“I’m so tired,” Yui said as she collapsed on top of her bed. After all the noise and Berg’s severe lecture, everyone was exhausted in both mind and body, and they had all retired to their respective rooms.
“No matter how much you get used to it, that face of his is still scary when he’s angry,” Carlo remarked as he lay in a bed next to Yui’s.
“I feel like I’ll see it in my dreams...”
“For all that, his wife is super cute. There was a rumor that he used that face of his to threaten her, but apparently she’s the one who liked him first.” Carlo chuckled.
Cecil sat down on the bed next to Yui’s and opposite Carlo’s, then stretched his legs out on the bed. “It’s one of the seven mysteries of the academy,” he remarked.
Berg was certainly a good person—from the standpoint of his character. However, whenever he smiled, for some reason, his face looked even more evil than usual. When he walked in public, people automatically distanced themselves from him, and he had a high likelihood of being stopped for questioning by the police. I could never marry someone like him, Yui thought rudely.
Just when Yui had been feeling a bit drowsy, Cecil turned to her. “Yui, your communicator is going off.” She looked at her magic communicator, which she had taken off to sleep, and saw that it was vibrating slightly and giving off a faint light.
“Who’s calling this late?” Carlo wondered.
As Yui activated her communicator, the sight of Layce—bawling as if he were making a final farewell as he saw her off on the two-week trip—crossed her mind. She guessed that it was him.
“Hey, is this Yui?” the person on the other end asked.
Yui paused. “Grandpa Theo?”
Cecil cocked his head. “It’s him?” He and Carlo looked closely at Yui. They had also been expecting someone else. Yui put the communicator in the center of her bed so her brothers could hear too. “When did you get the ability to call Yui, Grandpa Theo?” Cecil asked.
“Dad’ll be angry if he finds out,” Carlo said.
“Oh, you two are there too? The day after Yui bought her communicator, we happily chatted about it together right in front of him as he bitterly watched.” Theodore’s loud, joyful laugh echoed throughout their room. They couldn’t see him, but they could easily imagine the expression on his face at that moment.
“Anyway, are you contacting me about what we talked about?” Yui asked.
“That’s right. I got everything ready for it, so I thought I’d let you know. I also told the royal guards, so you can just tell them when the day comes.”
“Okay, thanks, Grandpa Theo.”
Cecil and Carlo each tilted their heads and looked at each other. Neither of them had any idea what “it” might be.
“What is ‘it,’ Yui?” Cecil asked.
“What are you talking about?” Carlo asked.
“Remember when I said that I asked papa for something for my birthday? I asked Grandpa Theo for help with it,” Yui explained. “He said he wanted to thank me for everything at the palace anyway. Everything besides that is a secret.” She didn’t seem like she would say anything else.
“That means you should look forward to it when the day comes, oho ho ho.” Theodore chuckled.
“That really makes me want to know more,” Cecil said.
“Not only dad, but Grandpa Theo too? What are you trying to do, Yui?” Carlo asked. Yui had been the one who had asked for the gift, so he didn’t think she’d demanded anything too difficult, but these were the feared Prince of Darkness and the still-influential former king. The two of them working together could answer even an unreasonable demand. It was terrifying. Actually, the truly terrifying part might’ve been Yui, who had mobilized the two of them without even any bargaining—it had taken only a simple request.
“By the way, you three are at the army training facility in Bahal, aren’t you?” Theodore asked. “What do you think? Are you enjoying it? I built it during my reign. We used all sorts of different techniques to bring it together into a real masterpiece. After all, a normal training facility wouldn’t have been any fun. I call it: the Fortress of Nightmares! My associates were also fully on board, and everyone in our discussions was really excited, more than they ever were in parliament.”
The three of them were silent. They never would’ve thought that they’d identify the one behind the horrible building. They all wanted to ask him what exactly he’d been thinking. Not only that—his advisors, who should’ve been the ones to dissuade the king, had been just as enthusiastic as him. What had their meetings been like?
“I don’t even know what to say... There’s so much to take issue with,” Cecil said. “I’m surprised the kingdom functioned with those people in charge.”
“So you’re the cause of all our woes, Grandpa Theo!” Carlo shouted.
“Woes? How rude. It was just a bit of innocent fun!” Theodore said.
“Because of your ‘fun,’ all the students, including Yui, were super scared!”
“Well I’ll be! I thought she’d be happy... Did you hate it that much, Yui?”
“I never want to come here again,” Yui said ruthlessly.
Theodore seemed like he had really thought she’d like it, but about the only people who’d like the fortress they were in were criminals and evil spirits. As soon as he heard Yui’s reply, his voice turned gloomy and depressed. “It’s that bad?” He paused. “My advisers at the time all loved it... Maybe the Forsaken Fort at Sulbell in the east, or the Scorched Tower of Dis at Cagsen in the south, or the Clockwork Manor at Elsie in the west would’ve been better.”
“There are others?!” Carlo shouted. They didn’t have any idea what those places were like, but they sincerely prayed that they wouldn’t be the site of next year’s camp. Actually, Yui was hoping that she wouldn’t have to go to camp again at all.
“Why didn’t you just make a normal training facility?!” Cecil asked.
“Think about it before you make something like this!” Carlo said.
This was an urgent problem for Cecil and Carlo, who planned to join the army after graduation, so their tone was harsh. They knew that they’d definitely have to stay at one of those training facilities eventually.
“Just consider it a youthful indiscretion. It was over a hundred years ago, you know,” Theodore said.
“Don’t try to excuse it with that,” Carlo said.
The average life expectancy was around eighty, but those with strong magic lived longer lives. The average life expectancy of nobles and members of the royal family, who were generally more powerful, was about two hundred. However, that was only a general estimate; the more powerful someone was, they lived for that much longer. Theodore, who was especially strong even among royalty, had been given a stamp of good health by his doctors. They said that he’d probably live past 250. He was currently 183. From the perspective of his overall lifespan, he was still fit for service, which had led to many dissenting voices saying it was too early for him to retire when he had abdicated the throne to his son.
“Well, the facility should be in top shape, so there’s nothing to worry about,” Theodore said. “I built the garden myself, and I’m quite proud of it. It’s worth a visit, and I think you’d like it, Yui.”
“Okay, got it. I’ll check it out,” Yui said. “Thanks, Grandpa Theo. For all sorts of things.”
“What, for that little thing? Well then, let’s talk again soon.”
They all said goodnight, and Yui hung up.
And with that done with, the first day of camp somehow came to a close.