After my major classes were replaced, I had been training to become accustomed to the power of the Alsebringer. Within the Royal Class, it was known that I was the master of the Alsebringer, so I could bring it out at the training ground anytime.
Of course, the Alsebringer was a sharp sword that could separate flesh and bone upon contact, so it was agreed to be used only in the high-level combat training grounds, not in regular training. In the first place, the opponents were supposed to use training swords, but with those, the sword itself could be shattered or sliced the moment it collided with the Alsebringer.
Although I was busy with training, I still attended general classes and had some free time.
I considered ways to make a name for myself on the continent as the master of the Alsebringer, but I hadn't found a suitable method yet. Charlotte was also living without any particular issues.
However, whenever she faced me, Charlotte's expression seemed like she was on the verge of tears.
I could feel her gratitude and immense guilt towards me.
"Why do you eat so well?"
As Lucinil and I walked down Main Street, I blankly stared at her munching on a crepe.
It was just the two of us. Lucinil had been whining for a walk so much that I brought her along on a whim.
I could understand her eating, since Eleris could eat too.
But why does she enjoy it so much?
"Don't you know that I'm a special being, Reinhardt?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not an ordinary vampire, but a Homunculus. Naturally, my physical traits are different from humans and even from ordinary vampires."
"Could you speak a bit more quietly?"
"I'm doing real-time noise canceling, so it's fine. Anyway, I can manipulate my body with magic, didn't you know? That's how I easily passed through the Temple Gate. So, I can taste food too. It just doesn't become my life force."
Lucinil was indeed different from ordinary vampires in many ways. She was a Homunculus, a life form that wasn't supposed to exist in the first place, who had become a vampire.
In various ways, Lucinil, the Homunculus vampire, seemed to function more completely as a living being compared to other vampires.
"Anyway, do you have any qualms about obtaining the Alsebringer?"
"I'm of the belief that if I can use something, I should."
"Hmm. That's true. You did say you had no memory of it."
It seemed that Lucinil was worried about me having the weapon that killed the Demon King in my possession.
"Ugh, I still feel nauseous. I think I'm going to vomit."
After eating the crepe for a while, Lucinil suddenly dashed to the nearby public restroom.
Why does she do that when she seems to be enjoying eating?
The more I knew about Lucinil, the stranger she seemed.
A moment later, Lucinil came back to me, wiping her mouth with a pale expression.
"If you want to eat, eat properly. What are you doing?"
"I want to eat even if I know I'll vomit. I manage my expression well in front of the other kids, so don't worry unnecessarily."
It sounded like the excuse of an alcoholic.
"Anyway, I've informed the Council that you've been chosen by the Alsebringer. And it seems the dungeon reconstruction is going smoothly."
Summoning me outside wasn't pointless; it was to share the current state of affairs.
"Speaking of which, those magic research club kids seem a bit... odd."
"Odd, you say?"
"You know, that thing they made. That impossible thing."
The Power Cartridge and Moonshine.
It seemed Lucinil had learned about them.
"Two things I wouldn't even know where to start with, and they made them in just a few months? And from the research materials I saw, they don't appear to have any significant flaws?"
She thought it was absurd even though the kids were supposedly amazing at the Royal Class level. Seeing the actual results made Lucinil believe it was unbelievable.
These were items that even a Grand Archmage, a fitting title for someone who had studied magic for a long time like Lord Vampire, would be astonished by – and they were made by a high school club.
Of course, Adelia and Christina's talents were extraordinary, and in fact, our grade was exceptionally outstanding within the Royal Class.
Moonshine and Power Cartridge. Lucinil seemed to have a deep understanding that the Magic Research Club was not merely a gathering of kids discussing magic, although she didn't know how they came across the research materials.
"I understand why you want to keep it a secret... but it does feel like a waste."
We decided to hide the results so they wouldn't be discovered by Cantus Magna or cause trouble for the kids.
We haven't told the new club members to keep it a secret yet, but we felt a renewed need to ensure their discretion.
"And there's that girl. The adorable one."
"You're talking about Harriet, right?"
"Right. If we're talking about the impossible, she's the most bizarre. Reinterpreting scroll magic into rune magic? How is that even possible?"
It seemed that she had heard about Harriet's newly developed magic system while talking with the Magic Research Club kids.
"It makes me feel pathetic for what I've been doing with my life until now. I mean, these kids haven't even reached their twenties... Maybe I don't really have any talent? Like... I just pushed through with time... something like that?"
Lucinil started to express self-doubt. Anyway, she found the genius of the Magic Research Club kids astonishing, and among them, Harriet de Saint-Owan's talent was the most intriguing.
It was just selfishness to say she was protecting him while actually hanging around with him, getting pampered and wandering here and there.
"If I were Cantus Magna, I'd find those kids more enticing than some magic books."
"...I think so too."
"You don't seem to have any intention of using those kids to meet Cantus Magna."
"..."
Lucinil had been hiding the research results and was watching me live my life at the Temple in real time.
She had no choice but to know that I wouldn't try to use the kids.
"World peace, huh?"
Lucinil stretched as if she might tear apart, and said,
"Reinhardt, you know, those who dream such futile things tend to die by exile."
"Not everyone, though."
"Well, at least that's a positive point."
After stretching fully, Lucinil heaved a deep sigh and looked up at me.
Her gaze was somewhat serious, unlike her usual playful demeanor.
"Escaping before too many emotions build up might be a good idea."
Running away before getting closer to others.
Disappearing.
I could fully understand the meaning behind Lucinil's words, which suggested that it might be better that way.
Before too many emotions accumulate.
"But I think it's too late for that."
It would have been too late, even if we had tried a long time ago.
At my self-deprecating remark, Lucinil showed a wistful smile.
"...Yeah, it seems that way."
She added.
Lucinil, a first-year student, was now frequently seen in the second-year A-class dormitory.
"Where's my brother?"
"Ah... Your brother? Reinhardt? Maybe he's in the training hall...?"
"Ah, yes! Thank you, senior!"
Lucinil bowed to Heinrich and hurried off to the training hall.
For some reason, Reinhardt had won over a silver-haired first-year student as soon as the new school year started.
This junior named Lucinil called other seniors "senior" but followed Reinhardt around, calling him "my brother."
Moreover, Reinhardt didn't seem to mind it at all.
That's why everyone's hostility towards him was reignited.
But, of course, they couldn't express it physically.
He's the one chosen by Alsebringer, on whom the emperor's ban had been firmly imposed.
The attention of a cute junior, and even Alsebringer.
Why does he get to have everything?!
Everyone had reached the point of cursing the unfairness of the world.
Lucinil, who wandered around the second-year dormitory making a fuss.
"Ah, hello, senior."
"Uh, uh... Yeah, yeah."
Bertus, upon encountering Lucinil in the dormitory hallway, responded to her greeting with a nervous expression.
Silver hair.
That was like a form of PTSD for Bertus.
That's why Bertus, who always wore a mask and dealt with people skillfully, couldn't hide his discomfort whenever he encountered Lucinil.
Lucinil wasn't one to miss such signs.
"Do you hate me, senior?"
"What? No, I have no reason to."
"Then why can't you look me in the eye whenever you see me?"
"Ah... Did I do that? Hmm, I have no idea."
Unable to tell her about his silver hair allergy, Bertus licked his lips while looking at Lucinil's innocent gaze.
Bertus had been preoccupied with many things lately, so he couldn't focus on his duties at the temple. He spent many days at the Winter Palace and was unaware of the events happening in the dormitory.
It was common knowledge that Reinhardt was under immense stress due to recent events involving Charlotte.
A freshman underclassman.
A silver-haired girl.
She constantly sought out Reinhardt.
Although Bertus didn't know the details, it was clear that Reinhardt had already won the heart of the first-year student. At least, that's how it appeared to Bertus.
Reinhardt, who, with the start of the semester, made the silver-haired girl cling to him as if her life depended on it.
But why?
For what purpose?
Bertus's mind became tangled with confusion.
The apostle of Tu’an.
Chosen by Alsebringer as a hero.
Soon to be engaged to Charlotte, the royal family's prospective son-in-law.
Winner of the cross-dressing contest.
Silver hair fetishist.
Reinhardt.
Unconsciously, Bertus grabbed the shoulder of the bewildered silver-haired junior.
"Be careful with Reinhardt."
"Huh? Um... Yes?"
"Just be careful if I say be careful!"
Bertus fiercely glared at Lucinil, who suddenly lost her spirit, as he said those words.
"Um, uh... I will..."
Confused, Lucinil hastily nodded her head.
—---
At the present moment, the most important task was to lure Cantus Magna into the dungeon created in collaboration with the Black Order in Darkland.
And on a personal level, it was about how to proceed with the engagement to Charlotte, and how to explain it to the others. It was predicted that things would work out once the emperor contacted him, but he hadn't been contacted by the emperor yet.
The magic research club's research was sealed after achieving results, but that didn't mean the club was disbanded. Everyone seemed to be brainstorming ideas for new, but not too dangerous, research projects.
Even if that wasn't the case, Louis Ancton seemed to be sharing the results of magic research with his fellow students in his own way, helping them improve their skills.
Ellen and I were receiving training in combat from Saviolin Turner, which went beyond mere swordsmanship lessons.
Thus.
Though it was like walking on thin ice that could break at any moment, he was spending a rather uneventful first semester.
Of course, it wasn't exactly the same as during his first year.
Usually, on weekends, he would spend his time in the training hall, practicing with Ellen, or checking on the progress of the research at the magic research club.
But as he became a second-year student and various circumstances changed, his lives had also changed slightly.
Turner had mostly set aside her duties as the head of the Shanafel, devoting her time to training the two of them, but she couldn't completely abandon her responsibilities.
On weekends, she seemed to return to the royal palace to attend to Shanafel's affairs. She was already pressed for time, but her life seemed even more hectic.
One would think that even a grandmaster like her might collapse from exhaustion.
So they received Saviolin Turner's guidance only on weekdays and trained separately on weekends.
The high-level combat training ground was quite far from the dormitory, so Ellen and I immersed ourselves in the relentless clashing of swords, just the two of us.
The intensity of the battle was more fierce and brutal than anything we had experienced in the practice arena so far.
Ellen wielded Lament, while I alternated between using Alsebringer and Tiamata. I could have used Lapelt as well, but it was impossible to do so.
Before Ellen's sword could even touch me, the wave of flame emitted from Lapelt would send me flying in a pathetic heap.
It was also impossible to break through the power of Lapelt, which was practically an automatic interception system.
Thus, Ellen wielded Lament alone, and I repeatedly clashed swords with her throughout the day, using the two sacred weapons in turn.
-Clang! Crash!
If the Ellen from last year had faced off against my current self, I would have undoubtedly been the victor.
But now, a year later, I still stood no match against Ellen.
Just as I had grown incomparably stronger compared to my past self, Ellen had also become much more powerful than the person she was a year ago.
-Clang!
Taking advantage of the force Ellen thrust upon me, I grabbed her sleeve and flipped her over as if applying a joint lock, crushing her down, only for her to aim her sword at my throat.
"You're dead."
"...It doesn't matter anyway, since we'll just be summoned back."
"...Right."
Here, we could attack each other with full force and even cut or stab without any consequences. However, throughout the year of relentlessly facing off against each other, Ellen had developed a habit of merely restraining me and stopping short of dealing a fatal blow. She would halt right before her finishing strike could land on me, her reflexes ingrained.
Ellen's sweat-drenched hair and her slightly ragged breaths hovered close to me, as we found ourselves in close proximity.
This closeness between us no longer felt awkward.
As Ellen pinned me down, she gazed down at me and muttered absentmindedly.
"Sweaty smell."
"...Do you think you don't smell sweaty?"
"...”
At my words, Ellen stared blankly at me for a moment, then suddenly stood up.
"I'll go wash up."
No.
No!
I was just saying it!
You didn't smell sweaty!
I instantly regretted my habit of immediately responding with a retort whenever I heard something.
