<258 - Human Mine>
Duke Andersen felt a heavy burden inside.
The number one of the Western Noble Union.
The leader of the Border Noble boys.
A sense of duty not to fall behind the offspring of the three great noble families of the Empire.
Each one was a heavy load.
However, what truly weighed on him were the poorly chosen mine lectures.
“From now on, jump down from the 30m model tower, where humans feel the most fear.”
“Excuse me?”
“Whether you break your legs or come down intact, as long as you make it to the ground, you will pass this practical evaluation. Of course, if you trust [Total Body Marc], you can come down unscathed.”
“…”
“If you’re not willing to devote yourself to the path of faith, prove that your body is a great warrior even without the divine!”
Every lecture time pushed faith down their throats with [How to Use Sacred Magic Without Faith] lectures.
“Alright, today we will just sleep on the bare ground.”
“Really? During this week of heavy rain, I don’t have to fill a tree with mana while hanging from it to avoid being swept away by the currents?”
“On the contrary, today you must try to hide your mana as much as possible. If they sense mana on the ground, I’ve released worms that pounce and gnaw at their prey.”
“…”
“By the way, these worms scream, ‘Kwahng!’ when hunting. If you hear a worm cry, it means someone has been detected, so you better wake up and avoid the attack, right?”
Not a single time did anyone get a good night’s sleep in the [Sleep Well Anywhere] lecture.
“From ancient times, it has been said that escape is the best tactic, and there’s a saying that hearing something a hundred times isn’t as good as putting it into practice once.”
“…So why are there six healers in our lecture?”
“Only someone who has mastered escape can do it well. If you choose a bad escape route or are slow-footed, it’s likely due to poor studies or being weak in real combat, which can lead to death. You need to undergo experiences so painful you feel like you might die to avoid making the same mistakes again!”
“…”
In the [Thirty-Six Stratagems: Retreat] lecture, if caught by the pursuing instructors, it would be a horrifying scream through the forest.
Duke Andersen’s choices in lecture selections were grievously bad, and the difficulty of these lectures was through the roof.
He felt a desperate need for advice from the seniors!
“Andersen. Isn’t it too dangerous?”
“Arcadia Lady wouldn’t know. She hasn’t taken lectures like us, so she cannot understand this desperate feeling.”
“Just looking at Andersen’s course list makes me think it would be better for you to bend your will a little… but if that’s what you want, I can’t say much. I hope you achieve your goals.”
Despite the many students from Seoguyeon forfeiting, the poor nobles who enrolled alongside Duke Andersen stayed right by his side.
There were a grand total of four foolish ones who made the wrong choice of trailing after Duke Andersen.
Their eyes were utterly devoid of life, dark circles spreading across their eyelids.
“Oh. Look at these first-years.”
“Not bad for their potential, huh?”
“Tired eyes. Despite having mana, forced to develop muscles to survive. Their spirits naturally leaking due to mental and physical fatigue. They’re second-year level, aren’t they?”
Even the third-years who usually tormented first-years hesitated to approach these promising underclassmen.
“If we mess with them, won’t they get revenge before we even graduate or get expelled?”
“Feeling a bit scared, huh?”
“Border nobles have guts better than Empire nobles, huh. Tsk. This batch is going to have the strong coming out on top, it seems.”
“That Barkasar guy was even trying to mess with the first-year top student.”
“And he got rejected by the first-year! Tsk tsk. What a disgrace for a third-year. Let’s not end up like him.”
They could easily take advantage by brute force, but they feared the repercussions of these rapidly growing underclassmen!
Thanks to this ambiguous assessment, the group from Seoguyeon could happily continue to exist until the awaited figure finally approached.
“Andersen? Could it be the second son of the Pretzel family from the Deutsche Kingdom, Andersen Pretzel?”
“Long time no see, Sir Velvet. Should I call you Senior Velvet from now on?”
“Haha, feel free to call me whatever you like. I heard you’d be entering this year, but I didn’t expect to see you at the big sports festival.”
“Arcadia must be very disappointed she couldn’t come. I feel sorry we couldn’t come together.”
“That girl is clever, so she won’t make many mistakes.”
“…? That makes it sound like we made mistakes…”
“It means that even with lacking skill, she wisely chose to forfeit.”
“Aha. So you praised me in front of my peers as being better than Arcadia? But I hope you can hold back in front of her. We are maintaining a good relationship, you know.”
“You’ve grown a lot. The kid who would whine for favor everywhere now cares about others’ feelings.”
“You, Senior, look less like a third-year and more like you’ve been blessed with good skin, radiating leisure. That must be thanks to the strength that sets you apart from other third-years.”
Hopefulness glimmered in Duke Andersen’s eyes.
“Senior, risking it all in the third-years’ big sports festival, I urgently need to ask you a favor. As a noble of blue blood, my cute underclassman seeks your help.”
“Hehe. What indulgence are you asking for this time? If I don’t refill the snack treats for guests like the first time you visited our home, will you tell your mother?”
“…Wasn’t that when I was fourteen? Can we please forget about my gluttonous childhood?”
The nobles who followed Duke Andersen exchanged glances.
“Is fourteen that young?”
“Isn’t he older than Oknodie now?”
“Shhh. What if the Grand Duke gets upset and says, ‘I won’t help you anymore’?”
Senior Velvet chuckled and leisurely asked.
“Alright, glutton. What new desire do you have this time?”
“I want to obtain the answer key for the final exam. If not for [How to Use Sacred Magic Without Faith] and [Sleep Well Anywhere], at least for the general common class lecture notes…”
“Did you get tricked by a disguised fourth-year or something? No matter how you pick them, you’ve only chosen the worst lectures…”
“…Is our course record that bad?”
“You’ve picked the most brutal courses available for a first-year in the first semester, haven’t you?”
Hearing the “we” made the lacking relationship with the behind fellows clearer. Senior Velvet looked at Andersen with sympathy for these poor souls.
Receiving sympathetic gazes from upperclassmen, completely non-peer, they felt their eyes heat up and nearly cried.
If they hadn’t followed Duke Andersen, they wouldn’t have to suffer this kind of hellish ordeal!
“I will tell you.”
“Really?”
“This is what being good to a senior is about, isn’t it? Besides, we are nobles representing the west… we must lend a helping hand in times of need.”
Andersen was genuinely moved by this unexpected warm hospitality.
He had done this thinking it was a throwaway gamble, but Senior Velvet treating him so well was astounding!
He had no face to show his fellow noble friends who had followed him and now faced disaster; finally, his status as a leader was being restored.
“Stop!”
If it weren’t for Oknodie’s sudden appearance, this moment would surely have ended happily.
“…Dumbbell? No, why?”
“I rode on a third-year’s a mount!”
‘Why would I ask why a dumbbell is floating in the sky? I meant to asks how you knew flying magic…’
It’s not new that Oknodie’s knowledge stands apart from that of a typical first-year student.
“Oknodie. I know Arcadia cares for you, but this event is for the nobles of Seoguyeon to celebrate their reunion. It’s not a place for outsiders to interfere freely.”
“Well, your weak-minded thoughts are why you only choose dangerous lectures!”
“What…!”
Duke Andersen’s face twisted as if a dagger had pierced his chest.
“Oknodie, that’s too harsh!”
“Even if the Grand Duke is famed for having a cursed insight, it doesn’t mean you can tell him to his face that he’s cursed! You’re not even a priest!”
“My goodness, Oknodie. Can you please show a little restraint? No matter how much the Grand Duke seems to bring disasters wherever he opens his mouth, calling someone a walking human mine is going too far.”
“Eh. I didn’t say anything that extreme.”
“Apologize, at least!”
“Sorry…?”
In the confusion, the members of Seoguyeon shielded the Grand Duke under the pretext of protecting his dignity while they sneakily expressed their true feelings!
Though they felt sorry for them, Oknodie, who firmly believed they were wrong, stopped them once more.
“Why are you so worked up about us not being able to interfere?”
“Sir Velvet is a saint. He said he would share the notes!”
“Are you suggesting you want to join in too? Since you helped Arcadia save face, that might be acceptable.”
The Grand Duke himself nodded in agreement with the gazes of the Seoguyeon members.
“As the representative of the first-year nobles of 981, I truly appreciate your dedication to protecting her. I can share the answers as long as you don’t interfere.”
“While grateful, we can’t accept that, can we? Not only me, but neither can all of you!”
Oknodie pointed out what these foolish noble boys had overlooked while relaxing after meeting a magnificent, gallant, beautiful noble senior.
“What do you think I’m asking for in exchange for relieving your debt? What you owe is not a noble family debt, but a third-year debt!”
“…!”
Debts to the third-years, not to the nobles.
A chilling selection of words.
The warm fantasy in Duke Andersen and the members of Seoguyeon shattered, trapping them in a treacherous reality.
