The Pendragon Royal Academy.
A place also known simply as the Academy.
As a hall of learning and an institution of scholarship that teaches the young talents who will lead the kingdom's future, the Academy teaches a countless variety of subjects.
Not only swordsmanship and magic, but also medicine, statistics, astronomy, smelting techniques, and so on.
If one looked closely, they even taught bizarre things that made one wonder if such things really existed, and as a result, the number of subjects taught at the Academy alone exceeded thirty.
Perhaps even more than that.
However, even with so many subjects, that did not mean the level of the instructors or professors teaching them was lacking.
Was it called the Royal Academy for nothing?
Bearing the royal family's name, comparing it to other academies was no different from an insult.
Therefore, the faculty of the Royal Academy was filled with exceptionally outstanding individuals.
Since they must nurture the talents who would bear the kingdom's future, having greater skill and experience than anyone else was naturally a given.
However….
"…Is that him?"
"The rumor was true?"
"My goodness."
"Shouldn't we try to build some rapport with him?"
"Stop it. He's probably in a bad mood right now."
"…That's true."
A simple gathering held before the Academy's entrance ceremony for instructors and professors.
It could be called a presentation for the teaching staff, and its purpose was to give brief explanations and for people to get acquainted with one another.
While those in charge of each subject were getting acquainted and growing closer, they kept glancing at one man with looks of curiosity.
Unlike the others who grouped together, he sat alone like a lone wolf, eating his steak.
They already knew his name and identity.
"Rihan, was it?"
"The White Silver Lion, haha, one really does see all sorts of things in life."
"I agree."
A few professors with long careers spoke his name.
Knight Rihan.
An active knight dispatched as an Academy instructor.
Of course, seeing a knight wasn't a first, but seeing an active knight—not a retired one—and a young one at that, at the Academy was an unprecedented sight.
What did being young mean?
Did it not mean being in one's prime, when martial arts were at their most vigorous and flourishing?
The period when vitality was most dynamic.
Yet becoming an instructor during such a time also meant missing that most dynamic period.
Because of this, people tended to avoid him.
They thought he was inwardly displeased with this position.
Even if it took the form of a demotion, no, a dispatch, that didn't mean he was weak, and the professors saw him as a dangerous element and quietly kept their distance.
Avoiding danger without taking risks.
It was the wisdom of life.
Well….
'To anyone watching, they'd think I was poison.'
Even if they tried to do it secretly, they couldn't avoid his eyes, and Rihan chuckled.
Humans, really.
'Cute how they're playing around.'
It was better to be someone scary than someone ignored, so he didn't feel particularly displeased.
Chomp.
Another piece of steak disappeared into his mouth.
*
*
A week ago, the sudden dispatch order given to Rihan became a major issue within the knight order, and unusually, the knights sympathized with Rihan.
…It might be hard to understand at first glance.
How could a mission to teach the young talents who would bear the country's future be a punishment?
Wasn't this literally a glorious task?
But this was the talk of someone who knew only one thing and not the other.
What was the White Silver Lion Knight Order?
They were the Royal Knight Order.
The pride of protecting the glorious and great royal family was an honor that could not be exchanged for anything else in this country.
Yet to abandon that glorious mission and become a dispatched instructor?
It wasn't a bad position, but that was only for retired knights; for a young knight in the prime of his life, it was like a bolt from the blue.
Therefore, this was a severe punishment.
At a time when one should be honing their skills to climb higher, having to teach greenhorns instead.
There was no greater loss.
So it wasn't strange that the members rarely felt sorry for him.
However, for the person directly involved.
"Aah, so she's going with this setup? It's true that to make things consistent, this kind of trick is necessary. Anyway, that auntie is really cunning."
"You disrespectful brat, what kind of language is that toward the Princess?"
"Old man, so you do know the situation to some extent?"
"Hehe, I merely guess roughly."
"Hmm, the salary comes out normally, right?"
"…Well, that's about the reaction I expected, but I wish you'd at least pretend to be a little disappointed."
Even knowing that Rihan didn't have much attachment to the knight profession, he seemed so indifferent that Balthar felt rather disappointed.
If he had only been full of passion for the knight order, he would have claimed a high position already.
"Do you have any intention of working hard even now? If so, I'll speak to the Princess and cancel the mission."
Balthar had that much authority, so he made the offer, but.
"No thanks."
"…At least think about it for a second before answering."
With things turning out this way, Rihan had already dismissed any intention of declining, and Balthar clicked his tongue.
And at present.
Rihan was going through the process of completing the curriculum and various other procedures, even studying which didn't suit him at all, and his head hurt quite a bit.
'Just try not giving it to me.'
Though he maintained a calm expression, being dragged around by Isis wasn't exactly to his liking.
She must have been confident that he wouldn't refuse.
But she should be prepared.
If she said there would be medicine, but played tricks….
'Then sworn sibling or not, all bets are off.'
Rihan was confident.
Confidence that he could definitely thrash at least one person who stabbed him in the back.
Even if that person was the heir to the nation.
* * *
After today's curriculum ended, upon returning home, three letters were visible.
One was from Jake.
True to his perceptive nature, rather than worrying about his well-being, he seemed to think the secret mission was related to the Academy, as it only contained a simple greeting of [Do well].
Conversely, the next letter was from Yord, and despite not having known him for long, it was full of worried content like [I will submit a petition to the Commander, so…] and other things that seemed built on misunderstandings.
…Why is this guy like this?
"Did I hit him too hard last time?"
I didn't hit his head, seriously.
Feeling awkward, he checked the last letter; it had no recipient written on it, and the letter paper was nothing but pure white blank paper.
However, smelling the faintly wafting perfume scent, he could guess who sent it, and Rihan dampened the blank paper with water in an appropriately sized bowl.
Then, writing appeared.
[Rihan, trustworthy sworn younger brother of this woman, if you have received this letter-.]
Starting with that, the content was full of elegant writing and poetic expressions.
As if to prove she's the Crown Princess, it was full of truly tedious content.
To summarize briefly.
'The content is that she'll keep her promise, so I should do well too.'
Though there was embarrassingly content like [I trust you], [I will trust your autonomy and judgment], it didn't inspire much emotion.
Someone might call it the glory of three generations to receive such an overvalued assessment from Isis, but to Rihan, it was merely annoying attention.
Having roughly finished reading the letter's content, the letter paper melted away in the water.
Even the destruction of evidence was thorough, which made him think she was truly meticulous.
"I heard that sister has a lot of interest in alchemy and magic, she's good at this sort of thing."
Rihan burned the letter envelope with a Zippo lighter.
It burns well, really.
"…What should I start with?"
The entrance ceremony was in four days.
From then on, he would be able to meet all the key figures.
But his sister didn't particularly tell him to observe them in any specific way.
As written in the letter, she must be leaving everything to his subjective evaluation.
Perhaps she took into account his personality that disliked orders.
Therefore, since this meant he should act autonomously, Rihan pondered what to do and wrote characters on the chalkboard.
It was a way of writing out the flow of his thoughts, and this was a habit Rihan had frequently done since his previous life as a non-commissioned officer.
To solve things according to procedure when an endless stream of unreasonable orders came from superiors.
…A truly ironically acquired habit.
But for now, it was a somewhat useful habit.
Perhaps thanks to his thoughts being organized to some extent.
Rihan roughly realized his first task.
"First, I need to make them come close to me on their own. And if there's one thing that novel protagonists and returnee protagonists all have in common, it's that they have a lot of curiosity."
Curiosity killed the cat.
And as if to put this saying into practice, novel protagonists and returnee protagonists are crazy bastards who can't endure that curiosity and deliberately barge into dangerous places.
Even if they get kidnapped every day, get stabbed by swords, and end up in dangerous situations, those bastards can't suppress their curiosity.
Because they're afflicted with a disease where they can't bear it unless they step forward themselves.
Therefore….
"Shall I set things in motion for now?"
Rihan quietly wrote that below the section where two people's names were written.
What he thought would reveal their true natures most, and the most damned situation.
"Hmm, not bad."
A refreshing smile naturally formed on Rihan's face.
The act of passing on the suffering he had experienced to someone else.
Because it was quite a rewarding endeavor.
On the chalkboard, the word [Field Exercise] was written particularly distinctly.