My Rod Is Too Magnificent
My Rod Is Too Magnificent
The weekend before the combat training exercise arrived.
Weekends came with a fair amount of breathing room.
No matter how obsessed Lichten Academy might be with classes and practicums, it still guaranteed its students rest periods. That was the stated intent, anyway.
"Just split your rest three ways."
One day for mind (and ki), one day for ki, one day for body.
For Ian, who had long since made a three-way split his daily routine, weekends were nothing more than generously proportioned training blocks.
Having finished his morning training at a relaxed pace, he headed toward the academy's east side.
"Should be a nice piece, right?"
A tea house near Lichten Academy's East Gate. Seated deep inside the shop, Ian fixed his attention on the door, anticipation simmering.
Today was the day he was supposed to receive the weapon he'd requested from Sylvia.
Ian, who lived near the North Gate, had purposely arranged the meeting by the East Gate because the original game established this tea house as a famous one in the story.
"Gahh. The tea's good."
Were the Fanta X Aca setting details manifesting this faithfully in reality? Or was it because the cup someone else was buying for him was a three-silver—thirty-thousand-won—tea?
Incidentally, Lichten Academy's East Gate, where this tea house sat, was also home to several upscale shops and famous trading companies. With the river that bisected the continent passing through, merchant companies had naturally moved in, driving up land prices, and those expensive prices had apparently attracted the high-end boutiques.
"Land really is everything."
By the North Gate where Ian's dormitory was located—right against a mountain range—you'd find combat guilds and decent shops with good value for money, while the South Gate housed the city administration and various public offices.
As he was savoring the game's setting details—
— Rattle
The tea house door opened with a clear bell.
A man walked over, guided by an employee in a maid uniform (commonplace here).
A neat but clearly high-end suit. At a glance, he radiated the aura of a professional attendant.
Mid-thirties, maybe.
He approached Ian and dipped his head.
"Good day. I am called Sebastian, of the Laurent Trading Company."
"Ah, I've heard much about you. Ian Blackangus. Please, have a seat."
Faced with Sebastian's courteous business greeting, Ian found himself unconsciously drawing up the social skills he'd honed during an unpaid sales internship—taken over a seasonal semester—that had lain dormant until now.
For a moment, a flicker of surprise crossed Sebastian's eyes, then vanished.
Having made his own brief nod of courtesy, Sebastian placed a somewhat large bag onto the table.
"The Lunar mineral you requested."
"You must have gone to some trouble bringing it here."
"...Not at all."
Sebastian stared at him briefly with a disbelieving look, then opened the bag he'd brought.
A silver luster spilled through the gap, tickling the eyes.
"The Lunar mineral you asked for."
His voice had grown subtly more amiable as he continued his explanation.
"A vivid silver like this denotes the highest grade. Under the moonlight, you should be able to confirm it glimmers with a blue sheen. It is soft and flexible, and can be worked easily. It is also lightweight and highly durable.
"Its magic resistance is very high, making it strong against magical attacks and suitable for use in magical equipment. It is also a mineral known to be influenced by the moon.
"As per your request, we refined and processed it to the highest possible purity. A minimum of 99.9999%. You may, in effect, regard it as pure Lunar itself."
As Sebastian spoke, the explanation drew you in.
If Ian had been sitting here as a buyer, he would have wanted to buy it on the spot.
"It is a specialty-grade product excavated from the Mountains of the Moon. Vice-Captain Sylvia made a special request."
With his explanation concluded, Sebastian presented the image of an exceptionally capable subordinate.
He had emphasized the item's value while simultaneously boosting Sylvia's standing.
Having someone like this working under her likely meant Sylvia was managing her people well.
'The Laurent Trading Company.'
They made a promising impression as business partners.
That aside—
"Thank you."
Ian took the Lunar out of the bag and examined it.
A rectangular Lunar bar roughly the size of an adult's arm, machined as requested, with a grip-friendly handle fixed to it.
'Gahh. It's lustrous. So lustrous.'
The moment his hand touched it, the mana inside his body immediately reacted. Truly, limitlessly pure refined Lunar itself. With a mineral of this caliber, extracting and transforming it would pose no obstacle at all.
Considering Lunar's properties... he'd be able to handle most mid-tier magical threats without much trouble. It would dramatically reduce incoming magic damage.
As he was grinning to himself and admiring it, Sebastian asked, cautiously,
"Forgive my presumption, but might I ask how you plan to process it?"
"Process? No, I'll use it as is."
"As is? It looks little different from a wooden bludgeon..."
"A staff."
"Pardon?"
To the bewildered Sebastian, Ian enunciated clearly.
"It's not a bludgeon. It is a magic staff."
◆
A somewhat dazed-looking Sebastian walked out the tea house door.
An expression starkly different from his usual sharp, cool-headed impression.
Someone called out to him.
"Sebastiaaan!"
It was the voice of the person he served.
In an instant, Sebastian's eyes regained their original keenness and settled on a particular woman.
Leaning against a back-alley wall: a woman in large tinted glasses, a wide-brimmed hat pulled low.
"Lady Sylvia."
As Sebastian came to a stop before her, Sylvia reacted with visible surprise.
"How did you know it was me? I was in disguise."
You possess a radiance that no disguise can conceal.
— Sebastian swallowed those words and bowed his head.
"I asked about his intended use, as you instructed."
"What did he say?"
"...He said it was a staff."
"A staff? He's going to hobble around with it? Do you know how much that cost!"
"No. He said he'll use it as a magic staff."
"A magic staff?"
"Yes. Like this."
Swish, swish.
Sebastian demonstrated swinging a magic staff.
"Magic staves must be made of wood... no. That is an axiom even a newborn knows, so this Ian must surely know it as well."
"Yes."
"...But what we handed over is just a wooden bludgeon made of Lunar."
"...Correct."
A silence laden with bewilderment lingered for a moment.
Then Sylvia exhaled a sigh.
"Well. He's quite the odd one. I suppose we'll see later. Was there anything else of note?"
Sebastian recalled Ian's demeanor.
He had been different from his profile.
The information the Laurent Trading Company possessed described him as the dissolute scion of the ruined noble house of Blackangus—so extreme in his debauchery that his own younger sister had usurped the family headship.
Accordingly, Sebastian had expected him to be an insubstantial, oily parasite of a man and nothing more.
The Ian he met in person was different.
A noble, even a fallen one, is predisposed to swagger and look down on others. Fallen nobles were actually worse about it.
Ian didn't do that.
He was, in fact, more courteous than most people far older than himself.
Nor did it come across as obsequious.
'Composure and seasoned experience.'
Because he radiated the particular ease of someone who had lived a full life.
It was the scent of a person who had experienced society thoroughly—like a veteran at one of the trading companies—that sort of air.
But that was, ultimately, only a personal impression.
Did Sebastian himself find it easy to trust what his own eyes had shown him?
"There was nothing in particular to report."
He merely thought that, if an opportunity arose, he should investigate a little further.
For Lady Sylvia's sake.
◆
"You cannot bring in any weapons other than a magic staff."
East campus of the academy.
Mana Training Ground No. 3.
Using the social skills and smooth talking he'd just brought to bear, Ian convinced the training ground administrator that this was, indeed, a magic staff.
The combat training exercise was two days off.
The monsters they'd be facing alone were no joke, and with the Blood Rock Sect intervening, the odds that a literal hellgate would open were high.
That meant he needed to get as familiar with handling this new weapon as possible.
'Originally, I'd figured I'd test it out for the first time in actual combat.'
The fact that Sylvia had procured it so quickly had saved him time.
[ Mana Training Ground No. 3 ]
Mana Training Ground No. 3 was a facility where you could subject yourself to mana attacks of various affinities.
From the basic elements of lightning, fire, water, earth, and ice to even the special attributes of holy and dark.
You could test and train how well you dodged or blocked the mana fired off in spherical forms.
"Where shall we do our Lunar performance test?"
Hup.
He chose a training room and hoisted the wooden bludgeon—no, the magic staff—onto his shoulder.
If his hypothesis was correct, the monsters they'd fight in the combat training exercise were definitely—
"...Ian Blackangus."
A cold voice that sliced his thoughts in half.
Ian turned his head toward it.
Limitlessly cool-toned blue hair.
Eyes so sharp they seemed capable of cutting a person all on their own.
Sharon Pierce.
"I'd wondered why I hadn't seen you around. Still the absolute worst, I see."
Every word was edged with frost.
If Sharon attacked him right now, could he block it?
Before he knew it, his palms were slick with sweat.
Fortunately, she wasn't holding a sword.
"We'll talk after the combat exercise."
Whirl—
She turned, her footsteps clicking away until she vanished.
"Why is Sharon here?"
This training ground was located well away from the Knight Department.
That was why he'd come here without a second thought.
It was troublesome.
Sharon Pierce. When measured purely by skill, she was an overwhelming heroine. The only reason she hadn't been assigned to the 'Aether' class was that her ability's bloom had been temporarily delayed.
"Tch."
Now that he'd already run into her, worrying about it wouldn't change anything. If anything, at the moment, the situation with Rina was even more suspicious.
For now, he'd just train.
She, too, seemed preoccupied with the combat exercise.
◆
—Tah!
He blocked the last dark-mana-attribute orb.
"Hoo."
Ian let out a rough breath.
Immediately, the results of contending with one thousand mana orbs appeared in hologram-like form.
———
Orbs Destroyed: 134
Orbs Blocked: 766
Orbs Deflected: 2
Defense Rate: 80%
———
"Not bad."
The rankings followed right after.
When he saw the Orbs Destroyed category, Ian couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
1st: Sharon Pierce [587]
2nd: Karina [281]
...
Given Ian's trait—not expanding metal into sharp forms—his destroyed count was bound to be low, but Sharon still boasted a gap that overwhelmed even second place.
"Well, did I at least win this one?"
The Orbs Blocked ranking came up next.
1. Ian Blackangus [766]
2. Emanuel Yesyear [598]
He proudly ranked 1st.
Admittedly, the rankings didn't scale proportionally to true skill.
But this much was satisfying.
Ian dismissed the Lunar that had encased his entire body from the neck down.
The Lunar immediately restored itself to its original form.
Ian looked down upon that large, magnificent rod affectionately.
"My rod... ugh, what am I saying."
He gave his own mouth a light smack for spouting nonsense.
"The magic staff's performance is excellent."
With this, his combat training exercise preparations were complete.
Ssk—
The corner of Ian's mouth lifted.