"Was that…?"
"It’s a scam commonly done by low-tier adventurers. They claim their potion broke and extort money from regular civilians. Ordinary people don't use potions much, you know."
"Nero, you should deal with your hand quickly. It's bleeding…"
Hearing Carol's words, I realized, ah, I had forgotten about it. It was still cut.
"[Light, come forth, peaceful healing, Cure Heal]"
I raised my right hand over my left hand that was cut and cast recovery magic on myself. Immediately, the wound on my left hand closed up, and the blood that was flowing stopped. I moved my hand around, confirming that nothing was wrong.
"Surprising. Nero, you can use magic? And a rare light attribute at that..."
"Only basic magic though."
I answered with self-deprecation to Shelly. I possess four of the seven attributes—fire, water, wind, earth, light, dark, and void—which is quite rare, but I can only use basic magic with the ones that aren’t void.
I have a lot of magical energy, so I can cast a lot of spells, and when fighting with magic, I often rely on a continuous chant of basic magic spells.
"However, to commit a scam at the academy... What kind of senior are you?"
"Should we report this to the academy?"
"I think it’s useless. There’s no evidence they tried to scam on purpose. If they say, like they did, that they were tricked too, then that’s the end of it."
That’s the thing. That’s why so many low-tier adventurers commit this scam. Even if they get caught, they can claim they were tricked and become victims, escaping punishment. Well, that only works once or twice, though. If they do it too often, the Adventurer’s Guild will get involved, investigate thoroughly, and they’ll end up getting arrested anyway.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, y-yes!"
Carol pulled the glasses-wearing girl, who had been sitting on the ground, to her feet. It looks so picturesque... like a prince.
"Um, thank you very much! I’m from Triharan, my name is Lara! I’m really sorry for the trouble caused to your elf friend as well..."
Triharan... Triharan Holy Empire, right? The country from the western continent that crossed the sea? It was the country where magical automobile Ether Vehicles’ magic engineering technology developed, I think. Did this girl come here to study the Frame Gear’s magic engineering?
"It’s nothing major. I just couldn’t accept an unjust demand as a noble."
The blonde elf said this in a haughty manner to Lara. She didn’t seem to be hiding her bashfulness; it really looked like she interrupted just for that reason…
"You’re a noble too? I’m Caroline Liette from Regulus. Call me Carol."
"I’m Sheryl Gaspar from Regulus. Call me Shelly."
"Regulus’ Liette family and Gaspar family…? Oh? You’re from the high-ranking noble families, huh. That’s why you have such refinement…"
Hey, why are you looking at us like that? It feels like there’s a prickly tone in your words…
"I am Lirisha Mirian of Elfrau. I’m from the Mirian Duke family."
"Mirian Duke family... I see. You’re related to the royal family, then."
"Huh, really?"
When Carol responded to Lirisha’s words, a look of disbelief shot at her from the blonde elf… Lirisha.
"You… Even though it’s your own country’s matter… Surely you haven’t been rude to our nobles, have you?"
"I don’t know anything about nobles. Besides, at the academy, social standing doesn’t matter, right? Whether royal or commoner, we’re all just students here."
"Ugh…"
When I retorted, Lirisha narrowed her brow slightly, clearly a bit embarrassed. It seems she understands that part, but it’s as if her noble sensibilities are interfering with it.
After a moment, Lirisha exhaled quietly.
"…You are right. Here at the academy, social standing doesn’t matter. I made a boorish remark. I apologize."
"Huh? Ah, yeah..."
It’s throwing me off when someone apologizes so sincerely…
"To be admonished by a country bumpkin… I still have much to learn."
"Hey!! Who are you calling a country bumpkin, huh?!"
I thought she stopped discriminating by status, but now she’s naturally discriminating by place of origin! Alente isn’t that rural, you know! We’ve got smartphones and Aether Vision here, after all!
Let go, Shelly! I need to give this person a good lesson!
"Um, you said your name was Lara, right? Are you hurt?"
"Y-yes! I’m fine!"
The glasses girl, who had been ignored by me and was now being spoken to by Lirisha, clapped her hands to shake the dirt off her skirt.
"That was unfortunate, wasn’t it? Well, at least you didn’t get your money taken."
"Y-yes. There’s something I wanted to buy at tomorrow’s bazaar, so it really helped."
Lara replied to Lirisha with such words. A bazaar? What’s that?
Noticing my curiosity, she explained it in more detail.
"A bazaar is an event held once a month at the academy where students sell unwanted items or donated goods. They sell all kinds of things—daily necessities, textbooks, clothes, accessories, parts for Armored Gear, and even maintenance tools—at a very cheap price. They even sell the Armored Gear itself. It’s still pricey, but much cheaper than buying it normally."
According to Lara, the academy buys personal Armored Gear used by graduates and sells it to students at a bargain price.
I wonder if this also serves as a congratulatory gift for the graduates?
Additionally, things donated by nobles with ties to the academy, merchant guilds, and former students (OGs) are said to be displayed as well.
It seems you can buy them with G-Gear or cash. While it might be difficult to buy with G-Gear, I could probably earn some cash through guild requests.
Even if it's impossible now, I'd like to see how much they cost.
"Sounds interesting. Shall we go check it out?"
"Sounds good. What about you, Nero?"
"I’ll go."
"I’ll go as well."
Huh? Lirisha answered as if following my lead. I didn’t invite you, though?
"You're a noble, so you don’t need to buy any second-hand stuff. Why not buy a new one?"
"Oh? Didn't you say that here at the academy, social status doesn't matter?"
"Ugh…"
Lirisha gave me a smug response, as if it were a comeback. Damn it, that's technically correct.
Since Lara is staying in a different dorm, we exchanged smartphone addresses and made plans to meet tomorrow before parting ways.
"I'm glad I withdrew money from the Adventurer’s Guild the other day. Hopefully, there will be a good find."
"Huh!? Nero, you're registered at the Adventurer's Guild?"
The three of them looked at me, surprised. Is it that surprising?
I took out my green guild card from my wallet and showed it to them.
"It’s real... And a green card? That's already the level of a professional adventurer, not a newbie..."
Carol was shocked as she looked at my guild card. But there are plenty of green-ranked adventurers around, you know?
"Wait, hold on. How old were you when you became an adventurer?"
"Five years ago. I was seven."
"Can you even register at the Adventurer's Guild at seven?"
As Shelly pointed out, normally, you can’t register at seven. However, with a recommendation from a silver-rank or higher adventurer, it’s a different story.
In my case, I was able to register due to my master’s recommendation. I started taking on small requests to earn pocket money and reached green rank, but it seems it usually takes longer for adventurers to reach green rank—five years is considered slow.
Well, I only took on requests when I felt like it, so maybe it’s not entirely applicable.
According to my master, among the adventurer ranks of white, black, purple, green, blue, red, silver, and gold, unless someone is really unsuited to being an adventurer, most can reach green rank.
Though, there’s always the condition of "if they’re still alive."
In any case, survival is the key. An adventurer’s life is fragile. A little carelessness or lack of preparation can lead to irreversible situations, and it’s not uncommon to lose your life quickly.
That’s one thing my master drilled into me thoroughly. When it comes to life-or-death situations, there’s no mercy.
The training with my master was so intense, there were times I thought I might actually die...
"Is your master an amazing person?"
"Well… To me, they were just a strange person living nearby. But they were really strong, capable of many things, and knowledgeable."
I’ll keep quiet about the personal issues regarding their character…
"I wonder if I should register with the Adventurer's Guild too… I think you can register starting at thirteen, right?"
"Carol, is your birthday soon?"
Carol is also a first-year, so she should be twelve.
"Both Shelly and I were born in the spring, so we're already thirteen."
"Oh, I’m also born in the spring. I just turned thirteen recently."
Lirisha answered happily to Carol's words. Wait, they’re all thirteen? I was born in winter, so I just turned twelve.
Carol and Shelly seem to be the appropriate age for their year, but…
"…What’s with that look? Just so you know, I’m really thirteen."
"Well, you’re an elf, so..."
"Elves born in towns grow at a normal rate until they become adults. However, those living in spirit-infused forests grow more slowly."
Ah, so there’s the distinction between town elves and forest elves. Even if they were born in the same year, town elves mature faster, while forest elves grow at a slower rate.
It’s hard to tell how old long-lived species are based on their appearance...
"Speaking of which, the academy headmaster is also a long-lived species… That person is over 300 years old, but still looks like that…"
"Ah… Fairy species are even harder to tell apart than elves. Some stop growing around the age of ten, I’ve heard. As for Headmaster Quun, they probably stopped around the age of fifteen or sixteen. Quite early for their species."
Most elves stop growing around the age of twenty, but for the fairy species, it varies greatly between individuals.
The first Grand Duke's wife, one of the nine princess consorts, was also a fairy... well, she’s also Headmaster Koon’s mother. Apparently, she stopped growing quite young.
"Huh? Is the Ninth Consort still alive?"
"Yes. Lady Leen from the fairy species and Lady Sakura from the demon royal family should still be alive. However, they've completely retired, so they no longer appear in official settings."
They’ve seen this country through from the reign of the first Grand Duke... they’re truly living witnesses to history.
And speaking of which, the Queen of Elfrau has been reigning for over 1,500 years, hasn’t she? That’s considered a remarkably long reign, even compared to other countries.
"By the way, you’re also of royal blood, aren’t you?"
"That’s old news... Yes, the Queen of Elfrau is my great aunt."
Great aunt, huh…?
"…She’s my grandfather’s sister."
Because I looked confused, Lirisha answered with a sigh.
I knew that! I just couldn’t recall it for a second!
According to Lirisha, her maternal grandmother is the Queen’s sister. Incidentally, her father is also an elf, and Lirisha is a pure-blood elf.
I’ve heard that it’s pretty rare for elves to have children with other elves, so maybe her parents waited hundreds of years before having a child? It seems like elves are a complicated bunch.
While we were chatting aimlessly, we leisurely walked back to the dorms side by side.
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