A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 148

What happened after being bombarded with kisses by Grace?

Surprisingly, no major issues arose—except for Grace wanting to die of embarrassment.

Thankfully, the only witness was Luna. Even she was just shocked and left it at that.

“Since when? Was it after that incident?”

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. I have some sense, you know.”

Correction. She didn’t just stop at being shocked—she started showing an excessive amount of interest.

At first, Luna subtly observed, but unable to contain her curiosity, she began interrogating almost relentlessly.

Grace initially denied it, but eventually confessed, seemingly deciding she couldn’t hide it any longer.

“T-To be honest, Ms. Luna, don’t you agree? A knight straight out of a fairy tale appeared in real life!”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

As everyone probably knows, Luna is tactless. To be precise, she’s the type who doesn’t care about reading the room.

You could say she’s the kind who focuses only on her own matters. It might also be because she knows my secret and finds it interesting.

“Then, what if it wasn’t Sivar who saved you? Do you think you’d have fallen for that person instead?”

“W-Well, I’m not sure about that… No, wait. That’s not the point right now, is it?”

Grace, almost swept up in Luna’s pace, hurriedly regained her composure.

Of course, Luna probably asked such a question out of pure curiosity. Just look at that clueless expression of hers.

She’s not lacking in anything as long as she thinks things through—but she rarely does. In some ways, she’s similar to me.

“Anyway, since you’ve made a contract with Mr. Sivar, you’ll have to fulfill it consistently. Mr. Sivar, you agree too, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Y-You’re free to receive my kisses whenever you want. It’s part of the contract, after all.”

“Even now?”

“Eh?”

At my simple yet loaded question, Grace froze.

Her already flushed face turned an even deeper shade of red. By now, her mind must be racing.

“Ms. Grace, your face is bright red.”

“I-I can feel it too! Anyway, Mr. Sivar, which part do you prefer? I don’t mind anywhere! I swear on the honor of Duke Berche’s Household!”

Grace declared boldly, placing her hand over her chest. A mix of noble dignity and girlish sentimentality.

She exuded a sense of reliability while also being utterly adorable—a truly unique character in many ways.

But it was all just a joke. So, I responded bluntly.

“Not now. Later.”

“L-Later?”

“Yeah.”

Honestly, I might not even do it. If strange rumors spread, it could harm Grace too.

I know exactly how she feels about me. But that aside, civilization is complicated.

‘Her family would probably make a fuss.’

Grace is the Young Lady of a ducal family. In terms of rank, she’s among the top three in the Matra Empire.

Even though Duke Berche’s Household leans toward a laissez-faire principle, nobles are still nobles.

They wouldn’t be pleased about me getting close to Grace.

‘Politics in Soul World was a headache too.’

One glaring feature of a fantasy world is that power equates to authority.

You don’t have to look far—just take Rod as an example. He’s practically a ronin, yet no one dares to touch him despite his lack of title.

To confront him politically, it would take more than a faction—it would require a nation to step in. That’s how valuable Rod is.

‘The standard route is to grow stronger and naturally get involved in politics…’

A world where power is authority and the upper hand in politics. Because of this, most users prioritized gaining strength.

If someone focused on politics instead of power? That’s when the Hellgate opens.

‘I hate dealing with complicated matters.’

Of course, most things can be resolved. No matter how powerful a duke or emperor is, they all have weaknesses.

If you exploit those weaknesses cleverly, you can gain the upper hand—but the process is too bothersome.

So, it’s better to maintain as much distance from politics as possible and steadily build strength.

‘I think I understand why barbarians hate civilized people.’

Civilized people are ruder than barbarians because they don’t get their heads split open for saying something offensive.

It sounds somewhat accurate, but it’s also a quote that highlights the necessity of politics.

If everyone split heads over rude comments, it would just lead to war.

My disposition leans more toward that of a barbarian, so I plan to avoid politics as much as possible.

‘If I can’t avoid it, well…’

I’ll accept it as fate. Hopefully, the Freshman Banquet passes without issue.

“Ah. We’re here! Everyone! Ms. Grace succeeded in the contract!”

“Really? She really did!”

“We’ve won. Now we just need to capture the castle!”

While I was momentarily lost in distracted thoughts, we arrived at Grace’s team’s occupied territory.

The team members cheered as soon as I arrived. They were already intoxicated by victory.

“Everyone, calm down. The trial isn’t over yet. Plus, now that we’ve brought Mr. Sivar, our supplies will inevitably decrease. Keep that in mind.”

Grace stopped her cheering team members. Pouring cold water on the heated atmosphere was necessary.

As she said, with my arrival, it was inevitable that the supplies would be halved.

To turn the tide, we’d have to make the most of what we had. I planned to give it my all.

“Above all, having Mr. Sivar doesn’t mean it’s over. Even with a powerful weapon, it’s useless if the tactics are flawed. So, planning our tactics is crucial.”

Even if we have the upper hand in strategy, if the tactics fail, it’s over. The reverse is true as well.

After that, Grace began devising tactics with her team. The most important issue was how to deal with the city wall.

The teams had gathered as many siege weapons as possible, but the problem was transportation. They were so heavy that moving them was a struggle.

“At least they have wheels, but we keep getting ambushed… We managed to gather some cannonballs, but we only have two catapults and three cannons.”

“Hmm…”

To make matters worse, the number of siege weapons was absolutely insufficient. The city wall was sturdy enough that this wouldn’t be enough.

Most of the command on that team was likely handled by Kara, making it her handiwork.

It showed how vital practical experience is and how the difference between strategy and tactics can determine the outcome.

‘The catapults are much bigger than the ones we tested before.’

While Grace’s team discussed, I assessed the state of the siege weapons and projectiles.

The cannonballs were in decent quantity, suggesting they had scraped together everything they could.

The problem was the siege weapons. Except for the most intact catapult, the cannons were in poor condition.

‘These look like they’ll explode after just a few shots. Not everything is high-quality, I guess.’

It was evident from the siege weapons that they had suffered heavily from the enemy’s guerrilla tactics.

Kara was a warrior who had carried out countless guerrilla tactics during the tribal alliance days. It was practically her specialty.

Conversely, this meant she was likely weak in siege warfare. The Tatars weren’t exactly familiar with castles.

‘I’ll fire one shot and see how they react.’

I dragged the catapult to a spot where the castle was visible.

Grace and the team turned their gazes toward me as I moved.

“Mr. Sivar? What are you doing?”

“Testing this out.”

“The catapult?”

“Yeah. Performance test.”

I had observed the cannons’ power, but not the catapult’s. I might as well check their response too.

Even though I could throw it by hand, my curiosity got the better of me. I couldn’t resist.

“Hmm… One should be fine. Does anyone here know how to operate a catapult?”

“I’m not familiar with catapults either…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to bring more cannons instead of using this?”

Perhaps because it was such an ancient weapon, no one seemed to know how to use it. But using the cannons felt like a waste of their durability.

In the end, everyone put their heads together to figure out how to operate the catapult. Luckily, the mechanism itself was simple.

“Why did they bring this instead of a trebuchet? Especially when we already have cannons.”

“There was a trebuchet, but we couldn’t bring it.”

“The cannons are definitely smaller in size, though.”

I turned the rope responsible for the tension to its limit, to the point where the wooden rotating platform became stiff.

Since the plan was to fire from as far away as possible, this much was necessary. Honestly, unless it was someone with my level of strength, it would take a long time for anyone else to turn it.

Creaaak-

“Huh?”

Then suddenly, why was there an unsettling sound? I glanced at the rotating platform, wondering if something had happened.

At first glance, it seemed fine. It must have been because I pushed it to its limit that such a strange sound was heard.

Now, all that was left was to place the cannonball onto the catapult.

“Alright. Fire.”

“······What are you doing? Hurry up and come down. Stop messing around.”

But perhaps out of sheer boredom, I sat on the catapult where the cannonball was supposed to go and said, “Fire.”

If it were to launch like this, my body would be shot toward the castle like a cannonball. Quite literally, a human cannonball.

Of course, I had no intention of actually pulling such a stunt. Well, to be honest, I was slightly tempted, but I planned to hold back since this was a test.

Crack-

But was it fate’s cruel joke? Or was it because the rope had been pulled beyond its limit?

A sound more ominous than unsettling came from the rope. Even Grace, who had been urging me to come down, widened her eyes in shock.

“What was that sound just now······”

Thunk!

And that was the last sound I heard.

******

Although she hadn’t managed to make a contract with Sivar, Kara didn’t care.

She wasn’t particularly fixated on the test, and she had more than achieved her intended goal.

So, she planned to take this final exam at a leisurely pace. Whatever Sivar did, she could laugh it off.

“Are you really okay with this? Do you know what that guy might do?”

“It’s fine. I’m prepared for him to throw cannonballs with his bare hands.”

“······No. Even I wasn’t expecting that much.”

This was something she could say after witnessing Sivar’s strength firsthand.

His physical strength was comparable to, if not greater than, Hector’s. And Kara knew well just how strong Hector was.

Firing cannonballs faster than a cannon would be no trouble for him. She had already asked the mages to reinforce the city walls with magic.

‘If he wants to breach the castle, he’ll have to come in person. We just need to hold him off and retreat.’

Even if Sivar came to seize the castle himself, she wouldn’t mind. In fact, she planned to abandon the castle cleanly.

To be precise, while he was busy occupying the castle, she would seize his occupied territory. That would cut off his supplies and, in turn, his contract with Sivar.

Kara had devised a stratagem of her own, so she was relaxed. Even if the plan went awry, she could laugh it off.

As mentioned before, she wasn’t particularly attached to the test. She’d rather it just ended quickly.

-······Aaaaaah!

“Huh?”

Then suddenly, a strange sound reached Kara’s ears. Antonio, who was beside her, heard it too.

At first, they wondered where the sound was coming from, but it wasn’t long before they figured it out. The sound was growing louder.

“······What is that?”

“No way······”

When the two turned their eyes toward the source of the sound, they each displayed different reactions.

Antonio looked dumbfounded, while Kara was closer to horrified.

The other students reacted similarly. What had been a mere dot in the sky gradually grew larger, revealing its identity.

“Waaaaaah!”

It was Sivar. It wasn’t a cannonball flying toward the castle—it was Sivar himself.

And he wasn’t heading for the city wall. He was flying directly toward the inside of the castle.

“Take cover!”

“W-What is this?!”

The sudden appearance of a human cannonball(?) left Kara and the students in utter confusion. This was the result of pushing the catapult’s tension beyond its limit.

Fortunately, thanks to Kara’s quick thinking, the students avoided being hit by the cannonball. The real issue, however, was the human cannonball itself.

Crash! Crack! Thud!

The spot where human cannonball Sivar landed was, strangely enough, the temporary building where the supplies were stored.

Even worse, it was the section containing the most critical resource: drinking water. The carefully gathered water spilled everywhere.

With just this one attack, the castle’s combat power was significantly reduced, but it wasn’t over yet.

“Ouch, ouch······”

Through the billowing dust, Sivar stood up. On the surface, he seemed remarkably unscathed.

However, even someone as tough(?) as him appeared to have taken some impact, as he rubbed his head.

“··· ···”

“··· ···”

Kara, Antonio, and the students all stared at him silently. They couldn’t make sense of the situation.

Meanwhile, Sivar, still rubbing his head, began to walk away slowly. As he moved, the students instinctively assumed combat stances.

It was as if lightning had struck out of a clear sky, but regardless, it was something they had anticipated. They were already prepared to fight Sivar.

Step- Step-

“······Where’s he going?”

“I-I don’t know?”

But Sivar didn’t fight. He simply walked toward the city gate.

Upon reaching the city gate, Sivar looked up at the firmly shut gate, then turned around.

“Open it.”

“W-What?”

“Open it. This isn’t it.”

Sivar, seemingly deciding to leave the castle on his own, made his request. The students guarding the gate exchanged glances before looking at Kara.

Kara was just as baffled and couldn’t make a quick decision. Still, it seemed best to comply with Sivar’s request for now.

“O-Open the gate.”

“Uh······okay.”

Clank-

At Kara’s command, the gate began to rise. As soon as it opened, Sivar walked out slowly.

“······Interesting.”

He muttered something utterly confusing.

‘He wouldn’t come flying back again, would he?’

As the saying goes, “Never say never.”

“Yaaaaaaaah!!”

“Stop it already!”

And he came flying back a few more times.