The sll of tal filled the air, stinging my nostrils. I was hamring away, working on so scrap tal.
Clang!
Sweat ford on my forehead. I took a break, sitting down to gather my thoughts.
[Fella of Loss]
Rockefeller easily sealed away any thoughts of the body he lost. The location of the seal was kept a secret for security reasons, and I was also sworn to silence for the sa reasons. Rockefeller emphasized multiple tis,
– If you reveal what happened today, I will follow you to the ends of hell and destroy you.
His wariness stemd from the Forbidden Library. It was Rockefeller who taught a student like its location, essentially putting his life in my hands. Even so, knowing that he wielded such strange magic, I didn’t plan on exploiting it. I feared that provoking him could lead to my brain being magically altered. Besides, he was a magician like , belonging to a peculiar group.
Rockefeller had reached an unknown level. It would be a waste to get rid of him now. Instead, I did receive so compensation for my efforts.
– Wasn’t that tough work? Anything for ?
-…You can use the cafeteria for free for three months.
-Is that all?
Perhaps feeling guilty, Rockefeller offered sothing decent.
-Tch. Fine, if you cause any trouble next ti, I’ll pardon you once.
So, I received three months of al tickets and a pardon. And one very small favor.
That was the outco and the reward. Now, it was ti to piece together the cause of this incident.
The start of the incident was undoubtedly Leana being brainwashed, sothing she would normally never have succumbed to. She had a strong will, determined to beco a knight against her family’s opposition. How did she end up consud by thoughts?
The answer was surprisingly simple to find. In the Hall of mories, aside from observing the painting of the hospital room, I also paid close attention to a painting of Leana’s room.
The content of the letter I read there would have shaken anyone’s ntal state. Leana read it with anticipation, hoping for her father’s approval, only to find it full of hateful talk about Hersel. On top of that, the thoughts, sensing an opportunity, crumpled her armor, which she cherished and believed in. The incident of it being thrown out the window brutally crushed her spirit.
Losing to the Schlaphe House on top of that likely plunged her into despair and doubt. Was this path right? Had she made an irreversible choice?
Despite that, she unconsciously struggled to escape the comfortable illusion, driven by her unfulfilled desire. It was just that Feldira’s tricks made her forget what her dream was.
So, if we pinpoint the cause clearly…
It’s who brought this body, which should have been dead, to this point.
But what can I do? Enrolling wasn’t a cri.
“Well, shall we continue?”
The scrap tal I had been hamring was actually Leana’s armor, which I had picked up from the junkyard. There wasn’t any particular reason. It was just a piece of armor she held on to until the end of the story, and I thought it might cause a variable if it was missing, so I decided to fix it just in case.
Clang!
After a few more strikes, it looked pretty good. Well, that’s just my amateur opinion.
Satisfied, I took out the skull I had brought from the mansion.
– Hmm? What’s that?
‘This?’
[Cursed Giant’s Skull]
● Attribute: Curse.
Objects hit by light shrink. Shrunken objects return to normal when exposed to light again.
A trophy from the first assassin. Now that I was a magician, I could handle it.
“I thought I’d make a miniature.”
– Mi-miniature? What’s that…?
“It’s a thing.”
I aid the skull at the chest armor and recalled the words Leana had engraved on it when she was full of girlish dreams.
[Let’s beco a knight.]
It didn’t matter if it was unreadable. That sentence was already deeply engraved in her heart.
* * *
When Leana opened my eyes, she was in the infirmary again, surrounded by white furniture and sheets. Leana hurriedly got up, wondering if the sa things were repeating.
“Ah.”
Her muscles ached, especially her wrists. She had never been this injured before, so this must be reality. Still, why did her eyes keep drifting to the infirmary entrance?
Even now, it feels like a man in plain clothes with simple shoes might cross the threshold.
‘Could all those things have been dreams?’
The new pains couldn’t be explained away so easily. Those vivid mories were too real to be dreams.
Leana placed her numb legs on the floor and struggled to get up.
“Le-Leana, you shouldn’t be moving yet.”
The dical professor approached, trying to stop her. Her knees buckled at his touch. Just as she was about to voice her confusion, the sound of footsteps echoed from afar.
“Ah, so you’ve awakened, Leana Rel Derevian.”
Rockefeller, with a bruise around his eye, glared nacingly. The dical professor, embarrassed by his presence, quietly retreated.
“I just rembered sothing urgent I need to attend to.”
As the professor left, Rockefeller pointed his staff at her neck.
“I don’t want to do this, but this is his request.”
His face was full of humiliation.
“I’ll cast a healing spell, so relax.”
Warm light seeped from the tip of his staff into Leana’s body. The tingling pain remained, but the numbness in her wrists and muscle aches significantly subsided. Leana looked up at Rockefeller and asked innocently,
“Why is your eye like that?”
Rockefeller, looking baffled, gritted his teeth and muttered, ‘This girl…’
“You don’t need to know that! Instead, tell exactly what you rember from yesterday. Every detail.”
“Rember?”
Leana blinked and explained everything to Rockefeller. How Feldira had invaded the hospital room, how she was deceived and trapped in the past in a daze. She also described the man who ca into her mory of the hospital room.
“He had black hair, plain clothes, and wore a unique watch on his left wrist.”
“A watch on the wrist? Can sothing like that even be attached to the wrist?”
“Who was that man?”
When Leana asked, Rockefeller’s eye twitched.
“You don’t need to know.”
His reaction confird that the man was a real person.
“Then, who was the person that asked the professor to help ?”
“Leana Rel Derevian, do you think a student like you can question ?”
‘Is it so strange for a student to ask a professor a question?’
“Stop these pointless thoughts. Focus on recovering and attending classes.”
‘If he wouldn’t answer, I would find another way.’
So, she called out to Rockefeller, who was about to leave.
“Professor, there’s sothing important I need to say.”
“What is it?”
Leana took a deep breath and spoke with a serious expression.
“I don’t think I deserve to stay in the Adelle Hall. I’ll move to the Buerger Hall and start from the bottom again.”
The position didn’t matter when it ca to practicing the sword. Recognizing one’s inadequacies and striving to improve was the true path of a knight. As long as she didn’t lose the spirit of becoming a knight, she could always overco obstacles.
But unexpectedly, Rockefeller said sothing different.
“No, you are a fitting mber of the Adelle Hall.”
As he rubbed his bruised eye, he seed to rember sothing and exclaid,
“Ah.”
He threw a small box onto the bed.
“This is sothing that person wanted you to have.”
Ignoring Rockefeller as he left, Leana carefully opened the small box. Inside was a glass bottle with a miniature armor in it, still bearing its distinct engraving despite being badly dented.
“…This is.”
It had been so long. Her face, usually set like a mask, broke into a broad smile.
-You still want to beco a knight? I’ll be cheering you on from afar.
Leana hugged the glass bottle close to her chest. Just then, professors began entering the infirmary in droves, each wearing a wary expression.
“Huh!”
“Ugh.”
“Argh.”
Their faces were pale, and their behavior was strange. So even had their hands on their sword hilts…
Leana blinked, pretending to be oblivious.
‘Why are they acting like that?’
* * *
I walked briskly towards the dining hall. With the al tickets, I could choose anything. It made sense to pick the most expensive item.
Today, as usual, the woman who worked at the Schlaphe Hall’s dining hall greeted the regulars.
“The usual, please.”
“I’ll bring it right over, miss.”
The attendants here were personal servants who had followed the freshn. In Frostheart, nothing was free, so even the servants had to work like this. However, since only elites were sent from the families, the food and service quality were top-notch.
Once the line cleared, I handed my al ticket to the dining hall lady.
“The most expensive one.”
She looked at the al ticket, then waved her hands in surprise.
“Ah, no. You can’t use that here, sir.”
“What do you an I can’t use it?”
“That’s for the dining hall managed by the Adelle Hall only…”
In the end, it was a wasted trip. I had no choice but to head back to the castle.
When I entered and ascended the floors, a professor blocked my path.
“I haven’t seen you before. Only Adelle Hall mbers can enter here. Show your student ID.”
…Are they telling not to use my al tickets?
Just then, a professor next to him saw my face and spoke to the one blocking .
His lips were bruised.
“This is Hersel Ben Tenest. Professor Rockefeller has given his approval, so rember his face.”
“Pr-Professor Rockefeller?”
To professors, Rockefeller was an awe-inspiring and fearso presence. Just hearing his na made the professor smile and grant entry.
“Hahaha, please go ahead. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Thus, I smoothly entered the dining hall managed by the Adelle Hall. Just stepping on the carpet made the grand doors automatically open. Inside, there was a chandelier sparkling above, swans carved from ice, and tables covered with expensive wooden furniture and snow-white linens like an opera house.
A man who seed to be a waiter looked over and squinted his eyes.
“Excuse , young sir, but may I ask what brings you here?”
My clothes must have seed suspicious to him. They were originally expensive, but living here had faded them, and they were now wrinkled and worn. Even Selly’s diligent washing couldn’t fix that.
“I’m here to eat.”
“Excuse once more, but may I ask how much coin you have?”
I showed the waiter my al ticket. He gasped and hurried towards the kitchen. About ten seconds later, he returned with a sowhat tense deanor and guided .
“Hmm.”
The table he led to was quite surprising. It was the longest table, with a particularly different, well-cushioned chair. Moreover, it was located in a pri spot with a view of the landscape outside the window and the paintings on the wall.
…This was a VIP seat, rare even during gaplay.
I never imagined the al ticket Rockefeller gave would be valuable enough to sit here.
“Senior, that table…”
The Adelle Hall mbers eating there began to murmur.
“Why is he sitting there?”
“That seat is not just for anyone. The nu there is different. The base price is at least 800 coins.”
“800 coins?!”
Three months’ allowance from Adelle Hall for one al; no wonder they were surprised.
The waiter opened a nu with a gold cover in a refined manner.
“The standard is a course al. What would you like to order?”
“The most expensive one.”
“It will take so ti. But once you taste it, you’ll understand why it’s worth it. Please look forward to it.”
Confidently, he left, and about an hour later, the food began arriving.
“Sorry for the wait.”
The waiter brought a waitress along to carefully place each dish on the table. There were so many that the table legs seed ready to break.
When he opened each lid, the aroma made my mouth water.
“This is the finest coq au vin, made from the highest quality turkeys.”
The sweet sauce and perfect cooking were incredibly delicious. It was comparable to the food I had at the Tenest mansion.
“Hmm, the slight tanginess eliminates any greasiness.”
As I savored the al with formality, the Adelle Hall mbers watching started to gulp and ignore their own food.
“This is bouillabaisse, made from fresh fish delivered directly by a magician.”
After devouring the dishes one by one and finishing the al, I started to rise from my seat. The waiter, surprised, asked why I was getting up so soon and ntioned that the course al wasn’t over yet.
“Was the al not to your satisfaction?”
“It’s not that…”
“Ah, just a concern then. Please wait a little longer as more dishes are on their way. We’ll also bring dessert when you’re nearly done.”
The plates were cleared, and more food arrived.
…These guys seed to enjoy a bit of food torture.
Just as I wondered how to handle this, the dining hall door opened, and Erucel walked in.
I waved lightly at him, and he asked in surprise,
“B-Brother, what are you doing here?”
“Ah, perfect timing. Sit down. Let’s have a al together.”
“Are you crazy? Eating with you?”
“Suit yourself.”
I had intended to treat him since the lady of the house asked, but…
[Take care of Erucel, Hersel.]
However, as soon as the new dish’s lid was lifted, Erucel’s eyes lit up and he started drooling.
“Fine, I’ll pretend to be crazy just this once.”
“Rude brat. If you don’t want to scavenge my leftovers, speak nicely.”
“…Alright, alright, just give that fish dish.”
Well, this was a rare opportunity, so I might as well ask him about the current state of the Adelle Hall mbers.
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