episode_0026

Perhaps because it was still a little early for dinner, the spacious restaurant was deserted.

A light lavender scent permeated the entire restaurant, and the chandeliers decorating the ceiling gently swayed and cast bright lights.

In the middle of the restaurant, six-person round tables covered with red tablecloths were arranged in two rows of three each, and crystal glasses and silver cutlery were placed neatly on white handkerchiefs at each seat.

One wall of the restaurant was blocked by a metal door connected to the galley, and the hunger-satisfying smell of meat slowly drifted out through the gap in the door.

Asha, who was sitting at one table, saw me and waved.

“Ah! It’s been three days, Hashal. Did you come to eat?”

“Yes. Asha, did you come to eat alone?”

I didn’t mean to be sarcastic.

Eating alone at a restaurant is probably not something that would be ridiculed so much even in this world, right?

“Calix doesn’t eat meat, so he eats it separately. I haven’t met the others yet.”

“Where did you leave your escort?”

Calix, even if that’s the case, special admission students can have an escort, so shouldn’t they eat with that person?

I also came to eat with Nigel.

“My escort is an automatic machine! There is no need to eat. Would you like me to show you later?”

“Ah, yes…”

Asha smiled brightly and waved her fork.

Also half-race. In a worldview close to the Middle Ages, it was the language of a tribe that only creates technological revolution among themselves.

As I sat down next to Asha, Nigel headed toward the galley, saying he would order a meal.

“Huh? Looks like Friede is here to eat too?”

“That silver-haired woman?”

As Asha said, I looked toward the entrance and saw Friede walking in alone.

He had taken off his fur coat, which looked hot just by looking at it, but he was still wearing his neat academy uniform even though he was inside the dormitory.

In fact, Asha has taken off her mechanical equipment and is wearing only simple clothes.

I made eye contact with Friede, who took a quick look inside the restaurant.

Friede frowned and turned his head.

“It looks like Friede is alone, should I call her here?”

“Would you come if I called you? I’m sitting here. It’s just uncomfortable for both of us.”

“I guess so. It’s a shame.”

Friede sat far away from us and sighed.

Now that I think about it, why did he come to eat alone? Don’t you have any friends?

Soon Nigel returned to his seat, and the three of them chatted until dinner arrived.

Nigel seemed to care about his status as an escort, but he did not speak first and gave short answers to most of Asha’s questions.

Soon a servant brought four duck loins to us and Friede in a metal cart.

It seemed as if they did not provide a full course meal, and it was a simple set consisting of only the main dish, white bread, and wine.

I tore the fatty roast duck into pieces with a knife, chewed it, and swallowed it.

The pungent aroma of sweet and savory meat juice and spices filled my mouth.

When I glanced at Friede, I saw that he had cut the meat into very fine pieces and was munching on it gracefully with his eyes closed. Yes, this is because they are great nobles.

“The first lecture will be in two days. Will Hashalr attend?”

“Was the first lecture about the use of weapons and understanding of martial arts? Let’s hear what it’s about first.”

“From what I heard, since it’s the first day, we’ll start with basic sparring, right? I’m not sure if they’ll spar with us either.”

“Sparring……”

I suddenly felt like my thighs were throbbing, so I glanced at Nigel.

Nigel, who was chewing on meat, tilted his head as if wondering, and then swallowed the meat he was chewing.

“Hashalar? Do you have something to say?”

“…It’s nothing. The meat is delicious.”

“Yes. The chefs seem to have excellent skills.”

Nigel nodded and took another bite of the meat with his fork.

Anyway, nothing like that will ever happen.

It’s the best educational institution in the empire, so it’s not like they don’t have that much common sense.

Still, just in case, I’ll have to leave the frost at my dorm.

I have a feeling that if I take it with me, bloodshed will break out.

It’s a couplet. I wonder if there is anyone who would like to spar with me.

Well, that Dane is a bit of a problem. Was it Knut?

I haven’t seen it since the entrance exam, but I’ll see it again when I go to class, right?

He was glaring at me so persistently that it gave me the creeps.

…Well, you don’t have to worry too much.

It would be difficult for them to openly try to kill me in the academy where so many people are watching.

After finishing the meal, I parted ways with Asha and headed back to the room.

Friede was eating it so finely that she couldn’t even eat half of it.

…I think I understand why he ate alone.

—-

“Now that I think about it, Nigel. Do you think you can get just one long sword?”

After returning to the room, a sudden thought occurred to me and I asked Nigel to get me a sword.

No matter how much I think about it, my original sword seems like it would be a problem if someone recognized it.

Maybe it’s because it looks like an ordinary high-quality long sword until you see the sword body, but luckily no one seems to have noticed it so far.

Still, if it continues to be used within the academy, there might be someone who will recognize the sword’s identity by looking at the phrase on the sword.

“You mean a long sword? It’s not difficult if it’s an ordinary object, but swinging two long swords at the same time won’t be very efficient.”

Nigel shook his head lightly.

I guess he thought I was going to try dual swordsmanship with a long sword.

but. As for why he wants to get a new longsword even though he has a good longsword at his waist, the only thing I can guess is something like dual swordsmanship.

“That’s not it. Because this sword is something I cherish. At the academy, I’m going to use an ordinary long sword for now.”

“Is that so? Then, I will get you a similar type of long sword by tomorrow. You can request it from the Academy. There are probably a lot of steel long swords.”

“Oh, are ordinary steel weapons provided for free? So, is it okay to request something like this?”

While I was leaving, I explained to Nigel about the form of frost.

The appearance of left arm armor with scales extending from the shoulder to the fingertips and the tip being sharpened.

Hershela’s original fighting method is to use frost and long swords at the same time to launch a series of attacks.

However, the frost itself had a cold problem, and every time I looked at it, it felt a bit uncomfortable, so it was uncomfortable to use.

Therefore, I planned to equip myself with similar types of equipment and adapt to Hershela’s fighting style.

If I were in a hurry, I would use it regardless, but I don’t think it’s something worth bringing out in sparring.

“Hmm…if it’s this type, we probably won’t have it in stock, so I’ll probably have to request a custom order.”

“Custom made? So how long does it take?”

“At least it will take about four days. It will also cost some money to produce.”

It seems like custom orders require production costs.

What should I do? There is less than half of one month’s living expenses left.

“Will we be able to cover the remaining living expenses?”

I don’t have money to pay for food and lodging, so I shouldn’t need any living expenses for the time being.

“If you reduce your daily smoking by half, it will be enough for this month. However, I need to come up with a self-rescue plan before next month.”

“Then please do that. Why not try reducing it a bit.”

“Okay. Then, I will go down to the first floor, submit the application request, and then stay in my room. If you have any business, please call me right away.”

I guess I’ll just exercise in my room.

First of all, since I am an escort, I cannot go down to the training room alone and stay there.

“Okay, okay. Good job.”

After sending Nigel away, I sat down at my desk and organized what I had to do for the time being.

Get off the ground during the first lecture.

Listen carefully to the academy lecture contents.

Get to know Damian. Don’t be too friendly.

Get to know other main characters as well.

Find out what Knut is up to.

Adapt to Hershela’s instincts and get used to them.

Go outside the academy and spend a couple of days a week looking for ways to make money.

And what else was there…

Yes, we should check the condition of the underground waterway. There may be no trace yet, but you never know.

Below that, I wrote down the events I remembered in succession.

I didn’t know much about the academy’s training content because it was skipped over through narration, but I still remembered the big events that would happen outside the academy over the next few years.

Okay. This should be enough. This will suffice for the time being.

After completing the note, I folded the paper neatly and placed it in the desk drawer.

Perhaps the sun had completely set, but it was already starting to get dark.

The outside of the academy was brightly lit with all kinds of lights, but the inside of the outside wall was quiet and dark, like a world cut off from the outside.

I went to the bathroom, put some bath salts in the bathtub, and took a dip.

The faint scent of roses permeated me, and the warm water gently embraced the lower part of my neck.

Half submerged in the water, I took a leisurely bath with a cigarette in my mouth.

The exhaled smoke floated through the air and escaped through a small ventilation hole above the bathroom.

Is it two days from now? I’ll have to visit the training room tomorrow.

I guess I need to get used to it a little bit. Whether it’s sparring or a fight to the death, there will be quite a lot of fighting in the future.

After taking a bath and lightly stretching, I changed into my acupuncture clothes and went to sleep.

—-

The entrance ceremony has arrived.

The center of the academy, filled with new students, had a chaotic atmosphere like a market, but in contrast, the special hall was as peaceful as always.

Calix was still shaking his scales and training his muscles, Fernet was still addicted to alcohol, and Asha was once again locked in her room to create something.

The other two did not even return to the dormitory.

Even if he is a candidate for sainthood, what on earth is this guy named Evian doing?

When I asked Calix, he blatantly clicked his tongue and said that Evian would be wandering around the entertainment district of the island.

He is a man with dark blonde hair and brown skin typical of Southerners, so if you ever meet him, they tell you to ignore him as much as possible.

huh. I think he’s a guy that would be better off not getting involved.

I went to the training room with Nigel and spent the day swinging the newly handed long sword until I got used to its weight.

It was a strong, well-balanced longsword that was better made than expected.

Friede, who came to the training room, asked Nigel, who was working out across from him, something. When he heard the answer, his eyes widened and he looked at me for a long time.

Instead of the usual irritated look filled with hostility and contempt, it was a strange expression of confusion and disbelief.

I didn’t know what he was trying to say to me, but he kept talking for a while, then turned his head and left the training room.

What on earth did you hear from Nigel?

Out of curiosity, I asked Nigel what he had talked about with Friede.

“He said he thought he had seen me before. They asked for my name and position, so I answered them.”

That alone is so shocking?

hmm. Now that I think about it, I had forgotten that he was following me faithfully like a servant, but wasn’t Nigel actually a knight of quite high rank?

You yourself were the tenth sword of Landenburg and all.

“Now that I think about it, it was said to be Landenburg’s tenth sword. I don’t know what that is, but isn’t it great?”

“I’m not that great of a person. The Sword of Landenburg is just a kind of honorary title bestowed by the Marquis.”

Nigel lowered his face slightly, as if he was a little embarrassed.

A light blush colored the cheeks.

“Isn’t it great if it’s an honorary title bestowed directly by the Marquis?”

“Compared to the other nine people, I am still at the level of an inexperienced engineer. It’s just that the Marquis evaluated me highly.”

The voice was small, but had a fairly firm tone.

In other words, the Marquis has at least nine more knights stronger than Nigel.

…I was very fortunate that we were on the same side as expected.

If I had been hostile to the Marquis there, I would have been captured and killed without even being able to resist properly.

Anyway, Nigel was just being humble, but judging from Friede’s reaction, the title of Sword of Landenburg was definitely quite something.

It’s to the point where I don’t understand how a knight like that could so quietly carry out his role as my servant.

I need to treat you better from now on.

—-

The day dawned.

I woke up early in the morning, put on my new long sword and armor, and headed to the main classroom with Asha.

The frosting was left in its case under the desk.

Asha was carrying the mechanical bag we saw last time on her back, and in her right hand was holding a folding lance connected to the metal frame on her arm.

The mechanical bag also seemed to have been improved in the meantime, and its shape had changed somewhat.

Compared to before, there were more nozzles and pipes, and the parts that were exposed to the outside were covered with metal plates.

They say they improved it so that it can change direction quickly even while hovering.

He was still happily sharing specialized knowledge that would have been strange to the Ka`har people, so I pretended not to understand and agreed to it.

Soon, the main classroom building came into view.