Chapter 10

Damian took leave from the Royal Guard to work on the assignment.

The other knights asked what could possibly require him to use vacation time when he had never taken any before, but he simply dismissed it as a personal matter. The younger knights, who had approached him with admiring eyes, left with their shoulders drooping.

“Sir Ksanov. You should let people get a little closer to you.”

A senior knight who had just finished sparring with him spoke in a gentle, admonishing tone. He didn’t even seem bothered by the sword in his hand, which had been cut almost in half. The broken tip of the blade lay rolling across the floor.

Looking down at the blackened magic sword that had reacted to his mana, Damian answered,

“I’m returning to Luxen after graduation anyway. Is there really any point?”

“You never know. Your feelings might change.”

That was exactly what he disliked.

The King and the Royal Guards acting under his orders never stopped trying to recruit him. To Damian, their constant persuasion clung to him like something sticky, making him feel nothing but irritation.

For an ordinary knight, seeking out a new lord who recognized his worth was perfectly natural.

But Damian was more than the Grand Duke’s knight.

He was his disciple.

He owed everything to the Grand Duke.

There was no reason to change his allegiance.

“I don’t think that will happen.”

“You’re awfully arrogant.”

Though he said so, the senior knight wasn’t particularly offended by Damian’s attitude. To him, it was only fitting that one of the continent’s few magic swordsmen—a knight who had defeated the Southern Duke at sixteen—should possess at least that much pride.

Guessing what the man was thinking, Damian silently sheathed his sword.

No amount of arguing would change anything.

He simply had to endure until graduation.

He had intentionally saved all of his leave for the end of the school year, planning not to attend school at all around graduation.

His master, the Grand Duke of Luxen—who had wanted him to enjoy life like an ordinary student while attending the Royal Academy—had agreed with that plan.

As long as the Great War against Parparnan continued, there was no telling what the King might do to claim more credit for future victories.

Leaving as soon as possible was the safest option.

Still…

One day wouldn’t hurt.

Arkin had asked whether it was really worth taking such a risk just for a class assignment.

But Damian hadn’t taken leave because of the assignment.

More than anything…

He simply didn’t want to be interrupted.

* * *

As soon as class ended, Tislin headed toward the Knight Department building.

Apparently their classes had ended around the same time, because by the time she arrived the students had already dispersed to their dormitories, training grounds, and elsewhere.

Thanks to that, the hallway where she was supposed to meet Damian was nearly empty.

Even so, she kept her head low and moved carefully, trying not to attract anyone’s attention.

“…Where is it?”

He said it was around here…

“This way.”

Damian, apparently not having trained today, wore a perfectly neat academy uniform.

It was exactly the same uniform as the Knight Department students who had just passed by, yet somehow he stood out simply by standing there.

Fortunately the corridor was empty at the moment, but if anyone happened to walk by, they would inevitably notice him.

Worse still, classrooms were still in session beyond the hallway where he stood.

Tislin instinctively shrank her shoulders.

“Um… could we do this somewhere less visible?”

“Why?”

Sierra had been right.

Tell him the moment you meet him.

Taking a deep breath, Tislin lightly tugged at Damian’s sleeve.

He looked down at her in surprise but obediently followed.

Only after they had moved far enough down the hallway that the classrooms could no longer see them did Tislin finally speak.

“I want to keep our engagement a secret. Is that okay?”

When no answer came, anxiety crept into her voice.

“Even if you won’t agree to break off the engagement… you can at least do this for me…”

The words sounded pathetic even to herself.

But if rumors spread, calling off the engagement would become far more difficult.

Even if she somehow managed it…

“The woman who broke off her engagement to Damian Ksanov.”

That label would probably follow her until she was past marriageable age.

“…Yes. I can do that.”

After a long silence, that was all Damian said.

Tislin immediately looked up.

Damian’s eyes were lowered, his expression faintly troubled.

Who would feel good when their own fiancée asked to hide their engagement as though it were something shameful?

Which is exactly why we should just break it off…

They had only recently become engaged.

Their families hadn’t yet exchanged anything significant.

Now was the cleanest time to end it.

Which also meant…

The longer they delayed, the more complicated everything would become.

“I understand that you don’t want to draw attention. Then let’s go somewhere else.”

Tislin nodded quickly.

Damian hadn’t given her a firm promise, but she didn’t have the nerve to press him any further.

Following his straight back deeper into the corridor, they came upon an old iron door she hadn’t even known existed.

It looked as though it hadn’t been opened in years.

Damian casually pulled it open.

“Are we allowed to open this?”

“It’s only kept closed for convenience. It’s not forbidden.”

“That’s a relief.”

Tislin carefully stepped over the threshold.

“As if I’d take you somewhere dangerous.”

Closing the door behind them, Damian let out a quiet laugh.

Tislin stubbornly kept her eyes fixed on the floor.

If she looked up now, she’d end up blushing again.

She didn’t want him to see that.

After walking for quite some time through deserted passageways, they reached an unfamiliar building.

Judging from the architecture and the ivy climbing its walls, it had clearly been built long ago.

Running her hand lightly over the aged stone, Tislin followed Damian inside.

The white stone interior was noticeably cooler, making her unconsciously tense.

“It isn’t going to collapse.”

Apparently mistaking her reaction for fear, Damian tried to reassure her.

After a brief pause, he added,

“And even if it did… getting you out wouldn’t be difficult.”

If she had actually been frightened, that probably wouldn’t have been very comforting.

Still, Tislin simply nodded.

They went farther inside and settled into an empty classroom.

Apparently the building wasn’t completely abandoned.

The magic lamps still worked, and the classroom was clean.

Tislin took out her reference materials and a blank notebook.

“I’ve been thinking. I think we should divide it like this: politics, geography, economy, culture, military, and history. If we split them evenly, we should finish pretty quickly.”

“Sounds good.”

She had even brought a large map that covered almost two full pages—though not as large as Professor Karon’s.

“Rather than geography itself, what’s important is everything that stems from it: the developed waterways, the military strength needed to maintain the mage corps, the luxury-based economy, the provincial governor system… In that case, geography should probably come first.”

Talking this much was making her mouth sore.

Watching Damian’s reaction, she wrote Geography at the top of the page.

“I figured the library wouldn’t have much on the military, so I brought some useful references. Parts of them should also help with geography and administration.”

Damian opened several books he had stacked on one side of the desk.

“Huh? You actually did research?”

“It’s an assignment. Of course I did…”

Then, realizing what she meant, he gave a short laugh.

“What, did you think I was planning to let you do all the work?”

“No… you’re just so busy. Anyway, it’s good that you came prepared.”

He had clearly prepared much more thoroughly than she expected.

As she flipped through the well-worn pages, she guessed these were books he’d been reading even before the Parparnan War.

There were several more volumes as well.

She skimmed their tables of contents one by one.

“…If we try to include everything from these books, we’ll end up writing an actual book.”

“Let’s not go that far.”

On that point, they reached complete agreement.

“As for the political system… don’t we only know the basics? The Emperor, the bureaucrats, and the provincial governors.”

“There’s a reason that’s all we know.”

“Right.”

“Because the rest doesn’t really function.”

There was a reason for that.

They had no diplomacy, so there was effectively no foreign ministry.

They didn’t collect taxes according to any lawful standard, so tax collectors were little more than officials in charge of exploitation.

The nation’s finances weren’t managed through any organized budget.

The Emperor simply spent whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

If money ran short, he squeezed more from his own people…

Or looted foreign nations.

Literally.

How had a country like that managed to survive for fifty years?

Simple.

Because no one dared to resist.

Hezra’s overwhelming power.

With a single sword, he possessed strength reminiscent of the legendary ancient mages said to have summoned meteors from the heavens and unleashed the fires of hell.

That overwhelming might made all resistance meaningless.

There had been rebellions in the beginning.

But after entire cities serving as rebel strongholds were wiped off the map several times, people naturally became too afraid of the consequences to resist.

Instead, they suspected and reported one another.

The terror inspired by the unprecedented magic swordsman named Hezra had been enough to paralyze half the continent.

It was difficult for the younger generation—who had never seen Hezra with their own eyes—to truly understand.

“We should include that.”

Damian jotted a brief note under the History section and wrote down the title of the reference book.

He also added a short note under Military explaining that every invasion launched against Parparnan from outside had ultimately failed.

Some had achieved limited success in the end.

But that wasn’t important for the assignment.

Damian had no intention of turning the report into an account of the recent war.

“Should the Emperor and the Four Dukes go near the beginning?”

“That would make sense.”

“Since there are only three Dukes now, let’s write three.”

At least that reduced the workload a little.

Delighted, Tislin enthusiastically crossed out Four Dukes and replaced it with Three Dukes.

The Duke of Barbanot in the north.

Taltaribray in the west.

Horkinear in the east.

“You’ve never met the other Dukes, have you?”

“No. I heard they never even sent reinforcements during the war against Southern Parparnan.”

“That’s strange. Were they fighting among themselves for power?”

“I don’t know.”

“But at least the Western Duke is supposed to be an incredible mage. Even then?”

“Even then.”

“Maybe that’s why we’re all still alive.”

Thinking about the Western Duke—who supposedly hadn’t shown his face even after the entire south had been occupied—and about Hezra, Tislin tapped her pen against the paper.

“Of the Four Dukes, only the Southern Duke was a magic swordsman, and the south had the strongest military, right? Doesn’t that mean Parparnan is much weaker now?”

“If you’re wondering why no one attacks them… it’s because the Allied Forces are in pretty bad shape too.”

Tislin fell silent.

“…That badly? We won.”

“We got lucky.”

Coming from the man known as the Slayer of the Southern Duke, there wasn’t much she could say.

He had no reason to downplay his own achievements.

What a mess…

Feeling stifled, Tislin organized everything they had discussed so far into her notes before standing up.

“I’m going outside for a little fresh air.”

Opening the classroom door revealed a long corridor stretching in both directions.

Tislin froze with one foot over the threshold.

“Um… which way was the exit again?”

“I’ll take you.”

So the two of them walked out together.

They had almost reached the corner of the hallway without saying a word—

when suddenly the front entrance at the far end swung open.

“Ooh. This place is kind of creepy.”

An unfamiliar voice echoed through the corridor.