Book 1 Chapter 13

【13】12

Rumeria City.

This metropolis, located in the center of the continent, is called the world's center not only for geographical reasons but also for its symbolic meaning.

One of the warp gates in Rumeria City glowed.

-Attention, passengers. We have arrived at Rumeria City. Please check for any forgotten belongings and exit the gate.

Leo disembarked from the gate with the announcement.

The warp gate was installed in the high-altitude outskirts of Rumeria City.

The moment he stepped out of the gate entrance, the panoramic view of Rumeria City unfolded before his eyes.

Whoooosh-!

Leo's white hair fluttered.

The scenery of a developed, colossal metropolis.

And far in the distance, a massive lake, so vast it could be mistaken for a sea, was visible.

The lake, which would usually be shrouded in thick mist, was remarkably clear.

Thanks to that, a gigantic castle, Rumerun Academy, faintly visible at the far end of the lake, could be seen.

'I'll be going there in two days.'

A month had already passed since the entrance exam.

As with every year's entrance exam, it created a lot of talking points.

Among them, the most talked-about was definitely the Western Region exam that Leo took.

Thanks to only 40 successful candidates, it was noisy for a while.

'That's not my business.'

Leo was busy preparing for his enrollment.

And today, after a month of preparation, he came to Rumeria.

No one from the Flobe family accompanied him.

Rumerun's entrance ceremony cannot be attended by outsiders.

'Go, learn a lot, and come back.'

'Son, you won't be sad if we don't go, right?'

Leo smiled, remembering Dade and Reina, who had come to see him off.

His parents were nobles, but not ones who enjoyed luxury.

'They're the kind of people who would rather spend money on the welfare of their territory than on a warp gate without meaning.'

Of course, Leo agreed with his parents' opinion.

Leo, having exited the warp gate, entered Kuraju Street, which could be called the bustling downtown area of Rumeria.

'She said she'd wait here?'

"Leo! Over here, over here."

Celia, with black hair tied in a ponytail that reached her waist, wearing elegant yet active going-out clothes, waved and approached him.

Gathering the attention of those around her, she came before Leo and smiled sweetly.

"How have you been?"

"Nothing to complain about. By the way, congratulations on being the top student."

"I don't like sharing the top spot with that butter-up, but still, top is top."

Saying so, she elegantly swept her side hair back.

"Now, look at me with a little more respect in your eyes."

"Having seen you throw up, I don't think respect is possible."

"Hey!"

Celia shouted, her face bright red.

"Ugh! Seriously! You never lose an argument!"

Celia, who had been glaring at Leo, let out a deep sigh.

"Where's Uncle Zis?"

"He said he'd come in the evening. Until then, I'm just going to shop around Kuraju Street."

Kuraju Street sells items needed for Rumerun.

It's a place where, starting with uniforms, textbooks, and necessary teaching materials for each department, weapons, staffs, summoning catalysts, and more are distributed.

"You haven't bought your uniform and textbooks yet, have you?"

"No."

"Then we can buy them today. Come on, I'll specially accompany you."

***

The first place Celia led Leo to was a large clothing store on the main street.

Rumerun's school uniforms were displayed in a glass showcase visible from the outside.

The brand name [Blessringer] was visible.

"Looks expensive."

"Of course, it's the store that has been making Rumerun uniforms for 1000 years."

There are three main types of clothing required for Rumerun.

Formal uniforms worn during events.

School uniforms worn during classes.

Practical uniforms worn during practical training.

And all clothes have a minimum specification.

Celia explained that to meet those specifications, 'mana cloth' imbued with mana was needed, and the quality of the uniform varied depending on the mana cloth.

"And Blessringer is renowned as a luxury brand. I got mine here too."

Celia, having finished her explanation, entered the store.

Clang- Clang-

"Welcome to Blessringer."

A staff member waiting by the door smiled kindly and opened it for them.

Upon entering, several customers were visible.

Among them were children who appeared to be Rumerun freshmen.

While they were looking at the display shelves, a middle-aged woman appeared from inside.

"Hello, Miss Celia. It is an honor to have you visit our store again."

She greeted them elegantly and then carefully spoke.

"But what brings you here…? Perhaps you didn't like the uniform you had tailored?"

"No, today I came to get a boys' uniform tailored."

Celia smiled and pointed at Leo.

"He's entering with me this year."

"Ah, I see. I thought only you, Miss, were entering from Gerdinger this year. So there's another young master."

The tailor, covering her mouth and exclaiming, politely greeted Leo.

"My name is Nera. I am a tailor here at Blessringer."

Leo saw through her, realizing she was a mage.

'Well, to handle mana-infused cloth, you'd have to be a mage. Still, a mage as a mere tailor… the world has certainly improved.'

"Young master, I will take your measurements."

Nera took a tape measure from her pocket and measured Leo.

"Your desired department is the Knight Department, correct?"

"Yes."

"By any chance, what is the attribute of the aura you use?"

Auras are divided into attributes according to the characteristics of the Aura Heart Method.

And the blend of mana cloth used varies according to the aura's attribute.

For example, increasing defense against opposing attributes.

Or adding power to the same attribute.

Of course, mana cloth cannot produce dramatic effects, but even small effects are helpful in Rumerun, where competition is endless.

"Please make it with a non-attribute mana cloth."

"Pardon?"

Nera wore a slightly bewildered expression, and Celia, who had been watching with a sweet smile, furrowed her brow.

Leo smiled faintly and repeated.

"Please make it non-attribute."

Non-attribute mana cloth.

Literally, it refers to plain cloth that carries no attribute.

Naturally, no customer wants something like this.

"Understood."

But if the customer wants it, it must be done.

Nera, having taken the measurements and received the information, went into the tailoring room.

"Suddenly non-attribute? We're going to learn our family's aura, wouldn't it be better to weave the uniform with flame-attribute mana cloth?"

"It's just, I've thought about a few things."

'Being non-attribute means it can be anything, right?'

Of course, he would learn Gerdinger's Aura Heart Method.

But he didn't intend to focus solely on that.

"By the way, I don't have money."

"Would I be so cheap and petty as to ask you to pay? After hearing about you, my father decided that the Gerdinger family would cover all the necessary expenses for your school life."

At her words, Leo recalled Reina's words.

'It's fine, it's fine. Your brother might be a bit stingy, but he has a lot of money. And if he acts petty, I won't just stand by.'

This was what his father, Dade, said when he was worrying about Leo's entrance fees and the cost of uniforms and textbooks.

According to his mother, she had left all her personal assets from her time in the Gerdinger family behind.

Something about being able to claim ownership since it was wealth accumulated separately from the family, even after leaving the family.

'With Mother's personality, she'd probably go to Gerdinger and overturn everything.'

The family head likely knew this fact well, which is why they provided support.

A moment later - as expected of a top-class tailor, Nera quickly made and brought the custom uniform.

After trying on the clothes, simple size adjustments were completed.

About an hour later, Nera, who had perfectly created the uniform, bowed her head.

"We will deliver the uniform to your accommodation."

Guided by a staff member, they finished paying and left Blessringer.

"Alright, next, shall we go buy textbooks?"

Celia led Leo towards a giant bookstore.

What they needed to buy were the compulsory textbooks that all students took and specialized textbooks.

Leo swept up not only specialized books for knight studies but also for magic studies and summoning studies.

"Are you already preparing for duels? How thorough!"

Leo muttered to himself, watching Celia nod her head in admiration, exclaiming "Ohh- ohh-".

'But I'm going to learn them myself.'

Of course, he didn't say it out loud.

Because it was obvious that if he did, they would look at him as if he were crazy.

Finally, they bought all the necessary teaching materials.

Afterward, they explored Rumeria.

Rumeria was a metropolis, and as such, it had many sights to see.

Sightseeing was enjoyable, and buying and eating street food was also fun.

Leo let out a small laugh, watching Celia make a happy expression while eating ice cream.

'Seeing things like that, she's still a child.'

Celia, who as the daughter of the Gerdinger family had always been conscious of others' gazes, showed many girlish aspects while spending time with Leo, who was the same age.

Thus, it was only when it was time for dinner that Leo and Celia returned to their accommodation.

"Have you arrived?"

"Uncle!"

Zis was waiting at the accommodation.

"How did it go?"

Zis, who ruffled Celia's hair as she asked with an anxious face, approached Leo.

"Leo, have you been well for the past month?"

"Yes."

"The results of the family meeting are out."

After the entrance exam, Zis proposed to the family that Leo be allowed to learn [Phoenix's Breath].

Whether an outsider like Leo, though blood-related, could learn a secret heart method that only recognized family members could master was a very sensitive matter.

The related meeting lasted for a month, and the result was announced today.

"Permission has been granted for you to inherit [Phoenix's Breath]."

At his words, Celia smiled brightly and said to Leo.

"Congratulations, Leo!"

Celia, who had trained and taken the exam with Leo, thought that Leo was a suitable person for Gerdinger.

However, the thoughts of the family's elders might have been different.

So she had been anxious, but finally, permission had been granted.

"Although you left the family, the fact that you are my sister's son, and…"

Zis grinned.

"The elders highly valued the fact that you passed the Western exam."

The notoriety of the Western exam, which only 40 people passed, was already world-famous.

Zis took out a red key for Leo.

It was a sub-space key.

"Open it."

At his words, Leo inserted the key into the air and turned it, and a sub-space opened, and a book popped out.

He opened the book, but nothing was written in it.

'It's sealed.'

He understood the sealing structure without difficulty.

"Drop your blood there."

Leo bit his finger, drew blood, and put it on the page.

Then, characters appeared.

"From now on, that book is a book only you can see."

"Yes."

"Enrollment is the day after tomorrow… but how about trying to learn it once before that?"

"Is that allowed?"

"Of course. If you can awaken your aura before enrollment, there's nothing better."

Zis smiled meaningfully.

"Though it won't be easy, of course."

***

Leo, having received [Phoenix's Breath], went into his room.

"Why are you here?"

"You're going to train your aura now, right? If you get stuck, I'll help you."

"Willingly?"

"Of course, you'd have to say 'Please help me, Miss.' though."

"The one who lost to me and kept saying 'Young Master, Young Master'."

"Hey!"

Celia threw a cushion at her cousin, who was mentioning her embarrassing past.

Of course, Leo merely dodged it annoyingly.

Watching Leo sit on the bed and open the book, Celia made an extremely vexed expression.

"Ugh! Seriously! I won't help you until you ask very politely!"

Leo, who grinned slyly at Celia turning her head away, checked the contents of the book.

'Indeed.'

It was truly an Aura Heart Method of a heroic noble family.

It was a very complex yet powerful Aura Heart Method.

Watching Leo read the mana manipulation method of [Phoenix's Breath] with concentration, Celia snorted.

'There's no way it's easy.'

With Leo's current skill, he would probably be able to easily enter ordinary Aura Heart Methods.

'Aunt said Leo had reached the mana resonance stage.'

If one knows how to perform mana resonance, which can be called the greatest hurdle of the Aura Heart Method, then one has already mastered more than half of the Aura Heart Method.

However, Phoenix's Breath was different.

Not only mana resonance but also mana manipulation must be added.

Only by creating 'flames' through that manipulation can one truly be said to have passed the first hurdle.

Even Celia, called a genius, took a week to create flames.

Soon, he would get stuck on mana manipulation and feel embarrassed.

Celia grinned.

'I'll repay the debt of making me act like a maid. I'll make him call me Miss for about two days~'

It was then that she thought of repaying the previous humiliation.

Whoosh-

Flames erupted on Leo's body and soon enveloped his entire being.

The flames seemed to take the form of wings behind Leo's back, then scattered.

"It's not easy after all."

Entering [Phoenix's Breath] involves creating wings of flame using aura.

It took Celia two weeks to reach that stage.

'But this guy… this guy…'

"Miss. I'm stuck on this part, do you have any tips on how to do it easily?"

Watching Leo point to a passage in the book and ask in a completely impolite tone, Celia…

"Hey, you crazy lunatic! There's a limit to how much you can do! Where in the world is there an insane person who can just glance at it once and do it?!"

… couldn't help but scream.