18

Chapter 18

As soon as I arrived in Anov, I headed for the Eastern Gate to enter the East Great Forest.

Since it was a border town, far more soldiers were guarding it than the gates in the Capital.

There was also a considerable line of people, likely adventurers seeking entry.

It looked like waiting would take quite some time.

I don't recall it being this crowded in the past.

The East Great Forest is home to monsters and demi-humans as powerful as those in the North, so entry requirements are quite strict.

Entry is prohibited unless you have the Lord's personal approval or are part of an authorized adventurer party.

Even as an Academy Instructor, it's difficult to enter without a proper reason, but that wasn't an issue for me.

I had the Gold Plaque I received during my active duty.

The Old Man had given it to me for use in places across the Empire that are generally difficult to access.

However, I never used it once during my active years, fearing my identity would be exposed.

I stepped into a nearby alley and opened my Subspace to take out the plaque.

Then, I stepped back out and bypassed the long line to approach the soldier checking the passes.

"Excuse me..."

"What? Can't you see the line behind you?"

I held up the Gold Plaque, but his reaction was lukewarm.

"What is this? Get in line if you don't want to get chewed out!"

Did the Lord change?

But this plaque was given by the Old Man; its effectiveness wouldn't just vanish because some Lord changed.

I pondered for a moment before realizing what was happening.

"Judging by your ignorance, you must be a fresh recruit. Bring your senior or the person in charge here."

"Who the hell do you think you are to order the commander around?"

The burly guard glared at me with a deep scowl, but just then, a knight in plate armor approached from the right.

"What is the commotion over here?"

"This man was trying to cut the line, so I was giving him a warning."

"Cut the line? I have no need to wait in one."

"A noble? Since forged passes have become common, Marquis Kernen, the Lord of Anov, ordered strict verification last month. He said not even nobles are exempt, so get back in... wa... wait a second..."

Seeing his sudden look of shock, it seemed the knight recognized what the plaque was.

He rushed over and bowed deeply.

"I am Edward Evans, the Chief Guard Commander of the Eastern Gate. If you would permit it, may I verify..."

I nodded and handed him the plaque, and he infused it with magic power.

A faint blue light began to glow; I hadn't known it had such a feature.

As I watched with interest, the knight's expression completely froze.

"I... I have committed a great rudeness. I am truly sorry."

He withdrew his magic, returned the plaque, and bowed almost ninety degrees.

"Well, fine. But you should train your soldiers. He didn't recognize it at all."

"My apologies. Since it is not a common sight, I will ensure they are thoroughly trained so this never happens again."

The soldier who had snapped at me earlier looked completely shell-shocked, seeing his superior trembling before me.

I was about to leave, but then I remembered that the brat hadn't actually apologized.

"Just words?"

"...That man is the son of my late sister. If you permit it, I shall cut off my own arm to make amends."

I hadn't expected them to be uncle and nephew, and since he actually looked ready to draw his sword and do it, I stopped him immediately.

I'm not some psycho noble who makes a habit of power tripping; I had no intention of making someone cut off their arm just for not recognizing a pass.

I used the plaque to save time, but I'm not active anymore, and if I make a scene that reaches the Old Man, I'll definitely get nagged.

I gave him one last warning to be careful and passed through the gate.

As soon as I cleared the gate, a massive forest appeared before me.

I could sense signs of life everywhere near the entrance, likely adventurer parties hunting monsters, so I ventured deeper as Ark had suggested.

'What should I do now?'

'What do you mean "what"? Just keep supplying the magic power.'

As soon as Ark finished speaking in his usual blunt, grumpy tone, a bit of magic power vanished, and a palm-sized purple sphere appeared in the air.

'Follow that.'

The sphere moved at a staggering speed, so I hurriedly reinforced my body with magic power and chased after it.

I ran for about five minutes before the sphere came to an abrupt halt.

'You found it already?'

Ark had bragged that I should just trust him, but this was almost too easy.

'Yeah. It should be under that tree over there.'

I searched beneath the large tree Ark pointed to and discovered a plant with red berries. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Is this it?'

'That's it. You're quite lucky.'

Following Ark's instructions, I carefully dug it out, making sure not to damage a single root hair.

Once it was out, I saw that the root was remarkably thick.

'Judging by the head, it looks to be about three hundred years old.'

'Isn't it rotten if it's that old?'

'You ignorant brat. The older the wild ginseng gets, the stronger its medicinal effects and the more mana it contains. For the record, ginseng of this quality was rare even in my time.'

'Is it really that good?'

'Isn't it obvious? If May took this, she would reach the Expert level in an instant.'

If it was that good, I had no choice.

I carefully brushed off the soil and popped it straight into my mouth.

It tasted a bit bitter.

'Wha... what are you doing right now?'

'If it's good for the body, I should eat it first. You're always nagging me about having too little magic power.'

May was May, but when it comes to something this good, I have to prioritize myself.

'You greedy pig! How could you just gulp it down without saying a word?'

'You found it quickly; we can just find another one.'

'Do you think wild ginseng is some weed scattered on the street? I told you it was pure luck!'

Now that he mentioned it, that did seem to be the case.

'I can't exactly throw up what I've already eaten. I'm sure we'll find another soon. More importantly, I don't feel anything yet... do I need to cook it...?'

I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence.

Suddenly, heat began to surge throughout my entire body, as if a fire had been lit inside me.

'Tsk tsk. A ginseng of that grade should be taken with herbs that replenish yin energy. Stop talking and start using your Mental Cultivation Method, quickly!'

Ark, you should have told me that from the start.

I wanted to snap back, but I felt like my body was melting, so I immediately began practicing the Mental Cultivation Method as told.

Fortunately, as I followed his instructions, the heat radiating from my body gathered in my lower abdomen and began to circulate alongside my existing magic power.

'Ark, my stomach is too hot.'

'Stop overthinking and focus only on the cultivation method. Otherwise, you'll end up a complete waste.'

I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I focused on operating the Mental Cultivation Method as instructed.

After some time, the heat gradually subsided, and I felt it assimilate into my own magic power.

'I suppose you digest it well because you're such a greedy pig.'

Since some residual heat remained, I circulated my energy two or three more times until the heat vanished completely.

When I opened my eyes, a horrific stench assaulted my nose.

'What is this smell?'

'Impurities are being expelled as the magic power blends into your body, so wash yourself with magic.'

I used Water magic, but a massive deluge poured down, leaving me soaking wet.

What was that?

Normally, the amount of magic I used would only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠summon about a bucket's worth of water, but this was a total downpour.

Come to think of it, my body felt much lighter than usual, and my vision seemed sharper.

Was this the effect of the wild ginseng?

It seemed so, and just as Ark said, the effect was truly incredible.

He explained that my magic power had increased too abruptly for me to control it properly.

Checking the amount of magic power in my body, it seemed to have increased nearly twofold—no, threefold—compared to before.

'Pig. I'm going to use the Wild Ginseng Detection Magic again, so supply the magic power properly.'

'Pig... Fine. Don't worry about it.'

I didn't like being called a pig, but I put up with it since I was in the wrong.

More importantly, the effect was better than expected. If we find another, I'm definitely eating it.

Ark must have used the magic again, as the sphere appeared and started moving.

I thought we'd find it as quickly as the first time, but Ark wasn't lying when he said we were just lucky.

I ran for nearly an hour, but the sphere showed no sign of stopping.

With monster encounters along the way, my magic power had dropped to less than half.

At this rate, things would get a bit dangerous in about thirty minutes.

'Are we there yet?'

'Stop whining. Who told you to gobble up the one we actually found?'

After five more minutes of running while listening to Ark's nagging, the sphere finally stopped.

But the situation wasn't good.

It was a huge tree like the first one, but it was surrounded by a dense wooden fence twice my height.

Beside it stood a towering watchtower and, crucially, blonde and silver-haired demi-humans in green clothes.

It seemed this was an Elf village in the center of the East Great Forest.

****

My surroundings changed instantly as I passed through the gate.

After my ID was checked, I was about to head for the carriage when I remembered the Instructor telling me to buy some gifts.

It would have been better if I'd bought them in the Capital.

It would take two hours and a lot of money to go back, so I looked around and luckily found a general store just opening.

"Excuse me, are you open?"

"Of course. Please, come in."

"Do you happen to have any accessories...?"

"Are they for gifts? I have many items brought in from the Capital. Feel free to look around."

As I looked at the accessories, I saw many things similar to those from the Academy's door-to-door sales.

I wanted to buy everything, but I couldn't afford to be extravagant.

The Instructor gave me ten gold as "pocket change," but since he also bought my weapon, spending it all would be shameless.

I picked one brooch for my father and two hairpins for my siblings.

"How much for these?"

"You have a keen eye, young lady."

"I do?"

I had chosen items that many other students at the Academy bought.

I could only watch because I had no money, but I wanted to give my siblings something popular.

"These are all new arrivals from the Capital, but since you're my first customer, I'll only take one gold."

"That expensive?"

"As I mentioned, since these are new arrivals from the Capital, they are a bit pricey."

"I've seen hairpins like this for ten silver, and similar brooches for thirty to forty silver."

"Where are they selling them for that? Then you should buy them there."

The merchant was being sarcastic, but I had no intention of backing down.

"I attend Belliard Academy, you know? I just forgot to buy the gifts earlier."

When I showed my student ID, the owner's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face clearly showed his fluster.

He was definitely trying to rip me off.

"If you're a student at Belliard Academy, you must have plenty of money. Why haggle over such a small amount...?"

"Not everyone there is rich. How about sixty silver if I buy one more hairpin?"

"I won't even cover my labor costs... but since you're from the Capital, fine."

To be honest, I'd never seen that brooch before, so I was glad to get it cheaply.

I handed over six ten-silver coins and took a carriage for two hours to reach the Levi Territory.

I stopped at the Outer Castle for ID verification and encountered a familiar face.

"Oh... Young Lady?"

"It's been a long time, Mr. Thomson."

"How... isn't it the middle of the semester?"

I briefly summarized the situation for him.

I told him everything, from coming out to buy weapons and the Instructor's suggestion to visit, to my current preparations for Greeta.

"Oh, the Lord will be delighted to hear you're heading to Greeta."

"No, it's not confirmed yet. There's a selection match first, and even if I'm chosen, the odds of actually winning are low..."

"I'm sure you'll make the representative team, Young Lady. How is life at the academy?"

"Better than I expected. Is my father at the Lord's Manor?"

"The Lord left for the Callos Duchy two days ago on business."

"Two days ago? Is something wrong in the territory?"

What's going on?

It was very rare for my father to leave the territory for this long without a serious reason.

"I'm afraid I don't know the details. For now, please head home."

I was a bit disappointed that my father wasn't there after being away for so long, but I headed home since my sisters would be there.

As I opened the door and entered the house, I spotted my sister in the garden swinging a wooden sword.

"Arin!"

"Unnie May? Unnie!"

She ran into my arms; they say children grow by the day, and she seemed to have grown a few inches since two months ago.

"Have you been well? Is Sia home too?"

"Sia's napping. But how did you get here? It's still the semester. Did you get kicked out, Unnie?"

"Why would I get kicked out? I came to get new weapons, and the Instructor said I should stop by."

"Really?"

I felt a bit hurt by the look of sheer doubt in her eyes.

"I'm doing great at the academy. I might even compete in the Greeta tournament."

"Oh, really? Father will be so happy."

Arin beamed with a wide smile, finally seemingly reassured.

"Are you staying the night then?"

"Yes, the Instructor said he'd pick me up tomorrow."

"An instructor from Belliard Academy is coming to our territory?"

Ah.

Arin's eyes sparkled; come to think of it, she had always wanted to attend the academy.

She could take the entrance exam in two years, so if she passed, we might attend together for a year.

Of course, the family's financial situation would need to improve first.

"Unnie, is the instructor a man or a woman? Is he pretty? What does he look like?"

"He's a man. He's kind of han... No, why do you care about that? Anyway, I bought you gifts."

I pulled the pouch from my clothes, but then—wait.

The hairpins were fine, but the brooch had been snapped clean in half, as if it were a defective product.

I had been so proud of my haggling, but now I was upset that it had turned out to be a dud.

"Unnie, what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Here, pick one."

I handed a pin to Arin and we walked inside together.

I placed a hairpin by the bedside of our youngest, Sia, who was sleeping soundly, so she'd see it as soon as she woke.

I gave her the one with the pink cubic she always loved.

"Unnie, how is it?"

"It's lovely. By the way, I heard Father went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the Callos Duchy two days ago. When did he say he'd be back? Did he mention anything?"

"Dad? He said he'd be back today when he left two days ago."

I figured that if he was the loving father he usually was, he would have told the children.

What a relief.

That meant I would be able to see him today.

I spent time playing with my sisters and waited, even pushing back dinner.

But my father did not return by dinner, nor did he return by midnight.