30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue

17 – 6. The Status Window Opened on the First Day of School. (1)

*

At the end of February, the streets near Sengansk University were crowded with people.

It was finally time for the entrance ceremony of the institution established by the royal decree, the foremost educational institution of its time. Having taken the entrance exam in November of the previous year, one could say they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

At this point, amidst the chaos of Frechenkaya merchants trying to pick the pockets of freshmen and their families who had come from distant lands, various “traditional games” including pickpocketing were rampant.

Despite the biting cold of the early spring morning, excited and happy freshmen, unable to conceal their emotions, passed through the entrance of Sengansk University, while the older students looked at them with pity.

“What’s that?”

It meant everything was normal until someone pointed to the sky and made a bewildered sound.

One by one, people pointing fingers at the sky increased.

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Soon, when the long shadow covered the courtyard of Sengansk University, obscuring the morning sun.

“A flying ship…?”

“An aerial battleship…?”

“Insane!! Isn’t that Calion’s flagship?!”

The multitude gathered in front of the courtyard was engulfed in panic.

“Your Highness! Calion’s warship is in the Frechenkaya airspace right now!”

“Unbelievable! Even I have eyes.”

A silver-haired palace official twisted his hair while sharpening his knife.

“…Clearly, Elphera said they would come via Tilis, right?”

“Well… hahahaha! Yes! They even used a concealment cloak above the clouds.”

“Right. The recent weather has been unpredictable. That’s why we couldn’t confirm whether Calion’s dignitaries were coming by land or crossing the airspace with an armed ship. It makes sense.”

“No, sir. Logically, how could we plant agents in Calion! That place is…”

It’s elven territory… How do we plant people there… without getting caught?

When an intelligence officer sweated profusely, repeatedly muttering ‘I’m screwed if I report this to headquarters.’

In such an era when peace had become a vulgar joke.

A warship was descending from the sky.

It was early spring.

Ep6. The Status Window Opened on the First Day of School.

Elizabeth shouldn’t kill the elf.

Ivan continued to walk, ignoring the people still caught in confusion and contemplating.

Perhaps their thoughts were obvious.

– No, just looking at you, it’s clear that only the hero party members were being targeted for terrorism.

– How messed up is your border control for us to end up like this?

– Is Elphira really a treasure of our country’s army? How can we trust you? Our kids will protect us now. Good job. Please cooperate well.

It was hard to argue back. Isabelle and Echidist were caught up in the train derailment, and it was almost a miracle that they all survived.

Even Elizabeth had received Ivan’s warning in advance. But who would dare to provoke a Krassilof in this era?

In order not to die.

Elizabeth must have felt unjust. She probably didn’t expect there were such crazy people. Anyway, this incident could be passed off as some kind of happening. Even the elves of Calion wouldn’t commit diplomatic impropriety beyond “armed protest.”

“If I say there will be a lot of terrorism in the academy in the future, your stomach will crumble.”

Seeing Liza, the Iron Blood, cry again, it was quite painful, but he decided to bear it to avoid further insults.

Originally, he didn’t even want to meet Elizabeth. Well, it’s a bit awkward, isn’t it?

“Um.”

Elizabeth used to write letters quite often, and Ivan returned all the letters neatly. The biggest reason was that he didn’t want to talk to the superior for personal reasons, and the second biggest reason was that he didn’t want to get involved with the royals.

If he had known that he would be promoted to the commanding officer of the extinction unit in a few years, he should have been more careful. It’s something to reflect on.

When she first wrote the letter, she was only fourteen. Could anyone have expected that she would become the commanding officer of the extinction unit in just five years? Moreover, at that time, he was in the Royal Guard of the Sun King.

The scene of the princess and Sadam talking could be drawn into political attacks as soon as someone noticed it.

Misunderstandings that the great Sun King secretly sent people to support Elizabeth had to be avoided…

“Oh? Sir?”

“…Hmm?”

He was lost in thought and suddenly heard a familiar voice.

Then someone rushed over and tried to pat him on the shoulder. Ivan lightly turned his body to avoid it and reached for the hilt at his waist. Nothing was caught.

It was only then that he remembered that he had left the axe in the office.

“What the hell, are you alive? Can’t even say hello, are you scared of living?”

“I guess Tilless’s greeting has changed a lot since then.”

“You saw me reaching for my waist, didn’t you? Is this how you greet each other in Krassilof? Huh? Is this okay with your comrades who shared life and death?”

It was Isabelle. She approached him with a smile on her face, without any attendants.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re going to school. Are you a drill instructor? A professor? Not a Knight Department, right? You won’t be a knight. Oh, don’t say anything. I’ll guess.”

“You didn’t use to have this kind of personality.”

“You’re supposed to live with a smile, right?”

Isabel brightened with a cheerful smile.

Because Ivan’s expression resembled that of my father so much, Ivan unconsciously smiled back.

“Well, I still don’t like Lord August’s attitude, and I find those pretentious smilers quite detestable. Hmm. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be pretentious either.”

“Excellent.”

Ivan genuinely thought so. After all, this guy was like a poorly socialized puppy from the start.

Barking at anyone, the type to reveal fear at the slightest.

Considering he had changed his personality in just one night, Ivan considered himself to be more of an educator than he thought. (A somewhat bewildering evaluation for Isabel, who had to fight demons to save about 80 citizens and rescue about 10 survivors that same night.)

“Anyway! Sir, no. Hmm. With your skills, are you a professor? Right? What department are you in? Physical education. Definitely physical education. It can’t be the Knight Department, um… Is there an assassination curriculum at the Janskr University?”

“Do you think there is any educational institution teaching such things that would be useful in this world?”

“Learning anything is good! Except magic. That’s really too difficult.”

“It could be inconvenient for a knight not to use magic.”

“Ahahahaha, because I’m in the Knight Department!”

Ivan watched Isabel lively chatter for a while. Just as Isabel was fluently continuing her words, another group of people approached from afar.

“Miss!”

“Uh.”

Isabel stiffened her expression coldly for a moment and quickly managed her expression.

Ah, Ivan thought, looking at Oscar while adjusting his complexion. Then he soon cheerfully responded.

“Oh, Gongja! We see you here!”

“Speak comfortably, miss. You may call me Oscar.”

“Yes, next time!”

Oscar.

Ivan’s eyes sharpened.

A very handsome blond young man, surrounded by a group of female students, approached him with a bright smile.

My, he really takes after his father. This guy.

Ivan admired. Not only in appearance but even in the expression living off his well-endowed taste. The only difference might be the surrounding crowd.

The female students of Jillver were quite tidy.

In fact, it wasn’t easy to meet women in those days.

The only women at the parties were either holy maidens or thieves, and Patricia was just a newly turned ten-year-old kid, and Enrique was a vampire over a hundred years old.

“Well. Nice to meet you. I am Tilless’s Oscar de Sation. And you are?”

“Ivan Petrovich.”

“Excuse me, but may I ask about the young lady…? Oh, I apologize. I don’t know if you’re aware, but the young lady here seems to be a dignitary of our nation, so I might unintentionally be a bit impolite.”

Anyone witnessing the peculiar sight of a bearded giant walking alongside the daughter of a hero would inevitably entertain such thoughts.

Ivan, despite his reluctance to agree, understood it from Oscar’s perspective. There was something suspicious about this man, especially considering the time when Isabelle had been involved in the train incident.

Oscar had set out three days after Isabelle. It was because, even if Isabelle were to die, he had no intention of accompanying her in death.

And when news of Isabelle’s accident reached Tilles:

“Advance! Towards Freichanka!”

“Let’s tear apart the soles of the Kracilov bears!”

“A nation that forgets its history has no future! Remember the noble deeds of the hero, people of Tilles!”

The streets of Saint Matilène were filled with citizens holding such placards. What could be the issue when the hero’s daughter went missing, not due to an accident abroad, but entangled in terrorism?

Fortunately, news of Isabelle being miraculously unharmed spread, and the protests disbanded. However, the heightened vigilance and mistrust in Tilles couldn’t be avoided.

In the midst of all this, Oscar returned, having received stern words from his father, the national defender, Jill Berre.

“When you enroll, no matter what happens, make sure Isabelle doesn’t get a scratch.”

“Even if I die?”

“No matter how you think about it, her life is more precious than yours.”

“You’re truly something. Why didn’t you switch her and me then? You said you were close with the hero.”

“If I could have switched, I would have done it 20 years ago, son. Yulia and I wanted a daughter.”

“Wow, that’s really daring.”

Oscar, remembering the dignified lecture of the exemplary Tilles knights and the great national defender Jill Berre, struggled to maintain his composure.

“He’s a faculty member at Yansk University.”

“I’ve been quite rude. Given the recent unfortunate events, please pardon my impoliteness.”

“Hmm.”

“May I ask which department you teach in…? I haven’t seen your name on the list of professors.”

At this point, Isabelle’s ears perked up. He wasn’t a professor?

“He’s a gardener.”

“Uh.”

“…Excuse me?”

A gardener with that skill? Isabelle looked at him in astonishment.

Still, with eyes that revealed nothing and a thick beard hiding any expression, it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

I really want to push him away. Isabelle thought unintentionally before suddenly realizing.

“Ah, huh?”

She soon let out an odd laugh and smacked Ivan’s side. Ivan reflexively raised his hand to his waist, realizing there was no axe, and smoothly lowered his hand.

“Government agent, right? Secret agent or something? Wow, university life is really exciting. What could you possibly be hiding that you even have a government agent planted here?”

Isabel whispered like that and soon cleared her throat, organizing her expression.

“It’s our little secret, okay? Understand? Don’t go talking about it elsewhere, okay?”

“If it’s our little secret, you should be more careful with your words.”

“Why is that? Am I the daughter of a hero? Solemn, discreet, justice.”

“Did the hero act that way?”

As their whispered conversation extended, Oscar’s expression strangely changed.

“Miss?”

“Oh, yes. Gongja. Hm. Petrovich ‘shi’? Thank you for guiding me. Wow, I almost got lost with just a blink if I hadn’t asked! Goodbye!”

If there was a Department of Drama in the Jansk University Arts Department, Ivan seriously thought he should recommend Isabel to take a drama class.

*

At that moment, in the main hall of Jansk University where the entrance ceremony preparations were in full swing, one person was staring blankly into the air.

“What is this? Status…? Window?”

[Congratulations!]

*