Four months have passed since Rudel left and did not return.
It was afternoon, and there were four people inside the Bradford territory house. One of them was the head of the house, Walt, his wife Sonia, his daughter Pola, and a short, very round man, bald, with a strange pointed mustache.
That man was Baron Lebrón. He was here to pick up Rudel after his seventeen-month journey. He was very angry because he didn't go directly to his own territory, but to the neighboring one.
"And so, Bradford-dono. I thought we had a deal, and it seems you broke that promise."
Exclaimed the chubby man.
Rudel's father, Walt, was sweating coldly because he had made a promise to hand over his son in exchange for this man paying his debts, but said son had left home to make a name for himself as an adventurer and thus save his own skin.
"Y-You see, Baron. It's that my son, he went off adventuring... and you know that when young people decide that, there's nothing that can stop them." He spoke in a trembling and anxious voice.
"That's true, but we had a verbal agreement, didn't we? Do you know what will happen to you if he wasn't here when I arrived, yes?"
The short man gave Rudel's father a piercing look. He flinched back when he saw his annoyed face. The moneylenders were around the corner, as there were only days left until the designated payment date.
Terror was showing in the eyes of the Bradford Household. The hope that was their son had not returned. They believed that perhaps he would find something of value and return quickly, but after four months since his last sighting, they could only hope he had fled or, worse...
It was then that the young daughter of the family, who was in the kitchen, screamed like a siren alarm.
"Mother!! Father!! Look outside!!"
Immediately upon hearing that, her parents got up from the sofa where they were and looked out the window, shouting in surprise and fear. The short man stood up to look outside as well and made the same expression and words.
"What the hell is that?! It's too big to be a ship, no. Not even a galleon reaches that size!" Exclaimed the fat man and Rudel's parents in astonishment.
The four of them went out to see what the strange ship was that was approaching from the sky to the ground. A few meters before landing was Rudel, waving to them with his right hand in the air and his left leaning on the ship's railing.
"Heeeeey~ everyone, I'm back ♡."
With a cheek-to-cheek smile, he greeted his family from afar and continued speaking.
"Did you miss me, right? Well, guess what, I also— Ouch!" Before finishing his sentence, he suddenly touched his neck because something had stung him. Rudel rubbed where it stung and didn't see how behind him, a strange black wasp with red wings quickly flew away, heading somewhere.
◇
After landing, my family came running towards me, all scared, asking what had happened to me and where I got this ship from.
I told them exactly as it happened, but no one believed me. I didn't care; the important thing there was that I saw Baron Lebrón for the first time. He was uglier than I thought. I was annoyed. I gave him some of my treasures to shut him up. He took them reluctantly, but before leaving, he turned to look at me and bit his lips. I felt a tremendous chill at what I saw.
After he left, I told my father to call the moneylenders. He asked me why, and I responded that it was to pay the house's debts. He ran off after hearing that. My mother and little sister started crying when they saw me. I was moved before receiving a low blow from my mother, who was crying with happiness over the mountain of treasures behind me.
I spent a good while handing over treasures to the moneylenders, who demanded more due to the overdue payment time. Annoyed, I gave them more treasures, and they left happy.
Afterwards, I went to the village in our territory and gave ten percent of gold to the villagers. I didn't do it for free or as a good Samaritan; I did it because the village and the territory were in such a bad state that anyone would feel sorry for us. In fact, when I landed near the house, it was because our port had a small dock, and it was impossible for a ship of exaggerated size to fit there.
I gave them the money to set up their own businesses and thus expand our territory, which has a few small undeveloped islands. They were happily crying after I told them I wouldn't charge taxes or ask for more value than what was lent when they have the means to pay me back within a span of four years. Commoners sure are happy when they have money and are told they won't have to pay taxes.
◇
A few weeks have passed since then. Our territory is slowly improving. In the distance, you can see what look like large robots moving rocks and removing earth. They aren't mine but from a construction company. They aren't robots either; I call them that because they are similar to what existed in my previous world. Apparently, they are things called armed units, which are the same as mobile knights.
Which are large robots and are moved by someone inside. Of course, I was surprised that such things exist in a fantasy world. Merchants come because the port now looks more expanded and more like a landing dock. Most merchants come because of me.
Since when I went to the adventurers' guild to present the official registration record, everyone saw the treasures I brought. Among them were unique materials used in houses, among other things, for construction.
The currency in this couztry is called "zest." Its value is as cliché as possible: copper, silver, and gold, with the latter having a more expensive and rare derivative to spend: white gold. I thought it was strange, but I didn't care. It seems white gold is worth 10 times more than normal gold due to its difficulty of extraction.
But among all those items, the rarest of all is a magical stone called an "orb." That's what airships and armed units use to move. They are also used in electricity.
◇
Currently, I'm in my garden with a smile, watering the plants I've harvested. The reason I do this is because I remembered my older brothers, who came to stay for a few days at home because their semesters ended and they were on vacation.
They came to say goodbye, it seems. The real bastards knew about what was going to happen to me, so they came to laugh at me. Unfortunately for them, they were surprised to see that the port was now a dock and that both the village and the house were totally different. I went out to greet them and put a white gold coin in each of their hands, and their expression of nearly having a heart attack was satisfying.
They were great weeks, seeing how my family worked hard to give them a gold coin per week. I won't deny it; I always envied rich people. It's normal to do so, and to deny it, I thought.
But now that I'm disgustingly rich, I understand the satisfaction of making others work for you. (Am I a horrible person? I don't care, because I was the one who found the island with treasures, and no one can tell me anything since my tears, sweat, and blood were the investment for those earnings.)
"You look very happy, Master. May I know why?"
"Huh? Of course! I feel happy remembering how my family works to earn what they could never obtain without me!"
"You truly are trash, you know?"
The one criticizing me isn't a person or a living being, but an artificial intelligence with its own mind and personality, which I named Ixion.
Apparently, it regrets making me its owner and sometimes says hurtful words that I take as compliments. Its appearance is that of a medium-sized bowling ball, metallic gray, with a large, gleaming red eye in the center. Also, for some strange reason, it floats and can reflect light, making itself invisible, and speak to me in a low tone so no one hears it. It seems to dislike people, as it was it who suggested I tell a few lies so no one would try to rob and kill me.
The reason I wasn't worried about money is that this guy can convert common stones and other simple materials into precious stones and gold. It scared me when it said it could even make my life expectancy longer through surgery. (Is this thing an epitome of ancient technology or what?)
"Setting aside how trashy you are, Master, I have your things ready for the knight training academy."
"Thank you..." I thanked it while inside I called it, (floating trashcan).
The knight academy, huh? In this world, there's even a school called the royal academy, but it's the worst because only heirs can enter there, while non-heirs enter the knight academy. That place is different from the military academy, and I'll explain it as follows.
In this country, there are three academies which all nobles are obliged to attend and also pay tuition. (What a great kingdom we have, it shows.) Starting with the least important, which is the knight training academy. It's called that because, according to my brother Bram, they teach things a soldier should know. There is training and such things. The study time is five years. Those who graduate from there will have the chance to be chosen as sergeants or vice-captains, which is an achievement to reach.
The second, but more important than the last, is the military academy. As its name indicates, this place focuses on training the kingdom's future soldiers... or so it seems. According to my father, they teach tactics and strategies, but they seem so outdated since they don't update them, and the last war this country had was fifty years ago. The duration is two years—very short, I'd say, since it's to train future captains and generals. But now comes the most important and worst of all.
The royal academy is an educational institution for nobles and noble heirs. According to my moron brother Lyle, the academy is more like a social club. Despite having first-class classes and education, several aristocratic heirs skip classes and wander around the campus enjoying their youth. The worst of all, according to my brother, is that the girls are very superficial and egocentric, reaching the level of being a cancer in every sense of the word.
There are also commoners, but it seems they enter thanks to a scholarship system based on excellence results from the adventurers' guild. (Seriously, can they show things like a secret record so easily to a place that isn't the royal palace?)
When I asked why they let commoners in if it was a place for Household heirs, he simply responded, "Making fun of the scholarship students is the only reason, I think?" I felt sorry for the poor commoners and an even deeper hatred for Lyle, who confessed he was part of those groups.
Their study time is three years there, but upon finishing their education there, they immediately enter the military academy, completing the two years dictated. Thus, they complete their strange five-year education. Which means I will enter at fifteen and graduate at twenty.
My brother Lyle will enter the military academy this new semester, while Bram will enter his second year at the knight academy. I will enter the same one along with him. And my cute little sister, Pola-chan, will enter the same school in four years.
Thinking about her, that story I heard in the shed several years ago still seems strange to me. The reason this country treats women so favorably is because several centuries ago, when the kingdom's founding occurred, a creature that came from the sky attacked our land. Then, a woman they called the "Saint" used light magic—the rarest type of magical power of all—and expelled the strange being back into the sky. Her words after defeating it were:
"Darkness will return. It was expelled thanks to the power of everyone's faith. In the future, this kingdom will be plunged into chaos, and from the skies, darkness will return and engulf this world."
Since that strange prophecy, in this country, women have been given better treatment because from among them, a new saint will be born and save us all... I don't believe any of that nonsense, but it seems the people here do. (Maybe that's why my parents wanted a daughter so much?)
Returning to Ixion, after answering all its questions, it responded very sarcastically, "No doubt it must be your ancestors, Master." (I want to hit this thing.)
Looking to the right where it was, I could observe a small, fairly well-decorated boat approaching the port. (I wonder if it's a new merchant?) Anyway, I didn't really care and continued watering my lovely plants.
◇
Pola told me that Father wanted to see me in his study. Since I invested in the house, I now had my own room, the largest one. I also paid to remodel the other rooms in the place.
I thought we would have to knock down walls and such, but a contractor who used earth magic did it without damaging or breaking anything. Magic seems very useful.
After arriving at Father's study, I found him in his chair, trembling, and another man dressed in formal attire—even his mustache looked elegant—sitting in a guest armchair drinking tea. Since now I (we) have money, investing in luxury items for visitors seems the most logical.
After entering, I greeted with a "Good morning." to the man and my father. After my greeting, the man stood up, took off his hat to return the greeting, and put it back on.
"Father, what do you need from me?" I asked, a bit confused, looking at the man who was drinking tea as if he were a close relative.
Then the man in the suit and elegant mustache made a hand signal to my father to speak. He took out a letter from his vest that was well folded and seemed to have been opened previously.
*Ahem*
"Today, the Royal Palace is pleased to name the third son of Baron Bradford, Rudel van Bradford, as a Baron due to his incredible feats as an adventurer by finding, alone and bravely, an island with precious materials. Which will be partly used as taxes that he will pay in advance upon having his own territory recognized by the Kingdom of Altfode."
The elegant-looking man finished speaking and handed me the letter, not before saying a few words.
"Congratulations, young Baron. Now you will be the head of your own Household in the future when you graduate from the military academy; may your service to the kingdom be prosperous in the future. Those are words the King himself told me to inform you."
My face was one of surprise, but it wasn't from hearing the words "on behalf of the king," but because of something else.
"W-What do you mean by military academy? I'm supposed to, as a non-heir son, go to the knight academy, right?"
I asked in a tone of fear because I didn't want to hear the answer.
"Certainly, that is so." Responded the man in the suit.
"But..." He added.
"You, upon being promoted to a rank superior to your father's, were attributed a rank higher than your older brother. Therefore, being a much higher rank, it is normal that you go to the royal academy, since you are your own heir and head of your Household. By the way, your family has nothing to do with this rank; it is only yours and your future children's."
After saying that, the man with the elegant mustache smiled and asked me to hand over the tax payment I would have to pay next month.
He was very surprised when I gave him the payment for up to five months. I really didn't care if he stole something and lied, because his eyes opened like elephant mouths when he saw the mountain of gold.
What worried me was something else. After watching him leave, I ran to my father and shouted at him.
"What the hell is that about entering the royal academy?! I was supposed to enter the knight academy and waste my time preparing for the future of going to live on my private island!!"
"I understand your distress, but it's not for— wait! Did you just say that after graduating you were going to go live on your island?"
"What about seeking marriage and having your heir?!"
"None of that matters to me!! Noble women only want to live in luxury, and aristocratic ones are too egocentric!! I don't want to associate with any of those horrible women, waaah!!"
"Y-You... you know your mother is a noble, right?"
"That doesn't matter to me because I was saying it precisely seeing her, waaah!!"
I clung to Father like a baby while crying. He made a face of various mixed emotions.
◇
I was with my brothers on a transport boat that I rented. Using my sophisticated ship to come here would be too exaggerated, Ixion told me.
I was inside taking a nap since today is the new semester ceremony for students. The door was knocked on by one of the boat crew to notify me that we were almost there. I got up and grabbed my belongings to go to the upper part of the boat.
There were my two brothers with their things ready. Bram wore a sky-blue uniform with a beret of the same color on the right. And Lyle wore a uniform of leather and metal on the shoulders, knees, elbows, and feet.
While I wore a uniform that was almost entirely black. I had black pants and shoes, a black jacket with buttons almost up to the chest. In a pocket on the heart side was the kingdom's flag, which was a shield with golden edges and red inside. The emblem was also golden, and inside were three swords aligned in a crossing formation.
In front of them was the head of a unicorn looking in profile. The inner shirt was white with a red tie. No matter how much I combed my hair, it was always spiky and menacing, like the shadows under my eyes.
In the distance, I could observe as an enormous island—which I should say was more of a peninsula or maybe an archipelago—approached closer and closer.
There were gigantic stone buildings in the shape of pawns from a chessboard that looked farther than one could reach.
The port was in sight, so we went down to the disembarkation door and the three of us went out together. Then Lyle started talking like a parrot about how incredible this place was compared to our territory, but Bram and I ignored him and continued at a fast pace to the bus station.
They called it a bus, but it was actually a three-story boat, of which there were different models and sizes.
"I have to go on this one because our paths lead to different places." Said Bram, who said goodbye, grabbing his things and heading towards the west side of the station.
Apparently, the knight academy is within the territory of someone called Duke Belmont.
Only Lyle and I were left, waiting for our respective buses. The chatterbox suddenly fell silent.
I was surprised that someone so talkative suddenly became quiet.
The bus that seems to come from the east says 'Military Academy.' According to Father, it is within the territory of other nobles with strange names. "Duke Bismarck," I said quietly.
That name for some reason gives me an odd feeling of discomfort, as if something related to that surname is going to happen to me. (It must be just my head imagining things.)
While Lyle took his things to head towards that bus, he said to me in a careless but serious tone—something strange.
"Rudel, whatever you do, do not get in the way of certain nobles, and especially if that noble is named Kingsfort, hear me? That is my only advice as your brother; stay on the sidelines, don't talk to him, don't establish contact with him, and most importantly, no matter what you see or hear... don't put your mouth or your nose in what he or any of the dukes do. Our family just got out of poverty. Don't get us killed just because of you!!"
After saying that, he continued towards the bus without turning back once. I was a bit stunned by what I heard, then noticed that my bus, coming from the north side, had arrived. I hurried to get a seat, but what Lyle said didn't leave my head.
◇
The journey was long. I could observe and be left open-mouthed at what I saw. I thought this was a medieval and feudal fantasy world, but it seems I was wrong.
There were people wearing medieval clothes, but besides that, there were people wearing shorts, sneakers, caps, and even girls wearing miniskirts. Buildings of old and modern structure, old-fashioned lampposts with two or five bulbs. There was even a kind of arcade where the sign had the figure of a donkey and someone using a screwdriver... (What the hell were they doing exactly there?!)
◇
After an hour of travel, I finally arrived at my destination. I was at the south entrance of the Altfode Royal Academy. In this place, there are four sections. The south part, where I was, is where classes are held. The west and east parts are where the dormitories are. And the north part is where the social club—aka clubs—is. In the middle, there is an enormous garden where students can socialize, some can train, and behind the north building, there is a training field and a coliseum... (Really, what the hell were they thinking when building the buildings?)
The gate was huge and elegant. I stayed for a few seconds admiring the entrance when I was shoved aside by some girls who were talking with a tall boy with green hair. I should be surprised to see many strange colors, but in the territory's village, there were also people with weird colors. The boy laughed with his friendly, gallant voice while flirting coquettishly with the girls.
"I'm serious, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life. How about we go for some drinks after the ceremony?"
"Eh!! What about me? You said on the bus that I was the most beautiful you had ever seen."
"Of course you are, but the beauty in each girl is unique, like flowers."
"Kyaah~♡."
I could hear that annoying flirting as they moved away from my sight. When I got up to continue forward, a large boy with reddish hair combed back and a very deep voice shouted from inside the place.
"Finally, I am here. I'll show my old man that I will become a great man before I graduate!"
Truly, this place was full of weird people. But the strangest thing was the uniforms, not only because the girls wore miniskirts that left very little to the imagination—I'm not complaining about that either—but because there were students wearing a uniform of a different color than mine.
I had a black uniform. Some girls had the same type as me, but they wore skirts and white knee-high socks. Other girls and boys had totally white uniforms. The only thing the same was the kingdom's crest and the tie.
I didn't understand its meaning, but I didn't care, so I continued to a sign indicating that I had to go to the auditorium at the end of the west side. I turned to head there, but then I was startled by a great scream from girls that could be heard at the entrance.
I didn't pay attention to what was happening there, so I continued on my way, but their voices were so loud that I could perfectly hear what they were saying.
"Good morning, Lady Alicelotte. It's a pleasant morning today, isn't it?"
"Lady Alicelotte, your blonde hair looks so radiant like the sun, and your red eyes are as beautiful as rubies."
"Lady Alicelotte, is there any secret to having such smooth skin, such magnificent lips, and such a well-formed figure as yours?"
The voices of those girls are so irritating.
◇
After entering the auditorium, we went to sit down, and the ceremony began when the director entered—an old, bearded man, but elegant—and began to speak.
I didn't pay attention because I didn't care what he was saying. Some students were chatting, others sleeping, but suddenly everyone fell silent and stood up from their seats. I did the same so as not to be the only one left sitting. Someone went up after the director knelt and yielded the podium to speak. He had platinum hair; it was very shiny. His eyes were purple. After greeting the students, they sat down and paid attention. (I wonder who he is to make all this spectacle?)
"On this day, we, the one hundred and second class of students, are pleased to be part of the student body to—"
That was what the platinum-haired guy was saying.
Some students were talking quietly. I didn't care what they were saying until, for some reason, a small, sharp voice caught my attention.
"Fuwaah~ I almost arrived late. Because I was waiting for this day all night, I fell behind, and I had to ask my dad to bring me with him to the Royal Capital. What's worse, I missed the entrance dispute this morning."
(Dispute?) I thought. (Something like that happened this morning?) I tried to remember if something like that happened at the entrance after I arrived.
"But it doesn't matter, because from today on, I will have a fun school life watching Rudel fall into ruin, fufufu."
The moment I heard those small words with malicious intentions towards me, I felt a chill down my spine as I turned around looking for who said that.
(Where is it? Who said that?... My ruin... that voice said my name. No one here knows me, and I don't have friends either, so it's impossible for someone to know my name. But that's not the scary part; it's that it clearly said 'watch how I fall'...) I thought uneasily.
The time the ceremony lasted, I spent it scared and sweating, to then quickly leave there.
◇◇◇
While Rudel was scared in his seat, a few meters above him, a girl with orange hair and glasses was watching him maliciously, murmuring.
"Enjoy your time at the academy as much as you can, because soon, the protagonist will make your life impossible, my dear villain Rudel, fufufu."
The school life of the "villainous Rudel and the protagonist" has just begun.
______________________
End of the "Introduction Arc."
Now begins the "Royal Academy Arc."