The remark elicited a giggle from the little maid at his side.
Back when he first heard about the job from Azu, he had already discussed the matter with Shion and Rona. Upon hearing that he was going to the Adventurers School, though, both of them expressed their reluctance to accompany him. Neither of them were willing to explain why and stubbornly repelled his inquiries with a simple “We don’t want to go.” He was left baffled, wondering what the heck the deal was with the school, until Rona later divulged the reason to him in private. According to her, they didn’t want to go to the school because of the large number of young nobles enrolled; some of those students probably knew their true identity. Vague memories came drifting back to him, and he hazily recalled being told long ago that Shion was from some well-off family and Rona was her knight-in-waiting.
“Hey! Keep it in mind, okay? It’s important,” complained Rona, who clearly recognized the “now that you mention it” look on his face.
“It’s not like it matters to me,” he replied flatly. “Nobility or not, you’re my party members and my friends. That’s all I care about.”
Rona’s expression brightened before slowly settling back into a frown.
“I’m glad to hear that… but still, I must insist that you keep it in mind, okay?”
“We’ll see.”
The brain did not have an infinite capacity to store memories. It would, by design, forgot old ones to make room for new ones, and that process started with the most trivial memories. Upon stating this to Rona, he was given a wry smile as a response.
With his two friends confirmed to be no-shows, he figured this would end up being a one-man task. Frau, however, had heard their exchange and shocked everyone by proposing that she would go. Being bonded to the home, Renya had thought that the fairy couldn’t go outside, but Frau asserted that she could, so long as she stayed close to her master. He quickly agreed. It would be a good opportunity for him to take Frau out of the old house she looked after for so long and show her around outside.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the young maid standing beside him. Having never taken a step beyond the perimeter of the house ever since being born, Frau seemed elated to be getting her first look at the city. Renya naturally broke into a smile, and a similar curve of his mage friend’s lips suggested that he shared in the sentiment.
It was a heartwarming sight, or rather, would have been if not for the fact that from the outside, it looked downright criminal — two grown men pulling around a young 10-year-old girl in a maid uniform. Bystanders distanced themselves, opting to watch with suspicion from afar. In fact, the city guards received no small amount of incident reports. In fact, the only reason they weren’t taken to a guard station for questioning was because Rona had the foresight to make the rounds and inform people in advance. It would be much later when Renya and Azu would learn of this fact, after which Renya would indignantly protest the deplorable nature of humans to make assumptions based on appearance and prejudice. What he would omit from his tirade, however, was the admission that, faced with a similar sight, he would have reported them too.
“I could show you around the school, but we’re a little pressed for time. How about we head straight to the sparring grounds?”
When they arrived, it was just about time for the class in question to do combat training with Azu. Renya took a look around the sparring grounds. It was a simple dome-shaped structure, housing nothing more than a waiting room, a warehouse, and the grounds themselves. Spanning about 25 meters in diameter, the circular area was surrounded by eight pillars. Tiny words had been carved into each pillar, and the pillars were notably socketed with manastones in a way that allowed for them to be removed and replaced. Those eight pillars maintained the force field over the sparring grounds that prevented any fatal damage from occurring inside. Should any damage prove fatal, the field would negate just enough to prevent death before ejecting the victim out of the grounds. Seeing that the class had yet to begin, Renya took some time to carefully scrutinize the pillars.
“Man, these sure would be handy in a war. Why not use them there? You could prevent every single casualty,” said Renya, his eyes fixed on the pillar before him.
“You think you can just plop these down anywhere? Do you have any idea how many years it took to make one of these pillars?” Azu replied, pounding the pillar a few times with his fist as he spoke. Then, he exhaled through his nose and put his hands at his hips. “Ten years. That’s how long. It costs ten years and five platinum coins.”
“For a single pillar?”
“Yeah. Don’t forget the force field requires eight of them. In other words, you’re staring at forty platinum coins right now. And that’s only the cost to make it.”
In addition to being expensive to build, the size of the sparring grounds was about as big as the force field could get. It was, therefore, a creation meant solely for training or demonstration and had no value in real combat.
In general, if something sounded too good to be true, it was. Renya slid his hand down the side of a pillar as he let out a silent sigh. Before he could philosophize any further, however, some commotion at the entrance to the grounds signaled the arrival of the students. There were twenty of them, and they all came fully armed.
Well, relatively armed. The edges of their swords had been dulled, and they wore simple armor — probably steel — consisting of chestpieces and armguards.
The kids were followed by a woman who looked to be only a few years older than Renya. She wore the same armor as the students, lined on the inside by hemp clothing. Her brown hair was cut short, and her large auburn eyes carried just a hint of a reddish hue. Had she been smiling cheerfully, she would have been quite the charming lady. Sadly, she had no such air, and her expression was clouded and downcast.