Chapter 31
“You bastard….”
The Mad Golden Princess, you’re certainly a villain with a significant role in the main story.
But I’m a villain too.
“The fact that you’ve come to the wrong address and caused a ruckus will be proven by time. That is, if that so-called Peacemaker is still alive and hasn’t died yet.”
I placed the case containing the gun on the ground and kicked it.
The case, smeared with filthy sewage, stopped in front of the Princess.
“Take it. It doesn’t seem to be mine anyway.”
“Insolent.”
“I hope you’d acknowledge my innocence as much as my insolence.”
“How do you explain the unknown magic you used?”
I pulled out an enchanted scroll from my pocket and boldly unfolded it.
“An artifact…!”
“I don’t know what this magic is either. I just use it because it’s convenient for crossing spaces.”
“The diamond bullet and the scroll, where did you get them?!”
“I obtained them from a Time Chaos Dungeon with detection immunity that appeared in a closed civilian sewage treatment plant.”
“….”
The Princess’ eyes twitched.
She didn’t bother asking further, which, surprisingly, suggested she already knew.
Did Elisha snitch?
No, it’s more likely her intelligence network figured it out on its own.
While I pondered, the Princess, having finished her own calculations, abruptly turned around.
“…Insolent thing. I’ll withdraw for today. But mark my words. I’ll be watching you.”
With that, she walked down the underground waterway, and one by one, hulking figures in hooded cloaks began to appear around her like shadows.
The terror of the Imperium Empire, the Emperor’s blade.
The Shadow Knights.
“….”
Time to get out of here.
I’m too tired.
***
I ended up taking the gun the Princess discarded.
Well, there was no reason not to.
Unlike her, I’m a commoner.
Throwing away the contents just because the case got some filth on it is a luxury I can’t afford.
Anyway, today was the worst.
The only silver lining was picking up a decent gun.
Everything else was awful.
When I got home, closed my eyes, and opened them again, it was morning.
No matter what happened yesterday, it didn’t matter.
When the morning sun rises, going to school is an inescapable fate for a student.
“Today, we’ll be conducting response training.”
The virtual training ground could simulate harsh environments like deserts, jungles, or plains, as well as adverse weather conditions like fog, heavy rain, or storms.
“You’ll enter individually, and your score will be based on how quickly you can detect and respond to the enemies that appear. Naturally, this is an event where long-range shooters have an advantage, so those lacking in points should make up for it here.”
Cadet Number 1, Gilbert, was called up.
The cadets murmured among themselves.
“Ugh, this is bad. Running in with a sword is bound to be slower than arrows.”
“Okay, I need to rack up some points this time.”
Soon, Gilbert’s response training began.
The ground turned muddy, forming a swamp.
“Wow, that’s brutal. A swamp.”
“Luck is part of skill.”
“Of all things, he got the worst terrain for close combat.”
A wave of sympathy spread.
[Beep!]
With the sound signaling the start, a target board popped up with a clunk.
To us watching from outside, it was clearly visible due to the simulation’s adjustments, but for Gilbert inside, there were no such aids, so finding it was part of the test.
However.
“Huh?! He found it already?!”
“That fast?!”
Blue mana burst vividly from beneath Gilbert’s feet, visible to the naked eye.
His body shot forward at high speed toward the target.
His sword swung, and the target was sliced apart.
[Number 1, Gilbert: 9.72 seconds]
Teacher Hectia nodded with satisfaction.
In contrast, the cadets looked grim.
‘This is bad.’
‘I don’t think I can do better.’
‘Ugh… I’m going to get crushed today.’
Hectia, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, was notorious for her sharp tongue.
[Number 2, Ben Drimus: 1 minute 37 seconds]
“One minute? If your opponent was an archer, you’d have been sniped a hundred times by now!”
[Number 3, Matthew von Yulha Animas: 3 minutes 8 seconds]
“Three minutes? Did you aim for three minutes because you’re Number 3? I hope that’s not the case.”
Cadet Number 7, an archer, miraculously got a jungle and storm, defying everyone’s expectations and recording the worst score.
[Number 7, Low Veltia: 4 minutes 13 seconds]
“Impressive. Four minutes is enough time for your opponent to finish their combat rations.”
A torrent of biting remarks poured down.
“Number 14, Bord.”
“Yes!”
As soon as the target board appeared, Bord activated his family’s secret technique, Frontkeeper.
“That… that’s…! The secret art of a ducal family!”
“Wow…!”
A giant soldier formed of mana began recklessly sweeping through the vast forest.
[25.31 seconds]
“Cadet Bord.”
“Yes, Teacher!”
Hectia threw Bord, who had stepped out confidently, back into the artificial training ground.
Bord, stumbling and falling on his rear, blinked with wide eyes.
“You, a member of one of the Four Great Ducal Families and class president, don’t even understand the purpose of response training?
The goal is to train your ‘response ability’ to locate and neutralize an enemy ambushing you in harsh terrain.
Not to be a berserker who obliterates everything like you!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Do it again!”
Bord took the test again.
Number 14 [45.81 seconds]
He ended up wasting twice as much time as before.
Still, it was the second sub-minute record after Gilbert.
“Next, Number 15!”
A strange atmosphere flowed through Class A.
“Martin!”
Entering the training ground, I felt like I was walking through a white, grid-patterned confined room.
‘The distance… it’s wider than I thought.’
Then the environment began to take shape.
Trees and grass started growing.
It was a jungle.
Endless rain poured, and winds howled.
“….”
This isn’t fair.
A jungle with a storm?
‘Teacher Hectia….’
Swamps or deserts for cadets specializing in close combat, forests and jungles for those specializing in ranged combat.
‘She’s vicious.’
A thunderclap roared.
‘Fine, I’ll show you.’
I closed my eyes and focused my mind.
Know-It-All (Lv 2) secures firing paths for all routes.
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) tracks the predicted range where the target board will appear.
Movement (Lv 2) prepares your body to its optimal state.
Firearm Comprehension (Lv 8) promises you victory.
Click, I checked the single penetrating bullet in the chamber.
Being a new gun, it felt good in my hand.
‘Let’s test its performance.’
Time to see how good this Imperium Royal hunting rifle really is.
[Beep!]
***
“Can Cadet Martin pull it off?”
Bord asked Gilbert with genuine curiosity.
“Well, it’s kind of…”
The conditions were tough in every way.
Even Gilbert had dealt with a swamp, but a jungle and storm for a shooter?
“Elisha, what do you think?”
He asked Elisha, the only and best shooter in the protagonist’s party.
She was casually studying for an exam scheduled for next week, unfazed.
“If it were me, I’d do it in under 30 seconds.”
“Oh.”
A bold declaration.
So far, only two cadets had broken the one-minute mark.
Only one had hit 30 seconds.
[Beep!]
The test began.
The moment the three, who had been sizing things up, turned to look at the training ground.
[3.45 seconds]
“…?!”
The watching cadets jumped to their feet.
The virtual training ground deactivated, and until Martin stepped out, no one uttered a word.
Even Teacher Hectia, who had been silent, said only one thing.
“…Excellent.”
Gilbert felt a chill.
If he had been the target, he might have managed to react to the two bullets fired in three seconds, but…
‘How many here could survive?’
He imagined Martin turning his gun on the cadets with malicious intent.
How many could survive on their own?
He wasn’t confident he could save everyone.
At the sound of a thud, Gilbert looked down.
A pen had fallen from Elisha’s hand and was rolling on the floor.
“Elisha?”
“….”
In Elisha’s mind, the three seconds she’d just witnessed replayed endlessly.
Aiming and firing.
Immediately reloading and firing again.
The first shot cleared the obstacles blocking the target, and the second obliterated the target.
His marksmanship, at the level of a master, was worthy of praise, but what mattered more was what came before.
The moment the target appeared, Martin had already finished aiming.
The process of “finding” the enemy was so fast it could be described as nonexistent.
“…That’s impossible. Even in my family, only my father, with instincts bordering on ‘future prediction,’ can do that.”
Hearing Elisha’s low murmur, Gilbert flinched.
‘…His detection ability is on par with the Four Great Ducal Families…?’
To think Martin was on the same level as the greatest powerhouses in the Imperium Empire.
Coming from the mouth of a ducal heiress, it didn’t sound like nonsense.
Looking back, when they raided Dr. Keren’s lab, Martin had been the first to spot the enemy and fire preemptively.
It was strange that his skill hadn’t been noticed until now.
Martin stood before Hectia for his evaluation.
“Cadet Martin, it seems you’ve honed your intellect and instincts to the level of a master. Your firearm skills have also improved significantly compared to before. However, your Mana Cultivation is relatively lacking. As it’s your only flaw, take special care to refine it further.”
There was no sharp criticism.
Only unprecedented praise.
“Thank you.”
I returned to my seat and sat down.
The cadets’ gazes converged on me.
Even as Cadet Number 16 entered the training ground, most were secretly observing me.
The prejudices they’d held before began to waver.
***
Classes at the Academy ran quite late.
Four periods, to be exact.
I could only head home after auditing a class until 9 p.m.
It was late, but there was an unavoidable errand, so I headed to an unfamiliar street.
I needed to check out a building Lilac had carefully selected after much research.
Thinking of the one maid waiting for me, I even splurged on a carriage ride, which wasn’t like me.
“Master! Welcome!”
Lilac waved both hands excitedly, then flinched and bowed politely.
“S-Sorry. I got too excited.”
“It’s fine.”
“N-No, it’s not fine for me. How could a maid dare to act so toward her master….”
Her cute mistake, born of genuine joy, was actually pleasant to see.
Next to Lilac stood…
“Well, hello there!”
A balding middle-aged merchant bowed deeply.
“Here to see the building, right?! I’m the landlord! Haha! A noble buying it? Wow, I’m thrilled!”
He must think I’m a noble because of the maid.
“That’s more like it.”
“Huh?”
Look at this clueless extra in front of me.
Even if Martin’s face is known among the nobility, it’s normal for commoners not to recognize me.
They might have heard the name, but recognizing Martin’s identity just by his face is absurd.
In contrast, Nerjin had known who I was from the moment we met, just by looking at my face.
And he had vast knowledge about the Cosmos Empire.
That old man is suspicious in many ways.
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go in.”
I may have been exiled, but for some reason, I wasn’t stripped of my title.
I had no intention of giving up the advantage of being treated as a noble.
“Here we go! I’ll show you around! As you can see, the building has a first and second floor. There’s a kitchen on each floor….”
The landlord began his tour, and Lilac listened intently, taking notes with wide-open ears.