The Train to Runcandel

“If I just show up out of the blue and ask to be my oath partner, will she do it?”

“How many people would actually turn down the chance to be the oath partner of an Imperial Knight?” Elliot replied, his lips curling into a crooked smirk. “Besides… for you, it’s possible even without the family name.”

When I didn’t catch his meaning immediately, he let out a scoffing laugh. “At that age, people still care more about a face than any other condition.”

Ah. Because of that. I touched my face, feeling a flush of embarrassment. Llewellyn’s appearance was a bit too delicate and “pretty boy” for my personal taste, but objectively speaking, it wasn’t lacking anywhere. Certainly, it was too good to say it only worked on men. To add a bit of exaggeration, one could look in the mirror all day and never get bored. If I had been a celebrity in the modern world, I definitely wouldn’t have starved to death.

“Who do you think would be good?” I asked while putting on my jacket. Elliot tapped the table with his index finger—tap, tap. I noticed that habit of his hadn’t changed at all.

“That’s for you to decide.”

“You wouldn’t have brought it up if you didn’t already have someone in mind.” I know you better than that. Don’t try to play me.

Elliot stalled for time, pretending to think, before shrugging his shoulders. “Lucia.”

“Lucia Isen?”

“She’s a smart girl. You’ll only need to drop a hint for her to understand the situation. She’ll realize what’s in it for her immediately, so she won’t refuse. In fact, she might even approach you before you can speak first.”

I recalled the Lucia Isen I had seen a long time ago. What I remembered was a pretty face with blonde hair and blue eyes, the fact that she was close to Helena, and how she commanded the girls her age with a charisma that belied her years. Thinking back to how she naturally became the center of any group—yes, definitely. She would be able to handle any situation with grace.

In fact, she might even be able to stage a situation more dramatic than what I was hoping for.

16. The Academy

Exactly ten days later, I boarded the train to Runcandel, the city where the Academy was located. Abel was with me, acting as the representative of my brothers.

Given that I couldn’t guess why Erkel had summoned me, taking Abel along felt like a significant risk. I tried to soothe him, saying that I’d be with Elliot on the way there and would return with Erkel after his graduation, so there was nothing to worry about. Abel didn’t care. Smiling brightly like a man who hadn’t heard a word I said, he finally pulled out the excuse that he missed his alma mater and wanted to visit.

Abel’s specialty was wrapping nonsense in a plausible-sounding package. If you look closely, it’s strange, but as you listen to him speak, you find yourself nodding along at some point. If you pay just a little attention, you realize it’s a blatant lie. No matter how much his professors had called for him until now, he never visited. Furthermore, Runcandel was the only gateway by land to Rahid, where the Magic Tower was located. There was no way he suddenly missed his alma mater when it was at a distance he could easily visit whenever he felt like it.

It seemed Cale wasn’t the only one who had inherited the Count’s blood so strongly.

Initially, Elliot and I had planned to arrive in Runcandel earlier than the start of the graduation festival to meet Erkel. When he arrived at the station on schedule, he gave a gentle smile at the sight of Abel clinging to my side.

I felt like I could hear muted curses, but since he squinted his eyes and turned up the corners of his mouth, it was technically correct to say he was smiling. Without even approaching us, he offered a greeting from a distance. When I called out to him—my arm still linked with Abel’s—Elliot acted as if he had fulfilled his duty just by saying hello and turned his carriage back, saying he would travel separately. He didn’t even offer a cliché excuse about a sudden change in plans.

Abel waved him off without even a polite word to try and stop him. His face was as bright as a child going to an amusement park, but his voice as he muttered, “Elliot’s quick on the uptake…” was as eerie as something out of a horror special. I did my best to pretend I hadn’t heard and pulled his arm toward our cabin.

Leaving for five years… might have been a bit of a wrong choice. I felt a regret that was long overdue. It was fine that I focused on my training, but for some reason, the state of my brothers was not great. While they usually laughed things off, there were increasing moments of obsession that made the back of my neck feel cold. I don’t know how Abel—who used to be the normal one compared to my second brother, even if he had a whiny side—ended up like this.

Perhaps thanks to the future head of the house becoming interested in trains after his trip to the East, I heard the Dylan family had invested heavily in the railroad business. Thanks to Elliot holding a large share, Abel and I lounged comfortably in the best seats, secured without even a reservation.

It was hard to decide whether the Count and his wife were amazing or if Elliot was the incredible one for making such a bold decision based on the words of a child barely in his early teens. To be honest, in my eyes, neither side was ordinary.

Originally, the train business was only popular in the East. Western nobles were conservative and tended not to recognize anything other than magic stone gates and carriages; even if they did invest, it was usually only through borrowed-name accounts.

However, a few families couldn’t stop the flow of the times. Led by the Dylans, every family with a bit of money jumped into this business and reaped massive initial profits. I heard it’s still considered one of the most stable investments, which was good to hear.

I felt a bit of regret thinking of the Count, who was brilliant at handling taxes but had zero business sense. I should have dropped a hint for him to join in. He was already quite wealthy from owning several mines, but isn’t it true that the more money you have, the better?

In the time I was rolling around in the mountains away from civilization, the trains had multiplied significantly. Originally, you had to go to Sektel, located near the center of the Empire, to use the train heading East, but now a station had also been built in Bessen, close to the capital. This was largely thanks to the Dylans pouring in money without holding back in the early stages.

Just laying the tracks on expensive land must have required an enormous amount of money. They said they spent just as much money decorating the station’s interior facilities. Seeing it in person, the rumors that it was as grand as the Imperial Palace weren’t entirely lies.

People said that if this had failed, the Dylans would have teetered on the brink of collapse. I thought it was just an exaggeration, but seeing this, it really might have been the case. Fortunately, the luxurious and grand interior appealed to the nobles’ tastes as well, so the number of Western users increased, and business was booming day by day.

“Runcandel will be quite fun, even if it doesn’t compare to the Capital or Lovenus. Strictly speaking, its history is older than Luvete’s. During the graduation festival, the swordsmanship department will march along the Street of Sages, so let’s go watch that. There’s a restaurant called ‘Spring and Morning’; the name is a bit silly, but the food is good. If the chef is still the same, it’ll suit your palate.”

Abel, who finally had me all to himself, was in high spirits. It made me feel good to see his lively face after so long. I had been worried about him looking so gaunt from stress. Whether he wanted to share his own memories or not, he talked so much while discussing Runcandel and the Academy that I worried his throat would go dry. I didn’t even need to talk back much. For the most part, he would lead the conversation himself as long as I smiled and nodded or gave a simple response like “That sounds good.”

“I heard there’s an incredible student among the Magic Department undergraduates this time. Someone named Klein.”

While quietly listening to his chatter, I flinched at the name Abel brought up. Use a turn signal, please. I was startled by the sudden mention of Stress-Inducer #2. I feigned ignorance and asked.

“Klein?”

“Yeah. They say a genius has appeared. I’ve never seen the old man make such a fuss before.”

He even mentioned Pisa Tecon, the Tower Master and Principal of the Academy. Knowing that he would actually hand over the Tower Master position to Cedric Klein in a few years, I acted impressed and interested as if hearing it for the first time.

Abel was someone who rarely showed interest in others. If you were to rank them, I and magic would be at the very top, followed by the rest of the family, and then—after a long gap—his fellow mages. For Abel to know of Cedric, who was a mere undergraduate…

The Tower Master wouldn’t personally go around shouting about a genius just because someone got good grades. I wondered what Cedric Klein had brought to the table to earn the old man’s favor. Come to think of it, around this time, would he have developed a means of communication using Gredor’s letters?

“He must be truly amazing.”

I laughed, making a bright, innocent sound that didn’t suit me. Abel liked it when I still acted like a twelve-year-old.

“Then will Cedric Klein also join the Imperial Magic Department after graduation?”

“Who knows. Strictly speaking, I also belong to the Tower; I’m just working at the Imperial Palace. He’ll probably go to the Tower first. It’s easier to work when you’re affiliated there. Still, I can’t be sure. Among those called geniuses, there isn’t a single normal one. Not one. If that Klein fellow is a peculiar type too… he might make a choice no one expects.”

Coming from a guy who also graduated early and is called a genius.

I was dumbfounded watching Abel click his tongue in disapproval. Is this what they call spitting at your own face?

In truth, part of me hoped Cedric Klein would stay cooped up in the Academy, working his way from assistant to professor. If he loitered around the capital for no reason, he would constantly be in my sight. Even if it were the same workplace, knights and mages didn’t run into each other often in the sprawling Imperial Palace, but since he was a main character, you never knew. He might suddenly get entangled with me, like conducting an investigation together with a mage.

Just the imagination of it made my stomach churn. I could already see myself counting down the days, hoping he would quickly become the Tower Master and disappear.