141st Chapter
Two Days Before the Festival.
No matter how busy the Academia gets, classes still go on.
During the joint relic practice class, Class 1 and Class 2 found themselves together once again.
And oddly enough, Alicia and Arterion ended up as partners yet again.
“… Why is it you again?”
“Don’t show such discontent. It’s simply a matter of low probability that we ended up together.”
I found myself in a team with Lauga, who was glaring at me with a fierce gaze.
“Young Master, Young Master. How do I look? Am I pretty? Tell me I’m pretty~!”
To be precise, our team consisted of two people and one old spirit.
Naias fluttered her black dress and asked, looking quite excited about her new outfit.
I scanned her up and down before responding.
“It seems the quality is decent.”
“Oh really? Really?! I didn’t think you’d actually praise me! What’s this, Young Master giving compliments?”
I grabbed one of Naias’s busy arms and checked the fabric of the dress.
It was just a normal material.
“B-but Young Master, even if I’m pretty, wearing this outside is a bit much…”
“Quiet down. I need to check it properly.”
I infused mana into the dress and examined the state closely.
At first glance, it merely looked like Naias had put on a new outfit, but ‘Naias’ and ‘the dress’ were sharing mana.
This meant they were essentially one body, and a double fusion had been achieved.
Once I finished my checks, I released Naias’s arm.
“I faced a bit of a challenge, but it seems to have succeeded without any issues. Next time, I’ll try merging with a different familiar.”
Although Naias is a spirit, she is also my familiar.
Moreover, the body structure she shares is similar to that of my main familiar, Shadow, so I fused her with him.
Since it’s rare to keep a spirit as a familiar and even rarer to merge one with a typical familiar, finding research papers on the matter has been quite difficult.
Instead of focusing on Francesca’s research, the investment I made in the Academia’s library bore this fruit.
While I was lost in thought, Naias nervously spoke up.
“Just make sure to use pretty and cute ones. That giant… Taesan? I absolutely cannot stand him or that chimera Kry!”
“Well, Kry is impossible anyway… Regardless, I’ll think about it.”
“Ah! I told you I absolutely don’t want that! If I say no, I mean no!”
“Are you throwing a tantrum? That’s quite unbecoming.”
“You know that the affinities of familiars are important for fusion, right? If I dislike it this much, it clearly means our affinities won’t match. If you force it, it’ll break!”
Regrettably, Naias was speaking the truth.
It would be great if I could freely merge all my familiars, but that’s not the reality.
For example, a fusion between the rat familiar Squeaky, who was active in Dortmund, and the wolf familiar Wulf, who had restrained Lauga, was impossible.
Before attempting a fusion, errors occurred due to the established structure, and if forcibly attempted, both familiars’ lives would have been in danger.
So, as unpleasant as it was to hear, I had to consider Naias’s complaints.
As I nodded and respected Naias’s opinion, she started to feel even better, puffing up with pride.
The guy, feeling even more pumped up, started puffing out his chest.
“I feel like I’m super strong right now! I think I can win against anyone. I’m already a ‘really amazing’ spirit by myself, plus I have the Judgment Weapon, and I’m even fused with a high-level Familiar!”
Naias was flexing her shoulders, full of confidence.
Currently, the ‘Sword’ that was acting as the medium was held by Alicia, but even with just the spirit, she could dish out some serious power.
As she said, Naias was indeed quite strong at the moment. Compared to her state during the Class Battle, she had recovered significantly with dazzling options at her disposal.
I wanted to see for myself, but suitable test subjects were… hard to find.
“…Ah, there they are.”
I glanced at Lauga, who was brandishing a large shield and sword.
Among the first-years, Lauga ranked among the top contenders.
If anyone could gauge Naias’s current condition, it would be her, the perfect battle power meter.
Lauga, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, straightened her shield and spoke.
“I don’t like the way you’re looking at me… Vargan. Do I really look that easy to handle?”
“Well, it’s your difficulty that makes you valuable. I actually have quite a bit of respect for your shieldsmanship.”
Though I had called Lauga my teammate, there was a difference from last time. Previously, we had cooperated to shatter a monument, but this time it was a free topic.
That meant we could clash our relics and abilities to test out potential and performance.
I slowly moved my feet and spoke.
I deliberately raised my mana, sending a non-verbal message her way.
“Lauga. You probably don’t want to collaborate all warmly with me either. So wouldn’t it be better to have a spar? If you want, we can make it a bet.”
To be precise, it was Naias, not me.
It’s a bit tricky to categorize, but Naias straddled the lines of spirit, Familiar, and relic.
Thus, fighting as Naias wouldn’t be much different from the purpose of practicing with relics in class.
Accepting the signal, Lauga pointed the tip of her sword at me.
“I don’t really like to move by your wishes… but fine. If I can repay the humiliation from the Class Battle.”
“Hm. Then what shall the reward be… Ah, right. How about the loser answers one question from the winner and takes a good hit? You can choose one of those.”
“I prefer the latter. I’ll gladly smack that smug face of yours.”
“Full of spirit, huh? That’s a good thing.”
I knew that not only Arterion but Lauga too had been engaging in quite rigorous training since the Class Battle.
This was also an opportunity to check on her, known as the Iron Shield in the original story.
Naias was grinning from ear to ear, loosening up.
“I finally get to fight properly after such a long time! Can I take her out, Young Master?”
“Well, killing would be a problem, but that enthusiasm isn’t bad.”
“Got it! If it gets dangerous, you’d better stop me, Young Master!”
Lauga frowned and unleashed an intense aura.
She too had the blood of the Solus family, a high-ranking noble.
There was no way she could allow the disrespectful words directed at her right in front of her.
Lauga’s relic, the shield. The emblem of the Solus family engraved at its center radiated with light.
With that, both Naias and Lauga prepared themselves for battle and dove right in.
Boom—!
The outcome was decided in no time.
*
“Are you crying right now? Lauga.”
I asked, looking at the woman sprawled out on the floor, covering her eyes with her arms.
She didn’t respond, just showing a face full of frustration while grinding her teeth. She looked genuinely wronged.
To comfort her, I offered some warm words of encouragement.
“For someone who came charging in with such bravado, your performance in the second half was a bit lacking, but you’ve definitely improved.”
“….”
“Especially that look of shock on your face from the power of my Familiar was priceless. I really wanted to show it to your lord, Arterion.”
“…Shut up.”
“Such a foul mouth you have. Are you really that upset?”
I used wind magic to sweep away some nearby dust and sat beside the sprawled Lauga.
With a gust of wind, I stirred up the dust around us and sat down next to Lauga, who was still lying down.
Even though I was sitting right next to her, looking utterly disgusted, Lauga showed no signs of getting up.
It was a measure taken after Naias sent her back with a sword because Naias was so excited after the match that she couldn’t stop teasing Lauga.
…
After some time passed.
I noticed Lauga’s lips moving from the sliver of space I could see.
“…Go away.”
“What are you saying to a fellow team member?”
“The match is over already.”
“You dense one. Class isn’t finished yet. Hold on a little longer.”
“……”
Since Lauga remained as still as a statue, I decided to bring up a topic that might provoke a reaction from her.
“I feel like the training intensity under Arterion has been increasing day by day. Is it to rack up points for the festival’s final day?”
According to the schedule, a battle would take place involving first-year and second-year students at Academia, providing a chance to showcase one’s strength and leadership skills.
Especially with the strong candidate Clemens being in the second-year force, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it’s an extension of the election.
Lauga kept her lips tightly sealed.
I thought she would bite the bait immediately since I brought up Arterion, but she seemed rather downcast.
I spoke in a tone laced with amusement.
“If you’re making a move, then… at least on the final day of the festival, you’ll be sticking close to Arterion. Isn’t that a good thing, Lauga?”
“…Shut up.”
“You don’t seem to like this topic of conversation. How about this instead?”
“……”
I glanced around and spotted a man.
He was a professor with dark circles under his eyes, perpetually looking tired.
He was sipping coffee while observing the students.
“Have there been any peculiar actions from Professor Lucien recently?”
“……”
At this sudden, ambiguous question, Lauga revealed her previously hidden eyes, still sharp as ever.
Lauga asked.
“…Why are you asking that?”
“Because he’s your supervisor, and as a fellow noble of the Ocel Kingdom, I figured you might know something I don’t.”
“Don’t distort the meaning. Vargan.”
In response to her interrogation, I shrugged my shoulders, a nonchalant expression on my face.
“I merely asked because he seems particularly tired lately. It’s not that strange for a student to be concerned about their professor’s health, right?”
“…I find that hard to believe.”
“Just answer the question. You wouldn’t let slip that a proud noble like yourself doesn’t keep up with the stakes, would you?”
“When I said it wasn’t a big deal, I didn’t mean it like this….”
Lauga cast a glance at Professor Lucien, who was sitting a distance away. Then, seemingly displeased, she licked her lips and spoke.
A recent memory popped into Lauga’s mind—passing through the hallway with Arterion when they encountered Professor Lucien.
The words and actions exchanged at that time……
“There’s no need to go so far as to call it peculiar. Maybe he’s just drinking more coffee? …I know very little about Professor Lucien in the first place.”
“I hear the Solus and Victoria families have been interacting for quite some time.”
“While the history of coexistence isn’t short, Professor Lucien is someone who rarely engages in social activities, so I wouldn’t know. In fact, it was my first time meeting his gaze properly at Academia.”
“I see. So in the end, you’re saying there’s nothing peculiar?”
“That seems to be the case.”
Saying that there’s nothing peculiar means that the probability of Professor Lucien’s movements staying the same has increased.
Then……
“By the way, why were you curious about it?”
While I was lost in thought, Lauga repeated her very first question.
Why was I curious, you ask?
It’s related to the upcoming story, and do you think I can tell you that?
Instead of answering, I bent my finger and brought it close to her forehead.
Lauga raised an eyebrow at my action, and I kindly responded.
“I suppose I should execute the second option since you couldn’t provide a proper answer to my question.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that…! I clearly…”
“I asked you if there was anything peculiar about you, and you replied there isn’t, affirming that as well.”
“I asked if there was anything, and you replied that there was no singularity, and you acknowledged it again.”
“That’s…!”
“You’re not going to spout nonsense about leaving the answer to the exam questions blank and still expecting a perfect score, right?”
I began to pull my muscles taut, putting pressure on the fingers I had gathered in front of her.
“Kaiman passed out from this, but I’m sure you can withstand it.”
…Why did I even ask what I was curious about Professor Lucien?
I can’t answer that question.
I’m the one who won the bet.
You have no right to ask.
Moreover, that man Lucien…
⎯Bang!
He’s a key figure among the forces of the “Goddess Church” hidden within Academia, so there’s no way he’d tell you.
*
“Oh, is that Academia? Not bad at all.”
“Riel, don’t stick your face out the window. It looks uncultured.”
An overly massive and extravagant wagon.
It’s hard to even call it a wagon anymore, with a unique emblem proudly representing Schugenharz on its front.
Noble heirs are riding in that wagon.
Those being the siblings of the Schugenhartz family, a pride of the great Troa Empire.
The female servant Riel didn’t sit down even though her twin sister Lina advised her to.
Instead, she responded with a slightly defiant tone.
“Lina, don’t even start with the culture talk… That guy made us change our culture teacher, and now I’m bored to death from all the lessons.”
“Is that how you refer to him, sister? Brother Vargan will scold you again if he hears.”
“Whatever that brat says or does.”
Riel pouted as she murmured, her lips sticking out.
Another person listening to their conversation smiled warmly.
“Still, Vargan has changed for the better recently.”
“Brother Belo, don’t praise that brat. The only thing that’s changed is that his personality has gotten even weirder; there’s nothing good about him.”
Schugenharz Troa Belo.
He was Vargan’s elder brother, the second son of the Schugenharz family.
Belo listened patiently to Riel’s complaints.
As Riel’s anger began to settle, the conversation shifted to the festival at Academia.
The youngest daughter Lina spoke with a touch of disappointment.
“I thought Brother Rhinecarven would join us too; what a shame. If only he had said something, I wouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
“Didn’t they say third and fourth-year students were going to a different site for practice?”
“Yes, sister… But having brother Belo with us is nice. Oh, and also brother Vargan.”
“Lina, why are you bringing that guy up again? You seem to mention him unusually often and defend him lately.”
“I like everyone in our family, okay?”
Riel scoffed at Lina’s response as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah right. You had a much lower opinion of him than I did.”
“Oh my, Riel. Looks like we’ve arrived.”
Lina distracted Riel with a natural look and tone, and the wagon came to a stop.
Maybe it was because they kept mentioning Vargan, but his image was vividly stuck in Riel’s mind.
A year ago, Vargan had traveled with only his servants Alicia and Bram and the tutor Paula in a tiny wagon.
Without bringing any other servants at all.
⎯Clunk.
As the door of the wagon opened, Riel murmured.
“I don’t get it. Traveling with such a small group, isn’t that inconvenient? And….”
As Riel, who was closest to the door, approached to exit, the attendants that had been prepared sprang into action, moving in a hurried manner.
In an instant, a carpet was laid out, and the attendants stood in line with their heads bowed.
Naturally, it drew the attention of everyone around.
The exit of the Schugenharz siblings.
Such an unusual sight made everyone there seem like mere background props prepared for the Schugenharz family.
Riel stepped down onto the carpet and finished her thoughts.
To her, this level of extravagance was perfectly natural.
“Exiting from a wagon is important, you know.”
It was an essential element.
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