Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Three days after Dad and Grim came back from the royal capital, the time came for me to leave for the Royal Capital as if to replace their vacancy.

Dad had the plan to have Schord accompany me, though I courteously declined.

Like any parent, he initially showed reluctance but after Schord came out to intervene, which I didn't expect the old man would do, he quite easily relented, stating 'Maybe this would serve as a new experience for you'.

<It's too late for this old soldier to follow along with you, Young Master, and my words of advice wouldn't make any difference. It would be better to focus on your mental and physical well-being during the journey instead. Rather, I urge you to focus on your mental and physical well-being during the journey...... Young Master, I believe you can do it.>

So said Schord. It must have been tough for him as well, sorting out his lecture to match my plan.

His face was adorned with the smile of someone 'who has achieved something'.

To be frank, I had nothing but gratitude for Schord who kept up with my pace until the very end, even if it meant putting his aged body hard at work.

The Royal Capital was two weeks away from our home while Dragreid, the capital of the Marquis, was 12 days away with the exclusive carriage of the Viscount.

Then, it was a magic train ride that would last for one and a half days.

The scaled-down version of this world's maps was quite insufficient. All my attempts to understand the distance between places didn't yield any results. But from our home until Dragreid, I think it was like going from Tokyo to Fukuoka, probably. (1039 km)

Speaking of which, this world had something like a Magic Train which ran on mana stones as their power source, but not only was it crazy expensive it also had extreme fuel consumption so it couldn't be used readily by poor nobles.

The first time it was used it often ran through mountains and there were also attacks from monsters so just the distance of 100 km took 3 days, however after that, highways were constructed which significantly cut down on travel time.

Aside from that, Dad also strictly warned me to not participate in any fights since it would be awful.

Well that being said, there wasn't anything much to criticize regarding this world's public order, and then there was also this C-rank Explorer — whom Dad had spent quite a fortune to hire — who would be coming with me as my guard until Dragreid.

The guard was an old man in his mid-40s who was quite relaxed and lacked any tension, though it didn't matter since I got him to teach me about fighting. Yeah, it really didn’t matter.

The old man's name was Dio, a spearman. So far, there was only either Mom or the instructor from this countryside as my training partner, so either way, sparring with a spear user turned out to be quite a good practice.

On the pretext of it being dangerous, we only used sticks and wooden swords and some fairly unimpressive techniques that didn't involve thrusting, though I was still floored completely on the first day.

Fighting a spear user with my swordsmanship was a completely different experience, which was beneficial for me.

By the time we arrived at Marquis Dragoon's territory, I somehow got the hang of how to deal with spears. In a game, I would probably get an announcement like 'Congratulations, you have ranked up from a Nameless swordsman to a Puny Swordsman'... Just kidding.

Unfortunately, I couldn't land a single strike on him, which suddenly spurred me to contemplate my practical skills. I didn't doubt my theoretical knowledge, but it made me question my other skills.

While I was in a slump, the old man said to me,

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"At first, I felt annoyed at the thought of being the playing buddy of a spoilt kid, but I must say you've got guts and a knack for fighting. Experience will come with time so don't worry about it, kid."

Up until now, this reticent old man had not uttered a word of praise to me, a Viscount's son, during our journey. If anything, he was quite vehement about only guarding me, but as we parted ways, he encouraged me with these words.

I wouldn't know how much of his words about my performance held weight considering he had been lounging in the territory of a countryside noble as a C-rank Explorer, to be honest. Well, there was no denying I was overwhelmingly lacking so I decided to accept the failure. I bid farewell to that old man in that manner.

◆◆◆

From Dragreid, the capital of Marquis Dragoon's territory, I boarded a magical train for the upcoming journey of one and a half days.

Dragreid was an enchanting city, particularly vibrant with neon lights at night.

I had almost been seduced by this enchanting sight as the thought of dropping out from this harsh academic society swirled continuously in my mind. I had already decided that I would live as I liked in this world, leaving myself to the whims of the wind, but Schord's face came to my mind so I decided not to carry it out yet.

It wouldn't be too late to go rogue after the exams.

The Magic Train departed at 10 in the evening.

For a while, I stared at the scenery outside of the window from my sleeping berth, however soon, the mesmerizing lights were replaced by the pitch-black darkness of the night once the Magic Train left Dragreid. Eventually, I ended up falling asleep while practicing mana comprehension.

I guess the weariness from the unfamiliar journey got to me.

The following morning, I overslept until an unusual 6 o'clock, but I managed to make up for it by eating breakfast and lunch with emergency rations while studying.

Outside, the scenery was nothing to write home about, just the usual countryside with nothing different from what I had already seen during my carriage trip.

I was quite excited in the beginning, but the novelty soon wore off.

Unlike the train routes in Japan, there were few stops in this world as this was a direct line so it wasn't going to stop much mid-way. I had already fulfilled my daily quota of studying so I decided to get out of my room.

The Magic Train was pretty much filled with what appeared to be fellow examinees. It wouldn't be strange to misunderstand that this was an exclusive train for them. I bought a lunch box for dinner and wandered around, contemplating if I should try to strike up a conversation with any of them.

However, each and every one was accompanied by their respective bloodshot-eyed guardians. When I tried to get closer, they looked at me with suspicion which instead made me feel like an idiot, so I dropped the idea of socializing.

After dinner, I went out to the deck car to feel the breeze and reminisce about my training with Dio. It was an open-air car with no roof or seats, just enclosed by handrails, like a ship's deck.

In just 5 years, I think I would be able to surpass Dio. But was that enough? I mean, five years just to surpass a C-rank Explorer from a rural Viscount's territory?

I wasn't interested in the ladder of promotion, but even for something like following my heart's desire to live a whimsical life, a certain level of ability was undoubtedly needed.

A wry smile escaped from my lips, feeling the impatience typical of a 12-year-old. I invoked the body-strengthening spell and circulated it intently.

Starting from a state of zero magical output, I accelerated it sharply and then swung my sword back. I attempted to remove any influence of the spell— like the difference in physical attributes before and after using the spell — when I prepared for the next strike.

I raised my sword vertically.

Swung it back.

Swept it horizontally.

Swung it back.

Raised it upwards.

Swung it back.

Well, there was no way an enemy would give me time to execute my move cleanly in the actual battle. However, I believed perfecting the ideal form was the first step. From there I could work out making it viable for practical use.

I relentlessly swung my sword, trying to cleave through Dio's phantom in my mind. I couldn't afford to face the exam while still being overshadowed by my earlier failure.

◆◆◆

When I finally snapped out of my immersion into my training, I noticed the rising sun.

Crap, I need to at least save three hours of sleep or it will hinder my next day.

The train was scheduled to arrive in the capital at 10 in the morning, so if I slept now, I could still manage to get some sleep. I threw the wooden sword aside and began stretching.

"That was a beautiful performance I must say."

A girl suddenly called out to me from behind, but I ignored her.

I had noticed her watching me from the stairs that were meant to reach the top of the deck in case of stuff like maintenance since midnight. It had been close to 6 hours already, and anyone who would stare at someone's practice for so long would have to be a lover of some sort at least.

A wise man knew not to confront danger, and she reeked of someone being a trouble-magnet.

Sensing the danger, I hurriedly ended my stretching and headed for my berth. But of course, the girl followed me.

Sure enough, she was the type to ignore the mood. One of the oblivious ones.

"That was amazing concentration you had there~! I am aiming to be an Artificer so I didn't train myself that much, but even my untrained eyes can tell that was a beautiful execution!"

Oh? An Artificer aspirant, huh? And she could even discern what I was doing.

The same instant that thought came across my mind, I recalled the image of my sister and her danger level swiftly shifted from Yellow (Caution) to Red (Danger).

At the same time, I quickened my pace.

I must not give my name! We are a total stranger to the core, the type to wonder 'Do we even know each other?'

However, the flag I raised in my heart was immediately retrieved as the girl began to introduce herself even though no one asked her to.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I am Feyrune Phon Dragoon. You should be here for the Royal Academy entrance exam as well, right? The young master of the Viscount Rovenne family. You can just call me Fey!"

Fufufu…

Of all the sham-like occurrences that could happen, out of everyone present in the Magic Train, it just had to be the DANGER LEVEL MAX Dragoon family. What was more, she was even a member of the direct family, Phon......

If that presto-chango event wasn't enough, she even knew I was from the Viscount Rovenne family...... I assumed she must have seen the family crest engraved on my wooden sword.

With so many Viscounts as there were pages in a book, why did she have to remember my family out of all of them?...... Though I guess that was kind of ironic coming out of me when I myself have committed information about all those darn crests and whatnot related to the entire family branch of our patron, Dragoon Marquis, in my head.

It wouldn't be wise to ignore her at this point.

But navigating this without getting into a complicated conversation won't be easy... My instincts were telling me that.

However, I also have 48 years of experience under my belt! Time to step up, me! If I continued to stay passive like this, I would end up toyed with, like how my sister teases me!

"Oh my, what a surprise! I didn't expect to run into an Esteemed Daughter of the Dragoon Family, even more so for it to be Feyrune-sama, renowned for her intellect. I apologize for the late introduction! I am Allen, the third son of the Viscount Rovenne family."

I knelt down, my head almost at the shoe level.

I have no recollection of hearing about the name Feyrune, but either way, she was someone who was going to take the entrance exam this year from the Marquis family. It wouldn't be weird for her name to be known already.

"I couldn't sleep due to the exam pressure and ended up practicing all night, driven by anxiety! It is my luck to meet Feyrune-sama here! If you may allow, I would absolutely love to be Feyrune-sama's acquaintance!!"

Kukuku.

I think it was quite a splendid bootlicker-ish's speech, no? Just moments ago, I had resolved to ignore her completely, but as soon as I heard the name 'Dragoon,' I changed my tune...

Unlike us puny nobles, they, the Dragoon Family, were one of the real authoritative figures in the ranks of nobles. She seemed to be the free-spirited type as well, almost like feline creatures...

I was sure such an overly friendly approach, or you can call them bootlickers, would make her disgusted with me!

I realized my performance was a bit over the top. But when something has to go awry, no one can stop it, right? The response I received was different from what I had imagined.

"Pfft. Hahaha! I must admit, you're rather intriguing! You see, I noticed you and couldn't help but realize that you're Roselia Rovenne's younger brother, the bright star who recently emerged from the ranks of the Dragoon family's Aristocratic Academy graduates. That's why I observed your practice swings out of sheer curiosity."

She said as her eyes gleamed, reminiscent of a lion who had found its prey.

"You've really piqued my interest. By all means, I hope we become good friends."

All sorts of alarm bells blared inside my head...... 3 minutes…… My mind was urging me to escape in those three minutes at all costs.

Editor's note - Dio… IS THAT A JOJO'S cough cough. Sorry, my internet weeb is showing. So, heroine incoming?

T/N - As far as it concerns the novel tag, author hasn’t put a harem/romance tag so far.