"Grilla City seems much bigger than Seaside." Field looked around as they entered the city, remarking.
"Seaside is a second-tier city, while this is a first-tier city, and it's a key focus of the empire's attention and development. Naturally, it's bigger and more prosperous than Seaside." Geof explained.
With casual conversation along the way, any awkwardness between the group seemed to have dissipated. At least, not on the surface.
Field nodded, following Geof and the others through the main road and into the inner city.
Compared to the outer city, the inner city was even more magnificent. It seemed to have both commoner and affluent districts, just like Seaside, but it was cleaner, and the artistic atmosphere was more pronounced.
"We're here, Haidis Magic Academy." Geof announced.
In front of them stood a wall seemingly made of white marble. Through the railings of the wall, they could see a neatly trimmed lawn, with young individuals wearing uniform and magnificent attire walking around. They must be students of the magic academy.
"Can we go in?" Field asked eagerly.
Geof seemed a bit puzzled. Why was this big guy so eager?
"Yes, the buyer is inside the academy, but outsiders need to show identification and register to enter. It's a bit troublesome." Geof replied.
"It's okay, as long as we can get in. I've been wanting to visit a magic academy for a long time." Field grinned widely.
Showing identification required Field to present his mercenary identity card. The person in charge of inspection and registration seemed to be a mage. With a wave of his hand, the blood mark on the card lit up faintly, followed by a magical red line connecting to Field, confirming his identity.
Once the card was verified, Field was allowed entry.
When the mage saw Field's brass card, Geof and the others couldn't help but twitch their mouths slightly. A brass-ranked mercenary? This big guy was really a newbie... But also an incredible one. They believed his card would soon turn into silver or even gold.
After the somewhat tedious inspection and registration process, Field was about to enter the academy when he was stopped by the mage.
"What's up?" Field looked at him.
"Outsiders are prohibited from bringing weapons inside." The mage glanced at the heavy hammer on Field's back.
"Oh, then please take care of her for me. She's my precious." Field said, taking the hammer down with one hand and handing it to the mage.
The mage instinctively took it, but as soon as Field let go, he felt a heavy force, almost causing him to fall over. Fortunately, Field caught him.
"Be careful, sir." Field's eyes twinkled mischievously.
The mage: "..."
It seemed this big guy wasn't as honest and simple as he appeared.
After that, Field followed Geof and the others into the academy. Watching Field leave, the mage turned to look at the heavy hammer on the ground.
The hammer had a hexagonal face, no fancy patterns, just simple and plain grey-black color, with only the handle engraved with the outline of angel wings.
The mage was somewhat incredulous as he attempted to lift the hammer, but even with all his strength, he couldn't budge it an inch.
"So heavy?! Is that guy really just a brass-ranked mercenary?" The mage was astonished. Then, he reluctantly waved his hand, trying to move the hammer aside with magic, only to find it immediately repelled, unable to move it at all.
The mage was even more surprised.
Did this hammer have an anti-magic effect too?!
You see, anything with anti-magic properties isn't easy to come by. That's because anti-magic materials are strictly controlled by the empire, and even money might not buy them. Looks like that kid has quite the background... Luckily, he didn't look down on him just because he's a brass-ranked mercenary. Probably just some young master experiencing rural life.
With those thoughts in mind, the mage decided to leave the heavy hammer where it was and let Field come back for it himself.
"Such a beautiful academy!" Keke exclaimed excitedly as she looked at the castle-like building, the lifelike statue fountains in the square, and the splendid uniforms of the students, her eyes filled with envy.
"It truly is." Field nodded. The environment here was really nice, with the students brimming with youthful energy and the entire campus atmosphere, much better than the corporate academy in my previous life! Although the corporate academy was also luxurious, it had a mechanical and cold feeling. Moreover, the students there were basically half corporate dogs, looking down on others and engaging in immature scheming, lacking any semblance of student life. So Field quite liked it here. In his previous life, he hadn't received any academy education, only a basic education chip with AI teachers that didn't interact with you, just stiff and rigid teaching. So Field was quite curious about what it felt like to be a student. Of course, it was just a thought. He knew this kind of place definitely wasn't suitable for him. Used to the battlefield, you expect him to come back and sit obediently in the classroom listening to lectures? Dream on.
On the way, many students saw them, their eyes showing curious looks. Obviously, young people who hadn't experienced the harsh realities were quite curious about the mercenary profession, thinking it was cool. It could also be because Field's robust figure was quite eye-catching.
"If only I could go to school here too, meow..." Keke murmured softly, following Field, her eyes filled with longing.
"You want to go to school?" Field asked curiously.
"Yeah, many kids want to come to the magic academy, but many human academies don't accept orcs..." Keke pouted. "Doesn't the Orc Empire have magic academies?" Field asked.
"We do, meow," Keke said with a small mouth. "But they're relatively few. Orcs' magical talents are basically not high, meow."
"To enter a magic academy, you either need strong magical talent or a lot of money. I don't have talent, nor do I have that much money, meow..."
Feeling Keke's disappointment, Field rubbed her little head and smiled, "Then follow me to earn money, and we'll buy a qualification to come and see the academy!"
"Really?" Keke's eyes lit up.
"Of course, I also want to see what this magic academy is all about." Field nodded, his eyes filled with determination.
Wanting to learn magic, entering a magic academy was a great choice. But he couldn't give up being a mercenary to learn magic, so... buying a qualification or finding other legitimate means to enter the magic academy was necessary so that he wouldn't be confined by the identity of a student.
Although money isn't everything, Field believed that with enough money, buying a qualification shouldn't be difficult.
Soon, the group arrived at a building. This was the library of the magic academy, and the buyer was inside the library.
However, when they tried to enter, they were stopped by the library administrator. The reason was that they were outsiders and not allowed to enter the library. If they wanted to complete the delivery, they would have to wait for the recipient to come out.
Field was a little surprised. He thought these magic potions were ordered by the academy. Now it seems to be a private order.
The buyer's name was Holland, able to purchase so many magic potions at once, definitely a wealthy person.
So Geof spent some gold coins to ask the administrator for help in calling someone.
After a while, the administrator came out and told them that Mentor Holland was conducting a magic data selection class with the students and they needed to wait.
Even a mentor, it seems being a mentor at a magic academy is quite lucrative.
According to the administrator, they would have to wait until the end of the class. Since the class had just begun, it would be about an hour before it ended.
This class was indeed quite long.
There was no choice but to wait.
Incidentally, Field took advantage of this break to stroll around the academy with Keke, taking a look at this university built in the heart of the city.