CHAPTER 46: FIELD TRIP

They say a butterfly flaps its wings in one corner of the world, and somewhere far away a hurricane is born.

It sounded poetic.

Stupid, even.

Until I started seeing the ripples of my actions in real time.

This field trip?

It wasn’t supposed to exist yet.

It was originally scheduled after midterms in the game timeline.

But here we were — boarding five massive imperial airships like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Ok everyone, one by one — don’t push, don’t shove!" Instructor Mia raised her voice at the front, sleeves rolled up, hair tied in a messy bun. She was clearly regretting volunteering to handle the boarding queue. "If someone falls, I’ll throw the rest of you off the side myself!"

Students laughed nervously, straightened up, and behaved.

I, meanwhile, was staring off into nothing.

The flutter of butterfly wings.

Me choosing to step into the Silverfang fight.

Me who was supposed to disappear in background, shining like the brightest star.

Me destroying some character flags early.

All these little decisions — shifts — distortions.

And now a trip that wasn’t supposed to happen yet... happened.

A shove from behind snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hey, idiot. Stop spacing out, the line moved." Ren’s annoyed voice.

He still hated me. Some grudges don’t fade quickly.

Fine.

I stepped forward silently. No retort. I was in the wrong this time.

The ramp of the airship was wide — polished black metal, lined with glowing runes. The vessel itself floated by massive mana turbines on its underside, humming like thunder held in a cage. Imperial tech in this world was always presented as "mana artifacts," but with my Earth knowledge... it looked suspiciously like a flying magitech cruiser.

The moment I stepped inside, a soft, mechanical voice echoed from runic speakers:

[ Welcome aboard. This airship is en route to Verdia Capital, Fern Kingdom. Please refrain from combat magic, weapon discharge, or high-intensity mana usage. Damage to Imperial property will result in penalization. This is a repeated announcement. ]

I shut the notification out.

Fern Kingdom.

A nation famous for nature, forests, rivers — everything green and picturesque. A peaceful country.

That’s how every travel guide described it.

But I knew better.

Up until now, every "obstacles" the protagonist party had faced were laughable warm-ups. The kind of stepping stones you feel embarrassed to call antagonists. Like the original Martin — the trash noble whose body I was piloting — or the childish evaluation duels... even the practical assessment boss was merely an appetizer.

But Fern’s capital?

The peaceful, nature-loving kingdom where the rivers glimmer and flowers bloom?

This was the first real major event — the first dark ripple that eventually snowballed into the end of this world.

’The hero party handled this fine in the game timeline...’

My fingers tapped the armrest.

’...but that was after midterms. After their stats grew. After flags were built. After plot armor thickened.’

Now we were a month early.

Would the same event even trigger?

Would the difficulty scale the same?

Would they survive without the correct pacing?

Too many variables.

Too many ifs.

Conclusion: I had to intervene — again.

So much for "staying a background villain."

I rested my chin on my hand, looking down from the floating window. The academy’s towers shrank below like tiny toys. The sunlight caught the silver spires and turned them into glittering pins.

Ariana slid into the seat beside me, cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Lucien," she whispered, voice bright, "aren’t you excited? This is our first trip outside the kingdom!"

I only gave her a faint smile.

"Excited? You have no idea."

By the time I gathered my emotions, it was already time.

A mechanical chime sounded — calm and gentle.

[ The airship will be landing shortly. Please prepare to disembark. ]

The vessel descended into a glowing anchor-circle — the royal mana dock. This spot belonged exclusively to the Fern Royal House.

Royal Knights in forest-green armor lined both sides of the platform like living statues — spears upright, capes fluttering. The butler corps and maid corps, perfectly uniform in emerald-themed attire, distributed magical ID badges for jurisdictional access.

"Woah!! This is insane!"

"It really feels like we’re being treated like VIPs!"

The Class A cadets buzzed like bees.

"Class A — formation!" Instructor Samantha’s firm voice snapped through the chatter.

Everyone straightened instantly — rows and columns forming with military precision.

Even other classes were only a half-step behind — the entire dock transformed from chaotic excitement into disciplined order.

Samantha wasn’t in professor attire anymore — she wore full Knight Commander regalia. Cape. Armor polished to mirror sheen. Medals glinting like stars. Ferocious aura barely held behind a straight posture.

She stepped forward.

"Thanks to His Majesty of Fern, this field trip has been granted an exceptional level of freedom. As stated in the briefing — as long as the mandatory sites are toured properly, the rest of the time is yours."

Meaning: skip the mandatory sites and you get demerits.

Meaning: even I couldn’t ignore those checkpoints.

"Now then," she said, raising her gauntlet lightly, "off you go."

And like a dam bursting — the cadets surged forward — laughter, footsteps, excited chatter instantly filling the capital dock.

******

Fern’s capital was absurdly picturesque.

Too picturesque.

Like someone took a bunch of fantasy postcards and glued them together.

White stone bridges arched over emerald rivers. Ivy climbed up cathedral-like towers. Floating pollen made the air shimmer gold under sunlight. Every surface looked like it had been wiped by a team of perfectionist maids five seconds ago.

Beautiful.

...Suspiciously beautiful.

Ariana tugged at my sleeve like a child being let loose in Disneyland.

"Lucien! Look — look — they have river-boats shaped like swans!"

I nodded vaguely.

"Yes. They’re cute."

She locked arms, leaning close, radiating enthusiasm.

"So where do we go first? Crystal taverns? Riversides? There’s even a bazaar—!"

"We’re not here to play," I said calmly, eyes tracking the flow of people.

"We need to finish mandatory routes first."

She pouted but didn’t argue — she was used to my tone by now.

"Mandatory courses... the Fern Royal Museum is first on the list," she recalled. "Then the knight barracks, then the botanical district."

"Good."