Hell Mode: Volume 3, page 18
The commotion last year could, therefore, be framed as House Hamilton not properly fulfilling its duties. Allen had no way of knowing just how much Viscount Granvelle had relied on Count Hamilton, but he was familiar enough with the man to know that he must have gone through the proper channels. Unfortunately, House Hamilton just was not in a position to come down too hard on House Carnel when it still commanded such economic influence.
“Did Viscount Granvelle do something?”
The first order of business was to gain a clear picture of the situation. Allen had played a large role in the House Granvelle Affair the previous year by handing over his rights to a mithril mine and spurring the viscount on. This time, however, he did not think he had done all that much to set the man off.
Rifol obliged. Last month, during a royal audience with many nobles present, Viscount Granvelle had approached the throne, knelt down, and said loudly, “Your Majesty’s benevolence truly knows no bounds! Thank you for promising the child of former House Carnel a chance to restore his family’s status!”
The king had replied, “What are you talking about?” and looked completely confused.
As the other nobles buzzed in confusion, the viscount had continued, “A source told me that a royal envoy visited Carnel, bringing news of an arrangement. From what I heard, the boy was promised the restoration of his house should he complete five years of his duty.”
It was at this point that the king had figured out what had happened. The only people who could dispatch royal envoys were the king himself and those who possessed the right to succeed the throne. If it had not been the king, then it must have been another member of the royal family who had dispatched said envoy.
So the king turned to the princes and princesses, who were also present at the audience, and demanded an explanation. However, every one of them claimed ignorance. The king then demanded proof, prompting the viscount to produce magic ship flight records that did indeed detail a royal envoy traveling to Carnel.
Ah, if this happened last month, it means the viscount spent a whole month investigating before making his move.
“So, did they figure out who sent that envoy to Keel?” Allen asked.
“Well, the envoy insisted that he had no recollection of making such a trip and kept mum to the end. However, that envoy and the one who had visited Viscount Granvelle last year both served the same person.”
Generally, royal envoys were each assigned to a specific member of the royal family, so a single look at the flight records was enough to tell who the envoys served.
“Well, who was it?” I feel like if I ask any further, I’m gonna get dragged into something huge. But I can’t not ask.
“The crown prince. He’s the king’s nephew and next in line for the throne.”
“Does that crown prince happen to have a child?”
“He has a daughter who is currently ten years old. She’s Talented, from what I hear.”
From the information he was giving out, it was clear that Rifol was fully aware of Keel’s circumstances. He sure knows a lot for someone who was supposed to have been focusing on dungeons over the break. Did he have informants in the royal capital regularly coming to Academy City to keep him updated?
“In short, all I wanted to tell you is that Viscount Granvelle has basically picked a fight with someone who even His Majesty can’t exactly control. With His Majesty being over seventy years old, everyone is already bracing themselves for the crown prince to take over at any given time.”
However, Allen could not care less who was king. So what that means is that someone related to Cecil’s kidnapping is still strutting around, having gotten off scot-free.
As part of the fallout of the House Granvelle Affair, many nobles had been rounded up, and all implicated royal envoys had been dealt with. However, it had now been confirmed that the person who had been manipulating those envoys was still alive and well.
In short, the envoy who came to Keel was serving the crown prince, and the king had no knowledge of the arrangement regarding his duty. Even so, Allen did not plan on acting on anything in the near future. He had promised to entrust the matter to the viscount, so he would be staying put unless something happened. As a guest of the family, he would only take action if some disaster were about to befall Viscount Granvelle’s or Keel’s families.
When lunchtime was over, Allen thanked Rifol for all the information. Ugh, I’m always the one receiving intel from him. My debt to him is just growing larger and larger.
In the afternoon, the students had practical lessons. After checking out all the classes that were available the previous semester, Allen had ultimately decided to focus on his swordsmanship. His aim was to reach Sword Mastery Lvl. 4 by graduation.
“Okay, you lot, line up!” Carlova, who had the Sword Master Talent and served as the main instructor for the class, bellowed.
The students gathered up obediently. As this class contained all the first-year students with sword-related Talents, there were more than two hundred present. Allen stood next to Krena and Rifol, who was a Swordsman.
“We might be back from break, but the class ain’t gonna be much different. Do a thousand practice swings, then find someone to spar with.”
“Yes, sir!” Everyone replied with much more gusto than Allen would have expected from a group of middle school kids. They then spread out with plenty of space between each other and began practicing their sword swings. All of them were using steel swords—though they still called them practice swords—so care was needed.
Wow, everyone’s movements have gone a lot sharper. Guess all the time going dungeon crawling really did pay off.
Rifol asked Allen to spar with him, to which Allen nodded in reply. This prompted Krena to whine in disappointment.
“Awwww!”
Uh, Krena, you have 3,200 in Attack now. That’s a bit much even for me. Please go spar with Carlova instead like you always do. He’s here specifically for you, after all—you’re literally the reason why they sent him here from the royal capital.
Due to the variety of the cards he was currently maintaining for the Summons Squads, Allen’s Attack was only around 1,300 at the moment.
Allen’s thoughts were interrupted as Carlova approached them, his greatsword propped on his shoulder. “C’mon, what’s the hold up?” Krena pouted a little in disappointment before following him a distance away.
Then the sparring began. The screech of steel clashing against steel filled the air.
Hmm, looks like Rifol’s leveled up quite a bit too. I’d estimate his Attack to be around 800, which would make him around Lvl. 35. Dogora had around 1,000 Attack when he was around that level. Rifol’s number is probably closer to the average for a first-year with a sword-related Talent.
While exchanging blows with Rifol, Allen could not help but remember Mihai, Cecil’s late older brother. He found himself wondering just what Mihai had thought about while attending this school.
CLAAAAAANG!
Suddenly, an earsplitting metallic screech rang out, causing all the students to stop mid-motion. A beat later, Allen could hear someone cheering.
What happened?
“Look, Carlova’s giant-ass sword got snapped!”
“Was he not fighting seriously?”
“Krena’s broke too!”
Both Krena’s and Carlova’s practice swords had buckled under the power of their attacks, and the blades had snapped in two.
“Impressive. Wait here a moment,” Carlova told her.
“Yes, sir!” Krena replied with her usual energy.
The teacher headed into the school building with his broken sword in hand. Allen watched him go, then resumed sparring with Rifol. Soon, Carlova returned, but with two mithril greatswords—both with their edges unblunted—over his shoulders. One of the other teachers of the class rushed over in a fluster, trying to stop him.
“You can’t do this, Carlova! Those swords are not for practice!”
“Huh? It’ll be fine.”
“How can it be fine?!”
“Hm, this place is a bit too small. Krena, let’s go somewhere more open.” Carlova was pretending he could not hear the other teachers’ complaints.
“Yes, sir!”
The two stepped away to an area removed from the rest of the students and resumed sparring. Mithril clashed against mithril repeatedly. Despite the distance, Allen could still clearly hear the sounds of their fighting.
It looks like Carlova has a slight edge. Just a little. I’d say their stats are pretty much equal, but Carlova’s Sword Mastery is higher. I mean, Krena’s is still only Lvl. 5 right now.
Despite having reached Lvl. 57, Krena still had nowhere near as much experience with the sword as Carlova. That said, the fact that she could give it her all against him was making her very happy, given how wide her smile was and how enthusiastically she was swinging her weapon. Clearly, she found the act of fighting itself enjoyable.
It was true that Krena also practiced sparring with Dogora, but since he only had around 2,000 in Attack, she had to go easy on him. The Rank B monsters she encountered in the dungeons also were becoming less and less of a challenge, although the Rank A boss monsters still excited her with their overwhelming strength. And now, someone even more powerful than her was right before her eyes. This fact apparently pleased her immensely.
Two hours passed, and the school bell rang.
“Now I...understand how...you cleared a...Rank A dungeon,” Carlova said in an appreciative tone as he panted, trying to catch his breath.
Huh? Did he look my way for a moment?
Krena had grown much stronger than Carlova had expected, and he suspected that Allen was involved somehow.
“Thank you—haah—very much—haaah—sir... Let’s do this again...tomorrow,” Krena replied, equally out of breath.
“I’m sure we will... Oh right. Krena, Allen.”
Just as everyone was about to head back into the school building for homeroom, something came to Carlova’s mind and he called the two back.
“What is it, sir?” Allen asked.
“The headmaster wants to see all the members of your party. After homeroom’s over, go to his office.”
＊ ＊ ＊
With afternoon practicals and end-of-day homeroom over, the No-life Gamers headed to one of the other buildings on campus where the headmaster’s office was located. Carlova led the way, eventually coming to a stop before a door that he then announced was their destination. When the group walked inside, however, the headmaster was nowhere to be found.
“Tch. So that’s how it’s gonna be. You, stay here and wait for me to get back.” Carlova went back out to look for the headmaster. Given the way he had clicked his tongue while talking about an actual member of the Rohzenheim royal family, he clearly did not care much about authority.
The students waited on the sofa inside the office. Before long, Carlova returned and told them that the headmaster would be along soon. While he waited with them, the teacher asked, “So, how was the Rank A dungeon?”
“It was massive, so I’m glad we finished it before school resumed,” Allen replied. “Honestly, the traps were a lot more trouble than the monsters were.”
“Interesting. Well, what’s next? Y’all got the clearance card, right?”
“For now, we’re hoping to finish the other three Rank A dungeons here in Academy City within a year. Then we’ll find the last one somewhere else in Ratash.”
“Hot damn! So you’re aimin’ to get into the Rank S dungeon while you’re still in school?!”
Hmm? Carlova sounds really excited about it. Ahh, he’s not really questioning our plans; he must simply love dungeon crawling. I can see the former adventurer in him oozing out.
The No-life Gamers had already discussed and agreed to this particular goal. It had taken them four months to clear their first Rank A dungeon , so the simple math meant they could expect to finish three more within one year. However, they were hoping to make the most of their spring break in March next year to try and shorten this to ten months. That way, they would be done within the school year and thus be able to dedicate both months of next year’s summer break to that last Rank A dungeon located elsewhere in Ratash.
“Sorry for the wait.” As the headmaster came into his office, he briefly apologized for his absence, then settled into another one of the sofas. “I called all of you here because I heard you have cleared a Rank A dungeon. So, I was hoping to discuss the Martial Arts Tournament with you.”
“What would that be, sir?” I don’t remember ever hearing about such an event.
Noticing Allen’s look, the headmaster explained, “Well, it’s usually not relevant to first-year students since they’re unable to participate. I imagine that’s why Carlova hasn’t mentioned it to your class before.”
This was an event that took place every year in October at the school’s arena. Contestants were usually second- and third-year students who, as could be expected from the name of the event, possessed Talents related to fighting with swords, axes, spears, bare fists, and the like. The format was single-elimination, starting off with a hundred contestants in preliminaries who would then be whittled down to the final sixteen. The last one to remain standing would, of course, be the tournament champion. There would be one day for the preliminaries and one day for the finals.
Only a hundred participants when there are three thousand students in each grade? That’s not a lot, to put it mildly.
“Members of the royal family and foreign dignitaries will also be in attendance.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Which brings us back to the beginning. I was thinking of having you two, Allen and Krena, take part in this tournament.”
The sudden invitation from the headmaster prompted both a cheer from Krena and bewilderment from Allen at the same time.
“I’m sorry, sir?”
“Do you have a question?”
“Sir, why me? Did you mean to invite Dogora instead?”
“This tournament is a bit beyond Dogora at his current strength. All participants need a recommendation, and I don’t think we can give him one just yet.”
They’re keeping their standards pretty high, I see. So a first-year with only a one-star Talent can’t quite make it.
“My Attack is only ‘E,’ though,” Allen pointed out. “How could I be more suitable for the tournament than Dogora?”
Allen was aware that he was specced for support and that fighting with a weapon was not his strong suit.
“The use of skills is allowed in this tournament. You can use your abilities as a Summoner as much as you want.”
Is he inviting me because he wants to see Summoning in action? He did ask for a demonstration back during my entrance exam too, where I showed him Mousey.
Allen would never hesitate if he had to do something for the sake of someone close to him or to pay back a debt. Conversely, he would never do anything he had no interest in or thought was meaningless. And it just so happened that he thought fights between players—commonly called PVP, which stood for “player versus player”—was the most pointless thing in games. He was completely fine with fighting for the sake of training or leveling up, but the way he saw it, fighting for any other reason was utterly fruitless—he subscribed to the maxim “nothing comes of PVP.” Naturally, this sentiment of his extended to tournaments, which were practically established on the concept of people fighting each other.
“I’m sorry, sir. My abilities are truly nothing incredible. Certainly not anything that would warrant giving me priority over my upperclassmen, who’ve worked so hard to get to where they are.”
“What if I told you that the winner gets the chance to have a match with Sword Lord Dverg.”
“That sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I can’t wait to see just how well Krena would fare against a Sword Lord active in the field.”
It’d serve as a good point of reference for how strong Krena is currently and how much further she can grow.
“How well Krena fares, is it? So, you insist on not participating?”
“I can if you want me to, sir, but I’ll lose in the first round. I don’t really have anything to gain, do I?”
Carlova and the other members of the No-life Gamers were also listening to this exchange between Allen and the headmaster. Carlova, for one, seemed to appreciate Allen’s attitude as a fellow adventurer. Cecil was sighing as if saying, “This again.” She had seen Allen act this way many times before when he was working for her House.
“So you’d consider it if you had something to gain? Mm, yes. The royal family will be coming as well. If you win, you might just catch their eye.”
“The royal family? You don’t say.”
“That’s right. Now are you interested?”
“Not even a little.”
“I...see. Well, I suppose that’s that.”
Ah, he gave up. I guess he really isn’t going to force me.
“Just out of curiosity, specifically which member of the royal family will be coming?”
“The crown prince, I believe.”
Oh, the crown prince! I really have to get a look at his face.
In the end, Allen turned down the headmaster’s recommendation, and talks proceeded with Krena being the only one of them to participate. Soon, the second week of October arrived, and the crown prince—who had such a history with the No-life Gamers—appeared in Academy City.
＊ ＊ ＊
The Academy Martial Arts Tournament had begun. The preliminaries had finished the day before, reducing the initial one hundred fighters to the top sixteen.
One aim of this tournament was to prove that this Academy was fulfilling its objective of preparing youngsters to fight against the Demon Lord Army. Similar tournaments were held all across the world at the other Academies as well. This was why foreign VIPs were also allowed to come and spectate. Many of these appeared to be secretaries, who could be seen taking notes during the matches.
The finals began at nine in the morning, and the contestant who continuously won until they were the last one standing would be declared the champion. After they won, said champion would then get to duel Sword Lord Dverg.
