NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80
“……”
There was no way to know if it was embarrassing for her to call someone she had never seen before ‘Crown Princess.’ Surprisingly, her expression didn’t change at all.
I can rewind time, but she can’t do that.
“Maier, Maier…”
It was Alice, the ‘real Crown Princess,’ not Claire, who sat next to me, furrowing her brow as she muttered,
“Oh right. The name of the Supreme Commander of the Autonomous State’s army was Felix Maier.”
Being a diligent Crown Princess, Alice quickly deduced who Rena Maier was the daughter of.
It was only after listening to Alice that the name, buried in my memory, faintly resurfaced.
It wasn’t a name mentioned in the original work or the game’s settings. The only character from the Autonomous State whose name was properly mentioned in the game was Governor Maximilian Schmidt.
In the Chronicles of Aetherna, if a newly introduced character’s name isn’t revealed separately, they are marked as ‘black-haired woman’ or ‘rough-looking man’ in the name field. This is not done series by series, but by individual works, so when characters from the previous work appear, if there’s no introduction or they don’t meet the protagonists, they are expressed similarly.
Honestly, while there are certainly more players coming in from series-level, it was a bit amusing to see a character’s face that is blatantly known, even appearing in the opening, referred to as ‘red-haired young man.’
Well, the name Felix Maier came up only after coming to this world, so that was a slightly different story. Perhaps it was the name of an extra that didn’t exist in the original work by the Governor’s side.
“That’s right. I’m the only daughter of the Maier family, a martial family from the Riclant Autonomous State. I look forward to working with you all.”
Though she had a poker face, anyone with a hint of awareness could tell she was saying that with a sense of pride.
“So you’re a transfer student? But wasn’t Class A full?”
“Thanks to His Majesty the Emperor’s grace, I was able to transfer.”
“My father?”
Alice frowned slightly.
Rena Maier did not know the nature of the relationship between Alice and the Emperor. She might have imagined a normal father-daughter relationship as common.
In fact, Alice had visited the Emperor before coming to the academy, steaming with anger.
I don’t know exactly how she expressed her anger, as I didn’t see it firsthand, but at least Alice’s expression whenever the Emperor was mentioned made it quite clear she didn’t think highly of him.
Alice’s gaze shifted back and forth between me and Rena Maier.
“I met with him in the cafeteria this morning.”
Though it was just a self-introduction. Other than that, we just sat silently, expressionless, and passed the time.
Thanks to that, I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast.
“Ah… is that so?”
Realizing looking at me wouldn’t yield much fruit, Alice turned her gaze back to Rena Maier.
“So… how is it? You’re going to an academy in another country, right? I’ve heard there are some decent academies in the Autonomous State, isn’t it awkward coming to a foreign country?”
“Not really.”
Rena Maier replied promptly to Alice’s question.
“The Rondalium Academy is quite renowned in the Autonomous State. I feel honored to be specially transferred to such a place.”
“If you had been attending another academy, you would have to part ways with your friends, right?”
“I’m still a year too young to enter an academy. However, the Governor and His Majesty the Emperor highly regard my abilities, so I just need to make sure not to hold you all back.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
Alice glanced at me when she heard that she was a year younger than us.
She certainly didn’t appear particularly small or underdeveloped, but Rena Maier’s face did look somewhat youthful. Since the new students entering Rondalium Academy this year are turning fifteen, that means Rena Maier is currently fourteen, assuming she had her birthday this year.
Alice, slightly leaning forward, then leaned back against her chair and said,
“Well, my father must have had his reasons for allowing the transfer.”
The Emperor’s reasoning somehow made Rena Maier appear even more suspicious.
But even under Alice’s scrutinizing gaze, Rena Maier’s expression didn’t change at all.
“……How was your encounter with the Sword Saint?”
I attempted to change the subject. There was still a long time before we arrived at the academy. I didn’t want to sit among the awkward silence of girls.
If anything, the oddity was that the only people who could sit in this place were the people in front of me.
Charlotte and Mia Crowfield were sitting at another table while Jake and Leo sat at another. Since there were plenty of seats left, even with two people sitting per table, there wouldn’t be any shortage of space.
Though Jake and Leo were sitting far from us, Charlotte and Mia Crowfield were sitting close enough across the aisle to hear our conversation.
The fact that both were not sitting by the window but rather in the aisle itself meant they were interested in this conversation.
Well, both of them were likely here in the academy to find ways to bypass the Emperor. If they could carry out even more extreme methods, they would be willing to try.
“The Sword Saint…?”
“Oh, right, Sis, that Sword Saint guy is totally a Sword Saint for a reason!”
In an instant, Rena Maier wore a blank expression, and just when I thought I might have succeeded, Claire seated next to her jumped in with enthusiasm, causing me to miss the chance to observe Rena Maier’s expression.
“I only trained for one night, and it felt like my eyes were opened! He watched our sword practice and immediately identified our weaknesses, correcting them. I practiced almost all night, you know?”
“…Thanks to that, I’m still pretty tired now.”
Alice said, wiping her face as her expression suddenly grew tired.
“Hey, but your sword skills improved a lot! It’ll definitely help you in the long run. He told you to come again, right?”
“…There’s no way I could meet a person who you can only see after a long journey from a distant place, then climb for several hours into the mountains.”
“You could just visit during the break, right?”
“…That little cabin looked like there was nowhere for a person to stay.”
“Huh? Well, you could just go up to the mountain daily. It wouldn’t take that long anyway.”
If you wake up at four in the morning every day, you would have plenty of time for training up and down the mountain.
Of course, Alice made a disgusted face at that.
“…If that’s the plan, I’d prefer to be excluded.”
“Really?”
Claire showed a bit of disappointment, but soon her eyes sparkled as she looked my way again.
“…Still, since he’s a Sword Saint, it might be good to visit him sometime when you have the chance.”
Unable to avoid that sparkling pressure, I nodded.
“Good thinking!”
“Are you talking about… the Marquis Frederick?”
Before Claire could respond cheerfully, Rena Maier, who had been quietly listening from next to Claire, interjected. It seemed she had barely managed to wait until the end of the conversation.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Claire answered without a hint of hesitation, leaving Rena Maier a bit dazed.
“The Sword Saint… is so close…”
Though he was living in seclusion, he wasn’t an unknown name. Rather, among those practicing the sword, he was even more famous than most royalty or nobility out there. After all, he was the ‘Sword Saint.’ Even Lucas aimed to surpass the Sword Saint before challenging the Emperor.
For some reason, now it seemed that I had become the target instead.
“Yeah. If you want to meet him too, how about going together then?”
Claire effortlessly displayed her incredible sociability to the expressionless girl I was seeing for the first time today.
“Would that be alright?”
Ah, if I get any more joyous, the concept will break, right?
Though she continued to maintain her poker face, I could see her corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
“Probably? Whether he teaches or not, it’s up to the Sword Saint. I doubt he’d say anything against someone coming to meet him.”
“……”
I’d think he would be that kind of person. If he recognizes you as his disciple, he’d probably welcome you with open arms. Despite claiming to hide away because he disliked troublesome things, he wouldn’t turn away interesting people.
“Thank you very much!”
Rena Maier responded enthusiastically.
“……”
And the silence fell around me once again.
…Why?
I don’t understand why I feel so uneasy right now.
I certainly thought I was maintaining the concept better.
Deep within my heart, a sense of unease was gradually rising.
The real problem was not knowing what the cause of that unease was.