Chapter 66

“My power may be weak, but I promise I won’t be a hindrance.”

Ethan Richard Blackwood glanced at me once before walking forward in response to Orion’s recruitment.

Seeing him suddenly leap forward with his bold behavior, a small question momentarily arose in my mind.

‘What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?’

Why would he take up Orion’s proposal, deliberately showing off his abilities in this situation?

As the young master of a ducal family who hasn’t even entered the academy yet, no one would say anything if he just waited obediently in the main hall.

No matter how much he had faced monsters under Harold’s supervision until now, he would still understand the dangers of monsters better than anyone else here.

It was quite unexpected for him to say he would participate on the front lines where emergencies like monster waves could easily occur.

‘Judging from Ethan’s recent actions, I don’t think he would volunteer without thinking.’

There must be a valid reason, but what could it be?

Simply put, some reasons could be showing off his courageous side among the nobles gathered here or wanting to display his cool appearance to a girl he likes.

But the Ethan I had observed recently wasn’t someone who moved with such simple thinking.

He had a history of patrolling the estate to solidify his position as the Blackwood successor, revealing his presence.

He had grown to be a thoroughly calculative noble, getting angry over a mere maid’s dirtied clothes to put a powerful noble in his debt.

For such an Ethan to voluntarily step into danger meant he was seeking something commensurate in return.

‘…Ah.’

Right, the Imperial Family.

Ethan was now responding to the monster subjugation unit recruitment to gain an opportunity to build ties with the Imperial Family in his current state.

Of course, there was no certainty that the Imperial Family would actually give a reward for stopping the monster wave, and even if they did give a reward, it would probably just end with a small gift and some words of gratitude.

However, that alone was enough.

Words of gratitude from a royal family member held sufficient value in credit transactions with other nobles.

Moreover, a favor granted once could be used as an excuse that couldn’t be coldly rejected when seeking an audience with the Imperial Family next time.

In a word, it was a gamble with a pretty good payoff for betting his skills once.

Especially if fighting alongside capable Imperial guards, a certain degree of safety would be guaranteed.

‘Seriously, his mind works really fast.’

In a short time, his thoughts reached that far from Orion’s impromptu proposal.

Well, if Ethan had thought that far, I had no reason to be surprised. Honestly, there’s no need for me to worry, either.

The current Ethan wasn’t at a level where he would easily get hurt and return, no matter where he went.

“Okay, good. Do you have combat experience?”

“I’ve killed monsters in the mountains behind the estate a few times. Among the monsters I’ve recently defeated, the ones worth mentioning would be spine boars or shadow spiders.”

Based on my calculations estimating the experience points Ethan had gained, his current level was around level 7 to 8.

For reference, a spine boar is level 10, and a shadow spider is level 11.

In other words, apart from Ethan’s base level, his actual skills were nearly at that level.

As he said himself, far from being a hindrance, he would be of considerable help.

The current Ethan had started to utilize mana in his recent swordsmanship, even if only slightly, and could also use body enhancement magic along with it.

He had probably already reached the level of an elite Imperial soldier, at the very least.

Orion also nodded and welcomed Ethan’s words, judging that he would be helpful.

“That much will be more than enough help. I’ll be counting on you, Lord Ethan.”

“…I’ll be in your care, Lord Orion.”

“So, is there anyone else besides Lord Ethan?”

“…”

Despite Orion’s repeated recruitment, the other students were hesitant to step forward.

Usually, in situations like this, when one person musters up the courage, others would follow suit and volunteer.

However, it seemed that the ‘spine boar’ and ‘shadow spider’ Ethan mentioned when volunteering had become a standard that designated something.

They had made their own judgments in their minds that one needed to have at least that level of skill to step forward.

Considering that aspect, it was easy to guess why these students couldn’t readily volunteer.

Even in this situation where an indirect level restriction had been placed, the only person in this ballroom capable of participating would be…

“…Agnes Elizabeth Blaze.”

Right, Hellfire Agnes, the powerful candidate to succeed the Elizabeth family…wait, what?

“The next successor of the Elizabeth family. The next top student of the academy’s magic department. The next Archmage of the Crimson Tower.”

“…”

“I, ‘Hellfire Agnes,’ will also participate in the battle to stop the monster wave you mentioned.”

A woman appeared from the crowd with confident strides.

The scarlet red-haired mage walked forward from among the people.

Judging from the scarlet hair I had never seen before, she had probably been participating in this banquet using transformation magic until just now.

With an unwavering expression, a confident voice, and a brazen self-introduction that implied she didn’t think for a moment that she wouldn’t be helpful.

Everyone’s gazes in the hall instantly converged on Agnes, who had suddenly appeared.

As soon as the main character of Luminor Academy, whom I had been searching for so diligently, appeared, one emotion naturally arose in my mind.

‘…That introduction is truly embarrassing for anyone listening.’

No matter how many times I heard Agnes’ shameless self-introduction, I couldn’t get used to it.

It was a line I had heard so many times because she was such a high-performing character that I often had her in my party, but regardless, it was inevitable not to get used to that self-praising speech…

…despite knowing that everything Agnes mentioned would actually come true.

In that sense, perhaps it could be seen that she possessed a level of self-conceit that matched her actual abilities, but besides that, what was cringeworthy was cringeworthy.

Moreover, Agnes herself thought her self-introduction was cool, making it even more embarrassing from a third person perspective.

Just hearing it in a VA’s voice from a 3D character on my monitor was already cringeworthy, but to think I would witness that scene live before my eyes…

With her brazen voice that made my toes curl from listening, I found it hard to face the main heroine of Luminor Academy directly, even after finally finding her.

Just as Agnes’ shameless remarks were about to continue, they were, fortunately, quickly stopped by Orion, the skip specialist.

“My specialty is fire magic. If given enough time, I can freely use large-scale fire magic. My mana capacity, which is unrivaled by others, is a whopping one thousand and fifty…”

“R-Right! You said your name is Agnes? A fire mage with 1,000 mana will definitely be helpful!”

“Wait, I’m not done talking yet…”

“Come on, let’s head to the front lines quickly! It’s time for you to properly demonstrate your skills!”

“P-Please wait a moment, Sir Orion! I’ll guide you!”

After hastily cutting off Agnes’ self-introduction, which made its listeners cringe, Orion grabbed Ethan’s and Agnes’ hands and hurriedly left the Evening Rose Hall.

Three out of a dozen soldiers followed them out of the hall.

The rest of us who remained in the ballroom were left standing in a daze, unable to recover from the cringeworthy self-introduction just now.

“…We will guide the other guests to the shelter. Please follow us without rushing in an orderly manner.”

…Ah.

Come to think of it, I should have also participated in the battle, dammit.

A long evacuation procession to the 1st floor was managed by the Imperial guards.

I was walking with a troubled expression, matching the pace of the noble guests’ procession.

“…Is there perhaps something bothering you, Young Master Ethan’s fiancée?”

“Oh, you must be worried about Lord Ethan…!”

“Ah, yes… A little… I suppose I am a bit worried…”

Worried? As if.

With Ethan’s skill level, he’ll do well even without my worries.

He already had the ability to overwhelm me in a one-on-one match.@@novelbin@@

If he fought seriously, I wasn’t 100% confident in defeating him, even considering having Mana Blast.

Mana Blast was, ultimately, a spell used against monsters, not a spell meant to be used against people.

The current Ethan, unlike the chubby Ethan from before, could probably dodge my Mana Blast with the leisurely feeling of crossing a pedestrian lane in front of an elementary school.

…And come to think of it, it didn’t seem like a good idea for me to participate in that monster wave response party.

‘Even if I stepped up there, I would be lucky not to be treated as a strange woman.’

For a moment, I felt a sense of regret seeing Orion take only Ethan and Agnes down, but thinking rationally, even if I had said I would participate there, I would have likely been cut by Orion.

[Name?]

[I have circumstances and cannot reveal it.]

[Then, do you have experience in monster subjugation?]

[My track record includes defeating a Hooked Tusk.]

[Oh, you’re quite a skilled mage, then?]

[No. My main weapon is a dagger.]

[Hmm…?]

[…Currently, I don’t have a weapon on me, so if you lend me something similar, I will definitely be of help. Ah, by the way, when I defeated the Hooked Tusk, I used a metal skewer instead of a dagger, but anyway, my skills themselves are useful…]

[…]

Even I thought it was a very suspicious way of introducing myself.

Saying I was from a noble family but defeated a Hooked Tusk with a metal skewer instead of magic, or that my main weapon was a dagger, but I didn’t have it, so I wanted to borrow one…

My rambling was probably too absurd, and they wouldn’t believe me.

Rather, it would be fortunate if I didn’t stand out as a woman with a strange mentality.

Of course, there was a possibility that I would be allowed to participate in the battle if Ethan vouched for my skills, but Ethan probably wouldn’t go out of his way to vouch for my abilities either.

The fewer the subjugation personnel to quell the monster wave, the more Ethan’s achievements would stand out, and it would be much more advantageous for catching the Imperial Family’s attention.

If it was truly an event where it seemed necessary for me to participate, I would have forcibly done so, but considering the difficulty of this episode, the personnel they took now would likely be sufficient.

I had roughly grasped which part of the main story of Luminor Academy this event corresponded to.

‘It must be the ‘Palace Invasion Incident’ that occurs a year before enrollment in the academy.’

It was a storyline I only knew the content of since it was an event the protagonist character couldn’t directly participate in, but judging from the unfolding situation, it was undoubtedly that.

It was an incident where one of the high-ranked demons deliberately caused a monster wave to bring down the Argentian Empire’s Imperial Palace. Although the attack itself was somehow repelled by the efforts of the Imperial guards and some main characters, it was also an incident where some noble children of the empire were killed or critically injured.

With this event as the trigger, the Argentian Imperial Family, sensing a crisis, made a bold move to greatly increase the enrollment capacity of the academy, and that’s how various characters specializing in combat skills such as swordsmanship and magic from all walks of life gathered at the academy. This happened at the beginning of the second part of Luminor Academy.

In other words, even with the characters originally scheduled to be active in the storyline, the invasion that occurred this time could be sufficiently repelled.

I expected Seraphine, Orion, and Agnes to participate. With the addition of Ethan, who had grown quite useful, joining the front lines, their combined fighting power was rather sufficient.

They would probably be able to stop it much more easily than in the original story. The current Ethan wasn’t weak; he was a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, with Ethan’s participation, perhaps a few characters who died in the original story could be saved.

‘I’d have wanted to sneak out and kill a few monsters to gain XP… But there are too many eyes watching here for that.’

I had already done so many eye-catching things that I was in a dangerous position in many ways.

If I did something that stood out here, there was a high possibility that my identity as a commoner who could use magic would be exposed, and above all, there were far too many eyes to deceive and simply brush it off.

Even if I could somehow deceive Ethan, whom I had been with for so long, it would naturally be impossible to deceive more than a dozen security guards. So, in this situation, I had no choice but to wait patiently for the storyline to unfold as it should.

‘Nothing much will happen if I just gather in the waiting room with the security guards anyway.’

Let’s stay put today. That was the best solution to get through without causing any problems.

…I had the same thought just a while ago.

That resolution began to waver with a strange sense of uneasiness as soon as I entered the main hall of the Imperial Palace.

“…Ah.”

“Eek…?!”

The young lady with familiar sky-blue hair I met again in the shelter.

I encountered Lizzy Lynn August here once more.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Bonus chapter to follow shortly.

Thanks for reading!