༺ Practical Exam (2) ༻
Conrad, Dean of Elfante Knight School, was a former Imperial Guard and a renowned figure in charge of an entire School at one of the continent’s top three academies.
This fact meant there weren’t many people on the entire continent whom he’d kneel and show respect to.
“Elfante hasn’t changed at all, has it, Sir Conrad? It looks the same way as it did back when I was a student.”
Speaking to him was a young woman, hardly half his age. Exaggerating a bit, she almost seemed like she could be his daughter.
Despite that, he was bowing his head to this woman as she made such a remark.
In fact, it was actually natural for a person of his stature to be doing something as simple as ‘attending’ to her.
Their relationship was one where he was unable to carelessly raise his head in her presence.
“…If you had informed us of your visit in advance, we could have prepared a more fitting atmosphere to bring back that nostalgia, Your Excellency. Truly regretful.”
“It feels like forever since I’ve been chided for not giving advance notice of my arrival, Sir Conrad.”
“That wasn’t my—”
“It’s a joke, a joke. You don’t need to be so tense.”
The woman in the elegant dress in front of him only smiled softly at his stiff response.
Her skin was as white as porcelain, giving off a chilly vibe. Her golden eyes, dense with a mysterious atmosphere, some would call them ‘Empire’s Princeps Jewel’. In short, her whole being exuded elegance.
Even her every step seemed meticulously refined, following all manners and etiquette down to the tee.
“I’m just visiting for an outing today. If anything, it would make me uncomfortable if you’re being too attentive.”
Her gentle voice sounded like it would ease the atmosphere, but it only made Conrad snorted on the inside.
‘As if.’
He, of all people, knew that this person right before his eyes was a VIP among VIPs. There was no way that she’d come all the way here just for an outing.
“Facing the Lady of Steel, it’s only natural for anyone to be this tense.”
“That is quite the nostalgic nickname.”
Her title gave off a reverent aura.
But, that wasn’t the case for some people, the people who had suffered under her hand, they knew her by a different name.
‘The Iron-Blooded Chancellor.’
Or…
‘The Witch’.
When he recalled such monikers, Conrad let out a deep sigh inside.
Sullivan Axion Petronus.
Above All But One. The Chancellor who oversaw the Empire’s state affairs.
The Lady of Steel. The peerless politician.
“Well, it isn’t like I came here without any business to attend to.”
Sullivan looked at the wide-open space next to the hallway.
Today was the last day of Elfante’s Comprehensive Competency Evaluation at the end of each semester. It was also the day of the ‘Practical Exam’, where the majority of points were at stake.
“I also came here for inspection and verification. You see, Her Majesty has been throwing a tantrum about meeting a certain person.”
If those words were to come out of others’ mouths, they’d most likely be hanged for lese-majesty.
But when it came to her, even Conrad couldn’t do anything but frown after hearing such a nonchalant comment.
After all, Chancellor Sullivan was someone who was allowed to say such things.
Starting as the head of a barony in the frontiers that no one even knew the name of, she rose to be the second-in-command of the Empire in less than a decade.
There wasn’t much of a gap in age between her and the students currently enrolled in this academy, yet she stood at the pinnacle of the Empire.
Some even viewed that she was closer to the throne than the Empress herself.
While the Empress sat on the throne, most of the ‘authority’ that emanated from the position was created from her very hands.
Even the ‘Heretic Inquisition’, the same organization that was capable of exerting its authority across the entire empire and even the continent, acted as if they were her own limbs.
In a way, once could treat her as the true ruler of the Empire.
After all, there was a widespread belief that if she could create a justification, she could easily dethrone the Imperial Princess from the throne she was currently seating at.
Rather, a lot of the politicians were befuddled that she hadn’t done so already.
“The Campbell Barony’s firstborn—”
Sullivan paused for a moment.
“Excuse me. It is the Campbell Viscounty now, yes? I heard they’ve confiscated Goldic Viscounty’s territory recently.”
“…It seems even Your Excellency makes mistakes sometimes.”
“Right? I’ve been referring to them as a barony for so long that it just stuck.”
“…?”
Her words were strange.
Considering her position, such a household should be so insignificant that they were practically ants to her.
But, why would she mention their name so often that she even gained such a habit?
If the timespan that she mentioned was ‘ever since that man enrolled in the academy’, Conrad would be able to understand what she was talking about. After all, he had undoubtedly been a hot issue ever since his enrollment.
But that wasn’t the case, she used the term ‘for so long’.
So, what did this entail?
“At any rate.”
As Conrad threw her a suspicious glance, the Chancellor covered her mouth before letting out a chuckle.
“Regarding the Campbell Viscounty’s firstborn—”
Her words continued in a serene tone.
“—I do have some special expectations for him.”
To put it simply…
She was saying that she, the pinnacle of the Empire, had her eyes on a single student; A statement that should not be spoken in such a nonchalant manner.
“…It’s strangely chaotic today, isn’t it?”
On the day of the Practical Exam.
The path to the exam venue was so heavily guarded by intimidating security forces that I couldn’t help but let out such a remark.
Well, due to its nature of hosting children of high-ranking officials and major nobility, Elfante was always under strict surveillance, but today’s surveillance was even stricter than usual.
Back when the Saintess visited, they didn’t even go this far.
It was almost like…
“…Maybe a member of the Imperial Household is here?”
Hearing that question, Faenol, walking beside me, smiled slightly as she spoke.
“Her Excellency the Chancellor is visiting Elfante today.”
“…Her Excellency the Chancellor?”
I frowned at those words.
The Chancellor of the Empire. Sullivan Axion Petronus.
The main antagonist in Chapter 6, ‘The One Who Devours God’.
She was heavily involved with Gideon’s death, and as the result of her actions, Eleanor eventually became the Final Boss after being consumed by the Grey Devil.
Now, I’ve heard of the Empress visiting the academy, but her?
“Well, I only knew because the Heretic Inquisition mentioned it to me. Not even the academy staff were informed in advance.”
“…What?”
That made a lot of sense. It was a sudden visit, that was why I hadn’t heard of the news beforehand.
Considering her status in the Empire, such visits would be major events that they’d plan for months in advance.
“I heard the plan was for Her Majesty the Empress herself to visit, but the Chancellor insisted on verifying the qualifications of the one who’ll receive the audience with Her Majesty herself.”
“…”
“Yes, they’re talking about you, Dowd Campbell.”
Listening to Faenol, I could feel a headache creeping in.
‘…It seems something got twisted again.’
Atalante definitely stated that she wasn’t interested in me at all…
But now, she even kicked the Empress aside and suddenly came to this academy by herself.
And, if her goal was something related to ‘me’…
It would be natural for me to feel that something was very wrong.
‘Strange.’
Honestly…
I could understand the Empress taking an interest in me at this time.
Like, it made sense, kinda…
Yeah, sure, it was a little strange for such a powerful figure to take an interest in me, but…
Though it was treated as confidential, I was involved in the issues regarding the Tribal Alliance’s Chieftain succession. This alone was enough for the Empress to visit to congratulate me, or at least to make ‘contact’ with me.
But for the Chancellor to step in before that…
“…”
Something was up.
Something that I was completely unaware of.
‘…What a hassle.’
I had gotten used to things deviating from the main scenario, so this was good and all, but…
My simple hopes that things wouldn’t get more complicated—
System Message
[ An event related to target ‘Eleanor’ is generated! ]
—was spectacularly crushed this easily.
< Gift-Related Character Alert >
♥ Eleanor Elinalise La Tristan
[ Love Level 4 ]
[ Related Event Occurs in 2H ]
Motherfucker.
Couldn’t you give me a day at the very least? Two fucking hours? The fuck?
“…”
Considering the time, this meant that Eleanor would be doing something during the Practical Exam itself.
Whatever it was, I needed to be prepared for that too.
“You seem troubled.”
“…No, it’s just… Well, there’s just something…”
“If you have any concerns, I believe it’s possible for you to solve most of them by talking about it with me.”
“Sorry?”
“I may look like this, but I still hold the authority of an acting Heretic Inquisitor. I can deal with most problems you throw at me.”
Ah, right…
There was a notification about that, wasn’t there?
I recalled the window that popped up when I first met her.
System Log
[ Contact has been made with target ‘Faenol’. ]
[ Interaction with the ‘Heretic Inquisition’ has been released! ]
[ All authority corresponding to the discretion of the ‘Heretic Inquisition’ can be requested for cooperation! ]
Being able to request cooperation under the authority of the Heretic Inquisition was a significant privilege. She had the right to speak to me with such confidence.
‘…But it’s still strange.’
When I received this, I was too busy to properly assess it.
But if my memory serves right, the Heretic Inquisition, by design, was practically the hands and feet of the Empire’s Chancellor.
This meant the Chancellor was practically showing a friendly gesture towards me…
‘But why?’
I couldn’t understand.
After all, she was not one who’d wish for even the implication of her having a good relationship with the Tristan Duchy.
There was no way that she would have a favorable view of me, who frequently interacted with them.
“…Anyway, it seems even Her Excellency cannot be perfectly gracious.”
As I was pondering such thoughts, Faenol muttered such words.
“She is in that corridor.”
Following her gaze, I saw two people walking down the corridor of a distant building. Their distance was close enough to make out who they were.
One of them was Dean Conrad, and the other was…
“…You’re saying that’s Her Excellency the Chancellor?”
“Excuse me? Yes, is there something strange?”
Fucking hell, yeah. There was.
This was strange— No, this was something out of a horror movie.
Dread enveloped my whole being.
Her appearance did have some resemblance to the Chancellor I remember. I could totally see that she was the same person from the game.
But…
‘…She looks young?’
According to the setting, the Chancellor should be a middle-aged woman in her forties by now.
But her current appearance was…
Young.
Way too young.
She looked like a teen.
As if compared to other characters in the scenario, she was the only one who hadn’t aged.
As I kept looking in that direction with such thoughts…
Suddenly…
The Chancellor’s head turned sharply this way.
As if, even from this distance, she was aware that I was ‘looking at her’.
“…!”
I instinctively stepped back, feeling my heart sink.
Her movement was way too precise to count that as a coincidence. Not to mention that she was clearly ‘looking at me’.
‘…What the fuck?’
In the game, the Chancellor was always just a civil servant and a schemer.
She was not supposed to possess any abilities that could display such superhuman senses or strengths.
Right as I was thinking this…
The Chancellor’s mouth slightly opened.
She conveyed her thoughts through the shape of her lips without making a single sound.
As if ‘whispering’ to me.
As if she had information she wanted to share only with me.
“…Long time no see, Dowd Campbell.”
And from the movement of her lips…
I could tell that she said those words to me.
“…”
The golden eyes, with a strangely captivating glow that seemed to suck people in, were fixed on me for a long time.
Almost as if…
She really was seeing someone again ‘after a long time’.
Almost like…
She was seeing someone she had met several times before.
Furthermore, it was with a sentiment that seemed to ‘miss’ that person.
There was a longing feeling in her gesture.
“…Your Excellency?”
“It is nothing, Sir Conrad. Shall we go?”
Only when Dean Conrad, who was escorting the Chancellor, spoke in a puzzled voice did she finally look away from me.
As I watched the Chancellor walk away briskly…
A chill ran down my spine.
“…”
Strange.
Something was terribly wrong.
A feeling in my guts, honed over countless life-or-death situations, was telling me as such.
As if, in this exam…
Something big was going to occur ‘because of her’.
That was the feeling I had.
“…Faenol.”
“Yes?”
“By any chance, is Her Excellency the Chancellor personally attending this exam?”
“Wouldn’t that be highly likely?”
This exam…
Was definitely not gonna go smoothly.
Something was going to happen.
Definitely.
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