Surviving as the Fallen Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 15: Establishing the Academy (4)

“……Krisha.”

The moment I heard that single word, I experienced a strange sensation.

Thump.

As if my entire body, the air around me, and even the ground beneath me had shifted…

‘That’s right.’

‘What you’re thinking is correct.’

‘You’ve found it.’

It was as if something was telling me that.

If ‘fate’ truly existed in this world, and if that unwavering ‘fate’ was guiding me, then it would feel exactly like this.

‘Since this is ultimately a novel’s world, something like this might actually be possible.’

I felt chills run down my spine for a brief moment and asked the child again.

“……Krisha?”

“Yes, my name is Krisha.”

Whoooosh.

The wind blew.

It swept over the child standing atop the coastal cliff.

Golden hair.

Hazy green eyes.

A white dress, fluttering as it was soaked in blood.

She was just a young girl, no more than ten years old… yet I felt as if I had seen something within her.

‘He’ unveiled his greatest weapon, Krisha, on the battlefield.

When Krisha appeared on the battlefield, all spears and shields ceased to function.

A description from the beginning of the novel.

That name—Krisha—had appeared as early as the prologue.

At some point, I had started treating passages from the novel as if they were ‘prophecies.’

As I recalled the ‘prophecy’ known as the prologue, a thought crossed my mind.

‘The ultimate weapon Krisha… doesn’t necessarily have to be a metal weapon.’

Nowhere in the novel did it state that Krisha was an inanimate object.

So perhaps…

‘I may have been thinking too narrowly about what a weapon could be.’

‘If Krisha is a person… and one with an extraordinary ability…’

Couldn’t that damn bastard, the one who leads this world to ruin, use her as his ultimate weapon?

Swish.

I looked at the girl before me once again.

If she really was that Krisha, then what kind of power did she possess?

How could this girl possibly become the ultimate weapon that would bring destruction to the continent?

At some point, I realized that I had already assumed she was the Krisha from the novel.

So, I forced myself to step back and think more rationally about the situation.

‘She might not be.’

It could just be a coincidence that they share the same name.

Thinking about it logically, the only clue I had was—

‘That this girl’s name is the same as the weapon’s name in the novel.’

So whether or not she was truly that Krisha was something I would have to observe and confirm.

Though I had felt that strange sensation earlier, I decided not to jump to conclusions about this world’s fate based on my personal experience alone.

‘It’s a possibility, nothing more.’

As with all great things in this world, the girl standing before me was simply one possibility.

If that were the case…

What was I supposed to do in the face of this enormous possibility?

Should I leave her behind and risk her growing into evil?

Or should I kill her here and now to eliminate that possibility?

Or perhaps, should I take her back to my domain and keep her close under my watch?

The moment those three choices formed in my mind, I found the answer surprisingly easy to choose.

And so—

Swish.

I reached out my hand toward the child and spoke.

“Do you want to come with me?”

Nod.

The child took my hand.

I…

I may have just taken in the very core of evil that would one day lead this world to its doom.

“His Grace is returning!”

The soldiers guarding the borders of the Duchy of Axen shouted loudly.

Tch.

Johan scoffed at their fuss and thought to himself—

‘They’re making a show of doing their jobs properly, huh?’

Oh, right.

Hadn’t I heard something about one of the sentries pulling a stunt on Victor last time?

‘That’s right. That did happen.’

Recently, Johan had gathered the sentries on duty and strictly instructed them not to let anyone through at night if they failed to give the correct password—even if it was him.

And on that very night, Victor had to leave the outer castle for a personal matter.

Unfortunately, as usual, he hadn’t bothered to memorize the password before going out.

And when he tried to return to the ducal territory that night…

“Raven.”

“Open the gate.”

“Raven!”

“I said open it! It’s me. Can’t you see my face? I’m the knight commander. Open the damn gate.”

“……”

“You’re seriously going to die if you don’t open this right now.”

Whoosh!

The sentry did what he was supposed to do.

He aimed his crossbow and fired a warning shot right in front of Victor’s feet.

Anyone who didn’t know the password was supposed to be met with warning shots—Victor was no exception.

And news of this quickly spread throughout the entire knight order.

Apparently, Mangala even rewarded that sentry with a vacation…

Honestly, Johan was a bit disappointed that he hadn’t been there to witness it himself.

Anyway, since it was broad daylight now, the guards came running barefoot to welcome Johan.

“Well done, Your Grace. And….”

Huh?!

Johan had returned with a tiny child by his side.

And not just any child—she was a young blonde girl who looked completely out of place next to Johan.

Hmm.

The sentries who saw this scene were instantly filled with curiosity, but—

“We’ll continue our duties!”

They weren’t foolish enough to recklessly question their lord.

So it wasn’t until Johan had already disappeared toward the ducal castle that—

“Who on earth is she?”

“Why would His Grace personally bring back a child?”

“She looks way too young to be entering the academy…”

They went wild with speculation among themselves.

And naturally, the rumor that Axen’s great star had personally brought back a child spread like wildfire throughout the territory.

By the time Johan finally arrived at the ducal castle with Krisha—

“?????”

He ran into Erina Trotsky and the butler Noich, who had been discussing the academy’s dormitory arrangements.

Tsk.

Noich quickly rolled his eyes.

His instincts, honed from serving the notoriously ill-tempered dukes of the Kraubitz family, kicked in.

‘Could it be… that His Grace brought home his future bride?’

No, no.

As much as our duke tends to overstep certain boundaries, he’s definitely not that kind of person.

That means… I should not ask.

If I ask the wrong thing, I might not live to regret it.

However—

“My goodness… Did you really bring this child home as your future bride?”

Erina Trotsky had absolutely no sense.

She blurted out the worst possible scenario that came to mind.

Johan Kraubitz, who had just taken a sip of his sweet mead, immediately spat it out.

“Cough! What the hell are you talking about?”

As Kim Si-hyuk, a man who had never once crossed society’s moral boundaries even in his past life, he found this misunderstanding particularly unpleasant.

And yet, Lady Trotsky asked again.

“Then… is she your daughter?”

“If she were my daughter, how old would I have had to be when I had my first love?”

Tsk.

She was looking less and less qualified to serve as the academy’s secretary-general.

Besides, how could a child with such bright blonde hair possibly be the daughter of someone with black hair like Johan?

Johan merely furrowed his brows slightly and dismissed the suspicions.

“She’s a child who will be enrolling in the academy. She has nowhere to stay for now, so I brought her here. So, Madam Secretary-General, please take good care of her.”

“…Tsk. Understood.”

Though she still seemed skeptical, she shut her mouth, realizing that pushing further might result in a rather deadly dance with a blade.

And just as Johan finally turned to head toward his chambers—

Bang!

The door to the reception room flew open with great force, and Krum burst in, shouting.

“My lord! I heard everything! You brought home a bride?! Hahaha, who would’ve thought my lord had such… unique tastes?!”

“…….”

That very night, the entire knight order was forced into a full-gear endurance march.

About two weeks after Johan Kraubitz returned to Axen—

A peculiar energy of ‘vitality’ began to permeate this cold city at the continent’s northernmost edge.

And for good reason.

The students Johan had gathered from all over the continent for the academy were finally arriving one by one.

The arrival of noble children from various parts of the empire sent the citizens of Axen into a frenzy of excitement.

The influence of these distinguished young nobles on this freezing land was enormous.

Each of them arrived with dozens of attendants in tow, and as soon as they set foot in Axen, they started spending money extravagantly.

From temporary lodgings to luxury goods, food, and clothing—

They were showing the locals exactly what it meant to have wealth.

Although the Duchy of Axen had a large population, it was not a city with a thriving commerce and industry.

Moreover, aside from the Kraubitz family, there had never been a proper noble presence here.

Thus, their arrival was enough to reshape Axen’s entire economic structure.

And—

Tap.

The lifestyle of the knights currently guiding the new students to the entrance ceremony would likely change as well.

As Krum looked at the bustling entrance ceremony, he marveled aloud.

“Our duke’s reputation must be resounding across the entire continent. To think that so many have applied to Axen Academy in its very first term…”

At this, Mangala casually added.

“I heard His Grace was mentioned multiple times in the Central Nobility Assembly. After all, he defended his territory from invaders at such a young age, slew monstrous beasts, and even introduced new agricultural techniques…”

It was only natural that the academy founded by this rising star was drawing immense attention.

Mangala gazed beyond the entrance ceremony at the massive academy buildings and remarked.

“He really spent a lot of money. To construct buildings of this scale in such a short period… it must have taken dozens of architectural and engineering mages. I even heard hundreds of master craftsmen were hired to build them. I suppose all of this came from His Grace’s personal funds?”

The knights once again marveled at Johan Kraubitz’s staggering wealth.

But none of them knew—

That Johan had mortgaged the academy buildings, securing loans from the central nobility as collateral, making it the first institution of its kind in the continent.

"No, I mean, if I can’t pay back this money, then our dear baron will get to swallow up the academy buildings."

"How about it? If I repay, you earn interest, and if I don’t, you get a massive building handed to you on a silver platter."

"So just consider it a worthwhile investment."

It was an open secret among the central nobles that Johan was shaking up the financial system of the continent.

Anyway, the knights were stationed from the entrance of the ceremony hall to the inside, maintaining order, while all the ducal castle’s servants were fully mobilized for the event, working hard.

They had been on duty since morning, essentially doing overtime, but since Johan had already promised them generous compensation, no one had any complaints.

So even though they were exhausted, they endured, simply looking forward to the end of their shifts—until…

"Do you even know who I am, you insolent wretch?!"

A loud voice rang out from one corner of the hall.

"A mere servant dares to defy me? Hurry and fetch me a bottle of liquor this instant! If you don’t have one, go buy one!"

Someone in the back of the hall was shouting at one of the ducal castle’s servants.

Step.

One of the knights walked over and asked,

"What seems to be the problem?"

A young noble boy, barely past childhood, shrieked back at him.

"I was bored waiting for the entrance ceremony to begin, so I asked for a bottle of liquor! But how dare these servants act so arrogantly? Are servants in the Duchy of Axen allowed to say 'no' to a noble?"

It seemed this young noble had assumed he could order around the servants here as if they were his personal attendants.

The approaching knight calmly responded in a low voice.

"This is the academy. Naturally, alcohol is prohibited. So—"

"What?! Do you know who I am, and yet you dare to give me orders?!"

There was no reasoning with him.

Tsk.

Perhaps, from the moment Johan decided to bring noble children en masse to the Axen Academy, incidents like this were inevitable.

The students Johan had recruited were mostly from great noble families who could afford to pay massive donations or tuition fees.

Since these nobles commanded their own knight orders in their territories and lived like monarchs…

They now held two conflicting statuses—"academy student" and "high-ranking noble heir."

Faced with this dilemma, the academy staff didn’t know what to do.

One wrong move and they could be accused of insulting nobility.

As the young noble’s shouting intensified, the servants' distress only deepened.

'What the hell are we supposed to do…?'

And just as their anxiety reached its peak—

BOOOOM!

A flash of light appeared before their eyes.

Before anyone realized it, the Northern Archduke, Johan Kraubitz, had approached—

And quite literally—

BAM! CRACK!

Smashed the head of the son of the renowned central noble, Duke Duran.

"You little shit, are you trying to die? Acting like a drunkard and throwing a damn tantrum."