The Imperial Academy was compulsory education. Any noble belonging to the Empire was required to enroll the moment they turned twenty and complete a three-year course of study.
"Put simply, it means they intend to properly indoctrinate the Empire’s future leaders."
As the Northern Grand Duke, I honestly did not have to attend. But...
"Until I straighten out the complete disaster that is the North, I need to accommodate the Empire to some extent."
And while I was at it, I could check on the original novel’s female lead and male leads too.
"Excuse me, Grand Duke Viktor?"
"Hm?"
The academy staff member calling out to me from behind asked in a trembling voice as he watched me leave.
"Th-the swordsmanship examination. Are you really..."
"I said I’m not taking it."
"B-but swordsmanship accounts for..."
I knew. It was worth about sixty percent. But what was I supposed to do about it?
"I break out in hives when I hold a sword. I’m forfeiting it."
"W-wait, Grand Duke Viktor?!"
"I’m leaving."
I yawned as I left the swordsmanship examination grounds. The people gathered for the entrance examination whispered among themselves as they watched, but I lightly ignored them and headed straight for the academy headmaster’s office.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
When I opened the door and entered, an elderly man was seated inside, welcoming me with a kindly smile.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Grand Duke Viktor."
"The pleasure is mine. Thank you for granting my unreasonable request, Headmaster Arcaine."
"Ha ha. Please, take a seat."
I sat down as Arcaine indicated, then decided to get straight to the point.
"Please authorize a direct teleportation gate connecting the North and the academy."
"Certainly. Of course I shall authorize it."
I looked surprised at Arcaine’s answer and asked,
"You are granting permission so readily?"
"Ha ha ha. We need only ensure that the teleportation gate will not function for anyone other than Your Grace and those you have authorized."
"And you have not considered the possibility that I might tamper with it?"
"I do not take Your Grace for the sort to resort to such petty tricks. You are not someone who would bring the affairs of the imperial family and the North into the academy and stir up trouble, are you?"
He smiled.
It was a gentle, benevolent smile, like a grandfather gazing fondly upon his grandson.
"Is that so? Then I am relieved."
"I am well aware of the North’s circumstances, you see."
"Yet you allowed my brothers to become that way."
"You know the disposition of the late Grand Duke better than anyone, do you not?"
"Well... that is true."
Anything broken could be fixed by beating it half to death.
Though I was the one cast aside in the process...
Still, things had turned out well in the end, so perhaps it did not matter.
"Is there anything else you would like to request?"
"No."
"Very well. Then I hope you enjoy your time at the academy."
"Do you truly believe that will happen?"
The nobles who wanted to cozy up to the imperial family and pick up whatever scraps they could would hardly leave me alone.
"Ha ha. Whenever that happened, the previous Northern Grand Dukes handled matters in the Northern way."
"..."
"You will do well."
**
Watching Viktor climb into his carriage in the distance, Arcaine stroked his beard and smiled.
"Truly, unlike his dead brothers, there is life in that boy’s eyes."
Arcaine knew those eyes. How could he ever forget them? Proud Walterheim and the Northern Grand Dukes before him.
They were the very eyes those men had possessed.
"The young wolf of the North... It has been a long time since my heart has raced like this."
**
After finishing my entrance examination and returning to my office, I found Jester there, back from his long vacation.
"You have returned, Your Grace."
"Jester, did you have a pleasant vacation?"
"Yes."
"That is good. Where is Rushe?"
"Just a moment. Rushe."
Creak.
When the door opened, the face of the Rushe who entered was so ruined that it could not be compared to when I had met her a month ago.
And not a trace remained of the venom she had shown me then.
"I will repay the insolence I committed against you, Grand Duke Viktor, with my life without fail."
"..."
Jester Mark Two stood before me.
"Jester."
"Yes."
"If I find young lords and ladies of the North who need some mental reeducation, may I entrust them to you?"
"Oh?"
"Gasp."
Jester’s eyes gleamed, and Rushe’s shoulders twitched.
"If it is that sort of education, this old man—as well as the retired knights—would welcome it gladly."
"Excellent. I will drag back every last one I find at the academy."
I grinned.
Imagining those promising young sprouts being instilled with the spirit of the North, I smiled.
"Remake them thoroughly into Northerners."
"Leave it to me."
"And Rushe."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"From now on, you will serve as my guard."
"Yes."
"You will be my shield. You go when I tell you to go, and you die when I tell you to die. Understood?"
"Of course. I will be Your Grace’s shield!"
I nodded and took my seat. A sigh escaped me at the stack of documents that had accumulated during the short time I had spent at the academy.
Among them, one document stood out in particular.
[The Lightning Claw Tribe, an orc tribe driven out of the imperial capital, is moving north. Immediate subjugation is required.]
"Oh?"
So it was about time for that, was it? The first demi-human recruitment event, where the demi-humans driven toward the North by the Empire’s trash nobles had to be dealt with.
Or, as it was written: the female lead’s first step toward becoming the savior who united every race.
Was I supposed to just let the female lead and male leads gobble this up? For whose benefit? It was obvious that, one by one, their demi-human army would grow until it eventually became a blade aimed at the North.
"Rushe."
"Yes, Your Grace."
I rose from my seat and called to Rushe.
"Your first mission. Follow me."
**
Watching Viktor leave the estate with his daughter, Jester smiled in satisfaction.
Truly... Was it because he resembled you the most that you hid him where his brothers would not see him?
As Jester marveled at Proud’s foresight and tidied the desk, he spotted a letter Viktor had failed to notice. His eyes gleamed at the seal stamped upon it: the seal of House Roienthal.
**
Crunch.
The sound of nails being bitten filled the silent room. A girl with pale pink hair was gnawing frantically at her nails, as though she were unbearably anxious.
"Where did it all go wrong...? Was it because I got rid of Cecilia too soon...? No. Getting rid of that bitch quickly was the right thing to do. But then why is Blackheart Castle in the North perfectly fine? And who is this Grand Duke Viktor?"
Consumed by confusion, Elysia stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had become Elysia, the female protagonist of the romance-fantasy novel she had read: a commoner girl beloved by everyone. At first, she had intended to follow the original plot. But...
Cecilia... that damned bitch.
The moment she, a reincarnator, harbored the jealousy and envy that the novel’s Elysia never would have felt, the story began to twist.
She had used the Crown Prince to get rid of Cecilia, who was meant to be written out two years later after her mana ran rampant.
Just because I disposed of a woman who was going to disappear anyway, this is what happened?
The butterfly’s wings her actions had set in motion had returned as a storm, and everything was becoming a mess.
No... No, it is fine. I have the male leads who love and cherish me.
Elysia left her room and headed toward the room where the men waiting for her were gathered. Everything would work out.
"Everyone, listen to me. I... want to create a world without discrimination against demi-humans!"
**
The lord of Seker, the northern city closest to the imperial capital, was breaking out in a cold sweat at my visit.
"W-what brings the Northern Grand Duke all the way here?"
"I heard an orc settlement arrived."
"Yes."
"I came to deal with it."
"But..."
His expression seemed to ask whether I had truly come without the Northern Grand Duke’s army, bringing only a single knight who looked like a novice. I smiled and answered.
"Rushe and I will be enough. We did not come to fight, either. However, if you appear leading troops while I am speaking with them, then..."
"..."
After giving him a warning not to do anything foolish and to stay put, I got to my feet.
"Heh. I will be going, then."
I left Seker Castle and spurred my horse toward the orc settlement in the distance.
"Y-Your Grace?"
"What is it, Rushe?"
"N-negotiating with demi-humans? With orcs, no less!"
"They are capable of conversation, are they not?"
"B-but..."
"The North is always short on manpower."
"Surely you do not mean to make up for that by accepting orcs?"
"I do."
The female lead had done it, so why could I not accept them? Hope for harmony blooming in an Empire steeped in human supremacy?
They were going to use that to strike at the North, and I was supposed to allow it? Absolutely not.
"Halt!"
At the voice ringing across the grassland lush with spring, Rushe and I reined in our horses.
"Who goes there?"
An orc wearing clothes made of boar hide approached in our direction, and Rushe reflexively moved to place her hand on her sword hilt.
Smack!
"Huh?"
"He is just walking over here. Why are you trying to draw your sword so aggressively?"
"B-but I am your guard..."
"Draw it when I command you to. Your father drew his sword only when my grandfather and father gave the order. I told you to obey my orders alone."
"...Yes."
Leaving behind Rushe, who lowered her head with a gloomy expression, I dismounted and walked toward the orc.
"Are you Gartan, chieftain of the Lightning Claw Tribe?"
"Oh? How do you know?"
"Your reputation is widely known even in the North."
"Is that so? Yes, I am Gartan, chieftain of the Lightning Claw Tribe. And who are you?"
"I am Viktor Walterheim, the Northern Grand Duke. I rule the northern lands where your people now reside."
"Oh. Why has a man of such high standing come all the way here? To drive us out?"
I extended a hand toward Gartan and made my proposal.
"No. Would you consider settling in the North, Gartan?"
"...What?"
"I will accept you orcs as residents of the North."
"Are you serious?"
"On one condition."
"Speak."
"I want the orc warriors to fight alongside us at the northernmost edge of the continent."
Gartan stroked his chin, then asked me,
"You mean fight the Snow Ghosts?"
"That is right. And the barbarians at the northernmost edge as well."
"..."
"I will provide land for you to settle, citizenship, and take responsibility for everything concerning your orcs."
"So that is the compensation for driving warriors into certain death."
"No."
"Hm?"
"Any soldier who obeys my orders and completes his service will be sent safely home without fail."
"Even if they are orcs?"
"The moment they join the Northern army, I have a duty to take responsibility for them. What will you do, Gartan?"
Gartan studied me for a moment before turning his gaze toward the settlement.
"May I speak with my tribespeople?"
"Go ahead."
"It may take some time."
"I will wait. Here."
Once Gartan left, Rushe seemed to finally relax and collapsed where she stood.
"Whew..."
"What is it?"
"No... what incredible presence..."
"Is that so? More importantly, prepare yourself."
"Yes? Prepare what?"
"Prepare to camp."
"...What?"
"This will be a long battle."
"Uh... We are camping here instead of returning?"
Yes. My family-register mate had watched the part about recruiting Zhuge Liang from Romance of the Three Kingdoms before writing this part. Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage.
An event meant to show the protagonist’s patience: the forces of the lord of Seker, who barged in to subjugate them, would be repelled alongside the orcs, and the orcs would become his subordinates.
"We will stay here for roughly three days."
"...Three days?"
"I told you to prepare, did I not? So do it."
"I did prepare, but..."
"Good. Then."
While we waited, we might as well breathe in the fresh air of the great outdoors on the grassland.
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