Chapter 184: Mentor (1)
OD5WqWith the current decline in feudalism and a rise in centralization, the capital city had a significant weight in the Kingdom.1FCexC
rw3xgA parliament establishing laws; federal courts where citizens of the Kingdom had a final say; the administration and the finances providing proof of citizenship and currency… Each and every one of those differences contributed to the immense gap in the living standards of the regional and central areas.rvHz1cz
GYt87eBut in turn, that also signified that the burden on the central administrative team was incomparable to that of the countryside.EgMoIg
3Qg“Sir. Lord Manoska.”diBVLKe
snufbC5“H, hmm?! Miss Medina. I, I wasn’t sleeping!”oKuypox
wz46u“…You should wipe the drool off your face first.”2tknJ
fkuw4One of the officials of the administrative department, Medina, felt like bursting into anger as she saw the count, who became her superior just a few months ago.TQbi
Te2Even though nobles were no longer omnipotent like in the past, they still had some degree of power. One example was how a count from the Far West, with zero experience, suddenly became an executive of the administrative department.yMQ
CXohConsidering how busy it was these days due to the after-measures of the Tower of Mages, looking into the aggressive actions of the New Faith and the secret demi-human hunts of the Old Faith, having a superior like this was far from being helpful.WGYL8sb
RlrLL“W, what was this again?”4AXZR6
9qB0y“It’s an authorization application for an undeveloped area somewhere in the West where you came from.”QsbL
xfzPwI“Hmm, huh?”KRqVJ4
03ubCount Manoska widened his eyes into circles the moment he saw the document.wuPivTv
7pHt“K, kuhum…! I, I will review this and take care of it so you can continue with other tasks.”BjOxKO
fg55JM“Sorry? Umm, okay…”zuibSN
G41Medina was rather surprised by the unexpected reaction from the count, who usually wasn’t interested in working, but soon returned to her own set of tasks.Nrf
pZMShe had way too much on her hands to fuss over a single document for over 5 minutes.g1Jv3Be
7bUe7f***dyRoqi
t3h09iA guardian academy was a place of learning that was only open to prodigies with innate talents. Being a noble didn’t guarantee a way in, and statistically speaking, around the same percentage of nobles and commoners were found to be gifted.3t1Wp
p97zxtQDue to such reasons, the legitimacy behind the thought of nobles being more ‘lofty’ from birth began to subside, and a culture was born inside the Kingdom where they didn’t concern themselves too much about social classes.xdFO
H4BID6fBut even so, there was still some level of favorable treatment that was given to nobles. As such, it wasn’t strange that nobles wanted more favors to be given to them even inside the Academy, despite the Academy’s unwillingness.m7mE
kUddIn whatever part of the society, it was difficult to turn down the offer of the rich.Doifd
wfvXsThe higher classes were not only socially influential, but they also donated hefty amounts, so the Academy had to give them some privileges.yRPfH
T8iOne of those privileges was the ‘Mentoring’ system.CZpF
lacZSimply put, it was a system where a new student with a promising future – with a lot of donations – could be taught directly by a professor or a proficient senior student.y0e
6wjdProfessors were the normal targets of these mentoring systems, but sometimes, there were highly gifted and famous students who would also be flooded with several mentoring requests.0PpDFrV
4bQx7n4“Hmm… Wasn’t expecting you would actually accept it.”LGd
qVd“It’s from Your Highness, so how could I possibly refuse it?”kqWWo7
nEjPu86Miruam looked up at her ‘mentor’, who nonchalantly spoke back to her.5ryyMf
GPOvOiFKorin Lork.ujcXo
PlDlYBfHe was a young 2nd-year student but was arguably the most famous knight inside the Academy.t7xvo
ccZ73l“Normally, you would have to go through a body search before seeing a princess but… it’s not like I can bring in servants here so I will exempt you from it.”eWp332Y
6tLTCHW“You could do it yourself, Your Highness.”7MG
s6h“Doing what the servants do is not in alignment with my status. However…”YXqK
0OWhWYAMiruam gestured with her hands as the ‘snake ornaments’ of her dress started to move. They slithered like serpents with an actual body.Rg8rk
RIAs3Technically they were real since Miruam was a summoner who could use her mana to create familiars to use for herself. Her snakes slithered across the ground, over his pants, and rose all the way up to his neck.Kzdh
qjB“By the way, my snakes are all venomous serpents with a lethal venom.”z6l1e
1hQ“Really? I suppose we won’t be able to eat them then.”NlgZgBq
5cKLThe snakes were hissing right next to his neck and yet he remained still without wavering an inch. Even a veteran knight would usually flinch from venomous serpents roaming around their body but he didn’t.6ygEZ
Gic“Hmm?”V687ZY
6QHwwaQThat was when one of the snakes found something from Korin’s small bag.g0OeXEx
1QNGYpXMiruam asked while looking at his bag.AXCx6K
VZe“What’s inside that?”4CGSYLE
GhATb“A small gift to present to the princess.”zB0
29cOk“Hmm?”aJm0k
G4IXWHfNormally, the common etiquette was to visit the royal family empty-handed.Vktu
Kq7PSHmHowever, that was a rule which only applied to nobles and not commoners like Korin. In the first place, it wasn’t wise to expect commoners to be aware of the etiquette for visiting the royal family.fuafDFK
jALKa“Let me see.”1gEVfaS
fDSxNKorin took out the gifts from his bag – it was a nameless bottle of wine that she didn’t know of and a block of cheese. The fact that she didn’t know the name of it meant that it was a lower-grade item that didn’t suit the context.KE7
oFGIkIs this the limitation of a commoner?oOK
BJaw‘He gets the support of the Dunareff when hiring mercenaries and purchasing materials, but deals with his personal items with his own money, was it?’sSBm
CTyAEven though he was being sponsored by the richest family in the Kingdom, it seemed that he abstained from luxury goods that weren’t related to his work.M63omiJ
7hx3That was according to the report of the spy from the Old Faith, Germain.HfI8YU
AqBepZ“Wine and cheese even though there is no maid around to taste-test it?”4YX7A
S1qhhFor the members of the royal family, being poisoned was something they always had to keep an eye out for, and that was especially the case for Miruam who was hated by many people.4VZPY
ADLL6“Well, I did think about that, but this wine and this cheese were too good to pass by.”MPar5
YCdE“Hmm…”7U7ET7
4Lf5She did enjoy drinking wine so Miruam didn’t feel like refusing his gift. In the first place, she was completely immune to poison and on top of that, she couldn’t even imagine this man trying to poison her.JKWDF
kCR“How about a glass before we begin?”9dO
s5g“Sounds great to me.”Lnf
WgLMiruam personally opened the cork of the wine and poured it into the wine glasses inside her room until they were half-full.stQh2X1
m0gpA“Let us celebrate our first lesson together,” she added.M0Z3
2Ymkp“And for my course units.”uYL
6vPYM“It’s only 2 units, is it not?”IY889XM
C7P“For a busy kid that would be spending a lot of time outside, 2 units still goes a long way. I will be quite busy for a while, you see.”O33
qFi“Hmm…”KntIv
2yQf0rvShe saved all of his words into her brain while trying to decipher as much as she could from his sentences. It was because all these subtle pieces of information could be extremely important in acquiring this man for herself.1VQz
P2S7mkJust 2 years ago, he was the typical son of a normal restaurant on the outside, so Miruam found it hard to tell what he was thinking about and what his goals were.LSI
uhE‘The smell’s… not bad.’QeqEC8y
Cyr9RFOIn an attempt to appease her deepening thoughts, she took a sip of the wine.vBy
dRY3Upon feeling the refreshing scent of grapes as well as the aftertaste, she said with a look of slight surprise.0TeBSJ
4x5o“That’s nice. It’s a good wine.”ngrFxS
uvO7dCNot only was it good, but she liked it a lot. The small kick of sweetness towards the end of the wine was even better.OnA0V
IcRJF4z“I knew you would like it. It’s something I obtained from a cathedral, where they make their own wine and drink by themselves.”XXIkp
nTHD“I see.”s2NZmK
ukegNWShe vowed to herself that she would look into it later on.o6Fl
iH9K4Miruam was very fond of Korin’s present, which surprisingly suited her tastes.ofn
vKc“Rather than a lesson… it will be more like tips and tricks. The fundamental purpose of mentoring is to teach realistic tips that will be coming in handy, after all.”sCFa
XHeJl“It is slightly questionable if you can teach anything as a knight to a mage like myself,” said Princess Miruam.O2wT
I0JpiBS“You can’t say that when you’re the one who applied for it.”AJx
ZfS3z“I’m sure you know why I picked you as a mentor though?”1buB
HAxeZdFShe said as her serpent-like eyes penetrated through Korin. Mentoring was not the important part – if she really needed help, she would have asked Marie Dunareff instead.czaD4yw
cD6njYWMiruam wanted to get closer to Korin. To be exact, she wanted to draw him into her faction, and her desire to do so only went up even more after seeing her future interlocked with Korin through Lia Fail.oCiIr
azJkShe wanted to have him for herself.2ejaG
BREUXkL“Well, let’s talk about that after we are done with mentoring. Right now is study time.”6QNGR
vntz“…”9Yqe2XD
M9KYGRZ“This isn’t a great place to study. Let’s go to the city and go to my Guardians office. There are a few things I’ve prepared.”FHrTgsd
VyybAY“Fuu… Sure.”muFq
F46zVVMiruam agreed without talking back to him. It appeared that Korin wanted the serious talk to be done outside the Academy.m2DexqO
i3qurThe two of them headed to the Korin Guardians office. Waiting at the main gates was a carriage for her, who had trouble walking.myH
DrFbYu6‘Quite sensitive,’ she remarked to herself.trmdN
ufiaBefore long, the two of them arrived at the office, which had all sorts of magnificent facilities.vwA8
LqJ“As expected of the financial power of the Dunareff.”s7p
TTJ“Right? I wanted to turn it down at first though.”MAI
xu3The outside area that housed more than ten wyverns and a Hresvelgr was truly a shocking site. Miruam also possessed her own wyvern and a monster carrier, but because of that, she knew very well how much it costs to maintain them.32T
GPAaq7OIt was ridiculous how a guild that was less than 1 year old was in possession of all that.BSBcw5
tVWE1MZ‘Sword Captain of the Ardens, Lunia Arden, and her elite swordsmen. As well as Warsky Mercenaries, huh…?’eXNn2P9
GpOWPersonally seeing the sheer size of Korin Guardians was eye-opening, even though she had been reading reports about them regularly.h5kiG
GPC76Korin Lork was certainly not a normal knight.xj5nG8v
dmsDunareff Vampirification incident.UY10x2
iD1Lunia Arden’s Sword Challenge.oPCNHc
1FaJFmKThe subjugation of the King of Iron Mountain and the one-on-one battle against Fermack Daman.eyz5wS
qypxVAs well as the Old Faith’s attempted ascension of Hua Ran into a Hou.H6qJph
zCnfThose were everything he went through in the span of a single year, despite entering the Academy as a Grade 5 knight. All of these achievements were at semi-Unique Grade if not higher.t0YKWJI
uIVI6He came out victorious against the seemingly unbeatable monsters and solidified his foundations. After obtaining Claiomh Solais, he widened his influence even more to the point where he practically defeated the Tower of Mages with only the help of his own guild.9zm
YKewYP‘This is difficult,’ she thought to herself.D6z9H
mCeI9Her fate was linked to his, in other words, that meant that she had to get closer to him. Her destiny had yet to be set in stone and the future could change depending on her actions, so Korin Lork was a decisive card she had to lay her hands on.ge5
fYSsHowever, Korin didn’t seem like he was lacking anything.KaFJd1
0bBYuuWhether it be money, power, faction, or fame, he was in possession of everything, oddly so considering how he was still just a 2nd-year student of the Academy.3bcZb
Cu6CAnd despite having all that, he didn’t have any desires. Looking at him, Miruam couldn’t help but think of all the things that she would have done if she were in his shoes.V8e7bE
0RsXC“This is like the Orientation Day so let’s just do a short 1 hour lesson, alright?”g4d5Op8
fjk“…Alright. Go ahead.”MAzYM
9mEicIt was tedious but she had to play along with it.1yt0EMC
SOooAlthough Miruam didn’t have a lot of time on her hands, it was an investment that had to be made in order to build a better relationship with him.LX6
KZrPhd***wKpRU
ApCHcA mentor’s job was to teach things that would be useful in real life.fjU
9dZuFxThat included reading maps, how to set a camp outdoors, and identifying what was in the wilderness to either track down or avoid being pursued by demonic beasts.sH4v
NhymoFundamentally, guardians were fighters who had to defeat demons, so seniors tended to focus on practical things when teaching their juniors.04kRgO
nVpzTFSHowever, it was a slightly different story if the mentee were a noble or a member of the royal family.QCd6Sp
OCzLmWhy would they bother risking their lives working as a guardian for a small pay? Only a few of them rarely did such a thing, and that was usually to gain fame, not wealth.N7u3TBO
49dIn most cases, nobles and members of the royal family chose mentors as a sign that they wanted to befriend the student.Hqca
nxl3‘There is no way he doesn’t know that already.’IIrU
pp4Miruam thought to herself as she watched Korin diligently teaching her how to read a map, as well as first-aid.DCwgGz
74peHDAlthough she was a powerful summoner of snakes and enjoyed hunting, she was fundamentally one of the only two princesses of the Kingdom and had more than enough men underneath her to take care of such tedious tasks.d0Bupj7
90urAs if he saw through that line of thought, Korin said while shrugging his shoulders.yaag7dv
BhEOL“You never know. If you go hunting and fall into a trap, where you either get lost or get separated from your maids and knights, things like this could come in handy.”RyllGu
6oshRaRHe said as if he foresaw such a thing happening in the future.8UQV43n
6FwkG“We will be making sure you learn all these things through actual practice.”6zRF0a7
bhPn“…Actual practice?”zaFn
aowqe“What’s wrong?”3Dn
400BOz“…”8qF1Ij
GAM9JwwMiruam frowned at his nonchalant attitude.H0kc
oHcGp0It was true that going outdoors while mentoring was nothing new, but was he really suggesting that to a princess? Even though he should be aware of what the goal behind this mentoring was?AXnJF
u5zFeRHowever, she was the desperate one here. Treating a princess like herself as if she were an underling was… very humiliating, but she swallowed her pride, telling herself that this was necessary to achieve her objective.nKwkAt
ho2“Then, shall we start talking about my reward for the mentoring?”Tsjb9S
j7o“Sure. Go ahead.”dIBtq
kiX6B8cTaking a princess to dangerous activities outside and still asking for a reward? Although it was a common tradition for the mentee to get something for the mentor, he was being very brazen about it.JdZs
BnFA“As you probably know already, Your Highness, I’m quite successful.”cne
1Bn9“Hah…”nBXxro
TJB5kAt this point, it was so dumbfounding how shameless he was and she couldn’t even say anything back. It had been very long since she last found herself this speechless.Pa2Vl
NnzvA“There are only a handful of people stronger than me and… you know that the Dunareff Family is sponsoring me, correct?”Ub2cMUC
0Bb“Go on.”HJG
JXLugOsRight, and that was the biggest problem. This man had no shortage of anything and the only problem he might have was that he had an overabundance of them.smd19gd
sCKWhether it be money or fame and status, he had everything.iNmjL4U
4QzXjSNHis fame as the Grade 1 Knight of the Dunareff and a hero who saved the Saintess was enough to grant him anything he wished for.DE0M6TV
qv9lW“I know your lifelong objective. I know very well what it is that you are trying to accomplish through me.”oJAmiF
Te7“…!”hXf0
Y0hIHer eyes widened into circles – the abyssal serpent immediately flickered her eyes in a venomous light. There were quite a few people who were aware of her objective already. Almost everyone who remembered what happened 10 years ago knew it.lkESqz
ZLUHowever, Korin was a commoner; he was just a citizen living inside the capital city.yhDSD
PswNIS5If so, how could he possibly be aware of the wolf hunt that was being carried out in secret, away from even the eyes of the New Faith?VjE
aRl8“…How much about it do you know?”LNrbR
xdEYblI“I know everything. Way too well.”zjR
iNsfHe muttered with a rather dispirited look on his face, making her wonder why he was wearing such an expression.9tg4W
gb57“So, what do you want from me?” Asked Miruam.L4A
PrS3“I can grant you anything except for one thing.”58Q
HDuw0bShe said without even trying to hide the passion in her voice.GV1q4D
eg11In fact, she deemed it needless to hide it because he was her destined partner who would be helping her acquire her lifelong desire anyway. He was bound to find out, so she decided to be frank and instead inquire about his own wishes.4hl
Im3K“What I want, huh…?”FkmBRm
1W7Korin pondered to himself but not for long. Soon, with a bitter smile on his face, he turned back to the princess.d0F9W2
p3BqJYYUnlike Miruam’s blood-red eyes, his red eyes sparkled like the sunset as he gazed into her eyes.bUtFW
hNuX6He said with a mischievous smile.cwF
W4c“Every week at the end of every mentoring session,”swZo
8MzeXInside the room devoid of everyone else, his voice echoed clearly and reached her eyes.cQOCFxY
yU6LH1E“I want Your Highness, Princess Miruam Elizabeth El Rath,”WtK
jdRyvJAs if desperately trying to hold back the avenger who no longer put value in her own life,3rWGvF
TmR“To look at me and… Actually, towards anything…”B0IZ
DqWroHoping that she would have a lingering attachment, more wishes, and an extension to her life.l2QzmLc
JRnrF7“…Just give a smile. Show me a smile, and I think that would be enough.”uWd
27woAJHe ended with a bitter smile, reminiscing in both the past and the future, of the memories of his past regretful life which only he could remember.8THAu
SuXux“…”mxZ
ZxGHer lips ceased to move as if they were forced to a close.sLtDs
ITUoThe 2nd Princess of the Kingdom; the likely successor to the throne with the support of countless nobles, was telling her to share what he wanted.cTRB
j9kCJ0She told him she would grant any of his wishes, only if it didn’t go against her one lifelong desire. Even if he wanted to rape her at this very moment, she would have gladly given herself to him.zNZZ
6biaoAnd yet…OzA
iEC…A smile.Aao9CQn
w1DQNkeA smile?Jsr7FX
otsXM3YIs he really asking for something so trivial?Y4k
GJPfDc“You…”Gp1BaB
NMNXHIs he mocking her? Is he looking down at her? What exactly are his intentions?del
EPTRzf0Hearing that simple and trivial request instead deterred her from accepting it. Her eyes turned cold and her voice even colder.c9L
oaw47oa“How dare…”EUwqA
FGddHer spiteful eyes quivered from fury but without minding that a single bit, Korin simply re-stated his wish.OIucyf
pWM6w“A smile would be more than enough.”mQKx1w
x4Z“Asking for something so useless…!”9ChHYz
y19UOO“Why do you think there’s no value in it? Value is always a subjective matter.”r0E
Mg4o“…”FJs8Fdd
hEFZUjMiruam calmed herself down and settled her thoughts.BTT
7vX4bJust like how she was so stubborn with her goals that others couldn’t understand it, it might be the case that her smile was that valuable to him, beyond what others could comprehend.JKn
BYZ8It was difficult to understand but Korin was so firm as if there was zero falsehood in his words.09VrT
35t6U“Is that… really all you need?”I4c
rr2zuyI“Of course.”JI0Tx
HorShe felt like he was trying to deceive her, and mock her, but still decided to rationally listen to his trivial request.YKlSDf
MZNW0-Flinch!H0N
mCrB‘Wait.’0W8t
s6LmThat was when she thought to herself.BH7msoi
6viuHow do you smile again?1aFDQ
GyfeFIt was nothing new – she used to smile a lot when scoffing and sneering at others. She often did that to the hateful dogs, but it felt nonsensical to give such a smile to the man in front of her.iQN
FPN-Flinch! Flinch!e2TQ1e
EjmUCNBut she still had to. If raising the corners of her lips a little could intertwine her fate with the one who would be fulfilling her goal, she could do it any day.ywm
Aw1uno“Like… this?”ufYf2
j2UG1HShe said with an awkward smile on her face.hFm
6yMlUsoIt was closer to a sneer than a bright smile, but her distorted lips were still in the category of a ‘smile’.gfaA
eLFw“Beautiful.”vTXte9
eT6sq2p“Uht…!?”3O2V
56bMiruam immediately scowled and removed the ‘smile’ from her face, but for some unknown reason, Korin remained looking at her with a wide smile of joy.B8qDeo
zKc0***9826lvs
72LpIEThe room stayed silent for a very long time.aC8Q
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