By Zephyria 
Let’s watch how the situation unfolds for now. As I leisurely sipped my tea, observing the situation, Luciel, who had been silent with a dark face, spoke again.
“So, you’re telling us to continue living in anxiety?”
Luciel continued in a soft voice.
“You said before that you would try to ensure that Ray would not face such danger again. But what happened? Didn’t he get caught up in such a thing again? What are we supposed to believe in, to entrust our precious child to you?”
Polargehen nodded heavily.
“Yes. I have no excuse for that. But… please trust me just one more time. Now that the Academy has recognized that the Fiends’ target is Raymond, they have informed the Imperial Family of this fact. If they are targeting Raymond… then we just need to protect Raymond. The Valencia family has already been contacted as well, I presume.”
…Contacted?
This was the first I’d heard of it.
“This matter is also being watched by the Empire, so they will not hesitate to provide support. We can ensure that such a thing does not happen again.”
I looked back at my body’s family. They were not shaken at all, as if they already knew.
I was at a loss.
Not hesitating to provide support to protect me, huh.
I didn’t know what kind of support it would be, but their gaze to protect me was no different from surveillance to me. It was unnecessary and unwanted. It was also a blow to my pride that these humans were acting like they would protect me.
At that moment, Maximun, who had been silent all along, opened his mouth.
“Ray, what do you want to do?”
He was asking for my opinion.
“…I want to continue attending the Academy.”
Maximun readily nodded.
“I understand. I will respect your decision.”
“You were just whining about not wanting Ray to go.”
At Esili’s small murmur, Maximun cleared his throat and stood up. Luciel also sighed, but she didn’t argue further and quietly stood up, as if she would respect my decision.
“Then, we will see you again at the Round Table Conference.”
“Yes. Please return safely.”
Polargehen also stood up to see off the members of the Valencia family, who were heading towards the door to leave. As I quietly watched them, Leshnold and Esili peeked back one last time before leaving the room and waved. Once everyone had left, Polargehen slumped his shoulders and sighed deeply.
It seemed he had been nervous after all.
“You’ve worked hard too. Go back now.”
But I had something more to ask him. Instead of answering his words to go back, I asked what I was curious about.
“What is this Round Table Conference you speak of?”
Polargehen said, “Ah,” and began.
“It refers to a meeting where representatives from major countries within the Empire and key figures from the Imperial Family gather to discuss ‘important matters.’ This time, your personal safety is on the agenda… The conference is scheduled to take place in a few days.”
“And I will be attending as well?”
“Well. I suppose you will have to.”
I see.
If he had said ‘no,’ I was going to say I would attend, but if that’s the case, then it’s fine. It would be better for me to go and listen to what they were planning to discuss about me directly.
“I understand. Then, I’ll be going now.”
I answered plainly and left the faculty room.
It was after that.
While recalling Polargehen’s words about the conference where key figures from the Imperial Family would gather, Ardian suddenly came to mind.
‘Is that guy attending too?’
Actually, it didn’t matter to me whether he did or not….
“……”
My classes had been temporarily suspended, so I hadn’t seen his face for several days.
Perhaps that was why. His face suddenly came to mind.
I shook off the thought and returned to the dormitory.
Several days passed since then.
As I had been told in advance, I received a request from Polargehen to attend the Round Table Conference. The reason I was heading down to the main gate so early this morning was to move to the conference venue with Polargehen.
But there was one more person standing at the main gate besides Polargehen. And I could tell who it was without even getting close enough for the silhouette to become clear. Silver hair that sparkled as if it had absorbed the moonlight of dawn. It was Ardian. It seemed he was also attending this conference.
“Hello, Ray. Long time no see.”
Long time… It had been a while since I had seen him.
It had only been about a week, though.
But why did I feel so awkward? I averted my gaze to the side, finding it difficult to make eye contact. Ardian still smiled brightly like spring, as if he didn’t mind.
“This way.”
At that moment, Polargehen gestured for us to come closer, and when we stood on either side of him, he grabbed Ardian and me by the shoulders. He used Space Transition in that state, and in the short moment that my vision shook, we arrived at an unfamiliar place.
‘Is this the conference hall?’
Looking around, it seemed to be a corridor. And at the end of the long corridor, there was a huge, luxurious-looking door. Polargehen was heading straight for it, so it seemed the conference room was there.
Following behind, Polargehen soon threw the door open.
With a creaking sound, a vast space with relatively dim lighting appeared through the opening door. In the center were seats in the form of a semi-circular staircase. There were more people sitting around than I had expected… and upon closer inspection, there were familiar faces. It was Maximun and Esili.
Perhaps because of the noise of the door opening in the quiet, the gazes that poured towards us all at once were almost stinging. Ignoring the blatant stares, I followed Ardian and sat in an empty seat on the lower side of the spacious area. Polargehen seemed to have an assigned seat, so he headed to the opposite side, leaving only Ardian and me.
“How have you been?”
Not missing the opportunity, that guy spoke to me. The way he smiled in response to the sidelong glances was somehow irritating.
“…How would I be? The classes were just suspended, but I was eating and sleeping in the same dormitory as usual.”
“I haven’t been doing well. I missed you….”
Ardian’s long, white fingers gently reached out and covered my hand. Then, he tried to intertwine his fingers with mine, but I subtly pulled my hand away. All my senses were focused on the ticklish sensation… The subtly tense atmosphere was not familiar at all.
At that moment, someone spoke from afar. Perhaps because of the structure of the room, even though it wasn’t a loud voice, it could be heard clearly.
“Is Marquess Raculus absent again? Ha, it seems like he’s not coming again anyway, so let’s just proceed without him.”
Raculus was the headmaster of Merzel Academy.
So, he held the title of Marquess.
Many people nodded at someone’s statement. In the end, after confirming that everyone except her was present, the white-haired old man went down to the center of the Round Table and cleared his throat.
“Then, from now on… we will discuss the personal safety of Raymond Den Valencia and future countermeasures.”
Immediately after, a large man slammed the table in front of him, and many gazes gathered there at the unusual noise. He met each of the gazes looking at him and opened his mouth.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of Fiends targeting a specific individual. There’s no doubt that it’s a suspicious movement.”
As the introduction was thrown out, other people began to chime in one by one, adding to the conversation.
“Hmm. Whatever the reason, we can’t just leave it alone.”
“Of course. If something happens to an Imperial citizen, it will lead to the fall of the Empire’s solid prestige.”
“Since the ‘reason why they are targeting that child’ is not clear, it could cause anxiety to other Imperial citizens as well.”
Small sighs erupted here and there. It seemed they were racking their brains. At that time, someone interjected in a soft tone.
“But… why are they targeting that child?”
It was a man with golden hair and blue eyes. I felt all eyes suddenly pouring towards me. Another person opened their mouth.
“Come to think of it, didn’t they say there was something special about him?”
“He has a Black Mana Heart….”
“Then, is that what the Fiends are after?”
“But even so… for what purpose?”
The reason for targeting the owner of the Black Mana Heart. When no one answered, silence followed. And the middle-aged man with golden hair, who had first focused attention on me, broke the silence first.
“Perhaps… they are plotting to cause the same thing that happened during the Niflheim War again.”
War.
The tension that the word gave made the atmosphere even heavier. It was something that everyone had vaguely thought about, but it was a part that they were hesitant to bring up because they were afraid to say it out loud.
“Haha.”
At that time, someone’s small laughter was heard.