“Do these really work?”
After Media took away the pile of items I had recommended, Lucia looked at the remaining items suspiciously.
It seemed that, unable to withstand my pressure, she had said they would be effective without properly knowing their performance and was now feeling guilty about it.
“Who do you take me for, a con artist? I sell them because they work.”
There might be a little exaggeration, but I did not sell items that were completely useless.
There were probably merchants who pursued profit so extremely that they became scammers, but I had not fallen that far yet.
In the first place, if I earned the trust of the suckers here, I could keep milking them for a long time. Taking on the risk of scamming them was stupid.
“Hmm.”
Lucia fiddled with a container of herbs.
“Put that down. It won’t work for you.”
She could already wield magic unbelievably well because of her Privilege, yet she still wanted more.
“Why not?”
“Because you aren’t broken.”
If someone forcibly meddled with something that was already whole, they would only leave scratches on it.
“Does that mean Senior Jun is broken?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
A mentally healthy person did not constantly tear themselves down, nor did they have a fit over a single trivial word.
I was not a psychiatrist, so I had no right to make a diagnosis. But if I had someone like Media around me, I would strongly recommend counseling and treatment.
“Can these fix her?”
“They can’t cure her completely.”
Even professional treatment might not be enough. There was no way a few items could fix a person.
“But they can change the direction of the chain Media is caught in.”
“A chain...?”
Lucia seemed to need more explanation.
“Because her magical ability is poor, the pressure hurts her mind. Because her mind is hurt, her magical ability declines. Of course, that isn’t all there is to it.”
To define magic in a single sentence, it was the collective term for techniques that used the invisible substance called mana, which existed in this world, to create physical phenomena.
The closest example would be using electricity to operate various machines.
In the case of magic, humans were the machines that executed it.
And the human mind was the core gear of the machine.
The mind and magic were inseparable.
“This chain can run in reverse, too. Her magical ability improves, so her mental state improves. Her mental state improves, so her magical ability improves.”
If I could create the opposite flow.
And if I could keep that flow from stopping.
“Touching the mental side is too dangerous, so I need to aim for an improvement in her magical ability.”
The human mind was an area that non-specialists should not meddle with.
I was not a specialist in magic either, but it was far safer than meddling with the mind.
As far as the mental side went, I would settle for herbs that calmed the mind and focus on magic.
“You make it sound easy. What do you take mages for? If magical ability could be improved that easily, no one would struggle.”
Training magic was like upgrading the various parts of a machine.
Increasing battery capacity, replacing it with a circuit board that performed better, or installing a new program.
Naturally, it required investment in many resources.
Even with that investment, performance might not improve because of various factors, such as the limits of the original framework.
“More precisely, I’m trying to let her show the ability she already has.”
However, if a machine had not been maintained, its performance could improve without a huge investment.
Simply dusting it off and oiling it would make it operate much better.
Media was in exactly that condition.
“Media has talent. The fact that she still hasn’t been expelled from the academy despite her mental state being that bad leaves no room for doubt. If she can use all the ability she has, she’ll have enough skill to escape the group of laggards in no time.”
The one thing that bothered me was how someone as talented as Media had fallen into such a negative chain.
I would slowly find out the cause later.
“This herb expels the residual mana generated by failed spells, while this mineral gathers and eliminates scattered mana. The other two are a curtain that blocks sound and light so she can focus while practicing magic, and a ring that prevents mana backflow when a spell fails.”
Every item had been carefully selected to create the best possible environment for Media to use magic.
They would be meaningless to Lucia, who could use magic freely without such things, but they would be a considerable help to Media.
“If she can show her original ability even once, that will become a turning point. From then on, it will be enough to support her from the side so she does not sink again.”
I was ready to shower endless praise on the results Media produced.
So that magical achievement would lead to mental recovery, and her restored self-esteem and mental health would once again lead to greater ability as a mage.
“....”
Lucia looked at me with a strange expression.
“Why?”
Had she still not understood even after I had explained this much?
“Honestly, I’m a little impressed.”
Lucia said this while tapping the container of herbs.
“If you sell people things they do not even realize they need, they cannot complain even if you charge a high price.”
“When you consider the trouble of buying each item separately, it isn’t even that expensive.”
I could not accept Lucia’s assessment.
This world’s distribution network was terrible.
It was only natural not to find a desired item in a village, and even a trip to a nearby city often ended in failure.
In the worst case, you had to wait endlessly for a merchant arriving from another country.
Of course, I simply sat still and bought things from the reincarnator’s Shop.
As a fee for analyzing someone’s needs and providing the items, this was absolutely not excessive.
“Right. Thinking of it that way makes me feel motivated. I felt a little uneasy, like I was making money by overcharging other people.”
Lucia smirked.
“What in the world did you think I was?”
“An unscrupulous merchant...?”
What had I done to be called unscrupulous?
I was a model merchant who made money legally and reasonably.
“Just what kind of... were you in your previous life....”
Lucia closed her mouth midway through speaking, as though she had realized her mistake.
Asking reincarnators about their previous lives was an unspoken taboo.
I had heard that it was because every reincarnator had an unhappy previous life.
It was not a reason that struck me as particularly convincing.
My previous life had not been pleasant either, but there was nothing I could not talk about.
If anything, part of me wished someone would listen and be angry with me.
But....
The fact that I did not care much about stories of my previous life applied only to me. Lucia might be different.
I quickly changed the subject.
“We can’t do business next week, so let’s work.”
A Field Trip was scheduled for next week.
The purpose of leaving the academy to experience the world was good, but from my position, where I was being forced to stop business, it was only unpleasant.
“Ah, right. I’m looking forward to the Field Trip.”
However, my newly hired employee seemed to feel differently. She seemed happy to have a vacation as soon as she found a job.
“What kind of things can you even do with ten-year-olds? It’ll just be a waste of time.”
In the past, the Field Trips I had experienced had mostly been all show.
They were not fun in the slightest, just tiring excursions.
Well, walking around museums or parks had been nice. It was a little better than sitting still and listening to class.
I could not understand what they were thinking by investing an entire week here.
“If we leave the academy, something unexpected could happen, right?”
Lucia smiled innocently.
“I really hope not.”
In my experience, unexpected misfortune was ten times more common than unexpected good fortune.
***
Unfortunately, the ‘unexpected event’ Lucia had hoped for came to me.
First, the content of the Field Trip was far removed from my understanding.
“Greetings, students of Beaumont Academy. I am Hastol, leader of Squad Five at the Neva Branch of the Never Mercenary Company.”
A middle-aged man wearing dirty armor spoke.
The first-years’ Field Trip was about mercenaries.
We were supposed to spend a week in a nearby city experiencing and understanding mercenaries, or something like that.
Career experience. In terms of broadening one’s horizons, it was good.
All academy students came from wealthy families, so they would have no chance to see and learn about the lives of people in bottom-rung work like mercenaries.
The problem was making first-years do it.
Even if it was conducted safely through a mercenary company hired by the academy, I doubted whether it was right to have ten-year-olds accompany bloody mercenary work.
And second.... The group arrangement was the worst.
“Um.... Did you two fight?”
Hastol asked while looking back and forth between Kyle and me.
One student from the Department of Magic and one from the Department of Martial Arts had been paired and sent to different groups. The result was exactly what it looked like.
In theory, with fifty students in each department, the chance that Kyle and I would be in the same group was two percent....
Why did probabilities like this never miss?
“Please do not worry about us.”
“Yes. We are always like this.”
Kyle and I spoke while glaring directly at each other.
As long as this bastard was beside me, I could not relax. He was the kind of person who might try to stab me in the side at any moment.
“Hmm. I do not know the circumstances, but you will be spending the Field Trip together, so perhaps you could ease your feelings through conversation....”
Hastol spoke cautiously.
“I decline.”
Kyle replied firmly.
“That is what he says.”
Kyle hated me unilaterally, so there was nothing I could do.
“Hmm....”
Hastol already wore an exhausted expression.
His eyes showed a deep weariness at the fact that, as a mercenary, he had to look after children.
“We are truly fine. We are reincarnators. We may look like this, but mentally, we are adults. We know how to behave according to the time and place.”
I said this to ease Hastol’s worries even a little.
It was also meant for Kyle.
Please act like an adult. Do not cause trouble.
“You are both reincarnators?”
Hastol’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes. Please rest assured and proceed as scheduled.”
I was not particularly curious about mercenary work, but cooperating would make things at least a little less tiring.
Kyle knew that much as well.
“Understood. You know that mercenary work is dangerous, correct? Please do not create unnecessary trouble.”
Hastol cleared his throat once and continued.
“I will explain the schedule, so listen carefully. Today, we will subdue the Goblins settled in a cave near here. We will mobilize twice the necessary personnel, so I can promise your safety.”
Goblins.
When I helped with Radeos’s training, they were the sort of low-grade monsters we summoned by the dozen.
But in reality, they were among the more dangerous low-grade monsters.
They lived in large groups around caves or crudely built huts, possessed considerable intelligence, and were hostile toward humanity.
Of course, if proper mercenaries or knights took action, they were destined to be swept away one-sidedly.
“Participation in battle is voluntary. The academy asked us to encourage participation in battle, but.... Nothing is more important than the safety of academy students.”
Hastol’s judgment was cautious.
He seemed to think it would become troublesome if academy students were injured for no reason.
Hastol clearly did not know much about Beaumont Academy.
Not only did it make freshmen swing swords and fire magic at each other in something called a Mock Battle as soon as they entered, it also sent them out to do mercenary work as a Field Trip.
If anyone could graduate from this academy without being injured even once, it would surely be considered a great achievement.
It would not bat an eye at students being injured during a Field Trip.
“The cave is fairly deep, so we may have to spend a night inside it. We have prepared sleeping bags for the students as well, so I ask for your understanding even if it is somewhat uncomfortable.”
I felt sorry for Hastol as he tried his best to explain that it was nothing major.
Kyle and I could subdue a Goblin nest by ourselves.
There was no need to treasure us like precious jewels.
“Do you have any questions? If not, we will depart immediately.”
Hastol gestured toward the other mercenaries.
Around ten mercenaries lined up behind Hastol.
The mercenaries moved forward with confident strides.
Kyle and I quietly slipped in among them and began walking.
“How about we call a truce during the Field Trip?”
I held out a hand to Kyle and offered a handshake.
Fighting inside the academy was one thing, but doing it outside was embarrassing.
Just thinking about grappling with this bastard in front of the mercenaries made my face feel hot already.
“Who decided that?”
Kyle snorted.
“You really....”
I was not even asking to reconcile. I was only asking that we let things pass during the Field Trip, yet he responded so aggressively.
Fortunately, despite his words, Kyle did not draw his sword while we traveled.
We left the city and reached the foot of a mountain.
Monsters occasionally poked their heads out from the brush, but the eleven mercenaries did not allow them to approach.
“Cave found!”
Before long, the target cave appeared before us.
As though to announce that Goblins lived within, numerous Goblins could be seen around the cave.
After the mercenaries calmly cleared the area around the cave.
“Charge!”
The Field Trip began in earnest.