When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 72

Episode 72

The day after Maria Valenti overwhelmed a hundred Royal Academy students with an overwhelming difference in strength, achieving a hundred victories, Jez and Erin visited the Royal Academy again.

The previous night, right after Maria’s victory over Luca, the king and the prime minister had stepped onto the arena floor to commend Maria and the students for their efforts, concluding the event smoothly before closing it officially. Luca, who had been soundly defeated by Maria, was promptly treated by Saint Lucretia Alma and quickly recovered. After greeting Maria and Lucretia, he also greeted Jez and the others before returning to the dormitory.

Luca’s determination to further his training after this defeat is another story altogether.

Thus, the impromptu martial arts tournament, which had started suddenly, concluded without incident, and Jez and Erin’s business at the Royal Academy was not yet finished.

While the main purpose of René and Maria’s visit to the Royal Academy was a lecture, there were several other matters to attend to as well. One was to meet Erin’s healing magic mentor, another was to confirm the investigation status of the conceptual armaments left by Victor at the Academy adjacent to the Royal Academy, and the third was to check the progress of the joint investigation between the Academy and the Royal Academy into the “Cause of the Southern Great Uprising.”

To address these three remaining matters, Jez and Erin would be visiting the Royal Academy for two consecutive days. René and Maria had other business to attend to this time, so it was just the two of them. Lilly naturally accompanied René.

Thus, Jez and Erin met at a nearby cafe they had frequented since their student days, had lunch, and then headed to the Royal Academy. While strolling through the city towards the academy, Erin’s mood was unusually good, even humming a tune.

Erin’s exceptionally good mood was unusual. Jez, curious, casually inquired as they walked.

“Did something good happen?”

“Hmm? No, not really, why?”

“Really? You seem unusually cheerful.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah.”

As they walked through the streets of the capital chatting about trivial matters, it was indeed a trivial conversation. But when was the last time?

Eight years since graduating from the Royal Academy. Erin, who had always traversed many battlefields with Princess René, became nostalgic.

“Even back in our student days.”

“Hmm?”

As they walked towards the Royal Academy in silence for a while, Erin spoke up again. Jez listened silently.

“Back in our student days. We used to go to that cafe on holidays, didn’t we? Then we’d go back to the dormitory.”

“Oh, yeah, we did.”

“Yeah. I was thinking about those times. They were fun.”

Eight years ago. It was a story from when they were still students and dating. Both of them were still young, with a mysterious invincibility about their future.

Indeed, they used to visit that cafe often, and they walked hand in hand along this road. It’s a bittersweet memory of youthful days.

While glancing sideways at Erin, who was happily reminiscing, Jez couldn’t help but feel thoroughly perplexed internally. “…Erin is still as complicated as ever,” he thought to himself.

Though Jez hadn’t intended to show his perplexity on his face, when Erin glanced at him, she seemed to have read Jez’s inner thoughts and smiled slightly.

“Well, we’re almost at the academy, shall we get to work?” she said, switching the atmosphere from private to businesslike. Seeing Erin like that, Jez could only shrug.

—

“Both of you, you’ve come again. Please, have a seat.”

The one who greeted them was Lucy Hallway, the owner of a certain laboratory within the Royal Academy. A specialist in healing magic and ancient magic, she also held positions as a teacher at the Royal Academy and a researcher at the Academy.

At 36, she was only ten years older than Jez and Erin, but she was Erin’s mentor nonetheless. Erin had known Lucy since before entering the Royal Academy, and their relationship had lasted for about fifteen years.

Lucy Hallway had become a prodigy in healing magic in her early twenties, earning a reputation as one of the top healers in the Tashman Kingdom. Her family, the Hallway family, was also known as a prestigious family of healing magic.

Due to Erin’s appointment as Princess René’s personal knight and her subsequent departure for Kohane, they hadn’t had many chances to meet recently, but due to Jez’s business, they were meeting again after a long time.

On the other hand, Jez had frequently relied on Professor Hallway’s help since entering the Royal Academy, so it was natural for them to know each other as well.

To Lucy, Erin was a cute and beloved disciple, while Jez during his student days was part of the troublesome duo along with Victor.

“Sorry about yesterday, we had an unexpected event come up,” Erin apologized while bowing her head, but Lucy laughed and said, “It’s okay, it was a fun event yesterday, and I think it was necessary.”

She reassured Erin in a friendly manner, telling her not to worry about it.

“More importantly, it’s good to see both of you looking well. Erin-chan and Jez-kun are still the same as ever,” she said with a smile as she prepared tea and cookies. Sitting down at the reception set, the three of them chatted about their recent activities and reminisced for a while.

“Now, shall we get to the main topic? I’ve heard that the treatment itself is already being handled by Saint Lucretia, so as for treatment, I’m just here for a second opinion. Let’s focus more on the investigation of that conceptual armament,” Lucy suggested.

Originally, Erin was concerned about Jez’s condition, but Saint Lucretia Alma had already taken care of it. However, Erin had specifically introduced Jez to Lucy because she was worried about the effects of the conceptual armament created by the eccentric alchemist.

Since Lucy was also affiliated with the Academy, she was participating in the investigation of the conceptual armament. Therefore, Jez’s examination was crucial for her as well.

The sacred magic used by Saint Lucretia Alma and the healing magic used by Lucy and Erin were different, so it was necessary to examine Jez’s condition from that perspective as well to see if there were any abnormalities.