A week of madness.
It might not be the right term in a literal sense, but Professor Reina had privately begun calling the week after the sandworm appeared just that as she swallowed a headache pill.
‘Why did a sandworm come out there?’
Reina was by no means a careless professor.
The dungeon she had selected for the lesson was one she had personally cleared out.
Though it was called a dungeon, it was an almost completely controlled area.
She had even brought Iserina, a professor of magic, along in case of an accident.
And yet a sandworm had appeared.
‘One wrong move, and it would have been a catastrophe.’
A sandworm was not an easy monster to kill.
Its size was one thing, but it was a monster characterized by its ability to move underground and its tough body.
In Reina’s case, if it stayed aboveground, she was confident she could take it down on her own. But since it was not the sort of creature that would obediently do that, it was a monster that absolutely required support.
It was a monster that should never have appeared in a controlled environment, one Reina should never have missed—a monster that made it painfully clear something had gone wrong.
‘A creature like that suddenly popped out without anyone’s hand in it?’
Impossible.
Which meant the first suspect that came to mind was…
‘The Argent Empire.’
But there was no evidence.
They were not sloppy enough to leave that sort of thing behind.
So all she had was suspicion.
In any case, the only fact that remained was that a monster had appeared—one that could have nearly wiped out a large part of the Vespia Kingdom’s future generation.
And the most important part was this.
The ones who killed it were first-year students of the Academy.
‘Aizen, Noel, Mina.’
In Reina’s opinion, if she had to name the five most famous students among this year’s freshmen, those three would always be included.
At first glance, the three looked as though they had no reason to be connected, so everyone had been surprised once when they formed a group together, and with this accomplishment, everyone was surprised all over again.
Mina, the fifth saintess of the Church.
Noel, said to possess the qualities of an archmage.
And Aizen of the golem.
‘This fight must have only been possible because of Aizen’s golem.’
More than that, most of the traces on the sandworm’s corpse proved that it had exchanged blows with the golem.
Aizen’s golem seemed to have been quite badly smashed as well, but in other words—
One golem and three students had displayed combat power greater than that of a six-member high-ranking party, and it ended with only one golem half-destroyed.
Even that, Aizen had said he could repair. If he sold the sandworm’s corpse they had given him as the subjugation reward, it would practically be a profit.
On top of that, she heard Noel had contacted her family and arranged for partial support for repair costs and materials, so Aizen likely had next to no financial loss.
At the same time, from what Reina had observed, there were signs that Noel and Aizen had made some sort of deal, but she had not been able to dig into that part.
Because for the week in which all of that happened, Reina had been called here and there, investigated, and dragged into one meeting after another.
To be honest, it bothered her, but on the other hand, she was not particularly worried.
‘He may be strange and clearly no good, but he’s absolutely not the kind of bastard who’d lay a hand on a woman.’
If anything, Reina found it more believable that Aizen had been bewitched by Noel’s staff.
He was the kind of guy who was far more interested in rare minerals, special materials, durability, and objects with unusual structures.
It was obvious he would have shown more interest in that staff, made from high-purity mana metal, than in Noel herself.
His hair and eyes were black too, so in a way, he really was like a crow.
Thinking that he was quite an amusing fellow, Reina smiled and opened her mouth.
“Now then, shall we hear why you took a dwarf-made hammer from the Academy smithy this time?”
“It was a fine item, so I borrowed it for a moment.”
Reina brought the student roster down hard on the crow’s head.
****
“I couldn’t react.”
“The fact that you even thought of dodging that is impressive.”
As I rubbed the spot on my head where I had been struck by Professor Reina’s roster smash, which had been filled with personal resentment, Mina immediately spoke as if I were pathetic.
Then Noel gave a wry smile and said,
“Professor Reina may not look it, but she is one of the top five knights in the kingdom…”
“A monster who was born a commoner but gained noble status through skill alone.”
Apparently, thinking I could dodge a strike from someone like that was foolish.
Next time, I’ll try defending.
As I pondered how to block it, I walked side by side with the two people I had been spending more and more time with lately.
To be precise, it had become a daily routine where, whenever I went to the workshop, my sponsor followed me, and the duke’s young lady personally came to share refreshments.
Of course, even amid that, there had been changes.
“By the way, Lady Mina, so that is how you normally speak…”
Noel spoke cautiously to Mina.
And Mina, who no longer wore her mask even in front of Noel, puffed out her chest and said proudly,
“There’s no point pretending with Aizen.”
“I agree with that, but in other words, you only show your true self to Sir Aizen?”
“You’re similar.”
At Mina’s words, Noel thought for a moment, then looked away.
Then she let out a small sigh.
“…Sir Aizen is comfortable to be around, in a certain sense.”
“Still, bad rumors are starting to spread, so I think the duke’s young lady should keep some distance.”
“Bad rumors?”
When I looked over, wondering if there was some problem with Noel, she seemed troubled.
Instead, Mina asked as if she found it curious.
“They’re rumors related to you. You haven’t heard?”
“I’m sure there was probably someone who said it outright, but Sir Aizen simply ignored them…”
Noel spoke carefully, but Mina seemed to think there was no need to be considerate.
With the corners of her mouth slightly raised, Mina said refreshingly,
“The rumor says you used some kind of curse magic to get your hands on the Academy’s top-class beauties and do all sorts of things with them in secluded places.”
“Since that isn’t me, I suppose I don’t need to care.”
“That’s not how it works, Sir Aizen. There’s another important part.”
Noel came closer, her face slightly flushed.
As I watched Mina slip in between us, Noel continued.
“The rumor is false, but spreading a rumor like that means the person has more nerve than normal. This is picking a fight with both me and Lady Mina too.”
“Your speech has gotten rougher since you started hanging around with us, young lady.”
Mina narrowed her eyes as if amused, but soon began to add more.
“I may not look it, but I’m a saintess of the Church of Saras. Noel is the young lady of Duke Nexia’s house. Scandals like this block our marriage prospects and lower our value.”
“Are you telling me to take responsibility?”
“You’ll have to repay us over your entire life, so hurry up and prepare yourself.”
While Mina and I exchanged jokes, Noel lowered her head.
I suppose I should think about this a little more seriously.
“In short, if it were only a rumor attacking me, I could ignore it, but they’re attacking you two by dragging you into it as well.”
“It’s even more convincing because there’s also a rumor that you have knowledge of necromancy.”
I remember that ridiculous rumor too.
It was because I said I was researching frames, but really, how do rumors spread like that?
“In that case, the person spreading the rumor must have a higher status than you two.”
It felt a bit awkward to say this, but neither Noel nor Mina were the sort of people who would sit still while someone spoke ill of them.
And yet the fact that they were taking a cautious attitude first meant the one spreading the rumor was someone even these two could not deal with carelessly.
And among the freshmen, there were about two people whose names I knew who fit that description.
Then the name I had guessed came from Noel’s mouth.
“It is Prince Gilford.”
Noel hesitated for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“He says you threw him into a pile of dirt, and he’s been applying pressure from all sides…”
Even after being saved, he was making a fuss.
“As expected, wiping them all out back then was the best option.”
“You have a lot of grievances against society, my sponsor.”
Thinking that perhaps this saintess was more dangerous than I was, I entered the workshop.
The difference from before was that tools used for metalworking and a few mana metal ingots had been added.
“Thanks to learning the techniques of the craftsmen Noel introduced me to, I’m finally starting to see the finish line.”
As I said that, if it hadn’t been for the craftsmen I had been introduced to through my deal with Noel, I would have gone through an enormous amount of trial and error even with mana metal, and stepped inside.
Past the repaired Caterpillar Golem.
And beside it, a large metal frame.
“This is…”
Noel’s eyes shone exceptionally brightly as she looked at the unfinished golem.
****
Prince Gilford was in a bad mood.
“Aizen Arclight…”
A prince born into the Vespia royal family, who had received everyone’s attention and been the focus of all eyes.
Though he had not yet been acknowledged as heir, he was an elite who had been walking a smooth road.
However, there was nothing for which he was evaluated as outstanding.
In martial prowess, he had been utterly defeated by the daughter of the Margrave of Phoenix.
In magic, he was below Noel Nexia, who was also a distant relative.
He had confidence in statecraft, but the one praised and noticed for outstanding ability was Lady Christa, also a saintess of the Church of Saras.
The prince had certainly believed he was born above all others.
Yet in reality, he had never been called exceptional in any field.
The only thing that received decent praise was his appearance, perhaps.
He had even forced his way into giving the speech as the freshman representative, thinking he would at least become the face of the kingdom, but…
—“Some madman rammed the academy gate with a golem!!”
The attention that should have marked the brightest moment of his life had gone to some ridiculous bastard.
Even then, it had still been fine.
At the time, the one who had caused that disturbance was from some countryside territory called Arclight, and on top of that, he was practically an illegitimate child.
He had no title, so Gilford thought he would no longer become an obstacle.
But reality was different.
—“Aizen, if that guy turned his focus in just a slightly different direction, he could have achieved greatness…!”
—“I agree, but cut down on the headache medicine, Reina.”
It had only been a week.
That was when Reina and Iserina, famous figures in the kingdom, lamented Aizen’s talent.
Instinctively, Gilford felt a sense of crisis.
Even so, he believed it was only the opinion of those two.
Three days after he ordered an investigation.
In just three days, Gilford learned the truth.
—“It appears Aizen Arclight has made a contract with the royal palace. They say the ministers agreed that if he enrolls in the Academy and completes his rideable golem, they will even grant him a title…”
—“The court mages are said to have wanted to take him as a disciple…!”
—“I heard the upper ranks of the knight orders are also watching him because he has the potential to create next-generation weapons?”
Before enrollment, Gilford had known there was a commotion about someone in the countryside who had created a completely new concept of golem.
And its creator had been Aizen.
A person who had overturned everything like a storm.
A person who possessed what Gilford wanted and sought to obtain something even better.
—“At this rate, the only name on the nobles’ lips will be Aizen.”
He remembered the words spoken by a high-ranking noble, who was also Gilford’s cousin, when he came to greet him.
At this rate, Gilford would become nothing.
“He’s dangerous.”
A meaningless sense of crisis fanned Gilford’s heart.
If someone had taught him, they might have told him it was jealousy, but to Gilford, Aizen felt dangerous.
It had been that way even before he was slammed into the dirt.
After he was forcibly thrown out of the dungeon while still buried in the dirt, and after Reina and Iserina had barely managed to enter the dungeon in a hurry, only to see Aizen return in triumph after killing the sandworm, he felt it even more strongly.
Gilford moved.
Fortunately, Aizen had many enemies.
“There were knights who gathered because they believed their swords were being threatened.”
Discontented factions within the military attached themselves to Gilford.
“I also gathered those who were furious that he was going around with the flowers of society.”
He drew in nobles who could no longer gain access to the saintess or Lady Nexia because that bastard was attached to them.
“I even brought in someone who called himself family.”
He took in a small fry named Mark Arclight, though the man hardly mattered.
Gilford sharpened his blade.
Then he looked at the documents placed on his desk and called for a servant.
“You called, Your Highness?”
“Go and submit this to Professor Reina.”
Written on the document was a formal duel application.
“Make sure to add that it is the prince’s order.”
Gilford wanted to eliminate Aizen.