**
Linia acquiring aura was truly an unexpected event.
I didn't know for sure if there had been a change of heart after the goblin attack, or if she had awakened while training in martial arts, but she had obtained aura, an essential virtue for a warrior.
“Heehee, I’ve escaped from Tania Unnie! And I’ve escaped from that tedious cleaning!”
For a blockhead like this to awaken to aura, it must be the end of the world.
Or maybe, since she is a blockhead, it’s a relief that at least her body is strong.
In any case, I looked at the grinning Linia and spat out some harsh words.
“Father isn't sending you to the academy to let you loaf around and do nothing.”
Although she was like family to me, she was also like a daughter to my father, so he had readily agreed to support her tuition.
(Though since I've earned more money than my father, it was closer to being my money.)
And so, she was to leave for the academy with me, also serving as my escort.
[Our train has arrived at the final stop, Grante Station. We ask that all passengers prepare to disembark, making sure not to leave any belongings behind.]
“Wow, look outside the window! I think we’ve arrived!”
I had taken a nap on the train and woken up to find that we had already arrived in Grante, the capital of the Empire where the academy was located.
Outside the window, the sun was beginning to set, and accordingly, countless lights were turning on, revealing the beautiful night view of the city.
“This is my first time in a big city like this!”
“Don’t act like a country bumpkin. Get off quietly.”
“Hmph! Whatever!”
Linia, who had been grumbling behind me, gathered her luggage and followed me off the train.
The numerous people who got off the train began to move in a large crowd, heading somewhere.
We also mixed into the crowd and started moving outside the station.
“It's late, so let’s go to an inn first.”
“Ugh. I want to look around a little more.”
“We can go sightseeing later when we have time. For now, let’s go to our lodging, drop off our luggage, and prepare for the entrance exam.”
“But…”
“You know that if you fail the entrance exam, you have to go back to Leventia and sweep with a broom, right?”
“Hmph!”
I took the grumbling Linia and quickly started walking.
As we left the station and entered the city's main street, the scenery of Grante came into view all at once.
Streetcars running on the roads, high-rise buildings where modern and medieval styles were exquisitely mixed, and countless streetlights and signs illuminating the streets.
There was also a different flavor from the modern world, with stylish decorations and sculptures placed here and there.
“There are a lot of people, even though it’s getting late.”
“The facilities are good, so there aren't really any restrictions on moving around at night.”
Here, the facilities were as well-equipped as in the modern era, but if you went down to the countryside, there were also regions at a medieval European level where you’d be lucky to find a torch.
Perhaps because of that, it was a very contrasting scene to the small and medium-sized cities in the provinces.
“It’s true. Even in our Leventia, after you fixed up the streetlights and roads, people started to walk around a lot more at night.”
“That was really tough. The amount of work I put into that maintenance project…”
“As expected, our Young Master is amazing~!”
“Why does that sound like sarcasm?”
“I’m being serious!”
As I walked while looking around with Linia, I found the inn I had booked before we left.
An inn with a stylish sign decorated with a leaf-shaped ornament called ‘Forest of the Spirits’ and a figure that looked like a fairy.
It was too elegant and luxurious for an inn's sign.
Of course, it wasn't just the sign that was luxurious.
“This is an inn?”
“You could call it a hotel.”
Leaving behind the sign, which glowed faintly with neon lights like a modern city on Earth, we entered the inn.
As we stepped inside, an employee at a respectable-looking reception desk greeted us kindly.
“Hello, customer. Did you happen to make a reservation?”
“Yes, I made a reservation under the name Raniel Leventia.”
I immediately pulled up the reservation ticket stored on my tablet and showed it to the stylishly dressed employee.
“Excuse me.”
The employee politely took the tablet and confirmed the reservation ticket stored inside.
“Confirmed. Your room is 206, and here is your key.”
“Thank you.”
The feel of the inn was also not that of a traditional inn but a modern hotel, so we were able to head straight to the room without any major inconvenience.
The inn wasn't just stylish on the outside; the room's facilities were also quite good.
“Wow! The bed is even better than the one in my room!”
“It’s certainly a high-quality product.”
“The refrigerator is the latest model too! I feel like the room would turn into a winter wonderland if I left it open!”
“The one I made has much better performance.”
For reference, the refrigerators here didn't generate heat, so if you left them open, the surroundings would cool down like an air conditioner.
Though the fuel efficiency was poor.
Anyway, both Linia and I were satisfied with the better-than-expected condition of the lodging and unpacked our luggage.
“I’m showering first.”
“Okay! I’ll look around a little more!”
I went into the bathroom first, and Linia snooped around the room.
I hadn't really sweated much, so I washed up quickly and then switched with Linia.
And so, with both of us feeling refreshed, we organized our clothes.
“Now that we’re done unpacking, let’s go look around outside!”
“Stop talking nonsense and take out the notes I organized for you. We need to study for the written exam.”
“Already? We still have a few days, so for just one day, we can relieve our travel fatigue…”
“Do your fatigue relieving and sightseeing after the exam is over.”
“No!”
“If you fail the exam and go back to the mansion, Tania Noona will be very happy.”
“Ah, ugh! Keuk!”
Linia’s sullenness evolved into a look of utter despair.
Linia clutched her heart and gasped, but it was none of my business.
“You should be a little more grateful. A star instructor is giving you a personal lecture,”
“Raniel isn’t a star instructor, he’s a strike instructor…”
“Shut up, blockhead.”
I calmed the whining Linia down with kind words (?) and began the lesson.
“I’ll explain it at your level, so just cram it into your head for now.”
I took Linia’s tablet and quietly wrote a phrase on it, then turned it around for her to see.
<There is the purest form of energy called mana. And the energy processed from this in the body is called magic and aura.>
“I know that much.”
Linia shrugged her shoulders.
It was basic, so of course she would know.
“So, warriors use aura, mages use magic, and magical engineers use mana itself. You get that too, right?”
“That much is nothing.”
Linia’s shoulders went up even higher.
It was just basic theory, but her shoulders looked like they were about to reach the sky.
“Next is.”
Since the goal was for Linia to learn, I wrote on the tablet with a simple drawing.
<Mana is located in the center of the body.
Warriors create an aura-hole below the navel to store and use aura.
Mages use magic by carving a circle on their heart.>
“Hmph, theory is no big deal. It’s all just common sense, isn’t it?”
“Question here. How many centimeters below the navel is the aura-hole created?”
“…Uh, huh?”
Linia’s face, which had been shrugging her shoulders just a moment ago, suddenly turned pale.
“I’ll ask again. How many centimeters below the navel is it?”
“Uh, umm. 7cm?”
“It varies from person to person, but 5cm is generally considered the standard.”
Instead of scolding Linia, I continued to explain kindly.
If I nagged her too much the day before the exam, her motivation could drop, which could also lead to poor condition.
“The basic theory of mana, magic, and aura is simple, but because it’s simple, they ask about detailed elements like this, so it’s important to memorize it thoroughly.”
After that, I explained a few more simple concepts about mana, magic, and aura, and finished the theory explanation.
Since she was an aspiring knight who used aura, they probably wouldn't ask about complex theories anyway.
‘What’s important for a warrior is aptitude for aura and the practical exam.’
“If you’ve roughly memorized it, let’s move on.”
“H-huh? Is there more?”
“We need to prepare for the practical exam too.”
At my words, Linia tilted her head.
“You can’t use aura, Raniel. So how can you help me with the practical exam?”
“In theory alone, I know a hundred times more than you.”
Especially because of my father’s nagging, I could recite the incantations of the training method with my eyes closed.
“Theory and practice are different, you know?”
“Shut up and just try circulating your training method.”
At my words, Linia pouted but sat down and closed her eyes.
She grumbled, but she was obedient.
Chuckling, I gathered my internal mana to my fingertips.
The purest form of energy, before it was processed into aura.
With mana alone, one couldn't learn or use martial arts, but it was possible to help others learn things like training methods by synchronizing with their aura.
Sssss.
A shimmering phenomenon, unnoticeable unless you looked closely, appeared at my fingertips.
Then, I reached out with my mana-infused hand from behind Linia, who was breathing at a regular interval.
As my hand touched her back, Linia flinched slightly, but when I moved my mana, she realized it was me and resumed her steady breathing.
I carefully moved my mana and observed Linia’s interior.
Then, I gently poked Linia’s aura with my mana.
‘Follow me.’
With that kind of feeling.
And according to the incantations of the family’s training method, I moved the mana inside Linia.
‘Wait! Slow down a bit!’
With that feeling, Linia’s aura carefully followed behind my mana.
Once I showed her the correct path, I could feel Linia’s aura gradually stabilizing.
Of course, if Linia’s aura seemed to be going down the wrong path, I would nudge her aura and guide it in the right direction.
It was actually a rather dangerous method, but since my mana control was very high and the exam was just around the corner, it was a method worth trying.
‘And no matter how you get there, as long as the result is good, that’s all that matters!’
As Linia’s aura became more and more stable, the wind-like feeling began to grow stronger, and just as it was becoming difficult to bear, I immediately withdrew my mana.
“That’s it for today.”
“Hah, hah…”
Linia took ragged breaths, slowly opening her eyes and steadying her breathing.
She's covered in sweat, she'll have to shower again.
“It’s definitely much more efficient than training alone.”
Linia said in admiration, raising the aura around her body.
The wind-like feeling had certainly become stronger, and the color of her aura had deepened.
“It’s because you’re still in the early, inexperienced stages that you feel the progress quickly. In the end, you have to find your own path.”
“I’ve only seen it over your shoulder, so I don’t know if I’m doing it right.”
“Well, from what I can see, you’re doing well for you.”
She was definitely doing well, for Linia.
Come to think of it, this girl had been unnecessarily physically capable even before she learned aura.
It made me realize once again that for a warrior, while aura was important, having a solid basic physical ability to back it up was essential.
[It must be tough for you, Master.]
‘That’s true, but hearing it from you is strangely irritating.’
[Come on, Master, you’re more suited for brain labor than that kind of body-using manual labor.]
‘That is true.’
As long as I wasn't bedridden like when I was a child, I thought my current physical ability was sufficient.
Anyway, I was only interested in aura from a theoretical standpoint and had no intention of learning it physically myself.
“Then let’s go back to studying theory.”
“Huh? Wasn’t today’s lesson over?”
“Can you recite everything I just taught you without a single mistake?”
“No, that’s…”
“It’s fine. If you keep repeating it, you’ll be able to memorize it.”
“When am I supposed to sleep?”
“Sleep after the exam.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Have you ever seen me joke?”
“Devil instructor! Strike instructor!”
“Who would recognize my efforts, struggling to get a blockhead like you to pass.”
“No, but still, a person has to sleep!”
“Alright. You need to manage your condition too, so I’ll let you sleep the night before the exam.”
“Hwaaang! You devil!!”
And so, lightly ignoring Linia’s wishes, I crammed exam-related knowledge into Linia’s body and mind until the day of the academy entrance exam.
And finally, the day of the exam arrived.
<><><>
The Imperial Academy.
And within it, on the upper floor of a particularly tall building.
Someone was quietly looking down below.
“So you’ve come here after all.”
Excitement, thrill, anticipation, anxiety, worry.
While boys and girls filled with numerous emotions were crossing the campus for the entrance exam.
Someone’s gaze was fixed on just one person in that vast crowd.
“I’ve waited a long time.”
A voice steeped in sentiment, as if recalling an old memory, as if immersed in a faded recollection.
“I don’t know if you’ll remember me, but we’ll be meeting soon.”
Reflected in the speaker’s eyes was a boy with slit eyes and platinum-blonde hair that shone brightly in the sunlight.