Raised in Dungeon

One month.

In the late water month, the cold mornings began to feel warm, but it was still cold enough that you could see steam coming out of your mouth. Even so, those on the training ground never felt the chill of the morning once they started practicing, including Felicia and Allen, who were currently sparring with their wooden swords.

"Lady! Fight!" shouted the watcher soldiers, seeing Felicia having trouble withstanding Allen's sword attack.

"Allen, aren't you a little too serious? Lady is struggling because of you!" the soldiers shouted.

Felicia immediately glared at the soldier. Although she said nothing, her eyes exclaimed, "Don't underestimate me!" to him.

"So-sorry."

'I want to do that too, but this girl is really stubborn; if I hold back too much, she'll be angry,' Allen thought.

It was one-sided, and Felicia could only move backwards against Allen, who was always targeting her sword. Although her eyes could follow Allen's movements, her body was not so flexible and quick to react to his attacks.

After several consecutive attacks, Felicia finally fell down.

"Huft... I'm really still too far away."

Allen then offered his hand to Felicia and said, "Good job today, as usual. You've more or less improved."

"What's improving?" Felicia took Allen's hand and stood up. "It feels like my sword is just a punching bag for your sword."

Allen then looked at Felicia, who stood before him for a while.

"What?" asked Felicia, confused by Allen's gaze.

"Nothing," replied Allen. "It's just that you've grown taller."

"You just realized that now? Sometimes I really doubt your good sense.

Well.. Thanks to the rehabilitation, I somehow can catch up with the kids my age."

Felicia then stood closer to Allen and measured their height, saying, "Although you are still a little taller than me."

"Good job, Lady." Rachel handed Felicia some water and a towel. "I know practicing swordplay is also necessary, but you don't need to do serious sparring with Allen as you did earlier."

"I agree; just because you can't beat me doesn't mean you're weak; your talent isn't just in swordplay."

"Rachel, you don't understand. Allen doesn't either. In a week, we have to leave for the academy. I can't bring shame to the Boldenville family name there.

Moreover, the academy highly values martial arts because that's what's most necessary to protect oneself."

"I see... I thought people came to the academy to learn. It turns out that we have to become strong first before we can enter the academy."

'No, Allen. People go to the academy to learn. These nobles just don't want to be underestimated by their peers,' Rachel argued in her mind.

"By the way, shouldn't we have entered the academy two years ago? I remember you saying we would enter the academy at the end of our 12," Allen asked.

"Yes, that's right. But you know, we have the situation now.

The academy has several levels of education. Primarium, Secundari, Praeterea, and Superius. And we have to attend all four classes to graduate from the academy.

We didn't join primarium because it's for commoners wanting to get a secundari scholarship. So we're supposed to start secundari school at the age of 12 or 13, which lasts for three years. But since I slept for so long, we'll start from Praeterea as transfer students."

"Didn't you say we have to follow four levels of education? Primarium may not be necessary, but we should at least take secundari to graduate, doesn't it?"

"Well... you don't have to think about such rigid things. As long as there's money, we can just jump to Pareterea."

"Money..."

"Don't get us wrong," Rachel said. "We're not bribing them to admit us to the academy, but bribing them to accept our excuse to skip classes. Lady Felicia sleeping for three years isn't normal, so they could accept her under a few conditions."

"Right, one of them is merit." Felicia continued. "Even though we've paid the bribe, we have to prove that we deserve to jump straight to Praeterea. Do you understand now, Allen? The reason I have to get strong quickly?"

"Compared to the other kids, you started late. They started studying three years ago, so you have to catch up for three years in a short time?"

"That's true, but what I want to say is not just that.

Jumping classes is not only a form of flouting the academy system but also an insult to the advisors in the secundari's class. Because I was able to enter the academy without their guidance."

Rachel took the towel from Felicia and handed her the bottle. While Felicia drank, Rachel took Felicia's place, explaining.

"An academy system that upholds all kinds of knowledge. People like us who enter with money are an offense to them. This time we found out that the examiners are those who tutored in secundari's class. They must be intent on propping up Lady at all costs."

"That's why!" Felicia exclaimed as she passed the water to Rachel, "I have to show my ability! My talent! That makes them have no choice but to accept me to the academy; that makes them think that I'm someone who doesn't need to be taught in secundari class!"

"I see… Then we still can't be confirmed that we could enter the academy," said Allen.

"Hmph! Who do you think I am? I'll definitely make them accept me," Felicia said, pointing at herself proudly.

"Wooah...amazing..." Allen praised her halfheartedly. "What about me? Do I need to learn more?"

"Probably unnecessary; even if you aren't accepted, you can still stay at the academy as my knight.

But yes, I will force you to be accepted."

"Yes, I know this; from the beginning I had no choice right?"

"Impolite! Don't talk as if I'm enslaving you. You also want to enter the academy right?!"

"A little."

"Then you must show something extraordinary in front of the examiner. Maybe you can use that god's blessing of yours?"

"eeeh... don't want to. Using that ability feels so painful."

"No need to worry; I'm there; I can heal you right away."

"It has nothing to do with that. I just don't want to feel the hurt."

"Aaah whatever, you just have to get into the academy as a student!"

'Academy huh?' Allen thought. 'If the academy is a place to learn, that's where strong people are born. Then the teachers were also strong, right?

Maybe one of them knows how to remove it from my body.'

What Allen was referring to was his demonic mana, and whatever resided inside his demonic mana.

He realized that it was not something he should have, and he did not want to have it because it was probably what made dangerous people like servus attracted to him.

After a short break, Felicia picked up her rapier.

"Allen, let's continue; please copy Master Theobauld's movements this time."

...

...

...

A house at night.

The interior of the house is illuminated by the fire in the kiln. Then there were blood splatters decorating all the interiors inside. On the wall of the room, there was a Boldenville soldier's coat hanger.

A corpse was lying on the bed—a naked adult woman whose neck was slit so profoundly that blood-soaked the mattress.

"Stop! I beg you to stop! I've told you everything I know about that child! Why are you doing this?!"

Beside the fireplace was a man who was also naked with a cloth covering his entire head, begging for his life to the woman in front of him. The woman who was cleaning her knife in the boiling water on the fireplace. That woman was Laveya, one of the high priests of Daemon Servus, who was currently under sentence.

"I can't let the one who knows about the milord stay alive; rest in peace. I'm sorry for not being able to let you merge with him. But think of yourself as one of the lucky ones for serving milord. After all, I've already paid a sufficient down payment for your hard work."

"Wait-"

Laveya sliced the man's neck quickly, leaving part of the man's head hanging behind him.

"Excuse me," came a voice knocking on the door from outside.

"Come in," Laveya replied.

The child entered, and she did not look surprised by the scene in front of her. She was wearing the same black robe as Laveya; the hood of her robe made it so no one could tell who she was when looking at her. But from her height, she was more or less a 15-year-old child.

"Is doing this going to be okay? Mother. What if Father Alester notices your movements? He might know about your plan for Allen?" the girl asked.

"No worries," Laveya replied casually, then she explained. "I paid this soldier to sell the information about Allen and quit being a Boldenville soldier. As I expected, he went straight out of town with that much money and spent it on prostitutes. By killing him outside Boldenville, no one will know I killed him for information. They would think that I was just doing my hobby of killing perverted men."

"Then, what is our next step? What information did you get from this man?"

"Allen is going to Oxwade Academy, and that too as a praeterea class transfer student."

"!!!"

"The academy is a place Daemon Servus cannot touch. But I'm lucky because you, my biological daughter, are also a student at Oxwade Academy."

"What should I do, mother?"

"I want you to watch over him, be good friends with him, and I want you to be able to bring him to our home someday."

Laveya then held her stomach and murmured, "I wonder what it would be like if I had a baby from a milord's vessel."