The current head of the Plant family is a person with significant influence in the Golden Dawn Order.
His name is Ryan Plant.
Come to think of it, I think I’ve seen him once on the front lines against the Demon Lord.
At least he’s not as foolish as Raileur.
He’s the typical father who ruined his children.
Now that I think about it, many of the well-off family heads ruined their children.
It seems to be because of the war with the Demon Lord.
“Princess Ashtar is personally overseeing the exam. Lord Ashtar must be pleased.”
Ryan Plant welcomed me quite warmly.
Well, being a saint, that’s to be expected.
“Forget that. You need to be careful during this exam.”
I have to be careful for the sake of the Plant family too.
“So, you’re talking about anti-imperialist groups. Can they really be present in our Plant territory?”
“Yes.”
It seems like they can communicate here.
“There’s no need to worry about that. We couldn’t recruit anyone in recent years because of the war with the Demon Lord. It’s the other families far from the Golden Dawn that need to be cautious.”
That makes sense.
Anti-imperialist groups wouldn’t be rampant near the Golden Dawn and its surrounding areas.
If they’re wise, they’d spread their ideology among the local peasants conscripted due to the war with the Demon Lord, rather than targeting a place like the Plant family’s territory, where they could end up getting killed.
“Then, you’ve been maintaining the knights’ lines for several years. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
If those knights have been hiding in the group for years, the situation might be different even with just a few years.
“Even so, isn’t it too early to feel reassured? There’s no telling what could happen.”
Now is not the time to be complacent.
“Of course, we’re prepared for that. We plan to use a lie detector during the exam.”
“A lie detector?”
“It was developed by the magical tools division supported by the Plant family. Do you think Princess Ashtar will see it?”
A lie detector.
The Imperial Army must already be using them.
The war against the Demon Lord had a huge impact on humanity’s development of magical tools.
Naturally, tools capable of detecting lies to identify spies were developed for wartime use.
“Could I see it? I’m personally quite interested.”
“Here it is.”
Ryan pulled out something resembling a wristwatch.
It was a luxurious, silver-colored watch.
From the outside, it looked like something nobles would use.
“It looks like a watch, doesn’t it?”
If it’s a magical tool worn on the wrist, it would be easy to carry.
Out of all the detectors made so far, this one looks the best.
“It’s a new model. If you wear it, it can detect anyone lying nearby.”
“That must be quite expensive, huh?”
“Yes. That’s why the technical division is trying to prevent leaks and won’t mass-produce it. There’s a concern it could be misused.”
If something like that fell into the hands of anti-imperialists, it could be used against us.
“Hmm. Does it detect lies right away?”
“Yep.”
“The first prince of the Empire, Aslan, is too handsome.”
Beeeep—
The watch let out a loud sound.
“Oh. The performance is impressive.”
“You really hate the prince, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
I can’t bring myself to like such a fool.
“Then the princess has nothing to worry about.”
“I understand. I won’t worry then. However, something might happen inside the dungeon.”
Perhaps dark magicians will ambush us, or there’s a chance they could use spatial magic to show up.
Someone like Zerato could be lurking beneath Seto.
He could appear at any time in the Plant family’s exam location.
“Dark magicians, you mean?”
“Yes. It would be problematic if they ambush us inside.”
The attack by dark magicians allied with anti-imperialists.
I’ve thought that far ahead.
Since the sword was entrusted to me, it’s basically my responsibility to manage this exam.
I should’ve brought a hero with me just in case.
“We’re thinking of setting up a barrier in advance.”
“I’ll set it up again.”
“If you can do it, go ahead.”
That’s unexpected.
Normally, people would get angry, questioning if I didn’t trust them.
If it were any other family than the Plant family, that would’ve happened.
So, I might as well get a clear answer from him.
“Still, just in case. You should make sure the Plant knights protect the noble children.”
“Of course, I’ll make sure of that.”
***
This preparation is so thorough.
Lately, I’ve been dealing with nothing but fools, and it’s been frustrating, but now I’ve met someone surprisingly normal.
Their response was too well done.
It almost feels suspicious.
‘As the head of the Plant family, he can’t have turned into an anti-imperialist, right?’ But I’m astonished by how normal he is.
For now, I joined Syria and Raileur, who were waiting outside.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“I don’t think anything will happen for now. At least, there shouldn’t be any issues with the Plant knights or soldiers.”
‘If the family head says so, it must be true.’
“Then, could the dungeon be dangerous?”
“The dungeon is a concern, but we’re planning to set up a barrier there too. Syria and I will go in first and clear the way.”
That’s more convenient.
Setting up the barrier first.
But for some reason, Raileur pouted.
‘Should I smack him?’ He suddenly became difficult.
“Anyway, Saint, why has your tone become so fixed? Even though I’ve shown my foolish side, I’m still the heir of the Plant family.”
“Shut up. Don’t you remember why my mouth became so foul? I still clearly remember the face of the idiot I saw when I was caught by Pector.”
That foolish face still comes to mind.
‘Does he expect me to be kind to him now?’
“Sorry.”
“If it’s Libelt, I hope you’ll protect Raileur and the other students.”
I can’t trust Raileur, so it’s better to have some insurance.
“Why me?”
“Are you going to let the Northern Tiger, protector of the Empire, just let the nobles die?”
Libelt frowned but nodded.
Well, he’s more useful than a hero.
Then, it’s better for me to search the inside with Syria for now.
***
I entered the dungeon at the Plant family’s estate with Syria.
The dungeon is an ancient ruin.
If it’s an ancient ruin, there’s bound to be golems.
It’s the perfect setting for anti-imperialists to act.
“Hehe. Finally, a date with Olivia!”
Syria clenched her fists and jumped up and down.
“To think you’d call this a date. I’m amazed.”
Sometimes, I’m amazed at Syria’s thought process.
‘What kind of brain does she have to think of this as a date?’
‘But she’s impressive in how she creates a bear army.’
“Olivia, there’s a magic circle on the wall.”
At that moment, Syria noticed the magic circle.
“This is… wait a moment.”
“Really?” Why?
“Look at this. This intricate spell.”
“Oh, it’s a well-made barrier. Truly.”
Looking at this, the answer is clear.
“It’s not a barrier, it’s a summoning circle. Let me fix this up, maybe make it so they explode as soon as it’s used.”
“They’ll probably activate this magic circle during the test. “
Since it’s a summoning circle, I can reverse this spell so that when they activate it, they’ll explode.
‘If they’re using spells that I can easily modify, they’re probably low-level dark mages, just at the level of teleportation magic.’
‘What’s more surprising, though, is the low-level barrier from the Plant family.’
“Definitely low level. I think we could just rip it out entirely, though.”
“Really? No, wait. Just a moment.”
“Why?”
I just thought of a much better idea.
Normally, it’s hard to modify a spell cast by another mage.
But because this one is so low level, it might be possible.
I’ll use it the other way around.
“I think we could use it the other way around.”
“You’re not planning to leave it and use it during the test, are you?”
“Yep.”
After all, each person can set up their own barriers.
“It might be a bit risky.”
“If we stop them here, it’s just stopping the anti-imperialists. It’s just stopping the anti-imperial guys. What I want is to take them down. More than anything, if we just fix the spell here, we don’t know what the anti-imperial guys might do while they’re watching.”
Ultimately, the anti-imperialists are what the nobles have to deal with.
‘If the noble students in this test take down the anti-imperial guys, it’ll deal a significant blow to them.’
It’ll give the impression that nobles shouldn’t be underestimated.
You want to have the students take down the anti-imperialists during the test and stop them from pulling any tricks.
“They’ll probably get careless.”
“Alright. I think it’s a good idea too. In many ways, the anti-imperialists seem like they’ll end up helping us.”
Out of about a hundred students, seventy percent are nobles.
They’ll be the main force.
Now, the anti-imperial fools will just end up boosting the nobles’ morale.
“Then, for now, we have to act dumb. We need to act like we don’t know anything, even when we’re here.”
“Got it.”
We’ll pretend we don’t know anything and leave.
Then, we’ll just set up a new barrier outside.
At least the noble students need to be prepared to fight the anti-imperialists.
So…
I went to see the students resting at the Plant family’s knight headquarters.
“Alright, heroes, rise and shine!”
I clapped my hands.
The hallway echoed with the sound.
“What… what’s going on all of a sudden?”
“I’m planning to train you.”
We have to train perfectly.
“Um, Olivia? This is a bit sudden, don’t you think?”
As expected, magic and authority go hand in hand.
And the famous ones from each department are the ones complaining.
In that case, we’ll have to do it our own way.
“The anti-imperialists might show up during the test. So, the test content might change.”
“What… what do you mean?”
“If you don’t listen, I might report all of you.”
‘I’m someone like a saint or something. If I report them, their life at Atlerina is as good as over.’
“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Oh, Croissant. Are you talking back to me? Talking back to me, Croissant? How dare you talk back?”
No way, talking back to me when you told me you wanted to be friends?
I won’t forgive this.
“Ugh… isn’t this too much?”
‘Ah, do they really not understand the situation at all?’
“Am I doing this so you fail? I’m doing this to help you.”
They should just kneel in front of me.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m teaching you directly to help you.”
These annoying kids.
“What exactly are you—”
“What do you mean, what? I’m teaching you how to fight the anti-imperialists. Oh, you’ve probably already figured that out through the dungeon practice, haven’t you?”
About half of the students turned pale at my words.
“Wait, you mean… that?”
“That’s right. That.”
These kids think they know because they experienced it once.
‘Well, do I really need to explain it?’
“Oh, goddess, no!”
“No, please! Not that!”
The ones who went through it before are now begging.
I didn’t push them too hard in the practice before.
I really don’t get why they’re reacting like this.
And I’m a person too.
Even if I ordered it once, I won’t make them do it again.
The ones for stage 1 will be handled separately.
“Alright, for stage 1, Syria will help you, so keep that in mind.”
“Right, I’ll help. Huh?”
“Yeah? What’s wrong? I’ll help, right? Isn’t that so?”
‘What’s with that dumb look on your face?’
‘Don’t tell me you’re trying to back out just because you like me?’
For me, go hit the wall, Syria.