Kays Translations

Chapter 30: A Second Request and Ren's Concern.

The Imperial Military Academy is proud to offer a special exam.

On this day, the students were gathered at the boarding area of the magic ship that would take them to the final exam site.

Every single one of them was wearing high-performance winter clothes.

All for the sake of the final exam, which they had finally managed to get to.

The place for the final test was a magic boat dock in a town a few weeks away from the capital.

The magic ship provided is first class.

Even if they were to encounter a powerful monster in the sky, they were built with the supreme purpose of sending the examinees safely back to town.

Crew members selected are only those who have been in the career for more than 20 years.

The area is kept under strict control until just before the students are delivered to their destinations.

As long as the students board the prepared magic ship, they are assured of adequate safety, though not as much as in the Imperial Castle, which is the pride of Leomel.

Even if you reach the examination venue, the academy's faculty and Imperial City knights are deployed in case of emergency.

Therefore, the possibility of any unauthorized elements entering the school is extremely low.

---- Soon.

“Captain."

After all the checks were completed, a crew member called out to the captain in the wheelhouse.

“The prescribed checks and inspections have been completed.”

“Then, let's sail."

The wheelhouse is a special space with many magical tools inside, unlike a normal ship.

This particular ship is even more special.

Because of the strict exam controls that are in place to maintain fairness, the destination of the ship cannot be confirmed until just before departure. As soon as the ship gives the signal to depart, the route is displayed on the glass plate magic tool in the center of the wheelhouse.

“N---“

The captain was astonished to see this.

At the same time, many of the crew members were also astonished.

“Are you sure there's no mistake?"

The captain asked a nearby crew member.

“There’s no mistake! Besides the magic tool craftsman, the magic ship administrator also confirmed it, as did the director of the Imperial Academy!"

In response, the captain checked the report he had received.

Inside the report was a detailed list of who was responsible for the more than one hundred checks, as well as when and with whom each check was made.

As he read through the report, he saw that several crew members had checked with the magic tool craftsmen and the directors.

"Are you sure you guys are on the same page?"

“Yes sir!”

"We have confirmed it many times! If you ask me if I'm sure it's winter, it's in that environment that the true value will be tested..."

The crew was surprised at first, both the director and the magician had no problem in specifying the route and that it was in accordance with the test site that had been decided upon.

"...... Then that’s fine. We’ll now take the candidates according to the established route."

Finally, the captain was satisfied and gave the signal to the crew to set sail.

The furnace inside the magic ship started to rise to the surface, powered by the magic stone, and soon reached the far sky of the magic ship's berth.

"---- Target, Baldor Mountains."

With these words, the magic ship carrying the candidates rushed through the sky.

The goal is the last stage of the Legend of the Seven Heroes I.

Toward that place that the dean, Klonoa, supposedly avoided.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Then, the days go back a little.

It has been a week since Ren repaired the roof, and there are only a few days left before the year ends.

On the day the year comes to an end, a dinner party is held at the main residence to honor the servants and knights.

Weiss told me that everyone is looking forward to that day.

---- Ren was also looking forward to that day.

“I'm sorry, Boy.”

It was dawn.

Weiss's voice follows after a knock on the door of the room Ren uses as his main living space in the old building.

Ren woke up immediately and looked at his watch to see that it was still past four in the morning.

(What's going on?)

Rubbing his heavy eyelids, he gets out of bed, puts on his cloak, and heads for the door.

When he opened the door, his breath turned white from the bitterly cold air.

“I'm sorry to bother you at this hour,"

“It's all right. But is something wrong?”

"...... Oh. I wasn't sure if I should be telling you this, but I decided I should let you know about it."

Weiss, who said in a mysterious voice, took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him.

Ren took it and looked it over.

However, it was dimly lit and difficult to read, so he let Weiss through into the room, turned on the light of his magic tool and looked through it.

The paper was from the guild.

“..... Escort request?”

It was the same request for escort duty that he had turned down the other day.

But this time, the content of the letter was more gruesome.

“Historical snowfall near the Baldor Mountains. ......”

The snow that has been falling for some time now has become even more ferocious, and the villages in the vicinity are no longer able to cover their needs with advance preparations alone.

On top of that, there are those trapped in the Baldor Mountains, the heart of the severe snowfall.

“An emergency beacon from an old fort in the mountains?”

“Yes. We received word of the situation at about the same time as another matter. Our lord has decided to dispatch knights to the surrounding villages......”

Meanwhile, Ren received a request for an escort from the Adventurers' Guild.

The client's name was Maidas.

He’s the partner of Kai, the werewolf who recently sent an escort request to Ren.

But apparently, he’s not completely unaccounted for.

『There’s an old fort near the middle of the Baldor Mountains that’s used by adventurers. In an emergency like this one, they would hunker down there and raise a beacon to call for help. 』

As Ren read out earlier, the rescuers are said to be there.

Fortunately, there’s food in the fort and they can live as long as they can keep warm.

Water will be manageable once the snow melts, but food and warmth is a problem, and the old fort is not expected to be well stocked.

(I don't think they could last for weeks in that fort.)

In the meantime, Ren knows that the fort exists.

In the game days, it was a resting place used many times to recover the characters.

There are not many stores of firewood or other supplies inside, and most of them will be dependent on equipment brought by the adventurers.

Even if they hunted monsters for food, how long would their strength last?

(They shouldn't have done that.......)

While thinking of these things, numerous thoughts stirred in Ren's mind.

(I was indebted to Maidas-san for the platinum feather. But I can't ignore the fact that I’ll be going to the Baldor Mountains and the weather is like this.)

That said, this shouldn’t be a time to be worrying.

If lives are at stake, there’s no time for that.

Anyway, I understand that adventurers are responsible for themselves, but----

(There’s a reason why I shouldn't ignore it!)

Ren's emotions eventually tipped toward accepting the request for an escort.

He recalled one piece of information that made him instantly forget any hesitation he had felt.

“Is Lessard-sama awake?”

“Yes, he should be in his office.”

Hearing this, Ren told Weiss he wanted to talk to Lessard.

Ren quickly changed his clothes, then hurried out of the room and proceeded down the cross hallway from the old building to the main residence.

Unlike usual, the main residence was noisy even at this hour.

He felt bad about taking valuable time from Lessard at a time like this, but he had one concern that he had to express, and he needed to express it right now.

“My lord, I’ve brought the boy."

Weiss said this in front of Lessard’s office and opened the door when he heard the reply.

Weiss let Ren, who was waiting for him, go inside first, and then he went in after.

Unlike usual, he was busy shuttling back and forth between the shelves and the desk.

“What's wrong, Ren?"

Lessard said without feeling unkind to Ren in spite of the situation.

He was busy, but that was about it.

“I'll be brief. I'd like your permission to accept the escort request that's come my way.”

“There’s no need for you to take risks.”

But Lessard brushed it off as if it were a matter of course.

“Adventurers take risks on their own initiative and there is no need for Ren, who has nothing to do with them, to help them.”

It was cold, but it was the truth.

But Ren didn’t back down.

He was indebted to Maidas for the platinum feather, but for other reasons, he had to accept the request for the escort at any cost.

“Did Lessard-sama know that the target of his escort was a certain nobleman's merchant?”

Suddenly, Lessard, who should have been busy, stopped.

Weiss, who had been quiet behind Ren, also opened his eyes and muttered ‘no way’......

For both of them, like Ren, there was something they couldn't ignore.

“Sit down."

Lessard went to the sofa and sat Ren down opposite him.

He knew he had to listen.

“One of the adventurers we haven't been able to contact is someone I know. He told me that his client is a merchant for a nobleman belonging to the heroic faction.”

Although he had half-expected this, Lessard put his hand to his forehead and looked up to the heavens.

“This is troublesome at a time like this.”

“If he’s an official merchant of the heroic faction, my lord, I wouldn't want to ignore him.”

“Oh, yes.  Even though we have friendship with Marquis Ignat, the heroes will have their own feelings about the Clausel family.”

He didn't want to leave any stone unturned.

The three of them thought that this case couldn’t be ignored because it hadn’t yet been a year since the incident with Viscount Givens.

“I'm sorry. I should have reported it to you when I turned down their request for an escort.”

“Hmm? Ah, it would have been better if you’d reported it to us, but it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”

Not to comfort Ren's regret, but in fact, there’s little that Lessard could have done even if he had heard of the existence of the purported merchant.

He could tell them about the severity of the Baldor Mountains this winter and ask them to change their plans.

But, to put it bluntly, it’s difficult to do more than that.

If he’s on good terms with the heroic faction who don’t think well of the Clausel family, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll listen to them, and on the contrary, it’s likely that he’ll complain about the delay in delivery due to the change of schedule.

It’s out of the question to detain or monitor the merchant.

It’s inevitable that they would think that they were acting in a hostile manner.

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