The window of the girls’ dorm.
Mia was about to peek out the window at the commotion, but someone called out to her right away.
«Mia, stay back.»
«Eh?»
The one opening the window and coming in was Finn.
«S-Sir Knight?! Th-this, this is the girls’ dormitory!»
Mia blushed, as she was dressed more carelessly than usual.
She hid her loungewear with her hands, not wanting Finn to see.
However, Finn didn’t panic.
«It’s an emergency. There’s a burning airship up in the sky. Oh, but more importantly, you should get changed quickly. Depending on the situation, we might leave here.»
«Eh?»
Mia hung her head, wondering if they were leaving the academy.
«Are we returning to the Empire?»
«In the worst case, yes. But before that happens,
Kurosuke, floating beside Finn, shook his single eye from side to side.
«Partner really likes that scrap metal’s master, huh.»
«Really?»
«Yeah, he does. Doesn’t he rely on him more than me? If that’s the case, I’m seriously gonna cry.»
«No, don’t cry.»
Finn, looking outside the window, had his back to Mia.
Mia hurriedly changed clothes, anxious about what on earth was happening.
(I hope everyone’s okay.)
◇ Another one.
A boy who barged into the girls’ dorm.
It was Jake.
«Arle!»
«Your Highness? Wh-why are you here?»
Arle’s loungewear left no openings.
Even inside her room, she was dressed like a proper young lady, and Jake blushed and averted his gaze.
«A summons came from the royal palace. Y-you’re to come as well.»
«To the royal palace, me as well? But—»
«Just come. You can come as you are, but you’d better prepare some kind of jacket.»
«Your Highness, I—»
As Arle was about to say something, Oscar, who had followed Jake, called out.
«Miss Arle, do you know where Miss Finley is? She’s the younger sister of Marquis Bartfort.»
Jake was startled by Oscar peeking his face in.
«Oscar, don’t show your face all of a sudden!»
«My apologies. But, Your Highness, I also have urgent business.»
«A-and, don’t stare at Arle’s casual clothes!»
Arle’s casual clothes were girlish and had a moderate amount of exposure.
It seemed Jake didn’t want even his foster brother to see that.
But Oscar showed no interest.
«Huh? I’m not interested. More importantly, do you know where Miss Finley is? I asked some first-year girls, and they said she hasn’t returned to the girls’ dormitory.»
Curfew had passed.
In the past, the curfew had been practically nonexistent, and even now, the administrators were troubled by many girls still not keeping it.
Arle shook her head.
«I’m sorry. I don’t know.»
«I see. I just hope she’s just playing outside.»
As Oscar worried about Finley, Jake seemed displeased.
«Are you really my foster brother? Why not show a little more respect?»
«I’ve always respected Prince Jake on a daily basis, you know?»
«You call that attitude respectful?!»
Jake was depressed, thinking, ‘Why is my foster brother such a disappointment?’ ◇ «Ahahaha! Now, do it!»
The location was in front of the student dormitory.
A woman accompanied by armed soldiers was laughing loudly, arms spread wide.
Around her were a number of large spider-type robots.
But even upon hearing the woman’s orders, they didn’t move.
—Naturally.
«H-huh? What’s wrong? Obey my orders at once!»
Facing the bewildered woman,
«Didn’t you check the weapons you were handling? If these look like the latest armors to you, you’d better study a bit more.»
«She was so confident, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.»
Noel explained to the woman why Livia looked apologetic.
«These kids are on our side.»
«—Huh?»
The woman gaped in shock, then looked around and calmly observed the robots.
What the robots were holding in their mouths and between their legs were the latest model armors that were her allies.
The foreign-made armors had a design with few distinguishing features.
They probably didn’t want the source identified, but they probably never imagined the woman in front of them would expose it right away.
Claire stepped forward in front of the woman.
«Hey, how does it feel? When you thought they were allies and gave them orders so confidently, but they turned out to be enemies—how does that feel? I’d like to know.»
Realizing that the latest armors had been utterly defeated without landing a blow, the woman collapsed to the ground once more.
Angie grabbed Claire.
«Don’t imitate Leon and provoke people.»
«I just wanted to try it once. Master is always so enthusiastic about it.»
I complained grumpily.
«Don’t make it sound like I’m always provoking people.»
«Bartfort, do you mean that? You’re joking, right?»
«I don’t always provoke people. Only when necessary.»
«R-really.»
As students gathered, Angie had the soldiers captured.
«Leon, we’re heading to the royal palace.»
«—Got it.»
As we started walking, Angie drew close.
«Have you come around to relying on us a bit?»
«You left me out and prepared things with
«Idiot. That’s not it. —Look, don’t agonize over things alone anymore.»
When we went out to the plaza, Luxion had prepared a vehicle.
There, Finn and Mia-chan were also present.
◇ The royal palace was in an uproar.
Especially in front of
When we arrived, Mr. Gilbert shot a sharp look at me, but Angie grabbed my arm and forcibly stopped me from getting involved.
«Angie?»
«Right now, whatever you say would be pointless.»
As the nobles were gauging my and Gilbert’s reactions,
«Bartfort! —Marquis. His Majesty is calling for you.»
«Me?»
I looked to Angie, and she nodded, so the two of us entered Roland’s room.
There, besides
A high-ranking person from the temple was using healing magic.
The court physician was watching Roland’s condition and sweating coldly.
In the corner of the room, Master was there with his eyes closed.
—Wait, could Master be a more amazing person than I think?
Mylene-san glanced at me but immediately looked back at Roland and spoke.
«Your Majesty, please stay with us! Your Majesty! Erika, you too, call out to him.»
Called by Mylene-san, Erika also called out to Roland.
«Father.»
«…Erika, is it?»
Roland opened his eyes, his complexion poor.
Julius guided me and Angie to Roland’s bedside.
«Bartfort, Father wishes to speak with you as well.»
«With me too?»
Does he intend to make some sarcastic remark at the end? As I was having such anxious thoughts, Roland looked at us and moved his lips.
«So you’ve come.»
Angie stepped a little away from me and Julius, watching over us.
Julius called out to Roland.
«Stay strong, Father!»
«Julius, you should understand. As I am now, I cannot overcome this crisis. —Ugh!»
Roland, in apparent pain, grasped my hand.
«I leave the rest to you.»
«Father! Leave it to me. I will definitely—overcome this crisis and show you.»
Julius shouted, but before that I wanted to say one thing.
«Hey, you’re holding the wrong hand.»
I muttered that quietly, but Roland didn’t seem to care.
His consciousness was hazy, so I thought he might have mistaken, but—that wasn’t it.
«Marquis Bartfort. I leave the rest to you.»
«Hey! Get a grip, Your Majesty! You mean I should help Julius, right? That’s it, right?! That’s what you mean, right?!»
Insufficient words cause misunderstandings.
I tried to confirm with Roland, but he gave a small laugh.
«I want those present here to serve as witnesses. This is my imperial decree. I promote Marquis Bartfort. I entrust all command authority to Duke Bartfort. Duke Bartfort, overcome this crisis. Julius, I ask you to assist the duke.»
«Yes, Father!»
«Now, with this—it’ll be all right.»
«Fatherrr!»
«Wait just a minuteeee! Hey, you actually have some leeway, don’t you?!»
Roland, gripping my hand firmly, seemed to look at me and laugh just before losing consciousness.
When I looked around, everyone’s gazes were fixed on me.
The look Mylene-san gave me was very cold.
Huh? Could it be she’s quite angry?
«These are His Majesty’s words. Let us entrust command to Duke Bartfort.»
Erika was holding Roland’s hand.
She was crying.
Prince Jake was being consoled by Arle, but—isn’t that guy looking a little happy?!
Is that okay? Your old man is in critical condition!
«Mylene-sa— Your Highness, please wait. What exactly does entrusting me with command authority mean?!»
Mylene-san was issuing orders to those around.
«That is His Majesty’s wish. Now, I leave the rest to you. Everyone, convey those words to the assembled nobles. We will overcome this crisis under the command of Duke Bartfort.»
As everyone began moving busily, Mylene-san approached Angie.
«Angelica, this is the path you chose. See it through to the end.»
Angie stood before Mylene-san, dignified.
«Yes.»
When Mylene-san left the room, Master, who had been waiting in the corner, spoke up.
«Mister Leon.»
«H-huh? Yes?»
«There is little I can do in this crisis. However, I will place myself under your command and do my utmost. I believe you can overcome this crisis, Mister Leon.»
«Master.»
«If it’s you, Mister Leon, you can do it. His Majesty must have judged the same.»
—Honestly, I find that extremely suspicious, though.
Him believing in me? Impossible. I can say that for sure.
There’s probably some ulterior motive, but maybe he thought pushing it onto me plainly would work out better?
But interrogating him while he’s in pain—both the situation and my own feelings make that impossible.
I can’t be that heartless.
As I was lost in thought, Angie spoke to me.
«Leon, you take command. Absolutely do not go to the front lines.»
«Huh, no, but—»
I understood Angie’s concern for me.
However, at a time like this, if I don’t step forward— «Bartfort, you already have a track record. Don’t worry; if you take command, the soldiers will be reassured. If you really want to go to the front lines, we’ll go in your place.»
It sounded noble, but I absolutely couldn’t accept that.
Before I could say anything, Angie said to Julius.
«I won’t allow Your Highness to go to the front lines either.»
«What?»
«Isn’t that obvious?»
«N-no, but!»
Seeing Julius like that, Prince Jake cut into our conversation.
«Elder Brother can just cower in the palace. I’ll go to the front. Duke Bartfort, entrust soldiers to me. I’ll achieve military results.»
Nah, no way.
I can’t entrust soldiers to Jake, who has no achievements.
«You too, wait at the palace.»
«Why?!»
He kept glancing at Arle behind him; it’s probably just pride—wanting to be seen as a capable man.
Good grief, why is this guy so useless?
He couldn’t even become a capture target, and he can’t be placed anywhere in a real battle.
«Angie, call
«Right. Let’s have them work for once.»
Exactly.
It’s time for them to do some work for once.
Julius was sulking together with Jake, saying things like, ‘If only I could wear a mask, I’d be fine’ and ‘A mask, huh… that could work.’ These guys are just hopeless!
When I noticed, Erika was looking at me.
«Don’t worry. I’m used to this kind of thing.»
«—I’ll help too.»
«Erika?»
◇ The conference room where the nobles had gathered.
Many were irritated by Roland’s imperial decree.
A muscular noble with a splendid beard crossed his arms, looking dissatisfied.
A thin noble was trying to soothe him.
«You’re telling us to put ourselves under that brat’s command?!»
«He has a track record. What’s your complaint?»
«Everything is a complaint! He’s a boy less than half my age!»
Dominique, observing the assembled nobles, stroked his beard and pondered.
(Now then, what to do. I have a debt to the Redgrave family, but if it’s an order, there’s no problem in serving under Duke Bartfort. It’s a good opportunity to see his capabilities.)
It wasn’t a lie when Dominique publicly declared himself a fan of Leon.
Leon is a man who succeeded as an adventurer and became a hero of the nation.
Even though he’s younger, it’s a fact that he respects him.
However, as a noble—as a feudal lord—he must make tough decisions.
(If he’s going to clash with the Redgrave family, I need him to show appropriate strength before I can make up my mind. Well then, let’s see what you’ll do, young hero.)
Then, Leon entered the conference room.
However, behind him was also Erika.
One of the nobles who had been making noise hurriedly shut his mouth.
«It’s Lady Erika.»
«Didn’t she break off their engagement?»
«Don’t tell me, she’s going to use this opportunity to re-engage?»
As the room grew noisy, Erika stepped forward before Leon and greeted the nobles.
«I have a request for everyone. Please, lend your strength to Duke Bartfort.»
The conference room buzzed.
Erika appealed to the nobles.