A Failed Knight Who Went to the Academy To Get Married

037 A Tense Standoff for Pointy Ears

Above their heads, the harpies were still flying around, but

thanks to Siruan’s fairly wide electric field, they seemed to have no intention of approaching.

Moreover, for some reason, even Pochi was startled and hesitated to recklessly enter the electric field.

The soldiers seemed to have noticed something as they stealthily entered the electric fence, pointing their spears at everyone.

“Excuse me, can we have a truce until we cross this mountain range?”

Seiment cautiously asked from behind Maria, but the soldiers showed no intention of lowering their spears.

“What in the world are you people? Take off your masks immediately if you don’t want to be executed on the spot!”

At that command, everyone hesitated, glancing at each other, until

Prince Sirian was the first to remove his mask.

“I am Prince Sirian of Altoria. Any objections?”

The soldiers, still pointing their spears, began to waver.

“Prince Sirian?”

“Why is the royalty of Altoria here?”

From noble mtl dot come

“Shouldn’t we refrain from touching him carelessly?”

But soon, one of the soldiers shouted.

“Didn’t you hear? Altoria has already changed regimes! That guy is no longer royalty or anything!”

Finally, Princess Shia, unable to resist any longer, took off her mask and stepped forward.

“Please calm down. We have no intention of being hostile towards you.”

“Princess Shia, two members of royalty…”

“We only came to the Yumano Holy Kingdom and upon hearing the news of the coup, we hurried back.”

The soldier hesitated for a moment before speaking again, this time with a threatening tone.

“Fine. But you must hand over that elf.”

As Shia was about to object, Seimint stepped forward and spoke first.

“Let’s do as they say.”

“…Everyone else, take off your masks. We need to check if there’s another elf among you.”

Reluctantly, Cat, Yuril, and Train removed their masks.

Though Cat, being of the beastkin, was in danger of being discovered,

fortunately, due to the eye patch and hood, there seemed to be no suspicion.

“…Only the elf, step forward. You will be executed right here.”

Seimint was about to step forward obediently.

Train was shocked and tried to stop her,

but Maria spoke to the soldiers before him, blocking Seimint’s way.

“How dare you lay a hand on my companions without my permission?”

“Even Sister Maria has no authority to defy the Pope’s order to exterminate the elves!”

“I clearly stated there was a reason!”

“Step back! Do you wish to be executed as well, Sister?”

“You people are the ones who—”

Suddenly, Maria stopped speaking and collapsed backward as if falling into a deep sleep.

Seiment caught her body and gently laid her on the ground, then said to the soldiers.

“If I die, can you promise not to harm the others?”

“…Agreed.”

Seiment closed her eyes calmly, and a soldier raised his spear to pierce her.

But this time, Train stepped in front of her.

“And what are you?”

“Do you really have to treat someone who saved your comrades like this?”

“To us, the will of Lord Yumano is more important than individual lives.”

“Then all the more reason you shouldn’t be doing this.”

“What do you mean?”

Train managed to recall Maria’s lecture and responded.

“The fourth of Yumano’s Ten Commandments, one must repay any kindness received.”

To which the soldier replied with a look of disbelief.

“It’s not the fourth, it’s the sixth.”

“Oh, is that so.”

Fortunately, it seemed to have some effect.

The soldier who had been brandishing his spear took a quick glance around.

Because of Seiment’s help, the soldiers whose lives were saved were appealing with their faces,

Eventually, the soldier reluctantly withdrew his spear and turned away.

“…I’ll postpone the treatment of the elf fellow. There’s no way to escape from here anyway.”

Only then did everyone around let go of their tension and sighed in relief.

Seiment, carrying the now-sleeping Maria on his back, joked with Train.

“I should have known better than to put her to sleep.”

“Aren’t you being too careless with your own life?”

“My comrades’ lives are more precious to me. You feel the same, don’t you, Mr. Train?”

“Well…”

Seiment flashed a sly smile.

“Anyway, thank you. I’m not a follower of Yumano, but I’ll definitely repay this kindness.”

“Is that so.”

“If I keep receiving favors like this, I might really have to marry Mr. Train.”

“What?! No, I-“

“Hehe, just kidding.”

Seiment began to walk, carrying Maria, following the soldiers.

Train was about to follow her when,

startled by Shia’s intense gaze from beside him.

“What, what’s all this all of a sudden?”

“Huh? I didn’t say anything.”

“It was a joke, wasn’t it.”

“Your relationship seems close enough to joke about marriage?”

Yuril casually remarked as he passed Train by.

“Decide if you’re a princess or an elf, unless you want to be disliked by both.”

“No, I mean, it was just a joke!”

After sticking her tongue out at Train, Shia chased after Yuril first,

Leaving Train behind, Siran and Cat placed their hands on his shoulders.

“It’s your karma.”

“Stay strong.”

“You guys too, seriously-“

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble from somewhere.

Cat was the first to sense the cause and shouted while looking up.

“Rockslide! Watch out!”

Boulders, seemingly three to four times the size of a person, were tumbling down from the top of the rock mountain.

Everyone scrambled to get out of the way, but the path was so narrow they were in disarray.

In the end, Seiment, who was carrying Maria, couldn’t evade in time and was exposed to the falling rocks,

“Get down!”

Yuril charged towards the falling rocks, drawing her sword and swinging it fiercely.

The stone split in half, narrowly missing Seymint as it fell.

“Thank you~.”

As Seymint bowed politely in gratitude, Shiran whispered to Train from behind.

“What’s with that woman? Cutting rocks with a sword.”

“…Indeed.”

“Could she be stronger than you?”

“They say she even won a fight against Master Elford. That’s why the master became Yuril’s butler.”

“That’s insane.”

From behind, Cat shouted.

“More are falling!”

Train looked up, only to be shocked again.

Rocks about the same size as before were tumbling down, at least a dozen of them.

“Goddess of Jealousy!”

Sia attempted to erect a massive ice barrier, but it was not enough.

The boulders crashed through the barriers, rolling fiercely.

Seymint, burdened with carrying Maria, found it difficult to cast spells.

Siran had no means to stop the rocks either,

And Train was in no condition to use his magic power.

The rest of the soldiers didn’t seem to be of much help either.

In the end, it was up to Yuril alone to protect everyone from the rocks.

“Everyone, stay down and keep as still as possible!”

Yuril darted back and forth, slicing through the rocks or punching them away.

All were spellbound, watching her almost miraculous movements.

Train, with a very complicated expression, stayed quietly,

As the fragments of the rocks Yuril had shattered poured down towards him.

Train reflexively tried to summon his magic sword-

“Stay still!”

With Cat’s shout, a white firefly-like light suddenly flew from her.

As the firefly-like light buzzed above Train’s head,

The shards that had been pouring down turned to dust in midair and fell like rain.

“What, what is that?”

“It’s my secret weapon and my graduation work from the academy. Impressive, isn’t it?”

“What? You were a student at the academy?”

“…Sorry. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“No, I can’t just pretend I didn’t hear-“

“More importantly, watch out! The real thing is coming!”

…Rocks still pouring down.

And behind them, a spider several times larger than the rocks was rushing down.

“That, what is that!”

“It must be the one who threw the rocks at us!”

Each leg as large as a person.

Ugly orange fur sprouting on its back.

Huge fangs filled with venom.

The spider was charging straight towards Yuril.

“Yuril! Be careful!”

“I know!”

Yuril also charged forward to slash at the spider monster.

But the spider creature smashed the rocks on the ground with its numerous legs, hurling them around.

In the end, Yuril had to give up on the spider to protect everyone and instead focus on the rocks.

Siran, along with Shia, fired repeatedly at the spider, but to no avail.

“Damn it! What kind of monster is that!”

As Train was flustered not knowing what to do,

Kat gripped Train’s shoulder tightly and said,

“Train. Listen to what I’m about to say without arguing.”

“What?”

“Yuril is going to be ambushed by the spider in 5 seconds and die.”

“……”

“If you use your magic, you can save Yuril, but you will die.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m sorry. I mean it.”

…Why Cat knew such things wasn’t important.

What mattered was why Cat had said those words to Train.

No, more than that, why did Cat apologize to Train?

“…Cat, please lift Yuril’s curse for me.”

Cat nodded silently.

Then Train smiled quietly and summoned the magic sword without hesitation.