Chapter 12: Deepening Friendships

“What was that all about…?”

“It’s a scam low-level adventurers often pull. They claim their potion broke and try to extort money from civilians. Regular people don’t use potions that often, you see.”

“Nero, you should do something about your hand quickly. The blood…”

Carrol pointed it out, and I went “Oh,” realizing it. I guess I left it cut open.

“[Come forth Light, Peaceful Healing, Cure Heal]”

I held my right hand over my injured left hand and cast recovery magic on myself. The wound on my left hand closed up in an instant, and the bleeding stopped. I opened and closed my hand to confirm it was fine.

“I’m surprised. I didn’t know you could use magic, Nero. And the rare Light attribute at that…”

“Only beginner-level magic, though.”

I replied to Sherry with a hint of self-deprecation. There are seven attributes: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Dark, and Null. I possess a rather rare combination of four attributes, but aside from Null magic, I can only use beginner-level spells for the others.

I do have a high mana capacity, so I can cast them many times. When I fight using magic, I usually rely on rapid-firing beginner spells.

“Still, trying to pull a scam right here at the Academy… What a terrible upperclassman.”

“Should we report this to the Academy?”

“I think it’d be a waste of time. There’s no proof they intended to deceive us. If they claim they were tricked too, like he said, that would be the end of it.”

That’s how it works. That’s why so many low-level adventurers use this scam. Even if they get caught, they can claim to be victims themselves to dodge the blame. Well, that only works once or twice. If they do it too often, the Adventurer’s Guild will investigate thoroughly, and they’ll eventually get arrested.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, y-yes, y-yes!”

Carrol took the hand of the girl with glasses who was sitting on the ground and helped her up. What a picturesque scene. Is she a prince or what?

“Umm, thank you so much! I came from Triharan, my name is Lara! I caused so much trouble for that Elf lady as well…”

Triharan… The Triharan Holy Empire? That’s the country on the western continent across the sea, right? If I recall, they’re known for developing the magic engineering technology for the Ether-Car. Did she come here to learn Frame Gear magic engineering too?

“It was nothing of consequence. As a noble, I simply could not accept such an unjust demand.”

The blonde Elf declared this to Lara with a haughty attitude. It didn’t seem like she was hiding her embarrassment; it looked like she really stepped in for that reason…

“So you’re a noble too. I’m Carrolina Liette from Regulus. Call me Carrol.”

“I’m Sheryl Gaspar, also from Regulus. Call me Sherry.”

“The Liette and Gaspar families of Regulus…? Oh my? So you are high-ranking nobles. No wonder you have such class…”

Hey, why did she look at me just now? That felt like a dig…

“I am Lirisha Millian from Elfrau. I belong to the Millian Ducal House.”

“The Millian Ducal House… I see. A family connected to the royal line.”

“Eh, really?”

When I reacted to Carrol’s words, the blonde Elf… Lirisha, shot me a look of exasperation.

“You… It is your own country, is it not? Surely you haven’t been rude to a noble here?”

“I don’t know anything about nobles. Besides, status doesn’t matter here at the Academy. Royalty or commoner, we’re all just students.”

“Mu…”

When I retorted, Lirisha furrowed her brows slightly and looked taken aback. She seems to understand that concept. However, her common sense as a noble seems to be interfering with it.

Eventually, Lirisha let out a small sigh.

“…You are correct. Status is irrelevant here at the Academy. I said something boorish. I apologize.”

“Eh? Ah, yeah…”

Being apologized to so honestly kind of throws me off…

“To be admonished by a country bumpkin… I still have much to learn.”

“HEY! Who are you calling a country bumpkin, huh!?”

Just when I thought she stopped discriminating based on status, now she’s naturally discriminating based on hometowns! Alente isn’t that rural! We have smartphones and Ether-Vision just like everyone else! Let me go, Sherry! I need to give this girl a piece of my mind…!

“Umm, Lara, was it? Are you unhurt?”

“Y-Yes! I’m fine!”

Lirisha ignored me and addressed the girl with glasses, who patted the dirt off her skirt.

“That was a disaster. Well, I am glad you didn’t have your money taken.”

“Y-Yes. I wanted to buy something at tomorrow’s bazaar, so that really saved me.”

Lara replied to Lirisha. Bazaar? What is a bazaar? Perhaps noticing my confusion, she explained it in detail.

“A bazaar is an event held once a month at the Academy where students sell unwanted items or donated goods. They sell daily necessities, textbooks, clothes, accessories, Armed Gear parts, and even maintenance tools at very low prices. Not just parts, but actual Armed Gears are sometimes sold too. They are pricey, but still much cheaper than buying them normally.”

According to Lara, the school buys personal Armed Gears used by graduating seniors and sells them cheaply to students. Is this meant to be a graduation gift of sorts? Apparently, items donated by nobles with connections to the Academy, trading companies, and alumnae are also lined up. Surprisingly, you can buy things with G or cash. G might be a bit difficult to get, but I might be able to increase my cash by taking Guild requests. Even if I can’t buy anything now, I want to see how much things cost.

“Sounds interesting. Shall we go too?”

“Sounds good. What about you, Nero?”

“I’m going.”

“I shall go as well.”

Eh? Lirisha answered right after me. I didn’t invite you, you know?

“You’re a noble, so you don’t need to buy unwanted items. Why not just buy new ones?”

“Oh my? Did you not say that status is irrelevant here at the Academy?”

“Mu…”

Lirisha returned a smug look, as if paying me back for earlier. Damn it, she has a point. Since Lara is in a different dormitory, we exchanged smartphone addresses, promised to meet tomorrow, and parted ways.

“I’m glad I withdrew some money at the Adventurer’s Guild the other day. I hope I find a bargain.”

“Eh!? Nero, are you registered at the Adventurer’s Guild?”

All three of them looked at me in surprise. Is it really that shocking? I took my green guild card out of my wallet and showed them.

“It’s real… And it’s green. Doesn’t that mean you’re a full-fledged adventurer who’s graduated from being a rookie…?”

Carrol was surprised to see my guild card, but aren’t green-rank adventurers everywhere?

“Wait a minute, how old were you when you became an adventurer?”

“Five years ago. When I was seven.”

“Can you actually register at the Adventurer’s Guild at seven…?”

As Sherry said, you can’t register at seven through normal means. However, it’s different if you have a recommendation from an adventurer ranked Silver or higher. In my case, I was able to register thanks to my master’s recommendation. I took requests here and there to earn pocket money and eventually reached Green rank, but apparently, taking five years to reach Green is considered slow for an adventurer. Well, I only took requests when I felt like it, so maybe that doesn’t really apply. According to my master, the adventurer ranks go White, Black, Purple, Green, Blue, Red, Silver, and Gold. Unless someone is completely unsuited for being an adventurer, they can usually reach Green. With the caveat, “if they aren’t dead,” of course. Anyway, survival is the prerequisite. An adventurer’s life is cheap. A moment of carelessness or lack of preparation can lead to irreversible situations, and losing one’s life is a common occurrence. That was the one thing my master thoroughly drilled into me. When it’s a matter of life or death, show no mercy. Though, there were times I thought I was going to die during my special training with my master…

“Is your master an amazing person?”

“Who knows… To me, he was just a weirdo living in the neighborhood. But he was definitely strong, could do all sorts of things, and knew a lot.”

I’ll keep it a secret that he had various personality issues…

“Maybe I should register at the Adventurer’s Guild too… I believe you can register starting at thirteen, right?”

“Carrol, is your birthday coming up soon?”

Carrol is a first-year too, so she should be twelve.

“Both Sherry and I were born in the spring, so we’re already thirteen.”

“Oh my, I was born in the spring as well. I turned thirteen recently.”

Lirisha replied happily to Carrol’s words. Eh, all three of them are thirteen? I was born in the winter, so I just turned twelve. Carrol and Sherry look their age, but…

“…What is with that look? I will have you know, I really am thirteen, okay?”

“Well, you’re an Elf, so…”

“Elves born in towns grow normally until they become adults. If they live in a forest where spirits dwell, they grow much more slowly.”

I see. So there are City Elves and Forest Elves. Even if born in the same year, City Elves grow faster, while Forest Elves grow slowly. It’s hard to judge the age of long-lived species by their appearance…

“Come to think of it, Principal Quun is a long-lived species too, right…? She looks like that, but she’s over three hundred years old…”

“Yes… The Fairy tribe is even harder to tell apart than Elves. Apparently, some stop growing around ten years old. In Principal Quun’s case, she must have stopped growing around fifteen or sixteen. I suppose she was one of the faster ones.”

Most Elves stop growing a little after twenty, but it seems there are significant individual differences among the Fairy tribe. One of the First Archduke’s wives, the nine Duchesses, was of the Fairy tribe… well, she is Principal Quun’s mother. I heard she stopped growing at a very young age too.

“Huh? Are any of the nine Duchesses still alive?”

“They are. Lady Leen of the Fairy tribe and Lady Sakura of the Demon tribe should still be alive. However, they have completely retired, so the story goes that they do not appear in public.”

She’s been watching over this country since the time of the First Archduke…? She’s truly a living witness to history. Come to think of it, the Queen of Elfrau—my country—is the same. I believe she has been ruling for fifteen hundred years. Apparently, that’s a considerably long reign even from the perspective of other countries.

“By the way, didn’t you say you have royal blood too?”

“You ask that now…? Yes, Her Majesty the Queen of Elfrau is my great-aunt.”

Great-aunt means…?

“…She is the sister of my grandparents.”

Perhaps because I looked confused, Lirisha answered with an exasperated look. I-I knew that! I just couldn’t recall it immediately! According to Lirisha, her maternal grandmother is the Queen’s younger sister. Incidentally, her father is also an Elf, so Lirisha is a pure-blooded Elf. I recall hearing that it’s quite difficult for children to be born between Elves. Was she a child born after hundreds of years? Being an Elf seems complicated. While having such a rambling conversation, we walked side-by-side leisurely on the road back to the dormitory.