Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero

→ Victory Celebration Day (3) ←

I think the first time I met Dr. Brown was probably around the middle of the war.

At that time, I had just fought a battle with Commander Kainax of the Dragon Army on the Prairie Plains and, in exchange for plucking out one of his eyes during the fight, both of my legs were broken and I was undergoing treatment in bed.

After the victory on the plains, the Allied Forces were able to reclaim a significant amount of territory from the Demon Tribe, and the Alliance was advancing even further, with the invasion of the Demon Continent imminent.

So by the time my body had recovered enough to fight, the front lines had already moved quite far ahead.

It was quite a distance to travel, and to make matters worse, news came in that the Demon Army was regaining strength and counterattacking.

I had to return to the front lines quickly before the situation worsened.

My legs had not been fully recovered for long, so running at full speed for a long distance could put a significant strain on them.

However, even if my legs broke again, I couldn’t miss the battle against the Demon King’s army, so I was determined to go no matter what, even when Marquis Kalshtein tried to stop me with all his might.

It was then that Dr. Brown appeared.

‘Hehehe, I’ll take you to the front lines. Just ride this magical engineering airship I made! If you ride this, you don’t have to go around the mountains or fight the demons in the mountains! You can go to the front lines safely from the sky. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

Dr. Brown even added this:

‘Of course, there are still some minor malfunction issues left… but compared to what this airship can do, those are trivial problems! If it takes off properly, it can even go to the Demon Continent! What do you say, you must want to ride it, right?’

In the end, I decided to ride the airship.

Although I had to sign a document that would not hold the party responsible for any dangerous remarks made by Dr. Brown and any incidents that might occur while boarding the airship, there was no room to be picky about the means and methods at that time.

Marquis Kalshtein tried to dissuade me until the end, but the fact that I could cross the mountains without fighting demons or taking a long detour was a clear advantage. It also helped that the airship looked quite convincing when I saw it in person.

When the airship took to the sky, there were no problems at first.

I was even a little amazed at the fact that a huge machine was flying in the sky, and I was controlling it with my own hands.

But as the airship began to pick up speed, problems arose.

The airship’s speed was too fast. And it kept increasing without stopping.

The high speed itself was not a problem for me, but the hull breaking into pieces due to wind pressure, and something in the center of the ship writhing as if it was about to explode, were definitely problems.

By that point, not only the button to reduce the speed, but also other buttons didn’t respond at all. The only thing I could move was the steering wheel.

I anticipated that the airship would soon explode or crash, and in the end, I chose to deliberately crash it into the mountains.

I almost died, really.

I even doubted if they had expected this and only let me ride alone.

Although I almost died halfway through, had to run after the crash, and the demons around the mountain range attacked like crazy due to the airship crash, it was true that I was able to cross a significant part of the mountain range safely thanks to Dr. Brown’s airship. As a result, I was able to save more than 10 times the time I had originally expected.

Since I was aware of the risks and could achieve such results, I decided to just forget about the experience of almost dying because of Dr. Brown.

But what really left me dumbfounded was the magic radio I received when I returned from the battle at the front lines.

Dr. Brown asked through the radio if the airship had arrived well, and I honestly explained the situation.

Dr. Brown’s response was this:

‘Ah, as I expected, it was a problem with the propulsion system! I’ll just have to modify the control device next time. I never knew what the problem was when I sent a golem, as it always exploded in the sky. It seems like the right answer was to let you ride it! Hehehe!’

‘……’

‘So, what do you think? I plan to fix the problem and build a new airship soon, so how about becoming my test pilot again-‘

I cut off the communication without listening any further.

After that, for some reason, Dr. Brown seemed to like me and often asked me to test his inventions, but each time, I firmly refused.

Anyway, my impression of Dr. Brown was simply that he was a mad engineer, but surprisingly, the Imperial Royal Family saw some potential in the airships he had created.

The Imperial Royal Family fully supported Dr. Brown, and he continued his research and development of airships without my help.

Although it was not completed during the war, the development continued even after the war ended, and it seemed to have finally yielded results.

I couldn’t believe that the mad engineer who developed the airship eventually came to the academy to find me.

To be honest, I couldn’t feel anything other than a sense of unease.

***

Anxiety aside, I had to continue with my duties as an instructor.

After the general meeting.

I finished all my afternoon classes and returned to the dormitory a little earlier than usual, as I had no other appointments.

And I happened to run into Elizabeth leaving the dormitory.

“Oh, Instructor Eon? What a coincidence.”

Upon seeing me, Elizabeth raised her red lips into a smile.

She was holding a small bag in her hand, which made it apparent that she would be away from the dormitory for a while.

“Are you going out again today?”

“Well, the Victory Celebration Day is coming soon. I probably won’t be able to come back today since I’ll be busy.”

“I see.”

Elizabeth was the princess of the Empire.

And being the princess of the Empire means that, in addition to having a high status and a lot of authority, she also has a considerable amount of duties.

With the upcoming Victory Celebration Day approaching, Elizabeth had already obtained permission from me a few days ago to stay out of the dormitory due to her duties as a royal.

That’s why she was the only one not present when everyone was listening to the radio yesterday.

As for Batar… Well, he probably just went to sleep since he wasn’t interested in the news.

Anyway, as long as she shows up on time for morning classes, there’s no reason to stop her from staying out.

However, while the other students were busy enjoying their breaks or looking forward to the upcoming festival, it was a bit annoying to see Elizabeth struggling to juggle her roles as a student and a princess.

I nodded my head and said,

“You’re working hard.”

“Oh?”

Elizabeth’s long eyebrows raised slightly.

As if she hadn’t expected me to say such a thing at all.

“Are you really worried about me? That’s a little pleasant.”

“Don’t exaggerate. I was just a little concerned.”

“Anyway, you admit that you were concerned about me. Right?”

“……”

At my silence, Elizabeth covered her mouth and laughed happily.

“It’s a joke.”

“…Sure.”

“But if you really are concerned, how about attending the Victory Celebration Day ball as my partner? I happened to be having trouble finding a suitable partner.”

“What?”

I couldn’t understand. Not someone else, but Elizabeth doesn’t have a partner?

No one would refuse the honorable position of being the princess’s partner, and even now, there must be lines of noblemen waiting.

As if guessing my thoughts, Elizabeth lowered her head and said,

“I do have candidates. They’re just not ‘suitable’ ones.”

“I might not be a suitable candidate either.”

It was certain that everyone who didn’t know would find it strange for a commoner to be the princess’s partner at a ball.

All I could show as Eon Graham were my positions as an academy instructor and military rank insignia.

I couldn’t possibly go to that event wearing the armor of the Malevolent Star, and of course, revealing my identity as the Malevolent Star was completely out of the question.

Elizabeth laughed lightly and said,

“What are you talking about? You still have that face, even if we disregard the trivial things.”

“……”

“By the way, this is not a joke.”

Was she talking about the partner request not being a joke, or the comment about my face?

Maybe both. I honestly didn’t know for sure.

“Think about it seriously and… anyway, to answer your previous concern, you don’t need to worry too much.”

Elizabeth’s red eyes stared at me.

“It’s my duty. In fact, there is no one else who can replace me. His Majesty the Emperor is old, and my older brother and sister have no interest in this kind of thing, so shouldn’t I at least pay attention to national affairs?”

As she spoke, Elizabeth’s expression held a graceful smile, but it seemed slightly distorted somehow. It felt as if some intention was hidden behind it.

However, as I was not a mind reader, I couldn’t know exactly what her true intentions were.

“Oh my, it’s already this late. I think I should go before it gets any later.”

Elizabeth glanced at the fading sky, realizing that quite some time had passed, and she elegantly bowed, lifting both ends of her skirt.

I also nodded my head in response, passing her and heading toward the dormitory.

But Elizabeth’s voice caught me belatedly.

“Oh, Instructor.”

“Hmm?”

I turned my head slightly to look at Elizabeth.

Bathed in the setting sun, she looked mysterious and wore an inscrutable smile as she looked at me.

“The Hero’s Party will be coming to the capital soon.”

“……”

“Older brother personally invited them. They’re planning a large-scale parade for the 5th anniversary, and everyone will participate in the march on the main road without exception.”

Elizabeth paused for a moment before continuing.

“Of course, that includes the Saintess from the continent as well.”

A small wave stirred in my heart at that moment, but I didn’t let it show and calmly opened my mouth.

“…I see.”

“I thought you should know.”

I shook my head in response.

“No.”

I turned my back and resumed my steps toward the dormitory.

“It has nothing to do with me.”