Chapter 57: Noticing the Truth
As usual, once the students returned to the school after the summer holiday, the first week was dedicated for the preparation for Battle Fiesta. The lessons were limited to practical classes only and mostly it was self-study.
Some students were wielding their swords while others were practicing magic. And some with hidden ambition were putting effort on getting closer to their idol. Everyone was spending their time in their own way.
Around this time last year, Razé was doing muscle training. But this time, she was not even in the training ground. A red-haired student was running around the training ground, calling out Razé’s name.
“Razé-saaan! Master Razéee!”
It was Ian Masse Durhua, the winner for 1st Year students in the previous winter tournament. Everyone still remembered how he fought brilliantly after changing his specialized weapon from sword to polearm.
“H- How did this happen…?” Razé Granoli hid behind the school building nearby the training ground. She had a perplexed look on her face and felt this was the most embarrassing moment she had since joining the academy.
* * *
Razé wondered how the red-haired young man was able to go around shouting her name in a childlike manner without feeling embarrassed. For her, this scene looked like a lost child shouting for their parents, or a child shouting for their lost pet, or maybe someone in a very dangerous situation.
“Master Razéee! Please shout back if you can hear meee!” Ian was running around the training ground and dojo gym while calling her name.
Razé felt the situation was bad because she didn’t want to attract attention. The other students were curious about this person called “master” by Ian. Since this tournament would affect their future career path, the students, especially those who wanted to join the Knights were secretly observing Ian’s actions.
Razé was initially on her way to the training ground after stopping by the library. She instinctively went into hiding and now she had missed the right timing to go out.
“Aa-. How did this happen? … Hmm. It was my fault…” Razé muttered to herself with a disappointment. In the distance, she could still hear Ian calling out her name. “I already told him not to call me Master…”
She only intended to give him some advice during the winter tournament and had never thought it would cause such a troublesome situation. She felt that she hadn’t done much for him but for some reason Ian was looking for her. Given his personality, most likely he wanted to ask her for a match.
Razé thought that maybe she could slack off and lose a match. But she had already won once. The single-minded and stubborn Ian wouldn’t be convinced easily. She needed to be cautious with these types of people with good instinct. Razé hold her breath and stay perfectly quiet in her hiding spot while thinking of a countermeasure.
Well… They already know my fake identity as an adventurer anyway.
There were many talented students in this academy, so it was not rare if some of them were registered as adventurers. After all, this was an aristocratic school. Most family paid extra attention on their children’s education. Of course, some of them would never allow their children to do dangerous thing. However, most young men preferred to excel in both literary and martial arts. Most of the students in this academy were likely have been taught by experienced tutors from an early age.
Is it okay if I show off a little bit of my power? But the opponent is Ian…
When Razé tried to imagine what would happen if she defeated the top rank Ian, she groaned in frustration.
Besides, won’t they notice that I’m Wolf Fang if I show off my power…?
She focused back her drifting thoughts. The cast members of this otome game were all impressive people. Most importantly, they were all good-looking. Whatever they did, it will definitely attract attention. In comparison, the commoner Razé Granoli’s specialty movement magic looked bland and dull.
After all, she was called the ‘Ghost of the Executioner’ by other countries. Because of her fighting style of moving around freely and defeating enemies without showing her face, even some of Shian’s military personnel didn’t know her identity, let alone other countries. Sometimes, when she met a new person in the military, some of them would look at her weirdly and wondered why was the kid wearing military uniforms. And sometimes, this kind of person would mess with her. Even if she was wearing a military uniform, even if she said that she was the leader of 537th SAB and had the title Wolf Fang, some people just wouldn’t believe her because of her appearance. Then, all the more…
Wait a minute. So, if I show off my power here, I don’t think anyone would find out my identity. Isn’t it?
Even if she took it seriously, if she went all out, she could accomplish her mission without anyone noticing her. She certainly had the capability. After all, Razé Orphan was the first person to receive the title Wolf Fang alive. Because she was a one-of-a-kind living legend.
Razé was stunned. Why didn’t she ever notice such a simple thing before? Since she entered the school as a scholarship student and already made a fake confession that she was an adventurer, it wouldn’t be strange if she was excellent both in study and martial arts.
“Haha…” Razé laughed at herself for being too desperate trying to hide her identity that she couldn’t even notice this.
She had met some precious friends when she entered the academy. When she interacted with Carna and Folia as Razé Granoli, she didn’t want them to know she was a soldier. It would be even scarier if they found out about her title Wolf Fang.
It was pretty simple. Razé was afraid that her current relationship with them would be broken if they found out she was a soldier. For the first time in her life, she managed to meet friends that she could establish emotional bond with. It was not something that could be achieve easily. For Razé, it was more precious than any expensive magic stone. Unknowingly, she was very fond of this place.
Although her job was to protect the country, she rarely revealed her identity as the Wolf Fang who had made various military achievements. After reassessing this matter, she felt that her heart had become a little lighter. She had made up her mind to do her best as the bodyguard in this academy. “Alright. I’ll do my best. Oh, wait. What made me think about this again?” Razé asked herself.
“Razé-saaan!”
“Oh, right.” Hearing the voice calling out her name reminded her of the situation. When she took a peek at the training ground, she saw Ian talking to Folia.
Her train of thought had derailed. She was confident that nobody would realize that she was Wolf Fang even if she showed off her power, but that was only when she acted as a soldier. She would never show off her power against the students. Besides, if she defeated Ian, the talent scouts would be chasing after her.
“Hmm. For now, let’s just pretend to know nothing.” She had decided to ignore the situation. But then, she wondered whether she would be able to keep running away for this whole preparation week. She turned her steps while thinking about it and was surprised to see a young man standing right in front of her.
“Found you, scholarship student. What are you doing here? Ian is looking for you.”
She had detected his presence nearby but she thought he would ignore her. She didn’t expect that he would talk to her. She watched Adis Lag Zars closely and was astounded.
I’m pretty sure I was moving surreptitiously… Acting furtively could arouse suspicion, so she made sure to blend in with the crowd. She didn’t expect to be found out by a student.
“You… Please keep it a secret that I’m here…” Razé said as she turned to walk away.
“Wait!” Adis stopped her.
Considering that he had managed to find her, he must have a reason to look for her. “Yes?” Razé waited for him to talk.
“Hmm. Well… You…” It was very rare for him stammering his words when he usually spoke sarcastically with her. He hemmed and hawed a bit, before finally making up his mind and looked straight into her eyes. “Let me ask you a question.”
Razé: “… What is it?”
Adis: “You… did you get engaged with someone?”
“Huh?” Razé was surprised by the unexpected question.
Looking at her reaction, Adis assumed it was a negative response, so he immediately said, “Never mind. I must have heard wrong. Please forget what I’ve s-”
Razé: “H- How did you know?”
Adis: “Huh?!”
Razé was caught off guard because only military personnel should know about this matter. Did the Prime Minister tell him about this? She immediately doubted Welrian for leaking the news.
It wasn’t just Razé that was surprised by this conversation… Adis widened his eyes and grabbed Razé’s shoulders. “What’s going on? Who is the person you’re going to marry? Don’t tell me you’re getting married for money.”
Razé stood stiff looking at his serious reaction. “That’s not true! I did propose to get engaged. But the people around me persuaded me to think calmly, and in the end, the engagement plan was cancelled!” Razé replied to him like she was making a report in the military. Her engagement plan with Julius couldn’t be executed because her comrades begged her to reconsider.
Adis: “So, you actually are not engaged?”
Razé: “That’s right.”
Adis let go of her shoulder when he heard her answer.
“… Wait a minute. Did you say you propose to get engaged?”
“Yes.” Razé replied with a serious face.
Adis looked at her doubtfully. “Do you have someone you like?”
“No. I wanted to get engaged for a reason. Of course, I do like her. But it was not romantically type of like.”
‘’Her?!”
“To be precise, she is a man. But she has a maiden heart. Honestly, she is full of feminine qualities, so I’ve always wanted her as my wife.”
“Wife…”
“Other than her, I don’t think there’s anyone who wants to get engaged with me.”
Adis was speechless. Razé explanation was quite bizarre, so it took him quite a while to digest the information.
“So, you proposed to get engaged with her due to a situation. But in the end, the plan was cancelled. Did I get it right?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Can you tell me the reason why you need to get engaged?”
For a moment, Razé hesitated to answer his question. But since Adis also knew about the Book of Prophecies, she decided to be honest with him. Just in case, she activated the soundproofing device.
“Carna-sama is scared that her engagement might get called off. So, I was wondering if I should substitute her and get my engagement called off first.”
Once again, Adis was speechless. He stared at her, saying, “… Are you seriously saying that?”
“Yes, I’m serious.”
Adis breathe out a sigh. “Why are you always like this? Why can’t you treat yourself well…?”
Razé could sense that he was worried about her from his tone, but she couldn’t understand which part of this story caused him to be worried. She was puzzled.
In the memory of her previous life, getting a divorce was very common, let alone breaking an engagement. Since she was getting engaged with the premise of calling it off, she didn’t feel anything wrong about it.
Looking at the puzzled look on her face, Adis scratched his head.
Just the other day, Welrian suddenly said to him, “A commoner who goes to the academy most likely will have lots of marriage proposals waiting for them when they return home.”
Vanessa, who was with them at the time, was shocked and replied, “Could it be…?” while glancing at Adis.
It was a trigger set by Welrian to push his son, who was slow to take action. Vanessa responded, knowing that Adis had lost to a commoner girl. The only person she could think of was Razé.
Adis was doubtful about what Welrian had said. But it made him curious, so he decided to get an answer and verified it directly. He was glad that he asked her. Her reckless action always made him worried.
“Don’t try to solve the problem by yourself. I know you don’t want to make her worried. If you think it’s difficult to discuss with Prince Ruben, then you can just talk to me. I’ll definitely cooperate with you.”
“Y- Yes…”
“Okay. Then I’ll leave first.” Adis left Razé at her hiding place. He went out and immediately called out to Ian making Razé thought that she was going to get busted.
Adis: “Want to have a match? I’m looking for someone to practice with.”
Ian: “Sounds great! Let’s go!”
After finding an opponent to fight, Ian stopped looking for Razé. She noticed that Adis was sneaking a glance at her while the two guys were walking to the training ground.
He meant to help me… She hurriedly bowed her head. For the first time, Razé thought that Adis might be a good guy.
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