I probably won’t be able to post for three or four days. My father has come up with a new business venture,
and the opening is in a few days. I have to go and help him, so…….
Even if I want to post, it’s in the countryside where there’s no internet, so there’s nothing I can do. Please understand…….
I should probably be able to post around the 25th. Well then.
********************************************************************
However, more than half the students concentrated their minds and immersed themselves in Dean Garfield’s lecture. Just
then, a low voice rang out inside the lecture hall.
“Um, I’m terribly sorry, but I have a question. Before rearranging mana, I’d like to know how
one can draw in only the mana in the atmosphere that bears the attribute of electricity.”
At that, the students’ gazes all turned at once toward the questioner. First, they were surprised because the content of the question was something
most of the students here already knew, and for another reason,
they wondered whether there was a student bold enough to interrupt
the lecture of Dean Garfield, who was famous for being strict. But they soon realized that the one who had asked the question was not a student.
“What?”
“He’s a royal guard, isn’t he?”
Amid the startled whispers of the students, Dean Garfield narrowed his eyes. When he realized that the one who had asked the question
was the royal guard standing by the back door of the lecture hall, his gaze filled with anger.
He was furious because the person who had broken the flow of his lecture was not a student. Soon, a question as cold as frost shot toward Damon.
“Who are you?”
Faced with the unexpected situation, Damon could only stammer. Frustrated, he had asked the question without thinking,
and he had not expected to draw the students’ attention like this.
“M-my name is?”
“I did not ask your name. I asked what you are supposed to be doing here.”
For a moment, Damon did not know what to do. He had merely asked about something he did not know, yet the professor was reacting extremely
sensitively. Garfield’s cold rebuke continued.
“You are a royal guard. Are you not?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“Then recite the duty regulations of a royal guard in this place.”
Under Garfield’s sharp pressure, Damon had no choice but to recite the royal guard’s regulations.
“I-I am tasked here with protecting the students
from any possible attack by orc guerrillas. Also…….”
As he listened to the duty regulations, Dean Garfield slowly moved his steps and approached
where Damon stood.
“Take off your helmet.”
“Pardon?”
“I said take off your helmet and show your face.”
At the irritated tone, Damon quickly removed his helmet. The scolding did not frighten him at all.
But because he was more worried that, because of this incident, he might no longer be able to listen to the lectures,
he was obediently doing as he was told. Soon, Damon’s hideous face
was revealed before the students. At the same time, cries of shock burst out from all around.
“Gasp. H-heavens…….”
“He’s an outsider, isn’t he? But how can such an ugly face…….”
Some of the female students who saw Damon’s face even screamed.
“Kyaaaak!”
In all their lives, they had never once seen such an ugly face. At that sight,
Damon gave a bitter smile and lowered his head deeply. Being born with such an appearance
could only be considered a cruel trick of fate.
Dean Garfield, who had been somewhat startled by Damon’s appearance, soon recovered his characteristic icy expression. He
beckoned to the fellow royal guard who was on duty with Damon. The royal guard standing by the front door
quickly approached Garfield.
“Did you call, sir?”
“Is it certain that this man is a royal guard?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“Amazing. To use an outsider as a royal guard……. And on lecture hall duty, at that. Just
who made that decision?”
The royal guard glanced at Damon, then soon confessed the truth.
“The, the assignment was made by Lord Benitez, the court mage…….”
“Benitez?”
Garfield’s eyes narrowed. He found it highly suspicious that the court mage Benitez,
who was his rival, had assigned an outsider with such a hideous appearance to
his department, of all places.
Unfortunately, he was not on particularly good terms with Benitez. In truth, they were classmates who had trained together
under the same master, but the fact that Benitez had taken the position of court mage, a post far higher than his own,
had provoked his jealousy to the extreme, and because of that, Garfield
held no good feelings toward Benitez whatsoever.
“So that’s how it is…….”
Garfield crossed his arms and propped his chin on one hand. Of course, he did not know what the intent was, but he could not
continue allowing that outsider into the lecture hall. Especially, the fact that a royal guard with such a hideous appearance
was serving in his department was an insult Garfield could never tolerate.
And had he not been directly recommended by the detestable Benitez? In the end, he made up his mind.
“Put on your helmet and cover your face. And be careful never to interrupt the lecture again.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
Damon brightened and quickly put his helmet back on. His face clearly showed that he considered it fortunate
just not to be driven out of the lecture hall. Picking up his halberd again, Damon walked to the back door
and assumed a rigid posture. Garfield watched him with narrowed eyes.
“Then I will resume the lesson.”
Garfield walked back before the students and began the lecture again. The disturbance lasted only a moment, and the students soon
became absorbed in Garfield’s lecture once more. But some students were still stealing glances
at Damon from time to time. There were even students who lowered their voices and whispered among themselves.
“To think a face like that exists in the world……. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my lunch down.”
“Could he be a spy instead of a royal guard? A spy who killed the real guard, stole his armor, and infiltrated
the palace.”
“No way.”
“No. It could be. Have you ever heard of an outsider becoming a palace royal guard
before?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Although they whispered softly, the students’ conversation entered Damon’s ears exactly as it was, so he could only
give a bitter smile. His ugly appearance truly caused trouble wherever he went.
But since he had already become immune to such mockery, he gathered his wits and began listening to the lecture again.
It was content he could not understand at all, but thinking that he should at least memorize it, he
forced the lecture material into his head. Unfortunately, however, he had no idea
what Garfield was truly thinking.
After finishing all his duty for the day, Damon dragged his weary body toward the royal guard waiting room. The fellow
royal guard who had served with him had gone to the waiting room long ago. Of course, Damon was well aware
that his fellow guards disliked walking with him. Though his face was covered by a helmet, with his small frame
and protruding back, anyone could tell at a glance that he was a hunchback. There was no way
the vanity-filled royal guards would enjoy walking with someone like him. But Damon did not care in the slightest.
If there was just one thing—if he could only learn magic—
Damon could endure any humiliation. He had already staked everything on magic in order to become stronger.
Because he had stood on duty all day, his legs ached terribly, but Damon did not show it. The armor he wore
was quite heavy, so the fatigue in his legs was even worse. Since the armor seemed to weigh at least fifty geun (30 kg),
now that his strength had been drained by five hours of duty, even moving his steps was difficult for Damon.
“Fools. They have no idea that armor like this is completely useless against internal energy arts.”
As Damon walked along grumbling, the royal guard waiting room came into view in the distance. Once he went there
and returned his weapon and armor, Damon’s day’s work would be over.
The two months or so he had spent as a royal guard were completely different from his days as a wall sentry. In every aspect—
clothing, food, and shelter—it could not be compared to the wall sentries. Fine food, splendid attire,
and clean lodgings given one room for every two men. Of course, since there was no soldier who would share a room with him,
he was able to have the quarters all to himself. But the greatest difference of all was the working
hours.
The wall sentries often spent an entire month on the walls. Unlike them,
the royal guards were able to sleep more than ten hours a day. Even Damon was bewildered by
how the treatment could differ so greatly when they were all soldiers. But to him, this was a matter of no concern.
As long as he could learn magic, Damon could endure any conditions.
Clack.
When he opened the door and entered, he saw the familiar face of the royal guard captain. Unlike usual, a faint
smile hovered on his face. It was the expression of someone who seemed to have set down a burdensome load. Damon
gave a slight bow and was about to go to the armory to return his halberd. Just then, the royal guard captain
spoke to him.
“After you return your armor and weapon, come to my office.”
Though he did not know what business it was, Damon silently returned his armor and weapon. But when he entered the office,
news like a bolt from the blue was delivered to him. Damon, startled, asked back as if he could not believe it.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“An order has come down. It is an order stripping you of your position as a royal guard and sending you back
to your original post as a wall sentry.”
A look of satisfaction appeared on the royal guard captain’s face. In truth, it was only natural, since the royal guard captain had always
found Damon extremely displeasing. Was he not the very man who, on account of Damon’s ugly appearance,
had been looking for every possible excuse to drive him out?
“Th-that cannot be. I…….”
“This is an order personally issued by His Highness Duke Sergey. It seems a complaint came in from Dean Garfield.”
Only then was Damon able to dimly grasp the situation. Of course, there was no way he would have good feelings
toward him. The thought flashed through his mind that once Sergey learned of the circumstances, he would never
leave him be. As Damon stood frozen on the spot, the royal guard captain’s oily voice continued to reach his ears.
“Even if you run to Lord Benitez, it will be no use. His Highness the Duke has already personally
signed the order, so there is nothing he can do anymore either.”
“……….”
“It is regrettable to part like this, but it cannot be helped. In my opinion, the post of royal guard
simply does not suit you. It would be better for you to go back to the wall sentries and display your valor there.
Since ancient times, a person should play in waters suited to them.”
As Damon listened silently, his eyes gradually began to bloodshot. Anger was slowly welling up
at the royal guard captain’s mocking attitude. His fists clenched tightly and trembled. At the thought that the chance
to learn magic had been stolen from him, he was half losing his reason.
But the royal guard captain was somehow able to notice that sign. Originally, he was a self-made figure who had climbed to this position
through tact and flattery rather than ability. Therefore, when it came to reading the room, he was unmatched.
Before Damon could fly into a fit, he quickly reached out and rang the bell on the desk.
Jingle.
As the clear sound of the bell rang out, the door clattered open. Through it, fully armed royal guards
poured in all at once. Judging by the situation, they seemed to have been waiting in advance.
However, Damon did not move in the slightest. The Sevenfold Meridian-Severing Art, which inevitably flared up whenever he harbored killing intent,
had activated. Because of the pain that came with it, he was desperately enduring the agony.
The resolve to do something to the royal guard captain had already vanished without a trace.
Seeing Damon’s body trembling, the royal guard captain wore a sneer.
“I hope you will not try anything foolish. Of course, I do not wish
to kill someone who was once my subordinate.”
Having barely overcome the pain, Damon glared fiercely at the captain. But that was all.
As long as the Sevenfold Meridian-Severing Art was in place, in his current state, he could never kill anyone.
In other words, he could not even properly vent his anger.
“Fine. If I am not wanted, I will go.”
Barely forcing out those words, Damon turned around. He did not want to show any uglier sight.
‘There must be a way.’
Burning with the determination to learn magic no matter what it took, Damon slowly left the office.
Behind him, the captain’s mocking words rang out.
“The members of the 57th Guard Unit you used to serve with have all been conscripted and sent to the battlefield, so you will probably
have to find another post. If you go to the wall guard captain, he will arrange the most suitable position for you,
so farewell.”
At the unexpected news, Damon stopped walking for a moment and clenched his teeth hard. At the same time,
a stubborn will that he could not give up like this gradually began to rise within him.