is it a mage?”
Cesare asked point-blank. My heart pounded anew at the sight of Cesare watching Cedric’s expression and reaction as if probing the enemy’s weakness.
‘A man who’s good at his work is just so sexy.’
“Well, as you guessed. They were a mage with quite excellent skills. It pains my heart that they used magic to harm me.”
“Is that why you canceled all the magic lectures because you became afraid of magic?”
“Your information is quick. But that was a matter being considered since the beginning of this year. Complaints were raised that the fact that the Imperial Academy, which believes in the Lord God, kept teaching magic might be blasphemy.”
“You must be afraid. Because the white dog you’re raising got sick.”
A moment of silence flowed. The white dog must mean the shrine. Only Jayden tilted his head, not understanding what was being said. Cedric’s face, which had stiffened slightly, smoothed out and he let out a laugh.
“…Ha! What a joke!”
“I hope you were satisfied with my joke. And just because your dog is sick, I hope you won’t covet the dog I’m raising.”
“If it’s your dog, it was wagging its tail here and there.”
“It used to wag its tail everywhere when it was a puppy, but these days I’ve trained it well. It’s such a smart one that now it acts cute only for its owner, asking to be loved.”
He tousled my hair. It seemed Cesare’s dog was me. Having understood the ‘dog metaphor,’ I stuck out my lip and expressed my dissatisfaction to Cedric.
“Senior, I never wagged my tail just anywhere.”
“Phew. Even though it’s become an adult dog, it’s a bit troublesome that it’s still like a puppy.”
‘Cesare, am I troublesome to you?’ I looked at him with teary eyes.
“Troublesome. Very troublesome.”
Cesare slightly pinched my cheek as if showing off to Cedric. He seemed to want to clearly show that he had a grip on Mellans’s financial lifeline. Understanding that meaning, I stuck close to Cesare until we boarded the teleport, chatting away softly.
And whether it worked properly, Cedric’s expression remained cheerless all the way until we returned to the academy.
