Chapter 68

Part 18: First Day of Class (1)

I couldn't talk about the stories of the First and Second Princes, whom I didn't even know, and the only incident related to me was the Iero Marquisate, which had fallen apart due to the bastard issue, excluding the duchy.

Well, even if it turns out to be unrelated, since this is the place, I can use interrogation or magic to uncover the terrorist, so it would be fine to say I was mistaken later.

"Iero Marquisate incident? Is it on the imperial side?"

Indeed, he knew. After all, he wouldn't have asked me to help the princess without investigating my background.

Well, it's probably unrelated.

"The fact that the princess and I are in the same place for the opening ceremony seems dangerous. Was I wrong?"

Just in case, I tried to distance myself a bit.

"No, you did well. Wait here. I'll check it out."

He immediately signaled to the other knights and headed to the infirmary himself.

Well, how will it turn out?

I didn't sit down but stood at the back, watching the opening ceremony.

The ceremony proceeded, and the new students' oath was completed.

Pia also did a great job with the oath.

Time passed.

There was a commotion in the infirmary, and a message appeared before my eyes even before the ceremony ended.

* * *

The woman lying in the infirmary committed suicide as soon as she woke up.

The message that the crisis was over appeared at that very moment.

I was glad that the repeated deaths had stopped, but the suicide of the culprit was a very regrettable matter.

Based on my past experiences, such a regrettable ending often led to continuous death threats afterward.

But, that's a matter for later.

Now was the time to be grateful that the pain of death had ceased.

The woman's suicide was buried more quietly than expected.

The opening ceremony ended normally, and it seemed that the woman had left early and resigned.

In the end, most people didn't even know that anything had happened, and only a few royal officials and academy staff knew the truth.

And that truth was only what I had told them.

After the opening ceremony ended and the quick cleanup, I was called by Katrin and went to her office.

There, Katrin and the head knight who had witnessed the woman's suicide were present.

Katrin's office was quite clean, almost barren.

A few swords hung on the wall, and there were only a desk and a few chairs.

I sat in the remaining chair at her gesture and began talking with Katrin and the head knight.

It felt like a meeting for the princess's protection or a strategy session.

"As soon as she woke up, she realized what was happening and bit into the poison."

The head knight's words made Katrin sigh.

"Then you couldn't determine who hired her?"

"I apologize."

"There's nothing we can do. Still, it's a shame. It was a rare lead."

Katrin, who was regretting, then asked me.

"Was there anyone else suspicious?"

At Katrin's question, I fell into deep thought.

But, I didn't change my initial thoughts.

"Yes. I only remembered her by chance. Honestly, I wasn't sure."

I had hidden the two students who were the bombs.

Of course, I had no intention of protecting the children, who were mere victims.

I also didn't have a strong desire to leave a bait to reconnect the broken lead.

The main reason for hiding them was that I had no way to accuse them of being the culprits.

It didn't make sense that I had seen them in the marquisate, and I had never seen them meet the woman, so there was no way to connect them.

To reveal that the two students were bombs, I would have to expose my ability, which I had no intention of doing.

Based on my past experiences, the end of a crisis situation didn't repeat under the same conditions.

At least, the two students wouldn't explode and cause repeated deaths immediately, so there was plenty of time to figure things out.

It was a bit risky, but protecting my secret was the most important.

Katrin, wearing an academy teacher's uniform and with her hair tied up, looked mature and beautiful, unlike when she was a mercenary.

In my previous life, I would have definitely asked for her phone number upon seeing her.

And I would have been rejected immediately.

But now, perhaps because I was younger, I didn't feel attracted to her at all.

Had my tastes changed after being reborn...?

In any case, Katrin and the head knight looked regretful at my words.

"Then we need to investigate the dead woman further, but we'll have to conclude the rest of the investigation as it is. The academy seems to feel the burden as well."

As Katrin said, it seemed that the opening ceremony incident would end this way.

If it had been the opening ceremony terror I saw before I died, it would have turned the entire kingdom upside down, but now it was just the suicide of one woman.

And it was officially buried.

If I could go back further in time, I could have exposed more hidden culprits.

This was a very regrettable ending. Or, perhaps it wasn't over yet.

"Good job. You're a new student yourself, but you've done a lot of public service."

The head knight nodded at Katrin's words, and Katrin looked very proud as she looked at me.

That expression clearly said she had chosen the right person for the princess's protection.

While I was involved in a bigger issue than expected, which was troublesome, the result of gaining Katrin's and the head knight's trust was not bad.

Moreover, in this situation, I could also ask for a small favor.

"I have a small request."

* * *

After the opening ceremony ended, the next day, I entered the academy dormitory.

Other students had moved into the dormitory on the day of the opening ceremony, but I was late because I had to deal with the aftermath of the woman's suicide.

The royal academy had dormitories to accommodate all students from all over the country.

Some students who lived in the capital commuted, but without a fast transportation system like in my previous life, most students lived in the dormitories.

The three-story buildings stretched long, and the dormitories for males and females were larger and more elegant than the university dormitories I had seen in my previous life.

I skipped the orientation that was held the next day due to the cleanup and entered the dormitory building after dinner.

Passing through the ivy-covered walls that felt like they had a long history and the elegant gates, I climbed the stairs, which were better maintained than expected.

"Second room from the end on the third floor of Building 1."

It was an awkward time, so I hardly saw any passing students.

Since we were still unfamiliar with each other, the passing students only exchanged quick glances.

This would change into various prejudiced gazes in a few days.

I walked down the long corridor on the third floor and stopped in front of the room I was assigned to.

I had already sent my luggage, so I entered the room with empty hands after knocking on the door.

Two people per room.

The student who had moved in earlier widened his eyes when he saw me.

"Grecia?"

"Hi. Pia."

The new student who blinked at me was the commoner representative who had taken the new students' oath at the opening ceremony and the suicide terrorist who had caused my death several times.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? My bag is there, so I'm assigned to this room, right?"

"There's no way... I'm a commoner and..."

Pia's expression became awkward as he spoke.

Sure enough, my identity was exposed after just two days. Before I died, the noble new student representative sitting next to me had immediately recognized me, so it would be the same this time.

It wasn't that the rumors hadn't spread, but that no one had recognized my face yet. The prejudiced gazes would come faster.

"I am a noble, but a bastard. I was treated well in the territory, but it seems that's not the case in the capital."

"O... Oh, I see..."

Pia couldn't give a proper answer and fumbled.

Not a chance.

I was the child of a duchy. Even as a bastard, there was no way I would be given the same room as a commoner. Moreover, I was in the princess's line.

There was no reason for me to share this room, but I had asked Katrin to do so.

I had lied, saying I wanted to experience being a bastard and other things, and worked hard to persuade Katrin.

I couldn't just leave the bomb without the detonator.

The woman was dead, but Pia and his cousin were problems that needed to be solved.

An ambiguous ending would inevitably lead to another death.

I had to find the cause, or if I couldn't, I had to eliminate the bomb to prevent the next death.

Leaving the shocked Pia behind, I started organizing the luggage on the bed.

There was quite a lot of luggage, but fortunately, the room was quite large.

It wasn't a bunk bed. There was a window in the middle, and two beds and two desks on each side.

There were separate wardrobes, and the bathroom and toilet were shared, but it didn't seem inconvenient to live in.

It wasn't a hotel suite with several rooms, a living room, and a reception room like where the princess was staying, but it was better than a small studio.

For a commoner like Pia, it probably wasn't uncomfortable.

After roughly organizing the luggage and washing up, I sat on the bed.

Pia had been sitting in a chair, looking tense.

His face was pale, and he seemed to be blaming whoever assigned the rooms.

Thanks to this, Katrin would probably live a long time.

In any case, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to have a conversation.

Well, let's start a conversation.

"Classes start normally from tomorrow, right?"

"Ah, I didn't attend the orientation today..."

"I had some business."

"O... Oh, I see..."

He was clearly debating whether to use formal or informal speech.

He looked pitiful, but I left him alone. Although he hadn't intentionally tried to kill me, I had no intention of getting along with him after all the trouble he caused.

Hmm, now that I think about it, there was another reason for sharing the room.

I shrugged and continued.

"You're in the administrative department, right?"

"Princess... are you in the succession ability department...?"

"No, the knight department."

"The knight department?"

Pia's eyes widened. He was so surprised that he forgot to use formal speech.

The academy was divided into three major departments.

The knight department, the administrative department, and the succession ability department, which trained succession abilities.

Of course, most students at the royal academy had awakened succession abilities, but not all were useful.

There were succession abilities like perfect memory, which suited administration, and abilities like mine, which suited knighthood.

Of course, as Pia was surprised, most nobles, especially high nobles, attended the succession ability department.