[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-became-the-academy-s-war-hero":3,"chapter-i-became-the-academy-s-war-hero-i-became-the-academy-s-war-hero-chapter-69":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I Became the Academy’s War Hero",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1531676,1990,"Chapter 69 : Assembly (2)","i-became-the-academy-s-war-hero-chapter-69",69,"\u003Cp>Chapter 69: Assembly (2)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chirp, chirp-chirp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sparrows’ chirping sounded unusually loud that morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I opened my eyes and casually checked the clock, it had just passed six o’clock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…I should hurry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The opening ceremony was at 3 p.m.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Technically, the summit would begin after lunch, but most of the key figures would start gathering from early morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since it was a venue for socializing, exchanging opinions on various issues and policies, and conducting every possible discussion, there was never enough time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, only two or three representatives attended from each academy, but since Karbenna represented the entire Empire, more than ten participants would be joining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant there was much to show and much to coordinate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a quick shower and changing clothes, I reflected on yesterday’s events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My cooperation with Michel, and the addition of Lea and Francia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Lea Bronte is one of Edel’s planted agents, so she won’t care about her future treatment in Karbenna.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Francia and Eric, since I, their supervising instructor, had given permission, things would go smoothly as long as the Academic Affairs Department handled the paperwork properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After checking my attire and artifacts, I headed toward the main building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the center of the main plaza, from where Karbenna’s front gate was clearly visible, familiar faces came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Over here, Sir Eugene!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At least you’re not the last to arrive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind Rubia, Lea, Francia, and Eric, I also spotted the Imperial special carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I loaded a few of the artifacts I had brought into the back seat of the carriage and joined their group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A peculiar silence and tension followed as a bonus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘There’s no point in getting nervous from the start.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Might as well lighten the mood and share some information while I’m at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is everyone’s first summit, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They silently nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spread my arms and shook my head lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You might think it’s full of sly old politicians, but most of them are just harmless old men. No need to worry too much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there were definitely people we needed to be cautious of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially the Bernhardts and the Imperial bloodline — it was best not to draw their attention unnecessarily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least not until we were well-prepared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d all be busy chatting among themselves anyway, and even if not, I’d probably be the only one among us they had marked as noteworthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as no one caused a ruckus or got caught up in a major incident, we’d be fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘In the end, I just need to be careful myself.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t let Rubia or Francia end up in danger because of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michel and Eric were already deeply involved in the Hockma Incident — that couldn’t be helped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While I was lost in those thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So everyone gathered here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Michel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the appearance of the Chairwoman, everyone immediately raised their hands in salute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she didn’t so much as glance at us and simply boarded the carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you doing? Get in already.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carriage was divided into two compartments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instructors sat in the front, and the students in the rear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rubia sat on the left, Michel on the right, and I sat in the center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After checking Michel’s summit participation pass, the two coachmen immediately set the carriage in motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since it was a carriage directly managed by the Imperial Household, the ride quality was leagues above ordinary ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Come to think of it, in the world of MAGA, automobiles haven’t been established yet.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The current setting still revolved around carriages, trains, and ships as the main modes of transport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Automobiles would probably be commercialized soon enough, but I doubted I’d ever get to use one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘After all, this world is under Apocalypse Mode right now.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before anyone could even talk about commercialization, humanity would be struggling for survival….\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as I was having such grim thoughts—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There seem to be two cadets I don’t recognize.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michel’s quiet voice came from beside me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why are those cadets coming along?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, those two are…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was easy to come up with reasons for Francia, but Lea was the problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Michel and Edel still had a strained relationship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should I be honest, or keep things vague?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While I was deciding how to answer—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, never mind. If it’s something hard to explain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michel spoke first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I trust they’re not the type who’d testify against me. They’re your cadets, after all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Yes. That, I can guarantee.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m tired, so I’ll take a short nap. Feel free to have your strategy discussions or whatever.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with that, Michel fell asleep in less than a minute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rubia, glancing at her, wiped the sweat from her forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Phew…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Why are you nervous?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, I just felt like I was being interrogated, hehe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re all on the same side here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, of course…” she said, trailing off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the three in the back were already chatting away, seemingly much closer now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After glancing between them and Michel, Rubia muttered softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After the summit… do you think things will stay that way?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course they will—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I started to reply instinctively, but stopped mid-sentence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because I immediately understood what she really meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If someone other than Michel were the Chairwoman, Karbenna would never have helped Mallet. Even with external support, there’s a limit to how much we can protect them from Dellowell.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sharp insight was just like Rubia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But hearing it from her lips still left a bitter taste.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard the Bernhardts never fight losing battles. They say avoiding them is the wisest choice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can you be sure Michel wouldn’t make the same choice?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course not. No one can.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thought so…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Rubia drooped her head, I gently placed my hand on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What you see isn’t always everything, Rubia.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every powerful force had its weaknesses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the Ribenia Empire, so mighty that none dared oppose it, had ultimately fallen to its own internal greed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one would deny that Dellowell was the Empire’s strongest military force, but that didn’t make them invincible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dellowell versus Karbenna—Mallet alliance. It looks like we’re on the losing side for now, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way in the future. Life’s always uncertain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I held Rubia’s right hand firmly and said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We only need to do the best we can right now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Yes. Really, that’s all we can do.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We nodded and reaffirmed our stance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rubia closed her eyes with a relieved expression, and seeing that, I closed mine too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would take more than an hour to reach the Imperial Household, so I planned to organize the remarks I would make on stage during the summit in the meantime….\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>― Suddenly, but I have a message for you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way I could do that, damn it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tilted my head back against the seat and sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What is it?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>― A huge lump of murderous intent was approaching you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…What?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Clina’s voice I snapped my eyes open and scanned outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the Imperial Household’s highest-class carriage. Six horses drew it, and its speed had been boosted with artifacts and mana stones, so its average speed easily exceeded thirty kilometers per hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this age, only the Empire’s transcontinental trains were faster than that carriage on land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lump of murderous intent aiming at such a carriage?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I cocked my head and wondered inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Can you tell the direction?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>― Not exactly… it seemed about five kilometers away. Head-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I have a rough idea. Thanks for the info.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>― Don’t mention it. We should help our comrades in fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Clina fell silent, I opened the partition and stuck my head out to the coachmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Excuse me, could you stop the carriage for a moment?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, yes. What is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d like you to stop the carriage for a moment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the bewildered looks on their faces, I added one sentence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It seems someone’s trying to attack this carriage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoa, whoa whoa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carriage rolled on a few hundred meters and then stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sudden halt woke everyone who had dozed off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took a sword and shield out of the large rear compartment, equipped them, and returned to the front compartment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s going on?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could it be that time…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the two people with opposite expressions, I nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the message had been meant for Rubia, Michel also quickly grasped the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…An ambush, then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go on ahead. I’ll handle this quickly and follow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can’t go alone! I’ll come with you—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How do you know the same thing won’t happen again?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can assure you it won’t.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This time I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fighting together would increase our odds, but only marginally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were on a bridge spanning the Ardens River.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t ordinary land, a thicket, or a mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how excellent an assassination group was, in such an open space their combat methods would be limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, today was the day of the Imperial Summit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Empire’s second- or third-largest event, countless people were heading to the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An assassin’s basic rule was to minimize witnesses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From that perspective, the attackers had already abandoned their principles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘They must have really wanted revenge.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Exfiltrating to the Imperial Household might be effective, but if we left them be they would continue to pester me relentlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would be better to finish them off properly now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Quickly, now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I kept urging, Michel tried to dissuade Rubia and poked his head out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come back by tomorrow at the latest, Carter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were filled with conviction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You must be responsible for what you say. Isn’t that right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…I promise.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, the carriage left me and once again headed for the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing tall in the middle of the road, I steadied my breathing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I didn’t expect to get a field test this soon.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clina had said she could maintain maximum output for up to fifteen minutes, but if I pushed her to the limit and she lost consciousness, it would be disastrous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For now, I would respond as best I could in the current state and only release the limiter at the decisive moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That would also unsettle the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Still, this is a perfect environment to test.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both sides were under a time constraint either way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I sharpened my senses and silently watched how the enemy would launch the assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, not long after, it came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clatter, clatter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rattle, rattle!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the distance, a carriage was running backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bad premonition made me send a signal to Clina.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘If I signal you, can you unlock briefly and then lock again?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>― Do you think this is a faucet? Even for me, once I unlock I can’t control it for more than two minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…No choice then.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, the carriage bore down on me at full speed without slowing at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I drew Lukezax, raised it, took a cutting stance, and shouted loudly five seconds before the collision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something inside my body snapped, and the familiar radiating pain greeted me.\u003C\u002Fp>",1872,"2026-06-06T06:11:51.334Z",1,"novelbin.me","cbe0a0f665ebc62185fbe49e44baa0a5069fdef3ab4a38d02aa58d0d66800a6c","i-became-the-academy-s-war-hero-chapter-70","i-became-the-academy-s-war-hero-chapter-68",163,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-became-the-academy-s-war-hero-cover.jpg"]