The next day, just as I was about to head to my usual classroom lecture, someone suddenly called out to me. It happened the moment I stepped out of my room into the instructor's floor of the girls' dormitory.

“Eremia.”

“Hm?”

Lili, who had been walking down the hallway toward my room, stopped and gestured for me to come over.

“Got a moment?”

“Yeah.”

This morning, when I woke up, Lili was already gone. I assumed she had left early for work.

She was already dressed in her instructor's uniform.

“What is it? The first period is about to start. An instructor being late sets a bad example.”

“It’s fine. I made it a self-study session.”

“Even though it’s the first class for Group One after the dungeon collapse?”

“Yes.”

A bad feeling crept up my spine.

“I thought you left early this morning... Did something happen?”

“No. Well, yes.”

Which one is it?

“It’s nothing major. I just went to pick someone up from an inn.”

“Someone…?”

“I can’t say yet. It’s a rule. A rule of the knight academy.”

“I see.”

Lili started walking.

Without thinking, I followed. Going down the stairs, we reached the student floor. As always, Lili was popular—she exchanged greetings with the students constantly until we left the girls’ dormitory.

The female students now knew I was a boy after the recent incident, but perhaps because of my appearance, they didn’t seem to mind me walking through the dormitory. It probably helped that I was with Lili. Though, they certainly didn’t know we were living in the same room.

Once outside, I saw Void, Oujin, and Miku waiting there for some reason. Group One, Team Three, all together. Miku waved cheerfully.

“E~l-tan! Good morning!”

“Yeah. What’s going on? Why are you all here?”

“Probably the same reason as you. Instructor Ituka called us.”

Oujin explained.

When I glanced at Void, he turned away and let out a huge yawn.

“...Ugh… I was gonna sleep on the rooftop…”

“You should at least attend class, delinquent.”

“Don’t need to. My brain’s on a different level than yours.”

“Huh? Like I’d ever lose to a slacker delinquent like you! Fine, let’s settle it with the next test! The winner gets to do whatever they want with El-tan!”

“Yeah, yeah. Do whatever you want.”

Miku glared at Void, but he didn’t seem to care.

Oujin answered instead.

“Looks like we got called again about the homunculus incident.”

“Ah, again.”

Even I was getting tired of this.

Since yesterday, how many times had I explained the same thing? First to the instructors, then the Lehan Knights, then the Kingdom Knights from the capital. Who was next? This was getting ridiculous.

“Who is it this time?”

“I wasn’t told that much. Void?”

“No clue. Don’t care. As long as they wrap it up quickly.”

Void sounded irritated.

Miku shrugged.

“I don’t know either~! Lili-chan wouldn’t tell me. This school has too many secrets, don’t you think?”

“Call me Instructor Ituka properly.”

Miku corrected herself.

“Instructor Ituka-chan wouldn’t tell me~!”

I turned to Lili.

“Instructor Ituka, who called us?”

“I can’t say. But you’ll understand when you meet them.”

We’ll understand when we meet them?

I had no acquaintances in the knight orders. If it were Blythe, he might have had old connections, but…

“Follow me.”

That was all Lili said before walking ahead.

We exchanged glances and followed her.

We entered the main building just before classes began and climbed the stairs. Then, we crossed the walkway leading to the boys' dormitory. The air somehow felt stifling.

Miku asked Lili,

“Hey, Lili-chan. Is it okay for me to be here? Isn’t this a garden of men?”

Stop calling it that.

“I grant you special permission. And call me Instructor Ituka.”

“Aye aye~!”

We passed the high school division of the boys’ dormitory and climbed even further.

It wasn’t the rooftop. I knew from the building’s exterior that the fourth floor had only one room.

Standing before the door, Lili knocked.

“Lili Ituka, reporting.”

A response came immediately.

“Enter.”

…? This voice, no way…

“Excuse me.”

Lili pulled open the door.

When I saw who was inside, my eyes widened in shock.

Because standing there was—

“I brought Group One, Team Three. Chairman.”

“Good work, General Ituka.”

Kilpus Oldingham.

The undisputed King of Galliant, the hero Blythe’s friend, and my own, Eremi Oldingham's, biological father.

The chairman. So Kilpus was the chairman. I knew from my brother that he had funded and founded Lehan Knight Academy, but I never imagined the mysterious chairman was actually my father.

“…Your Majesty, I am but a mere instructor now.”

“Ah, right, right. Instructor Ituka.”

It seemed my apprentice had no problem correcting even a king without hesitation. What exactly was driving her so hard?

Meanwhile, Kilpus wore a much more dignified expression than he ever did around family in the royal castle. Clearly, he was putting on a mask as well.

Lili held the door open as Miku entered first, followed by Oujin, then Void.

“Huh? Eh? Ehh? Is that the real…?”

Seeing Kilpus’ face, Miku’s eyes widened like a startled cat.

Oujin followed suit.

“K-King Kilpus!?”

“…Whoa, no way…”

Even Void, who had looked completely disinterested, froze in shock.

Well, if you suddenly got thrown into a meeting with the King without any warning, anyone would react like that.

No wonder Lili had kept quiet until we reached the chairman’s office.

If word got out that the King himself was at the academy, it would cause an uproar.

Kilpus, amused by their reactions, suddenly stiffened the moment his gaze landed on me—Eremia Oldingham—who was the last to enter.

With a force greater than all three combined, he shot up from his chair, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

“Ere—!?”

At the last second, Kilpus clamped his mouth shut.

Lili looked at him with concern.

“Your Majesty?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

His eyes were darting around. He coughed, set his chair upright, and sat back down as if nothing had happened.

Ah… he’s panicking.

I understood everything now.

Kilpus had come to the academy to investigate firsthand after hearing that students had fought a homunculus. But he never imagined that among them, in the very group that battled for their lives, was his beloved ten-year-old son.

His face turned pale. No surprise—he must be horrified.

“…”

“…”

He’s staring at me really hard. Stop it. Don’t look at me. You’ll blow my cover.

And you understand, don’t you, old man Kilpus? You absolutely cannot let Queen Alina—Mom—find out about this. If she learns I fought a homunculus, she’ll drag me back to the royal castle by force.