Chapter 68
"Oh my God…"
Icarus was the first to come to his senses amidst the deafening silence.
Icarus lacked a basic understanding of swordsmanship and martial arts. He was more interested in strategy, tactics, and research than anything else, so he concentrated on learning them.
.
As a result, he had no idea what kind of excellent technique his roommate had just demonstrated.
He couldn't even perceive Joshua's movements. Without a doubt, this situation amazed him more than anyone.
Icarus simply blinked, while Amaru fell to the ground with a silent thud.
Icarus wasn’t alone. Not a single person in the room had perceived Joshua's movements. Icarus could also tell by the professor’s bewildered look that even he hadn't managed to see Joshua’s move.
'I didn’t expect this. It turns out that Ash is stronger than I thought. My calculations had never been wrong before, so this is a huge surprise.'
Icarus stared at Joshua. From his point of view, Joshua’s actions had distinct meanings, regardless of whether he was truly powerful or not.
A talentless person’s act of courage and confidence would never achieve any results, but the courage and conviction shown by someone powerful like Ash would definitely make waves and become proof of his talent.
‘But…’
Worry flashed across Icarus' relieved face.
The result of today’s sparring was unexpected, but it wasn’t a good thing.
First, a family whose reputation relied on their swordsmanship had been insulted. A child of the family had stood up in revenge for the humiliation, but he had been defeated just like that. This was clearly further insult to his family.
In addition, the incident happened before the great Avalon Empire’s children of nobility.
The Sten Family wouldn’t just stand by and accept this humiliation. There was a huge chance that the Sten Family itself would take revenge.
‘I have to help him. To make sure that something like this doesn’t happen anymore.’
Icarus revealed a determined look while glancing to the side.
Agareth looked out of it as he stared at the arena with his mouth agape. Icarus nudged him, but he didn’t respond.
The boy with light blue hair could only sigh and look at Ash once again as he pondered their next move.
"Joshua von Agnus…"
Astonished, Icarus turned his gaze to where the voice came from.
The voice came from a brown-haired girl. Brown hair was a common characteristic of the people of the Igrant continent. Icarus deduced that she was roughly the same age as them since she was wearing the same necktie as them.
Icarus tilted his head as he laid his eyes on the girl staring intently at Ash in the middle of the arena.
'Joshua von Agnus… Hmm, where did I hear that name?'
Icarus wasn’t familiar with it, but he was sure that he had heard it somewhere before.
Every citizen of the empire would have long heard of a noble’s name unless they belonged to a family at the bottom of the noble hierarchy. As such, Icarus was sure that he had heard that name somewhere.
'What if… he's connected to?that family?'
The Agnus Duchy was home to one of the empire's most prestigious families, and the one with the greatest personal army. They had so many knights that the Agnus Family was even called the Knight Family of the empire.
Aside from the great star of the empire, Duke Aden von Agnus, there was only one famous person who had inherited the surname Agnus.
'The Empire's treasure, Babel von Agnus.'
Icarus gasped, terrified, when he realized the implications behind his thought.
‘There was this weird rumor going around the capital, and it said that another talent who will shake up the established system of power was found.’
'No way…'
Icarus turned to see where the brown-haired girl went, but she had already vanished, and Icarus could only mumble to himself.
"..."
‘Can I check it for myself? What if I’m wrong?’
The seed of doubt in Icarus’ heart grew and started to go out of control.
Icarus had always been confident that Ash was similar to him.
However, Ash had just managed to strike down Amaru bron Sten in a single move, which Icarus had never imagined at all. It was understandable, since the Sten Family was one of the most prominent families on the continent.
Also, the events that led to the sparring were suspicious.
'I have to verify his identity.'
In the arena, the cadets exclaimed in surprise when they came back to their senses. The entire arena was filled with all sorts of noises once again.
Meanwhile, Icarus’ sunken eyes were focused only on a single location.
***
The female dormitory of the Avalon Imperial Academy was no different from the male dormitory.
However, it was still too early for the cadets to return to their dormitory rooms.
The door of a certain room swung open with a creak.
An ordinary-looking girl entered the room.
"I thought you would stay quiet and remain low-key…"
The girl, Anna, bit her lip hard as she quickly glanced around the room. After making sure that no eyes were secretly watching her, she took out the mana communication ball that she had brought with her.
The item was incredibly valuable, so a nobleman’s child couldn’t just carry something like this on their own. However, Anna was on a mission, so she had to take some risks.
"..."
After infusing the crystal ball with a bit of mana, a hologram slowly floated above the crystal ball.
Anna's eyes widened when she deduced the identity of the person who wanted to communicate with her.
"Ah… I never thought that it would be you, Father."
— It's been a long time, Anna.
"Father, why did you…"
The crystal ball wasn’t a high-end mana crystal ball, so the figure’s image was distorted to the point that Anna couldn’t tell the figure’s identity for sure. However, the figure’s shiny dark brown hair drew her attention.
A charming man with dark brown hair waved his hand without saying anything as Anna sat down.
— It’s me, indeed… How is the Academy? Is it a great place to look around?
"I’m doing well. But, Father, how can you directly communicate with me?"
Anna awakened from her stupor, and her eyes widened as she said, “Are… are there any problems with the Empire?"
The man the crystal ball depicted erupted into laughter at Anna's question.
— Issue with the empire? The situation with Thran has been pretty annoying recently, but he can't really do anything since he's just a Master.
"Ah."
Anna couldn’t help but feel admiration when when she saw the man talk casually about a 'Master' as though it was nothing.
Anna composed herself and asked, "Then why?"
The man with a seemingly stiff look replied.
— Vig beck Stek is dead.
"What?" Anna exclaimed. The news was such a curveball that Anna didn’t manage to hold herself back from screaming. "The Viscount is dead? Did Duke Agnus find out? We clearly tidied up the aft—"
The man shook his head before Anna could continue.
— No, it's not the case. The Duchy is also in a state of emergency right now.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about."
— The Seven Mages.
Anna's astonished eyes widened.
"The Seven Mages of the Magic Tower did this? Is there any proof?"
— It is said that the Thunder Jack Steropes is on the move.
"How unexpected."
Anna remained silent to absorb the information she just heard. After some time, she spoke, "The Magic Tower probably isn't aware of our plans. This is so sudden… They are just a greedy bunch of egoists. They won't make a move unless there's something for them to gain out of this."
The man nodded in response to Anna’s words.
— Indeed… they never move their heavy asses unless there's benefits involved… I think that’s why they are moving right now.
"What do you mean?"
— Their movement has nothing to do with our plans.
"..."
— They remained silent thanks to Duke Agnus’ intervention, and they also deemed that we have nothing to do with them. But right now, they have one target….
With gleaming eyes, the man continued.
— Joshua von Agnus. The child you have been observing.
"...!"
— It appears that he discovered what the Magic Tower was trying to find.
"What are they trying to find?"
— The Magic Tower was trying to find the Primordial Stones. The Primordial Stones are stones harboring the power of an attribute, and some reports say that one was found around the fertile land of Thran as well.
Anna was silent for a moment before responding, "Wouldn't it be a big thing if he obtained that powerful object from the Magic Tower? So it should be a good move for us to take that object from Joshua von Agnus—"
The man shook his head with a resolute look.
— Nah… it's a waste of manpower… After all, other than the Magic Tower, no one else can use the Primordial Stones’ power. We will also get annihilated if they ever find out that we are interested in such things.
"..."
Anna closed her mouth in defeat.
"I apologize for not thinking it out thoroughly…"
— Since unforeseen variables seem to keep on coming up around the boy, your work is becoming more and more crucial as time goes on.
"I will keep a closer eye on him."
The man in the crystal ball nodded.
— Did you contact me because of something that happened today?
"Yes."
— In the future, anything about the boy should be directly reported to me.
"All right." Anna took a deep breath and continued. "As soon as he arrived at the Avalon Imperial Academy, Joshua von Agnus immediately caused trouble."
— Trouble?
"Joshua belittled the rapier, so the son of the Sten Family challenged him, and he gladly accepted the challenge. Earlier, he knocked Amaru bron Sten out in one strike before everyone’s eyes."
— ...
The man was rendered speechless before bursting into laughter.
— Fantastic! I can't wait to see Duke Agnus’ reaction when he learns about this incident.
The man suddenly clapped.
Anna revealed a troubled look. "This makes me nervous. Monitoring will be tough if Duke Agnus pulls Joshua von Agnus back into the household in fear of even greater trouble."
— Well, the Duke could get concerned.
“It won’t be good for us if the Duke starts having negative ideas. After all, the Duchy is a place our eyes can’t penetrate that deep.”
The man shook his head with a deep smile.
— That isn't the topic, is it? The terrific man named Duke Agnus, he will surely be thrilled to hear the news. Perhaps that child will take over as the duke's official successor.
"It won’t be good to change the official successor. Joshua is a concubine’s child, after all. In addition, the Duke leaving Babel von Agnus in the corner? I mean… no matter how much the Duke loves talents..." As though it was never going to happen, Anna shook her head. "It’s something I still don’t understand."
The man grinned at Anna's words.
— He is indeed the humble child of a maid, but…
"...?"
Upon seeing Anna's doubtful look, the man continued.
— Wouldn't his own child still be better than another man's child?
The man's low words echoed quietly from the milky crystal ball.
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