Ch. 146

Come to think of it, Annie’s dream was to enter the Academy.

She was an odd kid who liked studying. She might even achieve greater things than me.

“Yeah, now you’re going. It’s a really good place, so you can look forward to it.”

“When am I going?”

“Probably in three or four days. I’ll be having a video call with the Headmaster tomorrow… Sir Hansen, when is the mage arriving?”

“At the earliest tomorrow, at the latest the day after.”

To use a crystal orb for communication magic, a mage was essential.

They could use the Tower of Magic, but since there was no guarantee of secrecy, the higher-ups usually had a personal mage in service.

Once the mage arrived, I intended to get the Headmaster’s approval for Annie’s admission.

A strange feeling crept in. Thinking that Hansen would be taking Annie to Dmitri…

It didn’t take long to realize what that feeling was. I was finally going to be free! What a relief!

“Hehe. You heard that, Annie? Before you leave, write a letter to Big Sis Anel. Leave it at the inn and someday she’ll see it.”

“Okay! Can I write one to the uncles too? Uncle Ash, Uncle Chad…”

“As you like.”

“You look really happy, Sis.”

“Does it show that much?”

Annie didn’t cry or look sad at the thought of parting from me.

If anything, she seemed glad that I wouldn’t be her guardian anymore. Well, she hadn’t exactly had a good time being with me… she did get kidnapped after all.

“Um… miss?”

“What?”

“I just remembered, didn’t the Spirit Department at the Academy get dissolved?”

Hansen pulled gently at my elbow and whispered by my ear.

He was worried Annie might overhear, so his voice was barely audible.

“It hasn’t been dissolved yet. Just no students.”

I answered as if it were nothing.

“B-But isn’t that the same thing?”

“It’s different! The facilities are intact.”

“…But there aren’t any teachers either, are there? If I recall, after you started self-study, Master Yael Roenin returned to the palace.”

“You know a lot.”

“Then how can you enroll her in the Spirit Department?”

Geez, worrying about every little thing. I folded my arms and shrugged.

“Master Yael always said it. Teaching a gifted student like me was the joy of his life, a true honor that would never come again.”

[Uh, Master Yael put it more like, he hoped you’d meet a student like yourself so you’d know what it’s like to suffer.]

What was there to hide? One of my specialties was shamelessness.

“…So, Master Yael has no idea he’s about to get another student?”

“How could he? I’ve only just managed to contact the Headmaster.”

“Miss…”

“It’s always easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Surely if his student had come back alive, he’d grant a little favor like this.

Now he would have another talented student. Our Master Yael sure was lucky.

Besides, his very first student was none other than Geenie Crowell. Just how proud must he be of that? He really had a fine student.

I was honestly proud of myself.

Where would he find another disciple who thought of him as much as I did?

—

Late at night, when Annie had fallen asleep, I introduced Hansen to Ash’s group.

I explained he was a knight I knew from my hometown. They didn’t exactly look convinced.

“Since you’ve helped my lady, I’ll buy a round.”

Now that it was just the adults, the table naturally filled with drinks and snacks.

“I never owed you anything though?”

“Thank you for looking after our lady.”

“Hansen, are you ignoring me right now?”

Hansen seemed convinced I must have been a burden to Ash and his companions.

Aside from pawning Annie off about ten times and leaving them to handle the freed slaves, I hadn’t imposed on them much.

Even as I glared, he went to fetch beer without flinching. Sitting beside me, Ash quietly asked,

“You and Sir Hansen… seem very close.”

“Of course. We are.”

“Would it be impolite to ask… how close?”

“Not really. About ten years?”

“I see. Then… what kind of relationship are you…?”

Relationship? None at all. Hansen was a knight, but he wasn’t sworn to me… then it hit me what Ash was really asking.

“Wait, what are you thinking! Do you know how old Hansen is?”

“He looks like a healthy man in his mid-thirties.”

“Impossible! There’s no way I’d be in that kind of relationship with him!”

I often forgot, but here a ten-year age gap wasn’t an issue for dating.

Among nobles, even a twenty-year gap was common, regardless of gender.

By that measure, Hansen and I could easily be seen as a potential couple. But I hadn’t let go of my old habit—once the gap passed five years, I couldn’t see them as a partner.

“Is that so? You just looked unusually close…”

“Like what?”

“Like fiancés.”

“How insulting! I’ve never even dated anyone, let alone been engaged!”

Counting my previous life, I had over thirty years of solo record.

Seventeen plus nineteen made thirty-six… kind of depressing.

Not shameful, but not exactly something to boast about either. Hm, maybe I could subtract ten years of childhood and claim only sixteen years without dating?

Yeah, yeah, kids don’t date anyway, so that counts. …Wait, but didn’t Iruze and Mia have fiancés at eight years old?

Nobles, really… I’m a noble too!

“…What about you?”

“Me?”

“Have you ever dated, Ash?”

“…No.”

I suddenly asked with a serious face, and Ash matched me with equal seriousness.

“Engaged?”

“No.”

“Have you kissed anyone?”

“…Uh, no?”

“Haah… what a relief. We’re comrades! Nice to meet you, friend. Keep living a wholesome life like that!”

I felt immense relief knowing I wasn’t the only one.

Just as I was bonding with Ash, Lox cut in,

“Miss Geenie, could you stop filling Ash’s head with nonsense? He hasn’t dated not because he can’t, but because he chooses not to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean! So I can’t?”

“You’ve got quite a nasty temper! And stop grabbing people by the collar!”

Oh dear, when did I grab him?

Before I knew it—bam!—I had him by the collar, shaking him with all my strength.

“You just talk in the most offensive way! I do have guys chasing after me!”

“Whoever they are, they must be blind, or imaginary!”

“You really have a death wish, don’t you?”

Lox had a knack for speaking harsh truths in ways that stung. And though he was a man, he was about my equal in strength.

While we were wrestling over his collar, Hansen returned, suddenly moved.

“You all get along so well! I’m relieved! I always worried since you never made any friends before!”

“Hansen! Don’t spout nonsense!”

“Heh, but I’m relieved.”

“You old man!”

It was all I could do not to tell him to get lost to Dmitri right away.

—

“By the way, the village seemed in chaos. I heard there was a big fight in the mountains two days ago?”

In the middle of the relaxed drinking, Hansen suddenly brought it up. Everyone grew quiet at once. Even clueless Chad only picked at the snacks, which showed just how sensitive the topic was.

“I heard the casualties were enormous. The bodies were so mangled they couldn’t even count the dead.”

“…”

“And a big slave trader disappeared overnight, didn’t he? Rumor says it was the wrath of the Dark Elves.”

The more Hansen went on, the quieter we became. But drunk as he was, he didn’t notice.

“Witnesses say a giant blue snake swallowed the area, followed by storms and waves. The escaped slaves all said some woman freed them… an elf woman maybe?”

“Hansen.”

“If nothing else, I’ll have a good story to tell my colleagues back in the capital—”

“Don’t. It has nothing to do with me.”

“…What?”

“I’ll keep it short. This has nothing to do with me, but don’t spread it in the capital. I’ve been sick in bed and just got up. So I don’t know a thing.”

With each deliberate word I spoke, Hansen’s eyes widened until he spat his beer in shock.

“…Miss!”

“What! What!”

“Even the Headmaster… he was worried what kind of trouble you’d get into, so he told me to hurry over…”

“I said it’s not me! Why are you looking at me like that! Got proof?”

Why didn’t anyone ever believe me? Was I that much of a troublemaker? …I guess I was.

In the past I was always nearly getting myself killed. Now the difference was, I was the one killing.

Hansen seemed to realize it at last, his face growing solemn.

He no longer looked like he was enjoying his drink. But that was none of my concern.

I was a good, law-abiding person.

Who needed laws anyway? My fists were right here.