บท 5: Save 03 - Royal Academy of Altfode
It had been four months since Rudel left and did not return.
It was late afternoon and there were four people inside the Bradford Household. One of them was the head of the house, Walt, his wife Sonia, his daughter Pola and a very round, bald, short man with an odd pointed mustache.
That man was Baron Lebron, he was here to pick up Rudel after his seventeen month journey. He was very upset as he did not go straight to his territory but to the neighboring territory.
"So, Bradford-dono. I thought we had made a deal and it seems you broke that promise." -exclaimed the plump man.
Rudel's father, Walt, was in a cold sweat as he had made a promise to deliver his son to him in exchange for this man paying his debts, but said son had left home to make a name for himself as an adventurer and thus, save his skin.
"Y-You see, baron. It's just that my son, he went out on adventures... and you know that when young people decide that, there's nothing that can stop them." -He spoke in a trembling, anxious voice.
"True that, but we had a verbal agreement didn't we, you know what will happen to them if he wasn't around by the time I got there, don't you?"
The short man gave Rudel's father a pointed look, Rudel backed away when he saw his annoyed face. The pawnbrokers were just around the corner as there were only days left until the destined payment date. Terror loomed in the eyes of the Bradford family, the hope that was their son had not returned, they believed that perhaps, he would get something of value and return quickly, but after four months since their last glimpse, they could only hope that he would run away or worse....
It was then that the young daughter of the family, who was in the kitchen, screamed like a siren alarm.
"Mother!!! Father!!! Look outside!!!"
Immediately, after hearing that her parents got up from the couch they were on and looked out the window to scream in surprise and fright. The short man stood up to look outside as well and make the same expression and words.
"What the hell is that! It's too big to be a ship, no. Even a galleon doesn't reach that size!" -exclaimed the fat man and Rudel's parents in amazement.
They all four went out to see what the strange ship was that was approaching from the sky to the ground. A few feet before it landed it was, Rudel, waving to them with his right hand in the air and his left hand leaning on the ship's railing.
"Hey~ everyone, I'm back ♡"
With a cheek to cheek smile he waved to his family from afar and continued talking.
"You missed me didn't you, well what do you think I did too- ouch!" -Before he finished his sentence, he suddenly touched his neck because something had stung him, Rudel was rubbing where he was stung and didn't see how behind him, a strange black wasp with red wings was quickly moving away as it was heading somewhere.
◇
After landing my family came running to me all scared asking what had happened to me and where I got this boat. I answered them as it happened, but nobody believed me, I didn't care, the important thing was that I saw Baron Lebron for the first time, he was uglier than I thought, he was upset. I gave him some of my treasures so he would shut up, he took them reluctantly, but before leaving he turned to look at me and bit his lips, I felt a tremendous shudder at what I saw.
After he left I told my father to call the moneylenders, he asked me what for and I told him to pay the debts of the house. He ran out after hearing that, my mother and my little sister started crying when they saw me, I was moved before receiving a low blow from my mother who was crying with happiness for the mountain of treasures behind me.
I spent a long time delivering treasures to the moneylenders who demanded more because of the overdue payment, so I annoyingly gave them more treasures and they left happily.
Then I went to the town in our territory and gave ten percent gold to the villagers, I did not do it for free or as a good Samaritan, I did it because the town and the territory were in such a bad state that anyone would feel sorry to see us, in fact, when I landed close to home, it was because our port had a small dock and it was impossible for a ship of exaggerated meters to enter there.
I gave them the money to put up businesses of their own and thus, expand our territory which has a few small undeveloped islands, they were happy crying after telling them that I would not tax them, nor ask for more value than borrowed when they have to pay me back in a span of four years, commoners sure are happy when they have money and they are told that they will not have to pay taxes.
◇
A few weeks have passed after that, our territory is improving little by little, you can see in the distance what seems to be some kind of big robots moving rocks and removing earth, they are not mine but from a construction company, they are not robots either, I tell them that way because they are similar to what was in my previous world, apparently they are things called construction unit which is similar to mobile knights.
Which are sort of mechanical golems and are moved by someone inside, of course, I was surprised that such things exist in a fantasy world. The merchants come thanks to the fact that the port now looks more expanded and more like a landing dock, most merchants come for me.
Since when I went to the adventurer's guild to submit the official registration record, everyone saw the treasures I brought, among them were unique materials that were used in houses among other things to build.
The money in this country was called zest, its price was as cliché as possible. Copper, silver and gold, the latter being that it had a more expensive and rare derivative to spend. White gold, I was weirded out by that, but I didn't care, it seems that white gold is worth 10 times more than normal gold because of its difficulty of extraction.
I don't know why and I don't care, I didn't really understand what the heck this stuff was, but it's important because it's used as the engine in ships and boats. And they also seem to be the creation of the odd leak that was there centuries ago.
◇
Currently I find myself with a smile in my garden watering the plants I have harvested, the reason why I do that is because I remembered my older brothers who came to stay a few days at home due to their semesters ended and they were on vacation, they came to see me off it seems, the bastards knew about what was going to happen to me so they came to laugh at me, unfortunately, for them, they were surprised to see that the port was now a dock and that both the town and the house were totally different, I went out to greet them and put a white gold coin in both of their hands and their expression of almost having a heart attack was satisfactory.
It was a great few weeks watching my family work hard to give them a gold coin a week, I won't deny it, I always envied rich people, it's normal to do it and deny it I thought, but now that I am filthy rich I understand the satisfaction of making others work for you. Am I a horrible person? I don't care, since it was me who found the island with treasures and no one can tell me anything since my tears, sweat and blood were the investment of those earnings.
"You look very happy master, may I know why?"
"Huh? Sure, I feel happy remembering how my family works to earn what they could never get without me!"
"You really are a scumbag yourself, did you know that?"
Who criticizes me is not a person or a living being, but, in fact, an artificial intelligence with a mind and personality of its own which I christened, Ixion.
Apparently, he regrets having made me his owner and sometimes he says hurtful words that I take as compliments, his appearance is that of a medium bowling ball, metallic gray, with a kind of thin arms with black pincers, a large and shiny red eye in the center, also for some strange reason it floats and can reflect the light becoming invisible and talk to me in a low tone so no one hears him, it seems that he dislikes people since it was he who suggested me to tell a few lies so no one tries to rob me and kill me.
The reason I didn't care about the money is that this guy can turn common stones and other simplistic materials, into precious stones and gold. It scared me when he said he could even make my life expectancy longer thanks to a surgery, was this thing an epitome of ancient technology or what?
"Leaving aside how trashy you are master, I already have your stuff ready for the gentleman's training academy."
"Thank you..."-I thanked him while inwardly saying "floating garbage can" to him.
The knight academy, huh? In this world there is even a school called the royal academy, but it is the worst since only heirs can enter there while non-heirs enter the knight academy, such a place is different from the military academy and I will explain it as follows.
In this country there are three academies which all the nobles have the obligation to go and also pay tuition, what a good kingdom we have. Starting with the least important which is the training academy for knights, it is called that way because, in that place according to my brother, Bram, they teach things that a soldier should know, there is training and things like that, the study time is five years, those who graduate from there will have the opportunity to be chosen as a sergeant or vice captain, which is an achievement to get there.
The second, but more important than the last one, is the military academy, as its name indicates this place is focused on training the future soldiers of the kingdom... or so it seems, according to my father they teach them about tactics and strategies, but they seem to be so old since they don't update them and the last war this country had was fifty years ago. The duration time is two years, very short I would say, since it is to train future captains and generals, but now comes the most important and worst of all.
The royal academy, is an educational institution for nobles and aristocratic heirs, according to my moron brother, Lyle, the academy is rather a kind of social club, despite having classes and first class education, several aristocratic heirs skip classes and wander around the campus enjoying youth, worst of all according to my brother, the girls are very superficial and self-centered, reaching the level of being a cancer in the whole word.
There are also commoners, but it seems that these get in thanks to a scholarship system which is based on results of excellence of the adventurer's guild it shows, can they really show things like a secret record so simply to a place that is not from the royal palace?
When I asked him why they let commoners in if it was a place for household heirs, he simply replied "Making fun of scholarship students is the only reason, I think?", I felt sorry for the poor commoners and an even deeper hatred for Lyle, who confessed that he was part of those groups.
Their time of study is three years there, but when they finish their education there they immediately enter the military academy completing the two years that are dictated, thus being how they complete their strange five year education, which means that I will enter at fifteen and graduate at twenty. My brother, Lyle, will enter the military academy this new semester while, Bram, will enter his second year of the knight academy, I will enter the same along with him, and my cute little sister, Pola-chan, will enter the same school in four years.
Thinking of her, it still seems strange to me that story I heard in the shed several years ago, the reason why this country treats women so favorably is because several centuries ago when the founding of the kingdom occurred, a creature that came from the sky attacked our land, then, a woman they called the [Saint] used light magic, the rarest kind of magic power of all and expelled the strange being back to the sky, her words after defeating it were.
"The darkness will return, it was expelled thanks to the power of everyone's faith, in the future, this realm will be plunged into chaos and from the heavens the darkness will return and engulf this world."
Since that strange prophecy, in this country women were given a better treatment since from some of them, another new saint will be born and save us all... I don't believe any of that bullshit, but it seems that the people here do, maybe that's why my parents wanted to have a daughter so badly?
Turning to Ixion, after answering all his questions, he replied very sarcastically "Surely it must be your ancestors, master" I want to hit this thing.
Looking to the right side where this one was, I could see a more or less well decorated small ship which was approaching the port, did you ask me if it will be a new merchant? whatever, I didn't really care and continued watering my nice plants.
◇
Pola, told me that father sent for me to call me to his studio, as I invested in the house, I now had my own room being the biggest, I also paid to have the other rooms in the place remodeled. I thought we would have to knock down walls and stuff, but a contractor using earth magic did it without damaging or breaking anything, magic is very useful it seems.
After arriving at father's studio, I found him in his chair shaking and another man dressed up, even his mustache looked elegant, sitting in a guest chair drinking tea, as I/(we) now have money, investing in fancy stuff for visitors looks like the logical thing to do.
After entering I greeted with a "good morning" to the man and my father, after my greeting, the man stood up and took off his hat to return my greeting and putting it back on.
"Father, what do you need from me?"-I asked a little confused looking at the man drinking tea as if he was a close relative. Then the man in the suit and fancy mustache signaled my father with his hand to speak, he pulled out a letter he had neatly folded from his vest and seemed to have opened earlier.
*cough, cough*.
"Today, the Royal Palace is pleased to name Baron Bradford's third son, Rudel van Bradford, as Baron due to his incredible feats as an adventurer in single-handedly and bravely finding an island with precious materials. Which will be partly used as taxes that he will pay in advance by having his own territory recognized by the Altfode Kingdom."
The elegant looking man finished speaking and handed me the letter, but not before saying a few words.
"Congratulations young Baron, now you will be the very head of your household in the future when you graduate from the military academy; may your service to the kingdom be prosperous in the future. Those are words the King himself told me to report to you."
My face was one of surprise, but it was not from hearing the word "from the King" but from something else.
"Wh-what do you mean by military academy? I, being a non-heir son am supposed to go to the academy for knights am I not?"
I asked in a tone of fear as I didn't want to hear the answer.
"It certainly is." -Responded the man in the suit. "...But." -He added.
"You being raised higher in rank than your father's, you were attributed a higher rank than your elder brother, therefore, being a much higher rank it is normal for you to go to the royal academy as you are your own heir and head of house, by the way, your family has nothing to do with this rank, it is only yours and your children's in the future."
After saying that, the man with the elegant mustache smiled and asked me to hand him the tax payment I would have to pay next month.
The trip was long, I was able to observe and gawk at what I saw, I thought this was a medieval and feudal fantasy world, but it seems I was wrong.
There were people wearing medieval clothes, but besides that, there were people wearing shorts, sneakers, caps and even the girls were wearing mini skirts. There were buildings of old and modern structure, old light post with two or five bulbs, there was even a kind of arcade where the sign had the figure of a donkey and someone using a screwdriver... what the hell exactly were they doing there!
◇
After an hour's drive I finally arrived at my destination, I was at the south entrance of the Altfode Royal Academy. In this place there are four sections. The south part where I was is where the classes were held, the west and east part, where the dormitories are and the north part, where the social club aka clubs were. In the middle is a huge garden where students can socialize, some train, and behind the north building is a training field and a coliseum...really, what the hell was they thinking when they were constructing the buildings.
The gate was huge and elegant, I stayed a few seconds admiring the entrance when I was thrown to the side of the road by some girls talking to a tall guy with green hair, I should be surprised to see many strange colors, but in the territory town there were also people with strange colors, the guy laughed with his friendly gallant voice while he chatted flirtatiously with the girls.
"I'm serious, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my whole life, how about we go get some drinks after the ceremony?"
"Hey!!! What about me, you said on the bus that I was the most beautiful girl you've ever seen."
"Of course you are, but the beauty in every girl is unique like flowers."
"Kyaahh~~♡"
I could hear that annoying flirtation as they walked away from my sight, when I stood up to move on a big boy with reddish hair combed back and a very deep voice shouted from inside the place.
"I'm finally here. I will prove to my old man, that I will succeed in becoming a great man before I graduate!"
Truly this place was full of strange people, but the strangest thing was the uniforms, not only because of the fact that the girls wore miniskirts that gave very little to the imagination, I wasn't complaining either. But there were students who wore a different color uniform than mine.
I had a black uniform, some girls likewise the same type as me, but they wore white skirts and stockings down to their knees, other girls and boys had a completely white uniform, the only thing the same was the coat of arms of the kingdom and the tie. I did not understand its meaning, but I did not care, so I continued to a sign that indicated that we had to go to the auditorium at the end of the west side, I turned to go there, but then I was frightened by a big scream of girls that could be heard at the entrance.
I didn't attach any importance to what was going on there so I walked on by, but their voices were so loud that I could hear perfectly well what they were saying.
"Good morning, Lady Bismarck. It's a pleasant morning the day, isn't it?"
"Lady Bismarck your blonde hair looks as radiant as the sun and your red eyes are as beautiful as rubies."
"My lady is there some secret to having such a smooth complexion, such magnificent lips and such a shapely figure as yours?"
The voices of those girls are so irritating.
◇
After entering the auditorium we went to sit down and the ceremony began when the director, an old, bearded but elegant man, entered and began to speak. I didn't give him importance as I didn't care what he said, some students were talking, others were sleeping, but suddenly everyone became quiet and got up from their seats, I did the same so I wouldn't be the only one left sitting, someone came up after the principal knelt down and gave him the seat to speak, he had platinum hair, it was very bright, his eyes were purple in color, after greeting the students they sat down and paid attention, I wonder who it will be to make all this show?
"On this day, we the hundred and second graduating class of students, we are pleased to be part of the student body for-" -That was what the platinum-haired guy was saying.
Some students were talking low, I didn't care what they were saying, until, for some reason, a small, high-pitched voice caught my attention.
"Fuwaah~ I'm almost late, because I was waiting for this day all night I was late, and I had to ask my dad to take me along with him to the Royal Capital, what's worse I missed the entrance dispute this morning."
(Dispute?) -I thought. (Something like that happened this morning?)-I try to remember if something like that happened at the entrance after arriving.
"But it doesn't matter, since from this day forward I'll have a fun school life watching Rudel, fall into ruin, fufufu."
The moment I heard those little words with malicious intentions towards me, I felt a shiver down my back as I turned around looking for who said that.
(Where is it? who said that?... my ruin... that voice said my name, nobody here knows me and I don't have any friends either, so it's impossible for anyone to know my name, but that's not the scary part, it clearly said "watch me fall") -I was thinking in an unsettling way.
As long as the ceremony lasted I spent it scared and sweating, and then quickly got out of there.
◇◇◇
While Rudel was scared in his seat, a few meters above him, there was a girl with orange hair and glasses watching him mischievously muttering.
"Enjoy your time at the academy as much as you can, for soon, the main character will make your life miserable, my dear villain Rudel, fufufu."
The school life of the"villain Rudel" and the "protagonist" has just begun.
______________
-End of the introduction arc.
-Now the Royal Academy arc begins.
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Siegburn
Siegburn His current age is 16 like everyone else and the month is January when he starts the academy.
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