"Young Master Roland, long time no see!"
A youth strode forward quickly, his eyes filled with pleasant surprise.
Philip Wayne. He was a noble of Lucifiel City and the second son of Count Wayne. Similar in age to Roland, he possessed no territory of his own. Although there was no explicit hierarchy between them, their families enjoyed a warm personal relationship. In Roland's memories, Count Wayne often visited his old man to discuss various matters.
"Long time no see, Philip."
Roland also offered a smiling greeting.
"Shall we head over to my estate to catch up?"
"Sure."
The Wayne family's situation was similar to that of the Lucifiel family; the Count himself was also stationed at the northern front lines. It was precisely because of this connection that the two families maintained such good relations. After all, their fathers remained comrades-in-arms on the same front line to this day. Consequently, Philip held Roland in quite high regard.
Moreover, he was one of the few who disagreed with the rumors surrounding Roland's lack of talent.
Inside a pavilion in the Wayne family's back garden.
"Tea or wine?"
Philip asked.
"Tea will do."
"Go fetch my father's treasured tea leaves." Philip waved to a nearby knight, who initially looked somewhat hesitant, but obeyed after seeing his young master's resolute gaze. "By the way, the St. Romanvia Imperial Academy is starting soon. You're going, right?"
"Of course." Roland took a sip of tea, nodded, and remarked, "Good tea."
"Naturally. This is my dad's personal stash. He can hardly bear to drink it himself, only pulling it out to save face when entertaining distinguished guests. It's a royal tribute, you know." Philip gave Roland a sly wink. "I'll give you some when you leave later."
"Won't your dad beat you?"
"No worries. It's only half a month until we leave for St. Romanvia; he won't be able to reach me." Philip grinned with a smug, scheming expression. "Since you're going too, I assume you'll be attending the gathering?"
"What gathering?"
"Hmm? You don't know?"
"Should I know?"
Roland looked at him, completely oblivious.
"Alright, looks like you really don't know. Makes sense... you're the son of a Duke, so you probably won't take the entrance exam and naturally weren't invited. To put it simply, the nobles from the Eastern Territory put together a get-together, inviting some prominent nobles under the guise of... interacting before the entrance exam."
"So that's how it is. What, do you want me to come along?"
"I certainly do, but it depends on what you think."
Philip waved his hand.
"But I wasn't invited."
"That's nothing. I'll just give them a heads-up. If the son of the Duke shows up, they'll probably be over the moon!" Philip rubbed his hands together excitedly, then lowered his voice with a mysterious look. "I heard the Second Princess will be there too, along with the second son of the Eastern Duke."
"The imperial family and the Duke have exam exemptions just like me, right? Why would they go?"
Roland asked in confusion.
"Convenience, mostly. The imperial family goes without saying, and while the Eastern Duke has his own domain, his mansion is situated in St. Romanvia. Out of politeness, the organizers were bound to invite those two; it just depends on whether they deign to attend. Seriously, it's bound to be lively. Going there will also let us get familiar with the environment in advance."
Philip said cheerfully.
"True enough."
After dropping that topic, Philip asked curiously, "By the way, Roland, what is really going on with you? Are you not planning to do something about those rumors? As an outsider, even I find them insulting and provocative. If it were me, I would've dealt with them long ago—or at least chewed them out fiercely!"
"It doesn't matter. Strength isn't proven with talk."
"Fair point. So what rank are you now?"
"First-Rank Mage and First-Rank Warrior," Roland fabricated offhandedly. If he claimed to be Fifth-Rank, Philip would probably be scared half to death right at the table—and would most likely disbelieve him anyway, assuming Roland was teasing him.
"I knew you were no ordinary guy!"
Philip burst out laughing, seemingly mocking the instigators of those rumors. He only stopped after a good while when he seemed to run out of breath, wiping away tears of laughter.
New students were generally First-Rank, and only in a single class.
Someone like Roland, who was both a First-Rank Mage and a First-Rank Warrior, already belonged to a tiny minority of geniuses. Even the Empire's Second Princess, whose talent and talent were rumored to be miraculous and who was hailed as the Empire's star of tomorrow, had only just entered the ranks of Second-Rank Mages at this moment.
Philip himself was merely a First-Rank Warrior, while his Mage path had not even entered any rank yet.
Even so, achieving a rank at seventeen years old was considered a rare genius.
And the St. Romanvia Imperial Academy was the gathering place for geniuses.
"There's one more thing. Word is that the Northern Territory isn't very peaceful right now."
Philip said with solemn gravity.
"Has the Northern Territory ever been peaceful?"
"..."
Figures like Roland's convenient old man, Duke Lucifiel, and Philip's father, Count Wayne, guarded the northern front lines year-round. In the St. Romanvia Empire, the Northern Territory was the most chaotic region, torn by continuous warfare for decades, with news of Seventh-Rank powerhouses falling arriving from time to time.
Anyone who said the Northern Territory was peaceful would be laughed at by Roland.
"That's not what I meant. Lucifiel counts as part of the inland. I heard that people from the Church of the Fallen Mother Goddess infiltrated the area, and a village over in the Avalanche Domain was sacrificed in blood." Philip said with a frown, a hint of anger in his eyes. "Those scum won't even spare commoners."
"Normal enough. Only someone out of their mind would target nobles."
Roland said indifferently, no wave of emotion in his eyes.
"They know that most nobles don't care about the lives of commoners. A fringe area like the Avalanche Domain has poor development, weak connection with the inland, and not even an official trade road. Knowing this, they can carry out blood sacrifices with impunity unless the local nobles step in."
"However," Roland paused, "as things stand, unless the lord of the Avalanche Domain—the Marquis himself—personally steps in, they probably won't stop their blood sacrifices. In fact, they'll only grow bolder, perhaps even reaching deals with local petty nobles. That terrible place can't even raise a single Fifth-Rank Knight. Tsk tsk..."
"Aren't they afraid of being held accountable?"
Philip snorted coldly and asked.
"A noble is still a noble, no matter how petty. The Empire won't impose the death penalty on them. Most importantly, it's too far away to have any strategic impact. Besides, they're impoverished enough, with nothing left to develop in their land, so they can only cooperate with the Church of the Fallen Mother Goddess. On top of that, they can't stop them anyway. After all, having other factions bossing them around on their own turf is embarrassing enough."
Roland waved his hand nonchalantly.
Philip asked solemnly, "So there's no way to deal with it?"
"Of course there is. Just send any Sixth-Rank Great Warrior, and they can roll over them directly."
"It's impossible for the Barton family to lack even a single Sixth-Rank."
Marquis Barton, the lord of the Avalanche Domain, was not just Sixth-Rank; as a Marquis, he was himself a Seventh-Rank War Saint. Because of the special geographical location of the Avalanche Domain, he had not gone to the front line, remaining behind to guard the rear—after all, adjacent to it was the sprawling Verus Mountains, beyond which was no longer the territory of St. Romanvia.
"Congratulations, you've spotted the blind spot."
Rate on N.U.
