A Failed Knight Who Went to the Academy To Get Married

021 Battlefield for the Princess

Prince Krumchuck found the students of the Kingdom of Altoria pitiful.

They were about ten students, not yet adults, from a small and insignificant country.

In contrast, his side boasted fifty of the elite soldiers from the Romer Empire.

It was clear they stood no chance.

With that assurance, Prince Krumchuck calmed his excitement and made a composed offer.

“If you hand over Princess Sia quietly now, I’ll let this incident slide.”

Prince Krumchuck wanted to praise himself for his magnanimity.

To forgive everything else as long as his goal was achieved, how generous was that?

But the foolish students seemed not to understand their predicament.

“Don’t make me laugh!”

“I will never hand over Princess Shia to the likes of you!”

“I will protect her with my life if I have to!”

Pathetic fools, kicking away the mercy I’ve graciously granted with their own feet.

It didn’t matter which side it was.

In the end, Princess Shia would fall into the hands of Prince Kkeumcheok.

And as a bonus, all the other girls will become slaves as well.

That’s why, licking his lips inwardly, he was about to give orders to his soldiers when-

“Everyone, just stop for a moment. There’s no need to shed blood unnecessarily, right?”

A guy named Train stepped forward.

“The outcome is obvious anyway, let’s try to negotiate with words.”

Then Prince Kkeumcheok laughed pleasantly and said,

“Hahaha! You always were the smart one!”

Train, fearless, began to walk confidently towards Prince Kkeumcheok.

The soldiers threatened Train with their spears, but

Prince Kkeumcheok raised his hand and said,

“Leave me be. I’m not scared of a student without a weapon.”

At those words, the soldiers lowered their spears.

Then, Train weaved through the soldiers’ ranks, tapping their shoulders teasingly as he passed.

Finally, standing right in front of Prince Kumechak mounted on his camel, Train said,

“Your Highness. Are you considering hiring me for the Romer Empire?”

“Does that mean you intend to betray Altori?”

“If Princess Shia is to marry you anyway, there’s no reason for me to stay.”

At that, the students all frowned in unison.

It was less anger at being betrayed, and more suspicion of what scheme was afoot.

However, Prince Kumechak, oblivious to the undercurrents, laughed heartily and said,

“Good! Swear loyalty to me, and I might just lend you Princess Shia’s hand.”

“Thank you.”

“But that’s only if those foolish ones quietly hand over Princess Shia.”

“Before that, I have a gift for you, Your Highness.”

Train then pulled out a tome of magic from within his cloak.

It must have been the book used to break Princess Shia’s curse yesterday, surely something called ‘The Book of Walpurgis’ or whatever.

Prince Kkumcheong snickered complacently at the thought.

“Is that book supposed to be a gift? It’s worthless now.”

“Not necessarily. It can also perform tricks like this.”

Train opened the book.

Suddenly, a few soldiers lifted their spears and,

without hesitation, stabbed the other soldiers around them.

Prince Kkumcheong cried out in alarm.

“What, what’s happening!”

“For your information, it can do this as well.”

Suddenly, a resounding rooster’s crow emanated from the book.

An inexplicable terror spread explosively, and the camel, agitated, threw Prince Kkumcheong off and bolted.

Prince Kkumcheong, lying on the ground, shouted with a terrified expression.

“Kill that man at once!”

But among the numerous soldiers, not a single one rushed forward.

Most of them were already entranced and hallucinating.

They seemed busy wildly swinging their spears at each other.

“What the hell are you doing, you b*stard!”

“You stabbed me first!”

“Stop it! We’re on the same side!”

In the midst of this, Train shouted with all his might.

“Fire at will!”

At his command, the students from the Knight Academy reacted instantly.

“Just shoot!”

“Cover Train as a priority!”

“That guy should have given us a heads-up if he was going to do this!”

Bullets and spells flashed and poured out in the darkness.

The soldiers, still unable to identify friend from foe, fell one by one, not even knowing what hit them.

At the perfect moment, just as the soldiers were catching on, Instructor Eloi drew his sword and yelled.

“Close combat troops, follow me in the charge!”

As the butler Elford and the students, including Lizbeth, burst out…

Amidst the swirling dust clouds…

The battlefield turned into chaos in an instant.

“How dare you- Argh!”

“Damn it! Who’s friend and who’s foe?”

“These guys are incredibly strong!”

Even if the opponents were elite troops, most were in a state of brainwashing and confusion.

On the other hand, these students were the finest talents of Altoria.

Each student began to swiftly take down two or three soldiers.

“…This should be good enough.”

Train closed his grimoire and tucked it away.

Then, Prince Krumchuck belatedly rose to his feet and shouted.

“You insolent brat!”

Train approached Prince Krumchuck even closer and said,

“It’s the first time I’ve seen such a fool who takes the enemy strategist’s words at face value.”

“Do you think you’ll get away with this!”

“It’s you who won’t get away!”

Train threw a punch right at Prince Klutz’s face.

Prince Klutz, unable to react, took the hit in vain and collapsed.

Then, Train mumbled in confusion.

“What the, he’s incredibly weak?”

With such a muscular build, one would think he could handle a fight…

Train’s question was soon answered.

Prince Klutz’s body began to swell slowly, and before long, he had become morbidly obese.

“Ugh… Dad… save me…”

Frowning at the transformation, Train asked.

“Did you cast some kind of illusion magic?”

“Eek! Don’t come any closer!”

Train sighed shortly, incredulous.

He had unfolded this strategy intending to duel Prince Klutz.

—

It seemed certain to be a struggle, but if the opponent is this weak, the story changes.

Traine climbed atop Prince Kkumcheok, dagger at his throat, and shouted with all his might.

“The fight is over! Stop fighting immediately, or I will kill Prince Kkumcheok!”

At those words, the once noisy battlefield fell silent in an instant.

As the soldiers belatedly realized the situation and scrambled, Instructor Eloi followed up with a shout.

“Everyone drop your weapons and put your hands up! Students, bind all the soldiers!”

The students moved swiftly, following Instructor Eloi’s orders.

Meanwhile, Prince Kkumcheok, shivering yet forcing a smile, said to Traine.

“Let’s, let’s negotiate, shall we?”

“…Speak.”

“That’s right! If you stand with me now, I promise you riches and glory!”

“I’m not interested.”

“Then, do you want Princess Shia? I’ll specially lend her to you twice, no, three times a week!”

Traine was too dumbfounded to even feel angry.

To think he once considered such a vile man a charming prince.

—

Perhaps I should cultivate a better eye for people.

At that moment, Prince Shiran approached and said,

“Just kill him.”

Train glanced sideways at Prince Shiran and retorted,

“What are you talking about? Are you planning to go to war with the Romer Empire?”

“Father will probably attack first once he finds out, won’t he?”

“I get that your family bonds are strong, but you’re royalty after all.”

“Royalty or not, could you forgive a pervert who targeted your sibling?”

“You see-“

While the two were bickering,

Prince Koomchuck stealthily pulled a small bead from his pocket.

With a triumphant smile, he exclaimed,

“Wings of Romer! Protect me!”

In that instant, Train and Shiran were flung away from Prince Koomchuck.

And suddenly, a massive beast appeared.

With a lion’s body, an eagle’s head and wings.

Perhaps it’s a mythical creature known as a griffin.

Prince Krumchuck clumsily climbed atop the griffin, shouting,

“Take only Princess Shia and escape!”

The griffin took flight.

In the blink of an eye, it snatched Princess Shia with its front paws and began to flee into the sky.

Prince Siran fired his gun at the griffin, but it was already too far away.

“That beast, just you wait!”

But it had already escaped beyond shooting range.

Train looked around and yelled,

“Does anyone have a means to chase after that thing?!”

At those words, Cat blew hard on the flute hanging around her neck.

Soon after, a pterosaur flew in from the distance.

Cat climbed onto the pterosaur, took hold of the reins, and smirked.

“Good thing I called it over in advance, huh?”

Prince Train and Prince Shiran climbed onto the Wyvern without hesitation.

“Is there only one?!”

“Chase quickly!”

“Won’t you both say thank you?”

Cat grumbled as she drove the Wyvern to start chasing after the Griffin.

***

Princess Shia was so terrified that she couldn’t even scream.

Dangling precariously from the Griffin’s talons,

She could only watch as the ground grew increasingly distant.

‘I shouldn’t have let my guard down, just as Lord Train said.’

Of course, it wasn’t Princess Shia’s fault.

It all happened in an instant.

Yet, she couldn’t shake off the guilt of being a burden once again.

From atop the Griffin, Prince Kumchuck’s shout was heard.

“Princess Shia! I will make sure to torment you thoroughly!”

And then, they started hurling all sorts of vile words, torture and discipline.

Princess Shia took a deep breath, ignoring the voices.

‘Pull yourself together. For the sake of those who have worked hard for me, I must escape.’

It was then that Prince Kkumcheok exclaimed in a somewhat flustered voice.

“Why are these vermin so persistent!”

At his words, Shia twisted her head to look back.

She saw a pterosaur chasing after them.

Princess Shia chuckled to herself unwittingly.

“They really are tenacious.”

Despite not being fond of him, he always catches her eye in dangerous moments.

“To think I shouldn’t fall for him, it’s just not possible.”

She can’t rely on him any longer.

The griffin’s speed increased significantly.

And with that, the distance between them and the pterosaur widened again.

Prince Kkumcheok laughed carelessly and shouted.

“Indeed, a mere pterosaur could never catch up to a griffin!”

…

Princess Shia calmly pulled out a gun from her embrace.

Even if she did nothing, Train would save her again, in his own way.

But she could no longer depend solely on him.

If she wished for him to even glance her way,

She too, must change.

Without hesitation, Shia fired at the griffin’s wing.

“What, what is this all of a sudden!”

The griffin, one wing frozen, began to wobble.

Soon, it lost its balance, flailing, and inadvertently let go of Princess Shia.

As she fell, Princess Shia focused all her nerves.

“I wonder if I can use Lady Lillian’s flight magic!”

She had never tried it, but she was sure she had learned the incantation.

Even as she plummeted, Princess Shia concentrated with all her might.

“To the sad beast that crawls the earth, lend me wings to roam free!”

As the fall began to slow down.

Using a spell for the first time was nothing short of miraculous.

Even more so to succeed in such a desperate situation.

It was not just talent, but undoubtedly her will played a part too.

Yet, it wasn’t enough to completely halt the fall.

She concentrated with all her might, but the ground cruelly continued to approach faster.

At this rate of deceleration, she surely wouldn’t be safe.

“No, please, just a little more!”

Right before Sia hit the ground.

A pterosaur narrowly swept beneath her.

Traine agilely caught her in his arms.

Princess Sia, with teary eyes, said,

“Traine, thank you…”

But the reactions of the other three on the pterosaur were icily indifferent.

“Why would you do something so dangerous? Do you have a death wish?”

“Aren’t you going to thank your brother?”

“It was actually me who saved the princess.”

Princess Sia couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

It was probably the first time she had laughed so heartily since she was born.

Kat landed the pterosaur near where the griffin had fallen.

The four of them went down together to look for Prince Kkumcheok.

The griffin was already dead, and Prince Kkumcheok was sprawled on the ground, sobbing.

“It hurts… Mom, save me…”

Prince Siran clicked his tongue.

“Still not dead yet?”

Prince Kkumcheok struggled to his feet.

Then, with a tear-streaked face, he glared at Prince Siran with all his might and shouted.

“I will never forgive you guys!”

Then he took out a bead and threw it hard on the ground.

“Guardians of Romer! Annihilate the enemy!”