“What pathetic guys.”
If they’re going to be scared of such things, they shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
“Move aside.”
Saying this, I push them away, causing a couple of the followers to fall over.
At the edge of the courtyard, there’s the groaning woman and Court, who’s shielding her while bleeding from his leg. Rocks looks down at the two and clicks his tongue.
“…To defy someone stronger without any real power. Court Hedge Butler. I thought you were a smarter man. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for such trash?”
Rocks says this with a laugh, but my evaluation isn’t low.
“…Court. You can actually fight pretty well, can’t you? Those are movements of someone with real combat experience. I was fooled by your usual demeanor, but in a one-on-one, you’d be quite formidable.”
When I say this, Court’s face twists into a wry smile.
“You overestimate me.”
He mutters, standing up. He must be in considerable pain due to the wound on his thigh. However, Court doesn’t show any openings.
Rocks glares at him with folded arms and jerks his chin.
“…I’ll forgive you now. Court. Swear that you won’t defy me.”
He utters words as if bestowing mercy.
These are words that seem to define Rocks Kilbegan.
He has no ill intentions and genuinely believes it’s natural for others to obey him as royalty. You could say he even thinks he’s being generous by forgiving Court for his mistake.
But these are words you shouldn’t say to the son of a noble.
In this situation, Court can no longer back down. And a man as sharp as Court probably understands that he can’t just brush it off casually.
What was at stake had become a matter of noble pride.
As I watched with interest, Court smiled defiantly and drew a dagger. He pointed the blade at Rocks’s face.
“…Grovel and apologize. If you do it now, I might forgive you, you foolish prince.”
At those words, Rocks lost his composure.
He drew his staff and began chanting a spell.
[SIDE: Barrel]
As I stepped into the courtyard, I heard a series of sounds. Amidst them were echoes of what seemed like curses, so I went to investigate.
There, I saw Senior Rocks repeatedly casting various spells at what appeared to be a stone wall.
I thought it might be some kind of practice, but judging by his shouting, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“You dare defy me and then do this!? How pathetic, Court!”
As Senior Rocks continued to cast intermediate-level spells while yelling, a chill ran down my spine. I’d heard that royalty had exceptional aptitude as mages, and Senior Rocks was indeed special.
After all, he was the only student who had achieved advanced proficiency in all four primary attributes.
Furthermore, a short distance from Senior Rocks stood Senior Felter. He was known for his rare talent in non-elemental magic and was a monster capable of using intermediate-level spells or higher in almost all types of magic.
He was also known for having mock battles with the teachers, and remarkably, he had never lost since entering the academy. In other words, he was a student stronger than the teachers.
“…Who would be foolish enough to go up against those two? Probably a commoner who doesn’t understand noble ranks… Come to think of it, I think I heard him shout ‘Court’…”
The moment I muttered this, the stone wall crumbled. It couldn’t withstand Senior Rocks’s fierce attacks.
Then, behind the wall appeared a white-haired woman. I could see animal ears on her head.
It was Shenley Lou Rosenstiel, the beastfolk female student who had skipped grades and entered the high school division with me. I remembered her because it was rare for a beastfolk to skip grades.
“Aqua Shot!”
Shenley cast a water spell, aiming at Senior Rocks. However, he easily nullified it with an earth spell.
Her technique was skillful. she probably used a low-level spell due to the suddenness, but he angled it well to avoid the attack. Now, both would have to start their incantations from scratch. Senior Rocks’s victory was assured.
But at that moment, a figure appeared from the opposite side of Shenley.
“Rock Shell!”
It was a tall man with vermilion hair. He had used Shenley’s spell as a decoy and launched his own intermediate earth spell. He must have prepared his magic while the other two were engaged.
Even with a difference in skill, this situation left no room for error. Senior Rocks would have to twist his body to minimize the damage.
However, reality proved different.
Senior Rocks’s figure suddenly vanished. When I realized what had happened, Senior Felter, who had been standing at a distance, had pulled Senior Rocks down to avoid the spell.
It was an abnormal movement. Even I, watching from afar, couldn’t comprehend what had occurred, so the two facing them must not have seen it at all.
“…Are you getting involved too, Felter Cain?”
Hearing the man’s defiant voice, I finally realized it was Court Hedge Butler.
His expression was so different from usual that I couldn’t recognize him.
“…I judged that it might be fatal. Besides, our audience has grown,”
Senior Felter muttered as he placed Senior Rocks on the ground and stood up.
I’ve been spotted.
That’s what I thought, but Senior Felter’s gaze was directed to the opposite side from me.
Everyone’s attention turned in that direction.
The sound of stepping on small stones was heard, and a figure was silhouetted against the setting sun.
“…What are you doing?”
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It was a low, female voice.
Despite its lack of volume, the voice resonated well, carrying a force that made my skin crawl.
While everyone froze, only Shenley shed large tears and called out the name of that silhouette.
“Teacher Aoi…!”
In response to Shenley’s desperate voice, as if coughing up blood, a terrifying anger emanated from the silhouette.
Pathetically, my legs trembled and wouldn’t move. Even though I had done nothing, I felt as if I had been caught doing something terribly wrong.
However, Senior Rocks stood up calmly and glared back directly.
“…You again. What? Are you going to say something again? We’ve come too far to back down now. If you interfere here, know that you’ll be meddling in inter-national affairs…!?”
Senior Rocks, spitting out angry words, couldn’t finish speaking.
He was slapped by the new teacher, Aoi Konominato, who had appeared in front of him in an instant.
I could only see the posture after the slap, but it was clearly the stance of someone who had just delivered an open-handed strike. Yet, Senior Rocks was sent flying as if hit by a runaway horse, rolling across the ground.
“If you say you’ll fight me with your country behind you, I’ll be your opponent,”
Aoi said in a low voice, looking down at the fallen Senior Rocks with an emotionless face, and spoke again.
“Come at me prepared to be destroyed.”
As Aoi said this, Senior Rocks looked at her as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
And Senior Felter was grinning with apparent enjoyment.
[SIDE: Aoi]
I was furious.
It was the first time since coming to this world that those words fit so perfectly.
Rocks, groaning but standing up, wiping the blood from his mouth with his finger. Felter, shaking with laughter.
A few meters in front of them, Shenley trembling on the ground and Court bleeding from his legs.
This was neither a children’s fight nor mere bullying. Such words were far too mild to describe it.
I immediately placed my hand on Shenley’s shoulder and said “Care” while infusing magical power.
The healing magic cured Shenley’s body inside and out.
Minor scratches, bruises, and visible wounds seemed to heal. Next, I turned to Court, who looked severely injured.
“Eau de Vie”
I grabbed both his shoulders to support him, infused magical power, and activated the healing magic. This should have completely healed even serious internal organ damage.
As the injuries healed before our eyes, Court looked down at his own legs in amazement.
“You’re alright now,”
I murmured in confirmation, then turned back to face Rocks and Felter.
“State your reasons for doing this. Even if it started as a fight, hurting others is wrong. Especially using magic that could potentially be life-threatening…”
As I said this, Rocks snorted and laughed, pointing at me.
“Are you saying that even royalty cannot harm commoners without consequence?”
“Of course. Are you stupid? If there were a king who killed commoners without reason or justice, such a country wouldn’t last long. We’re not in the Roman Empire; if a king who ignores the hearts of his people rules a country, it will inevitably decline.”
Upon hearing my answer, Rocks laughed out loud.
“You’re the fool! Who would judge a king!? I don’t know about this Rome you speak of, but surely you must know of our country!? How could the Verted Kingdom, the world’s largest nation standing above even the six great countries, ever decline!?”
As Rocks laughed as if stating the obvious, Court and Shenley, for some reason, looked down with frustration.
Puzzled by their reaction, I shrugged.
“There are no immortal countries in history, are there? Besides, tyrants can’t reign for long. Their future is usually miserable.”
I tried to admonish him by bringing up the past. Even among the six great countries, the longest history is only a few hundred years. Before that, there were apparently three powerful countries called the Three Great Nations, but even they probably lasted only a few hundred years at best.
Just like on Earth, in this world too, nothing created by humans lasts forever.
However, this didn’t get through to Rocks.
“Don’t compare our country to those insignificant others! You dare joke about the governance of the Verted Kingdom without knowing anything…! You should be ashamed of your ignorance!”
“I’ll admit my ignorance. So, to understand the greatness of the Verted Kingdom, let me ask you this: do you think you possess common sense and decency?”
When I asked, Rocks beat his chest and nodded proudly.
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