Sword, Magic and Academic Society

We arrived at the campsite after walking for around 20 minutes— it was a slightly cleared lot with a shack built sturdily enough to keep out the rain and wind.

Judging by the glow of the day, it was around 4 p.m.

"Let's gather firewood and begin preparations for dinner while there's still light. I'm thinking of resting early to get up at 3 a.m. tomorrow and harvest the material that can only be collected at night and early morning."

I quickly gathered firewood with senpai and repaired the makeshift stove put together by previous campers. It should have been faster for me to pick up the firewood alone, but he insisted on showing the entire process.

A considerate man indeed did things differently.

Senpai put a collapsible pot over the fire and poured water from the pouch he filled at the stream earlier. Then, he began to cut the various parts of the previously dismantled horned rabbit, adding its tail and front legs to the pot. He also added some mushrooms we collected today. It seemed he was making soup.

"I didn't plan on staying overnight, so all we have for seasoning is rock salt."

In my mind, I went over the essentials one should carry when venturing into the woods. Like a sharp tool like the machete senpai had, capable of both collecting and dismantling. A water pouch. Rock Salt. A magic tool to make fire. Even if there was no plan for camping, these items should be on hand at all times.

"But I'm surprised you still haven't tired yourself out. Do you often come to walk in the mountains?"

"No, I don't have much experience hiking. But I can still go on just fine!"

"......Even I, who grew up walking in these woods since I was little, would get tired at the pace you're going, you really have incredible stamina as rumors said... So that hellish running training in the morning wasn't just for show, huh?"

"You sure know how to joke, senpai. However, that training is far from being hellish. I was just running for a bit."

"......You really are something eh, to say that running training in the rumor is 'just a bit of training' when even the prodigy Leo Zatsinger struggled to keep up. Do you know the whole school has been paying attention to the hellish training supervised by a certain ogre coach? Speaking of which, what are the conditions to join the club?"

Senpai asked with a bitter smile.

"Huh? Well, there's no condition...... Are you perhaps interested in it, senpai?"

"It's just not me who's interested in it— Among this year's exceptionally talented first-year students, there appeared a sudden comet-like figure, Allen Rovenne. On just his second day at school, he founded a club and welcomed 'Godorfun the Buddha' as its advisor. Everyone is scurrying around to gather information."

Senpai said with an amusing smile. I think the rumors were exaggerated, but if this respected senpai of mine wanted to join, he would be more than welcome to.

"If you're interested, would you like to come and watch? I'd be thrilled to have you, senpai......"

"Ahaha, that's quite a fascinating proposal. Well, if that's alright, I guess I'll be taking you up on that offer. It's an incredibly beneficial thing for me to train my stamina.

......But, I think you should consider your position a bit more. Listen well, you're someone who has appeared out of nowhere and gained an S rank evaluation in the practical exam of the Royal Academy. You even overturned the cheating verdict in the entrance exam and secured an unprecedented admission into Class A. I can bet your story is the talk of high society in the Royal Capital.

Rather, it's not hard to guess that each faction should be trying to gather intelligence about you in a frenzy. I happened to have this opportunity to talk to you today, but I won't casually share this information with anyone. I can already foresee my parents, who run a pharmacy, being bombarded by visitors who persistently ask for your information."

Senpai advised with an extremely grave expression.

"Ahaha! Surely you jest. How about coming to the back gate at 5:30 in the morning after tomorrow? Let's exchange ideas about basic training!"

I quite find it funny to hear that 'I am the hot topic among high society' from the commoner-born senpai and laughed off his serious advice.

◆◆◆

"It seems like the soup is cooked. Let's grill the meat."

Senior removed the pot from the fire and, in place of it, used something like a kukri knife he had been carrying since earlier to skewer two pieces of rib meat and grill them. There was only salt for seasoning.

Soon, an appetizing smell drifted into the surrounding area.

"It's done."

I accepted the meal from Senpai and took a bite. My eyes widened in surprise.

"......This is really tasty...... This flavor is……"

"Fufu...... It must be hard, right? Horned rabbit meat is typically aged for at least ten days. We just hunted it, so it's most stiff at this moment. But being able to eat this stink-less meat before it's aged is a right only for those who can hunt them on their own. Though I don't like this one either. Try the soup."

I sipped the soup in trepidation, and once again, it was beyond my expectations. The soup was rich with flavors despite using salt as the only seasoning.

This was an unusual and bold broth that tasted like it was made from unadulterated chicken bones. The meat that came off the bones so easily and melted in my mouth was more tender than the muscular meat I had eaten earlier.

"It's the effect of the Dramanke mushroom. It can tenderize muscle fibers when cooked with other ingredients. It also has fatigue recovery properties so it's the perfect food for people after a tiring hike. Though you might not need it."

Senpai explained with a smile.

"It's really delicious."

I was honestly excited by the meal made from the first monster I had hunted. I thank my luck for coming with senpai today.

"And this is today's main dish."

Senior presented a lightly seared liver with a generous sprinkle of salt, the only part of the innards he had kept as he had tossed the rest into the stream.

It had a slightly peculiar taste, and despite its slimy appearance, it had a crispy texture. When I bit into it, a rich delicious flavor spread in my mouth. This was freaking delicious......

But this was definitely a perfect side dish to go with alcohol......

I wish I could have a highball, but I don't think carbonated water existed in this world. Speaking of which, this kingdom didn't have any age limit on drinking. If anything, most refrained from drinking until at least they were 12 years old and their mana organ had already completely developed.

Drinking alcohol before the mana organ was developed was known to have an impact on the maximum mana capacity. Another reason was it was harder to get drunk once the mana organ developed fully. After that, many nobles were encouraged to actively practice their drinking skills, but drinking within the Academy was prohibited.

"Thank you very much for today. If you don't mind, can I accompany you again?"

I bowed my head at a precise 45-degree angle while still seated.

"Ahaha. But of course, I am very happy to have you. But what's with your head-bowing thing? You did it in the morning, too."

Sure enough, a capable man sees things differently.

I excitedly explained about the bowing forms and the mindset behind them (plus adding that all of them were taught to me by Schord).

Senpai, who listened to my explanation from beginning to end with keen interest, said 'In that case' and shifted his posture to stare right at me.

"Likewise, I'll be under your care for the morning training from the day after tomorrow."

He said that and bowed his head. His form was still far from perfect but I could sense that he had absorbed everything I talked about earlier.

◆◆◆

After that, Senpai and I continued to discuss various things, sitting around the stove's fire as we enjoyed the soup and ate the meat— which was so hard we could only strengthen our jaws with magic to chew on it. Then we took a short nap in the makeshift hut.

I didn't feel the need to rest for long stamina-wise but considering it might be dangerous to move at night and my sword swinging practice might startle senpai awake, I limited myself to mana compression training until late at night and quietly slept until 3 a.m.

Besides, the area wasn't dangerous enough to keep a night watch according to senpai.

We woke up just before 3 a.m. and went searching for glowing mushrooms in the dark of the night.

"I'm familiar with the paths and topography of this area so my eyes are quite adapted to the darkness here."

Oh, I knew training on the emission magic loop helped in strengthening the five senses like eyesight and hearing which could be used for scouting the enemy. I should be able to achieve this as well by training, but I hadn't paid much attention because "It's not the type of emission magic I want to learn"......

That was a blunder on my side.

Senpai passed a lantern to me while he made his way through the forest engulfed in darkness. Not long after that, I decided to train my emission magic loop to enhance my scouting abilities.

Continuing, we gathered the night glowing mushroom called 'Poporu Mushroom' and the petals of the 'Anata Herbs' which bloomed only at dawn. From there we took the first carriage from the front of the village to the Royal Capital.

The lone Popuru mushroom growing on the moss-covered rock surface was discovered by the senpai. It was a beautiful-looking mushroom as it covered itself in a pale cobalt-blue hue due to mana. Apparently, it was hard to find high-grade material with strong restorative traits like this.

There were just the two of us in the carriage.

"Which materials do you want to have, Allen?"

Inside the carriage, senpai asked me about this.

"What are you saying senpai? I had just tagged along behind you. Please keep the spoils to yourself and take them back with you."

"No, I can't do that. We didn't agree on how to split the loot beforehand but the unspoken rule when working as a party, even in a temporary or casual one, is to divide the loot equally."

.......Um, that was troubling.

I didn't think I helped out in any way at all. If anything, it was I who had learned so much from senpai that I should be paying him instead. I was about to politely brush it off but I could only swallow my words back seeing his unexpectedly intense gaze… Ugh, it seemed like this was the line that Riyad-senpai would never relent on.

"......I'll accept your offer gratefully. But I'm even worse than an amateur at dealing with the materials. If you don't mind, senpai, could you purchase them from me?"

Senpai's stern expression finally relaxed.

"Sounds good. The medicinal materials can be sold in our store but judging from your performance yesterday, you'll continue to collect materials, right? I wouldn't be able to accompany you all the time, so how about you register as an explorer and sell them to the association? It might be better in the long run."

Ooh… Somehow I got on the track to register as an explorer. In all honesty, it was something I was thinking of doing after becoming good enough to become a vanguard and learning emission magic. But aside from that, I did need some way to earn money.

In fact, I had received 5000 rea (around 500,000 Yen) from my family to cover my expenses like admission fees. Aside from that, I'd be able to receive 2000 rea as a monthly allowance by visiting the viscount residence in the Royal Capital every month, but given the presence of my Elder sister, I really wasn't keen on doing that.

"Understood. I'll immediately head to the Explorer Association once we reach the royal capital and register as an explorer!"

In the end, I decided to register as an explorer.

"......I'm already an explorer so I'll just guide you."

Senpai had an extremely concerned look as he remarked. But I didn't want to inconvenience him anymore.

You see, when it came to joining professions like becoming an explorer, it was as though the universe had a wicked sense of humor as the protagonist just somehow got into the bad side of some senior ruffian explorers, as if it was an inevitable law of causality, brewing yet another uproarious cliché in the saga of a reincarnator.

I didn't want to be like my sister and go around picking fights needlessly, but if they crossed the line that I couldn't tolerate, I was determined to stick to my principles and create a huge mess, even if it meant expulsion......

And, above all, I'd prefer not to drag my esteemed senpai into a chaotic mess.

"You don't have to trouble yourself over such a matter, senpai! Even if anything happens, I'll handle it one way or another!...... Yeah, somehow."

I put up a grin and firmly declined senpai's kind offer.

"......Actually, I just recalled I also have some business with the association...... I guess we are going to stick together for a while more."

Senpai declared with a compelling tone, leaving no room for refusal.

And thus, accompanied by my titular escort, Riyad-senpai, I headed to the Explorer's Association for registration.

T/N - What soothing chapters, devoid of oldies’s scheming. But I wonder how long will that laugh remain on mc’s face when he comes to know about high society turmoil. That being said, I guess I can’t blame mc for ignorance here. I should have expected the political scenario in such an academy—where gathers the absolute best in talent, and that too just a few hundreds in count.Then again, most who are in top evaluation and top class know what is actually happening undercurrent as someone from a remarkable family.

Editor note - Why do I feel like the Explorer Association shenanigans won't go the way the MC expects it to be? The author seems to be too self-aware to actually write such a commonly used cliche.