“Today’s the 17th, right? Number 17?”
When I called out, a neat-looking female student sitting in the very front row stood up.
Was her name Mei?
I hadn’t really tried to memorize it, but at some point, her name started coming to me naturally whenever I saw her face.
Even if I’d mostly just had them do self-study, it had been almost a month since I started teaching, so it made sense.
Besides, she’d been top of the class in note-taking from the beginning, so I’d paid a bit more attention to her.
“Instructor?”
“Oh, right. Start from where we left off yesterday and read five pages.”
I’d been the kind of instructor who just made them do self-study every class, but after that group dinner, I made a slight change.
It wasn’t because Amelia told me to.
Since all the other instructors knew I became the senior instructor because of my concession, they didn’t really give me orders or anything.
If anything, they seemed to dislike me enough not to even talk to me.
Even so, I made a change because I’d gone as far as dueling over the fact that I only assigned self-study, so if nothing changed, it would’ve looked bad.
It wasn’t a big change, though….just having students read from the textbook for about 30 minutes during class and slightly increasing the difficulty of the weekly Friday test.
My goal of getting fired hadn’t changed, after all.
“Maricho, a plant that mainly grows in the southern part of the Eastern Continent. When consumed or burned and inhaled as smoke, it causes hallucinations and shows addictive symptoms. Under Beluga Imperial Law, its cultivation and distribution are prohibited. Commoners are executed for mere possession, and nobles are stripped of their status and have their property confiscated…”
From the students’ perspective, this level of change probably wasn’t much different from self-study, so their dissatisfaction likely hadn’t gone away.
I wished they’d hurry up and file a complaint to get me fired.
“Instructor, I’ve finished reading.”
“Alright. For the remaining time, study on your own up to where number 17 read. Tomorrow’s test will cover everything we learned today.”
After saying that, I moved to the back of the classroom and sat down.
Looking around to see if anyone was slacking off or chatting, I saw that they were all staring intently at their materials.
They’re such diligent students, and yet they ended up with me as their instructor.
It’s a bit unfortunate, but maybe it’s become a habit now. I felt myself drifting off and closed my eyes.
After dozing off like that, I woke up to the bell signaling the end of class.
Sometimes students ask questions and wake me up midway, but today, no one did, so I got a really good nap in.
“Everyone, attention. Good work today.”
Another day successfully coasted through.
I didn’t have any paperwork to deal with either, so I figured I’d just stop by the staff office and head home.
But when I walked into the staff office, something felt off.
Everyone was pretending otherwise, but I could feel them stealing glances at me.
They were even whispering among themselves.
I wondered if I had something on my face, so I checked the mirror, but everything looked fine. What was going on?
Just as I was puzzling over it, the door to the staff office opened, and Head Instructor Berman and Instructor Amelia walked in.
The two of them came straight toward me. Berman looked quite serious, and Amelia, who usually looked like she’d bitten into something foul whenever she saw me, was smiling.
“Instructor Vio, step outside for a moment. We need to talk.”
“What is this about?”
“It’s not really something to discuss here…”
“Head Instructor? There’s nothing about Instructor Vio’s fabricated credentials that can’t be said here, is there?”
Fabricated credentials?
Amelia’s confident expression practically said, you’re done for.
Thinking about it, I had a rough idea.
Actually, I didn’t even need to think. There was only one reason that woman, who held a grudge against me, would react like this.
She must’ve looked into my background.
But my current personnel records had all been altered by the Imperial Intelligence Bureau when I retired.
I heard that Director Daph from the Intelligence Bureau personally took special care with it, and from what I’ve seen, it’s so well done that it’s nearly impossible to spot anything off.
In fact, not just my service record….even the monthly pension I receive is listed as coming from the Southern Legion, not the Intelligence Bureau.
Does she know someone high up in the Southern Legion?
“Fabricated credentials? I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You’ve got some nerve. We already investigated. We tracked down the unit you claimed to have served in….not a single person, not the commanding officers nor the soldiers who were there at the time, had ever heard of you!”
She looked completely fired up, like she thought she’d finally caught me.
“Instructor Amelia, that’s enough. Instructor Vio, I already verified your abilities before, but fabricated credentials are a serious issue, regardless of skill.”
“I’m aware.”
“Can you explain?”
If I can’t, I’ll achieve my goal of getting fired, but that won’t be all. I’ll probably end up rotting in prison for at least three years.
Since the Intelligence Bureau fabricated my records, if I meet Director Daph and explain the situation, he’d probably take care of it somehow. But in this situation, if I say I need to step out for a bit, there’s no way they’d just let me go.
As I was thinking it over, one idea came to mind.
“This isn’t something I can explain here. Shall we move somewhere else for a moment?”
“Is that so? Very well, let’s step outside together.”
“That won’t be necessary!”
Amelia cut in again.
“Instructor Amelia?”
“He’s eloquent. He might try to deceive you with smooth talk, Head Instructor.”
She’s always been like this, but now she’s being completely blatant about how much she dislikes me.
“Instructor Amelia, I’m not so easily swayed by mere words—”
Head Instructor Berman frowned, clearly displeased.
At this rate, I might lose my chance to explain.
“Then how about Instructor Amelia comes along as well? If someone already biased against me is present, it’ll be harder for me to mislead you.”
In the end, the three of us left the staff office together and went to the head instructor’s office.
It was my first time there. It had a desk for work and a sofa for visitors, similar in layout to the dean’s office, but the atmosphere felt entirely different.
Not just the sofa, but even the desk was covered with things like grip strengtheners, barbells, and dumbbells. Without the desk and sofa, you’d never guess this was the head instructor’s office.
“Now then, please explain—”
“Hmm, first, let’s all sit down.”
“I’m not sure which unit you investigated, but the one you looked into is probably not the unit I actually served in.”
I had no intention of revealing that I was a black agent.
Most of my missions were overseas, but I had plenty of domestic ones too.
And many of those domestic assignments involved influential nobles, so it would be problematic if my identity were exposed.
“Then are you saying you’re not from the Southern Legion?”
“Just a moment.”
As I spoke, I opened a subspace and took out a document.
It was rolled up and sealed with a red silk cord, but even at a glance, it was clearly made of high-quality parchment.
“What is that?”
“Please see for yourself.”
As soon as I handed it to Berman, his expression changed.
“What is it? It doesn’t look like a discharge certificate at all.”
Of course it wasn’t.
As far as I know, ranger discharge papers aren’t written on parchment this luxurious.
“Here… take a look yourself.”
When Amelia took the document from Berman, her expression changed instantly as well.
The document contained only a single line of text and a seal, but it was unmistakable.
The owner of that seal, two sea serpents coiled around a sword, was the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Legion and a symbol of the Empire’s military might.
One of the Empire’s Eight Blades who was ranked second and perhaps even stronger than the First Blade. The Captain of the Imperial Guard. An unofficially acknowledged strongest swordsman of the Beluga Empire.
Duke Heinrich Carlos.
For reference, the document read:
[I, the Duke, guarantee Vio’s abilities.]
It was about four years ago, I think.
There was an incident where Duke Carlos’s six-year-old granddaughter went missing.
All training in the Southern Legion was immediately canceled, and aside from the sentries, the entire legion was mobilized to carry out a massive search operation, but it yielded no results.
“They say the Quasar Empire was behind it.”
“Some amateur human trafficking ring must have taken her without knowing who she was.”
As all kinds of rumors spread, Duke Carlos grew more desperate by the day and eventually sought help from the old man I knew, with whom he had a long-standing relationship.
Of course, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau answers directly to the Emperor and follows only his orders.
That’s the principle, but things don’t always work strictly by the book. At the time, I had just completed a mission in the Crinis Desert and was on my way back when the old man asked me for help, and I found the granddaughter in just three hours.
To begin with, it wasn’t a disappearance.
The Duke’s granddaughter had vanished in an instant, and even after summoning a master tracker and high-ranking mages, not a single trace could be found. That alone told me what had happened.
Sure enough, when I obtained a spirit stone and shattered it at the site of the disappearance, the Duke’s granddaughter reappeared not long after.
An invitation from mischievous spirits.
Playful spirits sometimes summon children with the talent of a spirit master to the spirit realm.
Since spirit masters are so rare and little is known about them, Duke Carlos had no idea, but his granddaughter also possessed the aptitude and had been invited.
– How did you know how to force open a gate to the spirit realm? Even in my time, very few knew that.
– ’d already been through it on a previous mission.
Coincidentally, the mission I had taken before helping Duke Carlos was an assassination of a high elf in the West Great Forest.
At the time, the high elf, who was on the verge of death, fled into the spirit realm.
I was taken aback, but I managed to finish the job by interrogating the elf elders who were with me.
Anyway, after rescuing his granddaughter and preparing to leave, the Duke stopped me.
He said he wanted to repay the favor.
Judging by the atmosphere at the time, he might have granted me even a title if I had asked, but I made no demands.
If it became known that the Imperial Intelligence Bureau had helped with the Duke’s personal affairs, it would likely lead to all sorts of troublesome requests coming my way.
Besides, even if I hadn’t stepped in, they probably would have resolved it within about a week after completing the contract, so I felt a bit uneasy about it anyway.
So even though I firmly refused any reward, Duke Carlos was incredibly persistent.
He insisted that he should at least know the name of his benefactor, and it felt like he might actually hit me if I refused to tell him.
In the end, I gave in and told him my name, and that document is what he wrote for me.
It’s a certificate granted only to a select few who have made outstanding contributions among those serving directly under the Duke’s personal guard, and he said that anywhere within the Southern Legion’s territory, presenting it would guarantee the highest level of accommodation.
Not only that, but even if I were to get caught up in trouble elsewhere in the Empire, submitting this document would ensure assistance from the House of Duke Carlos.
Back when I was active as an agent, I never really had a reason to use it and eventually forgot about it, but fortunately it came back to me now.
“What you’ve just seen is a certificate given only to those who have rendered distinguished service while serving under Duke Carlos’s direct command.”
“Is that so?”
“Just a moment. I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“It’s because the unit isn’t publicly known.”
“Hmph, for all we know, the document could be forged.”
Berman seems convinced, but Amelia keeps picking at it relentlessly.
“Then go ahead and verify it.”
I didn’t actually serve there, but if it’s the Duke I remember, I’m sure he’ll vouch for me.
At the very least, being a Duke, he would know that black agents aren’t supposed to reveal their identities, and above all, I’m the one who saved his granddaughter.
He wouldn’t pretend not to know me just because some time has passed, would he?
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