Chapter 11: The Glasses Girl and the Blond Elf
After watching several Armed Gear matches, we toured the academy grounds. In addition to the arena, there were various facilities such as training grounds for swordsmanship and taijutsu, a gymnasium, a training room, indoor and outdoor pools, and an Ether-Vision room lined with Frame Units.
“That looks like the club building over there. Want to check it out?”
“Hmm, I think I’ll pass for today.”
“Me too.”
I don’t plan on joining a club right now anyway. If I have that kind of free time, it’s better to earn money at the guild, or if anything, earn G through short-term part-time work within the academy.
“Do you know what kind of short-term part-time jobs are available on campus?”
“According to the senpais, there’s all sorts of stuff, from helping with academy events, gathering materials for teachers’ classes, assisting with research, transporting supplies using Armed Gears, to washing dishes in the cafeteria.”
Sounds like odd jobs… Aren’t they just using students to cut costs? Well, since we can earn G to upgrade our Frame Gears, I guess there’s a mutual benefit. Apparently, we can keep the data of the personal Frame Gear we build at the academy even after graduation. In other words, if we become a ‘Trooper’ for some country, we can use that data for a real Frame Gear. That also means if we’re looking to the future, we should seriously build a unit that suits us. If we have that data, depending on the country we serve, they might build us a custom unit based on it. …Zelda-senpai is the princess of Lestia, so she will undoubtedly belong to the Knight Kingdom of Lestia. That means it’s almost certain that the orange Frame Gear, ‘Astraea,’ will become a Frame Gear belonging to Lestia. Unlike three hundred years ago, each country has several Frame Gears in modern times, but they weren’t all built from scratch by those countries. The ‘Magic Spirit Reactor,’ which is the core of the Frame Gear, and the ‘Ether Liquid,’ which can be called its blood, can only be made here in Brunhild. Spirits reside in all things. The Spirit Reactor is an engine that borrows the power of those spirits to amplify magical power. And Ether Liquid is the catalyst that circulates magical power throughout the Frame Gear’s body. Ether Liquid is a product for sale, but the Spirit Reactor is strictly a ‘loan’ from the Duchy of Brunhild. In other words, Frame Gears cannot be made without Brunhild. Over the past three hundred years, some countries tried to create Spirit Reactors with their own technology, attempting to disassemble the ones borrowed from the Duchy to analyze them. However, when they tried to disassemble a Spirit Reactor, it would vanish on the spot, dissolve, or in the worst case, explode. Naturally, the Duchy imposed sanctions on countries that lost the trusted items for such selfish gain by stopping further loans or confiscating existing Spirit Reactors. The reason why the number of Spirit Reactors, which was equal for each country three hundred years ago, is slightly different in modern times is partly due to such reasons. Countries with a small total number of Spirit Reactors, and thus Frame Gears, can be said to be countries that have ‘messed up’ in the past. Although it seems there haven’t been any such foolish countries in the last few decades. Anyway, back to the topic. Well, I really need to think properly about my own Frame Gear, or rather, for my future. My ‘Lucifer’ is a high-mobility frame. To increase speed further, I either have to lighten the equipment or add high-mobility boosters, but… they’re expensive. As I looked at the parts purchase screen and agonized over it, Carrol interjected from the side.
“Short-term part-time jobs aren’t the only way to earn G, you know. Remember how they said it can be exchanged between individuals? For example, I heard that senpais in the technical field take on maintenance and modification of Armed Gears for G, and even undertake personal requests for G.”
“Eh, is that allowed?”
“As long as both parties agree and it doesn’t violate school rules or public order and morals.”
I see, so there are ways to earn G like that, too. But in that case…
“Ah, but exchanging cash is a no-go, okay? That could lead to expulsion, you know?”
“I-I know that…”
She nailed me just as the thought crossed my mind. Damn it. Well, I’m short on cash, too, anyway. Having wandered around and toured the academy, we started our way back to the Genbu Dormitory. On the way, Sherry, who was looking at the campus map, said, “This looks like a shortcut,” and went into a narrow path between buildings, so we sort of just followed her. It might be a shortcut, sure, but it’s a really narrow path, only about a meter wide. I’m worried my brand-new uniform might get dirty.
“See? We made it through.”
Sherry turned back to us with a smug look. Indeed, it seems we were able to take a shortcut avoiding a large detour required by the main path on the map. Do other students use this path normally? I guess I’ll use it when I’m in a hurry, too.
“Like I said… I am telling you that this is clearly a low-rank cheap product.”
“Don’t screw with me! What would you know!”
Our gazes turned toward the sudden angry shouting.
“Geh.”
“Geh?”
The two of them echoed the sound that slipped out of my mouth. I mean, because at the end of our gaze was that blond elf roommate of mine. I don’t understand the situation well, but three large students were blocking the blond elf’s path. Judging by the tie color, they’re second-years. What is with that height? What do they eat to get that huge? The blond elf is tall herself, but they’re at least ten centimeters taller than her. They have muscles, too, clearly looking like the martial type.
“Those are probably students from the Sea of Trees Alliance. Some clans from there have very large people.”
Carrol answered my unspoken question over my head. The Sea of Trees Alliance… Was that the country formed by the clans living in the Great Sea of Trees south of Brunhild? Strictly speaking, it’s not a country, apparently. They decide on a representative clan from among the clans living in the Great Sea of Trees through a martial tournament called the ‘Rite of Pruning,’ and unite under that clan. Suddenly, I noticed another person behind the blond elf. She’s crouching down so it’s hard to see, but that girl looks like a first-year, too. She has long chestnut hair tied in a single braid and wears round glasses. Her gaze was darting back and forth nervously between the blond elf and the trio. At her feet, there was some glittering broken debris. Glass… maybe? Some kind of bottle? The contents were spilled, creating a stain on the ground.
“You broke the potion I just bought! It’s only right that you pay for it!”
“I have no objection to that point. I am saying that the amount demanded is unreasonable.”
One of the three giant women, a second-year with dreadlocks, was fuming, but the blond elf retorted calmly.
“What? Is she an acquaintance of yours, Nero?”
“No, not really an acquaintance… a roommate?”
“So she’s an acquaintance.”
Sherry’s words gave me mixed feelings. If she’s a roommate, does that make her an acquaintance…? I guess so. I know her, but honestly, I don’t even remember her name properly.
“It’s a precious High Potion! It shouldn’t be less than five gold coins!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Would anyone put a High Potion in such a cheap bottle? No matter how you look at it, that’s on the level of a degraded potion sold in the market. At most, it’s worth five silver coins.”
The dreadlocked senpai and the blond elf were still arguing. Listening from the side, it seems the glasses girl bumped into those second-years and broke the potion the dreadlocked one was holding. And then they demanded an exorbitant price of five gold coins for compensation. The blond elf, who happened to be there, interjected saying that was strange, leading to this situation. Even so, five gold coins is too expensive. That’s more than a general knight’s monthly salary. No, if it really was a High Potion, it might cost that much, but still. A High Potion is a precious potion that heals not only stamina and fatigue but also major injuries and even fractures. If you’re an adventurer, it’s an item you want to keep one of as an emergency charm. Actually, I happen to have just one myself. If I sold it, I think it would fetch at least five gold coins. I know that, but this is something I can’t sell easily. You never know what might happen. I got it for free from my master as a parting gift, so whatever, but for a normal student, five gold coins would be a significant, no, an incredibly painful expense. …Hm?
“Excuse me a moment?”
“Oh, it’s you…”
“What!? If you’re not involved, stay out of it!”
Dreadlocks-senpai glared at me.
“No, if you say I’m not involved, then this blond elf isn’t involved either, is she?”
“Blond eh…!? Are you perhaps referring to me?”
Oops, now I have one more glare directed at me. Oh well. I turned back to face Dreadlocks-senpai.
“Earlier you said ‘It shouldn’t be less than five gold coins,’ right? But you don’t even remember the price of the potion you bought yourself? Isn’t that weird?”
“Gh…!”
“You said you just bought it, right? Why don’t you remember the price of a potion you just bought? Did you really buy that?”
“Y-Yeah, I did! You got a problem with that!?”
Dreadlocks-senpai is clearly shaken. This is definitely fishy. I picked up one of the glass bottle shards scattered on the ground and used it to slash open the palm of my other hand. Slash.
“Wha…!? What are you doing!?”
Ignoring the shouting blond elf, I sprinkled the little bit of liquid remaining in the broken bottle bottom onto the wound. It stings a little… but the wound remained open.
“The wound isn’t closing…?”
“Even if it were a low-grade potion, it wouldn’t be the case that the wound doesn’t heal at all. A thin layer of skin should form at least. In other words, the contents weren’t a potion. Which means──”
When I glared at Dreadlocks-senpai and her group, they were visibly flustered and panicking. All three of them looked around, restless.
“I-I don’t know anything about that! We were tricked too!”
“Y-Yeah, that’s right! To think it was a fake! How dare they!”
“I-I’m gonna go beat up that merchant! Hey, let’s go!”
“Ah.”
Before the blond elf could stop them, the three giant women ran off. They sure are fast at running away…
