Chapter 97

Part 22: Practical Class (2)

A week before the practical class.

The academy made an unexpected announcement.

"Some students will not be clearing monsters but will instead explore ruins during this practical class. Since royal knights and nobles will be accompanying them, I hope you will learn a lot from them."

The students were taken aback by the sudden announcement, but then they burst into loud cheers.

From the students' perspective, exploring ruins was bound to be better than fighting monsters.

It was safer, less strenuous, and more exciting.

There were treasure chests, artifacts, and stories to be told. The exploration of ruins held a sense of romance.

Moreover, the involvement of the royal knights meant that this was an exploration sponsored by the royal family. If they performed well, they might catch the eye of the royal family.

I was also delighted by this announcement.

Of course, it was uncertain whether I would be among the students chosen to explore the ruins.

I was eager to see other ruins and find some solace, as I had been watching the map and sucking my thumb.

At the time, I had no idea that this was a plan devised by the princes, nor did I know that the ruins to be explored were the ones on the map I possessed.

The already chaotic atmosphere of the class, due to the preparation for the practical class, became even more disordered, and the professors had no choice but to give up on managing the students.

The administrative department students were very disappointed to hear about the ruins, but they were not eligible to participate.

The students were curious about how the participants for the ruin exploration would be selected.

There were various theories, from a lottery to a selection favoring upperclassmen, and even the idea that it would be decided through family lobbying.

Due to the nature of the seal zone, where more people attract more monsters, the number of participants would not be large, but it was clear that at least several dozen would be chosen.

A considerable number of people would be needed to explore the ruins.

Moreover, even more people would be required for the participants to pass through the seal zone to reach the ruins.

Although it was concerning how many royal knights and nobles would participate, at least with the pretext of a practical class, it would be difficult to limit the participation to just a few.

Fortunately, I was selected to participate in the ruin exploration.

The princess, being of royal blood, naturally participated in the ruin exploration, and through her influence, I was also included.

* * *

Time passed, and it was the morning of the practical class day.

We returned to the seal zone.

This time, unlike the 'field study,' we did not disperse the students into groups.

Dozens of people had moved to the wide riverbank all at once.

I had only been to the seal zone once, so this place, reached through spatial travel, was entirely new to me.

There were 48 students who had traveled through space: 24 from the knight department and 24 from the inheritance ability department.

This number represented about one-fifth of the total students from both departments, and the 'practical class' for the remaining students was postponed for two weeks.

The students who missed the opportunity to explore the ruins were likely staying at the academy, trying to console themselves.

In addition to the students, there were 4 professors, including Professor Katrin, and 1 dean, making a total of 53 people from the academy.

The rest were people sent by the royal family for the ruin exploration.

First, about 20 royal knights had arrived.

Most of the knights, wearing shining armor, shields, and expensive-looking swords, appeared to be nobles.

The other knights were mostly commoners who could manipulate mana, not awakened nobles.

However, most of the royal knights were nobles who had graduated from the royal academy.

They were seniors from our academy's knight department, and for students from non-heir families, joining the royal knights was their dream.

Additionally, about 10 officers from the kingdom's army were present.

Our kingdom had a standing army in the capital, in addition to the soldiers who would be conscripted from each fiefdom in times of war.

More than half of these officers had inheritance abilities and were nobles without fiefdoms.

They were nobles with combat inheritance abilities, forming the core of the kingdom's military power alongside the royal knights and serving as the royal family's strength.

We were surprised by the appearance of the kingdom's army officers, as we did not expect them to come along with the royal knights.

Although the number of students was greater, it was immediately clear who the center of attention was.

There was one more person besides these.

A middle-aged noble, who seemed to be a senior knight and a general of the royal knights, was talking to another noble.

The moment I heard the name of the noble from another student, I was greatly surprised.

Count Chaifrey.

The head of the Chaifrey family and the father of the deceased Raid was participating in the ruin exploration.

'Oh my, the ruins they're talking about are those ruins?'

I placed my hand on my chest, feeling the pocket where I had hidden the map.

'Could he have given up so easily?'

No matter how I thought about it, giving up so quickly was too fast. Even though his son had died, it wasn't as if the heir had died, and he had immediately handed it over to the royal family.

It didn't seem like something a noble, who was full of greed, would do.

Moreover, with the Count himself participating, and the royal knights and kingdom's army officers present, it seemed unlikely that the Chaifrey family would gain any benefit.

If the ruins on the map I possessed were to be explored, I needed to find a way.

If I remained idle, the treasures of the ruins, which contained the map, would be taken by someone else.

However, before I could think of anything, the movement began.

All personnel, except for the dean, followed Count Chaifrey across the forest of the seal zone.

Strangely, the luggage of the group heading to the ruins was almost invisible.

The students had only brought light backpacks, and the knights and officers had neither backpacks nor attendants.

Instead, there was a knight carrying an old bag at the back of the group.

"Is that bag the royal family's pride, the artifact bag?"

"Yes. It's an ancient empire's artifact bag that was stored in the treasure vault. It seems the eldest brother took it out from there."

The princess, who had somehow appeared beside me, answered my muttered question.

Not only the princess, but Bria and the first-year knight department students were all gathered nearby.

Although the groups were mixed before departure, after a bit of movement, they had regrouped by year.

The royal knights led the way, and the second and third-year students stuck close to the royal knights to make a good impression, leaving the first-year students to be pushed to the back.

"That's the artifact bag? I heard it can hold a lot."

The first-year students, who had been looking at the bag I mentioned, were amazed.

"It's about the size of a small storage room."

"Everything from the exploration equipment to the food must be in there."

Bria and the other students finally realized why there was no visible luggage.

However, I was a bit puzzled.

"But, isn't it risky to put everything in one bag?"

The princess immediately answered my question.

"There will probably be a subspace ability user among the kingdom's army officers. The second brother wouldn't entrust all the food and equipment to the royal knights."

"Oh, they're well-prepared."

The students nodded at the princess's words, but I gained several important pieces of information from her words.

The royal knights were aligned with the first prince, and the kingdom's army officers with the second prince, and this ruin exploration was a joint effort between the first and second princes.

The situation was more complicated than I thought.

The Count's participation, the joint effort of the first and second princes, and the inclusion of royal academy students and the princess in the journey to the seal zone.

I cast a mana barrier around the princess and me to prevent others from overhearing and whispered to her.

"Did you personally support this ruin exploration, Princess?"

The princess shook her head. She also whispered, covering her mouth.

"No. I was scolded during the field study, so I decided to stay out this time. Katrin also advised me to avoid dangerous situations."

However, the princess was participating in the ruin exploration, whether she wanted to or not.

The upperclassmen might not know, but the first-year students walking with me were all the best students from the knight department.

The princess's skills were not bad, but she had not been awakened for long and was hiding one of her abilities, so she could not fully showcase her skills in class.

The fact that she was participating in this exploration suggested there might be another reason.

Although it was not yet certain, there must have been a reason for including the princess.

I was deep in thought.

At that moment, someone approached a first-year student who was leisurely walking through the forest, where the monsters had not yet gathered.

It was one of the seniors walking at the front.

"If you keep clustering together like this, it will be a problem. Everyone is pretending not to notice the princess, but if you keep this up, our seniors might not let it slide."

He tried to scare the first-year students.

However, his playful tone and smile made no one truly afraid.

The seniors walking at the front sighed.

It seemed they had entrusted the task of scolding the first-years to this senior.

"So, go quickly, apologize, and mix with the seniors. It's not your fault, but if you keep clustering together, it will be hard to score points with the royal knights. This score is about our scores, not yours. You still have a long way to go, but this is a matter right in front of us!"

However, his words lacked authority.

Still, the students understood, so it wasn't a bad approach.

Seeing a senior act like a senior, despite entering two years earlier, felt a bit ridiculous, but recalling my past military life, it was rather endearing.

The freshmen were meeting the seniors for the first time, yet many of them seemed to know each other.

The royal academy, similar to a military academy, had no clubs or student council.

Perhaps they were students from related families.

"I heard they often hold parties and gatherings. But, as a noble from a small fiefdom, I rarely receive invitations."

My question was answered by Bria, who, like me, was somewhat isolated.

"But, didn't you receive quite a few invitations after the last field study?"

I had seen her receive invitations due to our frequent sparring sessions.

"It was just for a while. Even when I went to the parties, I felt out of place."

She was the child of a proper noble, even if she came from a small fiefdom.

If she felt out of place at the parties, it was understandable that I, a bastard, had never received an invitation.

The princess was now surrounded by seniors.

At this point, I didn't need to guard her separately.

"Why are you two moving separately? Aren't you both famous?"

The senior, who had initially approached us playfully, now spoke to Bria and me.

Bria quickly placed her hand on her chest.

"No, I'm Bria. Senior Javier!"

Her eyes sparkled as she responded.

Surprised by Bria's reaction, I looked at the approaching senior.

Oh, he was hiding it, but his mana was quite powerful.

He was the strongest student I had seen. At least as strong as a knight.

It turned out he was a very famous person on campus.

He was the top student in the third-year knight department and a likely candidate to become the next royal knight commander.

His willingness to speak to a bastard like me suggested he had a good personality.

Unfortunately, he was the first to die in the hands of the approaching monsters.