Volume 4 - CH 3

Act 4-3: Journey Toward World Sorcery Institution

「Hah? Why should I enroll into【Babel】?」

I replied with a dumbfounded face.

「You have to! A royal guard is prime example for the knights of a kingdom! In case the royal guard is young, they have an obligation to attend the educational institution chosen by the kingdom.」

Rose replied with a face telling me to “Just do it”. It seems she kept this matter a secret despite being fully aware.

「I’m just your temporary royal guard. I don’t need to enter something like an educational institution.」

And I refuse to become a student at this age. I mean, I don’t need that anymore. I am no longer an underage youth, I’m a full-fledged adult(around hundred thousand years old).

「No problem. We have already handled the registration process for you. Now let’s go!」

Rose ignored me as she took my right-hand and dragged me out.

「Hey―― Don’t ignore me!」

Completely ignoring me, she pulled me into the carriage stationary outside the building.

Asta, Zack, Anna, Myu and Faf had already been seated inside the carriage. It seems she had already prepared everything. Good grief, what a troublesome girl…

Oh whatever. Rose herself was also forced to enter Babel and live there as one of their students. Babel was an independent institute, unaffected by all nations and the most suitable place to ambush one’s political enemy. I find it surprising that hot tempered fellas from the Gilbert faction could actually enroll into this school; thus, I could only prepare for an ambush.

If Rose were to die, the East End would most likely get devoured by greedy nobles. That’s why I built the city, quite literally, in the middle of a mountain. There was no way I would let those greedy pigs take that city. I guess the best choice for now was to never leave Rose unaccompanied.

Moreover, the long journey inside the shaking carriage didn’t feel so bad. I guess I really am too occupied with managing the territory nowadays. Maybe I should treat this as some sort of vacation. It wasn’t a blazing fast journey using Phoenix, but a slow journey along with these guys with carriage.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

After shaking inside the carriage for two weeks, a tall and huge tower piercing the clouds came in our sight. That was the most famous educational institute in this world―― Babel’s Pillar. It was some sort of wandering destination for the sorcerers or swordsmen all around the world.

Naturally, not even in my wildest imagination I expected that I would have to attend this ridiculous institution. The essence of swordsman laid in a struggle between life and death. In a certain meaning, one had to swing their sword till they could abandon all selfishness. Things such as fame or influence, in a certain meaning, resembled pieces in board game. A swordsman could still be a swordsman even without those mundane things. Well, an incompetent like me would most likely be rejected immediately by the tower.

Our carriage entered inside the city of Babel.

「So many people.」

「Many people-nanodesu!」

Faf and Myu leaned half of their small bodies outside the carriage window, taking in every detail restlessly with sparkling eyes.

Even I was in awe, witnessing a sheer number of people in the street. As expected from world’s largest institute, more than half of the crowd was young. Faf and Myu were clearly excited.

「Let’s pick an inn and head for lunch! I’ll guide you to a delicious eatery in Babel.」

Rose muttered so with a proud look on her face, resting her hands on her hips.

「YAAAY! IT’S MEAL TIME!」

「YAAAY-NANODESU! IT’S MEAL TIME-NANODESU!」

「AND DELICIOUS!」

「DELICIOUS-NANODESU!」

Everyone then started to arrange themselves to get off the carriage with wry smile on their faces, as they saw Faf and Myu frolicking inside the carriage.

The lodging facility recommended by Rose was in the southwest part of this city. Compared to the lavish structures in the center of the city, the stores lining up along the street appeared to be ordinary. Maybe this southwest district was for common students rather than those royalties, nobles, or wealthy merchants.

Given the fact that Rose was really familiar with this place, I guess she often used the inn we were heading to.

Despite her disappointing (real)personality, Rose was undoubtedly a genuine royal. The place allocated to her from Babel might not be located in this district. I guess she came here on her own accord, just being herself.  I never expected see such behavior from a royalty of the kingdom that liked the mass of vanity.

Well, no matter how gorgeous the building look like, I guess she is simply fed up of living in the midst of sophisticated people. Even from my perspective, living in this district was much better choice.

We entered the inn and Rose left for the inn’s office to take care of the formalities.

Waiting for Rose to complete the procedure at the reception, I leaned on the wooden pillar near the entrance, watching the situation inside the inn.

「AH, KAI HEINEMAN!!」

When I heard the shout, I caught a figure of a blonde-haired girl with bob-cut hair, pointing at me.

This girl is Lyla’s cousin―― Lumine. And just like me, she was also the holder of a trash gift.

Lyla had never changed her attitude towards me, even after she came to know about my trash gift, 【The Most Incompetent in This World】. Thus, it was only natural that her attitude toward Lumine remained the same, an extremely loving big sister.

「Yo, long time no see.」

When I greeted her with a wave and smile on my face, Lumine surprisingly stared at me for few second with a rather dumbfounded look on her face.

「Stop making that forced smile. It’s creepy!」

She retreated, as if trying to avoid me, and uttering words that could stain my reputation. This girl, she was serious when she told me that, huh.

Well, I guess she has a point; lately, even that Zack, who was a literal beast in human clothing, often joked around telling me to stop my smile since it looked nothing short of a demon king’s smirk, or devil when they’re concocting an evil plot. Hearing Lumine’s remark, I couldn’t help but wonder if she might be telling the truth. Oh, screw that! Like hell I could make that kind of smile. The strange one was Lumine’s and Zack’s sense. Yeah, no doubt about it.

「I see. So, what are you doing here?」

I gave a vague reply and decided to change the topic, to avoid the topic of my smile.

「That’s none of your business!」

She folded her arms, looking away. This girl was the same as ever eh. Lumine deeply trusted Lyla. Or should I say that she trusted no one but Lyla. She shouldn’t visit this city by herself. Since she was in this city, it must mean that Lyla was here as well.

I guess I really missed Lyla, eh. Maybe I should pay a visit to her too. And just when I was thinking about that matter,

「KAI HEINEMAN!! I WILL NEVER APPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ONEE-SAMA, EVER!」

She ran to the second floor while spewing threats, similar to ones I heard so many times back at my birthplace.

Uhm, since it seems that Rose has finished the procedure, I guess it was the time for me to go.
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