Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: A Tense Homecoming
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After the festival ended, all that remained was a long, long vacation.
Since Venderford had so many students from distant places, the vacation period was a full five months.
It was unavoidable, as it often took over three months for a round trip home.
In my case alone, it would take a solid fifty days just to get to the Four-Part Autonomous District.
“...And with that, we conclude the vacation ceremony. Students, please return home safely.”
Given the occasion, Professor Warlock was in charge of the ceremony.
If the grim-faced Hol Shivas had shown up and spoken in his raspy voice, the pleasant atmosphere would have been shattered.
At least the tactics professor had a gentle and pleasant demeanor.
“Yeah!”
As soon as Clarence Warlock's announcement ended, the students erupted in cheers.
They had certainly earned the right to be so joyful, after all the hardships of training and missions.
Even I was feeling good at the thought of traveling.
After the ceremony, I headed straight for the student council room.
“I wish they'd hurry up and lay magitech train tracks in the south.”
“We're working hard on it. Once my uncle's matter is resolved, I'll look into a line to the Pellard Autonomous District.”
Adelle, who was sitting nearby, must have overheard my muttering, as she replied with a gentle smile.
‘Is this her way of repaying me for finding the culprit?’
I'm fine with other methods, too.
Like a date in a secluded place, for instance.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“Ahem! Nothing. It's just...”
When I sat there blankly without answering, she suddenly asked the question.
She didn't read my mind, did she?
There's no way Adelle Richter could use something like telepathy.
She probably just asked again because my reaction was lackluster.
“Don't push yourself too hard.”
“Yes, my father also said that managing the family's affairs comes first.”
“Right. But where is everyone else?”
“They're probably packing.”
“They should have prepared in advance. Procrastinating just because the vacation is long.”
“We were busy with festival preparations. They probably wanted to rest a bit.”
Come to think of it, the only ones left in the student council room were Adelle and Solberg.
Since both of them were from Troven, there was practically nothing for them to prepare.
They just had to show up.
As for me, I was heading to Poven, and Frixon was supposed to handle the preparations.
“Where are the vice presidents?”
“...I'm not quite sure myself.”
At the sudden question, Solberg gave an awkward smile.
It didn't seem like he was deliberately hiding anything.
He wasn't good at lying in the first place.
‘Strange. Why doesn't he know?’
How could Solberg Cayenne, who prided himself on being a loyal subject, not know Franz's whereabouts?
When I looked over with a quizzical expression, Adelle answered to the best of her knowledge.
“They have to stop by the Imperial Palace for some business. Around this time of year, there's an event hosted by His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Really? You don't know either?”
“No, I don't. He's probably in his room, I'd guess?”
It was a bit strange that even their close associates didn't know.
‘Are those guys hiding and plotting something again?’
Holding a grudge because I snatched the Herculean Gauntlet.
The thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head.
Given the princes' characters, it didn't seem likely they'd be that petty and vile.
*Clack!*
As I was lazing around on the sofa, someone opened the door to the student council room and came in.
It was Mac and Frixon, who had gone to pack their things.
“Hey, all packed. We just need to leave now.”
Frixon seemed slightly excited.
He appeared to be quite happy about returning home with me.
He was probably so pleased because he could ease his father's worries.
‘What a devoted son. And here I am, the trash one again.’
I was going to use his family's merchant guild, so my conscience pricked me a little.
Of course, as someone once said, my character is so rotten that I recovered quickly.
“Ah, Mac. A word, please.”
“Why?”
“I have something to ask you.”
I took Mac Ties to a corner of the student council room and secretly started a written conversation.
I had no choice but to do this, as I was afraid the being dwelling in Calipe would eavesdrop if I spoke aloud.
‘Have you ever heard of a dark spirit?’
‘Huh? Do those exist? Even in my family, we only deal with the four great spirits...’
As expected, Mac also didn't seem to know much about Alkheim.
I mean, I myself had never heard of a dark spirit or anything of the sort.
Still, I thought it might be different for the Ties family, which was teeming with the best spirit masters.
If they looked through their ancient texts, there might be information that the young Mac didn't know.
‘When you return to your family, can you look into it for me? About the Dark Spirit King, Alkheim.’
‘Okay. But do we really have to talk like this?’
‘From now on, we must always communicate about this matter in writing. It's important.’
‘Got it!’
With a serious glint in my eyes, I circled the word ‘important’ with my quill.
Mac Ties nodded his head vigorously in response.
He seemed slightly thrilled, as if it were some kind of clandestine spy operation.
Soon after, Frixon and I left the student council room.
As we headed to the main gate of Venderford, two four-horse carriages with fully loaded cargo beds were waiting for us.
“That's a lot of luggage. And why are there two carriages?”
“That's because Curtis and Kamil are coming with us.”
“Ah, they're heading in the same direction, right?”
“We'll travel together as far as Poven, then we'll split up. Kamil's home is quite far.”
Still, it seemed much less lonely for four to travel together than two.
It felt like a trip among friends.
Just as we were about to leave Venderford, I ran into some unexpected people.
“Franz? Elington? What are you doing here?”
The princes were entering the school grounds with a group of laborers carrying pickaxes.
Upon spotting me, they paused for a moment with flustered expressions.
“What's wrong? Why do you look like you've done something wrong?”
“It's nothing. We just... have some business to attend to.”
“Really? I heard there was an event at the Imperial Palace. Don't you two have to go?”
When I asked nonchalantly, Elington answered in place of the stammering Franz.
“The palace event was postponed. We weren't happy with the furniture arrangement.”
“Ah, so you're remodeling. Alright then. Good luck.”
They seemed busy, so I gave them a brief farewell.
The day would come when I'd have to choose one of them, so maintaining a proper emotional distance was essential.
“But if you're just moving furniture, what are the pickaxes for?”
And why did they need so many laborers?
It was questionable in many ways, but I didn't think much of it.
They weren't beautiful women, so why would I care?
“Why aren't the princes leaving?”
Frixon asked as he was climbing into the carriage.
I stared at the princes' retreating backs and replied.
“Who knows. Maybe they like the school. Let's get going.”
* * *
When I was heading to the Karjan Duchy with Mitra for a mission, I was bored to death.
But this time, even though it was the same kind of carriage journey, it was nothing but enjoyable.
‘It's amazing how different it is depending on your companions.’
We gathered in one carriage to play cards and occasionally sparred, enjoying the trip.
The days passed so quickly I barely noticed.
Of course, it was sad that there were no beautiful ladies with us.
Still, it was a much better life than being thrown into missions and constantly evaluated.
“Ah... Aren't there any bandits around here? I'm getting bored.”
“We're probably the only travelers who hope to be attacked.”
As I lay stretched out on my side, rolling around, Frixon chuckled.
We had been traveling for nearly three weeks, so it was about time we reached Poven.
Lying on my stomach, I turned my head and started asking Frixon the questions I had.
“This is my first time in Poven. What's it like?”
“Hmm... It's a competitive city.”
“Oh! That sounds interesting right from the start. What's so competitive?”
“Trade, of course. It's a trading city, after all.”
“Is business that competitive?”
“Ahem! You don't know the half of it. The world of merchants is a vortex of endless competition.”
“Oho?”
I used the momentum to sit up straight.
As I looked at him with interest, Frixon cleared his throat and straightened his posture.
“What is it you wish to know?”
I smirked at his action, which reminded me of an astrologer.
“Keep going. About Poven.”
“I was just trying to sound important, but there's not much to it. If there's one unique thing... it's that there are a surprising number of duels.”
“Duels? What, do merchants really have sword fights with each other?”
“It just shows how intense the struggle for interests is. When talking doesn't solve things, what other useful means are there?”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Right! The three elements of problem-solving are fists, spears, and swords.
Frixon gazed into the distance and muttered with a somewhat wistful look.
“My father is a skilled businessman, so our trading guild has grown quite large. But as we got bigger, we started facing pressure from all sides.”
“Aha? So that's why they sent you to Venderford?”
“Something like that. It was a bit of a stretch, honestly. Without Curtis's help, I probably wouldn't have even been able to submit an application.”
Curtis was the second son of the Count of Poven, but he held no power in his family.
As an illegitimate son who was also older, he was seen as an obstacle in the line of succession.
Still, he was able to bring at least one person, Frixon, to Venderford.
His family also wanted Curtis to go far away as soon as possible.
“That's a complicated situation.”
“Curtis's situation is, but my family's is quite simple. My older brother learns the business from my father, and I learn this.”
*Clang!*
Frixon held up the real sword he had bought at Venderford.
The sword, with the school's crest engraved on the crossguard, was of excellent quality.
Of course, since I had the Black Dragon Sword and Calipe, I never even considered buying one.
“It seems your father realized the importance of martial strength a bit late.”
“That's right. He always said that all a merchant needs is trust... but after losing a few duels, he had no choice but to change his mind.”
“An excellent choice.”
“You think so too, right?”
Frixon smiled faintly and fiddled with his sword.
He seemed slightly excited at the thought of showing his father how much he'd grown.
But then, the carriage ahead of us suddenly stopped.
“Hey! We need to take the left path here. I promised to drop Kamil off at his family's place on the way.”
Hearing Curtis shout, it seemed we had finally arrived in Poven.
“Alright. See you next year.”
Frixon and I waved at them and then headed into the city of Poven.
Soon, we arrived at the entrance of the Mulgeer Trading Guild.
Judging by the fact that they occupied a vast plot of land near the trading post, I could indirectly sense the guild's influence.
Only four guilds were arranged this way, one for each cardinal direction.
Moreover, a tremendous amount of goods was piled up in the warehouses and open lots.
‘Impressive.’
I looked around the guild grounds in pure admiration.
But there was something strange.
The fact that no one was there to welcome the guild master's son, who was returning after a year.
“Hey, is it always this quiet here?”
“No way. It should be bustling around this time.”
A silent trading guild in the middle of the day—the situation couldn't be more bizarre.
But just then, someone came striding out from inside the building, looking arrogant.
“Ahem! Think it over carefully. I'll be on my way now.”