The drinking session continued a little longer, and by the time the atmosphere among the three of us had fully warmed, “One more glass of ale over here....”
Lulu, whose face was already bright red, fearlessly began ordering her third drink.
“Stop drinking, Lulu.”
“...What are you, my guardian?”
“I’m saying it because I’m worried. If you want to make a fool of yourself in front of a junior you’ve only just met, then go ahead and drink more.”
“...Fine, then.”
Her face was already flushed after only two glasses of ale.
If she drank even a little more, I would have to carry her in my arms, give her a piggyback ride, or sling her over my shoulder all the way back to her dormitory.
I stopped Lulu at an appropriate point before she could disgrace herself.
Looking awkward, she changed the subject.
“By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said you happened to have another use for it? Did you get into another fight with someone besides Dike?”
Lulu pointed toward me, seemingly indicating the Broadsword beneath my cloak.
“Nothing like that. I’m planning to visit the Academy Guild soon.”
I answered in a way that told her she did not need to worry, despite the concerned look on her face.
“The Academy Guild? The one near the Slime Grasslands?”
“No, the one near the Demon Forest.”
Alexandros Academy, an educational institution of the Empire, had several Hunting Guilds.
They were facilities designed both to give students practical experience and to convert the labor spent during training into added value.
Simply put, they were monster-hunting grounds available to students of the Academy.
If the Hunting Guild near the Slime Grasslands was a hunting ground for first-year beginners, then the Demon Forest was intermediate level.
It was a guild for students who had accumulated a certain amount of experience, generally those from their second year through the beginning of their fourth.
“The Demon Forest? Will you be all right?”
“I think yesterday’s evaluation match helped me regain most of my close-combat instincts. Monsters from the Demon Forest shouldn’t be difficult to handle.”
“With your ability, I suppose that’s true....”
Lulu looked hesitant, as though she had something she wanted to say, before carefully making a suggestion.
“Ah, do you perhaps need someone in charge of scouting? A technician who can check how many enemies are nearby and whether there are any traps?”
I immediately understood what Lulu truly meant, but this time I refused her in gentler terms.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. I’m planning to try going alone for now.”
“I-I see....”
Seeing her ears droop made me feel a little guilty, but I had decided it would still be better not to take her.
“Senior Conrad, do you perhaps require someone on the front line? I have experience defeating monsters in the County of Arwen!”
The moment Lulu’s offer was rejected, Stella made a similar one.
“I appreciate the thought from you too, Stella. I want to find out how capable I am on my own.”
“I-I understand. My apologies.”
I dismissed her offer in similar terms.
Stella probably would not be a hindrance if she came along, but considering what I had to do that day, even she might be placed in some danger.
In any case, when I truly needed them later, I intended to ask the two of them to accompany me to the Demon Forest first.
There was no need to expose them to danger already.
That evening gathering came to an end after I escorted the two somewhat dejected girls back to their dormitories.
***
I had quite a lot to do today, so I diligently left the dormitory early in the morning.
It was the day I needed to deal with an elite monster expected to appear at the Demon Forest Guild.
I was not so financially desperate that I had to rearrange my schedule merely to hunt an elite monster.
However, the monster I would encounter today was a special existence, so I needed to move personally and hunt it myself.
I had to deal with it before the Hunting Festival, the final evaluation, at the very latest.
A rare day of leisure like today was the perfect time to head to the Academy Guild in the Demon Forest.
I took up the staff my parents had given me as an enrollment present and draped the cloak Lulu had given me for my birthday over my shoulders.
Then I secured the Broadsword Stella had given me beneath the cloak and left the Department of Magic dormitory.
This would probably be my first time hunting monsters since returning to the past.
Only two words were needed to describe the creature I would hunt today.
Fast and venomous.
As the danger implied by those two words suggested, It was not a particularly friendly kind of monster for a beginner to face.
Its attack pattern might be fixed, but its movements were so fast that anyone meeting it for the first time would inevitably be flustered.
And the instant one allowed its venomous attack to land, they would meet an empty end as the monster’s prey.
Bringing Stella or Lulu, who lacked real combat experience, would have been somewhat dangerous.
In any case, there were two main reasons I intended to visit the Demon Forest specifically at this time to deal with it.
The first was to kill a monster that was slightly too dangerous for an ordinary Academy student while I had both the time and the ability.
The other was that one of the materials from the monster I would kill today was required to unlock the Fourth Circle.
Unlike the Magic Circles up to the Third Circle, which could be unlocked merely by chaining mana formulas, Unlocking the Fourth Circle and beyond required at least two conditions.
One was an ‘environment,’ and the other was a ‘material.’
As for the environment, renting a training ground from the Department of Magic would be sufficient.
In fact, I had already reserved one of its training grounds for a week from now.
That meant if I failed to obtain the material within the week, I would be unable to make proper use of the training ground I had gone to the trouble of renting.
If I failed to obtain it, I could buy a different material as a substitute in a hurry.
However, every material used to raise a Magic Circle was expensive, so for someone like me without much financial freedom, it would be a devastating expense.
Just as a thirsty man digs his own well, obtaining and using what one needed personally was how a mage survived in this world.
I had felt bad about dragging the two of them into fulfilling a personal need of mine.
That was why I had no choice but to reject Stella and Lulu’s offers despite their dejected expressions.
“Senior Conrad! What a coincidence to meet you here! Have you come to hunt at the Demon Forest Guild?”
“...Oh, you’re here? It’s not like I was waiting for you or anything. I was just curious about the guild too, so don’t pay any attention to me.”
The moment I encountered the two of them already waiting for me in front of the Academy Guild, a shallow sigh escaped me.
Maybe I should have been firmer.
“........”
“I-It truly is a coincidence! I planned a slightly different route for my morning exercise today, and while I happened to be passing nearby, I happened to think of you....”
“........”
“W-What? I’m an Academy student too! I’m allowed to visit the Academy Guild!”
I had not said a word and had merely exchanged silent looks with them.
Yet Stella and Lulu each reacted in alarm and hurriedly began making excuses.
“No, I mean, I-I really didn’t come because of what you said yesterday....”
“Senior Conrad...? Are you perhaps displeased...?”
“Fine. It can’t be helped. Since we’re going in anyway, let’s go together.”
I felt bad about sending the two of them back after they had already come this far, so reluctant agreement escaped my mouth.
Instead, Stella and Lulu looked surprised by my attitude.
“...Really?”
“Is that all right?”
“I was planning to ask you both to come with me at least once eventually. It should be fine if that happens to be today.”
Ideally, I had wanted to bring them after killing the dangerous monster I intended to hunt today and making the area somewhat safer.
But if I rejected their help after they had followed me this far, accepting their next offer would obviously become more difficult.
The creature I would face today was dangerous, but if we dealt with it exactly as I had prepared, we would not be placed in any real danger.
More importantly, having the two of them within my sight was far more reassuring than letting them act separately for no reason.
“I will do my utmost not to hold you back, Senior Conrad!”
“I-I will too. I’ll work hard, okay?”
I could only hope they did not push themselves and get hurt.
***
The Hunting Guilds inside the Academy were student training facilities, but they could also be regarded as student welfare facilities.
The reason I called the guilds inside the Academy welfare facilities was that they were not operated for profit.
Like actual Hunting Guilds, they accepted requests and purchased monster corpses and materials, but the purchase prices were considerably higher than those offered by ordinary guilds.
Common materials sold for at least 1.3 times the usual price, while rare materials sold for nearly twice as much.
If they had been properly processed and prepared, their value could rise to three or even four times the normal amount.
That was possible because the Academy covered all the labor costs involved in operating the Hunting Guilds, while all proceeds from the materials were returned to the students.
As long as one lived as an Academy student, failing to make the greatest possible use of them would be a loss.
I was already a poor frontier noble with limited living expenses.
If I could earn income this easily through my own ability, there was no reason to refuse.
Until now, I had not had the opportunity to use them because too many other matters had occupied me.
But from now until the final Hunting Festival, I had a fair amount of time to spare.
I had unlocked my Magic Circles through the Third Circle, and the troublesome Midterm Evaluation Match had ended.
Even after I finished hunting the monster I intended to deal with today, I would probably visit this guild fairly often for a while.
“Conrad, have you ever been to a guild like this before?”
“Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“It’s just that, for someone doing this for the first time, you finished everything from reception to registration without asking a single question.”
“I’ve done it before.”
I brushed aside Lulu’s comment with a suitable excuse and entered the Demon Forest in earnest.
Then I lowered my stance and sent mana flowing into the ground.
The closest monster is to the west. The next closest is to the northeast.
“Let’s advance northwest....”
“Five Goblins five hundred meters northeast. A pair of Werewolves seven hundred meters east. Twelve Kobolds three hundred meters west.”
“Huh?”
I had planned to avoid unnecessary battles while heading toward the creature’s nest.
Instead, Lulu suddenly delivered a scouting report.
It was more precise than my mana detection and covered a far wider range.
“You’re fast.”
The praise escaped my mouth without thought.
I already knew from my previous life that Lulu’s scouting ability was astonishingly accurate.
Even so, I had not expected her to have reached this level when she had only just entered her second year.
“A-Amazing, Senior Lulu!”
“It certainly is impressive.”
“I-Is it? It’s nothing special....”
Lulu, who had been touching a finger to the ground and detecting vibrations, rose from her position in embarrassment.
“Then let’s just advance north. There’s no need to avoid only five Goblins.”
It would take less than a minute to deal with all of them, so taking a detour would waste more time.
“No need to avoid them? Aren’t the Goblins your target?”
“I didn’t come here to hunt half-baked creatures like Goblins or Kobolds. We’ll only avoid anything that looks like it’ll waste too much time.”
“Then I will take the lead.”
Stella moved in front of Lulu and me.
“If any troublesome battles arise, I will handle them all. Please conserve your strength until a powerful opponent appears, Senior Conrad.”
“Then I’m sorry, but I’ll leave it to you.”
Originally, I had intended to prepare myself to use magic at any moment in anticipation of battle.
However, Stella’s offer to take the lead meant I no longer needed to waste mana.
It certainly was remarkably convenient.
Perhaps deciding to bring the two of them with me had truly been the right choice after all.