Chapter 66
【 Dragon Intezer 】
“Make sure you’ve got all your belongings! Nobody left anything behind, right? Then, First Years – Class 2! Board the carriages according to your groups!”
There had been a bit of chaos in the morning, but somehow, I managed to get through it.
Sara had gone wild, trying to kill me, but thankfully, Layla had pulled her away.
After that, Lisa had acted as if nothing had happened, hugging me tightly as she lay back down on the bed.
And I… hadn’t been able to escape from her arms, so I’d ended up lying there with her for quite a while.
‘I stayed like that until about ten o’clock, didn’t I?’
Only after Lisa had fully woken up was I finally able to escape the bed.
When I went outside to check the situation, Lisa had followed me out immediately.
Thanks to that, it looked like the two of us had come out of the same room—and a few students happened to witness it.
Since the sun was already high in the sky, there were quite a few students roaming the hotel corridors.
As a result, strange rumors about me and Lisa seemed to have started spreading again.
I couldn’t help but be a bit bothered by them...
‘But Lisa didn’t seem to care at all.’
I was curious what was going on in her head, but I decided to think about that later.
First, I had to take care of the matter at hand.
“Alright, alright! Quickly, get in! Next carriage is—what? Three students are missing? Then Class 3, depart first! Class 2, hold for now!”
Sighing, I pulled out my Crystal Sphere and contacted the Student Council.
After reporting that three students from Class 2 were missing, I went out to look for them.
‘Maybe I really should’ve listened to Luke and taken the day off.’
I regretted it for a moment, but soon shook my head to dismiss the thought.
It was troublesome, sure, but this was still the better choice.
During this school trip, I’d been put in charge of leading the first-year members of the Student Council.
If I suddenly decided to take a break now, those first-year council members would definitely panic.
‘Besides, it’s faster if I handle it myself.’
Being first-years, they were still inexperienced in dealing with unexpected situations.
But I was different.
I’d already experienced almost every possible scenario through the game.
And this was one of them.
‘If three students from Class 2 went missing… ah, it must be those three.’
There had been a similar side episode in the game.
I left the Student Council first-years in charge of the carriages and headed toward the Skedum shopping district.
‘It should be around here.’
Then, I walked into a dessert café I spotted on the street.
Going up to the second floor, I found three female academy students leisurely enjoying coffee and cake.
“You three are from Class 2, right?”
“That’s right. Why? Who are you to be asking us that?”
The girls responded with an annoyed tone.
But I spoke firmly.
“I’ve come to pick you up. Because of you three, Class 2 hasn’t been able to depart. Please return and join your group immediately—”
“Ugh, just tell them to wait. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of dessert time?”
“Yeah. Tell those commoners to wait a little.”
The three girls laughed, completely shameless.
I’d known this would happen, but seeing it in person still made me feel dizzy.
I sighed inwardly and spoke again.
“It’s not just commoners waiting—”
“Oh, those two boys? They’re barons, or maybe viscounts’ sons, right?”
“Who cares. Their families are nothing special anyway. Just tell them to wait.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll finish our dessert and go later. So just leave us alone, okay?”
I had a few options here.
Leaving them alone was one, but that would clearly delay Class 2’s departure even more.
Drawing my sword to threaten them was another—but that would likely lead to future retaliation.
Not direct harm, but in a few years, in noble or political circles, I might face strange repercussions.
‘That’s how it went in the game, too. I forced them at swordpoint, and years later, got caught in some political mess from people I didn’t even remember... Yeah, threatening them’s not an option. And bribing won’t work either—they’re rich nobles.’
It was starting to get annoying enough that I thought about calling a teacher for help.
But then I remembered—these three were the kind of troublemakers who didn’t even listen to the instructors.
‘The infamous delinquent NPCs every player hated dealing with.’
Any event involving them made players groan.
No matter what dialogue option you picked, these three just wouldn’t listen.
Which meant I didn’t really have a proper way to deal with them right now...
“Hey… isn’t there only one white-haired boy among the first-years?”
“Was there?”
“Yeah, right? And that white-haired one’s part of the Disciplinary Committee, isn’t he…?”
“Ah—wait.”
The three girls turned their eyes back to me.
“Is he that Disciplinary Committee member?”
“If it’s the first-year one, he’s been hanging around with Lady Lisa lately, right?”
“A-and there was a rumor this morning, too! That Lady Lisa jumped her junior in the Committee—”
“Should we… just go?”
“Y-yeah. Even if it’s just a rumor, getting on House Balmuth’s bad side never ends well.”
The girls started whispering among themselves, then quickly grabbed their belongings and stood up.
I silently watched them.
“W-we just have to go to the first-year hotel, right?”
“Yes. Head toward the lodging area, and the Student Council members will guide you.”
“Got it. And, um… could you please put in a good word for us to Lady Lisa?”
“At the very least, I won’t speak ill of you.”
“What? Hey, who do you think you are, talking like tha—ugh?!”
“Shut up, you idiot! Do you have a death wish?”
The girl who had tried to argue with me got smacked hard on the back of her head by one of the others.
Then that same girl looked back at me again.
“Pretend you didn’t see that. So, um… please don’t say anything bad about us to Lady Lisa. Actually, it’d be best if you just didn’t mention us at all.”
“If you go straight to the lodging without fooling around, I won’t mention you.”
“Ah, okay. Hey! Move it! Unless you want to get marked by House Balmuth!”
The girl with the strong personality half-dragged the other two out of the café.
I couldn’t help but chuckle watching them leave.
‘Lisa’s name really does carry weight.’
Well, it made sense.
Lisa was the heir of a ducal family, and her martial prowess was renowned throughout the Empire.
Even before entering the Academy, her skill was said to surpass that of most knights.
‘By the way, that assertive one just now—was that Lilith? The delinquent noble girl from a prestigious house?’
A young lady whose speech and behavior were rough, unbefitting of a noble.
Still, because of her straightforward personality, she was the only one among the three delinquents who could occasionally say something decent.
‘Well, it’s not like I’ll have to deal with her much anyway, so I don’t need to worry about it.’
I slowly walked out of the café.
In the distance, I could see the three girls quickly heading toward the first-year lodging.
They probably wouldn’t stray off on the way, so my job here was done.
‘I’ll just go rest in the carriage for a bit.’
The carriage I had to ride wasn’t the one for Class 1, but the Student Council’s carriage—the same one used by President Nia and the Disciplinary Committee President, Lisa.
Since the Student Council’s carriage departed last, after all the students had left, I thought I might as well head there early and rest until departure.
‘Anyway, I’m glad my body feels better than expected.’
As I made my way toward the carriage area, I lightly checked my condition.
My leg, where the arrow had pierced, still ached a little, and there was some muscle pain here and there, but considering what I’d gone through last night, I was in surprisingly good shape.
‘Yeah, my condition’s fine… and this is still fine too.’
I glanced down at the back of my left hand.
There was still a blue tattoo shaped like a falcon.
‘If this really is Peregrie’s power, then it must grant the ability to summon storms or something like that.’
It was an unexpected power to obtain, but if I had to put it one way—it wasn’t bad.
As long as it didn’t come with any side effects, anyway.
‘But side effects or not, I don’t even know how to use this power yet.’
Last night, when that gale erupted in the cave, I hadn’t done anything on purpose.
The tattoo had simply shone on its own and unleashed its power.
‘I should find some time later to test it out.’
It probably wouldn’t be possible until after the school trip ended.
Once I had some spare time, that would be the moment to experiment.
‘Anyway… the carriage should be somewhere around here…’
Lost in thought, I made my way toward the carriage I was supposed to board.
No one was there except for the coachman.
‘As expected, Lisa and Nia aren’t here yet.’
I stepped into the empty carriage and took a seat.
Then I slumped down into it.
‘Guess the fatigue hasn’t worn off yet. My body still feels stiff.’
Even though I’d gotten a good night’s sleep, it seemed I hadn’t fully recovered from the ordeal last night.
‘I’ll take a short nap once the carriage starts moving.’
As I was sitting there, relaxing for a bit—
“Gideon.”
“Mm? Ah, Lady Lisa. You’re here?”
“Yeah, I’m here. And I’m in a hurry.”
“…In a hurry?”
I straightened up and looked at Lisa as she stepped into the carriage.
As she said, she really did look a little frantic.
Her face was expressionless as usual, but her eyes clearly showed urgency.
“What do you mean you’re in a hurry—”
“I’m thirsty.”
“…Didn’t you drink this morning?”
“I couldn’t, because of Lady Layla.”
“Well, understood. Then my wrist—”
“No. The blood from your wrist doesn’t taste good.”
“W-what?”
With those words, Lisa pushed me back onto the seat and climbed on top of me.
“L-Lady Lisa?”
“The blood around your neck tasted the best. I’ll drink from there.”
Her face was calm and blank.
But hearing her say that with such a blank expression somehow made it scarier.
“Lady Lisa, can’t this wait? We don’t know when Lady Nia might arrive—if she sees us like this…”
“I told you, I’m in a hurry. And Nia-unni won’t be here for a while…”
“The hell I won’t. I’m here, you brat.”
A voice came from outside the carriage.
I glanced up—and saw the Student Council President staring at us with an exasperated look.
“L-Lady Nia?”
“Mm, Nia-unni, you’re here. When did you get here?”
“Just now. And if you’re gonna do that, at least close the damn door. What if someone sees you two?”
“Sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Unlike me, who was flustered, Lisa remained perfectly calm.
Seeing her like that, Nia let out a dry laugh.
“I heard the two of you got caught up in an incident last night… I don’t know what exactly happened, but looks like you two got pretty close.”
“Yeah, I made up my mind last night.”
“Good for you. That’s great and all but… ugh, fine. I won’t interrupt your little moment. I’ll sit up front with the coachman, so enjoy your hot time together.”
“L-Lady Nia, it’s not what you think—”
“Thanks.”
Lisa cut off my words and casually accepted Nia’s “consideration.”
“As you said, I’ll make sure we have a good time.”
“Lady Nia, wait a moment—”
“Ugh, damn it. Being single is suffering.”
Nia ignored me completely and shut the carriage door.
And just like that, only Lisa and I were left inside.
“Gideon, let’s continue where we left off.”
“Lady Lisa, hold on—”
Apparently, she really was in a hurry. While still on top of me, Lisa leaned down and pressed her lips to my neck.