A Noble’s Pride.
At times, or perhaps always, it could be simply defined as something useless.
What was needed on the battlefield was not pride, but acknowledgment and acceptance; what was needed in politics was opposition and agreement.
“We’ll begin the meeting now. If the professor seated beside you is absent, please let me know.”
“Alfred Doran. Professor Sumeragi’s seat is empty.”
“Honestly, why is that professor late again?”
That was why Zeke had never once cherished the surname bestowed upon him.
A hero of the Eastern Front, and at the same time, a butcher.
And so, to the general who was the pride of the Empire, they granted a viscountcy along with a name like this.
“Zeke Pride. Professor Elene’s seat is empty.”
Pride. Of all names, Pride.
“Professor Elene sent word that she will be absent from today’s meeting due to an urgent matter.”
It was truly a surname and title centered entirely on the Empire.
“Understood.”
Once the absentees and latecomers had been confirmed, the meeting quickly began.
There was little formality, no one deliberately trying to stand out, and the meeting proceeded smoothly.
Most of the agenda had nothing to do with Zeke.
As a former soldier, Zeke was a professor, but also closer to an adviser. There was no need for him to know each and every minor administrative matter.
To begin with, he had only come away from the front to recover his body and mind. His status as a soldier had not disappeared.
Until now, he had only served as an adviser behind the lectern; finally appearing as a professor was merely a way to confirm how sufficient this rest had been for him.
After the next semester ended, perhaps it would not be a bad idea to consider returning to the front.
And he would have to finish his duel with Fafnir.
Because he had that duty.
As one agenda item after another passed quickly, something caught Professor Zeke’s ear.
“This concerns the cadets among this year’s new students whose rankings have changed drastically.”
A hologram of two cadets appeared in the center of the conference room.
Naturally enough, one of them was the cadet Zeke had been paying the most attention to lately.
“Cadet Deep, and Cadet Ian.”
“Hm, hm, hm.”
Several members of the faculty pressed their lips shut.
Blue eyes.
Those blue eyes, vivid enough to be seen even through the hologram, were proof of the imperial bloodline.
The imperial family was the heart of the Empire, and Bethesda Academy existed for the Empire.
“So, what exactly is the problem with these cadets that it has become an agenda item?”
For that reason, the chairwoman who stood at the heart of Bethesda Academy was also a blue-eyed member of the imperial family.
This chairwoman, with blond hair and blue eyes, who looked from the outside like nothing more than a young girl wearing a military uniform.
“To be precise, the issue is Cadet Deep rather than Cadet Ian, Chairwoman Aslan.”
“I’ve said this a few times before, but call me Paraya. I’m not here in the capacity of an imperial.”
Paraya Aslan.
Though she spoke that way, in truth, she was someone placed there to run the academy while representing the imperial family’s position.
From what he had heard, after a secret human experiment conducted by the imperial family, her body had become one that did not age outwardly.
Well, the Empire was overflowing with countless rumors that sounded just as absurd.
Zeke had little interest in such rumors. He was only curious about how this agenda item would proceed.
“Understood. Then, Chairwoman Paraya.”
“Yes.”
“The two of them are of common birth. In Cadet Ian’s case, his origins are relatively clear, so there is no room for controversy. But Cadet Deep’s case is different.”
They could not touch Cadet Ian.
To the academy’s cadets, those with blue eyes were merely beings they were extremely reluctant to get close to.
If they wished, they could avoid them; and if they wished, they could approach an avoided imperial and instead establish a connection.
If they had complaints, they could duel or fight them, and if they discovered an imperial’s mistake or foul play, they could openly raise an objection.
But professors at the academy could not do that.
For professors who lived on imperial land and to whom imperial law applied before academy rules, the imperial family was an existence they could never oppose.
“It has been confirmed that no small number of cadets feel dissatisfaction regarding Cadet Deep’s presence, and that they have expressed such dissatisfaction on the academic community board.”
“Hm, hm, hm.”
“The discussions even became so heated that some cadets had to be temporarily blocked.”
Because nobles had an impassable wall above them, they inevitably loathed and shunned those who rose up from below.
There was no noble who liked commoners.
That did not mean they necessarily hated them. Most nobles had no interest in commoners at all.
But some disliked commoners to an extreme degree. No, it would be fair to say they despised them.
Even if Ian was of common birth, they could not complain about him, not when he carried imperial blood.
No matter how displeasing it was that he had taken the top seat, if imperial blood flowed through his veins, they could understand it.
But if it was Deep, whose birth was humble, and about whom they did not even know what kind of blood was mixed in him, the story was different.
To recover the pride of nobles who had been broken by a commoner, there was only one person they could target.
Deep.
“How fascinating. I didn’t know that while you were in charge of second-year cadets, you had taken such a great interest in the first-years.”
Standing at the forefront of such aristocrats, the only house that could convey the nobles’ voice directly to a member of the imperial family as if representing them was one.
“Professor Flavia Luna. Were you always that interested in students?”
“As a professor, it is only natural to take an interest in students.”
The Count Luna family.
Those who never shared their technology with the countless noble houses and Titan manufacturers, yet appointed themselves as representatives of those very people.
Whether they hid that technology because it was precious,
or because they had something to be ashamed of, he did not know.
“Is that so? Then did you watch Cadet Deep’s final exam footage?”
“Of course I did.”
“Was there any problem?”
“Yes.”
They were the sort of people who felt a greater sense of superiority from their own pride than from the peace of the Empire.
Zeke’s expression twisted slightly.
“For someone whose origins are unknown, and whose very name may not even be his own, his abilities are far too exceptional. A thorough investigation is necessary.”
“If we were to do that, well, how long would it take?”
“We would begin as quickly as possible during the vacation so as not to interfere with the other cadets, and if possible, we intend to finish during the next semester.”
“Hm, hm, hm.”
In other words, at minimum, they meant to ruin his vacation assignment; at maximum, they intended to disrupt his first-year second-semester classes and toss him out of the rankings.
Chairwoman Paraya nodded, then smiled and gestured to move the hologram along.
“It sounds like an interesting issue. Shall we move on to the next agenda item?”
“Chairwoman.”
“Professor Luna.”
Not Professor Flavia.
Professor Luna.
“So, is the problem that other cadets have complaints about Cadet Deep? Or is the problem that there are suspicious circumstances surrounding Cadet Deep himself?”
“It applies to both.”
When Chairwoman Paraya clenched her fist, the hologram changed into a simple light.
A vivid blue glow illuminated that young face.
“The reason the imperial family does not dig into suspicious circumstances even when they are detected in the Count Luna family is because the imperial family trusts the Count Luna family, isn’t that right?”
Professor Flavia bit her lower lip slightly.
“That is correct.”
“Since you are a member of the Count Luna family, which enjoys the imperial family’s trust, you should be able to take a trusting attitude toward a mere cadet, shouldn’t you? Having excellent grades is not a crime.”
“But Chairwoman.”
“I asked whether you could.”
Her blue eyes shone coldly.
“You people are so frightened that I even changed the way I speak. If I’ve said this much, isn’t it about time you understood?”
Several professors froze and began darting their eyes around.
The sound of eyeballs moving could truly be heard. To every professor, that might have been nothing more than a figure of speech, but to Zeke, whose five senses were extremely sharp, it was neither metaphor nor joke.
“I know too. I know you hate commoners. So what. You can’t wait until he earns achievements on the battlefield and becomes a noble, so do you want to try assassinating him instead?”
“That is not what I was saying…”
“Why, if you dislike me, would you consider assassinating an imperial too?”
Clatter!!!
All the professors turned their heads toward the door at the same time.
“I-I’m sooorryyyy!!! This time, I really wasn’t late because I meant to be late, but yesterday, a student called me, and now that student is one of the engineer cadets preparing for graduation this time, and it’s a little difficult to reveal the name exactly…”
Professor Sumeragi, who had been speaking for quite a while, turned her head this way and that.
“Is, is this a fighting sort of atmosphere?”
“No?”
Paraya grinned broadly.
“You’re always late every time we have a meeting! Hurry up and go sit down!”
“Yes, yes! I’m sorry!”
Startled, Professor Sumeragi hurriedly ran toward the seat beside Zeke.
“No, that isn’t your seat! How many meetings have we had, and you still don’t know where you sit?!”
“W-well, honestly, that isn’t really all that important…”
“Do you want a knuckle on the head? I’ll let it slide this time, so hurry up and sit down.”
“Yes, yes!”
After sitting down, Professor Sumeragi looked around, then bowed her head toward Professor Zeke.
“W-was this perhaps a serious and combative atmosphere? Did I do something wrong?”
Hah.
“No, you did well.”
“I-I was late, though?”
“You did well anyway.”
A sharp little stone had to be smoothed quickly.
Before it came face to face with those who would one day try to carve it down and shatter it.