15
The drinking session stretched on a little longer. By the time the atmosphere of the conversation among the three of us had ripened.
"Just one more ale here…."
Lulu, her face already flushed crimson, fearlessly began to order a third round.
"Stop drinking, Lulu."
"…Since when are you my guardian?"
"I'm saying this because I'm worried. If you want to act like a mess in front of a junior you just met, then by all means, drink more."
"…Fine, I got it."
Even though her face had already turned red after just two ales.
If even a little more alcohol entered her system here, I would have to carry her back to the dormitory—whether in my arms, piggyback, or slung over my shoulder.
I stopped Lulu at an appropriate line before she could make an unsightly spectacle of herself.
She made an awkward expression and changed the subject.
"But what was that thing you mentioned earlier about having something you needed to do? Did you pick a fight with someone else besides Dyke?"
Lulu thrust a finger toward me as if pointing to the broadsword hidden inside my cloak.
"It's nothing like that. I'm planning to visit the Academy Guild soon."
I gave her a response meant to show there was no need to worry, though her expression was slightly concerned.
"If it's the Academy Guild, the Slime Grasslands side?"
"No, the Forest of Demons side."
The Alexandros Academy, an Imperial educational institution, had several hunting guilds.
They were facilities designed to let students accumulate practical combat experience while simultaneously converting the labor they expended in training into added value.
Simply put, they were monster-hunting grounds available to enrolled Academy students.
If the hunting guild at the Slime Grasslands was a hunting ground for first-year beginners, the Forest of Demons was intermediate.
Generally, it was a guild used by students from second year to early fourth year—those with a fair amount of experience under their belts.
"The Forest of Demons? Will you be okay?"
"Well, thanks to yesterday's evaluation match, I've more or less regained my close-combat instincts. I should be able to handle the monsters that appear in the Forest of Demons easily enough."
"Well, with your skills, I suppose that's true…."
As if she had something she wanted to say, Lulu cautiously offered me a suggestion.
"Ah, do you happen to need a recon specialist? Like a technician who can check how many enemies are nearby or whether there are traps."
I grasped the true meaning behind Lulu's words immediately, but this time, I refused as gently as I could.
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm fine. For now, I'm planning to go alone."
"I-I see…."
Seeing her drooping ears made my heart weaken, but I had decided it was better not to take her along.
"Senior Conrad, might you need a vanguard? I have experience slaying monsters in Arwen Territory!"
The moment Lulu's offer was refused, Stella likewise presented a similar proposal.
"I'll take the sentiment as well, Stella. I want to gauge my own skill level on my own."
"I-I see. Forgive my presumption."
I dismissed her proposal with a similar phrasing.
Stella wouldn't get in the way, but considering what I had to do that day, even she could wind up in some danger.
I had planned to ask the two of them to come with me to the Forest of Demons first when I really needed them later anyway.
There was no need to take the two of them along and incur risks this early.
And so, after escorting the somewhat dejected pair back to their dormitory, that evening's gathering came to an end.
? ? ?
I had quite a lot to do today, so I left the dormitory bright and early.
It was the day I had to deal with the elite monster scheduled to appear at the Forest of Demons guild.
It wasn't that I was so financially constrained that I had to adjust my schedule like this just to hunt an elite monster, but the monster I would face today was, after all, a special existence, so I had to move and hunt it personally.
No matter what, I had to take care of it before the final evaluation—the Hunting Festival—and today, when I finally had some leisure, was the perfect day to head to the Academy Guild in the Forest of Demons.
Gripping the staff I had received from my parents as an enrollment gift, and draping the cloak I had received from Lulu as a birthday present over my shoulders, I hung the broadsword I had received from Stella inside my cloak as well and stepped out of the Magic Department dormitory.
This was probably my first time hunting monsters since the regression.
The creature I would hunt today could be sufficiently described with just two words.
Speed, and venom.
As could be inferred from the danger evoked by those two words, it was not a type of monster particularly friendly to beginners.
Though its attack patterns were fixed, its movements were so fast that one couldn't help but panic upon first encountering it.
The moment one allowed its venomous attack to land, one would become nothing more than hapless monster feed.
Bringing Stella or Lulu, who lacked practical combat experience, would have been somewhat dangerous.
Anyway, it wasn't just any other time—there were two major reasons I was visiting the Forest of Demons to eliminate this creature at this specific time.
One was to kill ahead of time a monster that would be slightly dangerous for an ordinary Academy student to face, while I had the time and capability to do so.
The other was that among the materials from the monster I would handle today, there was an ingredient needed to unlock the 4th Circle.
Unlike magic circles up to the 3rd Circle, which could be unlocked simply by chaining magic formulas, opening magic circles from the 4th Circle onward required at least two conditions.
One was 'Environment,' and the other was 'Materials.'
As for the environment, renting the Magic Department training grounds at the Academy would suffice.
In fact, I had already reserved the training grounds for a week from now.
So if I didn't procure the materials within that week, I wouldn't be able to properly use the training grounds I had gone through the trouble of renting.
If I couldn't obtain them, I could buy other materials as substitutes in a pinch, but materials used to advance one's magic circle were all expensive, so for someone like me whose living circumstances weren't very comfortable, it would be a fatal expense.
As the thirsty dig wells, it was the way of mages in this field to procure what they lacked with their own hands.
Since it would also be a sorry thing to drag the two of them into satisfying such personal needs, I had inevitably refused the proposals of Stella and Lulu, who made sullen expressions.
"Senior Conrad! What a coincidence to meet you here! Did you come to the Forest of Demons guild for hunting activities?"
"…Ah, you're here? I wasn't exactly waiting. I just came because I was a little curious about the guild, so don't mind me."
The moment I faced the two who had already been waiting for me in front of the Academy Guild, a shallow sigh escaped me.
Perhaps it would have been better to speak a bit more firmly.
"……."
"I-I truly came here by coincidence! Today I planned my morning exercise course a bit differently, and while passing by this area by chance, I just happened to think of Senior…."
"……."
"W-what? I'm an Academy student too! I can come to the Academy Guild sometimes, can't I!"
I hadn't said anything in particular, merely exchanged glances silently, yet Stella and Lulu each spat out flustered reactions and desperate excuses.
"No, it's, uh, I really didn't come because I heard what you said yesterday…."
"Senior Conrad…? Are you perhaps in a bad mood…?"
"Fine, it can't be helped. Since you're already here, let's go in together."
Since sending the two who had come this far back again would be a sorry affair, an expression of reluctant consent sprang from my lips.
Rather, Stella and Lulu showed surprise at my attitude.
"…Really?"
"Is that alright?"
"I was planning to ask you two to come with me someday anyway. I suppose today is fine."
I had wanted to bring them in a slightly safer situation after slaying the dangerous monster I planned to hunt today, but if I refused their help after they followed me this far, my next offer would obviously become difficult.
Though the creature I faced today was a dangerous monster, if I faced it exactly according to my preparations, I wouldn't particularly fall into danger.
More than anything, having the two within my field of vision was far more reassuring than having them act separately.
"I shall do my best not to hold Senior Conrad back!"
"M-me too. I'll work hard, okay."
I simply hoped they wouldn't overdo it and get hurt.
* * *
The hunting guild inside the Academy was a student training facility, but at the same time, it could be considered a student welfare facility.
The reason I called the guild inside the Academy a welfare facility was that it was not operated for profit.
Like actual hunting guilds, it accepted requests and purchased monster corpses or materials, but the purchase prices were considerably higher compared to ordinary guilds.
For common materials, at least 1.3 times; for rare materials, almost double.
If properly processed and even dressed, that value could inflate to 3 or 4 times as much.
This was possible because the Academy bore all labor costs for operating the hunting guild, while the proceeds from materials were returned entirely to the students.
Truly, as long as one lived as an Academy student, not using it as much as possible was a loss.
I was already a poor frontier noble with tight living circumstances.
If I could earn income this easily based on my abilities, there was no reason to refuse.
Until now, I had been too busy with various matters to make use of it, but from now until the final Hunting Festival, I had a fair amount of time.
I had already unlocked my magic circle to the 3rd stage, and I had finished the bothersome midterm evaluation match as well.
Even after finishing the hunt for the monster I planned to handle today, I would probably visit this guild frequently for a while.
"Conrad, have you been to a guild or something like this before?"
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"It's just, for someone doing this for the first time, you blazed through reception and registration without a single question."
"I have done it before, a long time ago."
After brushing off Lulu's words with a suitable excuse, I entered the Forest of Demons in earnest.
I lowered my stance and sent mana flowing into the ground.
The closest monster was to the west. Next was the northeast, was it?
"For now, advance northwe—"
"Five goblins at 500 meters northeast. A pair of warwolves at 700 meters east. Twelve kobolds at 300 meters west."
"Hm?"
I had intended to move toward the creature's nest while avoiding unnecessary combat, but out of nowhere, a reconnaissance report came from Lulu.
A report more accurate than my mana detection, with a far wider search range as well.
"Fast."
Admiration spilled unwittingly from my mouth.
I had known that Lulu's reconnaissance ability was accurate enough to evoke awe even in my previous life.
But I hadn't known that she, who had just become a second-year, was already at this level.
"A-amazing, Senior Lulu!"
"It certainly is amazing."
"R-really? It's nothing special, though…."
Lulu, who had been touching the ground with her fingers to sense vibrations, stood up embarrassedly.
"Then let's just advance north. If it's only five goblins, there's no need to go around them."
It wouldn't take even a minute to deal with them all, so detouring would be a bigger waste of time.
"What do you mean there's no need to avoid them? Aren't goblins your target?"
"I didn't come to catch mediocre things like goblins or kobolds. Let's just avoid things that seem like they'd take too much time."
"Then I shall take the vanguard."
Stella pushed her body forward, ahead of Lulu and me.
"If any troublesome combat arises, I shall handle it all. Senior Conrad, please conserve your strength until a strong opponent appears."
"Then I'll have to ask you to do that. Sorry for the trouble."
Originally, I had planned to prepare to use magic at any moment to brace for combat, but thanks to Stella volunteering to take the vanguard, the need to waste mana disappeared as well.
Certainly, this was truly convenient.
Deciding to bring these two along might have been a really good move, in a way.