Chapter 164 – Remaining Funds (1)

In the winter, when the penetrating chill made us close our collars, Parenzia Academy was approaching the end of the year.
At the end of the semester, the atmosphere was usually relaxed, and the students’ daily routine was to gather around the fireplace installed in the classroom and enjoy tea time.
However, this year’s winter was filled with turmoil not only at the Academy but also throughout the kingdom.
It was because of the conflict with Seongguk that started again less than ten years later.

[The longest Grand Duke conference in history finally comes to an end! Excerpt from meeting minutes.]
[Solsbeji’s Wandering Evangelism Group returns to its headquarters in Ruby! Is there a telephone ringing across the continent?]
[An armed conflict occurs again in the Monarch border area!]
[The second disappearance of a saint since the Great War! What is the whereabouts of Caroline Magdalena?]
[There are reports of ghosts being seen on the second floor of the store every night—the security chief denies this.]

The Academy was very cluttered with articles coming out every day.
The establishment of the Grand Duke’s Conference meant that the conflict with the Holy Kingdom might not end in information warfare.
Therefore, the Academy’s administration also had to thoroughly prepare for any emergency.
As soon as Rehel, the reincarnator, returned from the Baltic Mountains, a meeting was held including the faculty, and there was only one important item on the agenda.

“Wouldn’t it be better to close schools anyway?”
“If the situation is unstable, education will not be carried out properly.”
“Students from noble families near the western border are already strongly appealing to return to their homes.”

In response to her professors’ comments, Lehel quietly closed her eyes and crossed her arms.
As the danger of war loomed, the prevailing opinion was that it would be better to close the academy and quickly return the students to their respective families.
But not all professors thought that way.
Because war does not happen that easily.

“The Magic Tower hasn’t locked its doors yet, so it’s impossible for us to give up on education first!”
“Besides, the semester is almost over. Wouldn’t it be difficult to wait a few weeks?”
“Above all, there are only a handful of precedents in the history of the continent for wars to be waged in this cold winter.”

Yes.
No matter how fierce the conflict between the two countries was, all soldiers were afraid of winter.
The weapons are frozen and it is difficult to keep horses and food.
If you get stranded in a blizzard, you could suffer great damage before you face the tip of the enemy’s spear.
In the entire continent, there was only one group that liked fighting in winter——Roshyar.

“Hmm…”

Lehel was deeply troubled because she couldn’t tell which side was wrong.
Her professors, who had seen her become this serious for the first time, made eye contact with the person next to her and looked surprised.
Normally, she would have been excited and said, ‘Let’s flip a coin!’ But now she has changed.
It seemed like something big had changed at the grand ducal meeting.

“How many graduation thesis were submitted?”
“I’ve paid about half of it.”
“If we decide to close schools, there will be problems with students graduating.”
“Yes. And since the thesis is the most important evaluation element at MATOP, it is also important for future career paths…”

When Lehel heard those words, she opened her eyes and stood up.
Even though she looked younger than before, her fearless and upright voice was still there.

“We will operate the academy normally. However, please cancel all additional academic events scheduled after winter break.”
“I will.”

She was usually the chairman of the board who was of no help in running the academy, but at times like this, no one complained about her words.
Because I knew how many war scars were on the rusty Four Leaf Medal hanging on her chest.

“Decision! “Then everyone, go and finish the semester well.”
“I… Chairman.”
“Yes?”

Before the meeting ended, Professor Marco seemed to have suddenly remembered something and held out something to Lehel.
It was a book as thick as a major textbook that was distributed to all students every year, but the same amount was piled up in the incinerator every week.
A textbook that even professors had forgotten about its existence.
Everyone’s attention was focused when an item that was said to be harder to find than the polar-colored birds of the Ravier Mountains appeared.

“The rules written here are… Is it still valid?”

Lehel read the words written on the page Professor Marco opened with her eyes.
His finger was pointing to the last rule.

[258. If Parenzia Academy is on the verge of destruction from an unknown external attack, all faculty and students should evacuate to the canteen and ask the owner for help.]

She immediately realized why she had made this decision.
Perhaps subconsciously, they thought this was the safest place for students.

“Yes.”

Therefore, Lehel smiled lightly and nodded her head.

“Of course it’s valid.”

***

After saying goodbye to Esther and returning to Parencia, my daily life experienced some changes.
Firstly, Liv and Adela started receiving attention in an instant.
After the royal family announced that they had awakened the original magic and were granted the title of Grand Duke, the academy became noisy in a different way.

— Liv, have you really become an archduke? So you’re Count Liv now?
— That’s amazing… Well, Liv was good at studying from the beginning.

Normally, it is normal for things to be quiet at the end of the semester because there are no textbook materials to purchase.
The cafeteria was quite crowded thanks to the students who came in like guests even though they were not customers.

“Have you ever gone to the meeting and talked to Scarlett? “You really are a wonderful person, right?”
“Uh, uhm…”

Liv trailed off as she recalled the image of Scarlett scolding me while sitting in a wheelchair.
On one side, Adela was also receiving a lot of awed looks from the students.

— Adela… Grandee?
— What on earth have I done since I enrolled? … ?
— He doesn’t even know the Samwon version. Last time, my graduate school seniors also skipped it as soon as they made eye contact.
— Wasn’t that all an act too?
— If it’s Rochear, that might be enough…

Unlike Liv, who was shy, Adella was proud.
She took another drink and began offering her ice ducks to her friends, one by one.

“Here is my enlightenment, Miss Orie.”
“Really… ?”
“Miss Magic Crystal.”

It wasn’t wrong, but no matter how you looked at it, it was a commercial tactic.
However, even though it was the price of three Magic Cubes, the ice ducks were selling like crazy, and even the bread rusks, which were their food, ran out, so additional food had to be airlifted from the city.
At some point, Adela’s ice duck and the store’s backlog begin to encroach on her academy.
When sales reached a level where it was enough to purchase a small mine rather than a pickaxe, I was to the point where I was wondering whether I should seriously make Ice and Snow Sisters goods.

“Teacher, did I do well?”
“Okay. “You did very well.”
“Lol… “If you wait just a little longer, I will prepare a gift even greater than this.”
“Gift?”
“Yes. You almost dropped the floating island last time. But if the number of ducks increases, I think we will be able to fly them even if we leave the mountain range.”

Are you saying that today’s business was sowing the seeds for that?
When I heard Adela’s plan, I trembled in fear.

***

After the two returned to the dormitory, a second change was felt.
It wasn’t because the cold wind of a calm winter night was blowing through the window.
After finishing putting things away, I locked the door, checked that there was no one outside, and carefully went up to the second floor.
I knocked three times at regular intervals and it clicked from inside! The door opened with a sound.

“Are you finished with your work?”
“Uh. “You can turn on the lights now.”

Even though the sun had set late in the evening, the pretty scarlet face revealed a vague presence in the darkness where the lights had not yet been turned on.
It was Caroline, who had left it on the second floor of the cafeteria before leaving for the Baltic Mountains.

“Ha, I’m not some kind of cat thief, how long can I keep doing this…” …”

While I was away, she, who had been secretly bringing cigarettes and bread to live in the early morning hours, breathed her sigh of relief.
Even today, he seemed to be careful about even walking because he didn’t want to be seen by anyone among the numerous students coming in and out of the cafeteria.
Caroline, stretching and lighting a cigarette, asked me.

“I heard you haven’t heard from the Lighthouse of Horus?”
“From what I heard from the princess, it seems there is no message.”
“Tsk… “What about dinner?”
“Here.”

When I handed her the leftover bread, she snatched the bag and leaned back on the sofa.
She, who had transitioned from a saint to a semi-unemployed woman, was already using the second floor of the store as her home.
The priest’s uniform, which I always felt uncomfortable in, was already lying around like a pile of laundry in the corner of the room, and what I wore instead was my precious T-shirt.

“What are you looking at?”

It was clearly not the right size for her to wear, so even though it was more of a boxy T-shirt, her clothes were not a joke.
Her armpits are exposed when she ties up her hair, her breasts are particularly prominent, and even her waist is briefly exposed as a result.
From the moment she entered the room, there was a faint, sweet fruity scent that she could not help but notice.
I answered, barely able to keep my gaze from being sucked into the gravitational singularity.

“Nothing. “More than that, I’ll be taking a break from the cafeteria tomorrow, so you can relax.”
“Really?”
“It’s the weekend. And I have work to do… “Cough!”
“Hey, you’re okay…” … ?”

To be honest, I was a little worried, but fortunately, nothing had changed in Caroline.
I didn’t blame myself or feel depressed about what I had done like I did before I left.
However, when I coughed slightly, he looked very embarrassed and hurriedly put out his cigarette.
I was taken aback by the worried expression on his face.

“S-sorry! I’ll open the window now… !”
“It’s okay, it’ll be troublesome if it’s seen outside, so I’ll do it. “It’s not a big deal, so don’t worry.”
“Still…”
“I said it’s okay.”

Maybe I should have persuaded Gourmet in a slightly different way.
I didn’t have any minor illnesses, but I was quite uncomfortable because I had a small cough that wouldn’t go away.
Not only Caroline, but I also had a reason to meet Terra.
Just like when he and Liv escaped Baldur’s nightmare, he needed her help to put her twisted soul back in its rightful place.

“Ate it all?”
“Huh…”

After a while, she finished her meal and the day was truly over.
In the past, I would have made DIY on my own, but I no longer wanted to pursue that hobby.

“I will sleep?”
“I need to sleep.”

We looked at each other at the same time.
The only bedding on the second floor was the sofa in the middle of the room.
Of course, it is quite large, so even two people can somehow fall asleep.
But that wasn’t the problem.

“Did you pray today?”
“What was I supposed to do here all day? “It’ll probably be okay.”
“Then I sleep downstairs?”
“… Do as you will.”

I laid down the blanket and lay down on the floor.
Since it was a house without a boiler, it was quite cold, but bearable.
In fact, with just a little plate of steel on her face, there was enough room to send her under her feet, or for both of them to fall asleep on her couch.
Because I was the landlord in the first place.
But since I returned from the Baltic Mountains, neither Caroline nor I had expected
Things were waiting for us.

“…”
“… “Koh.”

Carolyn seemed to have already fallen asleep when she heard a small sound.
I closed my eyes and took a breath.
Tomorrow I’ll go to the blacksmith shop and buy a pickaxe.
It won’t be easy, but you have to dig up the holy sword buried in the basement.

Consciousness gradually becoming blurred.
My mind became relaxed until it reached the still surface of the abyss.
Right then——

“Aaaaah!!!”

Craddangtang!!

“Gagging!”

Caroline, who had been sleeping well on the sofa, suddenly rolled down on top of me.
Her soft breasts acted as a cushion, but they didn’t lessen the full impact.
A small open mouth with a few strands of her disheveled hair inside.
After a while she came to her senses and let out her sigh.

“S-ssibaal…”