"Lalallala~> Lulululu~>" Not even a young maiden in the spring of a new romance would be this cheerful.
For a soldier wearing armor and two swords to act this way, it wasn't a pleasant sight. It only made one think, 'What is that madman doing?'
"What are you doing, Oliver?"
"Hahaha. Can't you tell just by looking? I'm expressing my joy with my whole body."
"What's there to be so happy about?"
"Sanson became a knight. I'm happy about that, but..."
Seeing his comrades, Oliver wagged his finger from side to side, his expression full of the feeling, 'You know-nothing youngsters.'
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you know-nothing youngsters."
"... The hell."
"So annoying."
"Let's throw rocks. Rocks!"
Seeing them actually pick up rocks from the ground, Oliver quickly said.
"No, listen to me, you guys."
"What is it?"
Oliver said to his comrades, who were asking with rocks in their hands.
"The young master has left for the academy."
"So what?"
"If the young master isn't in the fief, who's going to push us into a living hell?"
"April... huh? She went too, didn't she?"
"Really? She went too?"
"She said she was going to follow the young master. Didn't you hear?"
"I just heard now. Wait, if that's the case..."
Oliver straightened his back and said with a laugh.
"Hahaha. Do you understand now? You foolish fools. We are finally free from hell. Finally."
No Patrick, and no April. That meant no more hellish training. The corners of the soldiers' mouths, having grasped the reality, curled up on their own.
"Ahem, well, is that how things are going?"
"Well, we still have to train. Right?"
"Yeah, that's right. We have to train. Diligently, to an extent that doesn't harm our health."
"Mm, right. We have to do normal, diligent training."
The soldiers' faces brightened as they looked at each other. In truth, they knew it too. That they, who had no particular talent, had all stepped into the three-star level or higher was thanks to Patrick's training.
Were they grateful? Of course, they were. They were grateful, but....
'Honestly, was that something a human should do?' 'If you brought a Goblin and made it train like that, it would reach the three-star level.’
'If I could turn back time five years, I would have beaten myself to death to stop me.’ They say there are no gains without pains, but the hell they had endured was the kind that brought tears to their eyes and made them see their parents' faces in the sky just by thinking about it.
How could they not be happy about being freed from that pain…
"Everyone, assemble!"
What they heard then was Sanson's booming voice. They scrambled to the training grounds and what they saw was Sanson with a demonic expression.
"From today on, I will be in charge of your training."
"Um, Sir Sanson."
"On the training grounds, call me Sir Kainel."
"Yes. Sir Kainel. I have a question..."
"I'm not taking any."
"Yes. What I mean is... huh?"
"I will not take questions. From now on, no questions will be taken during training hours. Understood."
"..."
'What is this? Is that really Sanson?' 'He doesn't seem like the Sanson we knew.'
Sanson said to the murmuring soldiers.
"While the young master is at the academy, everyone will raise their level by at least one star. To do that, I will push you all relentlessly."
"When you say relentlessly, what do you mean specifically?"
"I repeat, I will not take any questions. Just trust me and follow."
And when Sanson gestured, a group of muscular giants with green skin approached from one side.
"Tutan, thank you for coming."
Standing at the very front was Tutan, a young warrior of the Orc tribe and the son of Chieftain Turanta.
"It's fine. The great warrior asked for a favor. So I will grant it."
"Thank you."
Then, Sanson said.
"You all must have seen my one against one hundred sparring match a few days ago."
"... Yes. We saw it."
"We saw it, but..."
"Don't tell me, San... no, Sir Kainel, surely?"
Sanson said to the anxious soldiers.
"I won't force you to suddenly fight one hundred Orc warriors."
Of course.
As the soldiers let out a sigh of relief, Sanson's words continued.
"Since time and space are limited, let's start with ten. However, you must fight all ten at the same time."
The soldiers' jaws dropped. Each and every one of the Red Rock Orc tribe warriors was a formidable fighter. And they had to fight ten of them at once?
This was ridiculous. Just as they were thinking it might be easier to fight one hundred of them in turns…
"Tutan, if you please."
"Hmph, understood."
And then, ten burly Orc warriors stepped onto the training grounds.
And then………
"Oliver, you're first. Get up there."
Even without Patrick, even without April, the ordeal of the Schneider Fief's soldiers continued.
White Town.
The capital city of the Atronia Kingdom, it was a place filled with white buildings, just as its name suggested. Being in a region with strong sunlight, they began painting the outer walls white to lower the buildings' temperature, which eventually turned the entire city white.
Looking at the cityscape from a high place, the sight of neat, white buildings was quite a spectacle. A single carriage entered the city. It looked like a carriage for nobles, but it wasn't a particularly high-class one.
It was just an ordinary two-horse carriage. However, the people of the capital couldn't take their eyes off the carriage. Those gazes, which contained gasps, admiration, and even astonishment, belonged mostly to the women.
The surrounding women, regardless of age or status, were staring at the carriage with entranced eyes. To be precise, they couldn't take their eyes off the blond-haired butler driving the carriage.
"Woooow...."
"Oh my, oh my goodness..."
"How can he be like that?"
"..."
"I don't know. I really don't." It was as if the women's hearts were melting, liquefying, and dripping from their bodies.
Neatly arranged short blond hair and cold, light-green eyes. A face of perfect beauty, as if sculpted by a god. A neatly worn butler's uniform.
These women had never seen such a handsome man in their lives. He was just driving a carriage, yet they couldn't tear their eyes away from the handsome butler who looked like he could kick a prince on a white horse to the curb. Then the butler stopped the carriage, got down, and politely opened the carriage door, saying.
"Young master. We have arrived in White Town."
"Yeah. Right, good work."
The women watched the carriage entrance with anticipation. If the butler is that handsome, what would the young master be like? There is such a thing as anticipation, isn't there?
If the butler looks like that, shouldn't the young master be even more handsome? The women thought it would be fine to be blinded by beauty today and focused their attention on the carriage entrance. Then a man with an indifferent expression got out, stretched, and spoke.
"Ughhh... traveling by carriage is really tiring. I should just come on horseback next time."
The women who saw this....
"Haaaah...."
"Yes, this is reality."
"He's not ugly... he's really not."
"Honestly, the comparison is too much."
"Shouldn't he not do that? Shouldn't they switch?"
"He has no conscience."
The women were whispering among themselves, thinking they couldn't be heard, but……. 'I can hear everything, you witches.’ Patrick, the average-looking young master, struggled to maintain a calm expression as a vein popped on his forehead.
In fact, this had been happening continuously on the way to the capital, but he hadn't gotten used to it at all. 'Seriously, if I had lost to a man more handsome than me, I wouldn't say a word. You women with twisted eyes.
Can't you even recognize one of your own?’ The butler with dazzling beauty, who seemed to snatch away not only the women's gazes but also their very souls, was April. Let me explain.
What happened was……… He had expected April's beauty to be a source of trouble upon leaving the fief. But the problem was that it was beyond his expectations.
Forget smiling, she didn't even glance at her surroundings. But her mere existence made people lose their minds and they couldn't take their eyes off her.
And….
[Please marry me.]
[I fell in love at first sight.]
[I love you. Please accept my heart. Or else, just kill me.]
People like this began to appear one after another. As for the moron who asked to be killed at the end, April actually drew her sword, and Patrick had to hastily stop her.
"Hey, you, go home!"
In the end, Patrick, his patience exploding, snapped at April and yelled for her to go back. They hadn't even gone to a crowded place yet, and it was already this bad. Just imagining what would happen if he took her to the capital made him dizzy.
To such a Patrick, April said…….
"If we can get to Parmas, there is a way. Please wait."
"What way? Are you going to get a new face or something? Huh?"
"If you permit it...."
"I'm telling you not to! My mother will kill me!"
If April's face were to get a scar, Ava would be the first to fly into a rage. If Ava, who cherished April like her own daughter, got angry, it would be much scarier than Baron Schneider. Eventually, they somehow made it to the Parmas County.
Then, April said she would be gone for a moment and left Patrick's side. At that time, Patrick considered running away alone during this gap, but……. 'Ah, even if I run, the destination is still the academy.’
Running away when the final destination was already known had no strategic meaning. In the end, Patrick was just lazing around at the inn. And when April returned in the evening....
"Hey, you... you?"
"I borrowed Red's power."
"Red, ah……. right. There was that guy."
April was in a perfect male disguise. She had taken off her maid outfit and put on a butler's uniform instead, and her blond hair, which used to sway down to her waist, was neatly cut to just above her neck. 'If Mom finds out she cut her hair, she'll probably try to kill Red... ah, well, who cares?’
If Red knew, he'd probably protest, 'What do you mean who cares, you bastard?' but what did it matter?
"A male disguise, huh. Well, it's not bad...."
Patrick looked April up and down. The quality was not bad. Since Red's specialty was cross-dressing, he was also skilled at disguising a woman as a man.
However….
"Will people be fooled?"
"If one acts with confidence, people tend to accept it."
"Well, that might be true, but…"
"This should solve most of the problems."
"Hmm, isn't the original way to solve problems by beating them up?"
"Sometimes, other methods are necessary."
"It makes me nervous. Well, I guess it's better than doing nothing."
And so, it was decided that April would accompany him in a male disguise. For the time being, not maid April, but butler Ace would be attending to Patrick. April had guaranteed it with confidence, but the problem wasn't solved.
Despite being dressed as a man in a butler's uniform, she drew the gazes of everyone around her. The only difference was that this time, she mainly drew the gazes of women rather than men. Watching April, who maintained a calm expression while receiving the undivided attention of the capital's women, Patrick sighed.
"Well, she'll look less of a pushover than a maid, so I guess it's a little better."
As Patrick walked on with a sigh, April, dressed in a butler's uniform, followed him.
And...
"Oh my, oh my, how can he do that?"
"If he had a conscience, shouldn't they switch?"
"There's a limit to being shameless."
Hearing the whispers of the women around him, Patrick's eyes stung. With her dressed as a butler, the troubles decreased, but another problem arose. Receiving the stern gazes of the women, Patrick suddenly missed a friend from his past life.
'Sorry for teasing you for being ugly.’ You get it now? Even nobles could not enter the academy in a carriage.
Unless one was royalty, there was a rule that even nobles had to walk inside the academy. So Patrick also walked steadfastly and arrived at the academy's entrance.
"Halt, state your business."
A guard standing watch at the entrance blocked Patrick and April.
"This is young master Patrick Schneider of the Schneider Fief. We are here for admission into the academy."
"The admission period isn't now."
"He has received a special recommendation from Count Parmas, the Eastern Marching Count, and has been permitted mid-term admission. Here is the letter of recommendation."
April responded like a quite capable butler, taking out a document from her coat. The guard took the letter from April and checked it. It was unmistakably stamped with the seal of the Eastern Marching Count.
"Understood. I will guide you inside."
"Thank you."
And so, Patrick and April were guided into the academy.