The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 193

[To my mother back at home,

Are you in good health? This is not an official letter, so l will address you as my mother rather than as my head of house.

It has been about three or four months since I started preparing for my graduation from Silvenia Academy. I think I will be able to complete the graduation process without any major issues. Preparations for the graduation exam are also going smoothly.

There was a time when I was satisfied just seeing the name Trayciana on the list of the top students in the magic department… It’s a strange feeling when I look back now, thinking about how my long academic journey is coming to an end.

After completing my studies, I plan to return home and continue my research. The eccentric image the Bloomriver family holds has improved a lot recently, and the research facility back home is well-equipped.

It must be thanks to you, Mother. Thank you for always doing your best as the head of house.

By the way, like you instructed me to, I am still maintaining close contact with Ed Rothstaylor.

We recently ran into each other in the morning, and he asked me for a personal favor. So, we’ve gotten a bit closer. It was obvious that I only helped him ‘on behalf of House Bloomriver’, but… we got along quite well, either way.

As you told me to, I’m trying to get close to him, but… there’s something I’d like to ask you.

It might be rude of me to ask, but wasn’t it a politically dangerous decision to become close with House Rothstaylor right now?

The decision on how to deal with House Rothstaylor is the main issue within the imperial household currently.

I’ve also heard of the horrors Krepin Rothstaylor caused.

I know House Bloomriver isn’t currently the greatest either, but wouldn’t it be risky to ally with a house that’s in such a precarious situation?

Silvenia Academy is a special environment where the children of various noble families gather on a small island.

There’s House Kroel, House Callamore, House Whitefeld, House Elpelan, House Aniston, House Nortondale, House Islan, House Shapilon… It’s difficult to list them all.

Although their power varies greatly, there are many prestigious houses within various fields here.

If you were to include those who are of direct lineage to nobles alongside other children of influential families, there are too many to count.

Even being in a place like this, I have a headache just thinking about whose side I should be on.

Of course, politics are always divided and complicated like this, and I know that we cannot be completely free from such power struggles.

However, if confrontation between families intensifies seriously or houses gather to form power… things will only become that much more complicated and serious.

I’ve always been a worrywart. I pray that I am just overthinking things.

Although I’m telling you my opinion, I will continue to follow the orders you give me. You can just think of this as a minor anxious rant of mine.

For the time being, I will focus on preparations for my graduation. You don’t have to worry about me too much.

The problem is… Patriciana.

I’m helping her graduate in more ways than one… However, every time I see her, I can’t help but think.

That girl… Is it really okay for her to graduate…?]

Thud!

“Sister Tracy!”

“……?”

Patriciana broke into Trayciana’s room while she was busy writing a letter.

Patriciana was usually holed up in her secret laboratory, not coming out for long periods of time. However, when she did come to Trayciana’s room in Ophelis Hall, it was usually because she caused an incident… or would cause one.

In the present case, it seemed that she was going to cause one.

“Look at this! I finished the red forget-me-not reagent I mentioned last time!”

“……”

“No one can even tell it’s a reagent because it barely has any magic power…! Don’t be surprised, this is a really scary potion……! Uhhhh… Ehhh…”

The ‘Red Forget-Me-Not Reagent’, which temporarily confused someone when consumed. Thanks to Patriciana’s special improvement method, it was given an even worse effect.

“It’s a fantastic drug… Now, it causes them to feel half-asleep and in a daze. They completely give up everything they’ve been holding back and will listen to your orders with no issues.”

“……”

“In a way, it can be seen as a love potion. If you want to make sure they have the same feelings as you, you can mix a moderate amount in their food to change their mind. What do you think? Don’t you think I can sell it to the aristocratic girls within this school for a high price?!”

Trayciana put down the quill she was using to write her letter, then turned towards Patriciana.

“There are downsides, such as having some trouble properly controlling their bodies and acting as if they are drunk… But as time passes, it will disappear more and more. It’s completely safe! Well, their memories over the period of time will be gone, but… aside from that, it’s safe! They’ll be completely fine once they wake up from a nap…!”

“Then, what’s the difference from just drinking…?”

“…Uh…?”

Trayciana sighed as she watched her sister accidentally explain.

“This isn’t the time to make such an insidious potion… Patrin… We need to prepare for graduation…”

“Huh? Well, uh… Y-You’re right, but… No problem…! I’ll manage to deal with the graduation exams somehow!”

Trayciana looked back down as she frowned. She glanced at the letter she was writing again.

“Anyway, I need to prepare for clinical trials. If I explain it to the students on campus, I’m sure someone will be interested!”

“You don’t have any friends to ask, Patrin.”

“……”

A sudden arrow of truth. Patriciana grabbed her chest as she let out an ‘euk’.

“I-I have friends.”

“There’s no point in lying between us.”

“Th-Then I can just make them.”

“I’ve already heard that for a few years now…”

That was correct. Patriciana was extremely socially inept.

Among the other students who locked themselves up in their labs, there were quite a few who didn’t get along well with other people. Patriciana was one of the worst.

“You… You don’t know anything…!”

With her back to the wall, Patriciana ran out of Trayciana’s room.

Thud!

Creak.

The opened door swayed back and forth from the aftermath.

Trayciana sighed as she picked up the quill again. She felt that something was wrong.

Anxiety that crept up on her made the tip of her nose itch.

Moments where she had a gut feeling that Patriciana was going to cause an incident… That was what was happening at that very moment.

* * *

[ Name: Ed Rothstaylor

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Academy Year: 3rd

Species: Human

Achievements: Resolute Survivor (1 year) / High-ranking Spirit Summoner / Proficient in making legendary-grade magic engineering products

Vitality: 16

Intelligence: 17

Dexterity: 19

Willpower: 14

Luck: 12

Combat Skills Details ≫

Magic Skills Details ≫

Life Skills Details ≫

Alchemy Skills Details ≫ ]

[ Life Skills Details

Grade: Intermediate Craftsmen

Specialized Fields: Woodworking

Handicraft Lvl 19

Design Lvl 18

Collecting Skills Lvl 17

Woodworking Lvl 18

Stonemason Lvl 11

Hunting Lvl 20 (Master!)

Fishing Lvl 15

Cooking Lvl 10

Repairing Lvl 8 ]

I thought I had been neglecting training my basic Life Skills, but surprisingly, they had grown quite a bit.

Was it because I had to keep doing tasks to survive, like maintaining the cabin and gathering food?

Some of my basic life skills had almost reached the level of Mastery, so it was time for me to move on to Advanced Production Techniques.

“……”

I sat by the campfire covered in sweat as I finished checking my stats window. I then wiped my face with a piece of cloth.

As I breathed heavily, I took another look at my exhausted body.

It had been three days since the opening ceremony ended.

My wounds had healed, and I was able to take care of my daily life and maintain my camp. That also included tasks that required quite a bit of stamina.

My magic power, which had been limited because of the ring’s recoil, had nearly fully returned. It seemed like it was a good time to start training to get stronger.

More than anything else, it seemed like my life skills had made incredible progress. So, rather than just basic tools to survive, it would also be possible to make a variety of different equipment to use strategically in fights.

‘Advanced Production Techniques’.

A skill that was unlocked after becoming somewhat proficient in basic life skills… It allowed you to create equipment that had their own special effects or imbue various upgraded elements in them.

For characters who invested primarily in life skills, it was considered the ultimate goal. However, that meant the conditions to achieve it were that difficult.

It took a lot of effort to unlock both Magic Engineering and Spiritual Infusion.

Now, my personal goal was the ‘Bow Crafting’ skill.

After the skill ‘Craftsman’s Spirit’ was unlocked, the bows I personally made would be much more powerful…

Since you could make a bow that would have various bonus stats in itself, I remember the tech tree behind it was considered fairly broken. It was also known as a ‘raw tree’ because the bow by itself was already strong. When you combined it with other bonus stats, that power could be doubled or even tripled.

Of course, no matter how good the results were, if it took too long to achieve, the efficiency would suffer.

Life skills were neglected by most players because the process of reaching a high enough level to accomplish such a feat was too arduous and difficult.

For the ‘Bow Crafting’ skill… The prerequisites for acquisition were as follows:

Handicraft level 15, Woodworking level 15, Design level 15, Hunting level 20, Repairing level 10, and Bow Proficiency level 15.

When all of those conditions were met, an advanced production skill slot would open, and Bow Crafting would be possible.

Even though things had been so chaotic the past few months, my woodworking was at level 18. Though, it felt like I hadn’t touched wood for quite some time now.

However, to raise the proficiency of not only woodworking but also those other life skills to 15 or higher was, frankly, much too cruel.

“Hmm…”

If I could just raise my repairing level a bit more, I would be able to unlock Bow Crafting.

There was nothing particularly difficult about gathering the materials for it, either. I remembered everything about high-performance bows, after all.

Beast Slayer, thousand-year-old wooden bow struck by lightning, Kohelton shortbow, etc… Whatever it was, what was important was that I made it.

Fortunately, unlike magic engineering, no recipes or formulas were required.

“Ed, are your injuries okay?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all. I don’t think the wound was all that deep compared to the amount I was bleeding.”

“That’s a relief…”

Well, the bow wasn’t the problem at the moment.

Yennekar wasn’t sweating profusely like me, but… it still looked like she was having a hard time.

Looking around, partially trimmed logs were scattered all over the camp.

After the morning class, Yennekar and I came back to camp. Since then, we’d been trimming logs all day.

We could work rather efficiently because we could cut the trees down with magic and transport them thanks to the spirits… but the effort it took was the same.

Still, I felt a sense of emptiness. When I first built the cabin, I had to spend weeks just trimming those logs.

However, now that I was working alongside Yennekar, the efficiency at which things were getting done wasn’t just two or three times faster, it was more like a hundred or a thousand times.

“I’ll have to redraw the design first. Building a shabby cabin versus a full-fledged two-story house are on completely different levels of difficulty.”

“Isn’t it better to leave something like that to the experts?”

“Well, I could get help with the design, but… I thought it would be better to make it myself.”

The reason things were so chaotic at the camp was because I was in the process of expanding my cabin.

I was planning to upgrade my simple, one-floor shabby cabin into a proper two-story cabin.

Lortel made an offer to build it, but I declined. There were two reasons for that.

First was that my life skills proficiency and exp would rise tremendously after completing such a large construction project.

Second was that, since it was my camp, I wanted to work on it with my own two hands.

Because of that, the moment classes finished, I came back to the camp and started working on trimming logs all day long.

“If possible, I want it to feel more like a well-built building than a shabby log cabin… But that might be too much for me to do. Well, I guess it can’t be helped that it’ll always feel a bit shabby.”

“Still, even doing this much is incredible, Ed.”

Yennekar’s spirits could be considered the equivalent of 100 people’s manpower… I was rather fortunate to have her help.

Surprisingly, though, it seemed like they liked working.

Then, I had a rather bizarre thought. Spirits were spirits, so they shouldn’t have the same mindset as humans, right?

“But… you have to take care of your school life as well. Since you’re an honors student, if you use up all your stamina doing this, won’t you have trouble in class?”

“It’s okay. I’ve gotten better at managing myself now. There’s still a lot of work left for me to do, so I’ll have to keep working at it.”

Saying that, I took a deep breath. I felt rather motivated, as that was the first proper exercise I’d had in a long time.

As she crouched down to rest, covered in sweat, Yennekar awkwardly fiddled with her fingers.

“If it’s too hard, you can take a break. There’s no rush to expand my cabin. Just do what you can at your own pace.”

“Ah, no… it’s not like that… But is there really a lot left you need to do?”

“Hm… “

I thought about how to answer and decided to just say this:

“I’m just busy with my school life.”

At that point, the scenario was coming to an end, and I needed to start preparing for the Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok.

The most important thing was to join forces with various powerful houses and influential people… but I didn’t know where to start.

In regard to other houses, it seemed that Tanya somehow managed to bring several other houses to our side.

Those were the rumors, but I hadn’t been able to confirm it myself yet.

I heard that Tanya had returned to Ophelis Hall when the new semester started, but because I was healing my injuries and Tanya was busy with the student council and family affairs, I couldn’t meet with her.

Still, my own blood-related sister had returned, so I should go and see her in person.

Tanya was probably extremely busy, so I figured that I should be the one to make some time and go meet her at Obel Hall. It was just that I hadn’t had the time recently.

Once I saw Tanya, she would probably explain how she brought over other houses to our side. A detailed policy would then be decided after a proper meeting.

As for imperial power, there was Princess Penia. It seemed that she was acting rather more favorably towards me than I first thought, so that was reassuring.

However, the imperial family was currently in the midst of a dispute over imperial power. So, I didn’t know how much I would be able to rely on her to help me with the scenario.

Thus, the most likely place to help me was… The Telos Religious Group.

“Let’s finish today’s work here.”

I spoke while wiping away my sweat.

“……”

Saint Clarice would most likely believe anything I said about the Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok.

Because of that, the group that she was a part of… would most likely lend me their power as well.

The problem was finding the time to have such a serious conversation. Saint Clarice was always disappearing.

Sometimes she showed up as Saint Clarice. Other times she was the childish aristocrat known as Kylie Eckner.

Because she kept disappearing, I hadn’t been able to meet with her. In the first place, it was already difficult to schedule a private meeting because of the huge difference in status. That was also true with the princess.

For the moment, I needed to somehow try and find her. Saint Clarice’s help in defeating Velbrok was absolutely necessary.

* * *

“I’m… going to go to the Cledric Monastery for the time being… Haaah…”

As if knowing my concerns, Saint Clarice had come to my cabin that evening.

As if she had come secretly, she was only accompanied by a couple of guards.

“…What?”

“I was told that I did not have to attend this year’s ceremony, but… the school said they would excuse my absence… I don’t need that unnecessary understanding from them…”

She was always kind and courteous towards the other students, showing a benevolent and mature attitude.

Her lowered, holy-looking white hair and that red hairpin she always wore were just like I remembered. Everything she wore looked high-grade.

However, Clarice—who suddenly appeared at my camp—was rather depressed and ready to burst into tears.

“Of course, I know that as the saint, hosting such a large religious ceremony is a very important task… And I’ve already had the luxury of spending a year immersed in a romantic school life…”

“…Saint…”

“And Cledric Monastery is a place that only has horrific food. A place where you can’t help but think shouldn’t exist…”

Even if you were not a member of the Telos Religious Group, it was a famous place that everyone had heard of at least once.

Not far from Silvenia, up along the western coast of the continent towards the end of Countess Fes’ estate.

A majestic monastery built on a small, rocky island off the coast… There was no bridge to it and there were no docks for ships, either.

However, twice a day by the coast, a sandy road leading to the monastery was opened due to the tides.

A place that could only be entered during a brief moment… A place that felt completely detached from the rest of the world. A place of great religious significance.

Although the size of the rocky island was small, the scale of the Cledric Monastery was rather large. In addition, since it was a strictly restricted area where men could not even go near unless they were high-ranking clergymen that were recognized by name or maintenance workers that had no choice but to enter, it was impossible to go inside. In other words, you had to be at least the level of the Holy Father or the Archbishop.

“And I heard that, for some reason, a lot of distinguished guests are attending the ceremony this time… I think l’ll have to bring my own food when I go.”

“Distinguished guests?”

“Yeah… Many distinguished guests usually come, but it seems that this year there are people of a higher status coming. And, since I’m the face of the Telos Religious Group, I’ll have to attend with a smile on my face….”

“Specifically, who is coming? And you’re the saint, is it okay for you to say those things?”

Saint Clarice let out a heavy sigh as she looked at the campfire before answering.

“A lot of people come from all over, but… If I had to pick just one representative…”

The name that came out of her mouth was one I was familiar with.

“Supposedly, Princess Persica of House Kroel is coming personally.”

I quietly frowned.