A Failed Knight Who Went to the Academy To Get Married

011 A Journey for the Princess

The scene at the Academy’s sports ground was reminiscent of a battlefield.

All the students from the Knight’s Department lay dust-covered and defeated.

Among them, only an old man in butler’s attire stood leisurely, sword in hand.

“Heh, as expected of the Knight Academy, everyone’s skills are outstanding.”

The students all glared at Train in unison.

It was all because of him that they had to endure ‘training’ and get beaten by the butler Elford.

Spitting out the dirt that got into his mouth, Train muttered,

“It’s not my fault… It’s all because of Prince Shiran.”

Prince Shiran, lying on the ground like a caterpillar, glared back at Train and retorted,

“Don’t make me laugh. Setting aside my brother, you’re the one who brought that old man here.”

As Train and Prince Shiran locked eyes in a silent battle,

Butler Elford slammed his sword down onto the ground and declared,

“There are still some spirited students here. Get up and come at me again.”

For some reason, Instructor Eloi, who was also sprawled on the ground, chuckled,

“Serves you right, you troublemakers.”

“Instructor, you seem quite relaxed too? Stand up, and I’ll take you on myself.”

In the end, the students and Instructor Eloi continued to be vigorously thrashed by Instructor Elford.

***

That evening.

In a fancy restaurant rented out entirely by Instructor Eloi outside the academy, he raised his glass high and exclaimed,

“Come on! Let’s toast together to celebrate our Knight Department truly coming in first at the sports festival!”

At his words, everyone, exhausted, merely went through the motions of raising their glasses.

Some couldn’t even properly lift their arms.

Only the butler Elford, standing next to Instructor Eloi, raised his arm with grace.

Train casually asked Prince Sirian, who was beside him,

“Did we really come first in both shooting and magic?”

“We got second place in magic. But since we won first in two events, we’ve avoided the disgrace of being called false champions.”

“That’s impressive.”

Prince Sirian, nodding towards Butler Elford, asked,

“By the way, were you really a disciple of the former Knight Commander?”

“It just happened that way.”

“They said he retired and fled to the countryside, and no one knows where he went.”

And then Train realized he knew almost nothing about Butler Elford.

Even when training Traine in the forest, there was hardly any conversation.

I only found out today that he was a former knight commander.

Why would such a remarkable person become Yuril’s butler?

No, rather, why did he suddenly appear, offering to help Traine?

That’s when Instructor Eloi asked Prince Siran.

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

Prince Siran crossed his arms and replied.

“I already know how to break the curse.”

Instructor Eloi asked Prince Siran again.

“Explain.”

“The one who deciphers the Book of Walpurgis must perform the ritual with the flower of the Bulroc cactus.”

At those words, several students frowned.

The Book of Walpurgis, known to be very difficult to decode.

The flower of the Bulroc cactus, which blooms once every thousand years.

Both were treasures only heard of in legends.

“The cactus flower, as it happens, blooms this year, so I’ll go to the Romer Empire to pick them myself.”

The Romer Empire was a nation adjacent to Altoria.

It seems they often waged war against each other, but now they are at a ceasefire.

Still, relations aren’t good, so the journey won’t be easy.

Instructor Eloi pondered for a moment before asking Prince Sirian again.

“Does the Kingdom’s Grand Library still possess the Book of Walpurgis?”

“The problem is that no one has succeeded in deciphering it yet.”

“Then who will you entrust with its decryption?”

“There’s someone right here with a natural talent for magical tomes.”

At that, all eyes turned to Train.

He spoke with a hint of panic.

“Wait, you don’t mean to entrust me with deciphering that book?”

“If we’re talking about the speed of reading magical tomes, there’s no one in our kingdom faster than you.”

An ordinary scholar might take months to read a single volume.

Yet Train had devoured two volumes in an instant.

If we’re talking sheer potential, choosing him was never a bad gamble.

“Even so, there must be someone who can decipher this better than me, right?”

“I’ve been looking for years, and yet, no one.”

“I’m hardly an expert on magical tomes. What if I fail?”

“Then that’s as far as Shia’s fate goes.”

Traine couldn’t help but kick his chair back and stand up.

“Hey, you jerk. You call that something to say?”

But Prince Sirian didn’t even blink as he retorted.

“If it weren’t for you, this operation wouldn’t have even started.”

The reason the book had remained undeciphered wasn’t just its complexity.

Con artists who lied about deciphering it just to extort rewards.

Thieves who stole the book demanding a ransom of millions of gold.

Even scoundrels willing to burn the book for political reasons.

“I entered the academy solely to find someone like you.”

Just to find someone who could properly decipher a single book.

Wandering through guilds, foreign lands, and back alleys, taking whatever path that came before me.

After being deceived, betrayed, and enduring all manner of humiliations, I’ve tumbled down to this point.

It was with a heart half resigned, attempting to grasp even a rotten lifeline.

But that lifeline was merely light itself.

“Let me say this once more. If you fail, Sia’s fate ends here anyway.”

A person with a genius for deciphering magical tomes, yet one who would never betray Princess Sia.

Traein was the only hope for Sia’s salvation.

“I implore you.”

Prince Siran rose from his seat.

And then, quite suddenly, he bowed deeply before Traein.

“Please… save Princess Sia—my sister.”

All the other students held their breath.

That a prince would bow so low to another.

In the end, Traein, unable to refuse, steeled himself and replied.

“Understood. I’ll give it a try.”

Upon that, Elizabeth rose from her seat and declared,

“I too, vow to lend my modest strength to rescue Princess Shia.”

Perhaps it was due to Elizabeth’s declaration, from a house not in good terms with the royal family,

One by one, other students also stood up.

“I will stay till the end too!”

“Rescuing the princess is the duty of a knight.”

“Let’s rescue her splendidly and all rise in rank together.”

Eventually, when the entire Knight Academy stood up,

Prince Sirian, still bowing, exclaimed,

“I am truly grateful to everyone!”

***

Immediately after, the strategy meeting began.

“Shall we split into two teams then?”

Instructor Eloi pointed at Train and Prince Sirian as he spoke.

“Train’s team will seek the Walpurgis grimoire, while Prince Sirian’s team will search for the Bulroc cactus flower. Any objections?”

With everyone seemingly convinced, they nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Let’s decide here and now which team everyone will join. Who wants to be on Trainne’s team?”

Lisbeth was the first to raise her hand.

“I will join you.”

Following her lead, the majority of the female students raised their hands as well.

After all, Lisbeth was the leader and the object of admiration among the girls.

Jisoo also attempted to raise her hand,

but a few of the girls sent sharp glances her way, causing her to hesitantly lower it.

Instructor Eloi smiled contentedly and said,

“Then the rest of you will be on Prince Siran’s team, right? It’s worked out perfectly with five members each.”

“Hold on, hold on, hold on!”

Trainne stood up abruptly and exclaimed,

“Except for me, my team is all girls!”

To which Instructor Eloi frowned and retorted,

“What’s wrong with that?”

“No, even so…”

At that, Elford the butler, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth.

“Then I shall join Mr. Train’s team as well. Now that there are two men, there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

It was even more dreadful.

Honestly, he was the most uncomfortable person here.

Train felt a tremor beneath his eyes that he didn’t even notice himself.

***

After the party ended, all the students returned to the dormitory.

In the midst of that, Instructor Eloy, who had gotten drunk alone, decided to have Lizbeth escort him back.

Train stood alone in the dormitory’s backyard with his sword again tonight.

“…Huff! …Huff! …Haah!”

But in the end, he couldn’t swing it a few times and dropped the sword.

As Train bent down to pick up his sword, a voice came from behind.

“It seems you haven’t neglected your training even after injuring your hand.”

Train was momentarily startled by the sudden presence, but…

Upon spotting the butler Elford, he let out a brief sigh.

“At best, I spend a couple of hours each night just standing like this.”

“Nevertheless, I’ve gotten myself tangled in quite the troublesome affair.”

“Who isn’t? This isn’t what I came to the academy for.”

“Do you wish to save Miss Yuril, or is it Princess Shia you’re after?”

Without hesitation, Train answered.

“I will save both.”

Whether it was because Siruan, a royal and a friend, had asked him, or

because he felt pity for Princess Shia and wanted to do something for her, or

because solving Princess Shia’s curse might give him clues to Yuril’s curse.

Such reasons didn’t matter to him.

“At least, there shouldn’t be any unhappy people around me.”

“How shamelessly you use the lady’s creed as an excuse for your philandering.”

“You might be right, it could be an excuse.”

Train once again took up his sword and assumed his stance.

“Even so, that’s all I have to say.”

Elford, the butler, smiled contentedly,

then drew his wooden sword.

“Come at me.”

“Eek, again? We’ve already sparred enough.”

“It seems even young Train has changed. Before, no matter how tired, you’d always—”

“I haven’t changed at all!”

Train attempted a sneaky attack while Elford was off guard.

But Elford swiftly struck Train’s side with his sword,

causing Train to fall helplessly.

“It seems you’ve only increased your cunning since coming to the academy.”

“Tch, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“If this is all you’ve got, Miss Yuril might as well give up now.”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Train sprang up and charged at the butler once more.

Charging in, falling down, rising again to charge, and falling once more.

This routine was repeated for nearly a few hours.

Anyone watching from the side might have grown sick of his relentless persistence.

But for Train, this was once just a part of his ordinary daily life.

“Think of your own weaknesses before you look for mine.”

“Tch! I know that without you saying!”

The daily life that had been lost for five years.

Now, he felt as if he was finally reclaiming a bit of that life.

***

The next morning.

Prince Siran poked Train’s arm with his finger and asked,

“Are you okay?”

“It hurts, dude! Don’t touch!”

“That’s why I told you not to go overboard with your secret intense training.”

“You didn’t spy on me last night too, did you?”

“Now even students from other departments come to watch, you know?”

“Damn, next time I should swing it further away.”

“Why make a fuss about it now?”

Just then, Instructor Eloi and Butler Elford entered the classroom together.

Instructor Eloi slammed the table with both hands and exclaimed,

“Effective today, the Knight’s Department is granted permission to leave school grounds for the King’s commission instead of regular classes!”

At those words, the students cheered.

“Then, as planned, Prince Sirian’s team will move with me, and Train’s team will move with Mr. Elford! Dismissed!”

Prince Sirian stood up abruptly as if he had been waiting.

And then he said to Train,

“It seems we’ll have a hard time seeing each other for a while.”

“Indeed.”

“Then I ask you once again.”

Prince Sirian suddenly bent his waist at a ninety-degree angle.

Train grabbed Prince Sirian’s shoulder and forced him upright as he spoke.

“A prince does not engage in such base acts.”

“I’m asking you not as a prince, but as a friend.”

“If we’re friends, all the more reason not to. Friends are friends without such acts.”

Train extended his fist.

Prince Shiran responded with a grin, bumping his fist against Train’s.

***

That afternoon, Train’s team immediately boarded the train.

Train briefly explained the situation to the other five female students on the train.

“We’re heading to the Great Library in Liat Village, where the Walpurgis grimoire is.”

At that, one of them clapped excitedly.

Train ignored the clapping and continued.

“Master Elford has some business and will leave separately tomorrow, so today we just need to secure our lodgings.”

Then the girl who had clapped so loudly spoke up.

“I’ve booked a nice restaurant for dinner, so let’s all go together.”

“I promised I’d decipher the book myself, but I can’t guarantee how long it will take.”

“We still have a few months to spare, so there’s no need to rush.”

“I’ll entrust you with the research and the protection of Princess Shia.”

“The head librarian is quite the slippery character, so please be cautious, everyone.”

Train sighed deeply before glaring at the young lady and said,

“Princess Shia. I will explain everything, so could you please stay put?”

To which Princess Shia, donning an academy uniform she had borrowed on a whim, replied with a bright smile to Train,

“Everyone is working hard for me, so it’s only right that I offer my help.”

“Weren’t you supposed to stay quiet in exchange for being allowed to accompany us?”

Then, Elizabeth cleared her throat and spoke,

“Train. She is a princess and your fiancée, perhaps you should treat her more tenderly?”

And that’s true.

Others are under the impression that Train is passionately fond of Princess Shia.

But the reality, known only to Princess Shia, is a secret.

Should anyone carelessly provoke Princess Shia’s mood and risk exposing the secret…

“Right. As my fiancé, you have a duty to treat me more tenderly.”

At Princess Shia’s words, Train grimaced forcefully, then soon forced a smile again,

“Well, since we’re engaged, I should be more friendly, shouldn’t I?”

He pinched both of Shia’s cheeks and pulled hard.

“Ow, wait, that hurts!”

“A little prank like this is fine, isn’t it? Since we’re engaged.”

“Keep this up, and I’ll get angry, you know?”

“I’ll just return those words to you.”

And so, their journey began amidst an outwardly endlessly harmonious atmosphere.