"This is unbelievable..."
Inside the academy's medical room, Dean Xinglan, who had been on the verge of death, finally awoke.
He recalled the calamity of that night, how the high-level magic array that maintained the protective shield in his hand had actually shattered and backfired!
"Dean Xinglan, it's been a long time!"
The medical room was filled with many priests and four Imperial Royal Cavalrymen.
At that moment, a burly man wearing a golden crown stepped into the medical room.
The surrounding priests all knelt down and bowed to the man.
"Your Majesty!? Cough cough—" Xinglan struggled to sit up, but then coughed violently.
"Xinglan, there's no need for that. Just do it like you did back then." The man sat by Xinglan's bedside, gently comforting her.
“I can no longer treat you as Knight Taylor!” Xinglan smiled, his gaze fixed on Taylor’s armor.
The armor is engraved with the royal insignia—a meteorite, symbolizing the forbidden secrets of the Saijing royal family, the ultimate power capable of destroying any city.
Xinglan and Taylor's story dates back a long time, when he was still a young man traveling around to study.
He stumbled upon a secluded valley, where he first encountered Taylor and a group of mercenaries.
At that time, Taylor did not reveal his identity as a member of the royal family, but referred to himself as Knight Taylor.
After all, at that time he was just one of the less-noticed heirs in the royal family, and no one cared what he would do. He enjoyed more freedom than other crown princes.
It took them six months to emerge from that secret realm, thanks to Xinglan's extensive knowledge; otherwise, they probably would have died there long ago.
Not long after they left, they went their separate ways, but they would occasionally exchange letters.
There were reports of teammates dying in the line of duty, reports of Taylor marrying her assassin teammate, and reports of teammates escaping from prison after committing crimes and disappearing...
Later, Xinglan established the Imperial Knight Academy and also received news that Taylor had ascended to the throne as the monarch of the Saijing royal family.
That was also the first time he learned that Taylor was the Crown Prince. He had no idea how Taylor had stood out from the other Crown Princes, but he had a great deal of support in the establishment of the Imperial Knight Academy in Mirror Lake City.
"Let's talk about your injury first!" Taylor patted Xinglan on the shoulder: "What exactly happened that night?"
Xinglan shook his head; he felt that this kind of thing was still too surreal.
"Torrential rain, thunder, and earthquakes... I can hear a shriek like a banshee's cry from afar..."
"Just like what those refugees said!?" an Imperial Knight exclaimed in shock.
Taylor's expression was serious as he glanced at the talkative cavalryman.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty!" The cavalryman hurriedly bowed his head in apology.
“It’s okay…” Taylor smiled. “Just be more careful in your next life.”
"Yes! Huh?" The cavalryman's nodding expression froze, and suddenly a sharp sword pierced through his chest!
"Senior brother..." The cavalryman looked behind him in disbelief. His senior brother, who had always taken care of him, had actually killed him!
The next moment, the other two cavalrymen also drew their swords and killed him. Blood splattered on their faces, and they all closed their eyes, too afraid to move.
"Sorry, Xinglan!" Taylor pulled out a bottle of green potion from behind her back.
"I didn't mean to test you. We're still friends, right?"
“Yes, yes! Your Majesty!” Xinglan’s pupils dilated as she bowed to Taylor.
He had a feeling... Taylor had changed!
That innocent boy who loved to laugh is now the ruler of a country!
Friends? Merely valuable pawns!
"Windsor told me that you said you were injured by the backlash from the protective shield magic array?"
Taylor inquired further, "How come the only remaining legendary archmage on the continent can't even activate a magic array?"
"Could it be that you're already old? Then you absolutely must try this longevity elixir I bought from the West!"
"..." Xinglan shook her head and said, "There is no problem with the magic array."
He looked up into Taylor's red eyes, the demonic gaze that revealed his royal bloodline!
The whites of his eyes turned completely black, while his pupils were blood-red.
"In fact, the magic circle had been operating for a long time," Xinglan said truthfully. "Until... I heard a roar, and a tremor! Yes! A tremor! And then all the magic elements were no longer under my control!"
"..." Taylor nodded and patted Xinglan on the shoulder: "Get some rest, the academy still needs you."
He led his men out of the medical room, adding casually, "Oh, by the way!"
"Give my daughter Windsor more freedom; I will grant her her her own army."
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Xinglan replied, bowing her head.
...
Taylor walked heavily out the door, glancing back at the medical room and then at the fleeting shadow in the corner before silently continuing on his way...
"I'm sorry, Xinglan..."
"I can't go back..."
...
The disaster is completely over, and reconstruction work is in full swing.
The academy has issued an urgent notice to start the holiday early. Students will have a longer vacation than before. They can either experience the life of a mercenary or return to their families to drift through life.
However, Elshi's elite squad cannot leave the academy for the time being. They need to wait for Bogp to return from the north with his army. In his letter, he said that he had something to tell him.
Ah, after all, there were quite a few injuries, and many instructors were quite shaken.
[Once Bogp returns and explains some things, you'll be free. Want to go back to Locke City for a visit?]
"Oh yeah, wait a minute! Have you forgotten about the last chapter!?"
[Wait! What?! Previous chapter?! Don't break the dimensional barrier so easily!]
"Quickly tell me how to unlock the side quests!"
[Tsk, I've already so subtly stopped you, Elsie! Can't you just follow the safe path I suggested?!]
[You insist on making it harder? You think this is a thrilling battle story?! Hmm? Do you think it is?!]
[Readers these days don't like you spouting tons of battle scenes; that's just padding the word count! Anyone can write battle scenes! What they want to see is slice-of-life content! Look at you, constantly posting about this and that; don't tell me readers love it, I'd want to post it myself!]
After all that, you should understand that you should take the path of treating battles as fun; only everyday life and playing with memes can keep us safe.
Trust me, you... definitely won't touch the side quests!
[That was just padding the word count, you know? It's just a super short story, you know?]
If you insist on this course of action, then don't blame me for being ruthless! Don't say I didn't warn you!
"Side stories! Side stories!! Long live the side stories!!!"
[Ha...haha...okay...okay! I give up! You never listen to me, and I'm heartbroken. From now on, I've decided to call you Mizuki!!!]
[Aha! You wanted side quests to increase the difficulty, didn't you!? Come on! Mizuki! Infuse magic into the black button.]
[Nameless...I have something to tell you...]
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