Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Tower and the Academy

The next morning, Lorraine, Rina, and I went to the carriage stop. Just like the last time I was here, there was a wide range of “horses” available, and they were always entertaining to watch. But there were some differences from before.

“There sure are a lot of carriages here,” remarked Rina. “Maybe Maalt needs a bunch of things.”

While this stop hadn’t exactly been deserted the last time, there had been plenty of space for more carriages. Now the stop was congested. I figured cargo was coming in from all sorts of places.

As Rina had noted, Maalt currently needed a wide range of materials and supplies. They needed construction materials to fix the buildings and roads destroyed by the dungeon’s appearance. Furthermore, there weren’t enough laborers in Maalt, so they needed able bodies to help in the reconstruction. That, in turn, fueled an increase in demand for daily necessities such as food and clothing.

Because Maalt was a frontier city, it was mostly self-sufficient, except when it came to specialized items or luxury goods. But now the city had no choice but to import supplies from all around the area, which in turn dramatically increased the flow of people and items.

“Seems there are also more adventurers here to check out the new dungeon,” Lorraine observed. “More researchers are coming and going too. While there aren’t many from the empire, I’ve met several I knew in the royal capital. A freshly spawned dungeon is a rare treat for them. In addition, though people from the Tower or the Academy will conduct the studies and surveys, plenty of people are here to take a look as they tour.”

Lorraine was an eccentric scholar who’d left the empire to move to a backwater city like Maalt. Though she had been here ten years, she wasn’t completely without acquaintances among her peers. That made sense, though. While she was rather haphazard in her daily life, she was always quick to respond to things like letters. Her shorthand was so hard to read it almost functioned as a cipher, but when she sat down to carefully form a letter, she wrote in a neat, elegant, and feminine script.

She had a fair number of associates among the scholars in Yaaran Kingdom, and every once in a while, she would travel to the capital to trade information or debate various topics of interest. Nonetheless, they were acquainted with someone as unusual as Lorraine. They were also unusual in their own way, and many worked outside the mainstream of Yaaran scholarship.

The Tower and the Academy were the central research hubs in the Yaaran Kingdom, and most investigations started under their guidance. For example, if there was something abnormal, like our recently created dungeon, the Tower or the Academy’s researchers would hire all of the dependable adventurers as escorts so that they could enter and survey the dungeon. This often made it difficult for others to conduct their own investigations, though.

Lorraine was a rare specimen in that she was both a scholar and an adventurer. Both career paths were extremely harsh. It was hard to become a first-class adventurer or a first-class scholar, and it was nearly impossible to balance them both and produce notable results. Lorraine was just an exception. That was why she’d mentioned that her acquaintances had come to look while doing a little sightseeing. They likely wanted to enter the dungeon and do some investigating themselves, but the possibility they’d be allowed to do so was small. I figured they came here anyway because they just loved research and wanted to catch even the slightest whiff of it. I could see why they got along with Lorraine.

“I don’t know about the Tower,” Rina said, looking tired, “but students from the Academy can be kind of snooty. I don’t get along with them.”

I tilted my head quizzically and asked, “You’ve met Academy students before, Rina?”

“Well, with my family background, I had a childhood friend who attended the Academy. She was nice and gentle, but her classmates were pretty awful.”

Oh, right. Rina was from the royal capital, and her older brother Idoles Rogue was a promising young knight. I didn’t know anything specific, like her family’s exact title, but they were of noble heritage. Since you needed either a lot of money or a lot of talent to attend the Academy, the majority of its students were from noble or merchant families. No doubt a good number of them had less than pleasant personalities. Of course, not all of them were like that. Most of Yaaran’s nobles were magnanimous and humble, partly because the kingdom itself was considered backwoods and partly because they worshiped the Church of the Eastern Sky.

Besides, everyone started out immature, and based on the average age of students who entered the Academy, most of them started right in the middle of puberty—their rebellious years. Egos were often inflated at that age. I suspected that they would grow out of that by the time they graduated, but I’d never been there. I didn’t know what it was actually like. I wanted to visit the Academy sometime, but there was no way a low-ranking adventurer like me would ever get permission. It really was a pity.

“‘Pretty awful’ in what sense?” Lorraine asked Rina.

“I think I mentioned that I worked as an adventurer in the capital. I ran into my friend while I was on a job. I was doing my best to avoid any acquaintances, but...”

“If you’re living in the same city, no matter how careful you are, you’ll run into an acquaintance sooner or later,” Lorraine quipped.

“Yeah. It wouldn’t have been too bad if that was the extent of it, but at the time, my equipment was all beat up and I looked pretty ragged.”

“Like when I first met you?” I asked. “That’s kind of unavoidable as a new adventurer.”

When I first met Rina, it had been clear that she paid attention to her appearance. Her clothes were washed, and she kept herself clean. She hadn’t looked too bad in my opinion, but her things were a bit old, and some of them looked quite worn. Be that as it may, plenty of adventurers looked worse. There was even the occasional adventurer who smelled faintly sour when they walked past. No matter how worn Rina’s clothes were, the fact that she kept them clean made her a lot better than them. Then again, maybe the ones who smelled were just lazy or sloppy. Still, Rina must have looked different to the nobles living in the capital, even more so to those rich enough to attend the Academy.

◆◇◆◇◆

“I guess it only made sense, but when my friend saw me, she was really concerned about how I was doing.”

If you suddenly found a friend wandering around in rags, when only a few months before you’d been going to fancy cafes and having afternoon tea together, naturally, you’d be concerned. That required that you were actually a friend, though. If I ran into someone I hated looking like that, I’d probably chuckle. The schadenfreude would be too delicious. Maybe I was an awful person? Well, not much to be done about that. Besides, there weren’t that many people I disliked that much.

“If she was worried about you, what’s wrong with that?” Lorraine asked. “You would explain the situation, and though it might be a tad awkward, you could then go your separate ways.”

It was common to run into a friend, realize that you now lived in different worlds, and, in the end, drift apart. It happened more frequently when you became an adventurer, though, particularly for someone like Rina, who went from being a noble to an adventurer. For people like me, who went from being a villager to an adventurer, the situation was usually the opposite. Even if you only gained a rudimentary understanding of mana or spirit, learned how to fight, and made a living hunting monsters, you’d make a lot more money than the average villager.

Sadly, plenty of adventurers let that go to their heads, treating their old acquaintances as though they were beneath them. But that was a bad idea over the long term. You couldn’t stay an adventurer until you died. While I often swore to myself that I’d be adventuring until my last breath, it definitely wasn’t that simple. After all, adventurers were well acquainted with death. It was an extremely dangerous job.

In a way, it was better to die while you were still an adventurer. The problem was when you didn’t die but couldn’t continue working, like if you suffered a really bad injury while fighting and lost a limb. That didn’t mean you were totally out of luck, though. High-ranking church members could regrow lost limbs. However, you had to make an enormous donation to receive that level of healing. That price was way too high for most adventurers who lived day to day. Also, if neglected too long, the loss would become permanent. I’d heard there were holy people who could fix even that sort of injury, but their price would be astronomical. For a normal adventurer with that kind of injury, it was almost impossible to get it fixed.

When that happened, the adventurer—or former adventurer—only had a handful of options left. The simplest option was to go back to their hometown. Yet that was only possible if you’d maintained a cordial relationship with the townspeople. Even then, there were plenty of ex-adventurers who found life in their old village awkward and strangely uncomfortable. If you had crowed about how impressive and rich you were before your injury, you could forget about going home.

That was why it was a bad idea to get too arrogant as an adventurer. The guild was careful to mention this to newly minted adventurers, but most were too busy celebrating to really listen. Things were a little better in Maalt, though. A fair number of the guild’s adventurers eventually retired to their hometowns. But this was way off topic.

“That’s what I was trying to do,” Rina explained, “but she was a bit of a mother hen. She started asking things like, ‘Are you eating properly?!’ ‘Do you want me to fix your worn clothes?!’ and ‘Where are you staying?!’ I couldn’t pull away.”

As she recounted the story, Rina’s lips lifted into a faint smile. She must have appreciated her friend’s concern.

Lorraine replied, “I see. She was a good friend, even if she acted more like your mother than your peer.”

“Yes. Which is why I was happy I’d run into her, though it was a little awkward. But when we were talking, a few other students from the Academy approached from the other side of the street.”

Rina sighed as she explained what had happened.

“I get it. They made fun of her for talking to you, right?” I asked.

That had to be the answer. I mean, it was a common tale. I couldn’t remember how many times others had mocked me for the same reason. I’d gotten all sorts of crap. Some had told me to give up being an adventurer; others had said to stop with my attitude. It was exhausting to hear. It wasn’t like I’d gone out of my way to approach those people either. They had always found me, somehow. If I replied to them, they’d fake outrage, insisting that they hadn’t said anything of the sort. Their vacuous eyes would glaze over and they’d start yelling at me.

It was so frustrating having to deal with people like that, but I had no choice but to accept their existence. Neither they nor the people around them made any attempt to fix their personality. Occasionally, some would realize their failings and attempt to do better, but they were definitely the minority.

“Yes,” Rina replied with a sigh. “They started going on about my appearance, and then lumping my friend in with me because she was speaking to me. I was impressed that they could speak that much without their mouths getting tired.”

“Don’t be impressed by that,” I quipped.

“They’re students of the Academy, right?” Lorraine interjected. “I’m sure they debate during class. When you’re used to arguing your point, you become much better at it.”

Lorraine’s comment was a little odd. Part of me felt that her explanation made sense, but she was missing the point.

“You didn’t argue back?” I asked, thinking it would’ve been mentally taxing to just stand there and take it.

Rina shook her head. “It would’ve been a waste of time. But my friend had a few choice barbs for them. In the end, the Academy students actually lost the argument. It seems my friend was one of the better students there, and when she brought that up, they had no real response.”

“Ah. So the one with the better work ethic won in the end. Wonderful,” Lorraine commented.

Once again, Lorraine was impressed by an odd detail. Based on Rina’s description, her friend wasn’t the bubbly type, but rather the assertively protective sort.

“I understand why you’re not keen on people from the Academy,” I added.

◆◇◆◇◆

“We’re not here to welcome people from the Tower or the Academy,” Lorraine stated. “No need to let it trouble you.”

Since I was technically a guild employee, there was a chance that Wolf might assign me that sort of task, but that wasn’t why we were here today. So why had we come to the carriage stop? That was obvious.

“Oh? If it isn’t Rentt and his friends. Did you actually come to say goodbye? I’m shocked,” Nive Maris, the infamous vampire hunter, called out from behind us.

Since she had told us that she’d be leaving in the morning, we had come to see her off despite our mixed feelings. She’d made life in Maalt a little more tense than I liked, but she had also given us a lot of information, and her advice had come in handy more than once. In particular, it would’ve been much harder to deal with the various vampire-related incidents without her. Laura and Isaac might have been able to deal with it themselves, but then we would’ve been stuck dealing with a big group of lesser vampires and their regenerative abilities.

If the Maaltesian adventurers had known that vampires eventually stopped regenerating or that newly created ones had stamina issues, things might have ended differently. On the other hand, if they hadn’t slain the young vampires when they did, Shumini’s plans might have proceeded more smoothly. If that had happened, Maalt would have been consumed by the dungeon.

At the very least, Nive’s presence had worked out in Maalt’s favor. That was why I felt we should at least say goodbye to her. There were times when I found her annoying, but that was the worst of it. Besides, her hunches had more or less been right. Though, if you were to ask whether Rina and I were ordinary vampires, I’d have to say no.

“We’re allowed to come see you off, aren’t we? You said we could,” I replied.

“Yes, but I know you don’t really like me, Rentt. I’m surprised to see you here. Did you maybe really fall in love with me?”

“Nope.”

“You don’t have to shoot me down so quickly...”

I didn’t know if she’d been kidding or not, but Nive looked a bit crestfallen. I doubted she was actually disappointed, though. Her personality was about as far from romantic as it could be.

“Well, here you are, I suppose. Allow me to thank you. I thought Lady Myullias would be the only one here.”

I looked to the side and saw Myullias Raiza, a saint of the Church of Lobelia. She looked the part, with her silver locks framing her beautiful features, but I could see a faint shadow of fatigue on her face.

As of late, all of the religious organizations, including the Church of Lobelia, had been busy. Priests and clerics were running around the city. There probably wasn’t an end to the list of things they had to do, like comforting, healing, and preaching to the people of Maalt. I was sure Myullias still had plenty of work on her plate. The fact she was here must have meant she had a certain amount of affection for Nive.

As I was thinking that, Myullias shouted a bit sharply, “In my case, I’m obligated to be here by order of the Great Church-Father. And I’m not here to say goodbye; I’m coming with you!”

Her demeanor was far from the demure and pure image of a saint. It didn’t feel out of place, however, because that was Myullias’s actual personality.

Nive looked to Myullias and said, “You don’t have to go out of your way to accompany me. Besides, it’s clear you’re here to keep an eye on me. Why should I, a law-abiding adventurer, accept that a saint of the Church of Lobelia is putting me under surveillance?”

“I don’t really know, but... Anyway, it’s an order. So, please, give up already. You wouldn’t want the Church of Lobelia to treat you like an apostate.”

“Oh, dear. Do as you wish, then. Would you like to come as well, Rentt? Hunting vampires can be quite stimulating and entertaining.”

I was sure it could be, but it also sounded frightening and dangerous. Wandering the world and hunting beings like Shumini was pretty much suicide. I figured that eventually I’d need to be able to kill a monster like that on my own, but that was still a long way off. It might be safer with Nive as a companion, but it was one thing to worry about running into monsters; it was a different thing entirely to worry about her killing me in my sleep. So, nope.

I shook my head. “I’ll pass this time. But it’s not like I’ll always be in Maalt. I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.”

Though, I hoped it wouldn’t be soon. I swallowed those last words, but it seemed Nive heard them anyway.

“Fate will bring us together again. I’ll be looking forward to that day. Oh?”

Nive turned to a group of carriages making their way to the carriage stop. There were about ten of them in a row, all decorated the same way. They were obviously expensive and well made, and the horses pulling them were powerful draft animals.

“Seems they’ve finally arrived. Those carriages are from the Academy,” Lorraine murmured.

Nive nodded. “Yes, so it appears. The Tower will be here eventually, but they presumably have more equipment to carry, so it’ll take them a few more days.”

The Tower was more focused on research, while the Academy was, at its core, an educational institution. Certainly, the Tower would be bringing a lot more specialized survey equipment. Precision magic items were usually large and fragile, and even if dismantled, it would take time to transport them. While the two groups had probably left the capital at around the same time, the Academy had arrived in Maalt first.

“Still, there are a lot of them,” Nive murmured ominously as she watched the caravan. “Considerably so. There might be some trouble on the horizon. It’d be fun to stay, but...there are no more vampires here.”

After she said that, I couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious about Maalt’s future.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Since we’re fated to meet again, I suppose you’ll tell me all about the coming festivities, Rentt. It’s about time for me to leave, so I’ll say goodbye here.”

I really would’ve preferred not to be fated to see her again, but Nive’s intuition was fairly accurate. I made a note to myself to be careful.

When I turned in the direction Nive was looking, I saw a man standing in front of a carriage, looking irritated. Nive had glanced at him as she spoke, so that had to be her and Myullias’s carriage, and that man had to be the driver or something.

I realized that he was affiliated with the Church of Lobelia in some fashion because he looked at Myullias with respect. I also noticed that the carriage had the church’s symbol on it. It didn’t look particularly expensive, but it was still better than the average carriage. It was definitely out of my price range.

Since I’d spent so much on my magic bag, I’d been keeping my purse strings pulled tight. Even though I was much better off than I’d been in the past, there was no telling when I might have an unexpected expense. For an adventurer, the more powerful the monster, the more expensive it was to remove it. Making a name for yourself required a certain amount of savings. Even so, there were plenty of adventurers who made a habit of living one day at a time. Not to mention, it was cooler to be that sort of adventurer.

Maybe I should try living like that too. I briefly considered it, but I was too cautious to live that way, so I immediately rejected that idea.

“This was a bit smoother than I expected,” I said to Nive, “but I do feel we’ll see each other again. So at the very least, stay safe until then.”

Truthfully, I was hoping she’d struggle enough to forget killing me in my sleep. I couldn’t very well say that out loud, though.

“That’s a really normal thing to say. It doesn’t sound particularly like you, but I guess you’re just being polite. No need to worry. The only thing that would ever get me down is if there were no more vampires to kill.”

“Uh-huh.”

That almost sounded like she was saying that wouldn’t happen until I was dead, but... No, I was like a vampire, but I wasn’t actually one. Or so I tried to convince myself.

Nive and Myullias waved as they boarded their carriage, and they departed with so little fanfare that it was easy to forget just how much of a storm they’d kicked up during their time in Maalt.

“I suppose that’s one load off our shoulders,” Lorraine murmured as she watched them pull away.

“I don’t know. Nive’s prediction, her prophecy, suggests there’s going to be some trouble.”

“Unfortunately, she’s probably right. The Tower, the Academy, and a dungeon are all assembled in a single place. With all of these people flowing into the city, something is bound to happen. But can’t you at least relax knowing that you and Rina won’t be suspected of being vampires?”

“I’d hope so, but if recent events taught me anything, it’s that sharp intuition isn’t exactly in short supply. I can’t really let my guard down.”

In Nive’s case, she’d strengthened her intuition with experience and logical inferences. I didn’t think we’d see anyone quite as bad as her any time soon, but that didn’t mean I should stop being cautious.

“I understand that we can’t let our guard down, but just what are we supposed to do, specifically? I have no experience with this, so I don’t have the first clue,” Rina said with a troubled frown.

That made sense. I’d been undead for a while, so I’d learned what made people suspicious. Rina had only been undead for a few days. That was the sort of thing I’d need to teach her. It wasn’t particularly complicated either.

“First, don’t go wandering around in the middle of the night,” I instructed.

I hoped that went without saying. People like us wandering around in the dead of night were suspicious. The sort of activity drew the attention of people like Nive.

“Mm, yes, that makes sense. What else?”

“Let’s see. The other thing is to be as friendly as possible. Most people think of the undead as being gloomy. Make sure you go out of your way to energetically greet people every morning.”

I’d been doing that for as long as I’d been living in Lorraine’s house. It wasn’t like I was deeply interacting with anyone, however; I’d just greet people from the neighborhood if I ran into them while I was burning the trash or something. I’d also interact with the old ladies when I was shopping at the market and such.

“Greetings are one of the fundamental parts of being human!” Rina added.

“Exactly. Let’s see what else...”

After I taught Rina some of the basics of blending into human society, Lorraine looked at me and murmured, “It sounds like advice you’d give a child when they’re staying away from home for the first time.”

It didn’t sound like that, did it? When I looked at Rina for confirmation, she was busily jotting down my advice in her notebook, a magic item that Lorraine had crafted and given to her. It would have been expensive to buy.

I peered over her shoulder and looked at its contents. “Don’t be out at night!” “Greetings are important!” and “Be kind to neighbors! etc.” It was all written in cute bubble letters.

They did sound like warnings to a child. I looked from Rina to Lorraine and noticed that she was chuckling. There was a part of me that wanted to complain about her attitude, but if our positions were reversed, I’d likely laugh at her too.

“But, I’m not wrong, am I?” I asked just to be sure.

“No, you aren’t wrong. The people in our neighborhood think you’re just a pleasant freeloader living at my house.”

It was good that no one suspected me, but...a pleasant freeloader? That might be ruining the reputation of the undead. Not that I minded.

Just as I was thinking that, an angry shout rang out across the carriage stop.

“You! Just how do you intend to answer for this?!”

◆◇◆◇◆

“What is it? What happened?” Lorraine asked, turning in the direction of the shouting.

Rina and I turned too. There we saw a young man wearing an expensive-looking robe and a middle-aged man who looked like a traveling merchant.

“A child?” I murmured.

Lorraine nodded. “So it seems. They look about ten years old. He’s quite haughty for his age, but... Ah, that robe is familiar. You’ve seen it too, right, Rina?”

“It’s the Academy’s uniform,” Rina confirmed. “He probably arrived in one of those carriages from earlier.” Her expression was troubled, perhaps because the sight brought back memories of the rude Academy students.

It was the first time I’d ever seen an Academy uniform. That was to be expected, since it was rare for a country bumpkin like me to see anyone from the Academy. I supposed I could have seen them when I was in the capital a while ago, but I didn’t remember seeing any. That could have been because I was dressed oddly, so I wasn’t paying any attention to how other people looked.

“That’s a nice uniform, huh?” I noted. On one hand, it was simply a well-tailored, expensive-looking uniform, but the clothing also looked nice, from my perspective as an adventurer.

“Yes. It’s made out of mana wool reinforced with alchemy, and there are several magic circles stitched into it with silk. An Academy student has to deal with various dangers, like magic practice or chemical experiments, so that a broadly useful garment is best. It’s a beautifully created magic item.”

A part of me was impressed that Lorraine could tell that much at a distance, but alchemy was her specialty. As for me, I just vaguely felt some mana from it. I couldn’t see the flow of magic or understand the configuration of the magic circles like Lorraine could. Still, there was plenty I could tell despite my lack of knowledge. For example, the uniform looked like it could withstand magic. The fabric would probably resist any weapon strikes too.

“How much do you figure it costs?” I asked.

“Let’s see. At that level, about fifty gold pieces. If you wanted a similar level of protection, it’d be cheaper to buy an ordinary set of armor.”

“Fifty gold pieces?” Rina’s jaw dropped.

That was a large sum. You could stay at a cheap inn for about two years with that amount. I could afford it now, but I didn’t think I could bring myself to buy a set. My current robes were really high quality, and I didn’t need anything like that. If I didn’t have my robe, though, I might have thought differently. It’d be a pain to put on and take off armor every time I went out to walk around the city. In that sense, robes were much easier. They were light too. But if I were to buy that uniform, I’d be an impudent man masquerading as an Academy student.

It was actually fairly common for men to dress like knights despite not being one, or for women to dress like nuns at the tavern even though they weren’t nuns. I’d be the same as those people. They were also more revealing than the real thing. Well, they were just having fun. Depending on the situation, real knights or nuns might come by and arrest or report them. That all depended on the judgment of the tavern owner, though.

“Now, as for the ado... Ah.”

I turn my attention back to the boy and the merchant.

“How will you deal with my robe?!” The boy said to the middle-aged man.

The man was at a loss. He looked a bit exasperated as he said, “What do you mean how will I deal with it? I just bumped up against you. I already apologized for that. Are you going to ask that I pay you because it’s dirty?”

“No, not because it’s dirty. Because you broke it. You might not know, but this is an Academy uniform! It’s a fine piece of craftsmanship with high-quality magic enhancements. But you—”

“High-quality magic enhancements? There’s no way that would break from a little bump. Maybe you got a lemon?”

“How dare you!”

The argument quickly escalated, and an audience started to gather.

While Maalt was a relatively peaceful city, squabbles were common. Adventurers were more well-behaved here compared to other cities, but they were still ruffians at heart. Arguments and fights happened somewhere in Maalt every day. And when those broke out, spectators would gather and egg the participants on while placing bets on the outcome.

This encounter between the boy and the middle-aged man was about to escalate into that sort of public spectacle, however...

“Excuse me! Let me through!”

A young woman pushed through the gathering crowd and forced her way to the center. She was also dressed in an Academy uniform, making it clear that she was a student there. Did that mean she was here to help the boy?

Many Academy students could use magic. While you could gain admission without that ability, it was easier to do so if you could use magic. Among families rich enough to pay for the tuition, it was relatively common for children to have an aptitude for magic.

Two Academy students were a fairly big threat, at least to the poor middle-aged merchant. It went without saying that mages were dangerous. They could engulf a person in flame with just a short incantation. This situation might require some outside intervention.

Everyone around us seemed to be arriving at the same conclusion. However, the young woman surprised us all.

“Noel. Noel Kruege! Stop picking fights with civilians! You’re damaging the reputation of the entire Academy!” she yelled.

◆◇◆◇◆

Unlike the boy, who was openly arrogant, the girl seemed much more stoic and serious. The accessories she wore in addition to her robes, like the earrings dangling on her ears and the thin wristband peeking out from her sleeve, indicated that she was from a wealthy family.

“It must be nice to be rich, to wear such exquisite things,” Lorraine said after a brief glance at the girl’s jewelry. “Her earrings enhance mana, and the wristband increases magic defenses. They’re not just functional additions either; they’re finely crafted, beautifully designed accessories. Is she a noble, perhaps?”

“Most of the Academy’s students are nobles, so that’s not really unusual,” I said.

In general, adventurers steadily saved up money so they could replace their equipment with better versions. Nobles, however, didn’t need to do that. They could afford to start out with high-quality equipment. Still, a lot of items required a certain level of skill to use, so often their possessions were more fancy than functional.

On the other hand, powerful mana-enhancing items were useless—not to mention dangerous—to an inexperienced mage. It was like giving a weak swordsman a heavy greatsword. A novice mage could easily lose control of their magic and die in an accident. Furthermore, if you wore too many items that influenced the flow of mana, they could end up interfering with each other, and you’d end up in a bad way. The fact that the girl was wearing robes, earrings, and a wristband meant that she was at least competent enough to balance all three without any issues.

There was a time when Lorraine had worn magic rings on all of her fingers and toes, five earrings in each ear, ten layers of robes, and five hats stacked on her head. Of course, the first spell she cast in that state had caused a huge explosion. Though she’d failed spectacularly, she had managed to control all of those items for the better part of thirty seconds. It had taken a ridiculous amount of effort to do so, so whether it would be useful in actual combat was debatable. Maybe it would work in situations that required a lot of firepower for only a split second.

In any case, it was unfair to the girl to compare her to a mad scholar like Lorraine.

Lorraine and I were casually chatting when I noticed that Rina had fallen oddly quiet. I looked to the side and found her staring intently at the boy and girl from the Academy with a look of shock.

It was unusual for Rina to look so surprised. After all, she wasn’t a shrinking violet. She had calmly accepted me when I was just a pile of bones, and she’d even figured out a way to sneak me into the city. It was hard to startle her. Granted, she was always more expressive than Lorraine or me, so in a way, she was often surprised at one thing or another, but it was rare to see her stunned into silence.

“Rina, what is it?” I asked.

Rina snapped back into awareness, but she kept her eyes on the boy and girl as she exclaimed, “The girl! She’s the friend I was talking about earlier!”

◆◇◆◇◆

“Stay out of this, Elise Georges,” the boy said. “I’m busy speaking to this merchant. I’ve no time to deal with you right now.”

Based on what they’d said to each other so far, I gathered that the boy’s name was Noel, and the girl was Elise.

Annoyed, Noel looked at Elise and waved his hand as though to shoo her away. Elise’s eyes narrowed, and she glared at him sharply.

“You...!”

I felt mana flowing into Elise’s body. She wasn’t preparing to cast a spell, though. It was just a natural response triggered by her emotional state. Since emotions could affect the strength of your mana and the timing of your spell, experienced mages trained themselves to avoid that. Elise was probably still just an apprentice, then. Though she was skilled, it was understandable that she couldn’t control it.

As we watched the boy and girl bicker, Lorraine rubbed her chin and muttered, “Rina’s friend, hm? Then this is a bad situation.”

“Really?” I asked. “I mean, whatever’s happening, they’re not going to start flinging spells at each other here. And even if they did, we could deal with it.”

Firing powerful spells in the middle of a city was prohibited. In Yaaran and most other countries, that was the law. There were the occasional exceptions, but I was hoping that they wouldn’t be so reckless as to start a magic fight here. Besides, I was pretty sure the Academy took pride in the intelligence and propriety of their students.

But then again, squabbles among adventurers were a common occurrence, and they were often allowed to escalate to the point that the city guard had to step in. So unless they did something like destroy city property or injure a bunch of innocent bystanders, fighting was rarely treated like a major crime. Because of that, adventurers had no qualms about skirmishing with each other. It wasn’t that they ignored the law, but they were only concerned with the bare minimums required to live in society. That was why everyone treated adventurers like uncouth ruffians.

Based on that, even if Noel and Elise began firing spells here, they probably wouldn’t get into much trouble themselves. It would endanger the spectators, but Lorraine could throw up a magic barrier or something. Plus, I’d already looked to see if there were other mages around. There were a few mage adventurers nearby, so they would likely intervene as well. I didn’t think it was a particularly dangerous situation.

Yet Lorraine shook her head and said, “The academy children are one thing. But look at what the merchant has on his hip.”

“Oh, that’s from the Ariana Maritime Republic. So that’s where the merchant’s from.”

There was a dagger hanging from the merchant’s belt. Judging from its size and design, it wasn’t meant for combat, but rather for show. Two clearly visible crests had been carved into the hilt. I’d seen one of them before. It was the crest of the Ariana Maritime Republic. The design consisted of a sea dragon constricting a giant octopus in the open ocean.

The Ariana Maritime Republic was a coastal country that prospered primarily from sea trade. Consequently, a number of its citizens were merchants, which was why they could be found in nearly every country on the continent. I wasn’t sure why that was an issue right now, though.

“The other crest shows that he belongs to the Ariana Merchant’s Guild,” Lorraine explained. “Those daggers are only given to those with a certain amount of stature in the guild. Getting into a spat with him could be dangerous. And they’re strangers, so we could just leave them to their conflict, but...”

The Ariana Merchant’s Guild had a reputation for doing anything to make money. They employed a large number of powerful mercenaries and adventurers, and it was said that they even used assassins on occasion. It was a dangerous organization surrounded by nebulous facts and ominous rumors. They weren’t a problem if you dealt with them according to the normal rules of society, but fighting them required a certain level of commitment.

Lorraine had meant that it was extremely risky to inadvertently start a fight with them, even in ignorance. But since Rina’s friend was now involved, she was also saying we couldn’t simply ignore it.

“Isn’t it a bit dicey to intervene after this much squabbling?” I pointed out.

I wouldn’t mind stepping in, but it didn’t look like Noel and the merchant were exactly open to making peace. We’d possibly just cause more trouble and end up in the feud ourselves.

“I think we should be fine. I noticed something when I looked at the boy’s robes. But this is the important question. Rina, would you prefer to help them?”

Rina nodded intently and answered, “Yes, if it’s possible. Would that be okay?”

◆◇◆◇◆

“Calm yourself, Elise. Surely you’re not planning to start firing spells in a space like this.”

Noel, who looked to be around ten, had unexpectedly attempted to warn Elise. However, his tone and attitude had made him sound extremely arrogant, so his words had been counterproductive.

When Elise showed no signs of backing down, Noel tried again, saying, “Don’t you understand I’m trying to stop you from fighting just minutes after your arrival in Maalt?! The dean was quite insistent that we behave ourselves, and yet you...”

It was fortunate that nothing of importance had happened yet. Maybe they had more restraint than I’d thought? Nonetheless, it didn’t change the fact that they were currently the center of attention. Perhaps they weren’t that concerned about the gathering crowd because they were nobles. I, a mere commoner, could never think like that.

While I was pondering the attitudes of nobles, Lorraine pushed through the throng and made her way to the front, facing the merchant and the two Academy students. She could have just blasted the people out of her way with magic, but that would’ve just poured fuel on the fire. She was being considerate by not doing so.

“You lot, hold on a moment,” she said as the three of them looked at her suspiciously.

It was just like Lorraine to remain calm even when she was an outsider suddenly appearing in the middle of an argument.

“Who are you? A Maaltesian?” Elise asked.

“Yes.”

“Then why are you interfering? I’m sure you can see that we are from the Academy.”

Elise was implying that since most of the Academy’s students were mages, and even those who weren’t had some fight training, it was extremely dangerous for an ordinary civilian to involve themselves. She was looking out for Lorraine’s safety. Naturally, she need not have worried. Lorraine was fine.

“I understand that,” Lorraine continued, “so don’t let me bother you. I’m here for you.”

Lorraine approached Noel. Noel tried to back away, but Lorraine was too quick for him. She reached out and touched his robes. I figured Noel would say something, but he unexpectedly remained quiet. Even Elise looked stunned by his reaction.

Lorraine spent a few moments observing Noel’s robes, then said, “As I thought. Your claims are correct.”

In a whisper, Rina asked me, “Wait, he was telling the truth? So the merchant really did damage his robes?”

“Lorraine did mention earlier that she’d noticed something. She must have been referring to the boy’s robes. But huh, I didn’t notice they were damaged. I can feel the enhancements are still active.”

I couldn’t see mana like Lorraine could, but I could vaguely tell when a spell was activated or what its effect might be. My senses told me that there was still magic on the boy’s robes. Now that I thought about it, though, it was a little weaker than the girl’s robes. Maybe? No, not weaker...

“Wait, what do you mean? How can you tell?” Elise asked. She was just as bewildered as Rina and I were.

“I may not look the part, but I’m an alchemist. It would be one thing if I only glanced from a distance, but now that I’ve touched and inspected his robes, it’s easy enough to see.”

Lorraine already knew because she could literally see mana with her magic eye. Saying that in public would only complicate things, though, so she’d made up a plausible excuse. I was the only one here who knew the truth.

“An alchemist? Then what Noel was saying...”

“He was right. Meaning, in this case, you’re the one who’s picking a fight. It’s understandable, though, given the circumstances. Surely you could have phrased things more tactfully, young man?”

Though he had let Lorraine have her way with his robes, Noel suddenly regained his arrogant attitude. He yanked his robes out of Lorraine’s grasp, saying, “Your advice is unnecessary. I was simply stating the truth.”

Lorraine sighed and shook her head.

I was hoping that would be the end of it, but things were never that easy. Though Lorraine had gotten Noel and Elise on the same page, she hadn’t solved the actual cause of the ruckus.

“W-Wait, hang on!” the merchant yelled. “Does that mean it’s my fault?! Come now. You can’t just barge in and make accusations like that!”

The fact that Noel was right meant that the merchant was in the wrong. If he really hadn’t done anything to Noel’s robes, then that would be an insulting accusation.

Lorraine casually walked over to the merchant and murmured something in his ear. All the emotion on his face fell in a heartbeat and he went white as a sheet. After a few seconds, he nodded, his whole body trembling.

“So, what are you going to do?” Lorraine asked for emphasis.

“I-I’ll send restitution to the Academy for the damages later. I-I’m truly sorry to trouble you,” the merchant said, much to everyone’s surprise.

Lorraine turned back to Noel. “And you?” she asked, as if nudging him.

Noel’s brow furrowed, and he looked as though he’d bitten into a particularly bitter fruit, but then he appeared to swallow whatever he was going to say.

“That’s fine with me. The dean was adamant that we behave in a manner befitting an Academy student while in Maalt.”

Lorraine then turned to Elise, prompting her to respond as well.

“I don’t have anything to add. Oh, but one thing, Noel. I was wrong. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Hrmph. Elise Georges, if you want to buy me something, then first raise your grades. Also, learn to judge the strength of someone in front of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Noel left the carriage stop. The tension in the air dissipated, and the spectators dispersed. The only ones left were Rina, Lorraine, Elise, and me. The merchant had wandered off as well.

Now that the area was somewhat deserted, Elise finally noticed Rina and cried out, “Rina?! What are you doing here?!”

◆◇◆◇◆

“Ah, so that’s why you’re here,” Elise said, sighing. “So these two are your mentors?”

We were now relaxing at a café in a different part of Maalt. Rina’s former classmate, Elise Georges, had joined us as well.

Rina had taken a few liberties with her explanation. Specifically, she had omitted that she’d run into a mysterious skeleton, that she almost ended up a dungeon master, and that she was no longer human. It wasn’t like she was lying, though.

“Yeah,” Rina answered. “I came here from the capital, and things weren’t going well. But after Rentt here saved me in the dungeon, I finally started learning how to take care of myself. Miss Lorraine is an amazing mage, and I plan to start learning magic from her soon.”

Rina hadn’t expressed an interest in magic before, but she had learned to use Division. We’d decided that it might be good for her to learn more about magic and be able to use it to some extent. If someone were to see her use a vampiric ability, then she could pass it off as a spell. To do that, though, she needed to understand what magic could and couldn’t do.

Magic couldn’t replicate the effects of Division, but since it could cast shadows and the like, it was a plausible excuse. If someone were to then mention that they hadn’t sensed any mana, she’d have to say that she was really good at hiding it. It wasn’t a great explanation, but it was adequate enough. Rina would conceal her vampiric abilities as much as possible, but it was good to be prepared for that eventuality.

“Huh. So you’re a mage,” Elise commented. “That’s why you were so unflappable when you approached us. And Noel said something about learning to recognize how strong a person is... Oh, does that mean you’re a really powerful mage, Miss Lorraine?”

Lorraine tilted her head. “No, not really. I’m mostly a scholar. I only practice magic in my free time.”

I wanted to yell “Liar!” but it was true that she was a scholar first and a mage second. The issue was with her remark about how she wasn’t that powerful. Well, I supposed she was just being modest.

In truth, it wasn’t all that easy to tell at a glance how strong a mage was. If they were to unleash their mana and let it flow out of them like an aura, I’d be able to feel how intimidating they were, but no one with any skill would do something so obvious. Now, there were times when a mage might do that to scare their foe off, but most mages usually hid the extent of their mana reserves. Lorraine always concealed her mana. It was a lot safer for her that way.

Elise also knew that mages often hid their mana, so she looked at Lorraine skeptically. “Really? But if not, Noel wouldn’t have said that.”

“Oh, yes, that boy. It’s clear you two don’t get along, but is there some cause for the rift?” Lorraine asked, immediately changing the subject.

“Rift? It’s not really that serious. We’re always fighting for the top scores at the Academy. It’s just that our rivalry kept escalating and our relationship ended up like this. Sadly, I’ve never been able to beat him.”

“So he’s an extremely good student despite his age.”

“Yes, that’s certainly true, but... He tends to look down on people, just a little bit, so incidents like what happened earlier are a pretty regular occurrence.”

“A little bit”? I couldn’t be the only one who wanted to interject. But Lorraine and I were mature enough to refrain from saying what we were thinking.

Rina, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. “That wasn’t ‘a little bit’ at all! He was really rude!”

Rina was probably being so direct because she was mad that he had talked down to Elise. He had sounded like he was arrogantly taunting her, but depending on how you interpreted his statement, it also sounded like he begrudgingly respected Elise’s skills. At the very least, he seemed to accept that Elise was the most capable after him. However, there was still a part of Rina that could be a little childish, so she was more likely to focus on the backhanded part more than the compliment part.

“Well, sure,” Elise agreed, “but usually there’s more logic behind his complaints. Which is why I was surprised he was yelling at a merchant. Oh, that reminds me. What actually happened, Miss Lorraine? I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.”

“Oh, yes, of course. As for that... The merchant had twisted the magic on Noel’s robes. As a result, the robes were less effective. That’s all it was.”

We already knew that. That was what Noel had been accusing the merchant of doing in the first place. What I wanted to know was the cause.

“But the robes are specially crafted at the Academy,” Elise added. “First-class artisans did everything from the design to the materials, including the needlework and the enchantments. They’re not easily damaged. It would be one thing if the robes had faced off against a monster, but all the merchant did was run into Noel. There was nothing that looked like it would do that sort of damage.”

She was right. Besides, just because the merchant was in the upper echelons of the Ariana Merchant’s Guild, it didn’t mean he was particularly skilled in combat. There was no way he could have done as much damage as a monster could just by bumping into Noel. Furthermore, Noel was a mage from the Academy. Of the two of them, Noel and his robes were stronger.

It’d be terrifying if merchants were that strong. Then again, there were blacksmiths who gathered the materials for their own weapons, and herbalists who wandered into dangerous places to find medicinal herbs.

While the merchant had looked like he had a good head on his shoulders, he was just a portly little man. Nevertheless, Lorraine was claiming that the portly little man had damaged an Academy mage’s robes. Just what was going on?

“Yes, ordinarily that wouldn’t happen. But...it’s different if you have something like this.”

Lorraine retrieved an item from her bag and dropped it, with a thud, on the table.

◆◇◆◇◆

Lorraine had placed a small dagger on the table. It was more ornamental than functional, and it had extremely intricate crests carved into its hilt. It was different from the dagger the merchant had been carrying as a mark of his rank in the Ariana Merchant’s Guild.

“Looks expensive,” I murmured out of habit.

Lorraine looked at me with a touch of exasperation. “You can easily afford something like this now. But...I don’t know if you could buy one of these. Besides, they’re not sold in these parts,” she noted, her words layered with meaning.

“What does that...?”

I tilted my head and looked at the dagger. But when I tried to touch it, I felt an extremely unpleasant sensation run up my arm. I immediately let go of it.

“What the hell is this?”

My reaction piqued Elise’s curiosity, and she politely said, “Excuse me,” and reached over to pick it up herself. Lorraine grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“You shouldn’t touch it.”

“Huh? Why?”

Lorraine gestured toward me. “He and I have built up some resistance to this sort of thing. If someone who doesn’t have any resistance touches it, there could be unpleasant side effects. The merchant had it wrapped in this.”

Lorraine pulled a folded cloth from her bag.

“I see,” I said, nodding. “A cloth imbued with divinity. So this dagger is...”

“Yes, this is a cursed item. It’s actually a crime to bring one into Maalt.”

Cursed items were known by various names, like “cursed goods,” “demon’s tools,” and “shadow objects,” but they all referred to a specific type of item, like my mask. Technically, it was more of a divine item, so it wasn’t really the same thing, but I’d definitely thought it was cursed at first. After all, it wouldn’t come off. But then again, that had come in handy. I didn’t have to come up with excuses for why I didn’t show my face.

“A cursed item?! This? It’s the first time I’ve seen one, but I can’t tell by looking at it,” Elise said as she stared wide-eyed at the dagger.

I found that a bit surprising.

So did Lorraine, because she said, “I would have expected the Academy to have them by the dozen in their stores.”

The Academy was an educational institution, but it was also a research facility. Their studies ran the gamut from standard academic subjects to all matters involving magic. That included cursed items, so there should have been specialists in the field. They technically fell under the broad rubric of magic items, but their effects completely ignored the laws of magic. Analyzing and understanding how they functioned was an important field of study.

“Even for the Academy, powerful cursed items are generally considered precious,” Elise explained. “They’re not lying around for anyone to find. I’ve heard that the Tower has a number of them, but they’re supposedly stored under very close watch. A mere student couldn’t get access to them.”

“So that’s how it is in Yaaran’s Academy. I see. Then, in that case, this would be a valuable experience for you. Since you’re here, would you like to touch it?”

“Lorraine, didn’t you just tell her not to touch it? Are you sure?” I asked.

“It’s fine, but not inside the city, as I don’t know what might happen. I’m certainly not proposing she just grab it here. But Elise will be in Maalt for a while. If our schedules allow, I’m happy to provide a location and an opportunity to do so. What do you say?”

It was a scary-sounding proposal, but since Lorraine had offered, there probably wasn’t a lot of danger involved. I mean, there were a wide variety of cursed items. Ones like my mask, with no way to nullify their effects, were in the minority, and most were weak enough that church saints could cleanse them. Certain countries even treated the weaker ones like regular magic items. This dagger must have been around that level, or Lorraine wouldn’t have suggested it. Anyway, it was weak enough that a divinity-infused cloth worked as a shield.

Elise pondered Lorraine’s proposal for a moment, but her nature as an Academy student won out. With a determined look, she said, “ I would very much like the opportunity. As for my schedule, I won’t know the details until I check, but once I’m certain of it, I’ll contact you.” She wasn’t going to let such a valuable learning opportunity go to waste.

Lorraine nodded and gave Elise her contact information.

According to Elise, the Academy students were renting out a large inn here in Maalt. The Tower’s people would be joining them, but sheesh, they really didn’t stint on these things, did they? Well, an inn in a backwater city didn’t cost all that much to rent.

As it came time to part, Elise and Rina exchanged hugs and promised to occasionally go out for a meal while Elise was in town.

As we watched their exchange, I asked Lorraine, “So, is it safe to assume that the dagger was what damaged those robes?” While it still sent an unpleasant shiver up my arm when I held it, I’d grown used to it by this point.

“Yes. It probably disrupts the mana flow in nearby objects. Magic items usually have a shield to prevent that, but this is strong enough to bypass that shield. It’s not easy to recreate that effect with our current technology.”

“But it’s not impossible?”

“Of course not. I can think of several potential methods. The Academy’s robes were designed to withstand those existing methods, yet they did nothing against this dagger. That’s what makes a cursed item a cursed item. If I could figure out how it works, it’d be worth a small fortune, but it doesn’t seem promising.”

Lorraine had the magic eye, so it wasn’t that hard for her to figure out the mechanics behind an ordinary magic item. Cursed items were in a category of their own, though.

“So why can you and I hold this and not be affected?” I asked.

“We were blessed by the god of the shrine you restored. It’s basically the same as holding it with that cloth. Rina might be all right if she borrows your divinity as well, but I couldn’t divulge that during our conversation.”

That made sense. If we had mentioned it in front of Elise, it would have raised the question of where Rina had acquired divinity. I would have to tell Rina a few things about this dagger later.