A Failed Knight Who Went to the Academy To Get Married

012 Train for the Stragglers

The Great Library located in Liat, a small village west of the Academy.

It was about a three-hour train ride away.

Train couldn’t feel at ease.

For starters, he didn’t have a single friend of the same s*x.

That’s why Train stayed quietly out of the conversation between Princess Shia and the female students.

“Liat is quite a famous village for its beauty, isn’t it?”

“Thanks to the Grand Library, it’s become a complete tourist spot.”

“Now that you mention it, Princess Sia, you’re on good terms with the director of the Grand Library, right?”

“Ah, you mean Lord Benheim? It’s not so much that we’re on good terms; we’ve just known each other for a long time.”

“There were rumors before that you two were dating.”

“It’s just Lord Benheim who keeps making advances. For me, there’s only Lord Train.”

“Oh~ Lucky you, Captain! Your unrequited love has finally been reciprocated by Princess Sia.”

“For such a thing, why does Train’s reaction seem so cold?”

“Lord Train is just shy.”

At that, Train gave a feigned laugh.

Train doesn’t like Princess Sia.

But the circumstances are complicated, so it’s kept a secret.

At least until Princess Sia’s curse is lifted, let’s maintain this false relationship.

Still, being the topic of conversation like this was always uncomfortable.

“Excuse me for a moment, I need to use the restroom.”

In the end, Train couldn’t adapt to the atmosphere and quietly slipped out of the cabin.

He decided to take in the cold night air alone for a while, standing between the train’s carriages in the outdoor space.

“It’s itching to swing a sword on the train… but I’d get in trouble, wouldn’t I?”

It was already dark outside as the sun had set.

The rapidly passing scenery outside,

somehow made him feel increasingly distant from Yuril, which was unpleasant.

Then, Lisbeth followed him out of the train carriage.

“I feel somewhat sorry. Because of me, there ended up being only women.”

“That’s true.”

“Here, take these as a gift for winning the sports festival, and for our engagement.”

Lisbeth handed Train three bottles of magic potion.

“Thanks, but isn’t it a bit random for an engagement gift?”

“Don’t you know some nobles use mana potions as a tonic?”

“Now I suddenly feel like refusing.”

“Anyway, don’t drink it all at once this time, spread it out.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

Elizabeth leaned against the railing, looking up at the sky.

“Anyway, it had to be the princess you liked, Shia.”

“Why, got a problem with that?”

“No. I thought about challenging her if she was of lower rank than me.”

“That’s quite a funny joke.”

“Indeed. I’m glad it’s just a joke.”

“…It is a joke, right?”

Elizabeth laughed heartily and said,

“Let’s definitely save Princess Shia together.”

“We must.”

Just then, the train began to slow down.

Simultaneously, an announcement came over the train’s broadcast.

“We are temporarily stopping due to a herd of cattle crossing the tracks.”

At that, Train frowned suspiciously.

“A herd of cows?”

“It’s a common occurrence around here.”

“You don’t think it’s a terrorist attack targeting Princess Shia, do you?”

“Hahaha. That’s unlikely. The state-run train is famous for its tight security.”

Train leaned forward to look ahead.

Indeed, dozens of water buffaloes were crossing the railway tracks,

and just when he felt a bit relieved…

Suddenly, a girl with perilla leaf-colored hair emerged from the train compartment.

It was the noble schoolgirl, Barbara.

Ignoring Train and Lizbeth, she suddenly leaped out of the train.

Lizbeth cried out in surprise.

“Barbara! Where are you going?”

No answer came.

Barbara just started running at full speed towards somewhere.

“Let’s chase her!”

As Lisbeth leaped from the train, Train reluctantly followed suit.

“Barbara! Wait up!”

But Barbara kept running, ignoring Lisbeth’s cries for a while.

She was running so fast that it was hard to keep up.

Eventually, after about ten minutes of running into the forest, Barbara stopped.

Breathless, Lisbeth caught up and grabbed Barbara’s shoulder, asking,

“Lisbeth! What on earth is going on?”

Barbara, looking as if she had just woken from a dream, replied with a dazed expression,

“Huh? What’s going on? And where are we?”

“Are you okay? Don’t you remember jumping off the train?”

“I jumped off? Why?”

At that moment, Train cautiously took out a self-defense gun and warned the two schoolgirls,

“Everyone, draw your weapons. We’re surrounded by monsters.”

Hearing this, Lisbeth immediately drew her greatsword, readying herself.

Barbara, a bit flustered, quickly regained her composure and pulled out her crossbow.

Growls echoed from all around.

Due to the darkness, the shapes of the lurking monsters were barely visible.

Barbara looked around carefully and said,

“Wolf-like monsters. There are five. There might be more packs behind.”

Lisbeth tensed up and said to Train,

“Leader, your orders.”

“Let’s run to the railway. Lisbeth leads, Barbara in the middle, I’ll cover the rear.”

Fortunately, there’s a barrier on the railway that prevents the monsters from approaching, so we just need to escape there.

Train counted down in a whisper, audible only to the two schoolgirls.

“Three… two… one… Run!”

Lisbeth took the lead, sprinting towards the railway.

Barbara and Train followed suit.

Then, the wolves burst out from all sides, barking fiercely.

“Out of the way!”

Lisbeth swung her greatsword mightily as she ran.

The wolves charging from the front were easily slashed, turning to ash and disappearing.

“They’re coming from the side too!”

The wolves rushing from the flanks were taken down one by one by Barbara with her crossbow.

Even while running, her unerring accuracy was clearly not something that could be easily mimicked.

“Keep running like this!”

At a glance, the wolves in Train’s homeland seemed much weaker compared to these.

But their numbers were too great, and they were fast.

At this rate, they would surely be caught.

“aaagh!”

Barbara finally tripped over a tree root and fell.

As one wolf lunged for Barbara’s defenseless back,

Train quickly kicked the wolf away.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks!”

Barbara hurriedly got up from her spot.

But in that brief moment, the wolves had crept up right to their noses.

Train hurriedly pulled out the magic book ‘Bremen Musicians’ from his bosom and unfolded it.

“Will this work on magical beasts too?”

A chicken burst out from the book and crowed loudly.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo~!”

At that, the wolves hesitated to pounce rashly and faltered.

“Don’t stop, keep running!”

…Eventually, the three of them barely made it to the railway.

As each of them sat down on the ground, gasping for breath,

Barbara clutched her head and muttered to herself.

“What on earth is all this chaos…”

Lisbeth asked Barbara.

“Do you really not remember anything?”

“Yeah… I think an old lady spoke to me on the way to the bathroom on the train.”

“Could it be a spell of hypnosis? I’ve heard of elves who can wield such magic.”

“But I don’t recall her ears being pointed. Could she possibly have used transformation magic?”

Train took a deep breath before speaking.

“The biggest issue right now is that the goal isn’t simply Barbara’s assassination.”

If that were the case, they would have chosen a more rational time and method.

The fact that they went through the trouble of using disguise and even hypnosis spells,

clearly indicates there’s another motive.

Barbara murmured with a grave expression.

“Could it be that they’re after Princess Sia?”

At that moment, Elizabeth’s expression hardened.

“If the adversary can also use transformation magic, they might be trying to disguise themselves as Barbara.”

“Hey, come on, even so…”

“It’s entirely possible. Assassinating nobility and disguising as them is a quintessential elf tactic.”

Elizabeth conjured a blue, translucent bird on her palm with magic.

“With this, we can send a message to the others.”

Then Train responded.

“If there really is a fake Barbara, we mustn’t let on that the real Barbara is still alive.”

“What should we do then?”

After a moment of contemplation, Train replied.

“Let’s send a message like this.”

***

A blue and translucent bird flew through the train compartment window and into the cabin.

It perched on the shoulder of a schoolgirl sitting opposite Princess Sia,

and chirped to everyone in Lizbett’s voice.

“I got off the train with Train by mistake and we missed it. Don’t worry, we’ll catch the next one. Go ahead without us.”

At that, all the students’ mouths fell open in shock.

“Really?! Are they serious?”

“I can understand Train, but Lizbett too…”

“What are they thinking?”

Princess Sia couldn’t help but laugh and said,

“Train always keeps us on our toes, wondering what he’ll do next.”

At that moment, the blue bird spoke again.

“Trainee Eloi needs to report to the instructor, so please tally up the personnel and let us know.”

With those words, the bird vanished.

Then, the female students began to chatter among themselves.

“We do have to make daily contact, after all.”

“I wonder if the others are currently aboard an airship, en route?”

“Should we tattle on Trainee for causing trouble?”

Amidst this, only Princess Sia slightly furrowed her brows.

‘Why would Trainee request a headcount at this very moment?’

Having had numerous close calls with kidnappings and assassination attempts,

Princess Sia had developed an acute intuition for such matters.

‘Could it be an indirect way to assess our situation here, hinting at a spy among us?’

Perhaps it was fortunate,

that no one else seemed to suspect anything amiss.

One of the girls summoned a bird identical to the earlier one and spoke.

“Here we have me, Lillian, along with Narsha, Barbara, and even Princess Sia.”

Just as Lillian was about to release the bird,

Princess Sia interjected.

“Wait a moment. I’d like to send a message to Mr. Train as well.”

“Of course. What would you like me to convey?”

“Tell him to chase after us as soon as he stops the train.”

“What? But isn’t that a bit too much to ask?”

“As a princess, I must offer at least this much assistance to you all. Besides, I dislike the idea of my fiancé being alone with another woman.”

***

About 30 minutes after the train came to a halt,

Elisabeth hurried into the train car.

Judging by her heavy breathing, she seemed to have run quite a distance.

“Train says he’ll sit in a separate car upfront. He’s too embarrassed and wants to hide.”

Princess Sia rose from her seat and said,

“Then I’ll go see Mr. Train’s face while I tell the conductor to start the train.”

As Princess Shia moved to the front carriage, she found Train gasping for breath in an empty seat.

Beside him sat someone, their face hidden by a cloak.

Princess Shia naturally took a seat opposite Train and spoke up.

“Train, your pranks are quite mischievous.”

After making sure no one was following, Train spoke to her.

“The Barbara with you was an imposter.”

“Then the person beside you now must be the real Barbara?”

At that, the cloak fluttered as if to nod in affirmation.

Train frowned and said,

“You catch on unnecessarily quickly.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Shall we ambush this fake Barbara and interrogate her now?”

“No. If she decides to end it all on her own, we’ll never know her true purpose.”

“We can’t just leave her be. What if her aim is your assassination?”

At that, Princess Shia laughed lightly, as if joking.

“It can’t be. Why would anyone bother to assassinate her when she’s going to die in a year anyway, if left alone?”

Train clicked his tongue.

He wanted to scold her for her unpleasant attitude, but now was not the time.

Regardless, leaving the fake Barbara as is was out of the question.

Who knows what she might do right after arriving in the village of Liat.

There are two things to do now.

Separating the fake Barbara from Princess Sia or the other students.

And identifying the opponent’s identity and purpose.

After a moment of contemplation, Train said to Princess Sia,

“I have a good idea, so please cooperate.”