Mid-January 1219.
News spread throughout the kingdom of San Fulgen about the installation of two new Dukes, replacing Lord Darwin, Duke of San Minerva, and Lord James, Duke of San Angela. The two new Dukes were Duke Dylan Lomidze, who would become the new Duke of San Minerva, and Duke Neil Mattila, who would become the new Duke of San Angela. Since they were both officially appointed Dukes, their names and the names of their main families were added to the names of the territories they would rule.
The names of the territories that were included in the current Dukes' surnames were actually given names, as they had been given to them for their leadership of those territories. If a Duke were to relinquish office due to illness, death, or other reasons, his descendants would inherit the position. If there were no direct descendants of the Duke, the position would pass to a branch of the Duke's family. Because of this, the names of the territories, which were originally given names, began to be considered family names, because even after the Duke's term ended, the heirs would be from his own family. For example, if the current Duke of San Lucia were to retire, his direct descendants would inherit the position. If there were no successors, then the branch family of the Duke of San Lucia would inherit the position. The position would continue to be passed down to the Duke of San Lucia's family. Therefore, the name San Lucia, originally a given name, began to be considered the family name of the San Lucia family, as their family would continue to be the Duke of San Lucia.
For decades, the position of Duke of the four existing Dukes had always been passed down to other members of their families. However, this time, with the inauguration of two new Dukes who were not members of the previous Duke's family, a new Duke family was born. The involvement of Lord Darwin and Lord James in the plot to assassinate Queen Kayana and the entire San Lucia family raised suspicions about their entire family. Queen Kayana suspected that their entire family, both the main family and the branch family, were involved in the plot. Queen Kayana then decided to investigate the families of Lord Darwin and Lord James to find evidence of their involvement. However, the investigation into their entire families would likely take quite some time, and Queen Kayana needed to quickly inaugurate the two new Dukes. Therefore, rather than inaugurate new Dukes from their families, who were still under investigation, Queen Kayana decided to inaugurate two Dukes from other noble families unrelated to Lord James and Lord Darwin. And finally, Queen Kayana inaugurated Lord Dylan and Lord Neil as the new Dukes of San Minerva and San Angela.
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Early February 1219.
Three weeks after the inauguration of the new Dukes of San Minerva and San Angela, I, as the chairman of the Elevrad, decided to send Elevrad members to the residences of the two Dukes to deliver a proposal for financial assistance for the tournament and academy festival. I had originally intended to deliver the proposal as soon as the two Dukes were inaugurated, but I decided against it because I thought the two Dukes might have a lot of work to do, considering they had just been inaugurated. Therefore, I decided to deliver the proposal three weeks after their inauguration. I sent Senior Klara and Senior Darryl to Duke San Angela's residence, while Senior Nadine and Senior Nichelle went to Duke San Minerva's residence. Senior Darryl seemed pleased when I told him I had sent him to Duke San Angela's residence.
Then, the four of them immediately departed for their respective destinations and returned with an announcement that the proposal had been approved and that the two Dukes would provide financial assistance immediately.
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Early March 1219.
The San Fulgen Kingdom was shocked by news that Queen Kayana had issued a decree banning slavery in the kingdom. This decree was also approved by all four Dukes. However, the ban on slavery in the kingdom was not implemented immediately, but gradually. Queen Kayana gave the citizens and nobles of the kingdom a year to gradually accustom themselves to life without slavery. This decree was strongly protested by the citizens and nobles who owned slaves. Not only that, slave traders, especially those from the slave trading center in the San Angela region who sold their slaves in the San Fulgen kingdom, also protested strongly. However, Queen Kayana ignored this, as those protesting were few compared to those who agreed to the regulation.
In exchange for banning slavery, the citizens and nobles of the kingdom were still allowed to employ people of other races, provided they were paid according to their work. Most of the citizens of the San Fulgen kingdom also agreed to this regulation.
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Late April 1219.
All the second-year students and I prepared to leave for the fourth exam. The fourth exam was held outside the academy grounds, and for the second-years, we would take the exam at the Duke of San Angela's residence.
After preparing, we immediately traveled to the San Angela region by horse-drawn carriage. I had been a little curious about who would become the new Duke of San Angela, and now my curiosity was satisfied, as we would be taking the fourth exam at the Duke's residence.
After about three hours of travel, we finally arrived in the city of San Angela. As Miss Violetta had said, the temperature in San Angela was much hotter than San Minerva and the capital, San Estella. The students even complained about the heat.
After that, we arrived at the Duke of San Angela's residence. In front of the residence, a grown man and several knights appeared to be waiting and welcoming us. For some reason, I felt as if I had met this man before. I tried to remember who he was until I finally managed to. It turned out he was the man I had shared a room with while I was being held in San Sabaneta Prison. He was the man who had helped me with his words while I was being beaten and kicked by Lord James. I had heard from him that he was a former nobleman framed by Lord James. If he was here, that meant he had been released from San Sabaneta Prison. I hadn't expected him to be the new Duke of San Angela. Also, I finally learned his name, as he hadn't told me his name while he was in prison. His name was Neil Mattila, but since he was now the Duke of San Angela, his name had changed to Neil Mattila San Angela.
Duke Neil immediately greeted me and the other second-year students upon our arrival at his residence. Duke Neil and I chatted occasionally, especially since we were already quite familiar with each other.
Then, for the fourth-year exam, which would be held in the San Angela region, the exam was the same as the fourth exam in the San Minerva region during our first years: attacking Duke San Angela's knights, blocking and avoiding their attacks, and collecting 20 medals scattered throughout the wilderness near Duke San Angela's residence. Although the exam was the same, the requirements were different, especially for the test against Duke San Angela's knights. While in the fourth exam in the first year, students were required to inflict one wound on a knight and withstand their attacks for one minute, for the fourth exam in the second year, students were required to inflict five wounds on the knights they fought and withstand their attacks for five minutes. The requirements for collecting medals remained the same as in the first year.
After hearing that explanation, the fourth exam began, which lasted for three days. I successfully completed all three types of the fourth exam.
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The third week of May 1219.
After successfully securing financial assistance from Queen Kayana and the four Dukes, we, as Elevrad, were finally able to hold the academy tournament as usual. This year's tournament format was different from last year's. While last year's format consisted of two matches: one for boys and one for girls. However, this year's tournament would be a single-match format, pitting pairs against each other. This would pit teams of one boy and one girl against each other. The students' pairs were not randomly selected; they were the ones who chose their own partners. Students could pair up with students from other classes or even from other years. However, they still had to qualify to determine their place in this year's academy tournament.
I decided to participate again. Since this tournament was a pair tournament, Irene and I decided to pair up. We both easily passed the qualifiers. We even easily defeated our opponents throughout the tournament, ultimately winning this year's academy tournament. Because of our easy victory in the tournament, all the students and people at the academy dubbed us the "monster couple."
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Fourth Sunday of May 1219.
After the academy tournament last week, we immediately held this year's academy festival. For this year's festival, we decided to adopt the same theme as last year's, which was abruptly ended due to an attack. We chose a theme that invited vendors to sell their wares at the academy festival. This year's academy festival was a lively affair, with even seniors Gretta, Alisha, and Sophie, who had graduated from the academy, coming to participate. However, senior Vyn was not among them.
This time, there were no attacks at all. The knights guarding the academy and Miss Violetta kept a tight guard over the academy throughout the festival. Therefore, this year's academy festival proceeded smoothly and without incident.
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The last day of May 1219.
Today, the time has come for us to say goodbye to seniors Darryl, Klara, and Nichelle, who have graduated and will be leaving the academy. We, the members of Elevrad, accompanied the three of them to the academy gates and bid them farewell. Then, the three of them left the academy, waving goodbye to us.
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Then, the first day of July 1219.
Irene, Charles, Chloe, and I, along with the others, officially became third-year students, having accumulated the points required to advance to the third year.
-To be continued
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