Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight
Chapter 366: SS 14

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Side Story Chapter 14: Enrollment Preparation (1)

It was a particularly sunny day.

Louise Haksen was spending a pleasant time with two noblewomen.

"Louise, the new volume of 'Madame de Pompadour's Secret Shadow' is coming out!"

"Is that so? I must contact the capital."

"Louise, have you heard about the dispute between the Alpen Viscountcy and the Griffon Barony? I heard the Viscount's eldest son and the Baron's youngest daughter..."

"Oh, my, my, my!"

Publicly, these two women were vassals belonging to the Haksen Ducal House.

In reality, however, their relationship with Louise was closer to that of friends than vassals.

They had been close ever since the Haksen family was still a Viscountcy.

"Sister, I heard Theo is enrolling in the Empire's Academy? Congratulations."

"Really? After worrying for so long about which school to send him to, you decided on the Academy. A fine choice!"

Both women rejoiced as if it were their own affair.

Louise's expression brightened as well.

"It's all thanks to Damien. Without him, I couldn't have even dreamed of it."

Not just Louise, but the entire family was well aware that the happiness they enjoyed was all thanks to Damien.

The fact that the Haksen family had obtained the rank of Duke, and that they had amassed enormous wealth and fame, were all Damien's accomplishments.

This was precisely why the family shied away from public activities.

They were careful to avoid causing any trouble for Damien.

"Then Theo must be busy preparing for his enrollment in the Academy."

"Yes, he's getting a crash course from Damien. Damien used to work as an instructor at the Academy a long time ago."

At those words, the two women were horrified.

"F-From Damien?"

"Is that... alright?"

People regarded Damien as a noble saint.

After all, he had saved the world without demanding any reward and had silently focused on eradicating dark mages.

But because they were close to Louise, the two women knew better.

They knew that in reality, Damien was far from a saint and possessed a terrifying personality.

For example, he had brought about the downfall of a Count's family overnight for treating the Haksens like nouveau riche.

Or how he had deposed the king of a neighboring country before dawn for harassing Louise.

"If Theo is negatively influenced by Damien..."

"What if he goes to the Academy and starts beating up other kids like Damien...?"

Louise spoke as if there was nothing to worry about.

"There's no need for such worries. I heard from Damien a while ago. He said Theo has no talent for physical skills."

For Damien's nephew to have no talent in physical combat.

It wasn't actually that surprising.

The Haksen family had never been a line of knights.

They couldn't even find any ancestors with talent in that area.

"That's why Damien never taught Theo anything from the start. This time too, he probably just plans to teach him about the Empire's culture and etiquette."

Louise said it casually.

***

"Theo, you have no talent."

In a dark basement.

Damien had Theo sit down and spoke in a serious tone.

"You can't use your body well. On top of that, your aptitude for accepting mana is also lacking."

"Yes, Uncle, you've told me that before."

Theo didn't look particularly hurt.

Lacking talent had never been a problem for him until now.

"That's why, for a long time, I've been creating a training method and swordsmanship just for you."

"Oh, really?"

Theo was overjoyed.

Among the continent's knights, receiving Damien's teachings was considered a great honor to be left to one's family.

But that wasn't why Theo was happy.

"I never thought you'd prepare something like that just for me, Uncle."

He was happy simply because Damien had done something for him.

"But you said I lack talent, didn't you?"

"I did. That's why I made it so that even someone without talent can crush anyone."

"Is that even possible?"

"It wasn't easy. But for your uncle, nothing is impossible."

Damien said in a voice brimming with confidence.

Theo looked at Damien with eyes full of admiration.

"I guarantee you. When this is revealed, everyone will be so shocked they'll fall flat on their backs. These techniques are several steps more advanced than the existing ones."

"But will I have enough time to learn them? I enroll in the Academy in three months."

"Who is your uncle?"

"That would be Damien Hak... ah."

Damien's face grew even more confident.

"I guarantee that in three months, you will be strong enough to look down on everyone at the Academy."

***

"But will Theo be able to adapt well? I hear the Academy's standards are incredibly high."

One of the noblewomen said worriedly.

She was the youngest of the three.

"I heard that even the Empire's nobles often fail to keep up with the classes and flunk out."

At her youngest friend's words, a shadow briefly crossed Louise's face.

"I'm worried about that too. To be honest, Theo isn't very fond of studying."

What parent doesn't know their own child?

Louise was well aware that Theo disliked studying.

Nevertheless, there was a good reason she had pushed for his admission to the Academy.

"Theo doesn't have a single friend. It seems that because he's Damien's nephew, kids his age find it hard to approach him."

Theo's social circle was extremely narrow.

Besides his family and servants, he knew almost no one.

He had recently befriended the daughter of the Lionbloom Marquis, but that only brought the count up to one.

"But at the Academy, there will be many children who can get along with Theo. It's the nobility of the Empire, after all, right?"

The Empire was the most powerful nation on the continent.

As such, the prestige held by the Empire's nobles was immense.

They were even nicknamed the "nobles above nobles."

"I truly hope Theo can make genuine friends at the Academy. Just as I met the two of you."

Louise said, looking at her two friends.

The two friends looked away, embarrassed.

***

"Theo, do you know why I'm sending you to the Academy?"

Theo shook his head from side to side.

"It is to cultivate your ability to distinguish between allies and enemies."

Theo looked at Damien with sparkling eyes.

It was one of Theo's habits to listen intently to anything Damien said.

"It must be essential to have such an ability, then?"

"Indeed. You'll understand when you're older. The world is made up of nothing but allies and enemies."

Damien's eyes glinted menacingly.

"You must learn to discern in advance who will be of help to you and which bastard will bring you harm."

"I see."

"But simply being able to distinguish them isn't enough. There are times when allies turn into enemies. So you must also develop the habit of always being watchful."

"That's scary."

"Do you know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you know? It's utterly foul. So much so that you want to turn the whole world upside down. You shouldn't have to feel that, right?"

Theo nodded his head repeatedly.

"Let me ask you something here. If you determine someone is an enemy, what should you do?"

"Umm... I'm not sure."

Damien raised his thumb and drew it across his throat.

A gesture to kill.

"If you judge someone to be an enemy, crush them thoroughly. You mustn't leave them half-alive. If you do, you could be the one who gets hurt. I mean, beat them so badly they can't even dare to raise their head in front of you."

"If I judge someone to be an enemy... crush them thoroughly... If I leave them half-alive, I'll die... Beat them so they can't raise their head in front of me..."

Theo repeated Damien's words.

As if trying to engrave them onto his very soul.

"But what if I mistakenly judge an ally to be an enemy?"

"It's very simple. The moment you treat him as an enemy, he becomes one all the same. In fact, since the situation is unjust, there's a high probability he'll hold an even greater grudge against you. Therefore..."

Damien pointed his thumb downward.

"Kill a guy like that even more perfectly."

***

"Will the Empire's nobles just leave Theo alone?"

In the middle of their chat, one of the noblewomen spoke up.

She was the eldest of the three.

"They say the Empire's nobles have an incredible superiority complex. They even ignore and ostracize royalty from other countries."

"Ah, I've heard that too. They say the Empire's nobles treat nobles from outside the Empire like commoners."

Despite her friends' concerns, Louise's expression remained unchanged.

"He's Damien's nephew, who would dare touch him?"

"Sister, you never know. The human heart is so complicated."

"That's right. Besides, the Academy will be full of kids. You know how childish kids can be."

There was some truth to their words.

But Louise's expression remained steadfast.

"Theo will be fine. He's a child who receives so much love, after all."

As Louise said, Theo was a child who was particularly good at winning people over.

Even people who knew nothing about Theo would quickly take a liking to him.

It was probably because of his strikingly handsome appearance, even as a child.

"Besides, who would mess with a kid as sweet as Theo?"

"True, Theo does have a gentle nature."

"Even if someone tried to harm him, they'd stop quickly."

The three noblewomen nodded in agreement.

***

"The nobles of the Empire are all morons who think they're hot stuff."

Damien said in a harsh tone.

"Just because they were lucky enough to be born in the Empire, they think they're superior."

Though his words were filled with raw condemnation, Theo once again listened intently to Damien.

Before he knew it, the Empire's nobles had been branded as obnoxious trash in Theo's mind.

"They might even try to pick a fight with you."

"Even if they know I'm your nephew?"

"They could, even knowing that. Because they're brats."

Damien said without a hint of hesitation.

"If something like that happens, what should you do?"

"Call a teacher to mediate?"

Theo answered immediately.

It was a perfectly model answer, but Damien shook his head.

"A lukewarm method like that cannot solve the fundamental problem."

"The fundamental problem?"

"Why are those guys bothering you?"

"Because I'm your nephew?"

"No. It's because you look like a pushover."

Damien answered firmly.

"Humans are no different from beasts. If you look weak, you get bitten. There's only one way to prevent that beforehand."

Damien clenched his fist.

"You make it so they can't look down on you."

"Ooh, I see."

"Let's go back to the beginning. What did I say to do when someone becomes an enemy?"

"You said to crush them thoroughly."

Damien wore a satisfied expression at Theo's answer.

"You remember very well. That's right. If there's a bastard who looks down on you, classify him as an enemy and shatter him."

"But what if that brings harm to you and the family, Uncle?"

Theo said worriedly.

To be enrolled in the Academy, they must be from families of great power.

Creating friction with such families could cause great damage to his own.

"What's the problem?"

At Theo's question, Damien looked genuinely confused.

"Think about who's behind you."

"That would be you, Uncle... ah."

"Frankly, even if you killed the heir of a family, it wouldn't be a problem at all. Because I'm here."

Damien spouted this outrageous nonsense as if it were nothing.

The problem was that Theo was diligently engraving it into his mind.

"In the first place, if they started a fight with you, their family should be worried about being annihilated. Shouldn't they?"

"You're right, Uncle. Their family should be the ones to be afraid, not me."

Theo said to Damien, his face visibly more at ease.

"Alright, let's do a final check. What are you supposed to do when you get there?"

"Cultivate the insight to distinguish between allies and enemies!"

"And if you identify an enemy?"

"Crush them completely!"

"What if someone looks down on you and discriminates against you?"

"Beat them half to death so they can never disrespect me again!"

Damien spoke with a very satisfied look on his face.

"That's the spirit. Now I can send you to the Empire without worry."

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]