Thanks to how my parents educated and raised me when I was young,just hearing the word 'guarantee' always sent a shiver down my spine and caused my blood pressure to rise.
But that was just me.
Either way, the desperation of a human being cornered was more burdensome thanone can imagine.
"After getting disowned and becoming penniless, I guess I needed some emergency funds."
It could only be burdensome to suddenly hear such words from a classmate she wasn't even close with. But it wasn't like I didn't know that.Rather,that was exactly why I said that.
"Or could you lend me some money?"
I asked her.
"I see..!"
But Yennekar's kindness was more incredible than I had imagined.
"That must have been difficult...!"
From her kindness to her 'sympathy', I couldn't help but admire her.
"There must have been a lot of hardships that I was unaware of... I'm not sure what I can say to help you feel better but...I hope you can cheer up!"
Her cheerfulness without a lick of malice made me suspicious. Did she not know who Ed Rothstaylor was?
He was a person not even worthy of empty compliments.However,Yennekar's kindness even went above that.
"But... I'm also not in a good position myself...If I could, I would definitely help you, but my family doesn't have the best circumstances either..."
Yennekar was the daughter of a small ranch in the eastern part of the kingdom of Sparde.
She wasn't born into a rich family. Rather,she grew up playing in the fields as a commoner.
The only reason she was able to attend such a prestigious academy was due to her incredible spirit resonance. Due to her capabilities,she had good grades and received a scholarship.
"But cheer up! I'll be cheering for you!"
Her beautiful smile was her trademark. Seeing it had the ability to warm one's heart.
But knowing what was in store for her...it wasn't pleasant.
At the place where Ed Rothstaylor had just left,sat a girl still reaching out towards the air.
"It's just as you said Merilda, he's such a strange person."
There were only three people at Silvenia Academy with a high enough spirit resonance that allowed them to see the high-ranking wind spirit Merilda.
The second year student,Yennekar Palerover.
'Lazy Lucy' who was talented in all different fields of magic.
And Melina, a senior professor of Spiritual Studies.
"It didn't feel like this last year."
A gust of wind blew as she stretched her arms out. Suddenly,there stood a giant wolf entwined with the wind.
The wolf opened her mouth with a large amount of pressure and rubbed her face against Yennekar's hand while letting out a soft growl.
Yennekar grinned as she stroked the wolf's jaw,which was several dozen times bigger than herself.
"I hope | can sign a contract with you one day,Merilda."
Even though they were already like family,Yennekar's magic power was still too weak to sign a contract with Merilda. Although she was able to recently succeed in signing a contract with the high-ranking fire spirit Takan,Yennekar had to lie down for ten days and ten nights right after, suffering from a high fever.
"You're even a wolf now...you're starting to look like the owner of the forest more and more."
As a high-ranking wind spirit, Merilda's form changed every time they met. Sometimes as a giant eagle, sometimes as a creepy crocodile,and sometimes, even as a crude wild boar.
Merilda appeared as a variety of animals, but this was the first time she appeared in the shape of a wolf.
Yennekar buried her face in Merilda's fluffy fur and giggled while rubbing her face.
"No matter how much I think about it, I don't think he could see you."
Holding onto Merilda, Yennekar began thinking.
She thought of Ed Rothstaylor who was disowned for doing something disgraceful. He didn't really have a large amount of talent or magic power.
Nevertheless, there was something he said that bothered her.
"I guess even a scary-looking giant wolf has a soft heart."
He definitel said that.
He was referring to Merilda's wolf form which Yennekar only saw forthe first time after returning from her break. He mentioned it so casually and matter-of-factly.
"Who is he?"
And the intention of his following words was clear.
Acting desperate and asking to borrow some money with such a calm tone and way of speaking. It was nothing like the desperation of a person stuck in a corner.
Even Yennekar, who was approachable and always seemed to only smile stupidly, had as much sense like everyone else.
When Yennekar tried to get closer to him,he indirectly avoided it.
"Well, there are people like that too but...I'm only human."
In anger, she kicked Merilda's fur who did nothing wrong. Of course, there was no way a girl's cute kick would be able to make a scratch on Merilda's skin which was as hard as steel.
"I treated you as nicely as I could, but if you hit me like that, it breaks my heart... geez."
She didn't have any particular feelings like that of a confession, but it somehow felt like she got dumped for no reason, making her grumpy.
"Well,we will keep seeing each other in the future, so we should become closer."
Rubbing her face against the wolf's soft fur and tightly hugging Merilda, Yennekar smiled brightly.
After all,the relationship between people was something unpredictable. She remembered when she became close to many of her classmates last year, but there seemed to be a lot more interesting students this year.
Among the more interesting ones was Ed Rothstaylor. Even Merilda went so far as to refer to him as a 'fun person.'
For Yennekar,the world was always kind,like a flower field that was always full of the scent of flowers.
No matter who it was, greeting someone with her bright smile would warm their heart and enable them to laugh together.
No matter how nice a person was, there was always a bit of darkness somewhere in their heart.Merilda understood that.
Nevertheless,she had no doubt that if she smiled brightly, their hearts would eventually open up.
"School starts tomorrow, I need to study hard again."
And so a fellow student that caught her interest had appeared. Even that fact alone was a source of joy for Yennekar.
***
"She should stop paying attention to me now,right?"
I sat in front of the campfire and started cleaning up my outfit, putting in a last-minute effort to create a neat but inconspicuous style.
The first thing I did was comb back my golden hair as much as possible to tidy it up. Then I removed all the useless accessories from my clothes. Trimming my growing beard also made a huge difference in my appearance.
The problem of tuition fees would become a reality at the end of this semester. If I were not to receive a scholarship,I would have to leave the academy immediately.
This meant that I had to train as much as l could during this semester.
The Magic Department's curriculum had more free time that one would think, but training would still constantly occupy my time.
My magic resonance and direct elemental magic proficiency had considerably progressed over the past few days. I used them every day, after all-to cut down trees, to make a fire-l continuously used them for the sake of my survival to raise my mastery through repeated use.
[Magic Skills Details]
Grade:Low-grade Magician
Specialized Field: Elements
Common Magic:Fast Casting Level 2
: Mana Sense Level 5
Fire Element Magic: Ignite Level 5
Wind Element Magic:Wind Blade Level 4
My main magic's level increased quite a bit.Granted, it wasn't all that hard climbing to level 10, but this was still quite fast.
There was a limit to learning magic by myself.But with school beginning, the types of magic I could learn and use would become quite diverse.
My proficiency in my production skills would also naturally increase, which should significantly affect my Dexterity.
My problem was combat. I had hopelessly low physical and muscle strength.
I had been doing all sorts of physical work these past few days, but my stats remained unchanged. This cursed body seemed like it wasn't born with any talent for physical abilities.
But I was not the type to give up when the going got tough.
"There's nothing like aerobic exercise to train your physical strength."
Although, at this point, when every day was like a series of aerobic exercises, it might be nonsense to actually schedule a time to exercise.
However, this was my environment. The northern forest where I lived was quite far from the academic district located in the southern part of the island.
The day I was disowned,I walked aimlessly and took about half a day to get to the forest.At that time, I walked deep in thought, took a break in the middle, and then walked around the streets here and there.
Even then, the distance from here to the academic district couldn't be close. What was even worse was that I had to go to school every day.In other words, I would have to run to attend classes in the early hours of the morning,every day.
"I can think of it as physical training."
Physical strength was the foundation for all actions. No matter how much one may technically excel or train their magic, physical strength was ultimately needed to support it.
I heard that combat students had to run this much every morning, so it shouldn't be impossible for me. Even though I was from the Magic Department, I had no choice but to act as a student from the Combat Department would. This was something I didn't hav the time to even protest about.
Running to school every morning,gaining stats for my Combat Skills through hunting,woodworking, and other means to survive.
As for my Magic Skills,I needed to constantly train my mana-sense and basic elemental magic.
At the same time, crafting various things necessary for my survival would take care of my Life Skills. My increasing Dexterity and various production skills should be of great help in the future.
But my Alchemy Skill...I wasn't sure yet. I didn't have any useful magic tools or alchemy supplies right now.
"Anyway, I need to focus on training this semester."
Oh please! It would be great if I could avoid attracting any useless attention. Even without that, I already had so much work to do.
Please...