Chapter 34. Followers of the Royal Family

"It seems Leon has it in for me, doesn't it?"

Radel asked Gusto and Inette while eating lunch.

Gusto nodded seriously.

“You should be careful. It doesn’t seem like he’ll just let it go.”

Inette spoke to Radel as if it were nothing new.

"It's not like your brother has disliked you for just a day or two. You should have expected it when you ended up in the same class."

"I didn't think he'd want to kill me so openly, even at the academy."

Inette had a dumbfounded expression.

"How can you say that? You're a royal, isn't that a given?"

Inette's words held many meanings. It was an attitude that it was natural for royals to want to get rid of each other, even if they were siblings.

Radel pretended to be surprised.

"Come to think of it, you're right. Then, don't tell me you also want to……?"

"You little!"

An angry Inette clenched her fists. At times like this, she could sometimes understand Leon's feelings.

Radel was only able to talk peacefully with Inette again after giving up his dessert.

"By the way, how's making friends going? Have you gotten closer to anyone?"

When Radel asked, Inette, who was eating the dessert Radel had given her, frowned.

It was a reaction as if she didn't even want to think about it.

“Don’t even talk about it. I’m so tired because of that right now.”

As soon as Inette's words ended, a group of freshmen approached from over there. As soon as they came to the table where Radel was sitting, they spoke to Inette.

“Princess, if you don’t mind, may we have a meal with you?”

Inette waved her hand without even looking at them. She was literally expressing her annoyance with her whole body.

“I’m done eating. Go eat somewhere else.”

But they were persistent.

"We'll eat quickly. If you would just let us sit next to you……."

"Ugh! Don't bother me while I'm eating and get lost!"

In the end, Inette exploded on the second try.

She was a tyrant, through and through.

"Ah, I understand. We'll see you next time."

They were flustered by Inette's anger and then disappeared. Radel, watching the departing freshmen, spoke to Inette.

“What, you made friends? They even asked to eat with you.”

“Do they look like friends to you?”

Inette, disgusted, finished her dessert.

“It’s obvious I won’t be able to eat in peace with them.”

They were the followers of the 3rd Imperial Consort, Celiana Dastion Cretian, and the 7th Princess, Inette Dastion Cretian.

Inette had never intentionally gathered them, but she said that since her maternal family, the Dastion ducal family, was very wealthy and had influence in politics, there were many who followed her with that in mind.

“They agree with everything I say. And then they ask me to do this and that when I become emperor.”

Inette grumbled a lot.

"Are these attendants or friends? It's annoying that they're in the same class."

At those words, Radel looked at Inette with surprised eyes. He knew she was honest, but she had a more upright way of thinking than he had expected.

Gusto seemed to be the same, as he spoke to Inette.

"I th ought you would like flatterers, but this is unexpected."

"You should flatter me for a change!"

Inette got angry and was about to have a go at Gusto as usual, but she looked around and lowered her voice.

No matter how much she didn't drag her followers around, it was inevitable that eyes would be drawn to them since there were two royals together.

In particular, Radel, who had manifested his Ability not long ago, needed to be more careful than Inette, who had been establishing her position in the imperial family for a long time.

“Anyway, be careful. Besides Leon and me, there are followers of other royals here too. They might try to find your weakness.”

Radel also knew that there were forces targeting him, so he silently nodded.

He might not be attacked right away since he was at the academy, but he needed to be careful.

Gusto, who had heard Inette's words, said with a serious face.

“Don’t worry. I will protect His Highness.”

Inette's expression soon became one of exasperation.

"Is he a royal guard or an apprentice holy knight?"

* * *

After lunch, Radel and Gusto went to their next class.

This time, the class was said to be held outdoors.

As they headed to the forest inside the academy, they could see the freshmen who had arrived early gathered there.

Radel gestured to Gusto.

“That must be the place. Looks like we found it well.”

Thump!

But just then, someone bumped into Radel's shoulder hard and passed by.

It was clearly an intentional act in anyone's eyes.

What's with the shoulder bump in a wide-open outdoor space?

Radel was flustered, but he stopped Gusto, who was about to grab the guy.

"Just a moment."

At that moment, a notification sound rang in Radel's ear.

Tiring.

[An unknown magic scans the user's status.]

[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]

[Someone's magic has failed.]

The guy who had bumped into his shoulder had undoubtedly cast some kind of magic on Radel.

Radel remembered the warning Inette had given him earlier.

Is he a follower of another royal?

He didn't know what they were trying to find out by scanning him, but…….

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

"It's nothing. More importantly, Gusto, do you happen to remember that person's face?"

Gusto nodded as if it were a matter of course.

"Yes. Even if he changes his face, I can recognize him by his physique and gait. Though it won't be easy if he's skilled enough to disguise that as well."

As expected of Gusto. His quick response, perhaps because he was from the streets, was reassuring.

Radel smiled with satisfaction.

For teenage kids attending a magic academy, they were acting quite murderously.

To bump into an unsuspecting person's shoulder and secretly cast magic?

He didn't know whose follower they were, but he couldn't just let it go.

It had only been two hours since Radel had resolved to act nicely at the academy.

He planned to quickly resolve the things that were interfering with that resolve.

* * *

When it was time for class, a professor appeared from the forest, an elf with a mysterious atmosphere.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The freshmen who had experienced Professor Lilian's class tensed up without realizing it. The experience of having a wand fly at them for chatting was enough for one time.

However, contrary to the freshmen's worries, the elf professor introduced herself with a calm attitude.

"Marianne Painword. I teach Summoning Magic."

Radel felt a cold but stable flow of magic power from Professor Marianne.

Professor Marianne's lecture style was also similar to the feeling of that magic power.

"Anyone who can tell me about Summoning Magic?"

However, the freshmen hesitated and did not answer readily.

Marianne, who had thought everyone would know this much, felt something was strange and asked the freshmen.

“By any chance, who came in for the first lecture?”

“It was Professor Lilian Merchent.”

Professor Marianne's brow furrowed when she heard the freshman's answer.

"Sigh……."

Professor Marianne did not hide her displeasure.

“I don’t even have to see what that battle maniac did to you. It’s obvious that she asked a question and then said you were all wrong when you answered.”

It was an accurate prediction, as if she had seen Professor Lilian's class herself.

"You can answer comfortably in this class. I have no intention of embarrassing you for not giving the answer I want. A flexible mind is important to use magic well."

At that, the freshmen's expressions visibly brightened.

“Now, I’ll ask again. Anyone who knows about Summoning Magic?”

Unlike before, quite a few freshmen raised their hands.

In the first place, if they were to come to the magic academy, it was common for them to have grown up in a magician's family or to have discovered their magical talent early and experienced magic at least a little.

Among them, there were almost no freshmen who didn't know about Summoning Magic, which was popular. There were some, like Radel, whose magic basics were completely at the bottom, but they were rare.

"I know it as magic that summons a contracted spirit from the spirit world."

“It’s magic that summons a desired object.”

Marianne nodded after hearing the freshmen's answers.

"You all answered well. As you all know, Summoning Magic can summon spirits from the spirit world, or objects, and even people."

Marianne's explanation continued.

“You will be choosing your major next semester. Don’t worry, you can take other classes freely no matter what major you choose. Of course, it will be hard enough just to keep up with your major classes.”

Professor Marianne smiled faintly.

Radel suddenly felt that she seemed to have lived for a very long time.

He didn't know if it was because she was an elf, but Professor Marianne's smile had the depth of an old lake.

“Then, I will show you in advance for those of you who might choose Summoning Magic later. Light, burn!”

When Professor Marianne swung her wand, a light appeared in the air and then turned into a flame and burned.

"No way!"

“It changes that quickly?”

The freshmen who had learned magic let out exclamations of admiration.

Professor Marianne had casually summoned light and turned it into a flame, but magic that changed the properties of an element was quite tricky.

It was to the extent that the freshmen had been praised for just being able to handle one element.

However, Professor Marianne didn't stop at changing light into a flame.

"Appear!"

When Professor Marianne swung her wand, the fire spirit she had a contract with came out of the flame and spread its wings.

The spirit, in the form of a bird, flew among the freshmen, scattering feathers of flame.

"Wow!"

"It's a high-level spirit!"

Professor Marianne looked at the fascinated students with a pleased expression, and then she summoned a water spirit.

A water spirit in the form of a transparent snake appeared and slithered among the students, and then it seeped into the ground.

And in one go, a earth spirit in the form of a wolf jumped out, digging through the soil.

"No way!"

The freshmen who knew even a little about spirits were in a state of continuous surprise. To summon spirits so quickly and repeat reverse summoning!

Even considering that Professor Marianne was an elf, it was an amazing spirit affinity.

'She's amazing.'

Radel didn't know much about magic, but he could feel a huge flow of magic power swirling every time Professor Marianne swung her wand.

The aftermath of it pushed all the way to Radel's body, making his fingertips tingle.

'So this is Summoning Magic.'

The last thing the freshmen, who were engrossed in the performance of the mysterious magic and spirits, saw was a wind spirit.

All spirits were difficult to contract, but compared to fire, water, and earth, which were relatively easy to encounter, wind spirits were not easy to meet.

The freshmen didn't even know when the wind spirit had appeared at first. They had only felt a cool breeze brushing past their cheeks.

By the time they noticed something and looked at Professor Marianne, a transparent bird was already perched on the professor's shoulder.

However, it too quickly turned into wind and disappeared.

The freshmen just blinked their eyes as if they had dreamed for a moment.

Professor Marianne smiled as she looked at the students.

“This is Summoning Magic. It can summon anything.”