Chapter 94

The day the trial ended in a success.

Finn wanted to have a celebratory toast, but because of the age restriction, he couldn’t bring wine. Instead, he had filled his desk with grape juice and various snacks, waiting impatiently for Oscar to return.

“Heh-heh-hemmm~.”

The thought that Professor Brandon—a total thorn in his side—had been sent packing for spreading false rumors made him hum a tune involuntarily. He wouldn’t be showing his face at the Academy for quite some time. Finn thought back to how much he had suffered under the man for the past two years after being fooled by promises of being treated well!

To make matters worse, the professor was so petty that whenever a promising student started to rise, he would fabricate malicious rumors and send false, anonymous reports to newspapers. Since Finn had experienced Brandon’s dark side firsthand, he knew the moment the incident broke out.

‘This is definitely a false report!’

How dare he attack the “Flower of the Academy,” Professor Edelina? (Even if people did call her a man-eating flower because of her eccentric personality.)

Finn couldn’t just sit still, so he had told his best friend and roommate, Oscar. He received a reaction he hadn’t expected from the usually refined boy.

“Let’s spread some ourselves.”

“Wh-what?”

“Malicious rumors.”

Even Oscar, who usually remained indifferent and detached from everything, couldn’t ignore what happened to Professor Edelina, whom he knew personally. Under Oscar’s active leadership, Finn had secretly disclosed the truth about Brandon to several students in a way that wouldn’t trace back to them.

Since there were more than a few students who already viewed Brandon unfavorably, the combined effort resulted in a massive number of written statements. Finn smiled widely as he recalled the many classmates who had patted him on the back, handing over their statements and saying they trusted him.

“Wow, won’t I be a hero when I go back? It might be hard to be a hero of the continent like Sir Hereis, but at least a hero of our Academy!”

“What are you talking about?”

Finn, who was proudly patting his own shoulders with crossed arms, jumped out of his seat in shock. Standing at the door looking at him with an absurd expression was Oscar.

“Gah, you scared me! Oscar, where have you been all this time?”

“I had something to do.”

“Ugh, whatever. You haven’t eaten, right? I’m sure you didn’t eat without me. Sit down for a second. This ‘big brother’ of yours begged and pleaded to get some tasty… Hey, are you packing already?”

Finn watched in confusion as Oscar stuffed clothes and belongings into a bag without a word. Suddenly, he noticed Oscar’s face was rigid. He looked somber and tense at the same time.

“Is something wrong? What is it?”

“…….”

“Oscar?”

Snap!

Ziiip—

Finn stepped in and blocked the door, pushing against the shoulder of Oscar, who was trying to leave the room after zipping his bag.

“Hey! I’m asking you what’s wrong!”

Oscar, stopping dead where he was pushed, spoke blankly.

“I have to go.”

“Where? Hey, you’re crazy. Wait up. I’m coming with you.”

Finn also hurriedly pulled out a suitcase.

“You can’t.”

Hearing that frustrating response from behind, Finn squeezed his eyes shut.

“Seriously, what is wrong with you?”

“…….”

“Hey, is this all our friendship amounts to? For a ‘friend,’ your loyalty is about the size of a pebble on the street. I’m an idiot for bringing food to feed a guy like you. You heartless bastard.”

“…….”

“Fine, go! Go! I don’t care if you die or not, do whatever you want.”

At Finn’s hardline response, a flash of hesitation crossed Oscar’s face. Then, he finally forced his mouth open.

“The Saintess is in danger.”

…?

At that sudden, random statement, Finn forgot he was even angry.

“The Saintess is in danger? What are you talking about? You didn’t hit your head somewhere, did you?”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

“Because you’re saying something weird!”

“There’s nothing I can do for you if you won’t believe the truth.”

“Hey! Ha… forget it. Could you explain in more detail?”

Finn decided to change his tactics and listen to the whole story.

“…….”

“Wow~ our ten-year friendship really was for nothing~ you can’t even tell me this~.”

“I’m the only one who knows what she did.”

“…Then just tell Sir Hereis or report it to the Order.”

“I… I can’t do that.”

“Why not!”

Finn pressed him out of frustration.

“Ugh, to put it bluntly, what changes if you go?”

“That’s…”

Obviously, nothing.

“And why would she be in danger? Look, the Saintess is a precious person under the protection of Ralphican. We don’t need to worry about people like her. Think about how many elite knights are attached to her.”

“Against that person, those ‘average’ knights aren’t enough!”

“That person?”

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Oscar covered his mouth.

“Hey, what do you know? Do you know about an assassination plot against the Saintess or something?”

“…….”

Is he serious?

Finn was stunned, but he didn’t let it show.

“Ayy, if you won’t talk, I will! Where should I report this? I’ll just grab anyone and it’ll work out somehow, right?”

“Wait, Finn. Stop. If I go, I might be able to stop it.”

“No, what? I know your swordsmanship skills, okay? What exactly are you going to do? It’s not like you know the assassin personally.”

“…….”

He knows them?

Without a moment to be shocked that his random guess was spot on, Finn’s mind raced. It seemed that the reason Oscar couldn’t speak in detail lay right there. He understood the situation roughly, but going to the scene of an assassination attempt to stop it was still a reckless plan.

‘I have to stop him…’

“You’re being too emotional right now. Calm down first. You don’t even know when or where the attempt will happen, so it’s weird to just pack your bags blindly.”

“I have a rough idea.”

“You know?”

Did he perhaps hear about when or where the assassination attempt would happen, or even the details of the plan?

“D-Did you hear it?”

Oscar nodded slightly.

“Haa~ this is driving me crazy! Hey, if you know the person, can’t you just go and tell them not to do it?”

“Do you think that would work?”

“Ah, right. You aren’t that close? Look, Oscar. Let’s think about it this way.”

Finn placed both arms on Oscar’s shoulders and spoke as if giving advice.

“You aren’t usually like this. Doing all that with the statements just to save Professor Edelina—that wasn’t like you either.”

Oscar’s brow furrowed miserably.

“You’ve always been good at ignoring those jerks who tease you about your ‘dirty blood,’ and those sycophants who only try to get close to you because of your high-noble title.”

“……”

“It’s the same this time. Let’s ignore it. Be consistent. You don’t necessarily have to stop that assassination plan. Someone—yeah, a hero like Sir Hereis—will go and help. He’s the Saintess’s companion, right? Huh?”

“The Saintess’s companion…”

“Exactly! We don’t have time to play hero! We have a graduation thesis to write!”

Surely he’s persuaded now?

Half-convinced by Oscar’s weak mumbling, Finn joked confidently. However, Oscar’s next words were unexpected.

“I’d hate it even more if my brother was the one to save her.”

“What?”

“Don’t stop me. Even if something happens to me, don’t tell anyone. Finn, I’m asking this as a friend.”

Finn stood there with his mouth agape, watching Oscar leave. It was the last thing he could do. Not knowing what kind of consequences it would bring…

“Run and don’t look back!”

“Mmgh!”

As soon as I whispered into the Crown Prince’s ear, I grabbed him by the scruff—no, the collar—and leaped from the carriage. The Crown Prince, clearly wanting to live, desperately muffled his own screams as he was dragged along by me.

Squelch!

Crunch!

I heard the sound of a corpse being stepped on right beneath us. There was no time to avoid it. No matter what my feet hit, I didn’t stop and ran at full speed. Then, sensing a presence, I reflexively turned my head. Though the silhouette was faint, I couldn’t tell who it was, but the name floating above it was clear.

‘Sir Cyril!’

He was safe!

Perhaps some of the knights were still fighting?

But I didn’t hear the sounds of combat.

If so, the attackers might have already been dealt with.

“Crown Prince. My knight is over there. Let’s join—”

Wait a minute.

‘This is too suspicious.’

What reason do I have to be happy to see someone I only met for the first time this morning? Even if he came to save us, in a situation like this, one must naturally suspect any living soul first. Just as I felt a sense of dissonance, a blade was at my throat in an instant.

“Saintess!”

The moment I felt that cold sensation, blood spurted from my neck. As my vision flipped upside down, all I could see were Cyril’s cold eyes.

“Aaaaaaaah! Stop it!”

A scream suddenly erupted from behind Cyril. I wondered what was happening, but it was difficult to grasp with a fading consciousness amidst an intense burning sensation and the feeling of blood draining from my body. Even as I tumbled to the ground, I hurriedly pressed my palm under my chin. It was an instinctive move to stem the bleeding from my throat. When a cool hand touched my burning neck, I regained a bit of focus.

“A-Are you alright? Ha, i-it… what do I do…?”

Flustered and panicked, the Crown Prince tried to lift me up. He then settled me onto his back. It seemed he intended to carry me and flee this place. Since escaping that mad killer was the priority, it was a sound choice…

“Ah, where, where should I go…?”

Shaaaaaa—

The Crown Prince ran frantically in the opposite direction of where the scream had come from. To make matters worse, it began to rain heavily. The fog grew even denser. In a situation that felt utterly hopeless, he discovered a mysterious cave where we could finally take a breath.

A perfectly timed, conspicuous cave to hide in.

I suspected it might be the grace of Ralphican—no, the system’s arrangement.
Well, I should be grateful regardless. The Crown Prince panted as he carefully lowered me to the cave floor.

“Haa.”

Even after setting me down, the Crown Prince couldn’t easily bring himself to look at me, seemingly worried that he had been carrying a corpse. After a long moment of hesitation, he turned around and immediately recoiled in shock.

“Uaaack!”

It was because I was standing there perfectly fine. The Crown Prince pointed at me impolitely and shouted.

“H-How are you f-fine… You were clearly slashed?!”

Ah, that.

While I was on his back, I bought an Emergency Recovery Potion from the shop and drank it. It was so difficult because I had no strength in my hands. I wanted to ask the Crown Prince to feed it to me, but the only thing coming out of my throat was the sound of leaking air. It seemed my vocal cords had been cut. Still, thanks to dodging instinctively, my head wasn’t taken off entirely, so I didn’t die instantly. Most people would have died before they could even think of a potion, but apparently, Belita’s neck is quite sturdy.

I shook the half-empty potion at the bewildered Crown Prince.

“Wh-What is that?”

The Crown Prince looked at the glowing purple potion and spoke in a voice of realization.

“Ah! Is that perhaps the famous Holy Water? The kind that heals anything if you pour it on the wound!”

The Crown Prince was also covered in scratches from running through the woods with me on his back. His clothes were practically rags. Since it was partly my fault, I could at least provide some maintenance. I purchased another potion and held it out to him.

“Then, I won’t refuse…”

Perhaps he was thirsty, for he downed the potion in one go.

“I think I understand a little why people refer to the Saintess as a miracle,” the Crown Prince muttered, looking down at his limbs, now smooth and without a single scratch.

I understood his amazement, but now was not the time for admiration. We had to discuss our next move. Just as I was about to speak, the Crown Prince looked me straight in the eye and said:

“And, I know this isn’t the time to say this, but I must ask. Since when have you been deceiving me?”

“What are you—?”

“Lita.”