About two days passed.
Since they had come a long way, they were told that rest and adjustment were necessary, and for two days the Academy students were permitted to do nothing but rest at their lodgings. In their own ways, they were gradually getting used to this place.
Though it was a period of rest, just as they had done at the Academy, the knight department students went out running from early morning, while the magic department students meditated. Each spent the time after waking in various ways, then gathered in the central area.
And as if split cleanly in half, they sat apart from the other side.
“Honestly, I didn’t like Abatus much. They act like they’re kings.”
“Keep your voice down. If you look at power, that side has far better conditions. If this place hadn’t looked like it had a more certain future, I wouldn’t have come.”
-“It was Baron Arclight, wasn’t it? I didn’t like how some rootless nobody went around with young ladies from high-ranking families.”
-“Whether it’s chimeras or golems, the operating costs should be about the same. Then if this side seizes its chance, it’ll spread explosively.”
Many of the professors privately held similar opinions, but even so, they did not want this opportunity to become a trigger for division rather than competition.
Given the Academy’s nature as a place where the children of noble houses great and small gathered, it was inevitable that their behavior would resemble a miniature version of Vespia’s noble society. However, the essence of the Academy was that it was a place of learning.
The reason it had even been granted extraterritorial rights was so that, at least within the Academy, the school rules could keep things from going too far.
But that did not mean feelings built up over years would simply be resolved, and it was obvious that, knowingly or unknowingly, dissatisfaction toward one another had accumulated.
“In a way, letting them clash once on this occasion might be the answer.”
Reina, who was almost the only exception allowed to enter both dormitories, murmured to herself as she observed the state of both sides.
She was perceived as being pro-golem, but because they knew Reina herself was closer to neutral, neither the chimera faction students nor the professors stopped her from coming and going or showed displeasure.
If anything, they seemed to want her to come more often.
-“She’s one of the five strongest in the kingdom. Whether that Aizen bastard sends assassins or whatever, she’ll stop them with a single stroke.”
Because Reina’s martial might was trusted by everyone to that extent.
The professors would guide things so they did not cross the line even while taking one side, but in the worst case, they knew Reina could stop it by force. For that reason, both sides acknowledged and trusted her comings and goings.
In any case, it was impossible for Reina to steal the technology.
The basic structure of chimeras was ultimately founded on Abatus’s life magic, so it was nearly impossible for anyone to imitate it. To do so, help from someone on Abatus’s side was almost certainly required.
Conversely, golems were large and extremely noisy, so if the other side watched what they were doing, they might be able to figure that much out. But because each and every small component inside was intricately designed and moved in concert, it was not something one could copy just by seeing a single part.
In other words, even if Reina spied on them, it would be impossible for her to take anything.
And so Reina constantly went back and forth between both dormitories, keeping the subordinates of Prince Rial near the grounds in check so they could not do anything improper.
She sent the signal that if they had any intention of harming the students, she would cut them down immediately, and she did not even permit the guards she had seen since the Academy and their companions to monitor them.
‘Well, rather than spies, their real occupation is probably assassin. It seems they’re being used as guards as well as surveillance… but why are they all women wearing bracelets?’
Bracelets themselves were common enough, but Reina had occasionally noticed women who seemed to hold some status on Gandharva’s side wearing bracelets of the same design.
As for the assassins, every single one of them wore a bracelet.
A small curiosity about what meaning that held surfaced in Reina’s mind, but she was not particularly worried.
‘Well, even if they all attacked me at once, I think I’d win.’
To be honest, she was only on guard because the students might be put in danger. If it were just Reina herself, they were at a level she could live without paying attention to at all.
The other side also seemed to have some skill, enough to understand the gap between them, so they did not appear likely to cross the line.
Within that safe environment, the usual attitudes of the two groups differed as well.
“So Sir Cardio gave me perfume as a gift, and it was so luxurious…”
“I was introduced to a butler on this side, and he was incredibly handsome.”
A conversation between two noble female students who supported Cardio.
Boasting about luxury gifts, praising handsome and beautiful servants or Cardio himself, and chatting idly.
Perfumes and air fresheners used to a slightly excessive degree, the fragrance of tea, and the occasional cups of alcohol shared at night between like-minded students were the daily life of the chimera faction.
And on the other side—
-Bang!
-“Fifty degrees, north-northwest, sixty-eiiiight!!”
-“Rei got caught in the explosion! Hurry, go after him!”
-“Aizeeen!! Where are you?! How far did he fly?!”
A daily banquet of explosions, screams, and voices searching for people.
They were the side that had rested for exactly about eight hours before immediately plunging into research.
-“They don’t behave like nobles.”
-“Leave them be. Most of them have no pedigree over there.”
-“The Fifth Saintess may, in truth, be counted among those without pedigree, but why would Lady Noel and Lady Erika cling to that side…”
Hearing the chimera faction students’ voices, Reina thought for a moment.
Then she scolded them inwardly.
‘They probably see the future better than you do.’
As a diligent professor, she thought inwardly that she wished they would learn humility and a spirit of devotion, knowing that the prestige of their households was not something they themselves had achieved.
‘In any case, this saved us.’
Reassured that the air fresheners installed here and there had greatly reduced what would otherwise have been an overwhelming smell, Reina continued her patrol.
From what she had heard, Mina had raised the price severalfold to make an excessive profit, but perhaps because everyone wanted to live, there were no complaints anywhere.
There were also many students gathered in the chimera faction who could spend that much as pocket change.
They had so much money that they had brought in many ornaments that had not originally been in these lodgings, and there was even a person caught in the garden vines…
“…Why are you hanging there?”
“The explosion was too strong.”
She retrieved Aizen, who had somehow flown over the high wall he himself had built.
****
I survived.
I hadn’t gotten caught in a tree, but tangled in vines so completely I couldn’t move at all. If I fell as I was, I would land headfirst, so while I was thinking of a way to escape, Professor Reina found me.
Once she cut away some of the vines wrapped around my whole body, I finally managed to loosen myself and change posture, and after she cut the remaining vines, I was able to escape completely.
“It’s a desert, but there are lots of vines and trees here.”
“People live here. Why wouldn’t plants be able to?”
Strictly speaking, it was probably because things that had come mixed in with ornamental plants had been left unattended and ended up like this…
In any case, I survived.
And it was a relief.
“There are trees, bushes, and vines all over the place, so the others who flew off should be safe for the most part, right?”
“Is flying off a basic premise for you people?”
Professor Reina seemed to be seriously wondering how these people were still alive.
By common sense, if you got caught in an explosion, you would die instantly, but after everyone had been in danger a few times, they had learned how to reinforce their entire bodies with mana.
They even had enough composure to shout what they had last been doing while they were flying away, so it was fine.
“Come to think of it, Professor Rodellini flew off too. I wonder if she was recovered safely.”
“She flew off as well? This isn’t a circus, yet you and Senior Rodellini are always being found in strange places.”
Professor Reina sighed.
Did she want the truth?
“It can’t be helped. Professor Rodellini and I test the most dangerous parts. By the time we could shout where we’re flying, it’s already too late more often than not.”
In my case, I was currently researching the levitation device, and Professor Rodellini mainly handled the armaments…
When something exploded, the force was so strong there was no time to convey anything.
All we could do was pray we flew somewhere conspicuous so Erika could recover us quickly.
“I’ve felt this for a while now, but I think you and Senior Rodellini really need to be examined. Medically.”
“We reinforce our bodies with magic before being blown away, so there’s nowhere we get hurt.”
“I meant here.”
She immediately rapped me on the head.
It didn’t hurt much.
“Let’s go back. Well, even if the competition has grown a little fierce, there probably won’t be anyone who sees you and makes a fuss about you coming to spy.”
“They must have a lot of free time.”
“They do. The research is only being done by Cardio and the personnel sent from House Abatus, while the rest are hangers-on. In a sense, you lot are the strange ones, being noisy even after coming all the way here.”
It was called a pilgrimage, but if one were to be precise, it was like coming abroad on a school trip. The only ones researching late into every night and being blown away by explosions were the alchemy department.
Recently, a few people from the magic department who seemed to have grown interested had started joining in, and I was afraid this might spread to them too.
In any case, even though it was like I had fallen into enemy territory, Professor Reina was there, so there was no reaction that was overly hostile.
-“He’s not the type to sneak… in. Is he the one that fell in the backyard earlier?”
-“Well, he won’t take any valuables. Unless it’s mana metal.”
“It seems I’m trusted somehow.”
“There isn’t a single person in the Academy who doesn’t know that rare metals or stone materials would work better than jewels when bribing you.”
I’m not that simple a person.
No matter what, I’ve learned to restrain myself appropriately now.
Still, that golden stone over there doesn’t look like ordinary gold. Should I try prying it off?
“I’m watching you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Knowing you’d covet them, I had the golem faction remove the decorations that were originally installed in this lodging. It’s truly nothing special, so ask Senior Rodellini.”
So that was why I had seen that for the first time.
But seeing how firmly she said it, it seemed there really was nothing special about it.
If it were useful for golems, Professor Rodellini would have told me…
-Flap flap
“Hm?”
I heard something hastily flying away.
When I looked toward the sound, I saw perches where white birds were sitting in a row.
They were the errand runners of House Abatus.
“…Something felt familiar…”
The others were nothing much, but somehow, one of them had seemed to bolt unnaturally.
Professor Reina spoke from behind me.
“Aizen?”
“Something seems a little strange, so I’ll go take a look.”
As I walked toward the perches, the birds stared blankly at me and moved aside.
While Reina, wondering what was going on, followed after me,
I ignored the slightly foul smell that the air fresheners could not suppress and turned my head this way and that.
‘Chimera Storage…’
A sign erected in a place I would never normally enter.
And at the corner of that sign.
I found a creature covering its own head with its wings.
“…Is it you? The one who said he likes Imperial-style… potatoes?”
“Tarts! What do you mean, potatoes!!”
As if enraged, the creature spread its wings.
The white crow I had met last time was getting angry.