CHAPTER 4
WAR IN A PEACEFUL WORLD
“Ruvik, I can ride a horse. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“My lady, you may be fine with that, but I am not. Riding horseback is dangerous, so I cannot allow you to do it yourself.”
Leticiel argued with Ruvik, who was already sitting on the coachman’s seat and ready to go, in front of the main gate of a small manor on the outskirts of the royal city of Nirvaan. Two white horses were already harnessed to a dark brown carriage with an elegant design in front of her. It was a gift from Oswald that she’d received during her move. It was extremely comfortable.
Right after she’d first moved in, Leticiel had used transportation spells to go to and from the academy. But the change in her house’s location meant a change in scenery on the way to school. She had started using her horse-drawn carriage again after realizing that it wasn’t so bad to leisurely commute while admiring the scenery of the suburbs and cityscapes.
Ruvik and Nicole already had to manage the manor all by themselves, so she didn’t want to put any extra work on their plates. She had attempted to drive the coach by herself, but had unluckily been caught by Ruvik.
The butler came down from the coachman’s platform and opened the carriage door for her just as Leticiel was thinking that she had ridden plenty of horses in her previous life and could have easily steered the carriage.
“I’m sorry for the wait, my lady. Everything is ready now, so please get in.”
“…Fine. Then you’re in charge of driving, Ruvik.”
“Yes, please leave it to me.”
Leticiel climbed into the carriage and Ruvik closed the door, disappearing out of sight of her window. A few moments later she heard the crack of a whip, and the carriage lurched into movement with a whinny from the horses.
With the change in her home’s location, the scenery flowing by outside her window had also changed. Leticiel admired the idyllic plains dotted with trees and forests until her carriage passed through Nirvaan’s south gate.
Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve left the city, Leticiel realized, gaze tracing over the cityscapes as they passed before her. With her newfound freedom from the duke’s manor, she wanted to walk around the city and see how ordinary people lived. If she had the chance.
Finally, Lucrezia Academy’s main gate came into view across the main street. Her carriage passed through it and stopped in front of the entrance. Ruvik opened the carriage door and helped Leticiel out. “Have a good day, my lady,” he said as he saw her off.
“I will. Thank you, Ruvik.”
Ruvik returned to the coachman’s seat and snapped the reins to return home. After watching him leave, Leticiel headed for the main building.
“Oh, you’re here, Drossell. Good morning.” Lucas, who was leaning against a pillar in front of the entrance, raised one hand in greeting when she stepped inside.
“Good morning,” she replied. “I don’t often see you here.”
“Yeah. I had to wait here to catch you before you disappeared somewhere.”
“I’ll still end up going somewhere even if you wait for me.” Leticiel was somewhat upset that he was treating her like a troublesome child. She tried to ignore him and keep walking, but he stopped her.
“Wait. I can’t have you going anywhere. Not today of all days.”
“Why?” she asked.
“There’s a lecture this morning that all Primary students are required to attend.”
“Is there any point in me being there?” Leticiel asked after a pause.
“Those who rarely show themselves will be in attendance. You might hear something interesting.”
Leticiel wasn’t interested in lectures, and she didn’t have high hopes for its content, but Lucas had managed to pique her interest. Since there was a possibility she could learn something new, Leticiel decided to go.
“Fine. I’ll be there. Where will it be held?”
“In the main auditorium. It’s above the cafeteria. You should be able to find it easily.”
Leticiel would go. If the lecture was interesting, then great. If it wasn’t, she could waste time by doing something else.
Taking the offensive, she asked, “What would you have done if I hadn’t come through here?”
“You’ve been coming to school by carriage lately, right? I thought I was imagining things the day I saw you on the coachman’s seat amongst all the other students’ parked carriages.”
“Steering carriages is surprisingly fun.”
“That’s not the issue here!”
The main auditorium was located on the main building’s second story, right above the cafeteria. Leticiel climbed the central stairs and made her way there.
The ceiling was higher in the auditorium compared to regular classrooms, and the seats were lined up in a gentle slope from the entrance to the back. It could fit three or four times more people than a regular classroom, and people were already starting to fill up the seats here and there.
No one was sitting in the front, but Leticiel purposefully chose the first seat in the first row. After all, it was the closest to the exit—crucial if she wanted to leave the auditorium the instant the lecture was over.
“Ah! Miss Drossell, good morning.”
Leticiel stared blankly at the students entering and exiting through the auditorium’s door until her eyes met Mirandalette’s.
“Good morning. You’re here early.”
“That’s not true. May I sit next to you?”
“Go ahead.”
Mirandalette sat down next to Leticiel, but she seemed uncomfortable, likely because they were in the first row. “Miss Drossell, you’re brave to seat yourself in the very first row…”
“This seat is closest to the door.”
“S-So that’s why…”
Twenty minutes before the start of first period, the area around the door started to get crowded. The auditorium was full of lively chatter with twice as many students as there had been before. Some people could be heard arguing over seats.
“Good morning, you two.”
“Oh, Zeke. Good morning.”
Zeke entered the auditorium with a wave of students. There were no more empty seats at Leticiel and Mirandalette’s table, so he sat in the corner seat at the table across the aisle, right next to Leticiel’s.
“I wonder what today’s topic is,” Leticiel said to her friends sitting on either side of her. Lucas had only told her that the lecture would be happening, so she had no idea what it was on.
“It’s a lecture held by Duke Valentine, the Secretary of the Navy, and Duke Blois, the Secretary of the Ministry of Magic. It’s an annual thing.”
Apparently, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Ministry of Magic were invited to give a lecture to the Primary students every year at Lucrezia Academy. But the lectures were on different topics each year, so some years were interesting while others were boring.
Although the Secretary of the Army was supposed to come this year as usual, the army was busy with domestic affairs lately, so the Secretary of the Navy had come in his place.
“If they’re dukes, they must be two of the Five Great Dukes.”
“That’s right. Duke Valentine and Duke Blois were both marquises at one point, but they were given dukedoms in recognition of their achievements in the Sphylian War eleven years ago.”
“Hmm.” Leticiel hummed, an image of the headmaster flashing in her mind as she listened to Zeke’s explanation. Hilmes had mentioned before that Lucas’s family, the Horacio family, had the title of marquis and had been serving the kingdom for many generations.
She didn’t know what he had achieved on the battlefield during the war, but why had he not been promoted, remaining a marquis, despite even gaining the nickname “the Azure Lion”?
“That was close! I didn’t think I’d make it!” Hilmes came sprinting into the auditorium a few minutes before the start of first period. Apparently, he had slept in.
“Hilmes, hurry and sit down. It’s starting soon.”
“Ack! The only open seats are super far from you guys!”
“Well… That can’t be helped.”
Hilmes plodded off toward an open seat, exuding a pitiful aura like an abandoned puppy. Leticiel couldn’t help but feel sorry for him even though it wasn’t her fault.
The bell that signaled the start of classes rang and two men entered through the door. One man had a goatee and gave off a stern impression, while the other man was elderly and had light gray hair.
“I am Norman Scott Valentine, the Secretary of the Navy. I’ll be the first to speak,” the stern-looking man said quietly in a low voice. Those words alone were quite powerful. Quiet murmurs swept through the audience.
Duke Valentine’s lecture focused on the armed forces’ structure and the requirements for recruitment. The Platina Kingdom’s armed forces included the navy, led by the Secretary of the Navy, the army, led by the Secretary of Army, and the Secretary of Defense who managed both of them. Enrollment was not limited by social status, so anyone could enroll as long as they passed the test.
Leticiel quickly tuned out, thinking it didn’t have much to do with her, but some of the male students listened with rapt attention.
Naturally, Hilmes was one of them. He was sitting four seats behind Leticiel, but even without looking his way, Leticiel could sense his excitement from the front row. Beside her, Mirandalette pressed a hand against her forehead in exasperation.