A Depressed Kendo Player Possesses a Bastard Aristocrat
chapter-29-1

Bonus chapter for reaching 50 rating on Novel Updates. Another on reaching 75 and 100 ratings.Are you messing with my brother?

The day after thwarting the assassination attempt on Lucy,

I prepared to be discharged from the infirmary, my body having recovered to a certain extent.

Thanks to the high-grade potions, my wounds had healed perfectly without a single scar.

Even my left eye, which had been sliced in half, was only a little dry; my vision was completely fine.

Once again marveling at the medical skills and potions of this fantasy world, I stepped out of the infirmary.

At that moment, two figures standing by the door pounced on me.

"Brother!!"

"Young Master!"

It was Ariel and Rachel.

The two, appearing out of nowhere, clung to me and hugged me tightly.

I looked down at them with a surprised expression.

"Ray? Ariel? What are you two doing here?"

At my question, Rachel and Ariel's eyes welled up with tears.

"Sniffle... I was in the dormitory... sniffle, and I heard that you were taken to the infirmary..."

"I was, hiccup... at school..."

It seemed both of them had rushed over as soon as they heard I was hospitalized.

It was a special ward provided by Korn, so visits weren't allowed.

Did they just wait outside the door until I came out?

"Brother, you're not going to die, are you...?"

"Young Master... you can't die..."

"Oh dear..."

I sighed softly and patted the backs of the two sobbing girls.

I felt a pang of guilt.

Maybe I should have told them beforehand.

No, that would be weird too.

Like, 'Hey, I think I'm going to get hurt and hospitalized, so be prepared'?

That would just make me sound crazy.

'......Still, it feels good.'

In my past life, even when I was seriously injured during training, no one cared.

But here, I have two people who rushed to my side as soon as I got hurt.

Feeling a surge of emotion, I hugged the two in return.

"What do you mean die? I'm going to live a long life, so don't worry."

"Sniffle, really...?"

"A-Are you not in pain anymore...?"

"Of course, I'm perfectly fine."

Actually, I'm still exhausted to the point of death,

but that's nothing a few days of good sleep can't fix.

I gently wiped away the tear stains from their faces.

Then, I playfully pinched their cheeks and said,

"Shall we go then? Everyone seems tired."

"Yes..."

"Sniffle... Okay."

After calming them down, I walked down the hallway.

Rachel and Ariel followed me, their footsteps matching mine.

The rhythmic sound of our footsteps overlapping created a strange sense of contentment.

"Why don't you two walk a little further apart?"

"No."

"I don't want to."

"But what if you trip......"

As we left the main building, the carriage stop came into view.

At the same time, I made eye contact with the students already waiting there.

"......Huh?"

"Isn't that Young Master Lishite...?"

Standing there were the main characters from yesterday's incident.

The princesses, the Saintess, and Allen.

***

The chosen Hero of this generation,

Allen Reinhardt.

As a key witness to the recent attempted assassination of the princess, he had been questioned along with the others and was on his way back to the dormitory.

While waiting for the carriage at the stop, a girl standing next to him spoke up.

"By the way, Allen. Are your wounds alright?"

"Huh?"

It was Lorraine Marlena, the Saintess, who was one of the targets of yesterday's assassination attempt.

She was looking at Allen with her softly glowing white eyes.

"You directly confronted those attackers."

At the Saintess's concern, Allen bowed his head apologetically.

"I'm fine. It was just a scratch on my arm."

"But still..."

The girl seemed troubled by the fact that the boy had been injured while protecting her.

Noticing her feelings, Allen gave her a gentle smile.

"I'm really fine. There were only three of them... I just bought some time until the professors arrived."

Allen lowered his head, looking ashamed.

Seeing his humble reaction, another girl peeked out from behind the Saintess.

"You survived for ten minutes against mages who were on par with Professor Aron, even if only for a short time. That's amazing."

A charming girl with sun-kissed blonde hair and eyes the color of the clear sky.

It was Neria von Lietro, the Second Princess of the Empire.

Neria, seeing Allen blaming himself despite successfully protecting the targets from overwhelming enemies, gave him a dumbfounded look.

"Those guys were definitely not someone a student could handle."

"Haha... Thank you."

"Just how strong are you? From what I saw, you're at least on the level of an assistant professor at the Academy... Sister, what do you think?"

Neria mumbled, turning her gaze to Lucy standing next to her.

Lucy, who seemed lost in thought, reacted a beat late.

"Huh...? Oh, yeah, he's amazing..."

Neria frowned at her sister's listless voice.

"Sister, are you alright? You can rest for a day if you're tired."

"I'm fine. I can't delay when His Majesty has summoned us..."

"Sigh... Why is Father in such a hurry? No one was even hurt."

"He must be worried about us."

Lucy chuckled at her sister's blunt concern.

It was a light laugh, but the trembling corners of her lips betrayed the fact that it was a forced expression.

Neria was about to say something more, but she closed her mouth.

"......"

"......"

As the two girls fell silent, the atmosphere sank rapidly.

Feeling the heavy air, the Saintess tried to resume the conversation with an awkward smile.

"By the way, Allen... I heard there was an attack where the First Princess was as well?"

"That's right. Fortunately, Young Master Lishite, who was there, protected Her Highness..."

Allen couldn't finish his sentence.

The horrific scene engraved in his mind flashed before his eyes.

The surroundings drenched in blood and the terrible stench.

The floor littered with mutilated corpses.

A person writhing in pain as they burned alive.

And...

A man standing in the center of it all, wearing a chilling smile.

Raiden Lishite.

The sight of him, covered in blood, gleefully burning a person alive,

was truly reminiscent of a demon from mythology descended upon the mortal realm.

As Raiden's name was mentioned, Lucy, who had been present at the scene, also flinched, as if struck by a similar thought.

Allen calmed his racing heart and spoke.

"......Saintess."

"Yes, Allen."

"When you saw Young Master Lishite last time... didn't you feel anything strange?"

Allen asked, his expression serious.

The Saintess tilted her head as if wondering why he would ask such a question.

"No... not really? He was the same as always."

"I see..."

Allen let out a small groan.

If Raiden was involved with something sinister, the Saintess would have sensed it.

Then,

just who is he?

Allen muttered to himself.

-Allen Reinhardt.

-The third son of the Reinhardt family... and the chosen Hero of this generation.

-Your trial will begin soon.

-At the Academy banquet in a week, never leave the side of the Saintess and the Princesses.

Raiden clearly knew about the attack beforehand.

He even knew details that the Academy itself was unaware of.

Of course, considering he was the son of the most influential family in the Empire, it might be possible somehow,

but the uneasiness didn't go away.

'Besides, it's strange. That person...'

There were too many strange things.

Raiden knew that Allen was the chosen Hero of this generation as if it were a matter of course.

He also displayed an absurd level of power, single-handedly defeating seven enemies of a level that Allen had barely managed to handle.

And,

that sinister aura only Allen could see.

Every time he recalled the cold energy surrounding Raiden, a shiver ran down his spine.

'......He's dangerous somehow.'

The Saintess's confirmation had proven that Raiden wasn't associated with any evil entity,

but that didn't mean his vigilance towards him had disappeared.

Especially since the sight of Raiden in the banquet hall was truly shocking.

Allen, organizing his complicated thoughts, categorized Raiden as a 'person of interest.'

'If I meet him again, I'll have to be wary... just in case.'

Allen nodded, thinking to himself.

But he didn't know.

That the encounter would happen so soon.

"......Huh?"

"Isn't that Young Master Lishite...?"

Neria and the Saintess exclaimed in surprise.

Allen looked up at the direction they were staring.

There, he saw pitch-black eyes gazing back at him.

"......"

Raiden Lishite.

The 'person of interest' Allen had just been thinking about had appeared before him.

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