Chapter 65 - Chapter 64: Autumn Field Trip
The second day of the second week of the second month of wind.
A magnificent autumn clear sky, perfect for a day of leisure, with not a single cloud in sight.
............If only the sun were out.
Even before the sun had risen, from the early morning hours, all the second-year students had been gathered at the academy's main gate.
Today, the long-awaited? field trip day had finally arrived.
It had arrived.............
While there are many days that are quite warm once the sun is out, it is incredibly cold at this time before night has even broken.
The temperature is probably not even ten degrees.
The children wearing gym clothes are each doing warm-up exercises to warm their bodies.
"It's finally here."
Rimliche spoke while stretching her body.
There was no need to ask; from her expression and body movements, it was clear she was excited.
(It's probably just you who is looking forward to it so much, Rimliche...)
In front of the Death March about to take place, the expressions of the children in the class were dark.
The suffering along the way, the anxiety of whether they would make it.
Considering those things, they certainly couldn't be excited.
Last year, when Mika and the others were first-years, the second-years at that time were also gathered from this early morning to challenge this Death March.
Normally, it was still a time for deep sleep.
Mika at that time never imagined that such a hellish event was taking place while he was asleep.
(First-years sleeping without knowing anything right now. It will be your turn next year.)
Damn it, sleeping so carelessly! You bastards should suffer the same fate!
He sent curses, somewhat acting out of frustration.
Mika loosened his body and glanced at Rimliche.
Rimliche was doing warm-up exercises with a truly happy, bright expression.
Rimliche had worked hard all this time with the goal of participating in this field trip.
Until the very end, she couldn't manifest [Physical Enhancement] for a long time, and she was almost not allowed to participate in the field trip.
Now that she can participate like this, she must be truly happy.
Mika also thought it was truly good and felt happy about it.
............If he weren't participating himself.
(Fifty kilometers to the border. Seriously, isn't that crazy? Who came up with this idea!)
If they wanted to view the border and instill national defense awareness, they could just prepare a carriage.
In fact, it's a distance where a carriage would normally be used.
It's not a distance for children to walk.
Mika let out another huge sigh for the umpteenth time today.
"Really, Mika-kun. You're sighing again. ...When you get anxious, everyone else gets anxious too, you know?"
She scolded him.
This was something unthinkable in the past.
Since Rimliche became able to use [Physical Enhancement], she had become brighter and more energetic.
She had probably gained confidence and returned to her original self.
Due to her family environment, Rimliche had always looked downcast and lacked confidence.
At the academy, her mana manipulation and [Physical Enhancement] were slower than everyone else's, leading to days of further depression where she would think, "I guess I'm just no good..."
But that Rimliche had changed.
By gaining [Physical Enhancement], she realized she could do it herself.
And during exercise time, she had truly blown past the classmates who had been ahead of her until then.
Her gaze, which used to look down, now looked straight ahead, and her eyes were slowly housing the light of will.
She must have found some next goal within herself.
It wasn't something she did because someone told her to.
She had found a goal within herself, a desire to become like this, and she took pride in moving toward it.
"Hoo... I understand. I'll make up my mind properly."
"Yeah."
Mika gave up and steeled his stomach.
There was no point in complaining anymore.
With Mika possessing a cheat-like means called "Absorb," if he were to complain, what should the other children who were normally challenging it do?
As they were talking like that, Dagny and Naporo arrived.
"You've done your warm-ups properly. Now, let me convey the precautions once again."
Naporo conveyed today's precautions to the children.
Then, everyone chanted the [Physical Enhancement] spell and manifested [God's Miracle].
"Alright, let's go."
The children carried their small bags and water bottles, and starting with Naporo at the front, they set off from the main gate at a jogging pace.
Dagny was the rear guard.
First, they had to leave the city of Sarbengeal.
Mika and the others ran through the still dimly lit streets of Sarbengeal toward the East Gate, a place Mika had never been to.
Slowly the sun rose, and the eastern sky began to whiten.
(Just leaving the city is five kilometers... In reality, this is like a warm-up.)
To lightly loosen the body, first a five-kilometer jog.
Am I the only one who thinks this is already strange?
From the academy, they headed to the Central Plaza, and from there, they jogged down the main avenue toward the East Gate.
As they jogged down the main avenue, people who seemed to be preparing shops shouted out cheers like,
"Good luck!"
"Be careful!"
It seemed the Magic Academy's autumn field trip had become a local custom of Sarbengeal.
Upon arriving at the East Gate, a perfunctory checkpoint was conducted, and the soldiers also shouted, "Good luck."
Passing through the East Gate and exiting the city, a group of knights was waiting for Mika and the others.
"Alright, halt."
At Naporo's command, everyone lined up in front of the knights.
The twelve knights were not wearing full armor, but only metal armor on their upper bodies, and they were carrying swords.
Four of the knights appeared to be on horseback, while the remaining eight were on foot.
"These are the knights who will be taking care of you for the next two days. Salute."
When Mika and the others saluted, one who seemed to be the captain nodded satisfactorily.
These knights were the guards for the academy students.
Children were going to the border with a hostile nation.
And these were future mages, highly expected for their futures.
In case of an emergency, it seemed a squad of knights accompanied them every year.
War wouldn't suddenly break out, but one couldn't say for sure that it absolutely wouldn't happen.
Encountering agents of the Gronoir Empire couldn't be denied as a possibility.
There might also be beasts, magic beasts, or bandits.
To prepare for such situations, a squad of knights was dispatched.
After safely linking up with the knights, the autumn field trip truly began.
Two knights accompanied each child on the front, back, left, and right, and the four horses were at the very rear.
They proceeded along the road at a pace like a brisk walk.
For now, just like during normal exercise time, they weren't scolded for not lining up properly while walking.
Mika went outside the city every week, but this was his first time outside the East Gate.
Outside the West Gate, there was nothing around, but outside the East Gate, various buildings could be seen in the distance even after exiting.
Looking at such buildings, he saw several groups jogging in formation.
Rimliche, walking beside him, was also looking around curiously.
"This is your first time on this side, isn't it?"
A knight near Mika spoke to him.
"Yes. Unlike the West Gate, there are various things even outside the city."
"These are basically military facilities. No, to be precise, there are only military facilities."
It seemed there were many military facilities to the east of the city.
"Is it because it's on the border side?"
"Yes. There's a training ground over there. That's also a training ground. There's a training ground beyond that building."
It was all training grounds.
The buildings seemed to be facilities attached to each training ground.
"There are others, but you can't see them from here."
Listening to such talk while gazing at the scenery, they continued to press forward.
If they walked leisurely, they would reach the border late at night.
After walking for about two hours, they took their first short break.
Dagny and Naporo distributed two bottles of "Mana Recovery Potion" to each child.
They would walk to the border using [Physical Enhancement] for a full day.
But naturally, the mana wouldn't last that long.
That was what this "Mana Recovery Potion" was for.
Drinking one bottle would recover about half of the mana.
They would aim for the border while chugging these down.
............Why do you have to do this kind of event to such an extent?
At the academy, they had been forced to walk for a day by cutting up morning classes several times.
By the way, the price of the "Mana Recovery Potion" heard at the magic tool shop was one large silver coin per bottle, ten thousand Rats.
So, it's basically ten thousand yen of Yun〇《P》il?
Those who wanted to recover stamina also drank ordinary recovery potions [Potion] together.
Fatigue wouldn't disappear completely, but it was certain that drinking them made things easier.
............Really, why do you have to do this kind of event by drugging them like that?
Mika didn't need it if he used "Absorb," but if he didn't drink anything at all for a full day, it would be suspicious.
So, after manifesting [Physical Enhancement], he would cut "Absorb" at appropriate times to reduce his mana amount.
Even so, since he kept the "Constant Consumption Mana" extremely small, it didn't decrease much.
Everyone was somehow raising the output of [Physical Enhancement] to about 1.7 to 2 times.
With that, it had become barely lasting for two hours.
However, even if a child's stamina doubled, they couldn't match adults who were properly trained.
It was a distance that even those adults struggled with.
Polnard, who was squeezing out 1.7 times with great effort, looked truly exhausted.
It seemed "lasting two hours with [Physical Enhancement]" was a standard guideline. If they tried to slack off and enhanced too much, their mana would run out before two hours.
Then they would get extremely angry, so everyone was very careful about their mana consumption pace.
By the way, it seemed Rimliche had increased it to nearly three times.
Only someone like Rimliche could raise it that high and make it last two hours.
This kid really is out of the ordinary.
After finishing the short break, they started walking again.
Walking along the road and looking around, buildings could be seen here and there in the distance.
But if you asked "What is that?" about such things, everything turned out to be training grounds and their related facilities.
It was really all training grounds on the east side of the city.
As they advanced further, a place where many buildings were gathered came into view in the distance.
It seemed that place was not a training ground, but a garrison of the Kingdom Army.
The Domain Army had a separate garrison, apparently in a location even closer to the border.
Advancing further from there, about two hours after the first short break, they finally had lunch.
Lunch was a gift from the Domain Army.
The military personnel had secured the location and prepared the meal in advance.
It seemed this field trip was being held under the full cooperation of the Domain Army, including the dispatch of accompanying knights.
Although it was still early for noon, they had woken up early and walked non-stop.
They had already walked more than twenty-five kilometers, and even Mika was getting tired.
However, this was finally about half the journey.
He was genuinely starting to hate it.
Moreover, what was making him hate it was that this field trip required walking back tomorrow as well.
Even though they hadn't arrived yet, thinking about the return trip tomorrow made him feel even more depressed.
"Really, I'm tired."
Rimliche spoke with a smile.
(You're the only one smiling like that...)
To be honest, just by looking at their faces, it was clear that everyone was thinking, "I'm done with this."
Of course, he felt the same way.
"Rimliche looks energetic."
"It's not like that. The sunlight was stronger than I thought, and I got tired."
The fact that she could speak normally was proof of her energy.
The classmates other than Mika and Rimliche had drastically reduced the number of words they spoke.
He was starting to worry if they could really last with this pace.
Nevertheless, the prepared lunch was being devoured by everyone with incredible speed.
They had truly become robust.
No matter how tired they were, they no longer said things like "I'm too tired to eat."
Rather, it felt like no matter how tired they were, they could move if they just ate something.
It seemed they had fully acquired the mindset of being in a constant battlefield, or rather, the academy's style.
While resting after finishing the meal, Naporo and Dagny called for Mika and Rimliche.
Naporo and the others seemed to be talking with one of the accompanying knights.
That knight, who looked like the captain, compared Mika and Rimliche alternately.
"These are the kids?"
"Yes, that's right. Can't you see them?"
"Hmm... I don't really see it."
The knight who seemed to be the captain had a somewhat difficult expression.
"This Mika-kun here is the best in the class even without using [Physical Enhancement]. Murt-kun is also competing well, but once he uses [Physical Enhancement], the gap will only widen."
It seemed to be the annual evaluation of the academy students.
"Ms. Rimliche's physical abilities aren't that great, but her mana quantity is a different order of magnitude, you could say. Once she uses [Physical Enhancement], she is second only to Mika-kun."
With the topic turning to themselves, Rimliche moved slightly to hide behind Mika.
Even hearing Naporo's words, the captain seemed unsatisfied, keeping his difficult expression.
"...Forgive me for saying this, but is this year a poor harvest?"
"Not at all. On the contrary, this year is a rare bumper crop. I have never handled children gifted with such talent before."
"Uuu... n."
"Mika-kun, Ms. Rimliche. That's enough. We will depart after a little more rest, so please rest until then."
Told by Dagny, they returned to the place where they had been resting until just now.
"...Something feels a bit off."
"Yeah. Well, I suppose so."
Rimliche spoke in a low voice, so for now, Mika agreed.
Mika didn't care about such an evaluation from a knight, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling.
(He was named Magnus, right? The knight who was by the Marquis's side. That person was seriously wary of me...)
During the Marquis's interrogation, he had seriously opposed putting only Mika and the Marquis together.
That person completely ignored Mika's age and appearance, and was wary only as a "Mage."
The information given to him must be different, but that captain didn't listen to Naporo's opinion, who watched Mika and the others daily, and judged Mika and Rimliche based on appearance.
Considering that, it was understandable why that captain-like person was only a captain of a squad or so.
(It would be unbearable if someone like that commanded tens of thousands, but it's unavoidable for captains of that class to be mixed in.)
In other words, worrying about it was useless.
If assigned under such a superior, it would be a pity, but thinking about it now was pointless.
To change his mood, he picked up Naporo's evaluation instead of the captain's.
"Rimliche, you're said to be second once you use [Physical Enhancement]. Maybe I'll be surpassed soon."
"Eh, ehehe... It's impossible to surpass Mika-kun, really."
In fact, without even needing to hear Naporo's evaluation, it was obvious at a glance to see the two of Mika and Rimliche compared to the other children.
Everyone was staying silent without talking, trying to rest their bodies as much as possible.
If they didn't notice that difference and judged only by appearance, let them do as they pleased.
"It also said your mana quantity is a different order of magnitude. I envy your mana quantity, Rimliche."
"N-no, stop it... Don't tease me so much, Mika-kun."
Rimliche's face turned bright red as she blushed.
Usually, he praised Rimliche's hard work, but he often said it casually.
(Rimliche blushing like this is rare. Should I praise her to the fullest?)
Mika's mischievous nature rose up, and he used the rest of the break time to praise Rimliche to the fullest.
And so, the break ended, and the hellish march began again, but Rimliche, embarrassed, went to Cecilia and the others.
It seemed he had gone too far.
"What happened? Did you fight?"
"No, it's not like that..."
The knight who had taught them various things in the morning was worried that Rimliche was not by Mika's side.
■■■■■■
Mika and the others arrived at the border's protective wall in the evening and were overwhelmed by looking up at its long stone wall.
It was probably over five meters high.
Such a wall stretched endlessly across the plains.
The children were in shambles.
They had somehow made it, but some were lying flat on their backs.
From the middle of the journey, everyone had to raise the output of [Physical Enhancement], and their mana wouldn't last two hours, but they managed to get through while chugging down mana recovery potions.
Even so, Polnard was a little late, but he somehow walked all the way here on his own.
Whether it was from joy or from the sheer hardship, he was now crying loudly.
Only Mika and Rimliche had made it this far using the prescribed two-hour mana recovery.
Every year, it seemed everyone ended up chugging potions, so even that knight captain was surprised that they had walked the whole way without any additions.
"A mountain range cutting through the northwest separates the Kingdom of Ektrem and the Gronoir Empire. A mountain range cutting through the southeast is the border with the Am-Tast Trade Alliance. This protective wall was built connecting those two mountain ranges, and no war with Gronoir has occurred since."
Naporo explained while climbing the stairs of the protective wall.
Mika and the others followed Naporo up the stairs and emerged onto the top of the protective wall.
From there, an empty plain spread out, with withered grass scattered and soil exposed.
The Daburandoru Plains, the stage of the war with the Gronoir Empire, lay before them.
Beyond this plain, about one kilometer away, was the actual border.
"It exceeds thirty kilometers in length, and it took sixteen years to build this protective wall. After the Fifty-Year War ended."
"I heard the various obstructions from Gronoir during the construction of the protective wall were truly terrible. Even so, under the Margrave Leventein of that time, many people united and finally achieved this great feat."
Naporo's explanation was taken over by Dagny.
At that time, the kingdom focused on domestic politics to recover from the damage caused by the war.
Therefore, they recognized the necessity of the border's protective wall, but they couldn't get to the construction.
However, the Margrave of that time seemed to have more than ordinary courage.
So, "I will do it," he started the construction of the protective wall alone, even though the war had just ended.
Most painfully, it should have been the Margrave Leventein's domain.
For the Margrave's domain was the battlefield, this very place was the front line.
The Margrave continued to be the shield of the Kingdom of Ektrem even after the war.
If the protective wall was built, the threat of the Gronoir Empire could be eliminated.
It was impossible during the war, but possible after the war, so he invested his private wealth and income from his domain, pouring his heart and soul into the construction of the protective wall over two generations of father and son.
The Margrave Leventein Army alone defended the protective wall and shed much blood to prevent obstructions from the Gronoir Empire.
Even though the war had already ended.
Sixteen years after starting the construction of the protective wall.
Finally, when the protective wall was completed, the Margrave was promoted to Marquis.
In terms of actual authority, it seemed there wasn't much difference between a Margrave and a Marquis.
However, due to the King's intention to reward his long-term achievements, the Margrave Leventein was promoted to Marquis Leventein.
"...But, there are a few things about this."
In the middle of Dagny's explanation, Naporo suddenly interjected.
Dagny, whose speech was interrupted, strangely smiled bitterly.
"The Margrave declined the offer of promotion."
"Huh?"
What was that?
It was supposed to be a promotion by the King's intention, right?
"Isn't that... dangerous?"
Mika felt like he was asking something he shouldn't ask and timidly asked Naporo.
"It's not just dangerous. It was still the era of the former King back then, but the former King flew into a rage, causing a huge problem that turned the whole country upside down."
The Margrave Leventein seemed to claim that the merit of building the protective wall belonged not to himself, but to his vassals.
And he reportedly asked that if he could cede part of his own domain, he wanted to grant titles to several vassals who had particularly great merit.
"Even if he is a Margrave with great merit, granting titles to the vassals of one noble family?"
That's impossible.
Nobles naturally swear loyalty to the King.
Recognizing it in such a form would set a precedent that overturns that fundamental premise.
And even if it was fine now, considering the possibility of future rebellion, granting titles to all vassals who swore loyalty to the Margrave would absolutely not be allowed.
If the vassals had merit, it was a matter for the lord, the Margrave, to give rewards.
No matter how important a project for the kingdom, asking for "titles" in this way was absurd.
It was understandable that the former King flew into a rage.
"Well, there were various things because of that. In the end, the current King, who was the Crown Prince at the time, persuaded them, and they allowed the Margrave Leventein's promotion to Marquis and the ennoblement of the vassals to Viscounts and Barons. It was a very dangerous situation."
Was it really okay like that?
It seemed to have been resolved smoothly for the time being, but if they were unlucky, they could be seen as having "two hearts" and the Kingdom Army could be dispatched.
And that spark would continue to smolder forever.
No matter how many decades or centuries passed, that spark would not disappear.
"The nobles of the Hailhord Region are all nobles who were ennobled at that time. Viscount Allcosa, Viscount Brycosroa, Viscount Myureaol. ...Mika-kun, I believe you were from the domain of Baron Limpēre? Baron Limpēre was also one of those ennobled at that time."
The domain of Baron Limpēre, where Rish Village was located, seemed to be a newly created domain due to the commotion at that time.
If it was a hypothetical situation—
If the development of Rish Village was carried out after Baron Limpēre's ennoblement, there was a possibility that a Baron who had only served as a knight suddenly had to manage a domain, starting on a whim.
Without even having a clear plan for settlers, he suddenly spread a huge carpet and secured a vast land.
"The gate is the face of the village. Make it splendid!" he might have said, and with a recklessly generous budget, he built only the gate first, eventually running out of budget to build the walls.
Thinking that "if you produce a lot, you make money," he built factories unnecessarily large, shouting "Make raw silk and textiles!"
Such a scene suddenly floated before his eyes.
He felt as if he had caught a glimpse of the reason for the inconsistency of that village.
(The reason they didn't build the village on the other side of the river might be because they considered the invasion of the Gronoir Empire...?)
A knight who had fought for sixteen years even after the end of the war had no need to fear forest beasts.
More than anything, what he feared most was probably the empire's re-invasion.
Well, this was just a story based on what he had heard.
If the ennoblement was over thirty years ago, it might be a story of the previous or even the previous-to-previous Baron, not the current Baron Limpēre.
There were some things that concerned him, but he didn't particularly want to know by investigating himself.
However, hearing the background of the promotion and ennoblement made him feel a sense of unease in his chest.
(Is it just me who is afraid that not only the neighboring country but also right beneath our feet has landmines buried?)
It felt like the current Marquis Leventein's domain and the Hailhord Region were built on a very precarious balance.
And it seemed that this was also the precariousness of the Kingdom of Ektrem itself.
(...Is this country really okay?)
Rubbing his slightly painful legs from walking fatigue, Mika thought such things.