Interlude 5: Headmaster Ronald
It was night, and Headmaster Ronald was at the Royal Palace giving a report to the king. His report was mainly about how Yumiella was doing at the Academy. Ronald, who had been posted at the Academy shortly after Yumiella entered, occasionally visited the king.
“It’s been about six months, but there don’t seem to be any issues with the dragon. It doesn’t even attack people. Though, I never thought it would get that big.”
“Yes, I saw it flying around again during the day today,” the king said with a sigh as he recalled the sight of Ryuu leisurely traveling through the air. The king, as well as his predecessors, had struggled tremendously to raise the kingdom’s dragons, while Yumiella did it perfectly in just six months.
“Lady Yumiella seems to be smitten with the dragon, always calling it cute. I believe it’s good for her mood as well.”
“She’s calling that dragon cute?”
“It’s something normal people cannot understand. Aside from Lady Yumiella, Lady Eleanora has also taken a liking to the dragon.”
“Well, that girl is strange, after all,” the king replied, absentmindedly staring into the distance.
He was, of course, acquainted with Eleanora, given that she was the daughter of a duke. The king wasn’t too fond of her. She would act exactly the same even in His Majesty’s presence, and she was harder to deal with than the aristocrats who hid their evil intentions.
The king cleared his throat as if to chase away his unnecessary thoughts. “Well, if Lady Yumiella is happy, then there’s no problem. If we can keep those who are fussing over the fact that we won’t use the dragon in the military quiet, then everything will be great. How is her life at the Academy? Have there been any changes recently?”
“There’s nothing in particular. I believe we can safely say that the incident with Lemlaesta won’t be a problem.”
The king was also aware of the fact that an agent from the neighboring country of Lemlaesta had made contact with Yumiella. It was something that could easily be anticipated, but they trusted she wouldn’t succumb to temptations, so it wasn’t a matter of concern.
“How are her interpersonal relationships?”
“Her relationship with Patrick seems to be the same as usual.”
“So, no progress, I see. How does he feel about it?”
“He sternly told me to stay out of it, saying that it was between the two of them. He mentioned that if he worked in the kingdom’s interests, she would immediately disappear. Patrick also mentioned that it was a matter of pride.”
Naturally, the king also knew that Yumiella and Patrick got along. If they could draw Patrick into their camp, it would be easier to keep Yumiella in the kingdom. The king had attempted to bring this up to Patrick through the headmaster, but his response was less than ideal.
Regardless, the king was grateful to Patrick—for what he’d done for Yumiella but also because he was responsible for Edwin’s change of heart.
“He should at least have freedom in that area. After all, we are consistently being helped by him, including everything with my son.”
“Yes, I’m not sure where we would be if it weren’t for Patrick.”
“How is Lady Alicia? Have there been any changes to her behavior now that Edwin has changed?”
“No major changes aside from the fact that she is now taking level grinding seriously. Perhaps the shock therapy worked.”
The shock therapy that Ronald was referring to was Yumiella’s style of level grinding. After experiencing that, Alicia continued level grinding. However, Ronald was slightly worried about sending Alicia to defeat the Demon Lord. Her cooperation with Yumiella was hopeless, and it was possible that she would hold the party back.
As the king pondered with his hand on his chin, Ronald spoke up. “I think it may be wise to reconsider setting Alicia up to be the saintess.”
“That would be difficult. If we just think in terms of defeating the Demon Lord, sending Yumiella on her own would be the best. However, that would lead to issues in the future.”
The Kingdom of Valschein was founded by the hero and saintess who sealed away the Demon Lord. The royal family had the right to rule the kingdom because they were the descendants of that very hero, the first king.
By now, this story was a legend, but if Yumiella were to defeat the Demon Lord on her own, it would cause the royal family’s legitimacy to waver. This was something that Yumiella understood as well, and she had expressed that she was opposed to being set up to be the next queen.
“Things would work out wonderfully if Lady Yumiella just married His Highness and became the second coming of the saintess,” Ronald complained with a heavy sigh.
“Be careful to never say that to her.”
“I am very aware. I wouldn’t dare, nor could I. I believe that enough is being done about the Demon Lord for now, but what shall we do about the army of monsters that will appear at the same time?”
Supposedly, the Demon Lord could control monsters. Though monsters rarely left their habitats, it was said that the Demon Lord would use his powers to have them march toward the Royal Capital.
The king had been expanding the military behind closed doors to prepare to handle the army of monsters.
“That is progressing as planned. Our reserves for expeditions are being prepared, and the resources needed to build a simple defensive wall are being gathered.”
“It seems that we will be ready in time for the resurrection of the Demon Lord. You are going to recruit the aristocrats’ private armies as well, correct?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of letting them know around six months ahead of time. However, there are potential enemies near the domains of aristocrats with large armies. We wouldn’t want to poke sleeping bears.”
Those with armies close to the king’s in size were the provincial aristocrats that resided along the borders of the kingdom, including the families of two margraves. It was possible that other kingdoms would use the chaos of the Demon Lord’s resurrection to invade Valschein, so the king was planning to have the kingdom’s army be the central force of the efforts against the army of monsters while the provincial aristocrats monitored the borders.
“There are too many things to think about aside from the Demon Lord. Surely the story of the hero and the saintess is just a glorified fairy tale,” Ronald said with a sigh.
Hero and saintess were just titles—the hero was definitely strong, and the saintess was definitely a light-magic user, but they didn’t have any other special powers, nor did God speak through them.
Detailed records from that time were under strict storage in the Royal Palace’s library. There were some parts of it that were hidden or had been changed, but there was highly accurate information recorded there.
“Right, I had given you permission to view the records as well.”
“Yes, I’ve read the records from back then. Just as you said, I believe the identity of the Demon Lord is...”
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