Interlude:
Royal Academy Defense
(Pepi Barlier)
“THE BACK GATES are about to be breached!” a soldier from House Kugret yelled.
“Don’t falter! We’ll stop them here!” Loretta yelled back. She and I were situated at the back gates of the Royal Academy to defend the school. The commoners’ protest had finally escalated into an armed uprising. They grabbed kitchen knives, hatchets—anything they could get their hands on—and stormed the wealthier districts. The Royal Academy was not exempt from their rage, of course.
More than a thousand commoners were gathered outside the main gates trying to break in. Loretta’s father, Count Kugret, took command of the provisional government forces. Loretta was assigned to protect the back gates, and I was designated as her aide.
“Pepi, you don’t have to force yourself to stay with me if you don’t want to.” Loretta forced a smile despite her nerves. But those words weren’t what I wanted to hear from her.
“Aren’t you the one forcing yourself? Just say what you really think. You want me to stay with you, don’t you?”
“Ngh…” She blushed red. Ever since the music festival, I’d been aggressively making moves on her. Her heart was still set on Claire, but I was making progress. I was sure she would be mine one day. For that reason, among many others, I couldn’t let her die here today.
“C’mon, Loretta. Enough zoning out. The soldiers are awaiting your orders,” I said.
“Oh, right. Squadron three, advance!”
The soldiers of House Kugret began moving on her orders. I admired how cool she was for a moment but quickly focused. Now wasn’t the time to fawn over her.
“Death to the nobles!”
“Freedom for the common man!”
I heard the commoners’ angry shouts and began to think. Was our time over? Was the nobility finished? Yu had predicted something of this nature before, but I never thought it would actually come to pass.
This was really happening, though. The commoners were trying to overthrow us.
I don’t care if the nobles are stripped of their status… House Barlier is already a thing of the past, anyway.
The incident with Marquess Achard had lost House Barlier its title. We were spared the death penalty only because of our efforts in helping convict Clément. My parents were currently relying on some influential people who lived in what had once been our territory. Despite being a noble, my father had always had the goodwill of the people in his territory, so he was able to count on merchants to help with expenses while he got back on his feet. Until then, I was in House Kugret’s care.
That was why the nobility being deposed didn’t bother me too much. But Loretta was the lady of a military family sworn to protect the nobility. She had a duty to do battle here—while I wanted to avoid her coming in harm’s way, however possible.
Maybe I should knock her out and forcibly remove her from the battle…? I considered it, but it wasn’t realistic. The battle was currently evenly matched. If I removed Loretta, the acting commander, the commoners would breach the gate and make escape difficult.
Ah, jeez! Then just what am I supposed to do? I felt like stomping my feet in irritation.
“The mob is only getting bigger! We can’t hold them off forever!”
“Damn…” Panic showed on Loretta’s face. I didn’t blame her.
“Lady Loretta, please permit us to use offensive magic!”
“It’ll only be a matter of time before they get through!”
“No!” Loretta had forbidden the use of offensive magic. If we used it, there was a chance we could win, but… “It is our duty to protect commoners, not harm them. We must hold out by using our magic only to strengthen and heal ourselves.”
Once again, she ordered them to refrain from hurting the commoners. Perhaps she had adopted the same ideals as Claire…or perhaps it was our experience over the summer that changed her.
“Not good! They’re breaking through the gates!”
Just as that report reached us, the back gates collapsed. The commoners pushed their way through the opening like an avalanche. The soldiers were swallowed up by the mob, which soon laid eyes on us.
Was this the end?
“Lady Loretta, please, permit the usage of offensive magic!”
“Never! If you call yourself a noble, then live as one until the end!” she yelled. She seemed prepared to face death.
“Well said,” commented a wise voice.
A mist began to rise from the ground. It seemed to have a life of its own, moving to envelop the commoners, who began to go limp.
“Don’t worry. They’re just asleep.”
“Master Kristoff!”
It was Kristoff. With a magic wand, he manipulated a magic mist and put the commoners into a deep sleep.
“You saved us, Master Kristoff!”
“No need to be so formal, Lady Loretta. I’m just a viscount now.”
In the end, the only member of House Achard who was punished was Clément. It was customary to execute all blood relatives and servants for such an egregious crime, but House Achard simply had too much influence to be so severely punished. Rae likened the issue to being unable to close down a big bank, not that I quite understood what she meant. At any rate, the head of House Achard changed, and they were demoted to the rank of viscount. Kristoff was now formally known as Viscount Achard.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Look out. There’s more coming,” he said. He pointed his wand toward some commoners who seemed a bit different from the rest.
“Adventurers!”
Adventurers were what we called people who undertook requests, big and small, for the adventurer’s guild. Being familiar with combat, they were somehow able to resist the effect of Kristoff’s mist.
“Let’s get ’em, guys!”
“Yeah!”
Somebody who seemed to be their leader shouted, and a dozen or so adventurers charged forth. They were few in number but clearly more skilled than the other commoners, based on the way they worked in concert. They couldn’t overwhelm us with numbers, but they could prove to be a bigger problem in another way.
“Please fall back, Master Kristoff!”
“Leave this to us!”
A young man and a young woman, not far in age from us, appeared before Kristoff.
“No, you two should be the ones to fall back,” Kristoff said. “This is my fight as a noble.”
“Nonsense!”
“We owe you, Master Kristoff! Let us repay what you’ve done for us!”
I would later learn the two people protecting Kristoff were orphans he’d saved from Clément’s human trafficking. They could have lived out their lives as ordinary commoners, but they admired Kristoff’s character so much they chose to serve him instead.
“…Hmph. You’re all just children.” The adventurer leading the charge, a man wielding a well-worn short sword, came to a stop upon seeing who he was up against. I recognized his face from somewhere.
“You’re that man we met in Euclid…”
“Seems we meet again, Barlier girl.”
“I don’t mind fighting you, if that’s what you want.”
“Hmm, naw… I don’t mind most jobs, but…” The man reached into his pockets and took out a heavy-looking bag. He tossed it toward the man who seemed to be their leader.
“Huh? What’s this for?”
“Payment for breaching the contract. Should be three times my promised reward.”
The leader scoffed. “The hell? Are you abandoning the job?!”
“I never would’a taken it if I knew it’d have me killing kids! An adventurer’s got the right to pick what jobs he does, surely.”
One after another, the other adventurers quit as well.
“Where do you guys think you are going?! These guys are nobles!” the leader yelled.
“You don’t say. But y’know, this lady here may be a noble, but she’s different from the rest. She cried for our fallen comrades before.”
“That was probably just an act!”
“No noble would go so far as barfing just to put on a show. Right?” The man looked Loretta’s way. She averted her gaze uncomfortably.
“You’re pulling back?” Kristoff asked.
“For the time being. We don’t want to see blood spilled either, if we can help it.” The adventurer sheathed his sword. “Still…I get the feeling this revolution won’t be done anytime soon.”
“…As do I.”
Though we had avoided conflict here, the battle was not going in our favor. Sure enough, the Royal Academy announced a full surrender to the revolutionary government not long after. As the children of nobles, we were placed under surveillance and confined to the Academy.
“…What’s going to happen now?” Loretta uneasily asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure things will work out so long as we’re alive.” I squeezed her hand, swearing to myself that I’d ensure we both made it through this.