Chapter 199: End-of-term exam (4)

In my previous life, I had an opportunity to take a train trip.

It was when I was doing my fellowship in the United States.

Normally, it would be standard to quickly fly on an airplane, but at the time, there was only one month left of my training.

Because I couldn't just live the hospital life after coming to the United States, I chose a train instead of an airplane.

The 3 Days and 2 Nights train trip that started like that remained a pretty decent memory.

Aside from the feeling of my blood vessels being clogged with fat in real-time due to the meal menu, it was a super-luxurious trip that I could count on one hand in my life.

Because aside from that train trip, all my trips were complete crap.

Like going on a day trip all the way to Tsushima Island to catch a runaway junior,

Or being dragged to volunteer at an overseas disaster site after being deceived by the promise of treating me to steak,

Or living in a tent in a flood-damaged area after being tricked by the word Southeast Asia hotel staycation......

'I'm suddenly pissed off?'

Come to think of it, the majority of my overseas trips were all like this?

Why is a 3 Days and 2 Nights train trip the best memory?

What about my youth? My memories?

Damn it.

For these reasons, I don't really like the word 'travel'.

However, this train trip was a little different.

'Hmm, coffee smell.'

The morning of the 2nd day of the train trip, on the 2nd floor of Car No. 10 where the cafe was located.

I enjoyed a refreshing brunch time, forgetting worldly desires.

Every time I recalled the fact that all the services I received were free of charge, a smile naturally formed on my face.

"Would you like a refill, Lord Saint?"

"Instead of a refill, please give me a new cup. Mocha Java with a medium roast, please."

"Understood, Lord Saint."

The train attendant politely took my cup.

After ordering a new cup, my gaze returned toward the dining table.

The four Valkyries were sharing my dining table.

"Unnie, can't you stop agonizing over it and just order?"

"No. It's a snack menu available only twice a day. I can't afford to regret it."

"How about a filling sandwich, Junior Erika?"

"Then I won't be able to eat a cupcake."

Across the dining table, Erika was agonizing with her face glued to the menu.

Since only two snack vouchers were distributed a day, she was pondering deeply over the menu.

"Even if it's an exam, it's a rare trip. But to be so stingy and only give out 2 vouchers. Isn't that too much?"

"Unnie. This isn't a trip, it's an exam."

"Hiing."

Erika expressed her disappointment.

At that reaction, Charlotte, who was sipping her tea, asked as if she couldn't understand.

"Then how many vouchers do you think Miss Erika should have received?"

"Since it's a growing period, they should give at least 10."

"Growing...... you say?"

Charlotte's gaze seemed to linger on Erika's chest for a moment.

Afterward, after agonizing, Erika ordered a sandwich.

It was for the reason that it had the largest portion.

Naturally, the sandwich did not satisfy her.

Rather, like drinking seawater, she craved even more food.

"Teacher. Really, truly, can't you buy me that menu?"

"No. It's an exam, isn't it."

"Hiiiing."

Her target naturally shifted to me.

However, I immediately refused.

Even if we left the Academy territory for the exam, the policy of restricting resources for the honing of prospective heroes was still valid.

In such a situation, it would be unfair to give Erika special treatment and provide her with snacks or meals.

"The entire process of moving to the Demonic Realm is part of the practical training. In a situation where other students are competing with vouchers to get what they want, what would those students become if I intervened."

"That is true, but......"

Inside the train, an economy driven by vouchers was activated.

Students trading vouchers in exchange for cooperation in the exam.

Students trading to acquire items needed for the exam.

There were even students setting up gambling dens to obtain vouchers.

The Academy was also aware of this phenomenon.

They must have expected it to turn out like this.

However, the professors did not make any remarks about this voucher economy.

Since such a real economy is often activated on battlefields, it is considered a qualification one must possess as a hero.

And Erika also knew very well that this voucher economy was part of the exam.

However......

"Still, 2 vouchers for one apple pie! Why is that the only expensive one!"

To her, the fact that she couldn't eat a snack right this moment seemed harder to bear than that reality.

At this, Freya proposed a solution to Erika.

"Then can't you just save the one voucher left today and add another to use tomorrow?"

"Then I'll be hungry this afternoon."

"......"

Freya shut her mouth.

To Erika, the option of giving up an afternoon snack didn't seem to exist.

Eventually, with Freya handing over one voucher to Erika, Erika's dilemma of a lifetime was concluded.

Meanwhile.

Suddenly, I realized the fact that Jenny still hadn't ordered a menu.

"Miss Jenny? Are you not ordering a snack?"

"Ah, that is...... ahaha...... I left my vouchers with Charlotte."

"With Charlotte?"

Why did Jenny give her vouchers to Charlotte?

The one who answered this was Charlotte herself.

"She said that having the vouchers constantly tempts her with the greed to use them, so I am managing them."

"Aha. It's like a part of your training."

"Umm...... Let's just go with that."

As expected of an Old Testament style priest.

Her guarding against greed could be called a role model for others.

*

"You have it so good, Teacher...... I'm still hungry......"

"How on earth did you endure it at the Academy?"

"Unnie tends to spend most of the reward money she receives from black sorcerer hunts on snacks or meals."

"You went through a lot of trouble, Freya."

After spending brunch time with the Valkyries like that, time passed and it became the afternoon.

This time, I had a tea time with Imperial Prince Edmund.

"I came to get a cup of tea."

It was a tea time with Imperial Prince Edmund.

Because he had called me, saying he had something to say personally.

"H-H-Hello, Y-Y-Your Highness."

"The Saint of Radiance greets the Star of the Empire."

Ayla and Lauren were added here.

"You may treat me comfortably. Since today, I wanted to meet you three not as a member of the Imperial Family, but as a soldier."

The tea time took place in my room, not the cafe.

Because the Imperial Prince had something secret enough to discuss to call upon a Saintess and Saints.

"By the way, this room is truly spacious. Did they give you such special treatment because you are a saint, or because you are a major shareholder of the railway? Perhaps it's both."

"Isn't Your Highness's room spacious enough as well?"

"Of course it's spacious, but it's a bit lacking compared to yours."

The special private room was not lacking in hosting guests.

Because the space was ample, and the soundproofing was good enough to hold a secret conversation.

"May I ask what you came to talk about?"

"It might be closer to a class rather than a conversation. I'll take a cup of tea as the tuition."

It meant we should drink tea first before talking.

I immediately ordered tea.

Perhaps because it was a special private room.

I found out that I could place an order here without even having to go to the cafe.

"Fascinating. In the train I rode before, I couldn't order from the room, so I had to go to the cafe car myself. It seems they prepared this kind of thing for you."

Slowly emptying his cup, the Imperial Prince shared light conversation for a while.

Then, around the time he finished drinking his tea, he got to the main point.

"There's something I want to show you."

He set down his empty cup and began unbuttoning his uniform sleeves.

His forearm was revealed beneath the rolled-up sleeve.

Below his elbow, large scars the size of a finger joint were gouged out here and there.

"Do you know what these scars are?"

"It's not a burn, and it's not a normal laceration either. To call them bug bites, the size is too large......"

"It is a bug."

"?"

Pardon? It is a bug, you say?

"About what size was the bug?"

"Its head was about the size of yours."

"You managed to protect your arm against the odds."

"It's dizzying for me to think about it now too. One wrong move, and I would've had to hold my children with only one arm."

"As expected, they are scars you got from a demonic beast, right?"

The Southern Region is an area famous for insect-type demonic beasts.

Recalling the Imperial Prince's past when he played an active role as the Commander-in-Chief there, it would be correct to assume he got those scars in that manner.

However, the answer that returned was different from my prediction.

"No. I got them not from a demonic beast, but from a human. It's the work of a bug caster."

"Pardon?"

"A bug caster?"

The ones who reacted to this were Ayla and Lauren.

At that, the Imperial Prince gave me a glance.

As if to reciprocate, I shook my head side to side.

The meaning of the eye contact exchange just now was as follows.

— "How much do these kids know about black sorcerers?"

— "They don't know anything."

The Imperial Prince nodded his head.

It meant he would take a little time to explain for the two of them.

"How much do the Saintess of the Lamp and the Saint of Radiance know about black sorcerers?"

"I am taking the Black Magic Defense Arts course, so I understand the general principles."

"Because I grew up in the Holy City, I do not know in detail. I have never even seen the term bug caster in a newspaper."

"Then I will have to explain from the beginning."

Lifting the teapot, the Imperial Prince filled his cup.

"Most people inside the walls commonly think of plague casters, blood mages, and chimera sorcerers when it comes to black sorcerers. In reality, it's not a completely wrong statement either. Unless they go outside the wall, the black sorcerers they encounter will mostly be of those kinds."

"Is there perhaps a special reason for that?"

"It's difficult to bring black magic catalysts or symbols inside the walls. Therefore, blood mages or plague casters, who can hide catalysts in their own bodies or use their bodies themselves as catalysts, primarily operate inside. However, the real deal black sorcerers are often located outside the wall."

Edmund's fingertips swept over the contours of his scars.

"The bug caster who engraved these scars was also one who primarily operated outside the wall. He attacked me with numerous insect demonic beasts that could not be brought inside the wall. At the time, that person was of the 6th Rank, but based solely on the potential they showed, they were closer to the 7th Rank."

As the saying goes, magic is all about catalysts and environmental advantage.

If they simply received good catalysts and environments, it wouldn't be strange for them to match a mage one rank above them.

In that sense, the Southern battlefield was that bug caster's home ground and a massive workshop.

Considering this, it was rather correct to see Imperial Prince Edmund, who survived, as incredible.

For reference, this is another story.

There was a part among the Imperial Prince's words that was strictly speaking incorrect.

'He said you can't see bug casters inside the walls, but in reality, bug casters can also be seen inside the walls in the form of parasitemancers.'

A parasitemancer is originally a sub-branch that split off from the bug school.

The problem is that if they hide bugs inside their bodies, they can pass through security checkpoints.

Because of this, parasitemancers were the only ones among the bug school who could operate inside the barrier.

However, the Imperial Prince's words were also, in a way, not wrong.

Recently, taking anti-parasitic medicine once every 6 months had become mandatory inside the walls.

They might be able to operate, but you could say it was close to impossible.

It was no different from their lineage drying up entirely.

Looking at it in that sense, the proposition that 'there are no bug casters inside the wall' might not have been false.

Anyway, there was only one thing the Imperial Prince wanted to say.

"Outside the wall is their workshop. You must also know very well just how strong a mage is within their own workshop."

"T-Then......"

Ayla half-raised her hand.

"You are saying that outside the wall...... there are far stronger black sorcerers. Are we truly safe?"

"That is a good question."

The Imperial Prince folded three of his fingers in order.

"Do not worry. Holy knights and soldiers are accompanying us on this train, and the train itself is equipped with anti-black magic defense equipment."

Unfolding his fingers, he smiled.

"I do not mean to boast, but I too have defeated quite a strong caster in the Southern Region. Do not worry about a frontal attack."

"Then what is it that we should be cautious of?"

"Be cautious of unfamiliar faces. Do not separate from your bodyguards no matter what happens. You probably already knew, but I specifically took this time so you would not forget your vigilance. If I have caused any inconvenience, I apologize."

"Not at all. It was truly helpful, Your Highness."

"I also was unaware, but I must not separate from the holy knights even for a moment. Thank you for the explanation."

Ayla answered with her facial expression completely stiff.

Lauren was the same.

The Imperial Prince spoke up to that point and rose from his seat.

"I enjoyed the tea. I will see you in the dining car for dinner."