Academy’s Barbarian

“Lucky this place is still intact. Guess fortune was on our side.”

[At least it’s a relief, you won’t have to put your subordinates up in an inn room.]

Despite half the Imperial Capital being wrecked by Nidhogg’s rampage, the Épée de Ciel—Heaven’s Sword Order Mansion—stood perfectly unscathed, not even a single broken window.

Was it luck, or did the insect-dragons spare this place because it was originally Isabella’s mansion? The whitewashed walls were a bit smudged with ash and dirt, but that could easily be cleaned up by the servants later.

“Good job with the carriage. We’ll be staying here today, so Minea, you can head back to the Rose Hall.”

“Uh…can’t I rest here too…? You’ll need a driver tomorrow, right…?”

Minea hesitated as she asked.

You want to rest here for a day? With your rank?

“Can you handle it?”

I smirked as I asked back.

Yeah, I get it. You don’t want to go back after just one day of driving. Being my carriage driver is like being a division commander’s chauffeur in modern terms—a cushy, safe job. Of course, you’d want to keep sucking on that honey.

But should a rookie already be looking for the sweet life?

“Ah…I guess it’s not possible…?”

Of course not. Go train, spar, or go on a mission—do something productive instead of looking for an easy ride.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? If you don’t want to die young, train hard. Think of it as losing a year of your life every time you take a day off.”

“Yes…”

A slightly sulky Minea drove the carriage away, trudging back.

I don’t get why someone who hates dangerous or tough work would become a guide. That job’s a death trap—if you run into weak or thug adventurers, you’ll lose everything, body and soul.

Compared to that, being a noble’s knight is so much safer.

You’re not part of the Imperial Knight Order, so you won’t be dragged into every battlefield. When you go monster hunting, you’re with a dozen others, so you’re unlikely to die. And if you run into an enemy you can’t handle, master-level knights will step in.

In terms of jobs that involve eating sword strikes, there’s nothing as comfortable and safe as this.

—

“I’m back.”

After sending Minea off, I swung open the mansion’s front door and stepped inside.

“Welcome back, Ha-shal-leur.”

“Took longer than expected. Did Leopold give you trouble?”

Nigel and Leonor, who were sparring in the garden, turned to greet me.

“More than just trouble… Where are the others?”

“Damien and Milia are resting inside. Ja-han’s been in the training room, saying he needs to build more muscle. Ophelia’s holed up in the basement. Hersh and Rana are taking care of Ferne, who’s passed out drunk.”

The outside’s a mess, but these guys are just doing the same old things.

“I’m going to see Ophelia. Call Damien and Ja-han to the reception room. I have something to tell everyone.”

“What about Hersh and Ferne?”

“Hmm… Yeah, they should hear it too. Sober them up and bring them.”

“Got it.”

After asking Leonor to gather everyone, I headed straight down to the basement where Ophelia was lurking.

—

“This place is always so damp.”

The basement reflected Ophelia’s dark, damp, and secretive nature—humid and dark. At least it didn’t reek like before, so maybe she remembered my advice to ventilate the place.

[It’s a sorcerer’s den, what do you expect? If she weren’t your friend, I’d have killed her long ago.]

Hersela snorted, spitting out her usual harsh words. Even though she’s the Heavenly Demon of the grasslands and her ancestors were sorcerers, her hatred for sorcery hasn’t improved much.

‘Aren’t we technically sorcerers too? Shooting fire from our hands while calling sorcery evil…’

[We? Don’t drag me into this. Unlike you, I’ve never used sorcery, not even once.]

…Well, that’s true.

Whether she doesn’t use it or can’t, Hersela never used the power of runes even when she had control of the body.

Of course, since Hersela and I share the same body, to others, Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur has long been a magic knight who wields high-level magic surpassing even high-level magicians.

—

“I’m here. Are you inside?”

After passing through the dark basement corridor and arriving at Ophelia’s lab, I lightly knocked on the firmly locked door to announce my arrival. Judging by the moans coming from inside, opening the door abruptly would lead to an awkward situation.

First Milia, now Ophelia. Do these guys think my mansion is some high-end love hotel?

“Ah, Ha-shal-leur? Uh, just a sec. Wait a moment. I’ll open it right away.”

Ophelia answered in a startled tone, clearly caught off guard. She must have been so engrossed in her unproductive reproductive activities that she didn’t even notice I was here.

…Really, what a mess.

Sisterly love is overflowing. Or should I say, sisterly fluids? Must be nice having a sister like that.

“Sisterrrr…? Do it moreee… It feels so gooood…”

Claire’s voice also came through. Her voice was thin and breathy, as if she’d lost all her strength. Half in ecstasy, her tone was dreamy and distant.

Calling Ophelia “sister” shows her infantile regression is still unresolved.

“Just wait a bit, Claire. I’ll do more later, but for now, cover yourself with the blanket. Okay?”

“Uhhhn…”

Ophelia soothed Claire while rustling around. Judging by the sound of fabric, she must have been hastily covering Claire with a blanket and looking for something to wear herself.

“Sigh…”

It was always a jaw-dropping sight, so I could only let out a helpless sigh and wash my brain with cigarette smoke.

—

Soon, Ophelia appeared in the doorway, wearing only a robe over her naked body.

Her face was as red as a persimmon, her breathing rough, and her lips glistening with saliva.

Judging by how intensely they’d been going at it, her skin was marked with red bruises and bite marks here and there, and something was dripping down her thighs… Let’s just not go there.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn’t expect you to show up so suddenly. You can come in now.”

“…No, let’s just talk here.”

Why would I go in there?

Just thirty seconds ago, it was a place where a sister-turned-mother was giving her sister-turned-daughter some morally questionable pleasure.

“If that’s what you want. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“One question, two things to tell you.”

“Is it a long story?”

Ophelia pulled out a long magical cigarette from her robe pocket and asked.

“Well, that depends on your answer. Let’s start with the question.”

I watched as Ophelia lit the cigarette with a flick of her finger and asked the question that had been on my mind since hearing the full story of the Nidhogg incident from Leopold.

“From what I heard, after dodging the Dragon’s Breath, you said you had something to take care of and ran back to the mansion. What did you do after that? You didn’t just hide, did you?”

According to Leopold, Ophelia didn’t show up again after returning to the mansion until Nidhogg finally fled.

Lecia was severely injured from blocking the Dragon’s Breath and had to retreat, but Ophelia was still in good enough condition to keep fighting. What was she doing that she didn’t even show her face?

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like desertion or dereliction of duty.

“Oh, please. I wasn’t hiding. I was busy with my own thing. It’s just something I couldn’t explain to others.”

Ophelia shook her head and chuckled.

“Explain it to me.”

“Fine. First, let me ask you this. Half the Imperial Capital was destroyed, and the other half isn’t in great shape… Why do you think this mansion is completely untouched?”

Answering a question with a question? I’ve heard you should beat people who do that.

But…since she’s on my side, I’ll let it slide this once.

“Luck was on our side? You’re not an idiot, so you wouldn’t seriously think that, right?”

…I did think that.

[Congratulations, you’ve become an idiot.]

Hersela laughed mockingly. She didn’t refute my statement earlier, so what’s she laughing at now?

Anyway, from what Ophelia said, it seems the mansion didn’t collapse because of her.

“You were defending it?”

“Of course. If this place had fallen, both you and I would’ve been in big trouble, right? No matter what the insect-dragon did, I made sure this place wouldn’t be destroyed.”

Ophelia puffed out her chest proudly and smiled.

So…during a national crisis, one of the empire’s top forces was busy protecting my property instead of actively fighting.

Should I scold her or praise her? It’s hard to judge.

If Ophelia had actively participated in the insect-dragon subjugation, the damage to the capital might have been slightly reduced…but since she’s not part of the Mage Tower but my personal mage, her top priority was protecting my property and safety.

“…So you just stayed holed up in the mansion?”

“That’s not all. No matter how well I defended it, if the insect-dragon didn’t disappear, it would’ve eventually destroyed this place. So, of course, I prepared a countermeasure.”

“A countermeasure?”

“Right. Even if I couldn’t defeat the insect-dragon, I could at least get it out of the capital. Hold on, I’ll show you.”

Ophelia turned and went back into the lab, returning with a fist-sized gem.

“That’s…”

It was a familiar gem.

“Right, it’s a Soul Stone. Remember how I stored Isabella’s soul in here and played around with it? The soul itself was used up and disappeared, but some remnants remained inside the stone.”

“Remnants? What were you planning to do with that?”

“That insect-dragon, it’s obvious Isabella was trying to create it, right? So, by using the remnants in the Soul Stone to emit a magical wavelength similar to Isabella’s soul…the insect-dragon would mistake it for its mother calling. It’s a kind of lure. I didn’t get to use it since the insect-dragon fled before it was complete.”

Ophelia exhaled cigarette smoke as she continued explaining.

“If I had completed it, the insect-dragon would’ve been drawn to the magical wavelength in the Soul Stone and chased after it. Then, all I had to do was hand the stone to a fast human and order them to run out of the capital and throw it in a deserted area. I couldn’t stop Nidhogg from rampaging, but at least I could prevent further destruction of the capital.”

“Uh…is that even possible?”

“I couldn’t test it, so I can’t say for sure.”

Ophelia shrugged and smiled.

Listening to her, it seemed she wasn’t shirking her duties but was doing her best to prepare a way to calm the insect-dragon crisis. So, I couldn’t scold her any further.

Frankly, a lure to attract the insect-dragon was a hundred times more useful than firing off a few high-level spells.

---