"Greetings, Lord Frah. My name is Bell Daisy, and I am a mage affiliated with the Imperial Academia."
"Ahem!"
Quite some time had passed since my encounter with the mage at the graveyard, and my younger sister had eventually come looking for me when I failed to return.
Upon meeting the mage, my sister had been furious at her blatant disregard for proper etiquette in approaching me before greeting the family head.
Nevertheless, she had promptly escorted the woman to Father so that she could formally introduce herself.
And so this awkward meeting had been hastily arranged.
Yet the very person responsible for the situation stood before Father with a faint smile, greeting him as calmly as though nothing were amiss.
"I sincerely apologize for arriving a day earlier than the date specified in the letter and for my subsequent breach of etiquette."
"...No, Mage. You needn't concern yourself with that. I have no intention of forcing someone from the Imperial Capital to observe our outdated customs."
"Very well, then."
"..."
Throb!
At her immediate acceptance, a particularly menacing vein bulged on Father's forehead.
Ah, that was the expression he wore when he was genuinely furious.
Perhaps mindful of his dignity as the family head, however, he swallowed his anger with a cough.
"...Ahem! Then may I ask why you arrived a day earlier than the appointed date?"
"Ah, well, I encountered some bandits while traveling from the Imperial Capital to your territory."
"Bandits?"
Father suppressed his irritation and regarded her with suspicion.
Although the roads leading to our territory weren't particularly well maintained, that didn't mean our patrols had been neglecting their duties.
Father considered the security of his territory and its surrounding lands a direct reflection of his reputation as a lord.
There was no way he would have allowed bandits to roam freely.
"...Bandits, you say? How peculiar. Although I may be an aging lord, I haven't grown so deaf that I've lost track of events in the surrounding region. I haven't heard any recent reports of bandit activity."
"That's understandable. The bandits I encountered weren't the sort who attacked travelers along the roads. They were living deep in the mountains, secretly conducting illegal excavations of ancient ruins."
At the mage's explanation, Father's eyes widened.
Until that moment, he had been regarding her with obvious displeasure.
"What?! Ruins? Is that really true?!"
"Yes."
"Oh! What wonderful fortune! To think that ancient ruins have been discovered near our territory! I must summon the knights immediately and organize an expedition to investigate the surrounding area—"
"Those ruins have already disappeared, my lord. After subduing the bandits, I was about to investigate the ruins when a teleportation circle near them activated. Thanks to that, I was able to arrive here much sooner than expected, but the ruins themselves vanished somewhere in the process."
Thump!
Father, who had sprung excitedly from his chair, sank back against its backrest with a crestfallen expression.
"Then that means..."
"Yes. Although I missed the opportunity to excavate the ruins, I'm relieved that I was able to fulfill my far more important duty as a guide without being late."
"Hah!"
Father let out a disbelieving laugh before addressing her.
"Mage, I cannot tell whether you are truly a mage or merely a swindler. Ultimately, the only evidence we have for this entire story is your word, is it not?"
"Does it really matter whether I'm telling the truth? What's important is that I can bring a promising young talent with the potential to become a mage to Academia on time. Had I arrived late, it would have caused considerable trouble for both of us."
Her audacious response finally pushed someone in the room beyond the limits of his patience.
BANG!!
"What outrageous insolence!"
Sir Hans, who had been standing beside Father, slammed his fist against the wall and shouted at her.
"Even if you are someone endorsed by the Imperial Academia, do you not realize how disrespectfully you are addressing the lord of a territory?"
"Is there something wrong with what I said?"
"Mocking the lord of this territory with your ridiculous lies is an exceptionally grave offense! Had you been a commoner, it would have been a crime serious enough to warrant having your tongue cut out! Yet you stand there with that perfectly calm expression, brazenly making a fool of His Lordship with your lies?!"
"But I haven't lied about anything."
"You insolent—!"
As Hans gripped his sword and prepared to draw it against the mage, Father, who had been watching the confrontation, quickly raised a hand to stop him.
"That's enough, Hans. I appreciate your becoming angry on my behalf."
At Father's composed words, Sir Hans drew a deep breath, struggling to suppress his anger, before bowing his head.
"Haa... My apologies. I will gladly accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate for causing this disturbance."
"Why would I be so petty as to punish a knight who acted for my sake? I am not that sort of lord, Sir Hans. Go outside, get some fresh air, and calm yourself."
"Thank you, my lord."
Step. Step.
Sir Hans left the meeting room with a gloomy expression.
Creak!
As the wooden door swung shut behind him, the mage calmly addressed the people who were silently glaring at her.
"Well, now that I've explained why I arrived early, may I formally deliver the message from the Headmaster of Academia?"
"...Go ahead."
With Father's permission, she approached me, standing beside him, drew a deep breath, and proclaimed in a loud voice.
"Ahem! Hear this, Jin Frah of House Frah, the lion of the Empire's western spearhead and heir to the blood of the fairies! From this moment forth, you are hereby conscripted into Academia, the cradle of the Empire's finest talents, established by His Imperial Majesty! Until the day you become a pillar of the Empire's prosperity, all privileges granted to you by birth shall be revoked. Henceforth, you shall be treated solely as a student of Academia, and all status and authority inherited through your bloodline shall be suspended until your graduation. Therefore, take heed and do not commit the unfortunate mistake of allowing your noble lineage to lead you into reckless decisions or criminal acts. Regardless of your bloodline, Academia shall gladly provide a firm foundation worthy of the blood and sweat you devote to your endeavors. Thus concludes the message of Headmaster Den Brown!"
Her speech had evidently been so long that she had run out of breath, and she ended it with a fit of coughing.
Father remained silent for a moment.
Judging by his expression, he was carefully considering the implications of the message she had delivered.
Only after a rather lengthy silence did he turn toward me, his face filled with conflicting emotions.
"...Son."
"Yes, Father."
"Now that you've been conscripted into Academia, you'll no longer live as the legitimate heir of House Frah. From this moment onward, you'll be nothing more than a student, unable to receive any support from our family. Are you truly all right with that?"
"What would you do if I told you I wasn't?"
"I wouldn't send you."
"My lord!"
At Father's unequivocal answer, a stern-looking administrator who had been silently observing the proceedings cried out in alarm.
"Refusing a summons issued in His Imperial Majesty's name would bring tremendous dishonor upon a noble house! It could even be interpreted as an act of political defiance against the throne!"
"Then I will gladly bear the consequences of a decision made not as the family head, but as a father!"
"My lord!! How can you, as the head of House Frah, make such a rash decision—"
"I'll go."
Silence.
The administrator, who had been on the verge of shouting again, abruptly stopped at my firm declaration.
I glanced around at the suddenly quiet room before calmly expressing my true feelings.
"As I said during my coming-of-age ceremony, I have no intention of inheriting the family. Instead, I intend to use this summons to Academia as an opportunity to live my own life."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Then that's enough."
Swish!
Father studied my eyes for a moment before nodding.
He then took something from his coat and tossed it toward me.
Catch!
What Father had thrown was an old golden brooch.
Its craftsmanship looked somewhat crude.
"...What's this?"
"An heirloom left behind by your birth mother. Now that you've been conscripted into Academia, you will no longer be considered a member of our family for some time. That is why I'm giving it to you here and now. If I don't give it to you today, I may not have another opportunity."
Father gazed sadly at my black hair before turning his attention to my eyes, which were the same color as his.
Then he smiled.
"So keep that close to your heart and live with your head held high, my son. Even after you leave for Academia, I hope you'll never forget that you are my child."
"...Thank you, Father."
"Tsk, tsk! If I'd known this would happen, I would've spent more time improving your swordsmanship. You've barely mastered the fundamentals, haven't you?"
"...Surely that much is enough?"
"Well... You're certainly better than those half-baked nobles who only dabble in swordsmanship as a pastime. But if you encounter a genuinely skilled opponent, you'll barely be able to buy yourself some time. Even then, you'll gradually find yourself overwhelmed, and once you're two or three moves behind, it'll be over."
"...Haha."
"If only your body weren't so frail, I could've trained you properly, just like one of my full-fledged knights. What a shame."
Faced with Father's regretful gaze, all I could do was smile awkwardly.
Having watched countless times what sort of training was required to produce a fully qualified knight, I didn't share his regret in the slightest.
My soul still retained the sensibilities of a modern man, and it was far too delicate to endure training that bordered on outright torture.
Anyway,
With that, my departure from the family had finally become official.
It seemed that the time for farewells always arrived sooner than expected.
So soon, in fact, that it inevitably left a few regrets behind.