Chapter 149
Thud!
“Ugh!”
‘This is an unbelievable rate of growth,’ Loyar thought.
Loyar glared wide-eyed at Ellen, who was rolling across the ground, having just been sent flying.
It had only been about a month since Ellen had asked her to teach her how to fight.
Yet, in just that one month, she had made unbelievable progress. Her level of skill and the quickness of her reactions were so much higher and quicker than one month ago.
‘If she learns to enhance her strength with mana in this state...’
Even now, though Ellen still didn’t know how to use mana to enhance her physical abilities, Loyar was sweating bullets.
Being able to enhance one’s strength with mana made a world of difference. There was a reason why people who could do it were literally called monsters.
Yet Ellen was catching up to her without even knowing how to do that.
Even taking into account that Loyar was in human form, it was still unthinkable that someone who was not even using mana enhancement could be gradually catching up to her, whose foundations were fundamentally different from ordinary humans.
She had neither seen nor heard of such a human before.
Ellen got to her feet unsteadily and dusted herself off. Despite being battered, her calm eyes were always steady.
“Here I come.”
As if the defeat she’d just suffered was a thing of the past, Ellen kept charging forward no matter how many times she fell, just like the ground hardening after rain.
“Bring it.”
Ellen’s mentality had grown even stronger after having been shattered once.
Crack!
Loyar parried the sword that was aimed at her shoulder while trying to drive her fist into Ellen’s abdomen.
Whoosh!
As if predicting that attack, Ellen twisted her body, dodging the strike and simultaneously sending her left elbow flying toward Loyar’s forehead.
Swoosh!
This time, however, Loyar ducked under to dodge and slipped her arm between Ellen’s legs, flipping her over.
Thump!
“Ugh!”
“Huff... Huff...”
‘What a monster...’ Loyar thought as she stared down at Ellen, who was coughing from the pain in her chest, with a look of disbelief.
For now, there were certainly others in the world who were stronger than this girl, but not for long.
‘In ten years—no, in five years—would there still be someone stronger than her?’
For the first time in her life, Loyar felt a sense of fear as she looked at a human.
‘Why exactly did our lord ask me to help with her training, and even request for Eleris’s assistance in their quest to help her to gain real combat experience?’
Loyar doubted that she would feel this way even if she were in the presence of the human emperor.
She wouldn’t have felt this way even if a dragon’s egg was wiggling, about to hatch before her eyes.
To Loyar, Ellen seemed like some incomprehensible, unknown entity. It wasn’t just the girl’s strength, but also the sheer rate at which she grew stronger that caused her to feel such fear. Loyar was confused.
‘This doesn’t seem right. This shouldn’t be happening. Why is our lord so taken with this girl?’
“Let me ask you something,” Loyar said, and Ellen staggered to her feet.
“Yes?”
“Would you die for Reinhart?”
Ellen was perplexed, taken aback by Loyar’s sudden question.
She pondered the question for a long while, her expression blank.
“... I don’t know,” she finally said.
In the end, that was the only answer Ellen could give.
‘Not a “no”, but “I don’t know”...’
Loyar stared at Ellen for a moment before chuckling.
“Yeah, that’s good enough.”
That response—“I don’t know.”
Just pondering the question of whether she would be willing to die for Reinhart was an adequate answer for Loyar.
“I have something to tell you.”
Ellen cocked her head in confusion at Loyar’s sudden statement. “... What is it?”
***
The last class on Thursday had ended.
“Phew! It’s finally over!”
Leading the charge with excitement as if school life was completely over was Connor Lint, and everyone else quickly left the school.
Mr. Effenhauser’s advice about spending the vacation time meaningfully, as though it was some holiday homework assignment, likely never even entered Connor Lint’s head.
Many here were born with the unique silver spoon called talent. Most notably, the hopelessly incompetent trio.
After all, the sole criteria for selecting who got into the empire’s top class was innate talent, hence the existence of such imbeciles. This setup would lead to conflicts with the hardworking students from the Orbis Class later on.
Still, one had to wonder if those deemed the highest talents in the land should really be allowed to be so inept.
Since we were leaving the next morning, we skipped all the usual training for the day. Upon returning to the dormitory, the first thing I did was to look for Charlotte.
After all, she had told me to pay her a visit before leaving.
“Take this,” she said when she saw me.
Charlotte handed me a medal.
“... Isn’t this the imperial crest?”
“Yes.”
By this time, I could recognize the imperial crest as well.
“This alone should be enough for you to exact cooperation from most public institutions. It’ll also serve as a potent threat.”
It was a medal certifying that I was under the protection of the royal family. I wasn’t sure if it had any magical abilities, but its existence alone could solve certain problems.
“Is it okay to just give this away?”
“It should be,” Charlotte replied, frowning as if implying that it wasn’t something to be given away lightly. “Causing unnecessary trouble and bothering people. Hmph.”
With an irritated look, Charlotte held onto me and lectured me for a long while.
She told me that, no matter how skilled Ellen might be, acting impulsively could lead to a mess. She reminded me of the previous abduction incident and warned me that things might not end so smoothly if something similar were to happen.
She also pleaded with me not to get myself into any deep trouble, and to try to keep my temper in check.
“You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, in the morning.”
Charlotte looked at me intently and then crossed her arms. “If I could give you one piece of advice...”
She smiled subtly. “Be wary of people.”
Not monsters or demons, but to be cautious of people first and foremost.
“Of course.”
I understood perfectly what that meant.
The imperial crest had been given to me to be used against people, not monsters.
***
Vacation had started on Thursday, and the eager ones had rushed home from the Temple.
I’d expected Harriet to have gone back home at the first opportunity, but she was still around on Friday morning to see Ellen and I off.
It wasn’t just Harriet; there was someone else whose presence I hadn’t anticipated.
Adelia had also come out to bid farewell to me and Ellen.
Both of them had dark circles under their eyes. They looked like they had stayed up all night.
We were both ready, having donned our backpacks and armor.
“Um, Ellen...”
“Yes?”
“This... Can you take this?”
Adelia hesitantly held out something to Ellen. It was a bracelet made of blue metal.
“Re-Reinhart... you too...”
It wasn’t just for Ellen; she handed me a bracelet of the same design.
“... What is this?” I asked.
“It’s... it’s only good for one-time use, but it has protection magic on it,” Adelia replied hesitantly. “It should be of help in case of danger... I’m sorry it’s only good for one use, I made it in a hurry.”
‘Oh.’
Both of them must have stayed up for several nights making these bracelets.
It certainly wasn’t something they could have made in just one day. Adelia’s talent lay in magical crafting, which was used to create magical items like these, but Harriet was also capable of doing the same work.
They had collaborated to make these two magical bracelets. Harriet was avoiding my gaze as if she preferred not to verbally acknowledge her contribution.
I could clearly see the dark circles under her eyes.
“Thanks,” Ellen said simply.
But why did Adelia seem apologetic as she offered her gift, as if she was sorry she couldn’t offer something better?
How low could her self-esteem be?
“Thank you. Both of you.”
At my words, Adelia scratched the back of her head, and Harriet’s face flushed slightly.
“Don’t forget, you promised to come to Edina Archipelago,” mumbled Harriet, trying her best to act nonchalant.
“Right.”
Clearly, they both hoped we would return safe and unharmed.
***
We were headed toward Saints Point, where we would meet with Eleris, after making a stopover at the Egxian Forward Base.
Of course, I intend to act as if it was my first time meeting Eleris, who would casually pretend to join up with us as an adventuring mage. She would pose as a novice mage who was not particularly adept at magic, and would only reveal her true abilities if we encountered serious danger.
That was the plan.
Ellen and I would register as adventurers at the Adventurers’ Guild guildhouse in the Egxian Forward Base.
We would then make contact naturally with Eleris at the inn in Saints Point, where we had agreed to meet.
After forming a party, we’d explore the areas near Saints Point.
With Eleris by our side, we could afford to venture into slightly more dangerous territories.
The equipment issued by the Temple was sufficient, but we also had the imperial crest, which could solve any political troubles we might run into, and we also had the bracelets enchanted with protection magic for emergencies.
It was insurance on top of insurance.
Ellen and I headed toward the mega warp gate within the imperial capital.
Unfortunately, being a Royal Class student didn’t exempt us from having to pay the warp gate usage fee.
“... Wow, it’s crazy expensive,” I said.
“Indeed,” Ellen responded.
Ellen, who had done her own cost calculations, nodded absentmindedly in agreement.
After calculating the fee for using the warp gates, Ellen and I finally understood why the Temple had given us such a substantial amount of money to spend.
The Egxian Forward Base was located at the easternmost edge of the human territories, which meant we had to travel the longest distance.
To reach the Egxian Forward Base, we had to pass through four mega warp gates.
On average, each section of travel would cost us two gold coins. Since there were two of us, we needed four gold coins per transfer.
Just getting there would cost sixteen gold coins, and a round trip cost thirty-two gold coins.
That left us with only eighteen gold coins to spend on other things.
While that was still a significant amount of money, it explained why the Temple had provided us with fifty gold coins to cover a single month’s expenses.
Thinking about it in terms of airplanes, it seemed expensive, but here, the concept of travel time itself didn’t exist the way it did with airplanes. Factoring that in made the cost seem quite reasonable.
Actually, the warp gates made traveling that much more efficient, rendering air travel almost inconsequential.
We submitted our application to use the warp gate and waited our turn. Since the terrorist incident, security at the warp gates had become much stricter. The process of checking a user’s identity, patting them down, and making sure everything was in order was very thorough.
The guards weren’t just ordinary soldiers. Knights were also stationed near the warp gate.
“Next.”
Ellen and I handed our papers to the soldier.
Royal Class Student IDs issued by the Temple.
“Proceed.”
Ellen and I were on our way to our first stopover.
***
We had to use the warp gates a total of four times, stopping over each time.
Consequently, a problem arose.
“... Who knew this could be a problem?”
“Indeed.”
Ellen and I were staring dumbfoundedly at the incredibly long queue that had formed in front of the mega warp gate.
We hadn’t even joined the line yet.
“Well... I guess it makes sense.”
We were currently in an autonomous trading city called Salam. What actually went on in Salam didn’t matter to us. There was no need to know, since it was just a stopover.
However, since it was a trading city, it was a transit point for a vast quantity of goods.
Specifically, these goods would have to pass through the mega warp gate right in front of us.
“It seems we’ve become too accustomed to the imperial capital.”
“It does seem so.”
There were over ten mega warp gates in the imperial capital. Entry into and exit from the imperial capital were spread out between these gates, and so no single gate was overcrowded unless there was an event comparable to a state ceremony going on.
However, the regional hubs had two or three mega warp gates at most, and most commonly, just one.
Because of this, places with even just one such gate become major cities.
The mega warp gates, capable of ultra-long-distance travel, served not only as destinations for the medium and small gates, but also as entry points for those heading toward them. Thus, it was inevitable for bottlenecks to occur at these mega gates. Since the gates were both entry and exit points, people continuously flooded in and out.
This was the difference between the imperial capital and the rest of the human-occupied territories. Despite there being a mega gate here, the queue to use it was incredibly long, since it was the only one around.
There were people who looked like merchants, carriages, and all other manner of travelers waiting to use the gate.
The line in front of us was so dauntingly long that we couldn’t even determine how to join it.
“We might have to wait until the day after tomorrow, even if we get a ticket now,” Ellen reported. She had gone off to make some inquiries earlier.
Even if we managed to secure tickets that day, they might only be usable the day after tomorrow. That seemed perfectly reasonable, given what we were looking at.
“I guess the situation won’t be much different at the next gate?”
“... Yeah.”
It was great that traveling through a warp gate was faster than flying, but what was the use of that if we had to wait two days just to pass through one? And if the same thing happened at the next gate, that would mean another two days, and then another two days after that, adding up to six days all just spent traveling. Ellen, too, stared blankly at the queue, seemingly taken aback by this predicament.
The sheer cost of travel was one thing, but all this wasted time would render it all pointless.
I made up my mind.
“Alright.”
“... Do you have a solution?” Ellen asked.
I reached into my pocket. “Let’s use some power.”
I pulled out the imperial crest from within my pocket, and Ellen’s eyes widened.
‘Sorry, Charlotte. Time to drop your name!’
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