The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 134

The morning air wasn’t that cold.

However, when I woke up from bed, my body was damp all over. It was probably from a cold sweat.

I couldn’t really remember what kind of dream I had, but I guess it wasn’t a very pleasant one.

Opening the cabin door and walking out to the camp, I was greeted by a familiar and unique atmosphere, where a subtle darkness still remained.

The start of my day was always the same. Stretching in the middle of the forest surrounded by a soft fog.

Thinking of it, Lucy hadn’t come to the camp recently. It wasn’t a big deal. It was just that she wasn’t the type of person to be busy with other things.

Even that sleeping figure of hers that was always lying around somewhere nearby had started to fade. I would have to ask Bell about it if I got the chance.

“I guess I woke up pretty early.”

In order to do well at the end-of-semester exam, I used the early morning hours to look through some magic history textbooks. I also re-lit the campfire as I prepared a light breakfast.

However, normally I wouldn’t be using a fire to make myself breakfast. Usually, I would have just gone to the education district to eat something light for breakfast. If I ate a heavy meal before a workout, there wouldn’t be much of a point in it.

However, it had become normal for me to light a fire in the morning. That was because now there was another person to feed.

Yennekar was still sleeping tight. Before she woke up, I prepared a light breakfast to help her slowly regain the magic power in her body.

At the tip of my finger, I gathered magic power, and I pointed it towards the campfire. Then I castIgniteas the flame burned. I took a large iron pot and affixed it to a structure over the campfire to boil water from the river.

“……”

After taking out the magic history books I had prepared, I sat down on a nearby tree stump.

At dawn, the forest air was still damp.

It was a quiet atmosphere, with the occasional chirping of birds and squirrel-like animals running through the grass.

Taking in the forest air, I opened up my textbook.

“……”

I sensed someone nearby.

I didn’t even have to raise my head.

The direction it came from was the tree stump right next to my seat.

There, a girl with a familiar face sat quietly. Because of her bangs, it was hard to see her expression. However, I could still make out that the corners of her mouth were raised as she smiled happily.

At first glance, it seemed like a satisfied and happy smile, but… that wasn’t the expression someone that was slowly bleeding out should have. She had beautifully embroidered flowers strewn across her pale-yellow hair. The streaks of blood that were flowing from her body ran down the tree stump onto the ground. A lute that was soaked in her blood leaned against the side of the tree stump.

She was a bard that had tried her best to survive, only to eventually pass away.

I continued to flip through the pages of my book.

I didn’t react to such a strange sight, nor did I try to get rid of the hallucination by shaking my head.

Anger started to rise in my eyes, but the speed at which I flipped through the pages didn’t change.

There was nothing more stupid than losing my reason and ruining my pace due to a temporary change of emotions.

I didn’t run away, nor did I make a fuss… I just quietly sat by the fire as I turned the pages of my book.

***

“I think I can handle low-ranking spirits now.”

It had already been over a week since Yennekar had used the ring to summon an ultimate spirit.

Yennekar had been living her life through the help of Bell and me. Maybe because she felt indebted to us, she apologized every moment she could.

Now that she was able to handle low-ranking spirits, that meant she could live a basic life on her own again. That was a pretty good sign.

“Really? Have you tried it already?”

“I didn’t try it, as I was worried my magic power might become twisted, but… I’ll go ahead and try it now, since you’re next to me, Ed. It’s about time for me to go back to class, anyway. It’s almost time for exams.”

With Yennekar’s grades, it wouldn’t have mattered if she continued to be out sick for a few more weeks, but I supposed she still needed to show her face on the day of the exams.

Yennekar sat by the fire, concentrating as she began to release magic power little by little from her fingertips.

She whispered softly. It sounded like a spell to summon a low-ranking spirit. It was one I was quite familiar with.

In fact, Yennekar had the ability to naturally summon low-ranking spirits as if she was breathing, without the need to chant a spell. In the first place, there was no way she could have summoned hundreds of low-ranking spirits by memorizing and reciting a spell for each one.

However, now that she was in a weakened state and her body hadn’t used magic power for some time, it looked like she was being extra cautious.

No matter how bad her condition was, she should have still been able to easily summon a low-ranking spirit. She was an elementalist that could even summon an ultimate spirit if her life was on the line.

“Uh… Heuk…”

But Yennekar’s body began to fall over. I quickly stood up from the tree stump as I supported her.

While I was supporting her body, a huge fire erupted from the magic power at the ends of her fingertips. And before long, what came from that flame was none other than the low-ranking fire spirit Mugg.

[Ohhhh! You have finally called on me! Lady Yennekar!]

“Cough… Cough…!”

Yennekar coughed as she leaned against me. Given that her face was red again, it looked like her fever was starting to rise.

I grabbed some water that I had around nearby as I poured it into her mouth. She swallowed it with difficulty.

“Th-This is strange… How is… My magic power…?”

[L-Lady Yennekar… Was it really because of me…?]

Mugg sat on a nearby rock as he twisted his body, as if regretful.

“Are you alright? Can you hear me?”

“Y-Yeah… Using my magic power was more of a burden than I thought… I was just surprised…”

[D-Do you mean because of me…? All because of this useless and lowly low-ranking fire spirit Mugg… Even though your body isn’t in a normal condition, I can’t believe Lady Yennekar doesn’t feel well because of me…]

Listening to him, I turned my head to look at Mugg. The amount of magic power that was surrounding him was definitely extraordinary.

“Mugg.”

[Y-Yes! Young Master Ed!]

When I called out his name softly, Mugg looked up at me with a guilty expression on his face. He answered me with an upright posture, as if he were in the military.

“No matter how I see it, it looks like you’ll raise your status soon.”

By putting my magic power into Yennekar little by little, the burden she felt because of Mugg was lessened little by little.

Yennekar, who had been breathing heavily, started to calm down as she started to stabilize.

[E-Excuse me?!]

“I’ve been feeling it for some time now, but the amount of magic power it takes to use you is extraordinary. Originally, among the low-ranking spirits you were always on the higher end when it came to magic power consumption. But these days it’s nearly at the level of a mid-ranking spirit.”

[Wh-What are you saying…? Then, that means…]

“Among the spirits I use I have the best magic power efficiency with you. So, every time I use you in battle, it seems like our affinity also increases as well… It also seems like your own magic power resonance has been raised quite a bit. But Yennekar couldn’t have known that.”

In every battle I fought, I always used Mugg and cast spiritual skills connected to him. I even left the minor attacks for Mugg to take care of on his own… So, Mugg had risen to a level that was nearing a mid-ranking spirit.

In the first place, Mugg was already quite a capable low-ranking spirit. So, it wasn’t all that strange for him to transform into a mid-ranking spirit now.

[Th-That can’t be…]

“…Mugg?”

[My long years I spent suffering as a low-ranking spirit… And you’re saying now… Finally… I can be rewarded… S-Saying that I… Will become a mid-ranking spirit…]

“……”

[Among the low-rank spirits, because my skills are the best I get called around to do this and that. And I’m also left in charge of the low-ranking spirits even though I am the same low-ranking level as them. I’m always dumped with the responsibility of being in charge, but… now, those days… are finally going to come to an end…]

Hearing Mugg talk about those wretched feelings inside him made me have a new realization.

All of that stress he felt was probably because of that high-ranking fire spirit Takan.

[Young Master Ed… Thank you so much… If it weren’t for you, I would never have been able to gain so much combat experience in such a short amount of time… I’m also grateful for Lady Yennekar, but since she has so many low-ranking spirits, there was a limit to how much direct combat experience I could share with them…]

“I don’t think right now is the time to be happy.”

[Th-That’s right…! Because I manifested, Lady Yennekar ended up becoming burdened… This worthless Mugg will quickly take my leave now…!]

“Next time we train in spiritual resonance, let’s take a look at raising your status together.”

[Yes…! Kyaa… Kyaaaaah…! Yeah…! Waaaaaa—! Kyaaaaaaaaah—!]

Unable to tell if he was screaming or cheering, Mugg burst into flames as he disappeared.

Anyone that saw that would think he had burnt to death.

“……”

I put my hand on Yennekar’s forehead. It was still hot.

It made sense, as Mugg was using as much magic power as a mid-ranking spirit now.

Yennekar could normally summon a mid-ranking spirit without any issues, but in her current state, it seemed like low-ranking spirits were her limit.

But once Mugg transformed into a mid-ranking spirit, then the position of low-ranking spirit would become vacant.

Getting another spirit to use as fighting power is definitely a positive. But right now, it was a bit troublesome, as I didn’t have any other low-ranking spirits.

High-, Mid-, and Low-ranking spirits. At first glance, you might think that the higher the rank, the better they were. However, the roles of all three spirits were quite different.

In, all the characters that used spirits used them in the same pattern.

Low-ranking spirits for basic moves. Mid-ranking spirits for main moves. High-ranking spirits for special movies. Each of them had a different magic power efficiency and a different role to play. Because of that, you needed to have a spirit in each rank.

In other words, I needed to get a new low-ranking spirit. If I could choose, a light or dark spirit would be the best, as I didn’t have any.

Well, it was something I’d have to think about slowly. At the moment, I needed to take care of Yennekar.

I put her head on my lap as I put a damp towel on her head.

***

“I have a letter from House Rothstaylor. The sender is from the head of house, Krepin Rothstaylor.”

Lortel swallowed her dry saliva.

The letter brought over by Lortel’s personal assistant had a gorgeous seal engraved on high-quality paper. On the back of the letterhead, embroidered with House Rothstaylor’s symbol, there was a handwritten letter from Krepin Rothstaylor.

Lortel, who sat at her work desk as she accepted the letter, ordered the secretary to leave. She then opened the letter on her own.

Dear beloved Deputy Chairman of the Elte Company, Lortel Kehelland.

The duke that was known as the most powerful man on the continent paid his tribute to her. It was one of the highest honors one could receive as a merchant.

She read the letter all the way through to see if there was anything about Ed Rothstaylor. Surprisingly, there wasn’t anything about him.

Rather, the letter was exactly as she had expected.

I think the time has come to conclude the purchase of the Sage’s Seal.

The Sage’s Seal.

At the moment, it was owned by the Elte Company and managed by Lortel. However, they had agreed to one day sell it to House Rothstaylor.

Krepin Rothstaylor had completely entrusted the negotiations to purchase the seal to Tanya Rothstaylor. However, because she was so preoccupied with the student election, she was unable to pay any attention to it.

Ed Rothstaylor seemed to not like the idea of handing the Sage’s Seal over to House Rothstaylor.

Originally, the sale was supposed to be negotiated through Tanya. Since she was quite close to Ed Rothstaylor… There was a high chance that she would do as he wanted instead.

But what was her personal relationship with Tanya?

Tanya and Lortel couldn’t be considered good friends, no matter how you looked at it.

From their first meeting to now, Tanya and Lortel continued to have a hostile relationship.

She didn’t know what Tanya would think, but Lortel herself felt that was the type of relationship between them.

If she were going to take over Silvenia in one bite, she would need to remain a sleeping dragon beneath the water. Everyone thought that Lortel didn’t hold enough power outside of the commercial district. Nevertheless, she still wanted to appear as Tanya’s opponent.

The one with overwhelming power always needed to be kept in check.

As long as they continued to be at each other’s throats, it’d be difficult for Headmaster Obel Forsyth to hastily take one or the other’s side.

“It would be better if we quarreled for a bit longer… At least until the negotiations for the Sage’s Seal purchase…”

With a grin, she lowered her head.

She then read the last part of the letter quickly.

Also, the construction proposal that you submitted to the Imperial Family has been rejected.

“……?”

The northern forest of Acken Island may be used for the expansion of Silvenia Academy in the future, so the Empire wants you to leave it alone. His Majesty Kroel didn’t respond positively either. From the start, the commercial district in the southern part of Acken Island was meant to act as a place for business. He didn’t understand your intentions for expanding your store all the way to the northern forest.

It also seemed strange that you planned to build another store up north, which is far away from Mexes Bridge in the south. As your intentions were not clearly stated, it was difficult to obtain permission.

Lortel planned to build a space in the North Forest to manage the inventory of goods coming into Acken Island.

She was only thinking of securing an area around Ed’s camp for the Elte Company. Either way, lately she had been thinking that they needed to expand the Elte Company’s Silveria Branch.

Aside from their location in the commercial district, if they could secure another large area up north, then Silveria and the Elte Company would gradually merge into one. In doing so, once things reached a certain point, even if the school tried to push the Elte Company aside, they would be unable to do so.

Before graduating, she was going to take control of the entire academy.

And she thought that would be the first practical step in her plan.

Thunk.

Lortel buried her head on her desk.

Creak.

The door slowly opened as an employee of the Elte Store entered. He was startled to see Lortel’s pale complexion.

“Deputy Chairman… What is the matter…?”

“Nothing. It’s just… There’s been a few setbacks in our plans to expand the store… So, we’ll have to look for a different approach.”

“I have another report as well…”

“You can put it down over there. And uhm… could you contact Ophelis Hall for me? If possible, the head maid.”

When the employee looked at her with a puzzled expression, Lortel calmly went to explain the main point.

“I want to leave Ophelis Hall. If they ask why I want to leave… Uhm… What should I say…? Just tell them that I want to live in a freer environment.”

“……”

“Ah, that’s right. Add in this proposal, as well.”

***

“I want to live in a freer environment.”

In short, she was going to move to the camp.

Bell Maya, the head maid of Ophelis Hall, seemed to have another headache.

She was already busy with her own work over the past few days.

Alongside taking care of her tasks as the head maid, she also visited the camp whenever she had the time to take care of the sick Yennekar.

Slowly, Yennekar’s condition seemed to be getting better, so she started to have some free time. But now Lortel was suddenly causing trouble.

“Lady Lortel… Her lifestyle isn’t all that independent, so she is going to need someone to serve her by her side… I wonder if she really has to leave Ophelis Hall just to suffer.”

“I also think the same…”

A senior maid replied calmly.

Before starting her work in the afternoon, Bell Maya first went to check the cleaning status of the Ophelis Hall maids.

One of the most important tasks for them was to clean the interior facilities and the students’ personal rooms perfectly. That all had to be taken care of while the students went to the education district to attend classes.

In the afternoon, the students that finished class early would start to come back, so they need to finish cleaning quickly.

Bell Maya, who had worked as a senior maid for a long time, knew just how stressful of a time that was.

When she inspected them personally, she would find that most of the rooms were cleaned well. But every so often, she would also find that quite a few rooms had also been taken care of poorly.

Stains on the sheets, dust coming from the curtains, and even rooms where a leg of a chair had been broken off without anyone doing anything about it.

The maids of Ophelis Hall needed to always do their job perfectly. That was why most of them never made such mistakes. But sometimes, the newly hired maids would make them.

It might just be one or two things, but being in charge of such a large space and cleaning every day, those types of simple mistakes built up and become more common.

Was that how retired athletes felt?

None of this work was that difficult. When washing the sheets, you needed to check them properly. You needed to make sure to check every nook and cranny for dust, and look at the condition of the furniture. Honestly speaking, it all took less than five minutes.

But as all of the maids were so busy, they sometimes made mistakes. Bell Maya had been working for a long time, so she understood that fact. Still, she needed to make sure that all of it was being taken care of properly.

However, if she started to personally mop the floor, clean the sheets, or wipe the dust on her own, the other maids wouldn’t know how to react.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to confuse the people around her, so for the most part she continued to only take care of managerial work… However, her body was starting to itch.

In particular, after helping Yennekar it felt as if part of her itch had been scratched.

She had folded some clean clothes and prepared simple food items for her. She even went to the cabin to clean things here and there. By doing so, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest, and she felt a sense of relief.

She didn’t have any unnecessary or complicated thoughts, and she could do what she was best at. But being the head maid, managing all of those people every single day, her head was a complicated mess.

“Ah. That’s right… Head Maid.”

“Yes?”

“I also received another message from Lady Lortel. It’s… I’m a bit cautious about saying it…”

“Cautious about saying it…? What did she say…?”

The senior maid that had been walking with her took a neatly folded letter from her pocket and handed it to Bell Maya.

“…She said since she’s looking for an assistant… Do you have any plans to change your job?”

“…What?”

“I doubted what I saw at first as well, but… she said she was going to pay you three gold coins a day.”

Twenty gold coins was enough money to buy an entire carriage—a rather large one, at that.

So, three gold coins a day… That amount of money was something that you could only earn after becoming a high-ranking member of the Imperial Knights. You would need to be treated like a knight commander.

Of course, Bell Maya was a first-class maid with tons of experience on her belt. So, her importance had grown quite a bit. Not only as a maid, but also as a personal assistant. Even as a person, she was rather talented and deserved high praise.

However, even taking that into account, that kind of treatment was outrageous and completely abnormal.

“She was asking for you to go and work as Lady Lortel’s personal maid… And she also asked you to manage the new villa she is planning to build.”

“……”

“She said that you don’t need to answer right away… So… Uhm… Are you going to quit…?”

Bell Maya’s hands trembled as she accepted the paper.

All sorts of thoughts ran through her head. Then, as she somehow managed to calm down for a brief moment, Bell smiled with a tired expression.

“…Well, I’ve been working as a maid here in Ophelis Hall for several years now. I’ve been a maid here ever since I was a young child…”

No matter what, she still spent much of her life working at Ophelis Hall.

The memories and feelings she had for the place weren’t something that could be converted into monetary value.

But… The small words on the corner of the paper kept drawing her eyes.

“……”

One day, three gold coins.

Not a monthly or weekly pay…

One day… gold coins… Three of them…!!

She closed her eyes as if she were relaxed, but her pupils were trembling like crazy.