Chapter 108 – Skandal’s Bookmark (2)

“What on earth is this?”

Before leaving, Liv held back her tears and looked closely at the small ice duck that Adela had given her.
It was quite cute to see him toddling around in her palm, but I felt something uncomfortable about it.

While I was contemplating whether to just throw it away, the students standing in line began to murmur.
At the same time, the ice duck chirped.
When Liv, who was in the front row, raised her head, a shocking sight unfolded.

“Oh my god…”

The saintess was attacking the boss.

***

That the saint received revelations from God was a secret known only to some bishops within her holy kingdom.
However, the revelation did not come in the form of prophecy or oracle.
Hella, the goddess of light, has never once preached her doctrine through the mouth of her saint or descended as an incarnation.
Therefore, the revelation referred to here was extremely metaphysical and unpredictable, in short, close to a natural phenomenon.

Tuk.

“Uh?”

Caroline, who was raising her eyes as she approached Louise, unconsciously lost her balance and stumbled when she felt someone pushing her behind.
Normally, her excellent sense of balance would have allowed her to quickly absorb this much of a shock, but because her body had not yet adapted, she was only able to place her hand on his chest.

“What… ?”
“?”

Lewis’s face is embarrassed.
The same was true for Caroline.
She gritted her teeth and looked behind her to see who had pushed her.
But no student was standing there.
Even the chairman who was closest to her, ten steps away, was wondering whether he should pay attention to her embarrassing behavior.

“What are you doing now? “Get out of the way quickly.”
“Oh, that’s probably true anyway…”

Grasp!

“Aaaaah!!”

This time, a girlish scream came out and my body exploded.
An enormous rebound force comparable to that of wind magic struck my back, and at the same time, my foot was caught by a brick that ‘accidentally’ fell from the floor.
As a result, Caroline felt cold sweat running down her neck as she sat down in a position as if she had pushed Louise down.

— Saint? Are you okay?
— Oh my, what’s going on…
– Louis! Stand up quickly! What are you doing now?
— No, I don’t know what’s going on either…

Even though I look everywhere, I can’t detect any mana.
In a place where so many wizards gathered, there would be no reason to use a magic so sophisticated that even the Lord of Reincarnation wouldn’t notice it, just to bridge the gap.
A low curse flowed from her mouth as she bit her red lips.

“Fuck.”

A supernatural phenomenon imbued with will.
Unfortunately, since Caroline was born, she has only experienced this misfortune once.
She was right when she was chosen to be a saint.
Then this is——

“No… ?”

It was a ‘revelation’.

***

There was a lot of commotion, but eventually we arrived at the platform where the tram leaving Parencia was waiting.
Lehel, who gathered the students together, gave them tickets and a shiny bookmark and explained about the city of Skandal.

“Ah, can everyone hear well? This training will be a bit unique. Skandal, which we are passing through, is strictly speaking not a ‘destination’ but a ‘stopover’. You have the bookmark you received with your ticket, right? “Don’t leave it lying around, keep it with you.”

Skandal was the name of a man who was called a legendary adventurer in the past.
Among the numerous relics he discovered, the most representative one is the Great Library of Uzet, an imperial legacy and one of the Four Secret Sites.
Of course, that place was burned down a long time ago and only the ruins remain.
The only book that could be found was the Secretary to Summon Hero, as Terra said.

“You know very well that the libraries of Farencia and Thessalon have the same status on a separate plane. The ocean of knowledge is connected to each other. So, what was the empire like?”

Lehel made a ladder by tying a long rosary with both hands, as if she was knitting a thread.
And he gave it a twist.

“Surprisingly, the Holy Acetaria Empire copied the Great Library of Uzet, which contains their secret treasures, and the entire city, and stored them in one dimension. It’s a kind of reprint. “The important thing here is that not only the walls are made of dirt and sand, but even the people inside are actually moving!”

Of course, it is said that they are not really living beings.
If I had to compare it, would it be closer to data stored in a computer?
One student who couldn’t hide his surprise raised his hand and asked.

“Then can we enter the Great Library of Uzet?”
“It is possible for now. However, access to books will be extremely limited. Like the Academy Library, a separate security level is required, and it even requires a certificate issued by the capital of the empire.”

Naturally, many people expressed disappointment when they answered that there was no way to get it now.

“But don’t worry too much about it. “You can find any number of magic books on the market, and even if you don’t have them, you will be able to experience many things that you have never experienced before.”

The purpose of this training was to stay in a city in the empire, now called Skandal and formerly called Uzet, and see the heritage of the past.
This is where the reason why only those who are fluent in runes and archaic languages ​​are selected is revealed.

“Hey, you come this way.”

While I was listening to Lehel’s story from behind, someone tapped my shoulder.
He was an adventurer with a rough beard, and a group of people had been selected to serve as this escort.
A familiar face was seen giving them an explanation—— Guard Captain Mark.

“Wow, everyone is here. I will explain what you need to pay attention to during this training’s escort mission. “Is there anyone here who knows runes and archaic words?”

Thirty students and thirty escorts.
Naturally, no one in the latter group raised their hand, so I also stayed quiet.
The language of this world wasn’t a problem for me at all, but it wouldn’t do any good to come forward.
The only person here who knew that fact was Liv.

“As expected. Remember, you should never write or speak in Skandal. When someone asks a question, just nod your head and pretend to be mute. “If the ghosts of the empire find out who we are, it will never end favorably.”
“What happens if I get caught?”
“You will end up in prison during the training period. If you are unlucky, you may be misunderstood as a warlock and be tortured. In particular, please be sure to protect the students assigned to you.”

I could feel some people giving me harsh looks at those words.
The people selected for this escort were very diverse, including knights and adventurers from each family, several soldiers from the guard, and students from the knight club who applied for the guard because they wanted to go to Skandal.
Perhaps the role they most want to play is that of protecting Princess Erzsebet.
However, since I had taken over the position, it was unlikely that there would be a positive response.

As the chariot was about to depart, students were boarding it, and the escort troops followed suit and left.
However, besides me and Mark, there was one mercenary who still remained.
It was the bald man with a beard who dragged me in a while ago.

“Hey, Mark. Is it really okay for the princess to have someone like this as her guard?”
“It was a direct order, Boris.”
“I guess it’s not trustworthy. “I heard you’re the owner of the store?”
“That…”

A guy who looked like he had come down from a mountain village looked at me intently.
It was quite unpleasant to see him even clenching his knuckles, as if it wasn’t just words.

“It must be hard to guard the royal family, so why don’t you trade with me?”
“It must be harder for the princess to ride the chariot with your face in front of her.”
“What!? This bastard… !”

After making an estimate for Boris, who was rolling his eyes, I thought for a moment about whether it would be okay for this chariot to have one less escort.
If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be okay if I saw the two escorts, including Erzsebet?

“Hey, what on earth are those hands…” …”
“Ah, haha! Should we leave now too!? Louis! “Here’s your room key!”

But when she quietly raised her fist, there was someone next to her who stopped me, sweating coldly.

“What, why are you here?”
“That’s right, I’m in the driver’s club. “I applied to escort these trainees.”

Where has the bad side that used to break bread for Adela gone? It’s as if he has become a new person… No, she was really Ansen, a new person.
He desperately blocked my hand from reaching Boris and transmitted her voice through second-level magic 〈 telepathy 〉.

‘Woah, if you cause trouble here, the training itself may be canceled… !’
“I can take charge of two people. Or should we have three people?”
‘Ha, it really won’t be canceled if it’s revealed that one of the students was a doppelganger… Should I? Haha…’

That’s pretty smart.
It’s not wrong.

I took the keys and was about to board the tram, then came back and asked Mark.

“Hey.”
“Huh? Louis?”
“Is there a temple in Uzet?”
“Of course there is. No, wait a minute, Louis! Then don’t…”
“Okay?”

Quick!!

“Click — —!”

Boris, who finished her kick with a prick aimed at her knee joint, let out a scream of joy from her.
I told Ansen to take her and ride her with her chin, and then I got into the carriage.

***

The tram that returned from Parencia via Skandal was a specially modified vehicle.
This was because the seat immediately before was a ‘sleeper’.
In particular, Erzsebet’s room near the front was as luxurious as any other hotel.
When I opened the room door with the key and entered, it was a small space like a soundproof booth, and the bedroom was separated inside.

“Oh, wait a minute.”

Erzsebet, who was unpacking her luggage, came from inside and opened another door.
Indeed, no matter how much you are an escort, your privacy must be protected, so it is a structure that opens with double doors.
You can check the inside through a small window, but even that is completely obscured by a palm-sized curtain on the other side.

“Security is tight.”
“No problem, did you think I would sleep in the same room as you?”
“I didn’t know that my place to sleep would be this narrow.”
“That…”

Erzsebet looked at the space that looked like a single-person dry sauna, barely big enough to sit down and not even lie down.
Something about her seemed conflicted, but eventually she turned her head away.

“Oh, no matter what, we can’t sleep together!”

I didn’t even want it to go that far.
It would be nice if you could at least throw a pillow.

Anyway, I also unpacked my luggage and took a quick look around the busy interior of the tram.
More than anything else, I was most curious about what kind of person Liv’s escort was.

A guy like Boris would be in trouble.
According to what Lehel explained earlier, the training will last for a total of 7 days, so a 1-week injury to the anterior teeth would be enough.
Of course, in this world other than Earth, the medical science provided by God was sufficiently developed, so I didn’t know that another Balup Zealot would be created just in case.

While looking around the inside of the car before leaving, I found a place I really liked.

[Smoking room]

“Oh, shall we go have a smoke?”

I remembered the other day when Erzébet took a cigarette from my mouth and told me not to smell unpleasant in front of him.
There is already no reason to fight with her in her poorly ventilated room.
After looking around for a moment and opening the door, there was a passenger inside a cramped interior reminiscent of an airplane bathroom.

“You, you!?”
“Saint?”

Perhaps she was taking advantage of the mess of organizing her luggage, but Caroline was acting like a real saint within the academy, not an Inquisitor from the Blood Gate Brigade.
Even though I caught her trying to light her cigarette, she hurriedly shouted at me as if she was worried about something else.

“Hey, don’t come in! “Don’t close the door!!”
“No, I said informally when I saw you…” … Okay, so get out of the way. Let me sit down too. Why did you make the smoking room so narrow? …”

Slam!

“Huh?”

At that moment, the door clicked and locked, and Caroline, leaning her head against the wall, could be heard lamenting.

“Si, you’re screwed…”