Chapter 34: Love and Anger

The headmaster of Aslan Academy of Magic, "Roswald Merlin Goldberg," was quietly looking out the window. 

The view outside was still covered by the dark veil of night. However, many guards were busy running around.

"… Luke is a strong kid. Really, how pathetic."

Who was he addressing with those words? 

Himself, who couldn't protect the students, or…

Knock, knock—

A rough knocking sound echoed through the room. Without waiting for permission to enter, the door opened. It was one of the teachers at this school, Duke.

"Old man, I'm back. The only relief is that there are no casualties or even serious injuries that resulted from it, also… Did you see it?"

"Humu, he didn't even change his expression… Hoh-hoh, he looked really unhappy and directed those strong eyes at me. He's a tough kid."

"Oh… it seems he managed to defeat all the attackers. It's pathetic to say, but maybe we're the ones who were saved by him…"

"…."

—Gong!

With a dull sound. Roswald slammed his fist against the wall.

"…What kind of teacher am I if I can't even protect one student?"

He said, with a clear sense of anger and frustration in his voice. 

Duke watched him silently, seeing this side of Roswald, who was usually calm and hadn't shown himself in a while.

"They've got a lot of guts… They who have caused such impudence in my school will surely regret it."

"Are you really aware of who's behind it?"

"Of course. I've already lived long enough to not notice it… There must be a 'mole' who guided the attackers in this incident."

"Oh… I don't even want to think about it. But there are too many things that can't be explained otherwise."

"…I really don't want to think about it either."

There's a traitor among the people he believes in. It's not a rare occurrence, but it's a very painful thing.

"Well… the academy itself might disappear anyway."

"That's right. The nobles who support us won't stay silent about this failure. …I can't believe we have to think about things like this."

"Exactly. This attack made it painfully clear how weak Myrstia is."

" … Yes."

Roswald touched his long beard and quietly turned to Duke.

His eyes held a firm will.

"We will hold a meeting. Gather everyone, will you?"

"Sure."

And with those words, the two of them left the room.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

—After that.

Dormitory students who woke up from my mournful cry cursing my own fate gathered one after another. 

Even though I say dormitory students, this is only the first-year dormitory. 

And so, excluding Hugo who transferred, there were only eleven of us as of this moment, of course, Alice included.

But it was chaos from there.

Some screamed for the first time at the sight of a corpse, some cried, and others vomited again and again… It was h**l.

"… I'm tired."

Immediately, the guards were called and as the party involved, I had no choice but to undergo questioning and such. 

Therefore, I couldn't sleep much and it was already morning. …I answered the questions as they came to me without much thought. 

But if I were to think about it carefully, they should have considered my physical and mental state first and let me rest. 

…This country really is c**p.

"… I'm sorry. This is the school's… our responsibility. We were supposed to be in a position to protect you, but we never thought something like this could happen… why… no, I'm just glad you're safe."

"…"

"Freya-chan… that's right. We unconsciously believed that peace would continue forever… no matter how long peace lasts, nobody knows if tomorrow will be peaceful or not…"

"…"

—The air was heavy and stressful.

Freya, who was the first to rush to my side, explained everything to me, but the attack did not happen yesterday but just a few hours ago. The teachers are still confused.

Also, I just learned that Freya, my homeroom teacher, is Amelia-san's little sister. I was surprised.

According to Freya, the school will most likely be closed indefinitely. Therefore, all current students will have to go home, but not immediately.

Therefore, it seems that the school has prepared a temporary residence for us until then. At the moment, we are moving there under the highest level of security with dozens of kingdom knights as escorts.

Well, it's natural that the school will be closed indefinitely.

This attack was shocking in many ways. It seems that it is the first time since the founding of the Aslan Magic Academy that a student has been attacked.

And above all, there is the matter of the mysterious "magic interference." For the Myrstia Kingdom, which is a magic supremacy country, it could threaten the peace that has been going on for decades.

There may have been minor skirmishes with other countries in the past, but there should never have been a national crisis. This attack probably awakened the forgotten sense of crisis.

Nothing that seemed like the cause of "magic interference" was found from the attacker's corpse. "Magic-restraining shackles" were found, but these were commonly used in the kingdom to imprison wizards who had committed serious crimes.

The magic-restraining shackles would not be effective unless they were directly touching the body. So, was it still magic? Or… no, there was no use in thinking about it now.

However, I felt a similarity to the "dark attribute". Maybe there was a reason why they were targeting me for this particular point. In fact, if I hadn't been taught swordsmanship by Alfred, I wouldn't have had any means to defend myself. …In that case, if things followed the original story, I would have been kidnapped.

I still had limited knowledge of the original story, but I could somewhat imagine how the story would unfold from this point on. 

I would be kidnapped and somehow be saved by Abel. 

Then, my pride would be hurt by the fact that I was saved by a weaker person, and the conflict between Abel and me would deepen.

"…It's troublesome that you can't even use magic."

"Yeah… that's right, Ane-san."

"Huh, Ane-san…? You usually call me 'Nee-chan'…"

" —Ane-san , can you please be quiet?"

"…"

I had never seen Amelia-san so downbeat before, and the same went for Freya. 

Hmm, so people of this country become so discouraged when they can't use magic. 

This was also a disadvantage of relying too much on magic.

"By the way… Alice was covered in blood at that time too, wasn't she?"

"…."

And it was Abel who suddenly said such a thing.

"What misunderstanding do you have? Don't speak so casually to someone of low status. I'm not as kind as Luke."

"I'm sorry!"

"Hey! What's with that tone? Your status doesn't matter in this academy!"

"Kikikiki, you're so noisy. I'm tired. Could you please be quiet?"

"What did you say!?"

"Luke… I'm really glad you're safe. Is there anywhere that hurts? If there is, please tell me. I'll use healing magic right away…"

"Ah… I'm just sleepy."

Contrary to Amelia and Freya, the people around me were still noisy. Perhaps because I was extremely sleepy, their voices echoed and gave me a headache.

"Alright. Let me explain it to you so that there is no misunderstanding. When I heard Luke scream, I rushed to him faster than anyone else. He is my beloved fiancé, after all. It's only natural, isn't it?"

"…"

"But when I saw the sea of blood spreading around me, I was stunned and then I stumbled."

"So, you fell down…?"

"Yes, I stumbled spectacularly. That's why I was covered in blood. Did even your small brain understand that?"

"Uh, yeah… thank you for telling me…"

"…"

…I was surprised that this woman could say such nonsense with a straight face.

However, it would be problematic if it became known that I had brought Alice into the room. Let's just say that Alice stumbled spectacularly.

"Luke!"

Then I heard a voice from the sky.

The voice was very familiar to me, and it filled my heart with a sense of melancholy.

It was Yolande.

He landed next to me with a soft flutter.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"…"

Yolande opened his arms and tried to hug me, so I gave him a smack. 

It was too gross. I hadn't done anything wrong. Justice was on my side.

"Don't come any closer."

"What…hah, hah… You're so mean, Luke. I'm just worried about you…hah, hah…"

"Why…why do you care, brother…?"

"…"

Looking at Yolande with his disgusting breathing and Alice, who seemed strangely regretful, I realized that this was just the kind of people these siblings were.

"L-Luke. Violence is not the answer… Yolande-sensei is just worried about you…"

"…hah-hah."

"…"

Abel, I knew well that you have a blind eye. You were really too soft-hearted.

"Alice seems to be doing well, so I'm relieved."

"…"

Alice glared at Yolande in silence.

"Anyway…"

However, at that moment, Yolande's demeanor changed dramatically.

"I can't believe the Kingdom Knights are so incompetent. Can't you even properly patrol?"

Yolande said loudly, deliberately making sure that all the Kingdom Knights present could hear him.

No one protested. They just wore bitter expressions.

"The knights' abilities have been declining year by year. Well, I can't say it's entirely your fault. … Anyway, I think this country should be rebuilt from scratch seeing this incident."

"…"

Yolande seemed to be saying something dangerous, but I ignored it and kept walking. 

My head wasn't functioning well. I was sleepy and wanted to go to bed quickly. 

I had only one wish. Even if a bunch of ruffians attacked me, I could just beat them up.

But, please let me sleep at night.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

A few days after the incident.

"Luke…"

My father arrived in the capital. His appearance as he got off the carriage was weaker than I had ever seen before.

"Father, I'm sorry for worrying you…"

My words were interrupted midway. He hugged me tightly with great strength.

"You are my treasure… I'm so glad that you are safe…"

"…"

Regarding Alice's engagement, there were times when he had some misunderstandings, but the father in my memory was like a perfect embodiment of correctness.

He was always calm, full of dignity, and exuded an atmosphere of absolute strength.

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

I see.

Maybe this is what love is. That's what I thought at that moment.

But then, I felt an aura of intense anger, almost like a killing intent, emanating from my father.

"Well then, let's just crush this useless school as soon as possible."

…Huh? What did he just say?