Vol. 1 - Chapter 190 - Arrival (3)
Even though he still had that friendly, neighborhood grandpa look, a close examination would reveal tension building beneath the surface, as though he were on a battlefield.
Godorfun walked directly up to Schord and, beaming, offered his right hand.
"Fuhaha. It\'s an honor to meet you, Mr. Schord Bainfaust. I\'m Godorfun Von Wangyus, the director of the Royal Academy. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Once more, the peanut gallery was in a frenzy.
"Schord Bainfaust......? I\'ve never heard of him..."
"You dimwit! He\'s him! The one who trained Allen Rovenne and likely the No.1 private tutor in the whole kingdom!"
"Ah, the inventor of \'Unceasing Prudence\'... He looks more normal than I thought."
“The one who pulled Allen Rovenne from the brink of failure in merely three months and helped him score an A in the theoretical portion of the exam. He had developed to the point where he was accused of cheating…”
Schord accepted the greeting with a smile.
Lately, the sternness akin to a hell prison guard he used to show had lightened up after teaching two of the Rovenne family\'s children and eventually even fulfilling their dearest wish of qualifying for the Royal Academy. At present, his expression was like that of spring breaking out from the shell of winter.
Now that he won\'t be teaching anyone for a good while, he was almost a full-time steward of the Rovenne house.
Perhaps he was influenced by the mad dash he accompanied the awakened Allen in along with the latter’s eventual acceptance into the Academy, but Schord didn\'t look fazed facing Godorfun.
"Schord Bainfaust… I have heard about you, Sir Godorfun, the young master\'s class teacher. I am honored that you have come to greet me, a mere insignificant person. Every time I hear rumors about the young master, I was happy to hear that he has found such an iconic teacher. He might be mischievous, but please continue to guide him as before."
Seeing Schord follow up with a deep but precise bow of courtesy, Godorfun shook his head.
"I barely even taught him anything. His \'spirit\' was trained by you, Mr. Schord, and without your lessons he wouldn\'t have progressed as far as he has. To be honest, I would much rather you come to the Academy to impart your outstanding knowledge and wisdom to the children there for the benefit of the kingdom. Will you consider it?"
As Godorfun made his intention clear, Dew — who was listening to their conversation from behind while picking his ear with a pinkie — chimed in.
“......Hey, hey, are you insane, old man? Your experienced eyes should surely be able to see through this fake private tutor. If you do end up giving him a position of status, you run the risk of receiving a strike against you.”
A blue vein popped on Godorfun\'s forehead immediately as he directed an insane level of intimidation toward Dew.
" "Eeeekkk!!" "
Screams came from the peanut gallery.
"......My word, to have such a condescending tone against someone I consider to be my spiritual guide… Who the hell do you think you are, my superior?"
However, before the confrontation could escalate further, Schord promptly moved to calm Godorfun down.
"It\'s alright, Sir Godorfun. It seems we just have some misunderstanding between us. This person is right, I don’t have any exceptional strength within me. Rather it was the young master’s spirit that made everything possible. This old warrior merely supported him in his journey for a short while."
‘...He has quite a lot of guts to calm Sir Godorfun down when he\'s releasing a torrent of bloodlust…’
Dante quipped mentally as he watched Schord, who still had a smile plastered on his face. He was certain the old man was not a master of physical prowess. However, he certainly wasn’t the insignificant person his words made him out to be.
He was also surprised at the exceptional resistance of the people of the Rovenne house to the intimidating pressure. Though the answer to that was simple. Having been baptized by the staggering amount of bloodlust Celia would release each time she caught Bellwood trying to be chummy with the local girls, resistance would naturally build up over time.
"Hey, look. The person himself acknowledged it! Believe it or not, that brat definitely cheated on the exam! This should make our wager null and void. I shouldn\'t be liable for anything!"
As Dew tried to clear off the end result of the wager with bloodshot eyes, the light vanished from Schord\'s eyes.
"......What... do you mean by that?"
His expression was still twisted into a smile, but something else entirely was brewing at the depths of his eyes.
His nonchalant vibe from earlier disappeared, leaving only a palpable presence.
"W-Well, I mean, I’m not asking to be paid back this late, but the wager can surely be made void—"
Schord fixed his gaze on Dew and walked up to him as he repeated himself.
"... What were you implying with your words earlier? This old soldier\'s ears have been failing recently so I wanted to make sure. Did I hear a cheating allegation against the young master?...... Can you give me an explanation?"
Soon, even the smile vanished from Schord\'s face.
Dante, who had been watching the situation unfold, hastily squeezed himself in between the two.
"P-Please calm down, Schord-san. Dew-san was just making his typical tactless joke. No one among the teachers of the Royal Academy doubts Allen-kun\'s academic prowess after the entrance exam. If anything, Dew-san acknowledges his wit just as much. Come on Dew-san, apologize."
However, Schord\'s gaze remained fixed on Dew as he watched him at close range.
Schord wasn\'t really trying to pressure the latter. He genuinely wanted to understand the nuance of Dew’s words. It was just that the glazed look in his eyes was unsettling.
After a brief stare-off, Dew surrendered.
"Tsk!... Alright, it\'s my fault, my loss. For crying out loud, we can\'t even fight! You know that already! Ain\'t no way I would bore myself to death with an argument! Aargh, I swear no one related to that brat is sane..."
Dew\'s expression scrunched up as he cleared himself, the air around Schord finally loosened, his tight expression breaking into a smile.
"Good heavens! So you\'re the one the young master pestered to become his master. This might be audacious coming from this lowly Schord, but I was extremely happy when I heard about the news back in the Rovenne territory. I implore you to keep guiding the young master in the future."
Schord performed a precise bow to Dew.
"Fuhaha! You\'re still wet behind the ears, Dew. Anyway, how long do you plan to stay in the Royal Capital, Master Schord?"
Godorfun, meanwhile, just laughed at the whole situation and resumed his conversation with Schord, a hearty smile hanging on his lips.
"......Hold on, Bellwood. Where do you think you\'re going?"
Meria immediately called Bellwood out as the latter tried to sneak away while taking advantage of the confusion.
"......O-Oh goodness! What a coincidence meeting you here, Your Excellency. I didn\'t expect to see you here, so I was oblivious to your presence."
Meria wistfully glanced at the sky.
"Do you have any idea what kind of impression you’re giving to everyone who\'s waiting for you in the Royal Capital with your current conduct?...... I can\'t. Someone just come and teach this man how to behave properly."
◆◆◆
Soon after, the news of the Rovenne couple\'s arrival in the Royal Capital, accompanied by the Master of «Unceasing Prudence», reached everyone and their mothers. Similarly, the true identity of Allen\'s mother did not remain a secret.
Celia\'s status as a true member of the Dopserior family came as a shock to everyone. In a flash, the Rovenne Estate in the Royal Capital received an avalanche of requests from individuals wanting to meet them. Nevertheless, all but a certain part of the nobility and influential people distanced themselves from the Rovennes.
The reason— they were scared.
It was the behavior of the entire family that had them on their toes. Celia, Allen\'s mother, despite being the blood-related sister of the head of the Dosperior family, didn\'t hesitate in catching Randy Von Dosperior’s face in an iron grip, pushing him to tears. Then, the \'Unceasing Prudence\' Schord made Dew Owiel, the Commander of the 3rd Legion, apologize for his unsavory remarks.
And cherry on the cake was that their family head, Bellwood, treated the entire affair like it had nothing to do with him and even turned a blind eye to his lord, Her Excellency Meria, vanishing into the crowd.
—It was a family of crazy heads.
Anyone who has heard of what happened, which sounded no less than a joke, clearly understood that approaching such a family would be nothing short of suicidal.
—At this point, I was the only ordinary human among my insane family.
The next day in the Academy, this was how Allen Rovenne explained himself to his friends.
T/N - Damn, I thought there would be another glazing, but wow, crazy heads. That actually was an apt description.