Chapter 14: The King’s Arrival

The sound of footsteps echoed as they approached Arcane Palace. The footsteps did not seem to belong to just one person, but rather to several individuals walking together.

Haruki, Philip, and Magnus were now standing before the palace gates. Before they could enter, they had to undergo an inspection by the guards stationed at the entrance.

However, the guard who was about to inspect them suddenly stopped when his eyes fell upon the Arcane Academy emblem on Haruki’s uniform.

"Ah... You’re from Arcane Academy, aren’t you? Please, come in."

The massive gates slowly swung open, and the three of them began walking inside with elegant strides, concealing the dark intentions they harbored deep within their hearts.

"Come on, you two. Let’s go inside," Haruki said.

The sound of nobles’ laughter echoed throughout the palace, while the commoners remained silent, lowering their heads in submission to the nobles.

Philip gritted his teeth as he witnessed the disgusting scene unfolding before his eyes.

The three of them continued walking until they reached the grand entrance to the palace’s interior, which had been opened to welcome everyone attending the banquet.

As they stepped inside, both Magnus and Haruki were slightly astonished by the palace’s magnificent interior. Philip, however, gazed at everything with nothing but hatred and disgust.

"Philip, don’t cause a scene here, or we’ll get ourselves into trouble," Magnus warned.

Philip said nothing, seemingly paying no attention to Magnus’s words.

"I want to lean against that pillar over there. Don’t bother me," Philip told Haruki and Magnus.

Haruki and Magnus were at a loss for words. There was no point in lecturing Philip when his heart was consumed by vengeance. Nothing they said would change how he felt.

"So, what are we going to do now, Haruki?" Magnus asked.

"I don’t know either."

Haruki turned his gaze toward Philip, who was leaning against a pillar in the palace. He understood Philip’s feelings. Philip simply wanted a world where everyone could live as equals, without wars that caused innocent people to perish in such meaningless conflicts.

Haruki turned his attention back to his surroundings and observed the nobles laughing boisterously as they looked down upon the commoners.

He also noticed the commoners being treated as servants, humiliated mercilessly by those damnable nobles.

"Try to stay calm, Haruki," Magnus said.

Placing a hand on Haruki’s shoulder, Magnus also felt dissatisfied with the situation unfolding before them.

"Looks like we’ve arrived too early," Magnus remarked.

"Yeah. We haven’t even seen the King of Arcane yet."

Suddenly, the sound of numerous footsteps approached from behind Haruki and Magnus.

They turned around and discovered Lukas standing behind them, accompanied by all the other students.

"Ahh, how arrogant of you two to leave before the rest of us~"

"We were just following Philip to make sure he didn’t cause any trouble," Haruki explained.

"Well, that was a wise decision. By the way, where’s Philip?"

Magnus slightly raised his hand and pointed toward the pillar near the far end of the hall.

However, when he looked in that direction, his eyes instinctively widened.

"Damn it, he’s gone!"

Haruki and Lukas were taken aback by the news, both realizing that Philip might cause trouble if left alone.

"Haruki? Is something wrong?"

A familiar voice reached his ears.

Haruki turned toward the source of the voice and saw Vila standing behind Lukas.

"Why do you look so panicked, Haruki?"

Haruki stepped closer to Vila and explained the entire situation regarding Philip.

"I see. So, what should we do now?" Vila asked.

"Just leave it to the two of us. And one more thing... Keep pretending to be nobles."

Vila nodded, and Haruki and Magnus split up to search for Philip.

Lukas wanted to help them, but he was currently responsible for supervising the students.

Even though there were other teachers present, Lukas still couldn’t abandon his duties as their accompanying instructor.

Haruki ran out of the palace to search for Philip, while Magnus began looking for him inside the vast building.

"Where the hell did that idiot go?" Magnus muttered irritably.

Meanwhile, Haruki searched everywhere outside the palace.

I hope he doesn’t cause any trouble.

"System."

[WELCOME, HARUKI.]

Haruki tapped the system interface and scrolled down, searching for something that might help him locate Philip.

"Argh...! Is there no skill or magic that could be useful in this situation?!"

After searching through the system and finding nothing particularly useful, Haruki resumed running around in search of Philip.

His breathing grew ragged as he continued searching. Then, something unexpected caught his attention.

Haruki spotted three adult nobles berating a male servant who appeared to be a commoner.

At first, Haruki ignored the scene and continued on his way. However, he stopped when he noticed one of the three nobles threatening the servant with a knife.

Haruki immediately approached them.

"Oi."

The three noblemen turned toward Haruki, and one of them spoke.

"What do you want, brat?"

"Put the knife down."

The three noblemen burst into laughter, apparently believing that Haruki was trying to play the hero and save the servant.

"So, that’s how it is..."

Haruki opened his system interface, claimed the daily coins he had yet to collect, purchased another dagger, and took it out.

"Hey, brat! Don’t tell me you’re planning to fight us and play the hero here! HAHAHA!"

[KILLING SOMEONE HERE WILL CAUSE CHAOS.]

He’s got a point... In that case...

"Gravity Magic. Concentrate the force on these three."

The magic took effect almost instantly, forcing all three nobles to collapse to the ground, unable to stand back up.

"D-Damn it!"

"If you don’t want to remain like this, apologize to this servant."

It was obvious that the three noblemen were unwilling to do so.

To nobles, apologizing to a commoner was practically equivalent to eating garbage.

"You don’t want to, huh...?"

Haruki intensified the pressure of his gravity magic, making it increasingly difficult for the three noblemen to endure.

"Y-Yes! We’re sorry!"

Haruki deactivated his magic, and the three nobles immediately fled without another word.

Meanwhile, the servant who had been threatened with the knife expressed his gratitude to Haruki.

"W-Why would you, a noble, help someone like me?"

"Why? Am I not allowed to?"

"N-No, it’s just... I’ve never seen a noble help a commoner like me before."

Haruki fell silent for a moment before finally responding.

"Well, it’s because we’re all human. We should all be treated equally."

With that, Haruki continued his search for Philip, who had disappeared to God knows where.

Just then, the sound of trumpets rang throughout the palace, signaling that the King was about to make his grand appearance.

"Damn,the king has arrived?".