A Regressor's Guide to Hunting in the Academy Chapter 28

Chapter 28

-Thud!

The mont the front door opened, Acitia was struck by the flying club and collapsed.

At the sound of soone falling, an old man ca rushing out from inside the house.

"Good heavens..."

He muttered quietly and hurried to check on Acitia's condition.

"She doesn't seem badly hurt, but I'm still concerned."

"Um..."

As Grimory stood awkwardly alone at the entrance and opened her mouth to speak, the old man hoisted Acitia onto his back and said:

"I sincerely apologize for causing such trouble right from the start, miss. I am William, serving as butler and steward under Young Master Carmine. It's been routine for the young master to set up traps whenever he returns ho as a substitute for that day's training, but I never expected guests to arrive."

"Ah... I see..."

Grimory glanced over at Acitia's condition.

Though she was dazed and struggling to regain her senses, she didn't appear to be seriously injured.

"I told you."

Carn erged from inside the house and addressed William.

"My apologies, Young Master..."

"Co in, for now."

As Carn nodded toward Grimory, William carried Acitia inside.

A small house with a butler.

A rchant family's son training by avoiding traps.

Everything from start to finish was suspicious and strange, but Grimory shrugged and went inside.

She had already learned from attending classes together that it was impossible to know what Carn was thinking.

* * *

-Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak.

The sound of a knife chopping on a cutting board echoed from the kitchen.

From one side ca the sound of a pot boiling, from another the sound of sothing frying in oil.

-Sizzle!

The sounds tickling her ears were enough to stimulate her appetite.

Acitia groggily opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

A small swaying chandelier and a ceiling built from luxurious wood, not a speck of dust in sight-it was clear considerable care had been taken with maintenance.

-Scratch-scratch.

From the right ca the quiet sound of a pencil moving.

Turning her head, she saw Carn and Grimory sitting together at a table, studying.

As if she'd been struck by sothing, Acitia clutched her aching head and sat up. Grimory rushed over like a shot and supported her.

"Acitia!"

"Where... where am I?"

Looking around, she saw a tasteful house with a bear skin carpet, a warm fireplace, and even a plush sofa.

The interior design exuded a simple yet luxurious feeling that left an impression.

"My house."

Carn remained seated at the table, looking at Acitia as he spoke.

"Your house...?"

At his words, Acitia tried to retrace her mories.

But as if her mory had flown away, she rembered arriving at soone's house, but couldn't recall at all what had happened after that.

"Ah."

As she stared blankly at Carn, the mory suddenly returned to Acitia.

She had opened the front door at Carn's house, and a club had co flying at her.

She knew full well it hadn't been aid at her, but the unexpected ambush had caused her to lose consciousness.

"What on earth do you do in your house that clubs co flying at people?"

When Acitia glared at Carn reproachfully, he turned his head away indifferently and continued studying.

But perhaps feeling inwardly sorry toward Acitia, he briefly said:

"I'm sorry."

"..."

She'd been about to press him further, but seeing Carn bow his head apologetically softened her heart. Acitia smiled slightly and stood up, taking a seat next to Grimory.

"You don't need to be sorry. I was the one who opened it when you told not to."

"..."

"But I still need to hear what that was all about. What happened that would cause that kind of noise in your house?"

"Ahem! Allow to explain!"

Just then, an old man's voice ca from behind.

Dressed in neatly arranged butler's attire, the body visible between his collar was quite robust-his physique suited the description of a veteran warrior.

"I am William. I serve as Young Master Carmine's butler. First, I must bow my head in apology to the young lady who suffered unexpected harm from the young master's training. I am truly sorry."

William bowed at a right angle toward Acitia.

"Oh, no. It's fine. But training, you say... what do you an by that?"

At Acitia's question, William glanced at Carn. When Carn shook his head, William cleared his throat once more and spoke.

"The young master is destined to beco the clan head who will succeed the MacClane Clan. Therefore, so that he may at least defend himself as a rchant, I conduct training by ambushing him whenever he returns ho each day, teaching him to respond."

"Ah... I see..."

Is that really so necessary?

The question crossed Acitia's mind, but since it was the butler's explanation, she didn't pry further.

"Oh, right, the cooking! Look at ."

Acitia jumped up and looked for her shopping basket.

William then grasped Acitia's shoulder and seated her again.

"Don't worry, miss. Seeing the ingredients, I could guess what dish you intended to make, so I've been preparing it in your stead. Please sit and rest a bit more."

"No, it's fine! I'll help from the side. I'm actually pretty good at cooking, you know."

"Indeed, what a dostic young lady! Very well. This William, though lacking, will learn from the young lady's skills."

"Oh, it's not quite to that extent."

As William and Acitia entered the kitchen, Grimory glanced sideways at Carn.

Carn was organizing and copying both Grimory's and Acitia's lecture notes into his own notebook.

"Carn."

When Grimory called out quietly, Carn silently raised his head.

"I'm not as easygoing as Acitia, and I can't stand not knowing things."

"Yeah."

"So I'm going to ask-what exactly are you?"

"......"

Grimory was suspicious of Carn.

He had tracked down her location with uncanny timing and even negotiated a deal using exactly what she wanted as collateral. To Grimory, Carn seed deeply questionable.

She couldn't believe he was just the son of a rchant family.

His soundless footsteps, his extravagant spending habits-none of it fit the profile of a rchant.

And above all, Carn knew precisely what she wanted, which made him all the more suspicious.

She even wondered if he might have seen through her true identity.

"Do I have any reason to answer you?"

"You already got what you wanted, right? Are you planning to keep hiding yourself like this?"

Grimory glared at Carn.

"I'm not a threat to you, and we're not connected in any way."

"That may be true. But I need to know. How did you find out I was searching for 'my parents' whereabouts'?"

The deal Carn had proposed to Acitia was as follows:

Keep him company and help him study.

In return, he would tell her about the whereabouts of Grimory's parents.

At first she'd been extrely wary, but for Grimory, who had finally found her first lead on her parents, it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

Abandoned at the Church as an orphan, she had struggled for so long to find the truth about her parents.

Despite all that, she hadn't found even a single clue-yet Carn knew it so easily and was offering it as paynt for the deal.

"rchants have wide-reaching ears."

"......"

But even under Grimory's interrogation, Carn slipped away like an eel.

"That's you, all right. You and the professor both. You're exactly alike......"

Grimory grumbled and flopped down on the table.

"Still, keep your background checks on to a minimum. You already seem to know, and it doesn't look like rumors have spread, so I don't think you plan to tell anyone......"

"Or did you want to hold it as leverage?"

"As if. Just stay quiet like this. I'm already compromised enough as it is."

-Fwump.

Grimory pulled her hat down over her face.

"It's fine. Most orphans who co out of the Raphael Church are like that."

"Even so, there's such a thing as public perception. I plan to live quietly like this."

"Whatever."

Carn shrugged as if he didn't care.

"Hey! Clear all those notebooks off the table!"

Just then, Acitia erged from the kitchen carrying a massive plate.

"It's a giant schnitzel! I used to eat this all the ti when I was little!"

"Wow......"

"......"

"Truly magnificent, Young Lady! I, William, am in awe of your culinary skills! House Flamur truly has such refined tastes! Young Master! You must learn from the Young Lady of House Flamur! She is truly a capable person! For a Count's daughter to cook at this level is truly remarkable! A first-class chef!"

William's eyes sparkled, a rare sight.

Since cooking was his hobby and he had no one around to share the topic with, he seed quite excited to have cooked with Acitia.

-Thunk!

When Acitia set the huge plate down on the table, it held an enormous schnitzel.

The thin, wide, crispy-fried schnitzel glead golden.

Frying at the right temperature for the right amount of ti-that process was never easy. For a noble child who had never learned to cook to produce food at this level was astonishing.

"Not bad."

Carn gave Acitia's cooking brief praise as he looked at it.

He'd been slightly dismissive when she said she could cook, but seeing the result, it was worth boasting about.

Acitia's cooking skills were comparable to William's.

"We're supposed to...... eat all of this?"

anwhile, Grimory was horrified by the giant fried dish.

"Of course! We can't eat this kind of thing unless it's a day like this! Let's soak our stomachs in oil for one day! Wine! Bring the wine, Carn!"

"You haven't even had your coming-of-age ceremony yet, what wine?!"

"Tsk, Grimory, you're too uptight. My birthday already passed, so I'm an adult! I don't really need the ceremony to be an adult, so I can drink!"

"No! You're only an adult after the coming-of-age ceremony! William, absolutely do not give him any wine!"

"Y...... Young Master?"

"Do what you want."

"Yes......"

For the first ti in a long while, Carn's house was filled with the lively voices of people. And it was also a montous day-the first al shared among fellow students taking demonology.

Carn quietly savored this commotion as he spent the day.

'For the Young Master to make friends.......'

William thought as he looked at Carn.

'I was worried he wouldn't do well at the Academy because he's so quiet, but it was needless concern. I, William, have no more regrets.'

Quietly rejoicing where no one could see, a single tear rolled down William's cheek. He quietly turned his head back and wiped the tear with his handkerchief.

* * *

Ti passed, and the day of the written exam arrived.

The three sat one floor apart from each other, ready to take the test.

"Grimory! What do I do! I didn't morize anything!"

-Bang!

Acitia slamd her head on the desk and said miserably.

"......You brought this on yourself. When we all got together to study, you just kept cooking with William. Anyone watching would think you're aspiring to be a royal chef."

"But! It's food! Free food! I can make whatever I want?! You expect to resist that?!"

"......"

Though it was brief, they had continued to gather at Carn's house for study sessions. Grimory and Carn definitely felt the results, but Acitia was sohow worrying.

"It won't be bad."

Carn spoke up.

"Your notes were clean. A lot of that will be on the exam."

"Carn...... you! You stay so quiet but drop these little comnts!"

Acitia jumped up and vigorously ruffled Carn's hair.

Carn scrunched up her face in annoyance and dodged away from her touch.

Slide!

Finally, the classroom door opened and Henrik walked in with heavy steps.

The sa black suit as always, the sa cold expression.

He stood before the blackboard and spoke.

"Did everyone prepare well for the exam?"

"Yes!"

The three answered in unison.

"......."

Henrik quietly observed them.

Sohow, the atmosphere suggested they'd all grown closer, which puzzled him slightly.

'Do children naturally beco friends when they spend ti together?'

A soft chuckle escaped him.

He had a feeling that if these three worked well together, they'd make an excellent team.

"Then we'll now begin the demonology written exam. This will be reflected in your credits, so take it seriously."

"Yes!"

"When you receive your test paper, flip it over. When I say start, you may begin solving the problems."

"Yes!"

Henrik slowly approached them and distributed the test papers one by one.

"By the way, any student who achieves an excellent score-a perfect score-on this written exam will receive one item of their choice. So do your best. Now, begin."

Flip!

At Henrik's word, the students opened their test papers and began solving the problems.