Chapter 3. 2. Sufficient Reason to Step Forward
Aura.
It is a mystical energy that allows one to transcend human limits.
By drawing mana—the power spread faintly across the world—into the body through special breathing, and refining it into a more usable form.
This processed power bestowed abilities that ordinary people could never even dream of.
It allowed famous knights to cleave steel plates with their swords, shatter rocks with their fists, and run faster than horses!
This was the magnificent function of aura.
And people called the method of accumulating this power aura cultivation techniques.
"Huu."
Ryan Promhart, no—Lumian Callad, who had just finished catching his breath, had also been using an aura cultivation technique. Through this, he was able to quickly improve his wretched physical condition.
In fact, that wasn't all.
A full 50 percent.
In less than 30 minutes, Lumian's aura reserves had increased by 50 percent.
Of course, Lumian's aura reserves, not even being a formal knight, were woefully insufficient, but even so, such a jump to 1.5 times in such a short time was never normal. It was truly absurd.
However, Lumian was not very satisfied.
'To only achieve this much even using Zenas's aura cultivation technique. The aptitude isn't that great.'
And it wasn't just any technique either. It was a cultivation method he had poured his heart and soul into improving.
It was an excellent technique, almost embarrassing to compare with the one from Tarajan Royal Knight Academy.
Of course, this too wasn't particularly important.
Lumian thought as he scratched his cheek.
'Well, if I keep training, it'll improve on its own.'
Aura can be created through effort, but a penis cannot be created no matter how hard you try. At least based on his previous life's experience.
Lumian Callad, still wearing a satisfied expression, threw open the door of his room vigorously. Then, coming down from the second floor lodging of the inn, he looked around the hall on the first floor.
'It's quiet.'
Perhaps because it was an ambiguous time, too early for lunch, there were hardly any people eating or drinking.
Lumian wasn't particularly interested in food either.
Though he was slightly hungry, checking out the ladies of Tarajan Kingdom was far more urgent. He naturally walked toward the entrance, and as he approached the door, he turned and sat at an appropriate table.
He changed his mind. He needed to eat!
Having quickly changed his mind, Lumian raised his hand slightly, and the female employee sitting near the counter approached with light footsteps.
That was it.
This very female employee, her beauty had changed Lumian's mind.
*Gulp*
Lumian, who quickly scanned the female employee's entire body, swallowed dry saliva.
Honestly speaking, her face wasn't extremely pretty.
Though he had been a eunuch, in his previous life, he had quite high standards.
The queen and princesses he was assigned to protect, the nobles who frequented the royal castle, and even the maids who did odd jobs—the women around him all boasted exceptional appearances.
Compared to them, the woman before his eyes now was extremely plain. In fact, comparing them at all was ridiculous.
But.
'Her body... is nice.'
Large breasts that exuded presence even under an apron.
And a curvaceous waistline that made even passing men turn their heads.
It was truly excellent. At least from Lumian's perspective, who liked voluptuous figures.
Blood began rushing to his lower appendage without him realizing it.
Lumian spoke with a trembling voice.
"The, the order..."
"Yes, little customer. What would you like to have?"
It was a somewhat rude attitude.
Though he was called the son of a rural lord, Lumian Callad was undeniably a noble. He was certainly not of a status to be called 'little customer' by an inn employee.
However, Lumian understood with a generous heart.
'She must have mistaken me for a commoner.'
The lodging fee at this inn was relatively cheap, and the clothes Lumian was wearing now weren't particularly high-class either. It was true that the female employee had made a mistake.
Actually, it didn't matter either way.
Just talking with a woman while feeling his heart race, with his equipment intact, was wonderful enough.
"W-water, and fried eggs, bacon, and sausage..."
"Yes. 35 copper, payment in advance."
"Here..."
"Thank you! Since there aren't many customers, it'll be out soon!"
The female employee who took the order disappeared quickly, and after a while, returned with warm food and water.
Chewing and eating with a stiff, rigid posture, Lumian thought to himself.
'Damn... so this is happiness...'
He couldn't contain his joy.
He had only exchanged a few business-like words with the inn's female employee, but Lumian was happy as if he owned the world.
He hadn't felt this way when conversing with the lovely ladies of his previous life. Of course not. Back then, both his equipment and his heart were dead.
"I'm so happy..."
Lumian, wearing a bright smile, stabbed a sausage with his fork and put it in his mouth.
The taste wasn't great. But did that matter?
'The streets are something to look forward to as well.'
Lumian's hand moved faster as he ate. He wanted to quickly tour the streets of Tarajan.
Of course, in the meantime, he didn't forget to steal glances at the female employee cleaning various parts of the inn.
It was Lumian, who had awakened his male instincts just one hour after being reincarnated.
***
"Mmm..."
Quite some time had passed since he left the inn.
When the once-blue sky was turning red, Lumian was sitting on a bench near the plaza fountain with a dazed expression.
Many women passed before his eyes, but his expression showed no sign of brightening.
After spending about 5 more minutes like that, Lumian stood up with a large sigh.
'My eyes... are uselessly too high!'
Even though it hadn't even been a full day since he gained his equipment, his standards for women were incredibly high.
Actually, he had expected this somewhat. Having seen countless beauties in his previous life (only with his eyes), it was natural that his standards were demanding.
But he hadn't known they would be this high.
He sighed again and thought.
'The inn employee really was pretty...'
Of course, Lumian hadn't been this dejected from the start. When he first came out to the streets and looked at women, he definitely felt his heart racing and his blood heating up.
But that stimulation cooled down in an instant. He became calm with surprising speed, even to himself.
He quietly cursed.
"Damn it."
The faces of the ladies he had seen in his previous life unfolded like a panorama in his mind. Each one had unrealistic appearances, which made it even more annoying.
'If my eyes are this high... it'll be even harder to date!'
Lumian wore a gloomy expression.
He hated himself for having only high standards despite having no dating experience for decades. It was like being a fresh recruit just dragged to the battlefield but having to take the enemy commander's head. It meant he was immensely overwhelmed.
But he wasn't just dejected.
A slight defiance rose from deep within his heart.
'Damn it, what's wrong with me?'
That's right, what was he lacking?
He was no longer an old eunuch knight. He was a promising 15-year-old knight cadet with fresh equipment attached.
His face wasn't bad either, and his physique wasn't poor. Swordsmanship skills? No need to mention.
If he recovered even half of half of his previous life's realm, he was confident he could dominate the Tarajan Kingdom.
'The only things lacking are dating experience, and confidence!'
These were areas that could be sufficiently filled if he started making effort now, if he just changed his mindset.
'It's just like swordsmanship. At first, being clumsy and uncertain is natural. But if I effort, and effort, and effort again, eventually I'll reach my goal!'
I can date a pretty woman if I try! Damn it!
Lumian, who shouted loudly in his heart, slapped both cheeks with a loud sound.
Then, puffing out his chest, he looked up at the sky. Feeling much better, he muttered to himself.
"Let's go back."
Let's return to the inn. Having made his decision, Lumian walked quickly toward his lodgings.
With his mind at ease, his instincts awakened again. His instincts naturally wanted the inn's employee, the most beautiful woman of the day.
Of course, Lumian had no intention of doing anything to the inn employee.
He was still lacking experience points for that.
He thought that if he could just make a light joke while ordering, that much would be enough to satisfy him as he went to sleep.
With such thoughts and various fantasies, the inn building came into view before he knew it.
Unlike when he went out, noisy sounds could be heard from inside. Despite it being early evening, there seemed to be many people already drunk.
Lumian opened the door.
*Creeeak*
'At least there are seats.'
Fortunately, it wasn't full.
He had worried that if the tables were full, he might not be able to watch the female employee, but it was an unnecessary worry. Lumian patted his chest, quickly found an empty seat and sat down, and an employee quickly approached to take his order.
It was a male employee.
Lumian said curtly.
"Just give me whatever."
"Yes?"
"I said give me whatever meal is ordered most often."
"Ah, yes..."
The employee's expression stiffened at the extremely curt attitude, but nothing further happened. He thought it was a rude customer, but he couldn't make a scene over something like this.
'I need to endure it.'
He had no idea that Lumian was even angrier than he was.
Lumian, confirming the employee had left, propped his chin on his hand. Then he sighed deeply.
"Sigh."
If there was any consolation, it was that the female employee wasn't entirely absent. She was taking orders with a smiling face over in that corner.
Heheheh. As if asking when he had ever been in a bad mood, Lumian's expression relaxed and laughter spilled from his lips.
With the worry about whether his joke would work or not gone, his mind was actually more at ease. With such a comfortable expression, he began leisurely admiring the female employee's figure.
That's when a noisy sound was heard.
"Hey, the order is wrong!"
"S-sir..."
"I told you to bring duck roast, when did I say chicken? Are your ear holes blocked? Huh?"
'What, is he drunk?'
Lumian, glancing over, showed an unconcerned reaction.
It was common for drunk customers to dispute with employees. Unlike other customers who showed interested expressions, he watched the situation expressionlessly.
The scolding man's appearance was quite menacing. The gesture of threatening the male employee made Lumian's eyes tremble slightly, but he didn't feel the need to intervene.
'I'm not even a formal knight anymore.'
Unless it was an extremely dangerous situation, he didn't want to meddle in such common disputes. Like most disputes, it would probably end without incident, and even if something happened, the guards would come and handle it well.
With such thoughts, he drank a glass of water, and Lumian's eyes opened wide.
The situation had changed.
"I heard it! Earlier, you said you wanted chicken roast!"
"W-what? What nonsense! I ordered duck roast!"
"Hmph! I was nearby then and heard it clearly too. You definitely ordered chicken roast and three beers. What's the reason for this now? Are you craving free appetizers? Is that it?"
"You bitch, who are you calling a thief!"
*Spring up*
*Crash!*
The thoroughly excited drunk customer rose from his seat. The chair that fell backward made a loud noise as it hit the floor.
At the vicious atmosphere, the customers' expressions stiffened, and the male employee couldn't say a word as he broke out in a cold sweat. In that situation, the female employee looked at the drunk customer with a defiant attitude, chin raised.
But Lumian could tell.
She was trembling.
She was terrified, but couldn't just stand by and be pushed around, so she was forcing out courage. That must have been it.
Her two fists, tightly clenching her apron hem, gave him certainty.
'This changes things.'
It was a situation where he could look cool to a woman—and a pretty one at that.
He couldn't miss this opportunity.
Having made his decision, Lumian quietly rose from his seat.