At the Academy, while Robert was with the King of the ‘Kingdom of Garam’, his friends were in the boring classes, like Hinen Sukemoru said at lunch.
The hours were dragging for him, and while Nozomu and the girls were listening attentively and taking a bunch of notes, he could barely keep his eyes open.
One class finished, and another started, and he didn’t even notice. For him, it was still the same boring talk, even if the sounds were coming from the mouth of a different Teacher.
When the class finished and everyone was exiting, Nozomu had to shake his shoulders to make him stand up and follow them to their room to relax a bit before going for dinner.
When they entered, Hinen went straight to his bed and laid there, with his eyes closed.
He fell asleep in mere seconds, and he didn’t even notice the girls were also there, talking with Nozomu about the subjects they had heard in class.
43Please respect copyright.PENANAwYQTX9YJSX
Taisetsuna looked at her notes and asked, “Nozo, what do you think Teacher Egar Gage meant when he said that knowing our enemy is halfway to a victory? He said that we should think about it and that he wanted to hear our interpretation in the next class. I keep on thinking about what he meant by that, but I can’t quite understand it. What about if we face an enemy that we have never met? How would we be able to know an enemy to gain any sort of advantage?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANALlT7vNaZKB
“Information is key. Not only that, but in a fight or a war, it could mean defeat or win.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAYcpb1Mb72J
“Say what? I don’t understand.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAV1mAbMq5jt
Nozomu grabbed her notebook and made a quick drawing. “This is you. This is Tresuria. You know she doesn’t like to fight, but she has two pet plants to fight for her. So, I put these two drawings in front of her… here. This is what you know. With this, what would you do to defeat her?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAtcjI6Xg1D2
“I… would avoid fighting her pets, go around them, and attack her.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAGqIWi2Run6
“Correct. So, the next situation. This is you. This is an enemy you don’t know and have never met. What would you do to defeat him?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA8b06ylFmwN
“I… would attack him with everything I got?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAR9OtSG9Uth
Nozomu slowly shook his head as he made a scribble on the paper with the word ‘run’ and explained. “If you had information about him, you would know what the best way would be. Since you don’t know, it would be wise to retreat and gather as much information as you can. This is also valid if you know you are going to face an unknown enemy tomorrow. Find as much as you can about him, because that…”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA2a4Jos2jp2
Taisetsuna completed with a smile, “… that would be halfway to a victory! Oh! Right!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANABb4psyaQUn
“Well, that is my interpretation. Feel free to think about something else. What about if we went to have dinner? Maybe Robert and the girls are back already.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAoI5e0Sx3fp
Chujitsuna pointed at the sleeping boy on the bed. “What about him? Should we wake him up or let him sleep? I had no idea why he was so tired!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAoyuAjAGFK6
Nozomu tapped Draiky’s head and pointed at Hinen, and smiled as he saw the strange pet running to the bed and jumping over Hinen to slap his butt with his vines to wake him up.
43Please respect copyright.PENANA0eMl7qDbXh
Hinen jumped to the floor and looked at the laughing group. “What happened? I was asleep?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAo8DxL8XM7s
Nozomu answered as he was stretching his arms. “Yup. You fell on your bed as soon as we got here. You really need to get used to the classes. Not every class will be practical; some theory is also needed.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANALdxAFAxx9a
Hinen rubbed his eyes and answered as he was following the others out of the room. “I know, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Those classes were so boring! Why do we need to learn any of that? We need to learn how to fight or use Magic, not a bunch of strange old History!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANARiIkxpGGb3
“One day, you will realise that history teaches you not to make the same mistakes that others have made before you.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA4ux9FQJHzD
As they were walking along the corridor, Hinen kept on yawning. He barely noticed they were already entering the main room for dinner. Because of that, he made a turn in the wrong direction, and Taisetsuna tripped on his foot.
When she tried to use her other foot to prevent a fall, Hinen’s tail entangled on her leg, and she went face forward, towards the ground.
She had both hands ready to stop her body when she felt a hand grabbing her right arm and another hand over her left boob. Someone pulled her up by pushing her arm and squeezing her breast.
She looked to her right and saw Tomiga Yurao facing her with a worried look.
43Please respect copyright.PENANAIM7uuiypvV
He asked as he was pulling her up, still grabbing her arm and with his hand over her breast. “Are you alright? That was dangerous!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA1J0L05UVmW
Taisetsuna asked, with her body glowing with Magic and her face red with anger, “Dangerous is you shamefully grabbing my breast like that, and you are still grabbing it!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAdVZcPfhkP6
He immediately let her go and raised both hands. “I am sorry! I didn’t mean to! I saw you fall, and I only thought about helping you!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA0xp5zJpLz7
“I didn’t need your help. I am perfectly capable of using my hands to stop a fall. I am not that useless!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAz3hI6QY5iJ
“I didn’t say that either! Can’t you just say thanks? I only wanted to help you!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAUjzPwB6gA7
Before Taisetsuna could punch the surprised Lion-kind boy, Nozomu grabbed her fist in mid-air and said, “Thank you for helping her. But next time, be more careful where you touch a woman. And even if you happen to touch her breast, take your hand out of there and apologise as fast as you can. That can save you from certain death at the hands of an angry woman.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAj1Syx45LLO
Tomiga Yurao nodded and ran to his table, where his friends were muffling their laughter. Taisetsuna saw it, and she snorted. “I bet he did that on purpose to look cool in front of his dumb friends… moron…”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA5Ojm8vJQxG
Nozomu pinched her arm and said in a low voice, “Shut up, you crazy girl! It was not on purpose! He seemed genuinely surprised when he noticed what he was grabbing. Maybe he is not used to women that much, and that was an instinct when he saw one of his friends fall. I could make the same mistake, you know? If I noticed before him, I would worry about stopping your fall, and I wouldn’t worry about where I was grabbing!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAqazWaC7KIR
As they were going to their table, she whispered, “But you holding, I wouldn’t mind...”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA1O5P44iBbv
While they were sitting, Robert Keskula entered and went to join them.
43Please respect copyright.PENANAb1E48ov6DE
As he sat with a big smile on his face, Nozomu asked, “Judging by your big smile, everything went well?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAsnS1RafDXg
“Of course! And I caused a major impact by arriving at two Castles while riding a Dragon! After visiting two countries, I left Asadate and Takanari on their estate, and Hinotsume brought me back. He left with Mizukonta to the mountain where we caught those two Drakes. They said it was an excellent place for them to stay near us.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAJGGAB2yuY3
“So, no more doubts among the Kings? But what about the other countries?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAb0mLvbJlaV
“They are going to send a few messages to the rulers of the other countries about what we talked. Asadate will report tomorrow to the Princess, so I am pretty sure everything is clear. What about here? Any news?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAezCTQvFjHg
Nozomu shrugged and answered. “Not much. Hinen was asleep with his eyes open during class, and when we got to our room, he fell asleep as soon as he laid on his bed. When we got here, he made Suna trip because he was still sleepy, and that weird Lion-kind boy prevented her from hitting her face on the ground by grabbing her breast and pulling her up. She is still pretty pissed about it.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAS3lksRR52Q
“He did what? The nerve! That is no way to treat a woman! Where is he? I am going to open his skull!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAZoqBJxmcHb
“You don’t need to do that, because I am pretty sure he did it by accident. He was embarrassed when he noticed what he was grabbing. I could be wrong, but I think he is not used to dealing with women.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAvZMrYgy28z
Robert Keskula looked to the nearby table and noticed Tomiga Yurao, who was red-faced and vigorously shaking his head, with his friends mocking him for what he had done. That was enough to ease the anger of the jealous young Viscount because he had done by accident what Robert had been eager to do ever since he met Taisetsuna.
During dinner, Robert whispered what he had talked about with both Kings and what his suspicions were, together with what he could find hidden in the words both Kings said.
Despite the commercial treaties between countries, they were still in effect after all those years because it was more beneficial for the other countries to have the ‘Principality of Khiz’ as a border with the Empire than the products that were exchanged between countries. Meaning that if the Empire decided to invade, that would grant them time to send their armies to help, because if they didn’t and the Principality fell to the claws of the Empire, their country would be next.
When Robert told what Hinotsume said to the King of the ‘Kingdom of Garam’, Nozomu wondered what he meant. Until Robert explained. From his words, it was clear that Hinotsume and Mizukonta liked to be in the Academy, and if anyone threatened their peaceful day there, they would retaliate. Be it the Empire, or any other country.
43Please respect copyright.PENANApPYTNHSS9G
To that, Nozomu asked, “Do you know if any Dragon ever said such a thing? I mean, Hinotsume is always saying that he doesn’t care about meat sacs, but I am pretty sure he likes to come here every year, and even after his defeat, he didn’t leave, and he is always out there, waiting for us.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAFca3TOlRZm
“Well, he said to the King that he wouldn’t intervene in a war, but if an army approached the Academy, it would be different. Something in his tone of voice led me to believe that he wouldn’t care if that army was from the Empire or another country, and maybe he would destroy that army and the country from where it came. I could be wrong, but that was what I felt.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAxoz2YygJuo
“I see… I hope the Princess knows what she is doing, because an allied country that ponders an invasion or is worried if she has an heir or not is kind of strange.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAMcU4SQJakE
“I think we can trust her judgement. She has been dealing with the Royals of all the countries in the World long before I started to frequent her court. The King’s concern is not a surprise. She has been pressured to have an heir and to find a spouse since she was very young. Her father never gave an opportunity to any Prince or High Noble to court her, because he used to say that she was way better than any of them. That caused some problems with the other countries, which Princess Mere solved and cleared as soon as she ascended the Throne, in a clear sign that she wasn’t as intransigent as her father. That granted her not only the respect but the friendship of all the Kings in the World. You for sure have noticed that she is very special.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAUYFsl9JKGp
Nozomu nodded, a slight smile on his face, recalling all of his conversations with the Princess.
When he was sticking his fork into the food on his plate, he felt the ground trembling a bit.
He looked at his glass and saw the water trembling slightly. Two more shakes and the chandeliers in the ceiling vibrated.
Nozomu looked around and saw the other students puzzled as he was. Then, a strong shake made everything move over the tables, with the students grabbing plates, glasses, and trays to prevent them from falling on the shaking ground.
It lasted mere seconds, and as quickly as it started, it stopped.
43Please respect copyright.PENANA7e8MgG5JLv
Taisetsuna looked at Nozomu and asked, “What the heck was that? I never felt the ground shaking before!”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAQyOTln3aMc
“I think it was an earthquake.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA5ZnCl4J8dR
“A what? Earth what?”
43Please respect copyright.PENANACvGqDbl7v5
“It’s when the ground shakes. It has to do with the plates that make the continent when they shift a few millimetres. This was a light one, but maybe a bigger one comes next, or in the following days.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANAhGzaCtPPwv
Taisetsuna frowned and said, “Nozo, the ground never once shook…”
43Please respect copyright.PENANA8b4QI92Nc9
“Really? Then that is strange.”
43Please respect copyright.PENANABmXziF9X2I
Taisetsuna opened her eyes wide, and Nozomu noticed she was thinking the same he was. He slightly shook his head, so that she didn’t say a thing.
He pretended nothing was worrying him, even with the others asking how he knew about what made the ground shake and what exactly those plates were.
ns 172.70.127.60da2