Much to my regret, the academy’s official schedule included sightseeing in a foreign city.
It was a holiday held about once a week during our stay, arranged so the students, after getting some rest, wouldn’t spend their time bored and would do more than just follow the academy’s itinerary.
The alchemy rioters had no money and had intended to simply stay inside and do research, but unfortunately, there was a policy that forced everyone to go out during the first week, so they were all getting ready to leave.
“What are we supposed to do outside when we don’t even have any money?”
“I heard the Chimera Faction has a lot of high-ranking nobles, so they’re going to party like crazy. More importantly, they apparently did nothing but play around on the way here.”
Grumbling voices could be heard.
From the academy’s perspective, it was a schedule made with good intentions—to let everyone sightsee, relieve stress, and gain experience along the way—but that was only good for people who liked going out to have fun. For those who preferred resting comfortably indoors, it was torture.
That was why I had prepared something.
“Rioters, come get your stipend.”
“One rioter is running over, Maaaaaster!!”
Playing along with my joke, the alchemy students and some of the students who had actively participated in the research came over and received coin purses.
The amount itself wasn’t much, but it was enough money to eat and drink for a day.
One of them looked at the money, trembled, and carefully asked,
“Um, is this really okay? With this many people, even this amount is going to cost quite a bit…”
“I still have plenty of funds.”
The prince of this country had paid ten times the price for the Cyclops as the price of his pointless provocation.
On top of that, there were the gifts, and there was also the money I received from handing over to Mina the useless things Avatus had given me in Gilford’s place as supposed compensation.
Mina was planning to invest more later, but for now, even with just what had entered my own pockets, my financial situation was abundant.
Honestly, covering vacation money barely even scratched me.
“In exchange, you might not be able to sleep at night starting tomorrow.”
“We sleep in shifts, so that’s no problem, right?”
“We’ll be sleeping forever in our graves anyway, but you can’t do research in a grave, can you?”
Saying something that was honestly rather chilling, the rioters grinned happily as they looked at their coin purses.
This was why they were so useful.
“I’m planning to support you on the last outing schedule too, so keep that in mind.”
Something like the roar of beasts rang out, and the rioters happily went outside.
I watched the knight department students and magic department students leave with slightly envious faces, wondering if they should join in even tomorrow, then turned around.
“…Professor.”
“I think I should receive double. No, one and a half times.”
“I prepared triple for you, so use it for drinks today.”
“Yesss! My dignity maintenance fund!!”
Professor Rodelini took the coin purse I had prepared and left as though dancing.
Feeling a slight fear at the fact that the presence-concealment technique I had thought only Professor Reina used was now being used by that professor as well, I headed outside.
A faint sand-laden wind blew. I walked through it, passing by the Chimera Faction students who also seemed to be heading out to play, and the Golem Faction students chattering over a map about where they should go, until I reached the meeting place.
Near the entrance, I approached the spot where an unusual number of Chimera Faction students had gathered and said,
“I believe this side has a prior engagement. Move aside.”
“…Damn it. The baron’s here.”
“Don’t say that. My apologies. I hope you have a pleasant time.”
Some clicked their tongues in disappointment, while others responded politely as if trying to make a good impression; there were all sorts of reactions.
Since the overwhelming majority of the Chimera Faction were children of high-ranking nobles, there were those accustomed to how to conduct themselves, and at the same time, there were those who looked at me with displeasure because of that.
Still, compared to them, I was the one with the higher rank right now.
Even if they were the children of high-ranking nobles, the person who held that office was the head of their house, not them.
And as I walked through the crowd, Noel, Mina, and Erika, dressed in outing clothes, waved at me happily.
“Ah, Lord Aizen. You came early.”
“We came out a little early, but people swarmed us asking to go out together, so we were in a bit of a bind. This is perfect!”
“You’re late. Fine.”
The three of them expressed their delight in their own ways.
With all three of them dressed up, it seemed the Chimera Faction fellows had been trying to use this opportunity to get close to them.
The Golem Faction students weren’t here, but that side had gathered yesterday in advance, so there was no reason for them to come today; quite a lot of them had come then too.
After all, from the perspective of nobles, the daughters of a ducal house and a margrave, as well as the fifth saintess, were people they absolutely wanted to befriend.
—“Baron, I am from the Philianol baronial house—gyah!”
“Please escort us quickly, Aizen. We have a lot to do, don’t we?”
No sooner had I heard a voice calling for me than Noel spoke to me with a smile.
The air around us stung slightly, as if electricity were running through it, but I decided it was just my imagination.
“Let’s go.”
Soon, the three of them moved together with me, and the Chimera Faction students also began to disperse.
As we quietly moved away, I voiced my honest thoughts.
“Even divided into the Golem Faction and Chimera Faction, there are still a lot of people who want to get close to you.”
“It’s like a temporary team match, after all. The academy is also adjusting things so it doesn’t get too heated and become a cause of discord later, and we use the same dining hall, don’t we? Some people are already considering what comes after.”
“I think before the final week, there may be defectors or even informants. Right now, it’s the early stage, so they’re just choosing the side they like more, but as time goes on, they’ll start weighing practical gains.”
I nodded at Noel and Erika’s words.
Then Mina thought for a moment and opened her mouth.
“Maybe the headmaster predicted this first and made a move so it wouldn’t turn into a filthy political fight.”
“That makes sense too.”
As I had thought before, if it had only been a competition between me and Avatus, all sorts of things could have happened.
Sabotage, like Avatus sending assassins, for example.
And there was no way the people around us would stay still either.
Some might interfere with my side first to curry favor with Avatus, while others might help my side to make a good impression on Noel, Erika, or Mina…
I was only realizing it now, but the headmaster must have been wary of students causing pointless disturbances through political strife, so he had dragged it down into a fight with rules and turned it into something like a team competition.
“Well, we just have to do what we need to do well.”
If there were rules, then this side had the advantage.
There was no need for needless analysis.
We went straight into the city, and as we walked along a road that was more orderly than I had expected, the lively sounds of the marketplace soon began to reach us.
—“Honored guests from Vespia Academy! We have precious magic tools here…!”
—“Selling imperial-style tarts! Food knows neither sin nor borders! Come and—what is this crazy white crow?! Go away!”
As expected of a country where countless goods flowed in and out, the scents of all kinds of ornaments and various foods drifted through the air.
There were shops that looked like Vespian-style restaurants, as well as shops that seemed to be baking bread in the imperial style.
“Even with the atmosphere of war against the Empire, exchange still continues, huh.”
“Money and goods themselves have no borders.”
I supposed that meant it wasn’t right to treat someone as a criminal just because they handled goods from an enemy nation.
Personally, I wanted to look around for a bit, but unfortunately, Erika and Mina were absolutely blocking me from going that way.
“…It’s not like we’re in a hurry on the way to the library, so why are you so…”
“There’s definitely going to be a shop over there that handles rare minerals, and if we let go of you, Lord Aizen, you’ll go straight there, won’t you?”
“As you can see, we agreed to go to the library first, but I feel like that might somehow get twisted into something else, so this time, let’s obediently go to the library.”
One comment sounded as though she knew me all too well, while the other carried a strange calculation.
The way they glanced at each other once was a little frightening.
Yesterday, the three of them had proposed that we go around together, then suddenly went off somewhere by themselves, and after a while, they came back having agreed that we would all move together…
I had the feeling that if I simply pretended not to know here, I would definitely suffer greatly later.
“Since we came out together, it’d be a waste, wouldn’t it? We can go on the way back from the library…”
When I proposed it slightly cautiously, Noel, Mina, and Erika looked at one another for a moment.
A very faint chill flowed through the air.
Then Noel smiled and said,
“That’s true. I did think I wanted to look at tea leaves or tea sets together with you, Lord Aizen. Shall we go look together?”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Mina and Erika stood behind Noel with smiles.
Then Mina spoke with a somewhat frightening smile.
“Agreement. Nullified?”
“I wonder.”
Noel answered Mina’s words with a smile.
But soon, she let out a small sigh and quietly said,
“Lord Aizen isn’t wrong either, is he? Since it’s come to this, rather than pointlessly not going, simply going around together is also an answer.”
Was this an impromptu compromise, not part of the original plan?
Mina and Erika looked at each other.
And it seemed they decided to accept what looked like the second compromise proposal.
“Market. Price survey. Thinking of buying clothes too.”
“For me, it would be the arms shop.”
“You heard them, didn’t you, Lord Aizen? Once our investigation is done, we all have to go around together, all right? Just because your business at the library is over, going straight to do golem research is forbidden, okay?”
Noel’s smile was a little scary.
I could see a certain determination not to let me go today.
Even so, as I felt the atmosphere itself had lightened somewhat, we arrived at the library before I knew it.
It was a building with a slightly unusual glow to it, so just as I was about to immediately look around, Mina quietly said,
“Oh, right. They say this place is built only with wood and stone.”
“…Thorough, aren’t you.”
These girls knew me far too well.
If there was even a chance there might be metal, they had clearly predicted that I might trot right over and start taking it apart, and had thoroughly investigated in advance.
For lack of any other choice, I wondered if I would have to go on a boring book expedition, but even so, that feeling soon faded.
After all, the atmosphere emitted by an enormous collection of books was quite pleasant in its own way.
There might even be a book here containing techniques that could be useful for golems, so it wasn’t a bad situation.
“Our target is information related to monster disasters that occurred here in the past, right?”
“And cases where there were signs of monsters moving. Remember.”
Not just simple monsters, but cases observed along with a great migration of monsters.
If it was a fairly famous incident, there was a high chance some record of it remained here.
Searching wouldn’t be that difficult, at least.
After choosing appropriate keywords, we immediately pulled out books and began reading.
“…The Dancing Lightning of Vespia… This case doesn’t seem to be it…”
Perhaps because this was a world where enormous monsters existed and no one knew what sort of disasters they might bring, I was able to find similar content itself rather quickly.
It must be because information on such beings, which were not merely people against people but were practically natural disasters, was also necessary to maintain a nation.
There were many interesting cases, and there were monsters that made me wonder what would be needed if one were to face them with golems.
But what mattered now was information on the monster that had caused a specific incident in this desert.
As I was in the middle of turning pages and searching through the contents, a torn-out page caught my eye.
“…It’s been ripped out?”
Books were fundamentally precious items.
Libraries, usually managed by the state, were places considered especially important.
Even now, this library was a place whose use had been permitted only to academy students, and even that was because they had credibility; it wasn’t a place just anyone could use.
And there was a torn book in a place like this?
“This is a bit serious.”
The thought immediately occurred to me that someone had intentionally interfered to prevent others from obtaining information.
And then.
“I knew you would come looking for this.”
A sudden voice came from beyond the bookshelf.
I was about to turn around immediately when something shot out between the shelves like a blade.
After identifying what it was, I simply stayed still.
“…I know it’s paper.”
“I was trying to trick you.”
Well, it wasn’t as though this was the kind of place where someone could bring in a blade.
There was mischief mixed into the other party’s voice.
However, if it had been a real blade, the situation would have been dangerous.
I had no obligation to speak gently here.
“I’ll take it that you have no intention of being hostile. Who are you?”
“Oh dear. The baron is rather easy to offend, isn’t he? Well, I suppose that’s only natural.”
A person quietly emerged from behind the bookshelf.
Her sun-tanned coppery skin and glasses stood out.
After smoothing her pale golden hair once, the woman lowered her posture slightly and said,
“Pleased to meet you, Baron Arclight. I am the eighth saintess of the Saras Church, Sirita.”
The woman in glasses narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
“I am Prince Rial’s sister.”
A small voice added, “Please remember that.”