Chapter 28
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Countess's Inspection
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Abel dismounted from the Gigant and began walking, his eyes on the characters floating on the wall as he thought to himself.
‘So this is how it is in reality.’
Abel thought he had grown fully accustomed to life here, but moments like this still surprised him now and then.
A world where magic had advanced in place of science.
In some ways, technological progress was astonishingly slow and inconvenient, yet other things impossible on Earth were everyday occurrences here.
Abel approached the door and held his access card against the entrance.
Wuuung-!
A faint trace of mana lingered as the door slid open on its own.
Stepping through from the other side was Abel’s patron, the Klein Count, her red hair striking as always.
“Long time no see.”
Scarlett greeted him first with a smile.
Abel immediately bowed politely in accordance with etiquette.
“Yes. It has been a while, Countess.”
“Good. Mind if I come in?”
“Of course.”
With Scarlett’s permission-seeking glance answered, she strode inside.
Her outfit was quite different from what he’d seen at the mansion before.
She was a noble leading her house and an academy professor.
The previous look had leaned toward the former, but this one was clearly the latter.
Her hair was tied back tightly, and her clothes emphasized practicality.
Scarlett glanced around the training ground interior before turning back to Abel.
“How do you like the personal training ground?”
“Yes. I like it very much.”
“Then I’m glad.”
From Scarlett’s casual remark, Abel realized something new.
‘So the personal training ground as a reward came from the Klein Count’s influence.’
Abel’s achievement had been impressive, but even accounting for that, a personal training ground was beyond expectations.
Assuming Scarlett had pulled strings made it all make sense.
Quickly sorting his thoughts, Abel bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
“You’re as sharp as ever. But no need for thanks. It’s just what you earned with your outstanding feat.”
Scarlett replied with a smile and light tone. She then walked toward Lupus as she continued.
“The frame’s standard spec, but the balance is solid. The workshop did good work. How’s the armament? Must be tricky to handle.”
“I still need a lot of practice, but I can feel they’re all exceptional armaments.”
“Hmm. You’re already handling two at once, so you’ll get used to it in no time. Worth the reward.”
“Thank you.”
Abel replied without any show of surprise.
Scarlett was his patron and an academy professor.
That meant she had plenty of interest in him and easy access to academy happenings.
‘That’s probably why she approached me in the first place.’
From Abel’s perspective, more interest from his patron Scarlett was all good.
She wasn’t particularly merciful, but she treated talented people accordingly.
Scarlett asked a few more questions before getting to the point.
“I’d like to see you pilot the Gigant once.”
“Yes. Right away.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Abel headed straight for Lupus’s cockpit, while Scarlett moved to a corner.
He then went through the same process as before to activate Lupus.
Kuuuung-!
Looking around through Lupus, the spacious training ground felt compact.
Abel turned his head slightly to see Scarlett in the corner.
Once he was fully powered up, she gave a light wave.
‘She wants me to move.’
Easily grasping her intent, Abel took slow steps forward.
Thud, thud, thud, thud-!
Lupus’s movements under Abel’s control were remarkably natural.
Just walking, but that alone let Scarlett see right through his skill.
“Impressive.”
Scarlett let out a quiet exclamation.
Piloting a Gigant was completely different from moving your own body.
No matter how skilled you were personally, without talent for Gigants, you couldn’t even bring out half your ability.
In that sense, Abel’s Gigant talent was the real deal.
“Those without talent can’t even walk properly after a year of practice…”
Scarlett murmured, stroking her chin.
Back in the early days after Gigants were developed, they were the exclusive domain of knights.
People assumed anyone who fought well on foot would excel in Gigant combat too.
But as time passed and research advanced, it became clear that wasn’t true.
The two talents were distinctly separate.
Of course, to become a proper Gigant rider, you needed both at a certain level.
Scarlett’s eyes sparkled as she watched Abel walk around the training ground.
At that moment, Abel was deep in thought.
‘Definitely smoother since transplanting the Gigadeus heart.’
His movements had become far more natural—not just from skill growth, but the Gigadeus heart’s effect was undeniable.
The Gigadeus heart influenced the Gigant in many ways.
There were active skills that needed deliberate activation, but even in basic operation like now, its impact ran deep.
So Abel could sense it.
He could run faster now, output stronger power, and sustain combat longer.
‘At this state, even one armament could replicate last class’s results.’
A satisfied smile formed on Abel’s lips naturally.
He wanted to test it more aggressively, but he remembered he wasn’t alone.
Then, Scarlett, watching quietly from the corner, swung her arm to signal the next command.
She raised her arm high, then bent it back slightly to point at her back.
Abel understood immediately.
‘Use the back armament.’
He stopped and channeled mana into the core.
When activating armaments, ‘imagery’ was key.
You had to visualize exactly which armament while directing the mana.
Otherwise, it might not deploy, or worse, the wrong one could pop out, or movements could glitch.
But Abel had no such worries.
He’d already activated two at once before.
The mana he fed in spread quickly through the frame, then converged at one point.
Tskuuung!
The back armament responded. A sturdy cover opened, revealing the blue gem inside.
But the change didn’t stop there.
Wuuuung-!
With an ominous mana surge, blue light poured out around it.
The light seemed to spread, then enveloped Lupus entirely.
Abel looked at the light surrounding him and recalled its name.
‘Guardian’s Shield.’
That was the third armament’s name.
If the first, Blessing of the Wind, focused on mobility, and the second, Sage’s Crown, on senses…
Guardian’s Shield lived up to its name with defense.
He hadn’t tested it directly yet, but Abel knew its rough performance.
‘A Miles-grade Gigant’s full-power attack? It’d hold at least twice.’
And minor attacks far more.
Considering the mana cost wasn’t high, that was remarkable.
‘Still lacking compared to the others.’
Ranking Scarlett’s three-set by base performance: Sage’s Crown, Blessing of the Wind, Guardian’s Shield.
Sage’s Crown had irreplaceable uniqueness, and Blessing of the Wind was top-tier for mobility.
Guardian’s Shield’s base wasn’t quite that elite.
But that wasn’t a big issue.
‘Upgrading it is straightforward, though.’
The Scarlett three-set’s high regard came from easy upgrade paths.
Abel already had an upgrade plan for Guardian’s Shield.
‘First, properly test its performance in next class.’
As he maneuvered the Gigant to inspect Guardian’s Shield, he spotted Scarlett signaling again.
Seemed like she wanted him to dismount and talk.
It had been brief, but he’d confirmed enough, so Abel powered down without regret.
Thud-!
With a vibration, Lupus settled back down, and Abel exited the cockpit toward Scarlett.
Scarlett, leaning against the wall, straightened up.
“Impressive.”
Not outright praise, but satisfaction showed on her smiling face.
Her investment remained top stock.
Abel gave the response she’d like.
“I’ll show something even more impressive next time.”
“Good. Now I’m even more excited.”
As expected, Scarlett nodded pleased and spoke again.
“I came today mainly to see your face after so long. New semester’s kept me swamped too.”
That made sense.
She handled the fourth-years.
New semesters were busy for any year, but fourth-year was especially intense.
Most classes were combat-focused.
Scarlett was more an ‘honorary professor,’ so she didn’t teach many classes herself.
But adding house head duties, her schedule was far from light.
The faint dark circles under her eyes said as much.
“You’ve been working hard.”
At Abel’s sincere words, Scarlett waved it off.
“Enough. It’s the usual yearly grind. More importantly, the practical soon?”
“Practical? That’s still two weeks…”
“Not that one. The special class.”
“Ah, yes.”
The regular practical was two weeks out.
But the special class battle against the Blade Tails was just two days away.
Abel had been holding meetings with special class cadets in his spare time.
Everyone wanted good results.
And Scarlett was part of that ‘everyone.’
“Plenty of other professors will observe that class. Special class always draws crowds.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And I’ll be there too.”
Scarlett added with a playful expression.
“So, like before, exceed expectations. Oh, of course.”
She held up one finger.
“I’m not just piling on pressure. Rewards fuel passion, after all.”
“You don’t have to…”
“As reward, I’ll give you our family’s secret mana manual.”
“…I figured.”
Abel switched gears instantly.
Anything else might be meh, but a Klein Count family mana secret? Different story.
With fervent passion in his voice, Abel declared.
“I’ll deliver beyond your wildest dreams.”