Chapter 340

Daredevils
The week began, and when I finally returned to the Knight Dorm, my classmates greeted me with smiles. Even in the knight department staff room, the teachers kept telling me I’d done well, which was a little embarrassing.

“Well, Joan has finally returned… but the tests will proceed as usual.”

“Seriously… Teachers, please, have mercy on me—”

““Nope. Impossible.””

“… Well, I guess there’s no helping it. Let’s do this.”

“You switch gears fast as always.”

“Souya, if it’s impossible, it’s impossible. Complaining now won’t do anything.”

“Yeah, true. You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

“Not okay!!”

“Why the smug face?”

As a result, my overall ranking dropped to second place. And it wasn’t even a real mistake, just a careless error where I misaligned the arithmetic answers. What a mess. By the way, first place was Belle.

““““Why did we lose to Joan, who was absent!?”””””

That was Souya, Riki, Dagger, and Blood screaming. Karim was third, and Ed, who had also been absent partway through, was fourth. The four who were yelling barely made it into the top ten.

“You all are being dragged down by academics.”

“Yeah. Some of you even scored higher than Belle and Joan in practical skills.”

As the teachers said, Souya and the others didn’t do well in strategy, military history, foreign languages, chivalry, or arithmetic. Souya had been working hard on languages thanks to advice from Mr. Taiki. Riki excelled in arithmetic from helping at his family’s store. Dagger liked reading military history books. Blood spent break time discussing tactics with classmates. But outside their strengths, all four barely scraped by, and without their practical skills, top ten would have been impossible.

Lunch came, and we went to the cafeteria with our usual group.

“But, you know, if we don’t work hard during summer break, we’re gonna drown in extra lessons next term.”

“Joan… don’t act like it’s someone else’s problem. But yeah, that would suck. We wouldn’t get to go to the Guild.”

Dagger said that, but really, it was someone else’s problem—so I might as well give advice so they don’t miss Guild time.

“Then how about we teach each other our strong subjects? Teaching helps you review too, so it’s a win-win.”

““““True.””””

“By the way, what are you all doing over summer break?”

We thought while eating at Souya’s question.

“I’m going back to my domain. Help Dad and my older brother with work, and maybe rack up points at the Guild?” Karim said.

“I’ll go with my mother to Elfa Kingdom. The rest’s the same as Karim—helping Dad and Guild work.” Ed said.

“I’ll stay in my domain, helping Dad and my brothers. Also, I’ll probably visit Joan again this year.” Belle said.

“I have the General’s store reopening soon, so that’s priority. Then I have to earn points at the Guild. When Belle comes, we’ll cook together, train with the private army, and exercise with my grandmother.”

“Man, noble kids sure are busy. I help at home too, but it’s a different kind of work.”

“Wait, Riki! Joan’s summer plans don’t even seem like a noble lady’s.”

“True, what Blood said. I almost got fooled.”

“Hey, isn’t that mean, Blood and Dagger?”

““““Not mean!””””

Not only the four of them, but Karim and Ed joined in unison.

“But… private army and grandmother’s training? What’s that even like?”

“The Lampail private army is supposed to be as strong as the castle knights, right?”

“Joan’s grandmother’s part of the private army too?”

“Then, she’s strong?”

From the top: Dagger, Blood, Souya, Riki. We three—Belle, Karim, and Ed—exchanged looks and laughed. Souya’s group looked confused.

“You guys don’t know fear, do you?”

It was Teacher Brian who spoke, with Teacher Hector nodding beside him.

“Joan’s grandmother was the captain of the Empress Dowager’s Royal Guard. Not just strong—insanely strong.”

“The training she gave was called the Spartan Course even among castle knights. Even now, only a few can complete it perfectly.”

““““Spartan Course….””””

“Ah… remembering it is painful…”

“Same here…”

The teachers’ distant looks showed just how harsh her training was.

“Oh! Then, if you want, why don’t you come to my place?”

“““““““Huh!?”””””””

Everyone except Belle was surprised at my invitation.

“You can spend about a week at my place, get trained by the private army and my grandmother.”

“No, wait, we just heard ‘Spartan Course.’”

“Private army training sounds intense too…”

“It’s fine. It’s like a training camp.”

“Then, okay, if it’s a camp, the homeroom teacher can come too!”

“Souya! What a terrifying idea!”

“You might see it as classmates’ home, but that’s the home of our former superiors! Give us a break!”

＊＊＊＊＊

That’s the kind of conversation we had during lunch. Later, at night, after dinner, as Belle and I returned to the girls’ floor, Souya spoke. His usual group followed behind him.

“Joan, about what we talked about at lunch…”

“Ah, the training camp?”

“Can we ask to do it?”

“Yeah. It’s fine, but… why? You refused so firmly at lunch.”

They exchanged looks once, then spoke to me.

“We all thought about it afterward, right?”

“Yeah, thought this kind of chance doesn’t come around often.”

“Exactly. Training under a former Royal Guard captain is usually impossible.”

“And Lampail’s private army is top-class among all private armies in the country.”

“Karim and I are just waiting for Dad’s permission.”

“But we’ll probably get it.”

From the top: Souya, Dagger, Riki, Blood, Ed, and Karim.

“Got it. I think it’ll be fine at my place, but I’ll check just to be sure.”

““““““Thanks.””””””

After checking, both my mother and grandmother gave permission, and the summer training camp at my house was set.

Later, when I told a teacher about it, they just said I was “a curious one,” so all I could do was smile wryly.

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