The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 239
The Royal Academy reopened its doors, accepting thousands of new students.
People in our mansion were also busy preparing for work.
“To think that I’d become an Academy teacher, what a world we live in.”
“Heh, indeed it is.”
Ilya smiles in agreement with Gaspar’s grumbling.
Ash, who also became a teacher, was smirking mischievously.
“There must be many female students, right? It wouldn’t be strange if feelings develop while teaching them.”
Lucretia scolds him in disgust at his dark intentions.
“Using your position as a teacher to seduce students, that’s outrageous!”
“What? B-but I’m around their age. It’s perfectly natural to imagine…”
“Stop talking and let’s get going, we’ll be late.”
Scolded by Luc, Ash leaves for work first with a sour expression.
‘But why is Luc here?’
Even though she has quarters in the palace and her own mansion.
‘Well, she probably came to see Elena.’
Elena, who was also part of the teaching staff, went to work with them.
After the teachers left for work, only the students remained.
I was included among those students.
While I could have been a martial arts teacher, internal discussions concluded that those with magical aptitude should move as students.
Sophia, Meissen, Erina, Estelle, Dorofei, me, and Gunther fell into this category.
While Sophia was reluctantly included as a student, Gunther’s magic aptitude was surprisingly good. Though we hadn’t checked his attribute yet, his affinity for magic was so good it wasn’t necessary.
Sophia sighed deeply, perhaps bitter that Gunther possessed a talent she lacked.
“I have business at the palace, so I’ll go ahead. Gunther, will you escort me?”
“Ah, yes, Princess.”
“Don’t call me Princess. Beckavia has already fallen. Gunther, you should find your own path now. With your remarkable magic aptitude, you could live comfortably doing anything.”
“Somehow, your words seem to have a sharp edge…”
I told the perplexed Gunther.
“It’s just mild inferiority complex. She takes that attitude with everyone who has magical talent, so don’t worry about it.”
Sophia snapped “Shut up!” irritably and left with Gunther.
Erina also left first with Estelle and Meissen, offering to guide them around the Academy, leaving me alone in the dining room.
As I was about to prepare to leave after finishing my meal, Yumir approached with quick steps.
“Young master.”
“Yes?”
Yumir continues speaking with concern.
“What should we do about Ryuna?”
“Ah.”
Yumir was supposed to work as Gaspar’s assistant.
That meant there would be no one to look after Ryuna.
While Mother and Eonia, who remained at the mansion, were there, Ryuna didn’t follow them at all. She would probably just cry sadly until either I or Yumir returned.
“If possible, I’d like to take her with me, but I’m not exactly sure what kind of work I’ll be doing…”
“Yeah, that’s true. Can’t be helped. I’ll take Ryuna with me.”
“Will that be alright?”
“What could go wrong? Please get her ready? We’ll be late.”
Yumir placed Ryuna in my arms and skillfully wrapped her in a blanket. Then she gave me a small bag containing diapers and baby food.
Naturally, all eyes were on me as I went to school carrying a baby.
Wherever I walked, I could hear people whispering.
Ryuna, seemingly scared of the crowd, buried her face in my chest while occasionally peeking around.
I stroked the back of her head while heading to my classroom.
‘So this is the advanced class.’
With the Academy’s recent reorganization, all existing students were placed in advanced classes without much distinction.
Perhaps because of this, there were many older students and those with strong presences in the classroom, but none of them could compare to me.
“What’s with him? Bringing a baby on the first day of Academy…”
“It’s impressive in its own way.”
“Wasn’t Randall Dalfon our class teacher? I don’t think that strict Randall will just let this slide.”
“We might see an expulsion on the first day.”
Soon that Randall appeared. He was a middle-aged man with a stern impression.
His sharp gaze scanning the students stopped at me. Other students gulped, thinking the inevitable had come.
I shrugged my shoulders as if asking what he was going to do about it.
Randall awkwardly averted his gaze.
“Welcome, everyone. Due to the large number, we’ll start with attendance first.”
The classroom buzzed with whispers.
“Randall is just letting this slide?”
“I can’t believe it…”
The teacher cleared his throat and began taking attendance.
He had no choice, as teachers of the Academy’s advanced level would inevitably know how things were moving in the royal court.
He knew well what position I held in the current power structure.
Though he tried to ignore me and continue taking attendance, at that moment, “Nnngh…!”
Ryuna made a distressed face, seeming to have had a poo.
I raised my hand and asked the teacher,
“Would it be alright if I stepped out for a moment?”
The attendance taking was interrupted.
“……”
A deadly silence fell over the classroom. It was likely because interrupting attendance was considered extremely rude.
I apologized first.
“I’m sorry, but it seems the baby had a poo. I knew it was rude but raised my hand because it would start to smell otherwise.”
The students tensed up, expecting a harsh reprimand this time.
However, Randall smiled awkwardly.
“Well, it can’t be helped then. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
I headed outside with the diapers.
For some reason, after that day, I became known as a legend at the Academy.
* * *
After a few days, carrying a baby around became routine.
Ryuna seemed to have gotten used to it too, no longer just burying her face in my chest but turning to face forward.
She would then wave her hands toward places she wanted to go.
So during times without Academy classes, it became my daily routine to walk aimlessly following Ryuna’s lead.
Today was the same. While walking where Ryuna wanted to go after lunch, I saw a familiar face.
“Huh?”
It was Erina’s group. She was enjoying tea time with seven women who appeared to be new students.
Erina looked around and said with a smile,
“I’ll bring our companion over for a moment. Since they’re shy, I think I need to bring them myself.”
Erina left her seat temporarily.
I was going to just pass by, but Ryuna struggled toward the tea table, seemingly drawn by the smell of cookies.
“Are you hungry? Should we get some?”
“Aw!”
For Ryuna who answered energetically, I decided to shamelessly join them.
As I approached, one woman carefully asked,
“Do you have some business here?”
“Business, you could say. I also received an invitation to this tea party from Erina.”
“Ah, yes…”
I boldly took a seat and gave Ryuna a cookie. Ryuna started eating it, drooling all over.
“As expected of my daughter, she eats everything well.”
While I was doing this, one woman, seemingly feeling she should say something, quietly asked,
“Um… What kind of relationship do you have with Erina?”
“What kind of relationship?”
“Ah, no! I was wondering if you might be dating.”
To think they could say such things even after seeing a beast-kin baby.
Since I didn’t know how my answer might affect Erina’s friendships, I decided to take a neutral stance.
“We’re basically friends.”
“I see. What’s your name?”
“I’m Wade.”
“Wade! The advanced student who carries a baby!”
My reputation seemed to have spread widely as everyone’s eyes widened. One of them asked nervously,
“Excuse me! Are you perhaps the same Wade who wrote about Their Circumstances? If not, I apologize.”
“Yes, that’s me. Have you read it?”
“Really!? Yes! I read it! It was very moving!”
Besides her, about two others seemed to have read my book, and the atmosphere quickly warmed up through that topic.
I decided to stay only until Ryuna finished eating.
However, Ryuna showed no signs of stopping.
‘Yumir might get angry if I let her eat more.’
Because then she wouldn’t eat her baby food.
I tried to soothe Ryuna who was begging for another cookie, but clever Ryuna made a sad face as if promising to eat her baby food too if she could just have one last cookie.
As a father, I couldn’t resist that expression.
“This is the last one.”
Ryuna seemed to understand and started eating slowly, bit by bit.
The problem was that this extended the talk time.
“…Sir Ars?”
“Why are you here?”
Two cold voices came from behind.
It was Estelle and Erina.
“Ha, haha! Now that the main characters are here, I should take my leave. It was fun, then goodbye…”
I tried to escape, but thump! The two of them grabbed both my arms.
“What are you saying? We need to have a relaxed conversation from now on.”
“Oh my? Ryuna was here too.”
The atmosphere suddenly becomes heavy. Others also seem to notice what kind of situation it is and start reading the room.
“What were you all talking about?”
“Well…. We were talking about the book ‘Their Circumstances.’“
“Oh my! We can’t miss out on that one.”
The two who became the motives for the book’s heroines, Irina and Ertel, started pushing for their respective heroines.
However, others tilted their heads as if they couldn’t understand.
“Isn’t the book’s protagonist the female knight Elnia Pentabel?”
“That’s right, the moving reunion with the noble female knight. That’s how volume 3 ended.”
At this, both of their expressions harden.
“Volume 3… You say?”
“When did that…”
Their gazes demanding an explanation turn to me.
I published the latest volume when I realized that guy Juras had come looking for that book.
Since I confirmed it was effective, I decided to invest a bit more and released volume 3. There were still people I hadn’t found.
Erina and Estelle seemed too busy with work to know, but this unexpectedly became a hit.
“Hmm? Volume 3… I should read it.”
“Does anyone happen to have it with them now?”
I thought no one would carry it around, but two people ran off saying they had it in their lockers and brought it back.
Because of this, the tea party turned into a book club meeting.
Since the two were practically co-authors of the book, their passion was extraordinary.
‘I’m completely trapped.’
If I escaped from here, it was obvious they would visit my room together tonight.
In that case, something more incredible than just discussing the book could happen, so it was better to talk here.
“Ow!”
I decided to wait for their reading impressions while munching on the cookie Ryuna handed me.
* * *
The city was burning with academic fever as the academy reopened.
The people in our mansion were no exception.
Sophia was studying hard, determined to somehow overcome her talent, and Meissen was also preparing to learn magic while devouring magic books.
Taking this into account, I prepared a small event.
Gathering people in the mansion, I spoke to them.
“Today we have invited a guest. Now, please come this way.”
At my gesture, a robed female mage nervously stepped forward.
She was a woman named Leitin Olcus, a friend of Lucretia and one of the court mages.
She took a neutral stance during the royal succession, but after Rosa inherited the throne, she became someone who helped with all her might.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Leitin Olcus. I think many of you know me. Today, at Lord Wade’s request, I came to check attributes and magic aptitude. Who would like to go first?”
“Um…. Would Senior Meissen like to go first?”
Meissen nodded and walked forward nervously.
Although she could already use magic, she hadn’t yet confirmed her innate attribute.
Leitin holds Meissen’s hand and chants a spell.
She mutters questioningly.
“I see light. But it seems a bit different from the light I know. And… I can see three-dimensional spaces.”
Meissen’s attributes were light and space. It was really impressive.
Leitin also says regretfully.
“If you had been born with the time attribute too, it would have been really great. Then you could have used Teleportation Skill.”
“No, I’m satisfied with just this.”
Meissen returned to her seat with a relieved expression.
“Who would like to go next?”
At Leitin’s question, everyone looked hesitant. I pointed to one of them.
“Sophia, you do it.”
“Ugh!”
Sophia grimaces at my nomination.
This was the main purpose of calling Leitin today.
It was to make her accept that she had no talent, as she was refusing to acknowledge it.
I didn’t want to stop her from doing what she wanted to do, but she was neglecting her main job as prime minister to learn magic she couldn’t master, causing a burden on state administration.
Though Juras was covering everything now, who knows how long that would be possible.
‘No, knowing Juras, he might handle everything without any problem…’
Anyway, I thought it was necessary to stop Sophia’s reckless behavior now.
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