Chapter 26 - On The Flower of Lightning (1)

There were several places where carriages gathered on the Luminus grounds. All were managed by large trading companies, famous for taking one anywhere on the continent if one paid. But when asked about Wyheim, the answers were all the same.

"We don't handle carriages going to Wyheim."

"..."

"It takes ages just to get in, the road is rough, and all the customers are rude. No matter how much money you offer, we don't want to go."

"...You're saying this to my face?"

"...Are you a mage?"

Given the situation, he couldn't return to Wyheim immediately. He had no choice but to stay here for one night and find some way to travel the next day. It was annoying, but there was no other option.

The fortunate thing was that he had some spare money on hand. Thanks to Ena, who had provided quite a lot. He had tried to refuse, thinking he wouldn't need to spend money, but that would have been a big mistake. He'd had enough experience with sleeping rough as a child and didn't want to repeat it.

Should I find a room first and then look around?

Acel thought this as he looked around the street.

People were swarming everywhere. From nobles with their attendants to merchants, commoners, alchemists, magic engineers, and those waiting for exam participants. All kinds of people filled the streets. It felt like he might suffocate in the crowd even if he stood still.

This phenomenon occurred because the academy vacation season and entrance exam season overlapped. The already densely populated area was flooded with a transient population, making it as crowded as insects. Every store was packed with people.

It would probably be no different for inns. He might have to pay extra or search through trashy places to find a decent room. Ordinary rooms were probably all taken by now. Although rooms would become available tomorrow since today was the last day of the entrance exam, he still needed to get through tonight.

"This is troublesome," Acel muttered as he bought and ate some street food.

Finding accommodation with rooms in a city whose geography he didn't know. It would be easier to ask locals, but finding a local in this city now was like finding a needle in a desert. If there was a building related to the Witch Association, it wouldn't matter, but unfortunately, the Witch Association was a closed organization and didn't have other branches.

In the end, he had to search on foot. Acel sighed deeply and moved his steps.

It was somewhat comforting that there was a lot to see on the streets. Perhaps because it catered to academy students, the street food sold at cheap prices was quite edible, and there were many interesting items sold in artifact shops and scroll shops. Among them, the scroll shop strongly attracted his interest.

However, finding accommodation came first, so Acel passed by the shops for now and entered a moderately sized inn. The staff sitting at the counter immediately shouted as soon as they saw his face.

"Only one room left. Two gold coins for a night's stay."

"This is crazy."

A curse involuntarily escaped at the insane price. 

Two gold coins for a night's stay? There's a limit to how crazy things can get. 

Acel left the inn without looking back.

But even after visiting other inns, they were all similar or even more expensive. Some places operating like hotels even charged 5 gold coins for a night's stay. They seemed to have sold their conscience to a passing dog. No matter how much money he had on hand, Acel had no intention of giving most of it away just for accommodation.

So, he eventually came down to the outskirts of the city. Not as bad as the slum he had lived in, but still a back alley with stagnant air. Acel took a deep breath and exhaled.

Just because there was an academy in the city didn't mean there were no slums. Rather, because of the large transient population, beggars flocked from all over. It was the same principle as why there were many beggars in tourist cities or countries. There might not be many criminals, but it was still a cesspool all the same.

It was a familiar place for Acel. Although he never thought he'd end up in a place like this, it was enough if he could just find a place to sleep. Acel quickly assessed the surroundings and entered the building that looked in the best condition.

The inside of the building was relatively clean, similar to its exterior. He also spotted a few young ladies who looked like lower nobility. Although their expressions weren't very good, it seemed they had no choice but to come here given the situation.

Well, sleeping in a place like this was better than sleeping on the streets.

Acel ignored the glances from the young lady and approached the staff. The skinny staff member opened his mouth as he looked at Acel.

"Are you a noble?"

"I'm a mage."

"You're an important person either way."

He smiled kindly and put the fruit he was holding into his mouth in one go and chewed.

"There aren't many rooms left, but shall I give you the best one among them?"

"How much for one night's stay?"

"One silver coin."

It was an expensive price for a slum, but considering the city's prices, it was certainly cheap. Acel nodded and took out a silver coin from his chest and handed it over.

"Thank you. The room is at the very end of the second floor."

The staff said as he handed over the key. Acel bowed slightly to him and moved his steps towards the assigned room with the key in hand.

Click.

The door opened when he inserted the key into the lock and turned it. Acel looked around the room while undoing his robe.

It wasn't as bad as he thought. There were no bugs, and there was no particular smell. Only a bed and a desk were placed as furniture, but since he only needed to sleep here for one night, it didn't bother him much. This was acceptable. Acel roughly threw his removed robe onto the bed and opened the curtained window.

The slums of Luminus were well-lit by sunlight despite being slums. 

Is even the condition of slums good in a prosperous city? 

Acel smiled slightly and left the room, taking his backpack and money.

Now that I've found a place to sleep, should I look around a bit more?

There was still a lot of time left until night. It seemed like he could look around the city and search for any possible means of transportation to Wyheim. He also wanted to visit the scroll shop he had noticed earlier.

Although scrolls are disposable, if I extract the spell formulas inside, it could help in researching other magic.

For him, who had many things left to research immediately, scrolls were quite a good option. It wouldn't be bad to move forward by purchasing the parchment needed to make scrolls and directly adjusting the spell formulas.

The moment he left the building thinking this, he felt a strange scent spreading from an alley.

A sweet yet addictive scent. Acel frowned deeply as he recognized its identity.

"...It's drugs."

Although he had never bought and tried drugs, ironically, Acel was much more of an expert on drugs than most addicts. Thanks to this, he could immediately recall which drug the wafting scent came from.

Originally an herb, but when processed differently, it became a drug that not only enhanced all kinds of mana-related abilities but also physical abilities—Quirgalsi. It was a type of drug that was very difficult to obtain, so even Acel had only delivered it a few times. It was also as expensive as a decent mansion.

Why is something like that here?

Drugs in a city with an academy? Contrary to what he thought, was it not a crime-free zone?

He clicked his tongue and moved his steps in the opposite direction from where the scent was coming. At that moment, someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

It was a huge man. Judging by the sword at his waist, he seemed to be a swordsman, and the drug scent mixed with his body odor suggested he was with those using drugs over there. Acel frowned deeply and brushed off his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Hey, didn't you just look over there? You seemed to know what's going on there."

"So what?"

"Whoa, whoa. Why so aggressive?"

The man grinned and put his hand on the sword at his waist.

"Makes me want to kill you."

"...Haa."

A sigh escaped involuntarily. To think he'd encounter such guys as soon as he came to the back alley. It reminded him of the very old days, which was just great.

"You're sighing-ggggh!"

Without listening further, Acel drew out lightning-natured magical power and scorched the man from his chin. With just that, his body fell forward. Fluid spurted madly from his mouth and eyes, and his muscles repeated contraction and convulsion before stopping.

As Acel looked down at the man with cold eyes, a commotion arose from the alley where the drug scent was coming from.

"What's that? What's that sound?"

"It sounds like Lyle. Did something happen?"

The men who exchanged such dialogue poked their heads out from beyond the alley. Their gazes moved from Lyle fallen on the ground to Acel, and they made fierce expressions while taking out their weapons.

"You fucking bastard. What did you do?"

"Accidents always happen like this."

Acel didn't care about the men's growling. Instead, he sighed as if familiar with the situation. The men's faces twisted even more at this reaction. It didn't matter either way. Acel lightly ignored the noisy chatter of the two men and leisurely prepared a spell formula.

The battle ended blandly.

He had thought they might have some combat ability since they had taken drugs related to magical power. But they were all taken care of with just one spell without being able to do anything. They fainted, unable to withstand the searing pain of their lower bodies burning. Acel brushed off the sparks on his collar and searched through the pockets of the fainted men.

Although it had been quite a while since he left the slums, he hadn't forgotten the survival methods from those days. He collected useful items from what the men had and left the slum. There was no need to worry about any future troubles as he had erased all traces of magic.

"Hmm."

Acel sat in a suitable open space and examined the items he had brought one by one. The protective dagger could probably be sold to a blacksmith, and the accessories could be thrown to a merchant guild who would appraise them. The silver coins he could just keep.

After that, one black jewel remained. Acel held the jewel in his hand and slowly began to infuse magical power.

Oh.

As the amount of magical power flowing in increased, the brightness of the jewel also intensified. This meant it was a mineral with high magic conductivity. It seemed they were just keeping it because it looked expensive without knowing anything, but jewels with such high magic conductivity could be used in jewel spell formulas or engravings. They were quite valuable, too.

It was a decent harvest. Acel grinned as he stored the magical power in the jewel and put it in his chest.

I was interested in engraving anyway, and now I've saved money on buying jewels.

Thanks to this, his mood improved a bit. Acel walked through the academy grounds, flicking silver coins with his fingers. He stopped by a blacksmith to sell the dagger for 2 silver coins, and sold the accessories to a suitable merchant guild for 5 silver coins. As a result, he had quite a bit of money on hand.

There was no need to go anywhere else.

Acel headed towards the scroll shop with a smile on his face and a heavy pocket.