Damn Academy chapter 235

235 – Claridium (2)

The night before departure, I swung Priscilla in the air in front of the Thorn Garden dormitory.

I had succeeded in my first communion, so I planned to continue my momentum and increase my proficiency in dark magic.

But it wasn’t easy. The feeling was different from when I wielded the Sapling Sword or the Firefly Sword, and it wasn’t easy to exert my strength as I wanted. Was it because it contained the soul of a sentient being, so the method of controlling it was different?

Every time I swung the sword, frost popped out irregularly, but that was all. The murderous cold storm that I had shown in my first battle with Callius was impossible for me to reproduce with my own strength.

The only thing that was particularly good was that it didn’t get hot when I practiced.

After a light practice, I went back to the dormitory.

Trisha was quiet, so I guess she had gone to sleep early.

I checked my belongings for the last time in my room alone. Everything else was fine, but there was just one thing missing.

It was money.

The only thing that could potentially be turned into money was the ‘Love Potion’. I had received a large sum of money from Zion’s teacher twice, and I still had a lot left, but I had given most of it to Lilia a few days ago.

In the first place, I didn’t have a big spending habit, and since my food, clothing, and shelter were all taken care of, I didn’t think I would need money.

When I was faced with the situation of having to buy souvenirs for Cecil and a few other friends, my financial situation embarrassingly changed its position.

If I touched the vault in Silverin, it would be solved at once, but I didn’t want to do something like that. I’d rather beg.

The only way for me to make money right now… is to win the bet with Hubert.

In my drawer, there was still a letter from Misha. She had asked me to help her find the whereabouts of ‘Sweetie’, but I hadn’t replied yet.

If I won the favor of the girl named Misha, I might be able to fill my pockets, however slightly.

I opened the letter and hesitated for a moment, but it didn’t last long. It was too risky to stir up the empire’s princess for no reason.

Especially since Trisha was involved, it was an issue that I had to be even more careful about.

I’ll just give up on the bet and hope that the love potion fetches a high price.

I picked up a pen.

I had pretended to be Hubert during the artists’ gathering, so I wrote the letter while maintaining that identity.

“I’m talking about that guy who wears a mask and has scars on his body. I know him too, but I can’t introduce him to Miss Misha. He’s involved in many unsavory things. For example…”

I wrote a malicious article combining various rumors surrounding Candy. Stories such as him being a womanizer and having secret physical contact with women.

After I saved him from drowning in the river while wearing a mask the other day, she was greatly disturbed by physical contact with me, so the story about the ‘perverted mask’ will be mentally unpleasant for her.

Then her interest in Candy will naturally wane.

***

“I want to go too…”

I coaxed Trisha, who had been pouting since early morning because she wanted to go to Claridium.

“I’ll buy you a new toy. Eat well even when I’m not there.”

“Can’t I sneak in after crumpling up and hiding in your bag?”

“Don’t cause trouble.”

I packed my belongings and weapons tightly and left the dormitory.

I got on a carriage at dawn and headed straight to the Rigbed Wharf.

I thought I had left early, but I was quite late.

All the club members were gathered at the wharf.

Despite the early hour, the surroundings were crowded with onlookers admiring the ships. Other students gathered as if they were sending off the art club members to a distant land.

After a brief roll call, we boarded the ship one by one.

Professor Georgia hugged each of the departing students.

As I waited quietly for my turn.

“Damian!”

A familiar voice called out to me.

I looked back and saw Cecil waving at me from the crowd of people watching the ship.

“Cecil?”

She found me and immediately emerged from the crowd and ran towards me.

“Why are you so late!”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

From noble mtl dot com

“It’s not like I’m going to do anything great.”

Cecil smiled and said.

“Originally, it was said that when a man sets sail, a woman should send him off. That way, he’ll have a reason to come back.”

“I’m not a sailor, so don’t worry. I’ve never seen the ocean in my life.”

Cecil fixed my bangs with her hand and flicked away the dust on my clothes. It was a very affectionate gesture.

“That worries me even more. You’re going somewhere you’ve never been before. The ocean is so dangerous.”

“…”

Cecil patted my cheek.

“The ocean is incredibly deep and the currents are strong, so don’t swim recklessly. Stay in the cabin when the waves are high. Got it? And don’t just catch any fish. You could get pricked by poisonous spines.”

“Why are you suddenly nagging me like my mom?”

“Even so, you’re ugly, so you won’t be caught by sirens. That’s a relief.”

Cecil took something out of her pocket and hung it on my chest. It was a small badge with a gray jewel.

“What is this?”

“A present. I’m attaching it so that when you see this, you’ll never forget to buy me a souvenir.”

“Isn’t it weird?”

“Why are you so suspicious? Do you think I’ll eat you?”

“…”

Cecil had given me a magic tool that could secretly track the location of the other party on Stitch before.

“Don’t worry. Ugly people don’t taste good.”

“Anything else?”

She hesitated for a moment.

“Ah, and…”

Cecil’s tongue moistens her dry lips slightly.

Then Professor Georgia calls for me.

“Damian! What are you doing there!”

Our conversation ended in a hurry. Cecil pushes me away.

“Go on.”

“Thanks for coming.”

Cecil smiles faintly, as if proud of carrying the burden.

I walked up to Professor Georgia. After sending all the members on board, she hugged me once as she had done to the others. Then she whispered in a small voice.

“You are the most decent among the freshmen. I feel relieved because Damian is here.”

“I will be back.”

After finishing the hug, she patted me on the back and sent me on board.

After the sailors finish their final checks, they untie the ropes and retrieve the planks connected to the ship.

The bell rang loudly in the harbor to announce the departure, and the ship began to move further and further away.

I watched the distant view of Leaguebed over the railing. Cecil stands at the end of the pier, waving at us as we slowly drift away. Her faint figure looks like a noblewoman seeing off her husband on an expedition.

Then, another familiar face suddenly appears next to Cecil. The girl with twintails and pink hair next to her. The Imperial Academy’s Five Swords have appeared out of nowhere.

“Wow, was it really the Golden Oriole?”

“We didn’t have anything like this, did we?”

“Was Eternia connected to the royal family?”

While her friends were chattering, Misha opened her eyes wide and looked at me.

“Mr. Hubert?”

Then Cecil seems to have heard the word Hubert and looks around.

“Hu… bert?”

Her gaze is fixed on Misha and does not move.

Finally, Cecil takes out a cigarette and puts it in her mouth.

My heart sinks.

I feel like I have to make some kind of excuse, so I move forward without realizing it.

Hailey rushes over and grabs my body.

“What are you doing?”

The water ripples under my outstretched feet. I came to my senses again.

“… It’s nothing.”

The ship sailed away. Cecil did not take her eyes off Misha until she was so far away that she became a dot.

***

Our ship, the Golden Swallow, glided down the Eternia River, its magical propulsion system whirring smoothly. The navigator had explained that we would reach the ocean in half a day’s travel.

As we progressed, the river widened, and the current slowed considerably. I leaned over the railing, taking in the tranquil scenery to calm my racing thoughts.

The image of Cecil still sent a chill through me. I tried to banish the thoughts that chased each other in a relentless loop. It wasn’t as if I had done anything wrong.

I made a mental note to choose Cecil’s souvenir with extra care.

In an attempt to compose myself, I retreated to my cabin for a nap.

When I awoke a few hours later, dusk had fallen.

I emerged onto the deck to find Haley facing the wind, beckoning me over.

“Hey, newbie.”

I approached her and leaned against the railing.

“What about Senior Zhenia?”

“She’s sulking in her cabin.”

Haley’s eyes were slightly unfocused, and there was a faint reddish stain on her lips. It seemed she had indulged in a glass of contraband wine while I was asleep.

“Is she alright?”

“I came out here to watch the ocean.”

“The ocean?”

“Look, we’ve just left the river delta.”

Haley gestured dramatically over the railing. On one side stretched the land, while the other side was dominated by the horizon, ablaze with the colors of the sunset. Our ship seemed poised at the very cusp of where the river met the sea.

“The ocean… It’s the ocean.”

“What? Have you seen oceans before?”

“No. This is my first time.”

“Really? Doesn’t your heart race when you see something so magnificent?”

Perhaps if I still possessed the romantic sensibilities of my youth, I might have felt differently, but alas, I felt nothing.

Most so-called first experiences tend to fall short of expectations.

I briefly recalled the time I had promised to watch the ocean with Riza. The anticipation of a magical, romantic moment that I had cherished as a child had been met with a disappointingly anticlimactic reality. I had watched it for the first time while heading towards a doomed city, in the company of a blonde imperial woman who was drunk on a substance I had never encountered before.

“Does it make your heart race, Senior, being out here on the ocean?”

“Well, my heart is racing, but I can’t tell if it’s because I’ve had a few drinks, I’m getting seasick, it’s the ocean, or it’s you.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to make a move on you.”

“I think that might be it, actually. I wanted to be a navigator when I was little. I guess it makes me feel adventurous.”

“You must have been quite the tomboy when you were younger.”

“You got that right. I was a complete tomboy. Unlike my twin brother.”

“I didn’t know you had a twin brother.”

“Oh? He’s been the bane of my existence. Calculating, brilliant, strong, devastatingly handsome. I guess it’s hard to tell since he’s my blood, but he’s too perfect. I was always being compared to him, the one born on the same day, from the same blood, in the same womb. That’s how my dream of becoming a navigator was crushed.”

“I think you’re amazing, Senior.”

“Thank you, but he really is superior to me in every way that counts. There’s this phrase that always follows him around, like a mantra. Royal Roader. Because he has walked the path of the greatest knights in imperial history without ever faltering. It’s almost unreal.”

“…”

“Unlike me. I’m the one who always takes the easy way out, who always causes trouble, and whose only real deviation from his path was…”

Haley trailed off, hesitating for a moment. Then, the influence of the wine took hold once more.

“…entering Eternia instead of the Imperial Academy.”

“Eternia…?”

“Yep.”

“Do I know you?”

Hailey tilts her chin on the railing and makes a blank expression.

“There’s no one who hasn’t heard the name Elliot Felton.”

“….”

“Of course, this is a secret. I’d hate to get involved with Elliot as family.”

Hailey can’t imagine that I’ve been mulling over Elliot’s name since before I entered school.

I swallowed once, and my mouth was dry. My heart ached as if it had been hit by a club, but the pain gradually subsided after a few breaths. The name is not very welcome, but it is not so annoying that I can’t hear it.

Why am I adapting so quickly?

The sea doesn’t thrill me. Maybe the name Elliot doesn’t make me bitter either.

I’m changing now. Everything is diluted in the waves. All my sadness, anger, and memories.

“Are you jealous of your twin blood?”

“I used to be, but not now. My blood is a very special person, but I don’t think he will leave a big footprint in the world.”

“He’s already on the path to being the best… why?”

Hailey’s answer was clear.

“Because he doesn’t take risks.”