Most students at the Imperial Officer Academy hailed from the Imperial Capital.
In fact, there were very few students from the territories of local lords. It made sense, really—any noble worth their salt maintained their own schools for their subjects. Usually, only the lord’s own children were sent to the prestigious institutions in the center of the Empire.
Besides, the entrance exams for any school in the Capital were brutal. The Imperial Officer Academy was difficult enough that even my brother Sam had failed to get in. Since it was a military track, it wasn't exactly the most popular choice, but it still maintained a steady three-to-one applicant ratio. Personally, I thought it was a great deal; if you graduated and served three years in the military, you earned various professional qualifications and full citizenship in the Imperial Capital.
To give you an idea of the hierarchy, my eldest brother attended an elite college-prep high school in the Capital—one that couldn't even manage to get a single student into the National Imperial Capital Academy, the hardest school in existence. He eventually went to a private university and was now a graduate student back at that same National Imperial Capital Academy.
Meanwhile, Big Brother Sam had failed the Officer Academy entrance exam and was forced to graduate from a local two-year Agricultural College. Currently, he was an "apprentice aide" to our local lord, a position that was essentially as close to being a NEET as one could get. Now that I’d officially become a Marquis, I had dumped all my paperwork onto him. Sam was the type who had plenty of people willing to bail him out, so I figured he’d manage somehow.
...When I compared myself to my two older brothers, I realized I wasn't asking my parents for a dime. In fact, I was actually drawing a salary from the Academy. Wasn't I incredibly impressive? I was basically a model of filial piety!
Anyway, due to those academic hurdles, the student body was dominated by people from the Capital. While there were many commoners, there were also plenty of "landless nobles." Of course, titled nobles were so common in the Capital that the only real difference between them and a commoner was whether they lived in a detached house or an apartment.
That was the state of the Capital, but currently, it was reportedly in a stalemate following a Zork offensive. If I remembered the original story correctly, they were supposed to hold out for about a year from this point. They would struggle and scrape by until the Emperor was eventually killed, at which point the Imperial Capital would become a dead planet.
I wanted to avoid that.
Well, except for the Emperor part. My bride had specifically told me to let him die. She said I only needed to save her mother and sister. I’d have to be careful about that.
But before we dealt with the Capital, I had an important mission to complete: searching for the protagonist.
During a lull in our supply-loading operations, I took a small transport craft down to a Colony Planet. And yes, I made sure I had my license on me!
For some reason, my bride, Claire, Melissa, and even Ren decided to tag along.
"Who exactly are we looking for here?" Claire asked.
"I’m not sure. But according to my family's records, a Jester lived here once."
I had completely fabricated those documents. I felt zero regret.
"Hmph. And what does the Lord Groom intend to do once we find them?" Marma asked.
"If there are any descendants of the Jester left, I’m going to recruit them. I can't handle everything on my own, you know?"
"I suppose... It sounds suspicious, but seeing the Lord Groom nearly die every time he fights certainly makes your argument more persuasive."
This planet had also been targeted by the Zork. However, the ones attacking this world were early-game weaklings, far inferior to the Zork we had encountered first. An assault rifle would be more than enough to handle them.
This world was classified as a Colony Planet, which placed it a tier below a Frontier Planet. These were worlds that had either rebelled in the past, served as penal colonies, or simply lacked any inherent value. Such planets were managed by intentionally suppressing their civilization levels. As I recalled, the tech level here was roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages. It was ruled by a King, and we were arriving under the guise of "Divine Messengers."
The King possessed a communication device, so we coordinated our arrival in advance. It was honestly a dream to land so smoothly without any complications! Landing on a planet without anti-aircraft guns was truly a wonderful experience.
When we disembarked, a carriage was already waiting for us.
"Welcome, O Divine Messengers! We welcome you with open arms! I am Megos, the Royal Minister."
The man who greeted us with grand, sweeping gestures was a minister with a face that looked exactly like the King of Hearts from a deck of cards.
"A fine welcome. I assume you understand our business here?" Ren said, her voice dripping with arrogance.
Normally, acting that haughty toward the locals would be poor form, but there was a reason for it. If we didn't act the part of superior beings, it would actually make things harder for them. They had worshipped our kind as higher powers for centuries; asking them to suddenly treat us as equals was a tall order. So, we played the part of the arrogant elite.
While the Duke House had a nasty habit of looking down on people, they were far more competent than my own family. They provided constant food aid and other support. It wasn't exactly a mutually beneficial relationship; the Colony Planet actually got the better end of the deal. This planet was a financial drain that produced zero profit, after all.
"Yes," Megos replied. "You refer to the individuals who distinguished themselves during the recent monster invasion?"
"Before we get to that, what was the extent of the damage?"
"Thanks to your intervention, the damage was kept to a minimum by the power of the Divine Artifacts. We cannot thank you enough..."
"Gratitude is unnecessary," Ren said, her expression souring.
That was understandable. After hearing my initial report, the Duke had used this planet as a testing ground for ballistic weaponry. He had scattered weapons among the locals and forced them to fight the Zork. He likely intended to use the data to see if the weapons were viable for his own forces. He was a scumbag, certainly... but I couldn't reject the logic outright. I suspected many nobles operated that way. Deciding which lives to sacrifice was a heavy burden. I couldn't even bring myself to cut my losses on a bad stock trade, so I definitely didn't want to own a planet like this.
"There were those among the locals who achieved great feats, were there not?"
"Yes. We have summoned them to the palace."
"Good. You’ve done well."
"U-Um... might I ask what you intend for them?"
"We shall bring them into our fold to participate in the war against the Zork."
"You would make them Divine Messengers!?"
"That is exactly why we are here."
Oho, so there’s more than one? That certainly made my life easier. The residents here fought with swords, meaning they were likely far more skilled than I was. Maybe I wouldn't have to keep nearly dying after all!
We took the slow-moving carriage to the palace. Upon entering, we were met by the King and seven young men and women. I walked up and stood directly in front of one of them.
The protagonist.
"Are you prepared to ascend to the heavens?" I asked simply.
"Of course!"
Right, you’re hired.
I did feel a bit sorry for him, though. I wasn't going to let him just fight; I was going to make him suffer through the entire, grueling curriculum of the Officer Academy.
Claire, Ren, and my bride all pressed their hands to their foreheads in exasperation.
"And you there," I said, turning to someone else.
"Ah... yes?"
It was a silver-haired girl with shoulder-length hair who looked quite energetic. She wasn't one of the main heroines. She was the protagonist’s childhood friend—the one who was supposed to have been killed in the original story.
"It’s a Jester," I said with a wide, triumphant grin.
"A second Jester?! You’ve done it, Lord Groom!" My bride sounded genuinely excited.
Once I saw her in person, I finally understood. It all clicked.
The Jester was supposed to have died at the very beginning of the story!