episode_0045

The reason why the academy operates a 24-hour carriage and why there are staff members who manage the students’ weapons residing 24 hours a day is because of this.

Even in the dead of night, students may encounter situations where they need to take their weapons and go back home. No, it’s not just weapons. There are students who need to pack up and go back home as well.

If we were to talk about a situation where one needs to pack up and go back home in the middle of the night, one might imagine disappearing in their sleep. Of course, such cases do exist, but more often than not, sudden major events within the family occur.

Such as the head of the family passing away and the successor needing to take over, or a rushed wedding within the household, or in extreme cases, the family needing to go to war due to a border conflict.

In a noble society, unexpected variables can always arise. Moreover, the academy does not provide compulsory education. If one is in a situation where they have to leave, as regrettable as it may be, it might be better to do so.

Therefore, no matter how many new students are admitted, by the time of graduation, about 10% of the students leave the academy for various reasons.

… And I wrote that emergency system, just to catch a single Elemental Doc.

“….”

No, well, it’s not like I’m at a disadvantage in school or anything like that.

Just… how should I put it?

Now that I think about it, I wonder if it would have been better to just pay for the quest rewards.

Leo and Claire might find it a bit difficult. Lord Grace wasn’t lacking in money, but that doesn’t mean he would waste it on unnecessary things. Since the game only provided ‘just enough living expenses,’ it was impossible to completely upgrade weapons with just the money coming in from quests.

Even if you didn’t do any subquests, you could still earn money through main quests, but… it was still far from enough to equip the characters with full gear.

In fact, in the early stages, unless you match the items to the character you mainly use, financial management is quite tight. There are other places to spend money besides weapons, armor, and Marmaros.

But I’m a princess.

If necessary, can’t I just send a letter to the emperor?

… That’s what I’m starting to think now.

“….”

My buttocks feel strangely cold.

I got up. I was sitting on the corpse, dragging it by the rope, and it felt disgustingly cold, as if it were wind attribute. If it were ice attribute, I wouldn’t have even thought of sitting on it.

Even though it’s the end of April, it’s still cold in the early morning. Even with a coat on my shoulders, a chilly air seeped through.

… Should I just keep it on? Without hanging it on my shoulders?

“….”

I pondered with my chin resting on my hand.

And I rejected the idea.

It looks cooler hanging on my shoulders.

I may not have second-degree burns, but in the first place, there were more people in this world who walked around like this as soldiers. Jennifer did that, and other soldiers did too.

So, from this perspective, it’s the latest trend.

Rather than looking awkward for not following the trend, it’s better to follow it at least a little.

And well, there were straps in the front like a cape telling you to hang it on your shoulders.

Even naval officers coming out of One Piece wore their coats on their shoulders, right? By Japanese subculture standards, it’s a common sight.

As I quietly looked down at the Elemental Doc with a hole in its head, I heard the sound of hooves in the distance, getting closer and closer.

“Sylvia?”

Claire’s surprised voice echoed.

I turned my head and saw Claire lowering the carriage window and looking inside.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Claire jumped out before the coachman could even open the carriage door.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

That’s what I wanted to ask.

It’s all because of you guys, to begin with.

Of course, at the point where I turned back time, I couldn’t say such things. But you could say that, from their perspective, I was incredibly fast. Even if I only slept a few hours a day and meditated and trained… What else can I say? Anyway, at this moment, it seemed fast even from the perspective of these two.

“….I completed a request posted on the request board while I was outside for a moment.”

“At this hour?”

So, are you guys the ones to talk at this hour?

Oh, of course, if you think about it from their perspective, I might have been really quick. Even if I only slept a few hours a day and meditated and trained… What else can I say? Anyway, at this moment, it seemed fast even from the perspective of these two.

“Did you have something to do?”

“….”

Hmm.

I didn’t really have anything to do.

It felt a bit awkward to say that I came out earlier just because I wanted to see you guys complete the quest before me. After all, I couldn’t make them understand even if I said it, and I couldn’t reveal the fact that I turned back time here.

But as I hesitated to answer, or rather, to accept Claire’s silence, her expression became faint.

“Perhaps, from the palace…”

Hmm.

“I can’t tell you right now.”

Let’s just leave it at that since I don’t have anything specific to say.

After all, it’s not a lie. I never said that I was here because of the palace’s orders. And there were also reasons why I couldn’t tell her right now.

Claire’s lips pursed at my answer.

“Excuse me, could you help us load this body onto the carriage?”

“Oh, yes.”

When I said that to the coachman, who seemed unsure whether we were going back on the carriage or not, he quickly moved and opened the metal trunk at the back of the carriage, taking out a thick cloth. It seemed to be coated with something, perhaps for waterproofing.

It was indeed typical of the academy-operated carriages. Students often collected various things as evidence after completing requests.

Originally, it was said that if you hunted animals in the same place, Marmeros fragments would naturally come in, but this world is real. There is no such convenient system. To refine Marmeros from a monster’s corpse, a specialized process is required.

And since I didn’t know much about that process, it was safer to take the entire body rather than just parts of it.

Claire and Leo probably thought the same.

To prevent any blood from leaking out and staining the trunk, they tightly wrapped the body in several layers and placed it in the trunk, and we got back on the carriage.

“By the way, Silvia is amazing.”

Claire said with a smile inside the returning carriage.

“To bring down a beast with just one kick.”

“Even if it was two of you, the beast wasn’t a big problem.”

And I had enough time to catch it with just one kick. If I missed or got hit, I could just turn back time.

“Well, still. It would be difficult to handle it cleanly by swinging a sword around that big.”

When Claire said that and looked at Leo, Leo nodded.

There was a slightly admiring atmosphere in his eyes, which was unexpected.

“Well, it’s a bit strange to be surprised now. Silvia has hit the target even when she could hardly see in front of her.”

“It’s nothing special.”

Feeling awkward about Claire’s praise, I tried to keep my expression neutral and looked out the window.

*

“The condition of the body seems good. You should be able to refine a fine Marmeros from it.”

Inspecting the body with just one bullet wound to the head, the academy official also marveled slightly.

“But it will take time to refine the Marmaros, right? So, I will provide you with Marmaros of the same attribute as the Elemental Elixir. Is that okay with you?”

“It’s fine.”

I nodded.

As expected, rewards come in this form.

The process may be different, but the results themselves were not much different from the game. Perhaps this Marmaros was refined from a different Elemental Elixir or beasts.

Refining Marmaros from magic stones or extracting it from creatures born with specific attributes fundamentally involved the same substance. However, there were pros and cons in each process. If you mined pure magic stones from a mine, you could obtain a large quantity of high-quality Marmaros at once, but the mine itself was dangerous.

On the other hand, if you hunted and extracted it from beasts, you could obtain it relatively stably, but in reality, there weren’t many beasts that could produce high-quality Marmaros.

In fact, the Marmaros I received was much smaller and meager compared to the one I received from Jennifer last time. But that didn’t mean it was useless.

Even though the attribute values were slightly lower in the game, this actually made it useful for filling in empty slots or using it in a versatile way.

It is a common belief that Marmaros is widely spread in nature. Therefore, there is a theory that high-quality magic stones are condensed in deep veins where Marmaros itself is formed, or it can be extracted from top predators that hunt and feed on various beasts… as explained in the setting book.

If we call them ‘top predators,’ then can we extract Marmaros from humans as well?

Yes, we can extract high-quality Marmaros from humans. Although they do not have magic flowing throughout their bodies like beasts, the humans in this world use magic through intermediaries and emit sword energy. Isn’t it no longer impossible to extract Marmaros?

Of course, it was generally a rejected act. However, in works that ‘insist’ on such settings, there are bound to be beings that ignore common sense.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Your Highness. Since you are the first to successfully complete the request, it will serve as a good example for many students.”

No, I hope not.

Just with the diligence of two people, I went through so much trouble. If all the students at the academy start emulating me, I might not gain as much.

Quest rewards tend to get better as you progress.

After completing the request and stepping outside, I handed the Marmaros I was holding to Claire.

“Take it.”

“Huh?”

Claire, who received the Marmaros I handed her, looked momentarily puzzled.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t really need it.”

That’s right. I didn’t need it. After all, now that I had it… I realized it wasn’t worth going through so much trouble for.

“Uh, uh, thank you?”

Still reacting flustered, Claire, and Leo, who was looking at us with a puzzled expression, I turned away.

…I should go back and get some sleep.

“…I’m not particularly tired.”

Even with my answer, Alice looked at me with a completely disbelieving expression. Her eyes narrowed. It seems like I’ve been seeing that expression a lot lately.

“Is it related to your father, by any chance?”

Why do they all think the same way?

The Emperor is indeed suspicious. It seems like he’s blatantly saying, “I am plotting something,” so who would believe him at face value?

So, I decided to blame the Emperor for all the misunderstandings that have arisen about me.

Since I’m already under suspicion, adding a little more doubt won’t make much of a difference.

Besides, there was no need for me to lie to cover up his suspicions.

“….”

I just had to keep my mouth shut and stay still.

“….”

Alice’s eyes narrowed even further as she looked at me.

I apologize, Your Majesty.

If you’re upset, could you please be a bit kinder in your words?

Or perhaps blame the protagonists who start training at three in the morning.