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Chapter 254: I Am Your Future (4)

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Roks stayed in Apuria for about three more days.

During those three days in Apuria, Roks had light sparring sessions and consultations with the students dreaming of becoming knights, which was a sight that looked quite pleasant from a distance.

It was an invaluable experience for the students to receive advice based on the experiences of a senior who had graduated.

“Good job. You came to sightsee but ended up working,” I said.

“It’s not really work. It was much more enjoyable than teaching the apprentice knights. It’s nice to return to my alma mater after a long time,” Roks replied.

On the fourth day.

As Roks prepared to leave Apuria, he detailed his schedule for Galahal’s visit for me.

“It seems that Lord Galahal will be visiting in about ten days.”

In ten days from now, Galahal would visit.

Roks said that he planned to keep the news secret until the day of the visit.

“Keep it hidden?”

“Yes. Lord Galahal stated he would like to visit quietly this time.”

“Still, it’s going to cause a stir when he arrives.”

It was very rare for a hero to visit the royal capital. Among them, Galahal had almost never come to the capital at all—at least not while I was at the battlefield.

`Is it really unusual for Galahal to come to the capital?`

It was odd for it not to cause a stir.

“Still, this is Apuria,” Roks said with a bitter smile.

“No matter how prestigious the family is, it’s not a place you can just enter using a name. Even the famous masters of the tower need to go through procedures to enter,” he continued.

“Is that so?”

“Are you not a professor at Apuria? I feel like I know less than you do.”

Roks muttered to himself and then let out a short sigh with an “Ah.”

“Come to think of it, Professor Rania is also a lady from a prestigious family. It’s understandable she wouldn’t be concerned about things like this.”

“Huh?”

I blinked in surprise.

…A lady from a prestigious family?

`Is that really how it is?`

Thinking back, it wasn’t entirely incorrect.

Before heading to the battlefield, the Trias family was already well-known in the magical world.

Moreover, I had heard from my master that my achievements on the battlefield had elevated the family’s standing to an absurd degree.

“Now, even the usual families can’t hold a candle to you. It’s surprising, but within the last few years, we’ve reached such a position.”

Achievements earned on the battlefield.

And recently being given the title of the Mage of Ancient Dragons… the Trias family had risen to a position no one could rival.

`I didn’t pay much attention to it, but…`

I roughly understood the situation.

I was momentarily lost in thought before asking Roks a question.

“Do I look like a lady from a prestigious family?”

“Excuse me? If I misspeak, will I be charged with defamation?”

“Just kidding.”

There’s no way a war veteran, especially the right-hand man of Heinkel, would be charged for something like that. Roks seemed to know that too, rubbing the back of his head as he answered.

“You do seem different from other noble ladies. Professor Rania doesn’t leverage her authority and it’s comfortable to converse with her.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, to be honest… she has a considerably different impression from what I associate with nobles.”

Well, I was a commoner, after all.

“What impression is that?”

“Um… you might find it unpleasant, but the impression I associate with nobility is this. Young noble heirs who come to the battlefield often just looking to pad their resumes.”

Ah, I got what he meant.

`Those damn kids who just want to brag about participating in some operation like it’s a trophy.`

There were often brats who treated the battlefield like a way to boost their egos, and those kids usually had a very high chance of being soaked in arrogance.

`Those little bastards.`

Since Roks was also a commoner, he must have experienced harassment by those kinds of kids before.

I smiled bitterly and continued, “Can you imagine me being like those irritating kids?”

“Well, I guess not…”

“Really?”

Roks opened his eyes wide, suddenly interrupted his speech.

His eyes were trembling, and I had no idea about the intended meaning behind that gaze.

“Um, Professor Rania?”

With a shaky voice, Roks asked me.

“What did you just say?”

He looked as if I had just uttered an unexpected word. I blinked for a moment and repeated what I had just said.

“Those irritating brats…”

“Huuuh…”

Roks gasped.

“You can swear too?”

“What did you think of me…?”

He looked utterly shocked, as if his fantasy had just shattered.

2.

“Is it strange if I swear?”

“Excuse me? Now all of a sudden?”

In Kalt’s office.

Kalt, the owner of the office, paused his paperwork and looked at me. His expression was one of astonishment.

“It’s not like your foul mouth is new. When I first met you, I thought you had a rag in your mouth.”

“What the hell?”

“See?”

Kalt clicked his tongue.

“When we first met, you called me a mutt. Now that I mention it, meeting you for the first time was the worst.”

“And you made fun of me for being a pitiful mage.”

“So you punched me, didn’t you?”

“Well, I did hit you a bit.”

“A bit? You call that a bit?”

“What?”

“Ugh…”

Kalt shook his head in disbelief.

His expression said he had no idea why I was even bothering to talk.

“Well, I get the gist of your question. You’re asking whether it’s strange to swear like this, right?”

I nodded.

Roks’s shocked expression reminded me of when I realized that the first Master of the Tower was actually an old, strict elf.

“Yeah, it’s obviously strange.”

Kalt responded as if it was a ridiculous question.

“Back in the day, I could understand you being rough around the edges because you seemed like someone who would tear someone apart if upset. But now, it’s a bit different, isn’t it?”

“Do you feel like you’ve been subtly mocking me?”

“Mocking? That’s slander.”

I shot Kalt a suspicious glance.

`This guy, without a doubt…`

He must still be holding a grudge against the time I knocked him on the head.

“Anyway, it would definitely surprise anyone if you swore with your current demeanor, including Lord Galahal. If you’re curious, go ahead and try it. I’m curious too.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?”

“Yes, it is.”

Maybe I should tone it down.

Though, I don’t think I’m that bad.

`Am I normal enough?`

I might be a bit rough with Sara and Remia, but those two, well…

“Right now, are you thinking ‘Am I normal enough?’”

“Uh… what?”

I shivered.

Suddenly, I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Uh… what are you, some kind of mind-reader?”

“Clearly, I’m just good at observing people.”

Kalt looked at me with half-open eyes.

“I’ve told you multiple times, you’re not normal…”

“Are you mocking me?”

The moment I clenched my fist.

Kalt, startled, hurriedly slid a stack of papers towards me. I narrowed my eyes and glared at Kalt.

“Th-these are the documents you asked for.”

“……”

“Uh… I’ve organized them well.”

Letting out a short sigh, I picked one of the stacked papers. These papers were all reports investigating missions with a certain hero participating.

“I’ve arranged the missions that Lord Galahal participated in chronologically.”

“What did you find?”

“Nothing yet.”

We both thought that while there was nothing yet, something would surely come up.

Galahal wouldn’t have chosen to retire without a reason.

`It wouldn’t even make sense to say he was heartbroken or had changed his loyalties.`

This was the Galahal who, even after losing all his comrades, would head back to the battlefield without shedding a tear. His sudden retirement had a lot of strange aspects.

`It seems necessary to look into it.`

I organized the documents and tucked them into my robe.

“I’ll check these out slowly. And…”

I turned my gaze to the calendar.

Kalt also looked at the calendar and spoke.

“Tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

The day Galahal was scheduled to visit Apuria was just a day away.

3.

The spear-wielding Galahal would come to Apuria.

The news of Galahal’s visit was made public three days before his arrival. Naturally, letters expressing wishes to visit flooded in from everywhere… but the doors of Apuria remained closed.

Apuria is a hub of education.

The principle of completely prohibiting visits from outsiders was no exception, even for the most prestigious families.

So, did that make Apuria quiet?

If you were to ask that, the answer would be no.

Sitting by the café window, I watched students walking around the streets. Usually, these students would drag their feet like the undead, but now they hurriedly walked with lively steps.

Their spirits were high.

Listening closely to the voices of the students passing by, I could hear Galahal’s name mentioned multiple times.

`While Kyle is the most symbolic hero…`

Galahal is no joke either.

After all, a hero’s visit was something that could excite the students. Heroes were that special of a presence.

`But if I had to pick the one most excited out of all of them…`

I slightly turned my head.

There sat a girl next to me, staring intently at her notebook. If I looked closely, I could see traces where she had cut and pasted articles about knights.

『Spear-wielder, Galahal. Who is he?』

『The most heroic hero there is.』

『He is light!』

『If Kyle Toven symbolizes victory, then Galahal…』

Just looking at those articles made me cringe.

“Come on, have some coffee while you’re at it. It’s gotten cold.”

I knocked on the cold coffee cup. The girl finally lifted her head to look at me.

“But, Professor Rania…!”

“Oh, Chloe.”

“Lord Galahal will be coming soon…!”

Chloe, a candidate for the next hero, grabbed my sleeve with shining eyes.

“A hero is actually coming to Apuria! That kind of meeting is really rare…! A hero!”

Hey, you’re a hero too.

I swallowed the words that were about to spill out and forced a grin instead.

“Excited, are we?”

“Yes! So much!”

“Is that for gathering all the knight articles?”

I pointed at the notebook Chloe had been reading.

Chloe nodded vigorously.

“Yes! Articles about Lord Galahal, Lord Kyle, and… also articles about Lord Destel!”

“The thickness is insane.”

“Of course, I’ve gathered articles about other figures too. Um, let’s see…”

Chloe flipped through the notebook excitedly.

“There are articles about Professor Rania too… Oh, here’s one about Lady Raniel as well!”

“Oh…”

Chloe spread her notebook open in front of me.

I sipped my coffee while glancing at the articles.

『The sage was a name crafted solely for ‘him’.』

『What are the limits of the great Ashen Mage?』

『Even the ancient lich fears him.』

『His brilliance is feared even by ancient liches!』

“Wow…”

As I read, admiration slipped from my lips involuntarily.

Isn’t coming up with titles like that a talent in itself? Those titles are absurdly cheap, yet for some reason, they caught my eye repeatedly.

`I feel… good…`

I hated to admit it, but my lips curled up slightly.

“That’s not untrue.”

It was true that the skeletal goblin would get startled when it saw me, so I could certainly say it was feared.

“Right? The Ashen Mage is… ”

Looking at Chloe’s innocent smile somehow made me feel guilty, so I shifted my gaze to the window.

While I was staring out the window like that…

The footsteps of the students walking by stopped.

Their gazes turned to one place, and soon their feet began to move toward where their looks landed.

“Looks like he’s arrived.”

It didn’t take long for the crowd to gather. Watching the street turning lively in an instant, I slowly stood up.

“Let’s go, Chloe.”

“Ah, yes!”

Chloe sprang to her feet in a hurry.

As soon as we stepped out of the café, I grabbed the back of Chloe’s neck, who was about to dash into the crowd with her notebook in hand.

“Not that way.”

“Eh? But the crowd is that way…”

I pointed in the opposite direction.

It was the path leading to the forest.

“We’re going that way.”

*