After watching several matches with Armed Gears, we took a tour around the academy.
Besides the arena, there were various facilities, including training grounds for swordsmanship and martial arts, a gymnasium, training rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, and a room with etheric vision holograms displaying Frame Units.
"Over there looks like the club building. Want to check it out?"
"Hmm, I think I’ll pass today."
"Me too."
We didn’t have any intention of joining a club for now. If we had free time, it would be better to earn some G-Gear at the guild or even take on short-term part-time jobs at the academy.
"Do you know what kind of short-term jobs are available at the academy?"
"From what the seniors said, there’s helping with academy events, collecting materials for the teachers' classes or assisting with research, transporting supplies with Armed Gears, and even washing dishes in the cafeteria."
It sounds like a jack-of-all-trades... I bet the academy is using students to reduce costs.
Well, if we can earn G-Gear and use it to enhance our Frame Gears, it seems mutually beneficial.
Apparently, the data for the Frame Gear you create at the academy is yours to keep even after graduation.
This means that if I ever become a [Machinist Trooper] in some country, I could use that data to build my own real Frame Gear.
In other words, it’s a chance to create a machine that suits me for the future.
With that data, I might be able to have my own custom machine made by the country I join as an officer.
...Senior Zeldgard is the princess of Lestia, so she will definitely belong to the Knight Kingdom of Lestia. That means the orange Frame Gear, "Astraea," will most likely be affiliated with Lestia.
Unlike 300 years ago, many countries now have multiple Frame Gears, but none of them were originally made entirely by the country itself.
The core of the Frame Gear, the [Magic Spirit Furnace], and the ether liquid, which is like blood, can only be made in Brunhild.
All things have spirits dwelling in them. The Spirit Furnace amplifies magical power using the power of these spirits.
Ether liquid is the catalyst that spreads magical power throughout the Frame Gear.
Ether liquid can be sold, but the Spirit Furnace is something borrowed from the Duchy of Brunhild.
In other words, Frame Gears cannot be created without Brynhild.
Over the past 300 years, several countries tried to build their own Spirit Furnaces using their own technology, but when they tried to disassemble the Spirit Furnaces they had borrowed from the Duchy, they either vanished, melted, or exploded.
Naturally, the Duchy stopped lending Spirit Furnaces to those countries, and imposed sanctions on them for attempting to exploit them for their own gain.
The reason the number of Spirit Furnaces is slightly different from country to country today is due to this.
Countries with fewer Spirit Furnaces are those that “messed up” in the past. No such foolish countries have appeared in recent decades.
But I digress.
In any case, I have to think carefully about my own Frame Gear for the future.
My "Lucifer" is a high-mobility Frame. If I want to increase its speed further, I could either lighten the equipment or add a high-mobility booster, but... it’s expensive.
While I was looking at the parts purchase screen, Carol spoke up from the side.
"You know, there’s more ways to earn G-Gear than just part-time jobs. Didn’t they say you can also trade it between individuals? For example, some seniors who specialize in technology take on Armed Gear maintenance and modifications for G-Gear, and they also accept personal requests for G-Gear."
"Is that allowed?"
"As long as it doesn’t violate the school rules or public morals, and both parties agree, it’s fine."
I see, so that’s another way to earn G-Gear. But if that’s the case...
"Ah, but you can’t use cash for transactions. That could get you expelled."
"Okay, I understand..."
Shelly quickly pointed out the thing I had almost considered. Damn. Well, I’m broke in both ways.
After wandering around the academy, we decided to head back to Genbu Dorm.
On the way, Shelly, who was looking at the academy map, said this route looked like a shortcut, so we followed her into a narrow path between buildings.
It might indeed be a shortcut, but it’s a really narrow path, about a meter wide. I’m worried my brand-new uniform might get dirty.
"See? We made it through."
Shelly turned around with a smug look. Following the map, it seemed like we had avoided a large detour. I wonder if other students use this path regularly? I might use it when I’m in a hurry.
"See, this is obviously a low-ranked, cheap one,"
"Don’t mess with me! What do you know about it!?"
Suddenly, we heard yelling, and our attention turned to the source of the noise.
"Ugh..."
"Ugh?"
At the sound I unintentionally made, the two of them repeated in unison like parrots.
Well, it’s just that, in front of us, was that blonde elf, my roommate.
I don’t fully understand the situation, but standing in front of the blonde elf were three large students blocking her way. From the color of their ties, they were second-year students. What’s with that height? What do they eat to get that big?
The blonde elf is tall herself, but these three are at least ten centimeters taller. They also have muscles, so they clearly look like martial artists.
"Those are probably students from the Great Tree Sea Alliance. People from there are sometimes quite large, depending on their clan."
Carol answered my unspoken question over my head.
The Great Tree Sea Alliance... That’s the country formed by the clans living in the Great Tree Sea to the south of Brunhild, right?
Actually, it's not exactly a country. They have the Pruning Ceremony, a martial arts tournament where a representative clan is chosen from the tribes in the Great Tree Sea, and they unite under that clan’s banner.
Suddenly, I noticed there was someone else behind the blonde elf.
She was crouching, so she was hard to see, but she seemed to be a first-year student too.
She had long chestnut-colored hair tied in a braid, and wore round glasses. Her eyes were nervously darting between the blonde elf and the three large students.
At her feet, there were some sparkling broken remnants. Glass... perhaps? It looked like the broken remains of a bottle. The contents had spilled out and stained the ground.
"You broke my newly bought potion! It’s only right that you pay for it!"
"We have no objections to that. The amount being asked, however, is unreasonable."
One of the big girls with dreadlocks, a second-year, was fuming, but the blonde elf was calmly refuting her.
"Is that... someone you know, Nero?"
"Well, not exactly... maybe a roommate?"
"That’s the same thing, right?"
Shelly’s words made me feel a little awkward. A roommate means someone I know... right? I do know her, but honestly, I don’t remember her name all that well.
"It’s a valuable high potion! It should cost at least five gold coins!"
"Don’t be ridiculous. If it were a high potion, there’s no way it would be in such a cheap bottle. This looks like one of those low-quality potions sold in the streets. At most, it’s worth about five silver coins."
The second-year with dreadlocks and the blonde elf continued their argument. From what I gathered, it seems the girl with the glasses bumped into them and broke the potion the dreadlocked girl was holding.
Then they demanded five gold coins as compensation for the broken potion. The blonde elf stepped in, saying that was unreasonable, and that’s how we ended up in this situation.
Still, five gold coins is way too high. That’s more than a common knight’s monthly salary. Though, if it really was a high potion, it might cost that much.
A high potion is valuable—it not only restores stamina but can also heal major injuries or even broken bones.
For adventurers, it’s a must-have emergency item. Actually, I have one too.
I probably could sell it for more than five gold coins, but it’s not something I’d easily sell. You never know when it might be needed.
My master gave it to me as a farewell gift, so it was free, but five gold coins is a significant amount for a regular student... Wait, huh?
"Excuse me, can I say something?"
"Oh, you..."
"What!? Stay out of it!"
The dreadlocked senior shot a glare at me.
"No, if you say that, then the blonde elf has nothing to do with this, right?"
"Blonde...! Are you talking about me?"
Oops, now I have another pair of glaring eyes directed at me. Well, whatever.
I turned to face the dreadlocked senior.
"You just said, 'It should cost at least five gold coins,' but you don’t even remember the price of the potion you bought? Doesn’t that sound strange?"
"Ugh...!"
"You said it was a newly bought potion, right? Why don’t you remember how much it cost? Are you sure it was really yours?"
"Y-Yeah! What, you got a problem with that!?"
The dreadlocked senior was clearly flustered. This is definitely suspicious.
I picked up a shard of the broken glass bottle from the ground and cut my opposite palm with it.
"Wait...! What are you doing!?"
Ignoring the blonde elf’s shouting, I sprinkled the little bit of liquid that remained on the broken bottle onto my wound. It stung a little... but the wound didn’t close.
"It’s not healing...?"
"Even if it were a low-grade potion, it should at least form a thin scab. That means this wasn’t a potion at all. Which means..."
When I glared at the dreadlocked senior and the others, they all started panicking, looking around, clearly flustered.
"I-I don’t know! We were also tricked!"
"Y-Yeah! There’s no way it was a fake! This is ridiculous!"
"That merchant, I’m going to beat them up! Let’s go!"
"Oh!"
Before the blonde elf could stop them, the three large girls ran off at full speed. They sure can run fast...
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