Sword, Magic and Academic Society

A few days before I set off for the Royal Capital for the Royal Academy entrance exam, I had dinner with my father and my elder brother Grim. Both of them had just returned from their trip to the Royal Capital.

Alcohol was never my father's forte, so it didn't take long for him to get drunk, and given the accumulated stress from travel, he called it a day earlier than usual, though not before pestering us with his ramblings. 

I was about to head to my room as well when Grim called out to me.

"You know, Allen, you've changed so much that I barely recognize you… I don't mean to pressure you, but with the way you are now, I feel like you might actually pass the Royal Academy entrance exam. Or maybe your brother is just being an idiot. Haha."

Grim had a delighted grin on his face. 

"...Well, I didn't say it to Father just now, but... I think I'd qualify for it."

Grim's eyes widened at my flat remark, and he eventually burst out in laughter.

"Ahahaha. Look at you, already a man, huh?...... Do you mind if I ask you something? Have you ever thought of protecting the Claubia forest? Honestly, I know that neither you nor Rose have any interest in it.

Our father may not say it out loud, but his attention nowadays has been preoccupied with thoughts of the forest. I’m not trying to nitpick here, so I’d love to hear your honest thoughts."

He hurled this question at me with a smile, though his eyes were dead serious.

"...Frankly, no, I have no interest in the forest. Of course, this is our — my — hometown, so I’d contribute within my capabilities... But I wouldn't want to be tied down by this. Right now, I just want to live a free life."

I made sure I left no ambiguity in my words as I truthfully replied after seeing the look in Grim's eyes.

He was someone whom I didn't need to hold myself back from speaking my honest thoughts, no matter how unconventional they might be for a noble. This was how he had been as far as I could remember, always spoiling me regardless of my true character. 

"Great. I’ll convince Father for you so that you can follow your heart. This is the least a big brother can do for his brother's future."

Grim winked at me as he ended his statement with a gleeful smile.

"...You know you sound just like our mother."

At that, he burst out laughing. 

That night, Grim and I shared a few of our perspectives over the forest's preservation.

◆◆◆

You know what to do, right, O' Great Schord?! Be my lucky break!

I looked at Schord with a pleading gaze.

“...My master has described everything as it is, and as it stands, the Rovenne family has held several meetings over the span of several months mulling over the future of the Rovenne House. There had been one line from Young Master Grim that had stuck with me when they had debated over the territory's development." 

Schord made a slight pause, his eyes narrowing in an expression of joyful reminiscence, and continued, "He said 'Have you ever thought of how you want this territory to look like a thousand years from now?' I may have taught them, but those words didn't come from me. I’m just thankful to fate that had brought me to this family."

His Majesty momentarily fell silent, and then he burst out in laughter.

"Pfft! Gahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"

Influenced by his smile, the venue rumbled for a moment with the synchronized laughter of all the attendees.

"*Ahem* Y-You shouldn't laugh at such sincere words, Pat. How do you think others will see us if you do this?"

Queen Yuain said words of reprimand to His Majesty, her expression consistently rigid. Nevertheless, when the person herself had hidden her smile behind her folding fan, with her eyes narrowing in cheerfulness, the words felt rather floaty.

"Kukuku. I’m well aware. That said, even as the king, I’ve never wondered about the situation of the Yuglia kingdom after a thousand years. But now a 'promising young man from the countryside' has been seriously pondering over something I never even thought about before. If this isn't amusing, then I don't know what is...... Whether this turns into a demotion or not, I’m now looking forward to meeting him."

His Majesty remarked with a sharp grin, his eyes emitting a radiating glow.

I cradled my head in my arms. 

On the eve of my departure to the Royal Capital for the Academy exam, I had paraphrased that same line thrice in the span of three minutes. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was the so-called 'I don't get it, but it sounds impressive anyway' phrase that had been common in the context of preservation or environment study in my previous world. 

*Ahem* Well… don't take whatever happens here to heart, my dear brother Grim. I don't know if this will cause you some headaches, stomachaches, or other things in the future, but today's blunder can only be blamed on Schord.

After a moment of laughter, His Majesty returned to his calm demeanor.

"I have seen your conviction, Bellwood. But, while I may not have thought so far ahead, I’m sure that I would become a laughingstock should I award a demotion for an achievement. Our kingdom has existed for so many centuries on this continent. I believe we must have had some exception to demotion while taking the land under the royal family's authority. I’ll bring this topic up to my ministers, so you’ll have to wait until then.

In any case, this deal would only be a benefit for the kingdom and royal family while the Rovenne house would be the one bleeding out instead. There's no sense of reward in it. Do you have anything else you would like?"

"Huh, ahh, well, uhm......"

This time, my father fumbled just as I had imagined him to do initially. 

I mean, his usual thoughts had always been to free himself from territory work, so he was lacking the desires you would expect from other nobles. 

Maybe he could ask for money, but that would be too boorish to wish for at the moment, and saying "I don’t want anything else" here was completely out of the question.

“Uh... uh...”

"You don't have to be so stressed. It's merely a reward. Take Allen, for example, he requested access to a playground...... Now that I think about it, giving him permission to use our military port only ended up rescuing our nation. I feel like it lost its significance as a reward then. 

You know what, just bring up anything you want, Bellwood! Today, even if I have to bleed myself dry, I’ll make sure you get your reward! Don't hold yourself back!"

"Huuhhh?! But..."

"Who even has to think so hard about a reward?! What's your dream!?"

"Dream? One day... I-I want to take a bread tour of the continent!"

"Go travel on your own! Anything else?!"

"Eh!!! U-uh... ah, I know! The future of our Rovenne house rides on our children's achievements. This is the policy I had planned. So instead, the reward should belong to Allen, who’ll be carrying our family's future..."

W-Woah there, you don't have to pull me into this as well!!

My father suddenly lost all his nervousness, and tossed the hot potato to me with a solemn look.

Worst of all, I couldn't toss the matter of the reward to Schord. I couldn't show such blatant disinterest to His Majesty's goodwill. Well, usually, one would think of some sort of 'treasure' when the reward was from the royal family, but I preferred to chase the thrill of a treasure hunter by myself.

Facing the probing of His Majesty's deep blue eyes, I desperately looked for an idea, and it suddenly hit me.

"Well, err, how about, raising my knight's hourly wage to 1200 rea."

" "Hourly wage?!" "

Starting with Andrew, a row of guests reacted with baffled voices. 

Alright, I know this was an overreaching request. In fact, our current hourly wage of 1200 rea was already an extravagance, if anything.

Meanwhile, while the Royal Academy welcomed only a handful of students each year, the knight internship typically began from the third year, and their annual income would be about several million yen by my previous world’s standard. 

But in this world, the risk of serious injury or death were much higher than in Japan, and the prices of equipment were also exorbitantly high. 

Moreover, if someone with exceptional talent decided to become, for example, an A-rank explorer rather than joining the Knight Order, they’d likely have a comparable salary, so excuse my past life's notion, but this was a bonkers salary.

If anyone asked me, I would definitely say that this was the prime example of drowning in money. It just reminds me of my initial stipend, which made me feel miserable. 

Anyway, a prompt 20% raise would have been a matter for the shareholders' meeting!

Even His Majesty, who had earlier said to "Bring it on," was now clearly grimacing.

Heh heh heh. This was my retaliation after having been forced to work like a horse by Master Dew. 

I wasn't pressed financially nowadays, so I would gladly welcome any cut on my active duty hours in exchange for my 'expensive wage.' I could finally relish in my springtime of youth then!

While I was secretly grinning to myself, His Majesty pressed his temple and remarked— 

"…Given your achievements, I believe that if I proposed to appoint you as a regular member while still at the Academy, everyone would believe it to be natural, regardless of the fact that it would be unprecedented. Do you know that, Allen...?"

F-Full time employee?

What a joke! Were they seriously asking a student to work as an office worker already...?! 

My master was obviously a sort of black company leader, and god forbid if I said yes to being a full-time member, I would be squeezed and exploited to the point that even a regular knight's stipend would be a drop in the ocean to recover from the trauma.

"I’ll refrain from that. I believe I have yet to learn enough about the world."

I shook my head firmly. 

"...Then try for something better at least. I would be a laughingstock among the others during my foreign travels if they heard I rewarded you with a measly pay increase."

Y-You call this m-measly pay? 

My word, he didn't forget that we were talking about a salary increase, and not just a one-time bonus, right? I wonder if someone has ever pointed out to him his shortcomings in financial decisions?

"...1250?"

"..........You can do better than that!!!"

After a moment of blank stares, His Majesty slapped his chest with a fierce expression.

Go higher, you say?!

Man, he could have dropped that show-off attitude of his if he was going to just fume you know. I guess being a king came with its own cons.

I was troubled by the situation when I noticed the kind Andrew-san's agitated expression as he tried to point me toward something.

Let's see...... was this all a test?  If I let my desire get the best of me here, would I lose something in exchange for the materialistic rea?

"1250 rea! I won’t take a single rea more! This is my bottom line! I mean, I would rather His Majesty use the money for the betterment of the common populace or in your diplomatic trip. As long as peace is maintained in this kingdom, I would be able to live according to my heart, and for me, that unbound life is a supreme reward!"

I hastily ended the negotiation.

◆◆◆

Trivial or revolutionary— the achievements Allen Rovenne left behind in his student years were targets of awe for the prodigies of successive generations. They hoped that they could chase after his footsteps. 

The little episode in the soirée was later dubbed as «The man, the negotiation with the king, and his rigid stance on salary.»

This tale, while appearing to be a mere silly event, became a new addition to be achieved in the life of prodigies that aspired to follow in Allen Rovenne's footsteps.

But when has it been easy to recreate a tale, especially one that everyone longed for? 

To take the first step, they'd have to have become a provisional knight member before the internship of their third year. 

And yet, this baby step was akin to climbing Mt. Everest. 

In the illustrious Knight Order, the strong were as many as flies. Only by possessing extraordinary abilities could one hope to even dream of something like that. 

And should they somehow manage to break the custom, they would then have to earn an unquestionable merit within the years of their student life, as only something of the sort would allow them to have an audience with the king directly.

Finally, when they had gone through all that, they ought to have a will of steel to throw away a possible reward that could change their, or their noble family's future in a blink of an eye.

Many prodigies had dreamed of being in Allen's shoes, following the same order of events to request for a measly raise in salary and showcase themselves as the kingdom's loyal retainers by throwing a cool line like 'Please use the reward for the betterment of the life of the citizen. There would be no better reward for me than this.'

Then again, the soirée episode wouldn't have become a tale if it had been easy to achieve.

Breaking through the realm of common sense, and attaining the unattainable— only then would a Legend rise, after all.