Academy’s Barbarian

Fatigue steals intelligence.

Eleonora, who discovered six errors in the documents she had written, tore them up in frustration and threw them away with an exasperated sigh.

“Haaaaa…”

She covered her stiff eyes with her hands, blurring her vision, and sank deep into the chair.

The sensation of falling, as if sinking into the depths of the ocean. A swamp-like fatigue weighed heavily on her.

‘How did I end up like this…?’

The reason was obvious. She didn’t even need to think deeply about it.

‘I shouldn’t have gotten involved with that woman.’

The woman with the grandiose nickname of “Variable of Fate.” Ha-shal-leur Astika Median Ai-shan Gi-or von Landenburg.

Peirus had his eyes on her, claiming she was the key to realizing the apostles’ hidden desires…

‘What do I care about that?’

Unlike the other apostles who had reasons to destroy the Heavenly Barrier to fulfill their desires, Eleonora didn’t really care whether the barrier was destroyed or not.

Her reason for joining hands with Peirus was to escape her miserable situation and take revenge on Isabella, who had sold her, the king of Panam who had violated her, and Panam itself.

And that goal was already half achieved. Though not through her own strength.

After Peirus suddenly appeared, offering to save her, King Danon was subdued and became her puppet.

Though his disgusting behavior remained the same, he was now a mere marionette who couldn’t even lay a finger on her.

At that time, Eleonora believed her chance had finally come. The chance for revenge she had only dreamed of with her powerless body.

‘…But they died. Isabella, Danon. All because of that woman, Ha-shal-leur.’

It only takes a moment to destroy a carefully built tower.

After Ha-shal-leur, the first swordsman of this era to cross the barrier, defeated the Ghost Sword Valenstein, all of Eleonora’s plans crumbled overnight.

Isabella, whom she had vowed to one day take revenge on, suddenly started a civil war and was soon subjugated. King Danon, whom she had planned to torture endlessly after showing him the fall of his kingdom, also ended up dead after causing an accident she hadn’t even ordered.

For Eleonora, who had been using King Danon as a shield while quietly pursuing her own goals, it was a fatal loss and a hollow ending.

If she had at least stayed in Panam, she could have intervened in the succession war and plunged the kingdom into chaos, leading to its self-destruction…

But thanks to her meddlesome brother, she couldn’t even attempt her plan to destroy Panam through civil war.

‘Leopold…’

Eleonora twisted her eyebrows as she recalled the face of her sibling, whom she hadn’t seen in years.

Leopold Wittelsbach.

He had been utterly powerless when she needed him, and now, when she had given up on him, he had become excessively competent, using that competence to interfere with her plans.

Eleonora understood that Leopold had acted out of pure goodwill and concern, but the result was him stripping her of her power and throwing her into the jaws of a beast.

‘Now he’s doing something so unnecessary…’

For Eleonora, whose days had become a continuous grind of stress, it was only natural to feel resentment.

—

“The budget for reorganizing the knight order—”

“Preparations for the coronation—”

“We need to reform the administrative organization as soon as possible—”

“Administrative exams? What’s this—”

“Regent Elnora, the Empire’s nobles have sent a letter of protest—”

“The Astraea Church has requested permission to build a cathedral—”

Eleonora’s days were literally a war without swords.

Ever since Ha-shal-leur, the root cause of this chaos, ignored her desperate pleas and left with the knights to subjugate monsters.

‘This peace is just the calm before the storm. We need to strengthen our forces while we have the chance.’

It was an undeniable truth.

Eleonora couldn’t tell whether Ha-shal-leur was speaking from knowledge or just barbaric intuition, but the prediction that the world would become even more chaotic was an obvious truth.

The other apostles’ goal was to destroy the Heavenly Barrier and fulfill their hidden desires. This would inevitably bring chaos to the world.

To destroy the Heavenly Barrier, the Holy Grail needed to be filled with the souls of countless sacrifices, and each time the barrier was destroyed, the world would face a great upheaval.

All intelligent species would regain the power of the ancient era and plunge the world into war, and monsters would appear more frequently and in stronger forms.

Moreover, the gods of humanity—referred to by Peirus as “false gods”—would also begin to intervene directly, like Astraea, who bestowed the Holy Mark upon that barbaric half-breed.

Chaos was inevitable.

Therefore, strengthening their forces in preparation was an extremely sound decision for a queen.

The problem was…

‘That crazy woman…! She should’ve stayed and done her job…!’

With the coronation approaching, the workload had exploded, and Eleonora was left to handle it all.

—

Ha-shal-leur had thrust Eleonora, veiled and introduced as Elnora, before the officials of Hestela, handing her full authority and responsibility over all administrative tasks.

Despite not yet having her coronation, she was given the absurd title of Regent and the alias Elnora.

It was an action that defied common sense.

The fact that the soon-to-be queen of a vast territory was delegating all state affairs to someone else was already highly irregular, and to make matters worse, the regent was a veiled outsider of unknown origin.

If it weren’t for the Holy Mark engraved on Ha-shal-leur’s body, suspicions would have arisen that a witch had seduced her to take control of the country.

So who could possibly accept this? It wouldn’t have been strange if all the officials had fiercely opposed it.

But…

“I’ve entrusted tasks I can’t do to someone more capable than me. Is there a problem? If you have complaints, request a duel trial. If we duel in the name of Astraea, the goddess will decide what’s right. Isn’t that so?”

Facing the officials’ timid opposition, Ha-shal-leur smirked and declared, brandishing Durandal, which had become her symbol.

If anyone opposed Elnora—Eleonora—becoming regent, they could challenge her to a duel and win.

It was an absurd condition.

But who could protest against such an unreasonable demand from the soon-to-be queen, the current Empire’s Greatest Sword, and the Saintess of Order?

“If Your Highness is so adamant… we have no choice.”

The officials’ opposition dissipated as quickly as rabbits mating. After all, fists are faster than the law, and the fist looming before them was the fastest in the Empire.

“Richelieu, you were wrong…! The sword is stronger than the pen……”

With a long sigh, they had no choice but to accept the suspicious parachute of Regent Elnora.

Eleonora, too, had no choice but to ascend to the position of regent, which she hadn’t even wanted.

At least up to that point, Eleonora could tolerate it. Though she had been forced into the role of regent, she still had ways to manage the situation.

‘Pretend to be incompetent. If I mess up everything, I can step down from the regency. Plus, that half-breed’s reputation will take a hit.’

Furthermore, if Ha-shal-leur deemed her an incompetent advisor, she might be excluded from all duties. For Eleonora, it was a win-win situation.

But.

“—You all seem to have a lot of complaints? Well, I can understand that. A woman of unknown status and ability suddenly becomes your superior. It’s hard to trust her. But then, what should we do…?”

Ha-shal-leur’s words, spoken as she scanned the officials’ faces, shattered Eleonora’s plans from the root.

“That’s right. We’ll give her a chance to prove her ability. How about… a month? If Regent Elnora fails to demonstrate satisfactory ability within a month, we’ll dismiss her for incompetence and imprison her in the underground dungeon. Does that sound fair?”

All the officials agreed to the proposal.

Since the Saintess of Order trusted Elnora, her status didn’t need to be verified, and if she proved her competence, there would be no reason to oppose her.

“Uh…”

Except for Eleonora, who was now on the verge of being thrown into the underground dungeon.

—

In other words, Eleonora’s current hell of paperwork was due to Ha-shal-leur’s proposal.

If she showed incompetence, she’d be thrown into the dungeon, so Eleonora had no choice but to produce results.

And fortunately, she was quite capable. The officials, who had initially looked at the parachute regent with contempt and suspicion, now brought all their documents to her, begging for solutions.

As a result, even before the promised month was up, Eleonora had gained the support and approval of all the officials, firmly establishing herself as a powerful figure.

‘The work… the work never ends…!’

Whether she wanted such a position or not.

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