Ch.9Chapter 9 – Journey with Serin Ekatos (1)

It’s been two days since I reincarnated into the world of Erasto Chronicle.

Although the way my previous life ended was incredibly empty, I wanted to make sure this new life would be one without regrets.

That’s why I chose to journey to Glesius Academy.

It was because the “heroines”—the playable characters and core figures of Erasto Chronicle’s story—resided there.

I hadn’t planned any long-term goals yet, but I did have some short-term objectives in mind.

As I mentioned earlier, Glesius Academy is where the heroines live.

Therefore, if I wanted to meet or see the heroines who appear in the game, I needed to head to Glesius Academy.

I wasn’t sure if outsiders could enter the academy. The game never provided specific details about that.

However, Serin Ekatos, who’s walking beside me right now, appears as reinforcement during the Glesius Academy raid by cultists in the early game story.

After the Glesius Academy raid incident concludes, she takes up residence at the academy at their request.

In other words, if requested by Glesius Academy, even outsiders can stay there.

However, to make this happen, one needs to be skilled enough to provide assistance should an incident occur at Glesius Academy.

And as an outsider, one must have enough reputation to justify intervening in academy affairs.

‘That’s why I’m heading to Glesius Academy.’

To intervene in incidents at Glesius Academy, the first requirement is to live nearby.

I had a plan to achieve this first condition.

I would open a repair shop utilizing my abilities.

Of course, to do this, I first needed to go to Belsarem.

Only then could I join a merchant caravan delivering goods to Glesius Academy, right?

So I had to walk diligently to reach Belsarem.

“Instead of walking continuously, let’s take a short break here.”

“Let’s do that.”

Having departed from Oak Village, we decided to take a brief rest when the sun was directly overhead.

Sitting under the shade of trees, I opened my bag and took out bread I had purchased in the village.

As I pulled out the bread, Serin, sitting beside me, looked at me with her green eyes sparkling.

She seemed excited at the thought of tasting the bread I had made using my ability again.

To meet her expectations, I struck the hard, coarse bread three times with a hammer, hoping it would become delicious.

A faint glow enveloped the bread, and when it disappeared, bread with soft, white insides was revealed.

I handed the transformed bread to Serin, and she accepted it.

After receiving the bread, she held it with both hands and began examining it, turning it this way and that.

I wondered what she found so curious that she needed to inspect the bread so thoroughly.

“Is something wrong with it?”

“No, it’s just fascinating.”

“What’s fascinating?”

“Your ability.”

Ah. Her interest wasn’t in the bread itself but in my ability.

Well, even I find this ability amazing, so it must be quite remarkable to a third party like her.

“Is it really that impressive?”

I knew my ability was extraordinary, but I deliberately pretended not to understand its value to gain more objective information.

“Of course. I’ve seen many people during my time as a mercenary. How many ability users do you think I’ve encountered among them?”

At Serin’s question, I racked my brain. Since all the heroines in Erasto Chronicle were ability users, I shouldn’t use that as my reference point.

“At least more than 10, right?”

“A bit more than that. My memory might not be perfect, but I can recall about 20 people who stood out.”

Twenty people. I wasn’t sure if that was a high number or a low one.

Serin was a mercenary who traveled battlefields, so one could assume she had spent time in numerous combat zones.

Yet even she had only seen 20 ability users, which suggested that ability users were quite rare.

“Is 20 considered a lot?”

“Hmm. It could be considered many, or it could be considered few.”

Many is many, and few is few—why could it be considered both many and few?

I wanted to hear more details. Information from the mouths of people born and living in this world contained exactly what I needed to adapt here.

“Why is that?”

“I’m an ability user myself, but most ability users don’t typically venture into jobs like being a mercenary.”

I was puzzled by Serin’s explanation that ability users don’t become mercenaries.

“Really? Is mercenary work not appealing to ability users?”

“That’s right. I’m something of an oddball for becoming a mercenary. Most ability users receive special treatment and work in comfortable places.”

Through Serin’s explanation, I could roughly understand how ability users were treated in this world.

Working in comfortable places meant that ability users were quite privileged.

“The abilities used by ability users are gifts from the gods to humanity. So, people with abilities are considered chosen by the gods, and even commoners receive treatment comparable to nobles.”

“Aren’t nobles quite proud? How do they treat commoners as equals?”

I asked Serin to learn more about how nobles and commoners were treated in this world.

“Well, it varies by country, but in our empire where Glesius Academy is located, the boundary between nobles and commoners is quite clear. However, ability users who have received gifts from the gods are considered ‘chosen.’ So to nobles who consider themselves different from commoners, ability users are commoners who have been ‘chosen’ by the gods, which qualifies them for near-noble treatment.”

“What kind of treatment specifically?”

“Most nobles speak informally to commoners, but they use formal speech with ability users. Some open-minded nobles even include commoner ability users in their circles. After all, ability users automatically receive noble status upon graduating from Glesius Academy.”

“So do nobles treat commoners who have risen to nobility with respect?”

“Yes. Ability users are essentially no different from nobles. Originally, the empire’s nobles were ability users when the empire was founded. So even if they’re commoners, people who become ability users are subconsciously considered equals by nobles. Once they officially gain noble status, they’re recognized as full-fledged nobles from that point on.”

“I see.”

The nobles of the empire where Glesius Academy was established seemed to have a subtle sense of elitism while also maintaining relatively open minds.

And here I discovered another important piece of information.

Ability users are treated with such respect that even commoners among them receive noble treatment, and based on Serin’s explanation, the number of ability users is very small.

“So, are you a noble, Serin?”

“Oh, you mean me? I was born a noble. My father is Count Ekatos, a professor at Glesius Academy.”

Huh? Serin Ekatos was a noble? And her father is an academy professor?

So that’s why Serin was able to help the academy during the raid incident and why she could take up residence there.

I felt like I had uncovered a secret. I never would have guessed this.

The character description in the game never mentioned she was a noble.

Learning this made me more cautious about how I interacted with her.

“Haha! No need to be so tense. I rarely flaunt my noble status anyway, except when I need to smooth over situations after causing trouble.”

“Um… isn’t that an abuse of power?”

“What’s the point of having abilities and status if you don’t use them properly? Abilities and status exist to be used appropriately when needed.”

Serin grabbed my shoulders.

“Listen, Pathos. The world isn’t so accommodating. Your power? Ability? Status? Use them where appropriate when necessary. Abilities shine only when utilized. Even the best ability is useless if you don’t use it.”

She released my shoulders and gave them an encouraging pat.

“So have confidence. Your ability seems to transform objects to their optimal state, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Answer confidently. Confidently! Stand tall and have faith in yourself. With an ability like yours, you’ll be welcomed wherever you go. That’s a guarantee from Serin Ekatos herself.”

Serin looked at me with a hearty laugh.

Despite her refined, noble lady-like appearance, she came across as an incredibly comfortable person to be around.

“Well then, let’s get up and continue toward our destination.”

“Let’s go.”

Time to start walking again. We still had a long way to go to reach our destination.

To match the merchant caravan’s schedule, it seemed we needed to pick up the pace.