The Warrior’s Ballad

Thud. Thud……

There wasn’t a single lantern or candle lit, and within the pitch-black building, the cautious sound of someone carefully stepping could be heard.

The silence was as thick as the darkness, amplifying every sound even more.

Marie glanced down both corridors. All she saw was deep, pitch-black darkness. There wasn’t even a person to guide her, let alone any people at all.

However, faint breathing sounds were definitely coming from somewhere. She walked towards that sound.

Thud. Thud……

When she arrived at a door, she could hear breathing from the other side. It wasn’t just one person, but the sounds of multiple people sleeping. But should she open the door? Should she knock?

Marie didn’t have the courage to break the thick, ice-like silence. So, all she could do was just stand there.

Leaning against the wall, she set her luggage down and lowered her head. For the first time, the thought that this was difficult started to creep in.

How much time had passed? From another room, someone in pajamas opened the door and stepped out. On the plate they held in their hand, a single candle flickered faintly.

Marie quickly raised her head and looked at them.

“Oh? Um……”

It was the first time she had seen someone since arriving at the girls’ dormitory, and she wanted to ask for help, but the girl holding the candle simply glanced at Marie, then walked off somewhere. Huh?

Marie blinked in disbelief. Shortly after, she heard the sound of water trickling, seemingly from a bathroom, and the girl in pajamas returned.

This time, she didn’t even give Marie a glance. There wasn’t even the slightest bit of curiosity toward a new face or anything of the sort.

Click.

The door closed again, and the quietness descended once more. Marie could clearly feel it now—this place did not welcome her. A sense of helplessness weighed heavily on her chest.

And so, she spent the night in the hallway.

Time passed, and morning arrived. Marie, half-asleep, was leaning against the wall when suddenly, the door in front of her swung open.

Girls wearing stained aprons came rushing out, and from other rooms as well, they all poured out almost simultaneously. Startled, Marie quickly stood up. Her legs were stiff.

But the girls in aprons only glanced at her briefly and said nothing. They were busy fetching water, gathering laundry, sweeping and scrubbing the floors, completely absorbed in menial tasks. They looked just like maids.

Creak, creak, the sound of pumping. Swoosh, swoosh, the sound of laundry being washed. The crackling of fire being lit and the bubbling of water being boiled. The hurried footsteps of people walking around.

The oppressive silence of the previous night now seemed like a lie as the sounds of life filled the girls’ dormitory. Yet Marie was completely isolated in the midst of it all.

She just stood in the middle of the hallway, helplessly watching the girls busily go about their tasks. Even when she tried to speak, they passed by, ignoring her as if they hadn’t heard a thing.

It wasn’t until around mid-morning that the bustling noise began to die down, and some students, still drowsy, began to stir and get out of bed.

One girl stretched deeply, scratched her belly absentmindedly, and stepped out of her room, still half-asleep.

When she saw Marie, she said,

“First time here? There’s probably an empty spot in that room over there.”

Then, yawning widely, she dragged her feet in her half-worn shoes and headed to the bathroom.

Marie instinctively knew. Only after receiving that girl’s casual permission could she finally enter a room.

Though invisible to the eye, it was clear that the students here were not equal. There was a distinct hierarchy within this place, different from the outside world.

Marie, exhausted, dragged her body to the room the girl had pointed out. Inside, four students were still sleeping, and the other beds were neatly made without a wrinkle.

Next to each bed was a small chest of drawers for personal belongings, and one bed, with no items on it, caught her eye. That seemed to be the empty spot.

Marie unpacked her things, organized her clothes into the drawers, and propped up her sword, Ricky, against the wall.

Outside the window, she could see the academy courtyard. Boys, shirtless, were washing themselves by the well.

Now, there’s a pump water system, so there’s no need to wash in the courtyard, but the students who didn’t want to wait in line went outside to wash.

Marie cautiously sat on the bed and looked around the room. Around that time, the maid-like students, who had been busy since the early morning, came in carrying trays.

On the trays were freshly picked raspberries, plums, roasted sweet potatoes, cheese, and ham. They quietly brought them to the students who were still sleeping and gently woke them up.

“Leah, Leah. I brought breakfast.”

“Kaylee, I brought your meal.”

“Mm… Thanks.”

The girls sluggishly sat up, but the girl named Kaylee didn’t wake up at all. Even though she could have shaken her awake, the student didn’t touch her and continued to softly call her.

“Kaylee, I brought breakfast. Kaylee.”

Marie couldn’t understand what was going on. Back at home, even her nanny would yank the blanket off when waking her up.

It seemed like waking up Kaylee was a real chore, as she showed no signs of getting up. Then—

“Kaylee. Kaylee. Kayl—”

“Ah! Fuck! I got it!”

Kaylee threw off her blanket irritably, and the other girls flinched in surprise.

“Hey, do you think I’m deaf or something? You should know when to stop. Why are you pestering me like a damn mosquito?!”

“…Sorry…”

Surprisingly, it was the maid-like student who apologized, and she quietly placed the tray on the bedside table.

“Girl, you really need to control that temper. What did she even do wrong?”

“Ugh, that fucking bitch kept annoying me.”

“Sigh… Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

One of the girls who had woken up late clicked her tongue and shook her head. It seemed like this wasn’t the first time—it looked like they had half given up on her.

Marie watched the entire scene unfold, and as the girls who were eating in bed glanced at her, they also looked at the sword propped against the wall. Their eyes scanned her up and down, as if assessing her.

It was clear to anyone that she was new here, but even then, none of them bothered to say a word to her.

After finishing their meal, the girls leisurely got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash.

The maid-like students had already prepared warm water for them, and after washing, the girls returned to their rooms, dressed, and started grooming themselves in front of the bronze mirrors.

Their chatter was filled mostly with talk about the city and the boys. Who liked who, who confessed and got rejected, which guy wasn’t really all that great—those kinds of conversations.

Around noon, they had another meal, and only after that, in the afternoon, did they finally head outside. The leftover food they didn’t finish was eaten by the maid students, who then cleaned up.

Marie was tired and hungry, but with the sun still up, she couldn’t sleep yet. So, she got up and went outside.

As she wandered around the academy, she noticed a group of maid-like students gathered in the back garden of the girls’ dormitory.

To her surprise, Boribori was at the center of the group, fiddling with something in his hands.

“If you do it like this, yeah, just like this, and tie it here…”

He seemed to be teaching them how to weave something using plant stems. The other girls were watching curiously, chatting among themselves as they did.

“Bori.”

Marie called out to him. At that, all the students turned to look at her, and then, as if they’d seen something they shouldn’t have, they scrambled away in a hurry.

“…”

“Oh? Marie. Did you sleep well? How are you settling in?”

“Uh, well… I’m not really sure yet. But Bori, what are you doing here?”

“Me? When I’m not with Ricky, I usually hang out with the girls. People always say I’m like a girl anyway. Plus, I’ve accidentally broken a few bones during sparring because I didn’t control my strength well.”

“Just because you like flowers and plants doesn’t mean you’re like a girl. You just like what you like.”

“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t really matter anymore anyway.”

Boribori just gave a bright, innocent smile. Seeing Boribori’s smiling face, Marie felt her gloomy mood lift a little.

“What about Ricky?”

“He’s keeping the others in line.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know. He said something about needing to discipline the students. I’m not really good with that stuff.”

“Oh, right. He’s the 1st rank…”

“Being the 1st rank doesn’t mean you have to do that kind of thing, but with Volka gone, I guess Ricky’s stepping up. And since he’s a noble, it’s probably better for Ricky to be the one doing it. One guy almost died yesterday, but he barely survived.”

Marie remembered hearing about Volka from Ricardt and Boribori during their journey here, so she somewhat understood the situation.

But why would it be better for Ricky to be the one doing the hitting just because he’s a noble? That part didn’t make sense to her.

“It’s better if Ricky does the hitting?”

“Huh? Ah, well, there’s… there’s a reason for that.”

“You’re as bad at lying as I am. Alright. I won’t ask anymore.”

“Thanks. But have you eaten?”

“No.”

“Then let’s go get some food.”

Boribori stood up, brushing off his clothes, and led Marie somewhere. In his hands, he held a bundle of flowers, almost as if someone had gifted them to him.

“Wait here for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

Boribori left Marie waiting outside and quickly slipped into the inner building. Marie cautiously peeked inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ricky.

However, she quickly turned her head away because of all the boys passing through the inner courtyard. Not a single one of the boys failed to glance at Marie.

At that moment, a voice snapped her out of her drowsy state from the poor sleep she had gotten the night before.

“Marie?”

Startled, Marie turned around. It was Ricardt, walking down the hallway.

“Huh?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I was waiting for Bori. We’re going to eat together.”

“Is that so? I was just about to grab a meal too. Come on, let’s go together.”

“……Is it okay for me to go in?”

“What does it matter? We have classes in this building too. Come on, come in.”

Ricardt spoke casually, but just as boys couldn’t freely enter the girls’ dormitory, it was an unspoken rule that girls couldn’t enter the inner building outside of class hours.

Of course, if Ricardt brought her along, there wasn’t much she couldn’t do.

However, there were eyes on Marie from the windows of the girls’ dormitory. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t see Ricardt inside the inner building.

At that moment, Boribori returned, carrying an armful of food, and the three of them headed into the inner building together.

As soon as Marie stepped inside, she heard the loud cries of the boys in the unarmed combat training room.

“Pankration! Pankration!”

“Kill him!”

“Rip his head off!”

“Good one!”

Marie’s eyes widened in shock, wondering what on earth was going on. But Ricardt and Boribori nonchalantly climbed to the second floor and entered an empty classroom.

They settled near the window and started their meal. From there, they had a clear view of the vast fields below the cliff where the academy was perched. The building, which had once served as a fortress, offered a wide, open view.

A cool breeze blew in through the window, though it wasn’t too harsh.

“Are you settling in alright?”

Ricardt asked Marie.

“Hm? Oh, well, I’m still getting used to it, little by little.”

In truth, Marie felt a strange and uncomfortable vibe inside the girls’ dormitory, but she didn’t feel the need to mention it. She didn’t want to sound like she was tattling.

And besides, she felt at ease when she was with Ricardt and Boribori. There was something odd about them—mature, a bit unsettling, yet pure at the same time.

More than anything, they didn’t seem to hold any prejudices, which Marie liked. They occasionally said awkward things, but there was no malice behind it.

“The classes will probably start when more new students arrive. How about going to the city tomorrow? There’s someone I’d like you to meet. His name’s Molty, he used to be a student here, but now he works as a blacksmith’s apprentice. He’s married too.”

“Really? Sure, let’s do that.”

It wasn’t all that unusual for someone to marry at 17 or 18, so Marie wasn’t particularly surprised.

In any case, Marie spent the afternoon lightly chatting with Ricardt and Boribori, exchanging various small talks. By late afternoon, she left the inner building and returned to the dormitory.

However, when she returned to her room, she found some girls rummaging through her drawers. They were even pulling out her sword from its scabbard and inspecting it without permission. It was the same girls who had woken up late that morning.

It was an utterly absurd and shocking scene. Marie was so taken aback that she couldn’t even get angry.

“Excuse me…”

“Oh? You’re back? Hey, you’ve got some pretty nice clothes, huh?”

“This sword looks pretty high-quality too. Did you sell your body to get it?”

At the blatantly rude comment, Marie’s brows furrowed. But instead of reacting to their provocations, she calmly and firmly said,

“Look, I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch my things without permission.”

The girls scoffed at her.

“Are you flaunting your money because you sold your body? We were just looking at your nice clothes.”

“Does it wear out if we touch it? Wears out, does it? What, are you saying we’re dirty?”

“Did you seduce Boribori because he’s a bit of a fool?”

“We’ve got our pride too, you know. This is an academy, not a brothel. Got it?”

Their sharp tongues lashed out like knives, stabbing at Marie with baseless accusations. She was at a loss for where to even start refuting their words. It was chaos in her mind.

Marie’s heart pounded from the experience of facing something like this for the first time in her life. Still, she forced herself to stay calm, though her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m asking you not to touch my belongings, especially the sword. It’s dangerous.”

“Dirty? We wouldn’t touch it because it’s filthy.”

The girls threw her clothes onto the floor without care. The drawers were left open, with the contents inside all jumbled up. On top of that, they roughly tossed her sword onto the floor.

Clang!

Then, they bumped into Marie’s shoulder as they returned to their spots, sitting or lying down on the same bed, chatting away.

Marie stood quietly, head lowered, staring at her belongings scattered on the floor. Suddenly, Ricky’s words flashed through her mind. You have to set your own principles.

Yeah, I need to set some principles. Let’s give them a chance. Everyone makes mistakes.

Marie, still hearing the girls whispering and mocking her behind her, turned around and spoke.

“Apologize.”

“What?”

“Is she crazy or something?”

At that moment, the girl with the worst temper, Kaylee, put on a stern expression and said,

“Hey.”

She got up from her seat and approached Marie. The other girls giggled.

“Care to say that again?”

“Apologize. For touching my things without permission and for saying those awful things about my friend. Apologize.”

Smack!

Before Marie could finish her sentence, Kaylee slapped her hard across the face, snapping her head to the side.

But Marie didn’t cry, nor was she shocked. She slowly turned her head back, her left cheek flushed red.

However, her eyes weren’t the usual gentle ones. They were sharp, like the gaze of a hawk or an eagle.

In a low, steady voice, Marie spoke again.

“Apologize.”

Kaylee, with a cruel smile, raised her hand to slap Marie again. Or at least, she tried to. Before she could, her vision flashed, and she was suddenly sprawled on the ground.

Thud!

Marie had struck first. Her hand moved so fast, and it was charged with enough mana that Kaylee couldn’t get back up and was left twitching on the floor.

The giggling in the room came to an abrupt stop, and the room fell into dead silence. Even the students watching from the hallway outside covered their mouths in shock.

Marie then approached the remaining girls.

“Uh… uh…”

“I believe I gave you plenty of chances.”

Then, with her hand fully drawn back, she swung again, delivering a full-force slap. The impact was so hard that it seemed like it almost tore the girl’s cheek apart.

Slap!

They couldn’t even scream. The remaining students trembled in fear at the swift turn of events. But Marie didn’t spare a single one, slapping each one hard across the face. They all fell to the floor with just one hit.

However, it didn’t end there. Marie slowly lifted her booted foot and stomped down hard on one of the dressers.

Crash!

With a kick infused with mana, the dresser broke instantly, and the clothes and items inside were crumpled and scattered all over the floor.

Step. Step. Step…

Marie strutted confidently, destroying the other dressers as well, one by one.

Bang! Crack! Boom!

Each time something broke, the students watching outside flinched. After demolishing all the dressers, Marie turned around and spoke in a voice as cold as ice.

“While I’m out for a bit, you will personally reorganize my things. If you don’t, I’ll rip out your tongues and cut off your wrists. This is your last chance.”

It was good that she was establishing her principles, but Marie wondered if she might have gone a little too far. Then again, sometimes personal principles become the law of the land—if one has enough power to enforce them.

Without looking back, Marie walked out, her footsteps echoing, and the students watching outside scrambled to clear a path for her.

Up until the day before, no one had paid Marie any attention. Now, the opposite was true. Every single girl watched her, but this time, Marie didn’t bother looking at them.

There was no trace of pretense about Marie; she exuded real noble grace, charisma, and authority. The students found themselves captivated by it, even if they didn’t fully realize why.

When Marie returned after taking a break outside to cool her head, her belongings had been neatly restored to their original order.

Without her needing to give further instructions, the girls who were part of the so-called ‘lady’ class in the room had moved out, almost as if they had been expelled due to the shift in power.

Though a storm had swept through the dormitory, Marie was calm. She paid no mind to the atmosphere in the dorm and simply fell asleep.

However, the next morning, someone outside called for her.

“Marie! Marieee!”

It was the time when the maid students were just waking up, but the voice was from a male student.

It was rare for a boy to openly shout at the girls’ dormitory, especially calling someone by name. It took a lot of courage and, if done wrong, could come off as terribly awkward or inappropriate.

But when the girls looked outside, they were shocked. It was Ricardt.

He was the overwhelmingly top-ranked student at the academy, a genius swordsman, the leader of Beringen Academy’s legendary group of nine, and a figure of awe and admiration. And that boy was cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting.

“Don’t eat breakfast! Come out! Let’s eat in the city!”

Marie, smiling brightly, leaned out the window and shouted back.

“Hey! Wait just a minute! I’ll be right out!”

Marie quickly washed up, tidied her hair, dressed simply, and headed out of the dormitory. Every step she took was followed by the astonished stares of the other girls.

Ricardt, waiting outside with Boribori, widened his eyes when he saw Marie’s reddened left cheek.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Really.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“Uh… I guess you could call it ‘disciplining’? Like you, Ricky?”

“…Huh.”

Ricardt didn’t know much about the day-to-day life of the girls, so he just accepted it without further thought.

The three of them set off early in the morning, descending the cliffside stairs and walking toward the city. As they went, the sun rose, lighting up the fields in a radiant glow. It was spring.

Chapter 9 – Enforcing Discipline. The End.

*****