The sword princess' tale

Volume 4 Prologue - Something Changes

VOLUME 4
~A Sudden Make up Exam!?~

From the warm corridor of the female dormitory which was protected by magical wards and enchantments, there was powerful gust knocking the windows. Outside, the leafless tree branches rustled against each other. Brown, wilted leaves were blown away, the dispirited grasses with the same color created a wave of movement in unison and the shadows cast by objects continued to stretch as Solaris sunk in the west.

"...uhm. I really want to eat baked potatoes now..." I wished with a downcast gaze.

Half a year had passed ever since an incident happened within the Dungeon below Leimburg Academy.

The fact a third party interfered with the Academy's annual education test had caused an uproar throughout the while kingdom. After all, Leimburg Academy was known as a school holding equal value with the Royal Court of Raumia. Sabotaging an ongoing lesson meant a powerful country was aiming to incite a war against the Holy Kingdom.

Yet, it didn't affect the progress of learning very much. As much as the kingdom raised its guard and security, the Academy ground isn't something that can be intruded by anyone. Including a part of the royalty. Because of that, although there was a week of holiday and cremation for the dead, everything returned back to normal as if nothing had happened.

Although there were parents who withdrew their children from studying here, the amount was lesser than I thought it would be. Some raised protests and tried to blame the Academy but...

To begin with, the current principal was someone who could laugh at other's death and he already informed the students about the possibility of death right at the opening ceremony. He could never be blamed even if the school was bombarded with terrorists once he said something like that. And... that didn't mean the incident could be an excuse for the injured to not attend the lessons.

"It's just my luck to be not expelled due to my involvement. Still..."

Haiz... life is tough. I exhaled deeply while trudging through the dormitory hall. Today's lessons weren't too much for me, fortunately. It's already a great improvement I could learn several new things and I also did a spar with Leon.

As I passed by a room, the door opened with slight creaking sound and I reflexively turned my gaze to it.

"Oh my. Good evening, Charlotte." A blue haired Mage Course Student greeted me.

"Good evening, Alia. Were you visiting on Anise again?" I replied.

The girl named Alia nodded down to my question. Even though I sometime encountered her in classes, her lack of words seemed to remain. Not that it's a bad thing but she looks like an exquisite mannequin people would want to bring home at all costs. I noticed a few leering stares at her today too and it made me irritated to know how they could be so perverted.

Honestly, men are all wolves. Just like what father said.

"? Is something wrong, Charlotte?" Alia tilted her head.

"Nope. It's nothing." I answered while shaking my head vigorously.

The mage heaved a sigh. Her shoulders drooped down and she gave a downcast gaze enough to be sympathized. Hey, are you doing this on purpose? You look like a damsel in distress.

"More importantly, Charlotte. Are you alright? Your injuries were way too severe compared to Anise's."

"Ah, I'm okay. I slept a lot so I'm alright now!"

"Really...? I heard your injury was life-threatening so..."

Well, I guess that's true enough. It's already a miracle for me to survive being stabbed in the chest by a certain idiot. It also took me some more times to recover as my magical nerves short-circuited after the overuse of Reinforce which is a hybrid physical enhancing magic.