I decided to do parts for this chapter cause it’s a long one.
Chapter 4: Finally Entered the Academy
Part I
“Quite a refreshing morning, right? It feels like it’s congratulating me for my entrance into the school.”
Stretching out wide at the back door of the dormitory, Ryoji took out the Cozimo sword from the storage and looked at it with satisfaction as he switched the attributes while swinging the sword in turn.
“It’s possible to impart attributes smoothly, and it’s perfect for a debut work with Cozimo’s seal. I’ve given the sword to the garrison army under a serial number system, so I think it will be at a premium in the future.”
As Ryoji contemplated future developments regarding the sale of the sword, he separated the sword part from the magical tool part and cast the Lightning Needle when he put his magical power into it.
” Oh! That’s great! Can I add different attribute magic in this state? Fire Needle! Ice Needle! Wind Needle! Water Needle! Earth Needle! One more! Lightning Needle! I can’t just look at it. All right! Let’s try shooting at that tree!”
Ryoji shouted pointing at the tree about three meters high that was growing at the back door of the dormitory, and the six different needles were sucked into the tree with great force.
“What’s it’s like?”
The pierced areas showed the characteristics of their attributes, and after seeing the charred, waterlogged, and frozen state, he nodded with satisfaction and was about to shoot out again to double-check, when a voice called out to him.
“Good morning. Ryoji-sama. I have a message for you……. What are you doing?”
“Good morning. Carena. I wanted to check the magic element of Cozimo’s sword. I was testing it with six different attributes. The power itself isn’t that great, but it’s good because I can attack with the attributes. I personally prefer the Lightning Needle because it leaves less of a scar when you kill a Monster. Go!”
He fired the six-attribute Needle for the second time while answering Carena. Satisfied that he hit the exact same spot as the first shot, he looked at Carena and saw that she was pointing at a tree with her mouth agape. Ryoji clapped his hands lightly when he saw this, and then put his hands together and apologized to Carena.
“Sorry! I shouldn’t try magic with a tree. I’ll heal it, forgive me.”
Ryoji hurriedly holds his hand out to the tree and visualizes the tree returning to its original state by casting a spell.
“Thank goodness. Recovery magic is difficult, but it’s manageable. It’ll be okay now!”
“I’m getting confused, so may I ask Ryoji-sama to be in seiza?”
“Why!?”
Ryoji’s shouts were not heeded and Carena demanded that he be on seiza.
“Carena? As for seiza in this situation, I demand an explanation. Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m sorry. I saw a situation that was a bit unreasonable and I couldn’t help but ……”
He asked Carena for an explanation while on seiza and apologetically began to ask questions.
“Do Cozimo swords separate?”
“Yeah! Isn’t it cool! Of the 101 swords that Cozimo-san made for me, mine is the only one that separates. To be a magic swordsman, you have to have a good-looking weapon!”
“And you were shooting out six different types of needles with attribute magic, weren’t you?”
“I think it would be cooler if I could do a lot of different things! Besides, if I can fire six different kinds of magic, I’ll be able to deal with any enemy who comes up with a magic tool that nullifies those attributes, won’t I?”
“……. Then you shoot in six different ways because it’s cool?”
“That’s the template! The fact that I can use so many different attributes! Huh? Are you okay? Carena?”
In response to Ryoji’s vigorous reply, Carena began to mumble with her head in her hands. With a worried look, Ryoji tried to speak to her, but she looked up and spoke to him with an enlightened smile on her face.
“It’s all right! Finally, I have decided on my mind. That under normal circumstances it would be impossible to have a sword that separates! And that no one in the history of magic has ever launched multiple attributes at the same time in a fixed manner! And that you can do it! I decided to put it all behind me by saying, ‘Because it’s Ryoji-sama!'”
“Eh? C-Carena? You’re saying great things with a wonderful smile, right? But doesn’t that sound awful about me?”
“Now, let me ask you a question in reverse: do you consider yourself normal, Mr. Ryoji-sama?”
“Eh? Um, ……”
Ryoji, who was asked while maintaining a nice smile, couldn’t refute the question. Carena, who is usually pushed around, felt she had gotten her shot and returned to her normal smile.
“Th-That reminds me, you said you had a message for me?”
“That’s right. The entrance test today is scheduled for this afternoon. And you haven’t forgotten, right? About giving out awards in the morning for the guild’s best-selling stalls?”
“ABOSLUTEYLY-NOT-CARENA. I-HAVEN’T-FORGOTTEN-IT-AT-ALL.”[TN: He says the whole sentence in one go]
Ryoji had completely forgotten about the schedule that Carena had given him, so he made a fool of himself for the time being and headed for the guild, but then he remembered that he had not heard anything about the entrance test at the Magic Academy.
“Speaking of which, what do they do for the entrance test? It’s called the Royal Academy of Magic, so do they measure magic power or something?”
“Yes, that’s right. It will be the same as the guild. There are measurements of magical power and attributes, as well as confirmation of chanting speed, firing ability, and the way magic is utilized.”
While answering Ryoji’s questions, Carena remembered the message she had been asked to provide.
“That’s right. I had a message from Harold-sama and Yuhan. ‘You can do your best in the entrance examination. You are allowed to break the magic tools in the magic power test.’ Personally, I don’t want you to break it. …… The magic measuring instrument costs 500 gold coins, so…”
“Is it okay if I break it and don’t have to pay for it? If I am asked to pay, I’ll pay it in one lump sum.”
“Harold-sama will pay for it. Assuming that you’re going to break it.”
Ryoji replied with a big smile to Carena, who was dumbfounded by the fact that his question was based on the assumption that he would break it.
“Destroying the magic measuring device is the basic template you know!”
“You don’t have to break it! You often refer to this tempolate stuff, Ryoji-sama, but what does it mean? Is it a word peculiar to Japan?”
“You’ve got me! Yes! In my country, template means ‘predetermined destiny’. If you turn a corner, you’ll bump into the opposite sex with a loaf of bread in your mouth, or if you say, ‘I’ll take care of this place, go ahead,’ you’ll almost die. Including meeting and befriending a beautiful receptionist at the first guild I joined, that’s a template. But it wasn’t a template that I ended up getting engaged.”
He winked to Carena as he explained about templates. It seemed to be understood in this world as well, and Carena turned away with a red face.
“My name is Ryoji Uchino. Sorry to use your location, but I’m from ……. Eh? Melta?”
“The guild was short on staff, so I was sent out to help. Rest assured that I will be there for Ryoji-sama’s entrance ceremony.”
Ryoji was surprised that the person he spoke to at the reception desk was Melta. However, he was told that during the time of the entrance ceremony at the Royal Magic Academy, merchants and goods gather, so the guild becomes busy with more requests and there are not enough people to handle them.
“Seems like Carena escaped from the receptionist duties.”
“I didn’t run away! I just pretended I wasn’t listening!”
“Eh? Are you busy all the time? I intend to have Melta work as the head maid when I buy the mansion, you know?”
“If that happens, I’ll turn down the guild job. Ryoji-sama is more important to me. At that time, I will ask Carena to work instead.”
“I won’t do it!”
The adventurers, who had been secretly listening to the exchange between the three, vented their resentment.
“Who’s that? That guy? He and Melta-san look like they get along so well!”
“And that little girl next to him is super cute, too! He told Melta-san he’s buying a mansion and wants her to be his head maid!”
“If she was forced, I would have done something about it. But no matter how I look at it, Melta-san seems happy.”
“Isn’t the girl next to her the spirit’s beloved daughter, Carena?”
“Then that guy’s Ryoji!”
“Eh! That hero of Drugul? I heard that he had a flawless victory against three bull-men, you know?”
“That’s right. He may look like a child, but I hear he shows no mercy to those who oppose him. I heard that the next day the one who pointed his blade towards him had grey hair and mumbled with empty eyes.”
“I’ve never done that before! Such an awful fella! Who was that!”
Ryoji, who had heard the murmurs around him, shouted and looked at them, and they blatantly removed their gazes. He let out a sigh at the sight, pretending not to care, and turned his feet to where the stall owners were gathered.
“Please wait. Heh? Aren’t there a lot of people?”
“This popularity contest that Ryoji-sama did, has become more of a topic of conversation than I had expected. After all, all the pieces of wood handed to the eight stores are in the crates. So it was finally decided what to do, and that was, ‘Let’s consult with Ryoji-sama’. People around here are gathering around to see the results.”
He confirmed the number of wood chips just to be sure, but not a single store was cheating, and it was a fair draw in a fair match.
“All right! I’ll give five silver coins to all eight stores. Let’s also make a supplementary prize. Wait a minute.”
With these words, Ryoji took out an iron ingot from storage and made a small object in the shape of a food stall, and handed it to the store owners.
“What’s this? It’s in the shape of a food stall, isn’t it?”
“I’ll give it to you as the token of the best restaurant in the popularity contest. But if it’s not good by the time I go to eat it, I’ll take the object away from you! The restaurant that carries it can advertise that it is ‘a restaurant recognized by Drugul’s Hero, Ryoji Uchino, for its deliciousness’!”
The shopkeepers, realizing the publicity value of the object, hold it high in the air and proclaim with great glee.
“Today it’s free until we run out of ingredients!”
“My store, too!”
“Mine as well!”
Hearing the words “free” proclaimed one after another, the spectators and adventurers who had gathered there cheered loudly.
Amidst the excitement of the food stall owners, onlookers, and adventurers, he noticed that only two people were looking at him, a girl and an old man, without participating in the event. When Ryoji looks at them, the girl bowed her head and the older man stared back at him as if he were trying to price him out.
“It’s Sophia! You came to the guild as promised! Thanks for selling me that syrup the other day! Is that man over there the chief?”
“Y-yes! Sir! When I came to the guild, I heard that ‘Ryoji-sama is coming,’ so I waited for you. Thank you for buying the syrup. …… Ah, um! It hurts a little bit, could you let go of me?”
Ryoji gripped both of Sophia’s arms tightly with a happy voice, and Carena, noticing Sophia’s reserved reply, tapped Ryoji lightly on the head and glared.
” You look frightened. So, can you tell me what you want from Ryoji-sama?”
“Y-yes! Right! Sir brought some syrup from me, and for Grandpa……. He requested to see the chief, so I brought him here.”
“Sophia. I will handle the rest. Thank you, Ryoji-sama for helping my granddaughter, Sophia. And thank you for naming our Hutu Usonobe, Syrup. After Sophia came home, she was very noisy, saying, ‘Ryoji-sama named it Syrup,’ and ‘Mizuname is a good name, isn’t it?’ Ho-ho-ho.”
“Mou! Grandpa! You said don’t mention that!”
Sophia was smacking the old man with a red face as he laughed and talked. Carena, who was watching the scene, asks Ryoji.
“Ryoji-sama. Is this the template you were referring to earlier?”
” Close enough! But this one’s a promise, not a template. Hey. Sofia. You pout and say ‘mou’ when you’re angry, and you do a ‘yay’ and hop around when you’re happy!”
“H-How? How do you know that? You’re right!”
“Right.”
“I didn’t expect such an accurate response. I was only joking. ……”
Sophia responded with a surprised look on her face, and Ryoji turned to Carena and nodded emphatically. The chief, who had been watching the three of them, seemed to want to talk, so Ryoji borrowed the guild’s meeting room.
“Thank you very much for purchasing the syrup. I didn’t think there was anyone who could appreciate that one.”
“Why? I thought syrup was sweet, and that’s what sells.”
Ryoji tilted his head and asked, to which the chief replied with a wry smile.
“Many people don’t like it because it’s sticky and looks like slime. The method of making it is also kept secret, so people think it is suspicious.”
“You say it doesn’t sell very well, so what do you do with the syrup?”
“About that. I heard that there is a similar sweet seasoning in the East, so I thought I would go there. Some wish to stay in the capital, so I and about five others will go to the east, and the rest will head to the capital.”
“How big is your clan?”
“There are about 40 people, including me and Sophia. That makes eight families.”
“And how long does it take to make the syrup?”
“About a day for the jar Sophia gave you. But with our current equipment, we can only make that much ……. Why do you ask such a question?”
The chief, who had been answering these questions with a doubtful look on his face, involuntarily looked at Ryoji’s face when he heard what he was mumbling while thinking about something.
“A large pot can be easily prepared. We also need equipment to make malted barley, right? The size of the pots and the place for filtration must be close together. The work area will be hot, so the facility needs to be designed to keep the maker from collapsing. Maybe, but making the syrup transparent is the secret. I guess it’s like magically separating maltose and turning it transparent. ……”
“Ry-Ryoji-sama! Do you know the secret contents!”
“Eh? Y-Yes! That’s it! That! It’s a revelation from the god Iorus!”
“You’re not going to answer, are you? Mr. Chief. When Ryoji-sama speaks in this manner, it is when he is not willing to talk. In such a case, let’s just give up and say, ‘Because it’s Ryoji-sama.'”
The chief questioned with a surprised expression on his face, but as his eyes were darting around at Ryoji’s seemingly impersonal reply, Carena sighed and spoke mildly.
“I see. ‘Because it’s Ryoji-sama,’ . That’s a good word. I will use it as our family motto from now on.”
“Hey, hey Chief-san? What are you talking about with a serious face? No! That’s not a motto, you know?”
“Please shut up, the original culprit, Ryoji-sama. It’s almost noon. What would you like to eat?”
“It was swept away smoothly ……. Since we’re borrowing the meeting room, let’s eat here.”
Ryoji nodded at Carena’s suggestion and began preparing lunch.
—Part I end–
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Why so many naming inconsistencies?
Karena, Carena, Kalena, Carenarien
Melta and Merta
Thanks.
Oops sorry about that. I edited it now. Thanks for pointing that out
Thanks for the new chapter.