Chapter 119: Our nobles have changed!

‘If I poke a little, I think they’ll reveal their true identities on their own.’

I don’t even expect that much, but if they can’t even control their emotions, they’re useless.

What a low-level guy.

“If we’re keeping someone under surveillance this low-level, it seems we don’t need to prepare much for this attack.”

“Ah, of course, it should be that way. But, if it were you, would you want to take care of a dog that can’t even protect the house but keeps trying to bite, or would you rather take care of a dog that can only eat but still wags its tail and shows affection?”

“!!”

Suddenly, killing intent flashed in their eyes.

‘Why? Did I hit the mark?’ I spoke provocatively from the noble’s perspective, but honestly, I don’t think it was entirely wrong.

No matter how rotten and struggling the Empire is, it still represents humanity.

The moment the Empire falls, the Demon Lord front will collapse all at once.

And the anti-Imperialists are just inferior.

“Looks like you got it when you saw my face. That’s right. If you’re a dog, you should act like a dog, or else why should anyone care about you? What makes you think you can overthrow the Empire, even though you’re nothing special, and while the Four Kings keep attacking? If you can’t even tell the difference between time and place, what else can you be but an idiot?”

Ah, by the way, I treat all the nobles in Ashtar with great compassion.

“Y-You do?”

At this point, I must seem like just another ordinary noble.

“You know the saying, ‘those who don’t work shouldn’t eat.’ If you’re incompetent and don’t even make an effort, you shouldn’t even think about setting foot in the Empire. You’re just whining, ‘Why can’t I do it?’ and gathering with others like you to try and overthrow the Empire. That’s hopeless.”

“I-I see.”

Their face clearly shows it.

“Those kinds of people need to be completely eradicated. Right to the root. All the way to the end. No leaving any behind. That’s how the Empire will be a little cleaner.”

No one left behind.

Completely wiped out.

“Then, does that mean the anti-Imperialists are dirty?”

“Of course, they are. Why should we look favorably on idiots who refuse to stand on their own and want to destroy the very country they were born in?”

This is the truth.

During the war with the Demon King, if the Empire is overthrown… it’s just foolish thinking.

Anyone can guess that the Four Kings are behind it.

Maybe the next one is Clanis.

“I understand.”

“So, you need to protect them well, knight. Got it?”

I patted the knight on the shoulder.

“Yes. I will definitely protect them.”

They answered through gritted teeth.

They have thorns in their words.

“See? They don’t want to admit it. If they did, they wouldn’t act like that.”

They’re holding back, thinking “I’ll show you later.”

The knight kept gritting their teeth.

Still young.

Playing by what they’ve been taught.

Maybe someone in their family was taken advantage of by nobles or suffered something bad.

Normally, young ones become anti-Imperialists this way.

Older ones, because they don’t have the ability, try to stir up the masses and overthrow the Empire.

Anyway, I’m on the Empire’s side.

Even if they have their reasons, that’s their issue, not mine.

“Well, that’s it. See you again later.”

When I returned to the training ground, all the students were lying on the floor, sweating like crazy.

Wow.

This looks good.

The hourglass must have run out by the time I left the training ground.

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

“Heeek. Heeek. Heeek.”

“Ha. Ha. Olivia… Yang.”

Oh my.

Everyone’s acting like a dog.

Especially Croissant, who’s sweating so much that you can almost see through their chest.

Looks like they’re the only one who’s gotten so intense.

There’s determination in their eyes when they look at me.

“Yes?”

“Olivia-chan, how much… time has passed?”

‘How much has passed? It’s probably been about a week.’

The last time I checked Havel’s hourglass, it was the 6th day.

So, today must be the 7th day.

“About a week? Of course, time hasn’t passed outside.”

“Ugh. Damn. We’ve been at it without rest for a week, haven’t we?”

“Yeah, that’s right. But luckily, my miracles kept restoring our stamina.”

The nuns must’ve used miracles on my behalf.

“Did you just say that? Huff.”

“Well, students’ opinions don’t really matter. Professor?”

When I looked at Galedo, it seemed like the mission was done.

“Yeah.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Used your method, and the kids started throwing themselves at it like life or death.”

What method?

“Yes?”

“If you don’t like the way an adventurer teaches, then try to beat them.”

Galedo said with a very irritated expression.

Ah, that method.

It worked well.

‘Wait, did I really make that face too?’

“Wow, that works, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I guess nobles are like that, they respond well to it. They’re all about their pride first.”

“Still, I’m glad they got some strength from it.”

For nobles, their pride is more important than anything.

If you focus on breaking that, they’ll naturally crumble.

“Damn, whether they’re anti-Imperialists or whatever, they can all come out!”

“Oh?”

‘Did Croissant just say damn?’

They copied my curse word.

I have to admit, that’s impressive.

People really can’t live without cursing.

Nobles take out their anger on their subordinates because they don’t have another way to vent it.

“They’re the reason we’re going through this hellish ordeal, aren’t they?”

“Oh. That’s true.”

Their face looks totally destroyed.

I can’t believe they just said “hellish ordeal” from that high-class mouth.

“What’s with that pigeon-looking face? Olivia-chan!”

“No, you suddenly changed, is all.”

The nuns were the same, but this kind of change isn’t normal.

Well, since they tried, I decided not to tease them.

“We’ve been getting up like some undead, unable to collapse for a whole week, and learned a lot of things!”

Yeah. That does seem to be the case.

Just looking at their face, I can tell it’s true.

Not just Croissant, but even other noble girls started cursing.

‘They’re worse than the boys?’

Ah, right.

‘Noble girls have their own pride, don’t they?’ They need to look good for their fiancés and such.

There might even be some fiancés here.

Of course, they must have shown some ugly sides as nobles, so their anger must have risen.

Or maybe the blood of their ancient nomadic ancestors awakened.

“That’s right! We can even beat the Emperor’s troops now!”

“The Emperor’s troops?”

Their confidence is overflowing.

The Emperor’s troops did cross the line, but still…

I don’t think they’ll be able to beat the Emperor’s troops from far away, but I guess having that level of confidence is what matters.

That’s what makes me satisfied.

At this point, I can send them to the dungeon right away.

“Well then, shall we head to the exam now?”

“Now?”

Since the topic came up, it’s better to start now.

“You’re not saying you’re unsure, are you?”

“No, let’s do it! Let’s go ahead!”

That’s more like it.

***

For now, I called over Raileur, who was training with the knights.

“Why are you suddenly doing this at this time?”

“I’m just planning to give an exam, what’s the problem?”

“Is. Is this how it’s supposed to be?”

“What’s wrong with this way?”

Raileur is looking at me with a half-hearted gaze.

‘Why am I even asking what’s wrong with this way? They’ve been doing it themselves today, after all.’

All I have to do is provide the dungeon.

In fact, if I spread this around tonight, the anti-imperialists will probably act up more.

“So, what did you do to make everyone like this?”

“Why are they like this? Well, as long as it worked out, isn’t that enough?”

“Is that even something you should be saying? What time is it now? Are the other students going to do it too?”

Surprisingly, they said they would.

I pointed at the nobles who were lined up in the back, their eyes shining.

“Hah. No way.”

“If it’s not that, what is it? The heir of the knightly family who was played by Lily?”

‘Do I really have to say this?’

“Why is that? Stop it already. No matter what, how long are you going to keep bringing this up?”

“Until I die?”

“I give up. Fine, you want the dungeon opened right now?”

Then let’s open it.

Since the topic came up, it’s better to do it now when they’re still somewhat strong so we can catch those anti-imperialists.

Otherwise, they’ll get more relaxed by tomorrow.

Let’s start now, and catch the anti-imperialists off guard.

“Let’s do the exam quickly, no need to worry about losing. Open the dungeon right now and spread the word everywhere.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying there are anti-imperialists here, so we need to catch them quickly.”

I think they’ll understand this much.

Raileur glanced around and then whispered in my ear.

“Are they really coming out? From the dungeon?”

“I’m telling you, yes. Look, Kruzang is angry right now. With the momentum, it seems like she’ll cut them down any second.”

“That Kruzang? No way.”

You shouldn’t take her lightly, though.

Kruzang is in a situation where everything is perfect.

Of all the Kruzangs I’ve seen, this is the closest to perfect.

She’s even impressively good, almost to the point where I think she’s doing well in baking.

I showed Raileur Kruzang directly.

“Take a look for yourself.”

“What state is our Kruzang in?”

“I’m going to go and tear apart all the heads of my rebellious soldiers!”

With that energy, she really looks like she could kill someone at any moment.

‘Is she really that crazy now?’

“Saint, please don’t do any weird magic.”

“You call this magic?”

Anyway, after threatening the somewhat suspicious Raileur, we entered the dungeon.

It went just as expected.

Fizz!

The ritual was activated.

The anti-imperialists, in a hurry, started barging in from the middle.

They appeared with a strong presence, summoned with great force.

“Kill every one of those students!” Atlerina

“Let’s kill the rulers of the Empire and ignite the flames of the anti-imperial movement!”

“Kill the nobles!”

But when I saw them swarming in disorder from all directions, I realized, as expected.

They probably didn’t expect us to come out like this.

I’m just the kind of person who keeps going once I start. Once I make a move, I see it through to the end.

That’s why these idiots have no idea how messed up things are on our side.

Atlerina’s students are now seeing red.

You made a mistake.

The current Atlerina students are out of their minds.

“Just what I wanted. You bastards!”

“I’ve been through hell for a week because of you! Die, all of you!”

“Let’s smash every one of those traitors’ heads!”

Yikes, that’s scary.