The Lowest Royal Returns

(Day of the excursion.)

The class bell rang, and with it, Julian stepped inside, holding a giant sack filled to the brim with documents.

He glanced at each of the students, then strolled over to the podium, placing the sack of documents onto a nearby desk.

Shortly after, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"To commemorate you studying at the Furnace Academy for nearly a month, the headmaster and I decided it was about time we introduced you to one of the main perks of the Furnace Academy: excursions," Julian said with a smile.

He picked out a single document and flipped it open, giving it a quick read.

"Oho? A simple request. You must find a noble's lost cat. You will be awarded handsomely, obviously. But that's not the kind of request I advise you students to go for," Julian added. "Sure, you can pick it, but do know that your decision here will reflect on our evaluation of you. But don't let that pressure you into picking something way above your level. We will oversee your final decision carefully."

The class was silent, and so was Raelis. He had already picked out the area he wanted to go to. It was the Azteran mountain range.

"Now, I've really not had that much time to sort through these because of yesterday, but alas, you guys can read. Just find something you like and bring it to your desks. I will check up on you after everyone has picked something they liked," Julian said in a lazy manner.

Of course, by yesterday, he was talking about the training.

Raelis had decided to take up Julian on his words and go train with him. However, there was no sparring involved, only endurance training.

He literally had to run around the entire Furnace Academy 100 times within 5 hours. Sure, Raelis was able to do it, but the fact that Julian vanished shortly after pissed him off slightly.

And he also uses it as an excuse to be lazy... tsk tsk. Raelis shook his head.

He turned toward Clea beside him, who, thankfully, was completely unscathed.

"What are you going to pick? Actually... don't tell me, because you know..."

But just as Clea opened her mouth to speak, he heard another raspy voice from the side instead.

"It's sweet that you're trying to protect her. I admire it," Zeri said, clearly in pain.

He turned toward her and realized she had some kind of crystal collar around her neck. He didn't know what it was exactly, but it was clear that it was giving her the ability to speak, even if with some side effects.

"You're curious?" Zeri asked, then continued. "Grandpa gave it to me personally. It transmits my thoughts into sound. It forcefully draws air from my lungs, so it's a bit painful, all thanks to you."

Yeah... if we weren't in class, she'd probably use Flame Singularity again.

"Anyhow, it's only temporary. Grandpa is getting in contact with the Divine Healer. Once he comes around, I will be as good as new." Zeri smiled, narrowing her eyes at him. "Say, Raelis. Which location are you going to go to?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Raelis chuckled. "We're not as close as you think, Zeri. Plus, that bounty of yours really makes it hard going outside into the city."

"Oh? Do you not know the details then?" Zeri tilted her head. "I specifically told them not to target you while you're in the city. Only when you leave. Basically, you'll have a welcoming committee the moment you leave the city, courtesy of yours truly."

Raelis sighed, not sure why he even bothered to speak with her in the first place. After all, she was one venomous bitch.

Aside from that, Clea tapped him on the shoulder, then waved with a smile.

"You could've come out of training to at least eat with us, you know?" Clea said in a low voice.

Raelis shrugged. "Sorry. I really didn't want to skip a day of training for where I'm planning to go."

"Mm... I see." Clea nodded slowly, then leaned back. "I'll be heading to the Crimson Palace."

His eyes immediately widened. "Why would you say that out loud?"

"Because she's not going to follow me," Clea replied plainly. "Vengeful she may be, she's not stupid. At least, that's what I gathered from the conversation we had the other week."

He raised a brow. "You two talked?"

Clea smiled. "We sparred, tried to kill each other, and eventually, we talked it out."

It doesn't look like Clea lost... did she really win against Zeri? Raelis thought in bewilderment.

But as he was about to ask her for the details, Clea raised a single finger, putting it against her lips as if to silence him.

"We all have our own problems, and I get that you feel responsible for what happened, but don't worry about me. I'm not a girl who likes knights in shining armor," Clea said, and then stood up, shooting him one last glance. "Elizabeth and Alice are also coming to the Crimson Palace with me. Just thought I'd let you know."

With those words, she walked up to the excursion documents alongside the other students.

Yet Raelis was rooted in place alongside Zeri.

He was shocked at what Clea had said, but he also finally processed the place she was going to go to.

The Crimson Palace was a location nearly on the other end of the continent. It was a palace built from special metal that turned crimson whenever it was exposed to the sun.

But that was only the fancy bit. The main reason it was so dangerous was because, inside it, lurked several ancient constructs.

There were crimson knights, mages, healers, basically full exploration parties.

The power of those constructs was impressive, and killing them was troublesome. However, if he was recalling correctly, then around this time, some of those constructs found a way out of the Crimson Palace.

Because of that, they began terrorizing nearby villages, so it was very likely Clea and the others would find a request related to that. But knowing her, she might go ahead into the Crimson Palace in search of treasure instead.

Anyways...

I should probably pick my excursion as well, shouldn't I?