Chapter 31: Rumors (1)

I was in mortal peril.

I had no idea what ridiculous rumor Pascal had heard, or whether he had come up with some strange notion all on his own.

“Um, Professor. I can’t use Aura. Just look at the faces of the students watching us.”

At my heartfelt plea, every student watching nodded in unison. At this moment, at least, they were dependable allies.

“Ahaha.”

Pascal laughed. It was a very dry laugh.

Then he gazed steadily at me, his lips curling into a smile.

“Liar.”

Something about that felt off. No, familiar. I had seen that manner and heard that tone somewhere before.

Who had it been?

“Here I come!”

Pascal called out brightly, as though announcing the start of a game.

Then his terrifying Aura sword skimmed past my face.

‘Th-this lunatic of a teacher!’

I drew Neil Jacques’s Short Sword. The real one, of course.

CLANG! CLANG!

My sword clashed with Pascal’s Aura. Metallic clangs rang out in succession.

“Wow! You have a fine sword there, Frondier!”

Pascal sounded utterly carefree. Meanwhile, every attack sent a chill down my spine.

Made of unbreakable steel, this short sword was far stronger and more durable than ordinary weapons. Its Eternal Edge trait also prevented the sword itself from deteriorating.

But if it took more damage than it could withstand, it could break outright.

Until then, it would always remain in perfect condition, but once pushed past its limit, it would shatter completely.

In game terms, imagine a sword with 100 durability that performed exactly as well at 1 durability as it did at 100.

‘Just what does this teacher think I’m capable of?!’

There was no killing intent in Pascal’s attacks. Only mischief.

Each strike was focused on putting me in a difficult position, as though urging me to hurry up and counter with Aura.

But a stone thrown in jest could still kill a frog.

And right now, I was very much the goddamn frog.

‘Ugh!’

CLAAANG!

My short sword shuddered under the Aura’s impact. Thank goodness my training with Atzier had gotten me fairly accustomed to combat.

But this teacher seemed to have no sense of restraint. If I didn’t respond properly, I really was going to die.

“Come on! Bring it out already! Enough playing coy, Frondier!”

CLANG!

“...!”

Pascal forced his Aura inside my guard and knocked my sword aside.

My sword arm swung outward, leaving my chest exposed. Seizing that opening, Pascal’s Aura shot mercilessly straight at me.

Damn it.

Fabrication

Grade - Unique

Neil Jacques’s Short Sword

CRAAANG!

I wove a short sword in my other hand and knocked Pascal’s Aura aside with a parry.

The watching students gasped.

“F-Frondier really is using Aura...!”

“I couldn’t believe it, but it’s true!”

No, I’m not, you idiots!

Actually, it was probably better if they thought that!

“... Uh, hmm?”

As expected, Pascal tilted his head at the unexpected sight.

Something invisible had knocked his Aura aside.

To ordinary eyes, neither was visible anyway, so they looked like the same thing. But not to Pascal. He could see Aura. My woven short sword, on the other hand, was truly invisible.

The students were some distance away and seemed to think they had missed my Aura because it had appeared so briefly. Pascal, however, would feel that something was profoundly wrong.

“Hmm. All right, then, for now. Return to your seat, Frondier.”

“... Yes, sir.”

I turned away, struggling to appear composed.

‘Who’s the bastard behind this?’

Pascal might be the Brat, but he wasn’t stupid or reckless. He was simply far too driven and curious.

In other words, something had prompted him to act that way.

‘I don’t know who spread what rumor, but Pascal must believe it for a reason. Something that would make him believe I can use Aura...’

That train of thought led me to a realization.

I remembered what Grobel had told me in Teibeon.

[“That bastard Gregory is the problem.”]

[“You didn’t know? Gregory went to Serf’s place without knowing he was dead and got spotted. Well, it was the crow he was controlling that got spotted. They’re looking for him, but they haven’t caught him yet.”]

[“Don’t forget! My brother! My little brother, Rockbel! Please don’t forget him! I did everything I could!”]

Grobel had been worried about his younger brother, Rockbel. Worried that Gregory might approach him.

My conversation with Grobel had revealed that Serf had mistakenly believed I could use Aura during the cabin incident. Gregory, who had supplied Serf with information, had been mistaken from the start.

In other words, Gregory was likely the one who had given Pascal that information.

It was still only a hypothesis.

To verify it—

“Selena.”

I whispered to Selena beside me. Since she was on the combat track, she was taking the same class.

“Yes?”

“Look into Rockbel. There was a young boy involved in the cabin incident. His name is Rockbel. Find out where he lives now and whether he’s safe. If possible, check whether someone named Gregory has contacted him.”

Selena would have received most of her information about me from the Ten Thousand Capes. She would know what I meant by the cabin incident.

“Understood.”

As expected, she answered without further questions.

It looked like I would be keeping my promise to Grobel sooner than I had expected.

* * *

After school.

These days, Quinier, head of the Biet Family, had plenty to worry about even on her way home.

Now that she was in the second semester of her third year, she had to think about life after graduation.

“Is it really worth worrying about so much? You can just run your family and live comfortably.”

Her friend Anne, walking beside her, chided her. Anne couldn’t quite understand what Quinier had to worry about when she was already the head of her family and her future should have been settled.

“If I were going to spend my life as just a merchant, I wouldn’t have come to Constel.”

“Hmm...?”

Quinier had a dream.

Her family, the Biets, had once been on the verge of ruin. She had become its head because she had turned its fortunes around through her own efforts.

But why had the Biet Family nearly fallen in the first place?

‘A family that only chases money has no strength.’

Quinier believed the Biet Family had fallen because it lacked the strength to protect itself.

Before she became its head, the Biet Family had tried to arrange even its protection and defenses through diplomacy with other families. In short, it had tried to trade financial benefits for military protection.

It had sought to bolster its defenses by paying for other families’ knightly orders, independent knights, and, when necessary, mercenary companies.

At first, there had been no particular problems. As long as the transactions remained fair, the family’s defenses were sound.

The trouble began when the knightly orders or families the Biets had paid joined hands with hostile families seeking their downfall.

Without the strength to protect themselves, the Biets could not escape coercion by force.

It was like negotiating with someone holding a sword to their throat. Naturally, it could never go well.

‘The other families are still being cautious for now, but there’s no telling when it might happen again.’

That was why she had to prove herself. If she, as the family’s head, became strong enough, they wouldn’t dare meddle with her family again.

If she graduated from Constel, defeated monsters, and earned enough distinction, knights would flock to her family. Then she could establish a knightly order under its command.

“The question is whether to become a professional or aim for a knighthood...”

As a professional, she would receive missions, but she would have some freedom to choose which ones to accept. That meant she could carry them out while continuing her duties as head of the family.

However, simply becoming a professional meant little in itself, so building up the necessary achievements would take time.

A knighthood, on the other hand, would earn her the recognition of neighboring families as soon as she received it, and make it easier to attract other knights. It was not uncommon for the head of a family to serve as commander of its knightly order.

The question was whether she—and the Biet Family—currently had the resources to pursue that path.

“Did you hear that rumor?”

Just then, something else caught Quinier’s ear. Two female students were walking along, chatting. She listened briefly, but it was nothing important: who had confessed their feelings to whom, and the like.

“There seems to be a lot of gossip going around lately.”

Quinier knew about the eye-catching rumors circulating recently. As a merchant, she naturally valued information, and most of it, down to the smallest details, found its way to her.

“It’s a new semester. And a lot of incredibly promising students enrolled this year.”

“I envy the young.”

“Yes. Those children who are two whole years younger than us.”

Anne answered with a chuckle.

Quinier generally welcomed an abundance of rumors. Sometimes she could glean important information from them. Sorting truth from falsehood was part of her job, too.

But...

‘Lately, I think there might be too many.’

Even with the new semester and the exploits of so many promising first-years, there was something strange about how many completely unrelated rumors were also spreading.

The recent rumors were scattered and entirely disconnected in content.

It gave her the sense that someone was deliberately manipulating them.

“...!”

Then Quinier stopped walking.

A large magical notice covered one wall of the corridor she and Anna were passing through.

Magical notices required neither paper nor pen. Instead, words were written on walls using the glow of mana.

The scrawled writing looked like someone’s malicious prank at a glance. Yet the notice was absurdly large, filling every bit of empty wall space.

Its contents left Quinier rooted to the spot, staring.

[Quinier de Biet has an extreme phobia of corpses.]

[Quinier de Biet did not enroll at Constel to improve her skills. She is hiding at Constel.]

“Ha.”

Beside her, Anne let out a derisive laugh tinged with a sigh. She spoke up so Quinier wouldn’t worry needlessly.

“Well, with so much gossip going around, some ridiculous rumors are bound to crop up.”

“...”

“Quinier?”

Anne had dismissed it as a baseless rumor.

But Quinier’s expression said otherwise.

Quinier clenched her hand, relaxed it, then clenched it again.

It was a habit she had developed to hide her trembling.

* * *

Two days later.

I listened to Selena’s report at the mansion.

Only a few days had passed since I had asked her to investigate Rockbel, but she had apparently finished already.

“Lord Frondier. Before I report, there is something I would like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Can you trust my report?”

Selena was a member of the Ten Thousand Capes. Mutual suspicion was inevitable.

I had told her to betray them, but that agreement had been entirely one-sided. Selena could refuse if she wanted to, and I had no way of knowing whose side she had chosen.

Still, I felt a certain conviction that Selena would become my ally. And even if she didn’t, that was fine.

As long as she wanted to know who she was and return to her family, she had no choice but to comply with my demands.

I had ordered her to be selective about what she reported to the Ten Thousand Capes concerning me. In fact, she was already following that order. She hadn’t told them about the ancient language.

“I trust you.”

“...”

“I have no reason not to. At least in this matter, you have no reason to lie to me.”

“... Understood.”

Selena gave a deep nod.

“First, Rockbel is safe.”

With those opening words, Selena began her report.