Chapter 120
(Kyle
Calendar Year 508: Age 15)
Royal
Capital Kylar ② - A New Base
Translator : PolterGlast
After greeting the
Headmaster, I returned to my brother's residence, where Anne and the others
staying in Kylar with me were already preparing our new living arrangements. This
was possible because my brother's attendants and servants had already moved
out, preparing the residence for our immediate occupancy.
The personnel staying
here with me had been slightly adjusted from the initial selection made at the
beginning of the year:
<Knight Training
Course>
Takuhir
Sigurd (recommended by
Margrave Hastburg)
Carla (recommended by
Viscount Gorman)
<Civil Official
Training Course>
Mary (Earth Mage)
Sasha (Water Mage)
<Mage Combat
Training Course>
Mars (Fire Mage)
Lilia (Wind Mage)
Astor (Earth Mage)
<Medical School>
Rosa (Holy Mage)
<Attendants>
Anne
Gold (Wind Mage)
Danke (Fire Mage)
Walrus (Water Mage)
Alar (Wind Mage)
Sigurd and Carla, who
would be entering the same Knight Training Course as me, received enthusiastic
approval for their academy recommendations from Margrave Hastburg and Viscount
Gorman, respectively, and were granted admission under their recommendations.
For the time being, they would conceal their connection to me and live in the
student dormitory. Well, they'd eventually join my circle as friends.
Sigurd is 16 years
old. He came to Teigun as a migrant laborer from a rural village in the
territory. He has a simple, honest demeanor with short, dark brown hair, but he
is well-built and possesses great strength. Hearing about the allowance, he
volunteered for the self-defense force from its early days, and during the
recent defense battle, he volunteered and fought against the Imperial army. In
the early days of the self-defense force, he was assigned to the same unit as
Raphael and looked up to him as an older brother. Raphael also took an interest
in this simple, earnest young man, looking after him. Hearing from Raphael that
there were no issues with his character and that he aspired to become a regular
soldier in the future, Sigurd was an ideal candidate for recruitment.
Carla is 15 years old.
She was also an immigrant's daughter who apparently started learning crossbows,
inspired by Carleen. On the eve of the Teigun defense battle, she was moved by
Yoltia's words and by Claire's resolute stance against spies. Although not a
formal self-defense force member at the time, she volunteered to participate in
the battle and later officially joined the self-defense force. With her short,
reddish hair, she somehow reminded me of Anne from a while ago. Apparently,
when she officially joined the self-defense force, she impulsively cut her long
hair because it got in the way of training. She initially aspired to be an
archer, handling crossbows, but during training, she happened to see Anne's
swordsmanship and apparently became interested in the way of the sword as well.
She respected Anne, Claire, Yoltia, and Carleen, calling them "Elder
Sisters," and seemed to admire them.
These two, despite
their backgrounds, faced the biggest challenge in their basic education. As
they had not received formal schooling, they underwent intensive, accelerated
basic education during breaks from Commander (demon)'s special training. And
thanks to Commander (demon)'s rigorous training, their talent for swordsmanship
blossomed, and both rapidly developed into [Sword Masters]. Carla will likely
improve even further.
※
Mary and Sasha, when
their names were brought up as reserves, strongly expressed their desire to
take this opportunity to study urban planning professionally at the academy in
the Royal Capital, since they were going there anyway, to contribute to future
development. In the end, with the shortage of female helpers other than Anne at
our residence in the Royal Capital, they were granted admission to the Royal
Capital academy, recommended by the Solis Viscount as attendants and students.
Rosa was granted
admission to the medical school because Father Grace recommended her to a
Bishop in the Royal Capital. She will be looking for clues for epidemic
countermeasures on a different track from us. She has been a comrade since I
established the shooting range in the territory and is one of the companions I
feel close to. In the future, I hope she can become an exclusive physician for
the Solis family.
Gold, Danke, Walrus,
and Alar are accompanying me to the Royal Capital as attendants, security
personnel, and candidates for the Mage Combat Training Course next year.
Additionally, it has
been decided that we will continue to locally hire cooks, cleaners, and
security personnel whom my brother had previously relied on. Thus, our base and
personnel in the Royal Capital were established.
※
The next day, after
meeting with all the civil official candidates recommended by my brother, I
took everyone who had accompanied me from the territory on a tour of the
academy and the entire Royal Capital, like excited tourists.
"It's like a
dream to be able to come to the Royal Capital!"
"Touring Kylar
leisurely like this makes me truly realize it all again."
"Somehow... I
feel out of place."
Mary, Sasha, and Rosa,
the trio of women, were happily enjoying their tour of the Royal Capital.
Mary's braided brown hair bounced as she walked, Sasha's bright brown hair was
in a ponytail, and Rosa's platinum blonde hair fluttered in the wind as they
eagerly walked a little ahead of me.
Anne, having
accompanied me to the Royal Capital before, was in her usual mode, acting as my
bodyguard by my side and keeping an eye on our surroundings.
"The sheer volume
and variety of goods are incomparable to Teigun. But still, prices are high,
aren't they?"
Lilia, having worked
at Teigun's trade exchange, seemed interested in the goods on sale, especially
food items. Her strong-willed expression, with neatly defined almond-shaped
eyes, was fixed on the products in the shops on both sides of the street.
The other male Mages
were uniformly tense. They were accustomed to operating as soldiers on a daily
basis, and following Anne's example, they seemed to be constantly scanning
their surroundings for suspicious individuals rather than enjoying the sights.
I felt that their relationship with me was very clearly defined as lord and
subordinate soldier. I decided I should make an effort to interact more closely
with them, at least during our stay in the Royal Capital, as we rarely get to
act together in our daily lives. Incidentally, they had all come to the Royal
Capital once before for commendations, so it wasn't their first time here. They
seemed to have some familiarity with the area.
The stiffest of them
were Sigurd and Carla.
"Are we... really
allowed to be here?"
"I... no, I'm
also just overwhelmed..."
They muttered this as
they followed at the very end of the group. Since they would be living
separately for a while after entering the academy, I wouldn't be able to
provide much support. I wanted them to get used to it as quickly as possible.
After touring District
4, I took everyone to District 3 and entered a clothing store recommended by my
brother. The first order of business was to buy everyone clothes. I personally
prepared three outfits for each: two sets of casual clothes suitable for
walking through the noble district of District 3 without looking out of place,
and one formal outfit.
Incidentally, on our
way to the Royal Capital, when we stopped in Est, Mother had given all the
women evening gowns as gifts. "My son (him) probably wouldn't think of
such things," she said, covering for my shortcomings. I was grateful to
Mother and gladly accepted her kindness.
※
After touring the
city, we all went to check the academy we would be attending. Even those who
wouldn't be attending for the time being might have opportunities to visit the
academy if they wanted to contact us. Furthermore, there was a possibility they
might enroll as Mages in subsequent years, so it was necessary to give them a
tour of the academy. Incidentally, only students themselves and their
attendants (typically one) are allowed into the academy. However, even
excluding Sigurd and Carla, since there were six students, everyone was able to
enter under the pretext of being individual attendants. They were first
astonished by the academy's vast grounds.
Furthermore, the total
number of students across all three grades easily exceeded several thousand,
meaning the academy was already on par with a Japanese university in scale.
Everyone except Anne and I was surprised by this.
Thus began the first
step of our academy life.
※
The Royal Capital
Academy, formally known as the Royal Academy for Noble Children, is said to
have been established in the early days of Kyle Kingdom's founding, and its
history and prestige are unmatched by other schools. Today, the academy has
three main courses:
Knight Training
Course: As its name suggests, students in this course primarily aim to join the
Royal Capital Knights in the future. In a Knight Order with a capacity of
30,000, approximately 500 members retire annually even in peacetime. This
number is significantly higher during wartime. Basically, talented individuals
selected from noble families annually join the Order. On the other hand, the
academy serves as a gateway to the Knight Order, and many commoners and
quasi-nobles aspire to it as one of the few paths to becoming an officer. This
course allows unconditional admission for recommended candidates, but general
applicants must pass a combat ability test. Over 90% of students are male, but
some female students are present, typically as bodyguards for high-ranking
noblewomen.
Civil Official
Training Course: This course serves as a gateway for those aspiring to be civil
officials in the Royal Capital or for various noble lords. Sons of nobles, from
the second son downwards, often enroll here aiming to become royal bureaucrats,
while commoners and quasi-nobles come to study with the goal of being hired by
local lords' administrative offices. There are recommendation slots for nobles
and general slots entered via examination. Besides civil officials, there are
also specializations for training professionals (engineers). This course has
several specializations, with administrative management, commercial finance,
and urban development being representative. Sasha and Mary are attending the
urban development specialization of this course.
Steward/Maid Training
Course: This course is primarily for noble daughters to learn etiquette or to
become maids serving higher-ranking nobles. The majority of students are female
and fill recommendation slots. Many students are daughters of lower-ranking
nobles from around the Royal Capital, making it the most uncomfortable place
for commoners. The only exception in this course is the steward specialization,
where the doors are open even to commoners, but it requires a high level of
education even before admission and a passing grade on a rigorous selection
exam.
Mage Combat Training
Course (Newly Established): A department newly established under His Majesty
the King's initiative, with the first year's students gathered after some prior
consultation. Its purpose is to utilize magic in mass combat on the
battlefield. Due to a shortage of instructors, the number of students is
significantly smaller compared to other courses. Takuhir, who commands a large
number of Mages and actively deploys them in combat, was requested to select
and enroll three or more individuals. However, this was rather an exception;
most lower-ranking noble families were unable to send even a single student. Perhaps
to compensate for this, not only those who became Mages after aptitude
confirmation but also those who wield their family's unique skill, bloodline
magic, were added to the recruitment targets for this course.
All my comrades, while
excited and anxious about their new life in the Royal Capital, also braced
themselves for the heavy responsibility of protecting their lord. I, too, was
filled with anxiety, which I could never show them, now thrown into a vortex of
schemes without the benefit of historical cheats.
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