The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 26

Marriage is the most important event in the life of a human being.

It’s been said that you should pray once when you go to sea, twice when you go to war, and three times when you get married!

‘It’s that important.’

But how can we discuss such an important matter while eating boiled potatoes?

‘No, no, no, I must have misheard.’

Although it may not seem like it, Sloth is the daughter of a powerful marquis.

Given her position, this was not something she could say so easily.

‘Yes, I must have misheard.’

Amon said, washing his ears with the water he’d scooped up to boil the potatoes.

“Phew, I can hear you a little better now, senior, I didn’t hear you right, please say it again.”

“Marry me.”

“I didn’t hear you wrong.”

Amon, with his eyes wide with disbelief, snapped his fingers.

“Yes! You were joking! Ah, that’s funny!”

“I wasn’t kidding.”

“Ugh.”

Amon cleared his throat.

“There’s a time and a place for it, but what are you talking about when you’re eating steamed potatoes?”

Marion, whose steamed potato had gotten stuck in his throat at Sloth’s shocked comment, chimed in.

“Kuluk, that’s right. What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Anar’el chimed in.

“I was just wondering how good the potatoes were…….”

It was a reasonable line of reasoning.

She was actually enjoying herself, and Brestle had taken advantage of the distraction to wolf down the potatoes.

“Hup, hup, hup, hup, hup, hup, hup, hup, hup, hup!”

“……I think the vice principal would like to marry you, too.”

“Well, who wouldn’t?”

Reinbelt smirked at Sloth’s shocked comment.

“Hmph, you don’t want to lose talent, is that it?”

“What? What’s that…….Ah!”

Marion, the ‘only’ sane noble among them, understood what Reinbelt meant.

As Reinbelt had said, Amon’s talent with the sword was extraordinary.

It would be more accurate to say that he overpowered them with his strength, but who could be more gifted at a craft whose purpose is to kill?

‘After all, the Marquis of Pid, Sloth’s father, has a frightening obsession with the sword. So if they know Amon is so talented, they won’t leave him alone. So it must be a ploy to lure Amon into an arranged marriage!’

……was Reinbelt’s guess, but Marion was skeptical.

‘But that can’t be true, can it?’

Reinbelt’s earlier speculation would only be possible if Sloth had a deep sense of belonging to the Marquis of Pid.

‘But if Sloth had such a sense of authority, Amon would have been dragged to the Pid house long ago, put on trial, and sent to prison.’

For the crime of treating the noble marquis’s daughter disrespectfully!

‘But Sloth has no such sense of authority. A sense of authority comes from a sense of belonging and pride. But considering that Amon’s neck is still intact…….’

Marion, deep in thought, pulled himself up and sat back down.

‘I don’t know, let’s just watch!’

Meanwhile, Sloth, who had dropped the bombshell, wiped the corner of her mouth and said.

“Amon, can I talk to you in private?”

“……Yes, because I’d like to hear what you meant by that.”

With that, the two men left the room.

Boom!

Chloe, who was helping Amon boil potatoes, squeezed the raw potatoes with such force that Boris winced and began to shudder.

* * *

A garden withered from lack of care.

Anar’el’s elf touch would have been maddening, but she hadn’t laid a finger on the garden, having been steeped in humanity in this way.

Only when they were far enough away from the others did Sloth speak.

“Amon. What do you know about the Marquis of Pid?”

“The Marquis of Pid is an arcane swordsman of great skill. And it’s a great family, with everyone in the immediate family being a Sword Master. That’s all I know.”

Sloth nodded.

“That’s enough, and you’re right, everyone in my family is a Sword Master, and for fear of the family’s reputation, you can’t even see the world unless you’re a Sword Master, which means you’re not allowed to leave the family.”

“……?”

And Sloth in front of me?

‘No way…….’

He’s never learned swordsmanship, but he knows a thing or two about it now.

‘I mistook it for Aura Blade at first, but Sloth can only deploy Sword Aura at maximum, which means she’s a Sword Expert.’

However, given the previous story, there’s a contradiction.

Members of the Pid family cannot come out unless they’re Sword Masters.

But Sloth, despite being a Sword Expert, lives outside.

There could be one reason, or many, for this, but they were all things Amon hesitated to say.

Is that why?

Sloth herself explains.

“I’ve been a pariah in my family since I was a kid.”

“……!”

“What do you look surprised about?”

“Because I didn’t expect you to speak……so casually.”

Sloth laughed bitterly.

“Because I’m used to it.”

“…….”

“Anyway, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach the level of a Sword Master, which is why I was looked down upon so much. Swordsmanship is the most important thing in our family.”

Suddenly, I remembered Sloth from last night in the manor, her hands bleeding from her sword grip.

How could Amon understand that she could never become a Sword Master?

“And one day, Father…….said to me. Go to the Amonis Academy.”

“…….”

“Well, I knew inwardly that he was going to treat me as if I didn’t exist, so I resisted, saying that I couldn’t, given the family rules…….”

She bit her lip hard, then said.

“He said I don’t have to care about that.”

“…….”

“Anyway, that’s why I’m here, and in all the years since I’ve been here, I’ve never been called back home even once.”

Sloth, who had been silent the entire time, dropped her head.

“……I guess he meant to tell me to live on my own.”

“…….”

“So I don’t think he’d care if I married you or not.”

Amon closed his eyes as he listened to Sloth’s uncharacteristically sullen, almost pensive tone.

‘I may be in a different position, but I know a little of the frustration.’

Noble titles are inherited only by the ‘firstborn’.

Since Amon was the second son, it was only natural that the barony—and even the impoverished estate—would be inherited by his older brother.

‘Of course, my family loves me. But it doesn’t change the fact that I have to find my own way to make a living.’

At first, Amon was disappointed and frustrated.

But the moment he was accepted to Amonis Academy, his dreams became a reality.

‘…… But that’s one thing, this is another. I am me, and Sloth is Sloth.’

Amon shot her a pointed look.

“So you’re asking me to marry you?”

“Yes.”

“Are you trying to eat the potatoes from our territory to become stronger and take revenge on your family?”

The questioning tone should have intimidated her, but Sloth was confident.

“Exactly.”

“How shameless of you.”

“Well, isn’t that what being married to a nobleman is all about?”

Sloth shrugged.

“Or, can I stay on your estate and eat your potatoes?”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

“What if I pay you to eat it?”

“I’ll interfere, if only because your mindset and intentions are so contemptible.”

“And your intentions are just as bad.”

Sloth grumbled.

“Anyway, that’s why I proposed marriage. If we get married officially, I’ll become a member of your family, so you’ll be able to achieve what you want.”

“……It’s literally a ploy.”

Nobles don’t favor arranged marriages for nothing.

It allows them to weigh their interests and gains.

“And what’s in it for me?”

“Amon.”

“What?”

“Think about it.”

Sloth pointed to herself.

“Suppose I eat your potatoes, get stronger, and return to the clan.”

“I suppose.”

“Then you’d have some say, right?”

“I suppose.”

“Then I guess I can jump into the competition for succession. Our family values ​​strength above all else, regardless of whether it’s a man or a woman.”

“Right……wait.”

For a moment, Amon felt a chill run down his spine.

“Do you understand?”

“If by any chance you get to be the head of the household……”

Amon closed his eyes.

Okay, let’s think about this seriously.

Sloth became the head of the family?

Will Sloth pay attention to the family business?

The lazy Sloth?

Of course, neglecting classes is one of the reasons he stays up late practicing swordsmanship…….

‘She’s basically lazy by nature.’

There’s no way she’s going to be able to focus on running a large marquisate!

‘If she were to take the reins, she’d probably just wield her sword and sleep in the corner of her room!’

The moment that realization dawned on him.

“Amon.”

“…….”

“The power of a marquis. Don’t you covet it?”

“……!”

“Well, I’ll have a minimal amount of actual power, but most of it will be yours.”

Amon’s mouth dropped open.

“And the management of the family’s finances…….”

“Of course. I’m not good at managing money, to put it mildly.”

“Aaah, aaah…….”

Embezzlement! What a wonderful word!

I felt like I was going to cry as soon as I heard it.

‘I guess I can change the bed in my house to something fluffy.’

Said Sloth, looking at Amon’s sweetly wet face.

“Besides, now that you’re an insider in our family, you can learn our swordsmanship, right?”

“Ugh……!”

“How is it? Are you shaken?”

Shaken? No, I was already on the verge of falling!

‘If I become an apprentice to that old man, Reinbelt, I’ll have to forsake my worldly possessions, but if I marry Sloth, I’ll be able to learn the swordsmanship of the Marquis of Pid?’

Marquis power! Marquis wealth! Marquis swordsmanship!

I can get all of those things at once!

Then Sloth said confidently.

“And you can even take a beautiful woman like me as your wife.”

Amon frowned in disbelief.

“Ah, that’s definitely a disadvantage.”

“…….”

“As someone who values a person’s inner self a bit more, I think it’s a bit…….”

“You’re so annoying.”

Said Sloth, grumbling.

“Anyway, what do you think?”

Amon squeezed his eyes shut at the question.

“Alas, I see it. A rose path to the top.’

If you think about it, there’s never been a faster or more efficient way to get ahead.

Why do you think the concept of a “live-in son-in-law” even exists? It’s to benefit from the wife’s family, of course.

‘No matter how strong I am, it doesn’t help me get promoted.’

The bad blood between the Emperor and the Drake family helped me realize.

‘The only way I can use my strength to my advantage is through war. But given my family’s relationship with the Emperor, I’ll be lucky if I don’t get a slap on the wrist when I’m rewarded for my accomplishments.’

Maybe he’ll say, ‘That’s a reward for treason,’ and be beaten to death on the spot!

‘… … In the first place, before that, it hadn’t even been that long since the Great War ended, so there couldn’t have been another battlefield where I could have gotten merits.’

In addition, the second son of a rural aristocratic family rarely had a chance to marry.

Hence the conclusion.

Amon took Sloth’s hand in his own.

“Madam! Let’s go and tell my father-in-law about this as soon as it’s daybreak!”