SWNOVELS
Chapter 45
Just as I could enter the Temple without any big issues, Sarkegar too could make it in with ease despite the numerous barriers laid throughout. However, I never expected him to come in disguised as a female servant in the middle of the night.
Now that I thought about it, the person Sarkegar had initially transformed into, Count Argon Pontius, was male. That brought me to the question—what was Sarkegar’s actual gender? Or were Dreadfiends a race without gender? contemporary romance
“How did you even get into my room?”
“It wasn’t that difficult, Your Highness.”
Sarkegar had a master key that all servants had. I didn’t know the specifics, but there were probably various ways to acquire it without any difficulty.
At any rate, there were several tangled issues that I had to consult the others about, so I had to speak with Sarkegar at some point.
“From now on, instead of Your Highness coming directly to me, I’ll be the one to come to you.”
Sarkegar, being skilled in transformation magic, could definitely come contacting me without getting caught.
Because of where we were, Sarkegar did not embellish his statement with excessive flattery or comments this time, as he often did.
“First, regarding the matter of the princess’s supernatural power.”
“Yes. Did you find out anything?”
Sarkegar shook his head.
“If one were willing to take significant risks, it could be possible to find that out, but I came here to report the information I gathered first, before delving further into that.”
It seemed Sarkegar deemed it important to report what he had learned so far, even though he had not found out about Charlotte’s power yet.
“Currently, there’s widespread talk within the imperial family regarding the princess’s supernatural power, especially among those belonging to Prince Vertus’s faction. They suspect that the princess’s power is fake, and that that is the reason it hasn’t been disclosed until now.”
“That means Vertus’s faction does not know what the princess’s supernatural power is, either.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Even the prince did not know what the princess’s supernatural power was. This left open the possibility that Charlotte was not really a superhuman, which ultimately meant that it was likely that her attending the supernatural power classes was merely an act to keep her in the Royal Class.
“That would mean that the only person who knows about the princess’ supernatural power for sure is the emperor...”
Although the teacher of supernatural powers had taken Charlotte aside to do something during class, there was a chance that even then, the ability was not one that could be observed, and that nothing at all would happen.
In that case, Vertus wouldn’t be able to figure out the truth either.
“So, that means that after the emperor, the two who are most likely to know about the truth are Mustang, the Class B homeroom teacher, and the teacher of the supernatural powers class.”
“Yes, that is the assumption.”
The truth behind the princess’s ability was a very significant secret, so neither of them would be likely to speak about it carelessly. Neither of them seemed the type to be easily manipulated, either.
They were both teachers at the Temple. One was the dedicated teacher in charge of instructing superpower-wielding individuals with dangerous talents, and the other was the Royal Class homeroom teacher. Neither of them was ordinary.
“So, what did you mean when you said taking significant risks?”
“If many people knew the secret, I could disguise myself as one of them, but in this case, the secret is known by so few people that it would be difficult to uncover.”
Mustang and the supernatural power class teacher would be residing at the Temple. They could not be easily interfered with, as they held positions of significant importance among the Temple’s teachers.
“Hmm... regardless of whether her supernatural power turns out to be real or fake, the situation is going to be complicated...”
Did she lie about having a nonexistent supernatural power just so that she wouldn’t fall behind Vertus? If so, how long could that lie be sustained? That would mean that the emperor himself was endorsing the lie and making it seem like a fake supernatural power was real.
And would the imperial family go out of their way to inform a very few teachers, including Mustang, the B Class homeroom teacher of the first grade, about the lie, and ensure their silence?
What if her power was real? If it was real, then why would they even need to hide it? I knew the answer to this question. It seemed almost self-explanatory.
“If the princess really does have a supernatural power, then it must be something... exceedingly awkward or embarrassing to disclose.”
“I also believe that would be the case.”
Her power had to be of such a nature that it could damage the honor of the imperial family or perhaps the dignity of the empire. What could it possibly be?
“Alright. If it’s risky, let’s put it aside for now. The truth will reveal itself eventually.”
“Yes, Your Highness. A wise decision.” Sarkegar responded.
We would put the matter of the princess’s power aside for the moment.
“I also have something to discuss on my end, as well.”
“Was there some kind of accident?”
I was going to have to engage in a duel next week, but it did not seem like a good idea to tell him this, as he would probably flip out or display some unnecessarily-excessive loyalty.
“It’s about the princess again.”
“Yes?”
“The princess is looking for me.”
Sarkegar seemed briefly confused. It seemed he didn’t understand what I was saying.
***
After hearing my story, Sarkegar’s expression turned grave.
Indeed, this issue was far more serious than the duel. If handled incorrectly, it could not only endanger me but also destroy the very foundation and base of our activities, the Rotary Club. Adding to that, the fact that Vertus had also started to pay attention to me made Sarkegar’s expression grow even more serious.
“Your Highness, the Temple seems to be a dangerous place. It might be best to keep a low profile and leave—”
“If I do that, I might be safe, but the club will surely be done for.”
Charlotte would sweep away the Rotary Club in an instant if I disappeared. Money was a very important foundation for us. Although I didn’t know how it had turned out this way, the club had become an indispensable financial lifeline for all of us. Even though I no longer needed the money, Sarkegar still did.
“It’s a cruel situation indeed. To think that the princess is trying everything she can to repay the debt that she incurred to you when you saved her has unexpectedly become a problem for us now...”
“...”
‘Um, weren’t you the one who kidnapped her? It doesn’t really make sense for you to say that... Without you, who knows, I might have been able to reveal my true identity to her.’
But what was done was done. We couldn’t go back in time.
“So, it turns out I have been assigned the absurd task of looking for myself, and I have no idea what to do about it. Should I just fabricate some evidence that I’m dead and show it to them?”
“If the princess could be satisfied with such an answer, it would be best... However, we cannot predict how the princess will react after she finds out.”
“That’s true...”
Let’s assume that Baalier died, and we showed Charlotte the forged evidence proving that. How to convincingly fabricate such evidence was something to think about later, but let’s say for now, that she was convinced.
Wouldn’t she attempt to get rid of both the club and me, since we would be deemed useless to her? It seemed certain that she had a very unfavorable impression of me, given my apparent connections to criminal organizations and all.
“If we successfully handle the task for her, there’s a chance she might discard us afterward, and if we don’t, she might think we’re useless and dispose of us anyway...”
We would be faced with a problem whether or not we carried out the task.
I felt cornered, but as I i directed my thoughts along this path, my mind cleared up.
“Alright, let’s do the job, but little by little.”
“A little at a time?”
“Yes. At the very least, she won’t touch us as long as we show that we’re working on it and making some progress.”
Damn it. I never wanted Charlotte to become my enemy, but small lies seemed to lead to larger ones, and now I was being forced to tell even bigger lies to her.
“On the contrary, if she feels like we’re making progress, she’ll want to protect us rather than get rid of us.”
As long as Vertus thought I was useful, he would keep showing interest in me. Charlotte would be the same. If I showed that I was making some progress in finding Baalier, then she would at least leave me be, regardless of her like or dislike toward me. In fact, if the club or I were in danger, she might even try to help.
Both Charlotte and Vertus had something in common: they hid their true selves from the regular students. Charlotte might act like a shy person in Class B, but the sharp words she’d directed at me were anything but kind.
They were so alike that no matter which one of them became emperor, I was sure that the fate of the empire would be the same one way or the other.
Anyway...
The situation was far from good, but I wanted to think positively.
I wasn’t just simply caught between Vertus and Charlotte.
“To be honest, when you look at it from a different perspective, you could say that I’m currently in a position where I can use them both as I please.”
Sarkegar smiled at my bold words.
“I am in awe of Your Highness’s insight.”
‘Can you not smile so wickedly at me with that elegant face? It’s giving me the creeps.’
***
The short-term goal was the duel that would be held the following week, and the long-term goal was to prove my usefulness to Charlotte, and while doing so, stay in Vertus’s good graces.
And the very long-term goal...
“Pant... pant... pant...”
“I wasn’t expecting you to show much improvement in just one day, but this is seriously worse than I thought, junior.”
Physical fitness training.
Adriana pumped divine power into me, who was on the verge of exhaustion, to help me recover. A prospective holy knight earnestly training the next Demon King. What an absurd situation.
If you thought about it, Adriana was basically committing a sin in real time. If Adriana ended up in hell, would it be my fault?
Anyway, I had to keep up this routine. A basic physical foundation was needed in order to support swordsmanship and essentially anything else. It was like I was attempting to do a bench press, but did not even have the strength to lift the bar. What use are skills if the basic foundational abilities aren’t there to support them?
Therefore, even though it felt like I was losing my mind while my exhausted body recovered its energy, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and get back to jogging.
My schedule consisted of morning training with Adriana, and then following her advice to eat well by snacking on something before breakfast. More often than not, I would end up eating with Ellen, who always showed up at the same spot. Convenient, ready-to-eat food was soon stocked up as per my request.
After attending classes, I would repeat training sessions until dinner. After eating dinner, I’d train again and eat once more before going to bed.
Despite my poor physical fitness and perhaps due to the assistance of divine power, I could genuinely feel my physical abilities improving bit by bit.
Thursday morning had come.
“Why don’t you use divine power for your training?”
If such comfortable and rapid growth was possible, why wouldn’t she use it? I was curious.
“Eating stimulants every day would harm the body, wouldn’t it? That’s the reason. You can’t recover from starvation using divine power. It might seem like a mockery, but growth aided by divine power isn’t natural.”
Divine power could restore physical energy, but didn’t replenish the nutrients that had been expended. So, it really was like doping. That was why she continually reminded me to eat well and eat plenty.
Was this some kind of stim-pack or something?
“This is only for a while. Once you reach a certain level, you’re going to have to rely on your own strength, junior.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Adriana implied she was helping me out in such a way because I was lagging so much, and that she wouldn’t keep providing this “stim-pack” indefinitely.
I was hardly aware of what was going on with Ludwig and Class B, but things seemed to be rolling along just fine on their own.
Normally, Class B would have seen its share of conflicts, with the meddling Class A kids popping up regularly, but I seemed to have drawn all of Class A’s attention, leaving the students with no time to pay attention to Class B.
It was like the minor villain-characters’ hatred and animosity were all being absorbed by me, a big-time villain, leaving no aggro for the protagonist.
This was not what I intended.
Anyway, I kept on training, training and training some more.
Because of this, I naturally found myself running into Ellen often, since our daily routines were almost identical. We mostly encountered each other at the training ground and the dining hall.
That was pretty much how it went. Seeing her eating anything and everything in front of me made me so exasperated that I ended up cooking food for myself and sharing some with her. Of course, I made sure she knew that I was doing her a favor each time.
“You’re really lucky you ended up in the Temple,” I said.
“Why?” Ellen asked.
“Because you could have ruined your household just by eating all of the food.”
Watching Ellen gobble down an enormous amount of pasta that I’d purposely made to test her limits made me wonder if she genuinely had some kind of black hole in her stomach.
Ellen looked at me with a blank expression.
“I didn’t come here because I wanted to,” she retorted, as if casually spitting her words at me.
“... What?”
“The Temple summoned me.”
“Oh, uh... right.”
Was she rebutting my comment about her ruining her household? Had she even been talking about herself just now?
She never talked about herself with anyone; hence, no one except the prince knew that she was the younger sister of the hero, Ragan Artorius.
And yet, she had now revealed to me that she’d come to the Temple because she’d been asked to, not because she wanted to, just because I’d given her a bit of grief about her eating habits.
Of course, I was aware of her story and background, since I was the one who had written it out, but it was still surprising that she would talk about it to me.
She was right. As soon as the empire found out that Ragan Artorius had a young sister, they had begged her to come to the Temple.
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
With that response, I could confirm that I had, it seemed, become the first person to successfully make Ellen annoyed.
***
Training was more intense on weekends. The weekday classes almost felt like some sort of break, and since I trained even harder during my personal free time, the weekends were nothing short of experiencing hell firsthand.
Adriana, as usual, spent even longer periods coaching me through various training regimens over the weekend, and I also had to eat tremendous amounts of food.
Sunday came around...
“Ah, that’s not quite how it’s done.”
“...”
In the kitchen, I became the ultimate backseat cook while I watched Ellen prepare her food. She had entered the kitchen this time and insisted on cooking after I had repeatedly cooked for her while boasting about it. It seemed she was tired of hearing me take all the credit.
The dish of the day appeared to be beef stew with plenty of tenderloin. When I asked if she knew how to make that, she said that she often ate it at home.
“Oh... Oh? Are you sure about that? Oh, sorry don’t mind me, just do your thing. It was just a comment.”
“You’re going to add salt there?”
“Come on, this is overcooked... You’ll have a sore jaw trying to chew this!”
“You’re missing something... But it seems like you don’t know what it is.”
“Adding herbs at such an awkward time... hmm.”
.
.
.
“...”
Ellen simply looked at me silently in response to my ongoing commentary and criticism.
“... I don’t think it’s a good idea to look at someone like that while holding a knife in your hand.”
My voice shifted into a respectful tone thanks to my apprehension, but she just stared at me blankly, knife in hand.
“...”
‘I’d rather you just get angry at me, rather than staring at me wordlessly with that kitchen knife! Please, that’s too scary!’
After a moment, Ellen turned her attention back to cooking.
“Calm down... It seemed like one more word from me and you would have actually stabbed me then.”
Of course, my mouth never actually took a break from the nagging.
Ellen’s reactions were of a different sort from Harriet’s cute ones; it might seem like she never reacted, but in reality, she did.
To be honest, I’d understand if she got angry enough to punch me.
Despite my incessant nagging, Ellen was undeterred, and finally finished cooking. She carried the enormous amount of stew over and set it down on the table. Perhaps because of her apparent indifference earlier, I felt the need to annoy her even more.
We each dished ourselves a bowl of the stew and ate a spoonful.
I stared intently at Ellen.
“...”
“...”
I had been half-teasing and joking the whole time, but the outcome was still as expected.
“Too salty.”
“Yeah.”
She said she often ate it at home, but didn’t say anything about making it herself.
In the end, she re-cooked the stew according to my instructions and managed to create a stew that was edible.
“How is it? Edible now, isn’t it?” I asked.
“... Yes.”
“Of course it is! Because it was done by me!”
“...”
I was provoking her right up until the end, and was rewarded by the sight of the veins on Ellen’s forehead popping out, her skin taut with irritation. I was thrilled at my accomplishment of having angered the stoic statue.
Ah, I had to be a sadist indeed.
And then, on Monday evening...
“That’s not quite how it’s done,” Ellen commented nonchalantly as she watched me wielding my sword on the training grounds.
“... What did you say?”
“You’re not doing it right,” she insisted.
Ellen had begun to exact her revenge for all the times I had given her excessive advice and acted like a know-it-all.
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