Chapter 9: Actually, Everyone Here is Weird

“Shir… Looks like you have gotten stronger recently.”

Not just his level, even his t.i.tles… Just what is going on with these t.i.tles, huh? What are all these? No matter how I see him, he’s an over-the-top existence, isn’t he?

But it seems he isn’t aware of it…

“Eh, really? I did make some improvements, but I can’t compare to Fir at all. Your battle earlier was just too cool! Please teach me!”

“Umm… But I don’t know Wind Magic, you know.” “Ah, you’re right.”

He smiled embarra.s.singly.

“It’s fine. Let’s see, Fir, join my squad as well. You might be able to get pointers for things other than magic from other the other squad members if you do.”

”“Eh, really?” “Un.”

“Thank you very much~”

Haah. This guy has always been this weird, if I were to leave him alone, he will definitely land himself in some trouble. It seems Princess Mich.e.l.le knows a couple of things about him, I will have to seek her help later.

“Umm… Are you male or female?”

Suddenly, Pryn, who had just arrived, suddenly asked. “Umm… I’m male… probably.”

Hey hey, what’s with this response of yours? Why did you add a ‘probably’ at the end?

“But you look exactly like a girl, you know. If you were to grow out your hair~” After saying that, Pryn grabbed onto Shir’s shoulders, and took a closer look.

“As I thought, your face looks so refined it’s as though it’s artificial~” Artificial…

Wait a minute, his race is actually an android?

Not a homunculus, but an android?

…Oh my G.o.d, why isn’t there anyone that’s normal around me? I don’t really mind about it, but…

”“Then… Where are we going next?”

“Ah, of course, we’re going to reel in more people…”

Ah whatever, it’s not really a problem. Let’s just leave it at that. “Eh?”

Noticing my pause, Shir and Pryn looked towards the front.

At the corner of the Alchemy School, the small building used by Lanya was being guarded by six knights. Although it was within my predictions, the situation doesn’t seem optimistic.

They’re actually LV 30 Knights, Dual-swordsmen, and Broadsword Wielders. If it was only one of them, I would still be able to manage somehow. But there are six of them…

And no matter how I see it, there’s something wrong here. They do not have any crests belonging to the Doge Military School. These six… are probably the guards of some n.o.bles, and were sent here to find Lanya.

And outside Lanya’s door were signs like ‘Access Restricted’ and ‘Knights, Back Away’. Looks like there are many people fighting over her, huh… Wait a minute, then, this morning, how did she…

With this thought in mind, I carefully looked at her laboratory’s location in the building, and Lanya’s name and t.i.tles were not there at all.

Looks like she’s not in, huh?

“Alright, looks like we have to look for our next target for now. This place…”

Pa.

Suddenly, a grenade dropped right beside us. Ehhhhhh!? Grenade!!

But the attack warning… While I was still in a fl.u.s.ter, the grenade cracked open, and a paper slip dropped out of it.

……

This thing… I silently picked the slip up. As expected, it was something Lanya threw over.

I looked around my surroundings. I don’t see her name anywhere though… I opened the slip, and there was only a simple instruction inside.

‘Return to your squad’s base.’ This girl…

So she had already known about this? Where did she get the intel from? “Looks like she had already ran away. Let’s proceed to our next stop.” “There’s still something written behind.”

“Hah?”

I turned the slip to the other side, and just as Shir said, there was something written behind as well…

‘We’re all waiting for you there, so go straight back.’

……

These girls are really scary, just how did they know about my plans? Did the three of you obtain a prediction ability!?

“Alright! It seems our mission has been completed! Let’s retreat!” “Ah?”

The two of them made weird sounds at the same time. Well, that’s totally understandable.

After all, it’s only been less than an hour since we left.

“We’re returning this quickly? Aren’t you going to bring me for a stroll around the campus…”

Pryn who was beside me gave a very unhappy expression.

“It’s not a good idea to stroll around the campus now, right? There’s knights who are causing unnecessary troubles everywhere.”

“Eh~ It doesn’t matter, right? Didn’t you successfully get rid of them earlier?”

“My earlier a.s.sault was indeed very successful, but it will be troublesome if more of them were to come. And if it’s an open area, I won’t be able to take on a disguise, right?”

Speaking of which, ever since earlier, I had been wearing a knight armor. Although it’s only a cheap product I bought from a shop, it’s still an actual knight armor.

And since I don’t think there’s actually a Knight who would use dual blades, I changed to the Connect Weapon, Break, which was the combination of a long sword and a dagger.

But because the helmet was too annoying, I threw it straight into my ring. Otherwise, I would feel like I’m wearing a motorcycle helmet, and it’s really annoying.

After all, wearing a pair of gla.s.ses was already annoying enough, by adding a helmet, I don’t feel the least bit comfortable at all.

“Anyhow… Let’s hurry and head back, so that we can meet up with the three of them. It wouldn’t be wise to keep the three of them waiting.”

“Eh… How can you do this…” “But…”

I looked at the time, and laughed.

“We can still take a short stroll, and buy some dinner on our back. There shouldn’t be a problem with that, right?”

“……”

Pryn stared at me for a long while, and then, she revealed a very happy smile. “Yay~ Woooo~”

“You don’t have to be this excited, really… We have to get back before sunset,

alright?”

“Alright, alright~”

“Shir, you’re coming as well, right?”

“No… umm… Tell me the address of your squad’s base. I will head over first to give my greetings!”

“Un. Alright then. Then that settles it.”

After writing down the address on the paper slip I got earlier, I pa.s.sed it to Shir.

I don’t believe giving verbal directions will work. I will be more at ease if I write it on a piece of paper.

“Then we will be taking a stroll. I believe after the two schools’ merger, there are bound to be several new things to be seen.”

The new things are naturally different types of armors, swords, and related equipment.

Back then, the shops only dealt with products like robes and magic staves. The consumables on sale were not as varied as the consumables made by Lanya.

In other words, the types of potions, robes, and magic staves in the shops could be counted with a single hand. That could not be counted as having a small variety, rather, it was a completely monotonous selection of goods.

Of course, there are various types of goods in the alchemy shops, but they are basically pointless goods to me. There were things like Fast Mana Absorbing Devices, storage rings with varied levels… They were probably goods created by the students in the academy.

Those actual high-quality goods could only be bought in the auctions which are patronized by the n.o.bles. As for people like me… No, now that I’m a State Magician, there shouldn’t be a problem with me entering those sorts of places, right?

After all, I did obtain quite a big sum of money from the Royal Treasury. Well, I can always visit those places in the future.

Right now, I should first buy a couple of knight equipment and weapon, and

obtain a few skill books for myself. Since I’m going to disguise myself as a knight, then I should give it my hundred percent.

“What are you thinking about, Fir? We’re almost there.”

Pryn’s words pulled me out of my thoughts. After looking around the business district, I immediately found the place I wanted to go.

“Un, let’s go.”