Chapter 24. The Magical City of Marcellent
Marcellent, the city of magic.
It was a city built around the empire's best magic academy, and it was a symbolic place for magicians, to the extent that it was said all magic began here.
"There it is!"
Inette spotted Marcellent from inside the carriage and shouted cheerfully.
"See? Carriages are faster."
If they had followed Radel's original plan, they would have arrived in ten days on foot, but Inette's carriage had shortened the journey by five days, which was only possible because Inette had hurried.
It was a grueling march of getting off to catch monsters whenever they were spotted and then riding the carriage again, but Radel was surprisingly not tired.
It was because most monsters were taken care of by Inette and Gusto.
"It is not helpful for training."
"Hmph! Arriving at the academy early is the priority."
On top of that, the two had a war of nerves even in places where there were no monsters. Thanks to that, Radel didn't have a moment to be bored, even in the carriage.
Although it was different from his initial plan, traveling boisterously like this seemed pretty good.
"You're right. We arrived earlier than I thought."
Radel answered Inette's words and then asked something he had been curious about for a few days.
"By the way, why did you insist on rushing here?"
"You're asking because you don't know? It's Marcellent! Marcellent! There are so many things to buy here!"
The moment the city of magic turned into the city of shopping, Gusto's expressionless face faltered.
"Did you rush for such a reason?"
"Such a reason? You don't seem to know how important this reason is, do you?"
Inette crossed her arms.
"There are things here that you can't even get in the capital. You don't really think everything will be prepared once you enter the academy, do you?"
"Huh? Was there something I needed to buy before going to the academy?"
It was the first time Radel had heard of it.
Inette sighed and theatrically put a hand to her head.
"Sigh, to come to Marcellent with such naive kids."
"I see. You must have come here often?"
At Radel's question, Inette suddenly fell silent and looked out the window.
“……Well, I’ve only seen it in magazines.”
"Pfft."
A small sound escaped in the quiet carriage. Radel clearly saw Gusto sneer with an expressionless face.
Inette's eyes blazed.
"Did you just laugh at me?"
"No."
Gusto shamelessly shook his head.
"I didn't sneer, I just laughed."
And he added.
“Because you seem to be bluffing a little.”
It was befitting of a holy knight who does not lie before the Supreme Deity. Radel knew, even with his eyes closed, that the second round was about to begin.
“Y-you apprentice holy knight!”
To Radel, they were two people who seemed to have gotten very close in a short amount of time.
* * *
The three of them arrived safely in the city of magic.
There was a commotion with calming down Inette who was throwing a tantrum in the carriage, but that kind of thing happened often during the trip.
As if she had never been angry just a moment ago, Inette was excited again.
"This is no time for this! We have to go to the Chirping Cat right now!"
According to Inette, the Chirping Cat was an amazing magical tool shop.
Since they were in the city of magic anyway, Radel planned to follow Inette around and look.
It was certainly a city with a different atmosphere from the capital.
People who were clearly magicians walked the streets, and there were also other races that were hard to see in the capital.
The buildings were splendid overall, and the streets that looked like a market were lined with magic workshops and magical tool shops.
Hard-to-get reagents, herbs, and high-quality ingredients used in magic potions were piled up on the stalls outside. Magicians walking around with tamed monsters and haggling in between also caught his eye.
It was truly a sight befitting the city of magic.
"I'll buy this, and this is a must-buy……."
Inette stopped by the Chirping Cat and bought a bunch of magical tools that didn't seem very useful to Radel. They were mostly miscellaneous items like an automatic writing pen that moved with magic power, and a flower brooch that bloomed when watered.
"Is there nothing you desire, Your Highness?"
"No. Not really……."
It was fascinating, but there was nothing in particular he wanted to buy. Gusto seemed to think so too, as the two of them looked around at the items without much excitement.
The next shop they visited was a magic wand shop. According to Inette, it was the most famous wand shop in Marcellent.
A phrase written on a piece of paper hung outside the shop caught Radel's eye.
'Full refund upon cancellation of admission!'
They would refund all the items bought here if he failed the entrance exam? He had no intention of failing the exam, but it was a phrase that somehow put people at ease.
'Even in this world, successful self-employed people have their reasons.'
Radel thought that the gods of business were similar wherever he went and chose a decent-looking beginner's magic wand.
Inette was torn between a wand with a flame amplification function and a flame defense function, but to Radel, it was a meaningless dilemma.
'She's going to end up buying both.'
Inette agonized until the end and then made a decision.
"I'll take both!"
It was just as Radel had expected.
Gusto also purchased a beginner's wand made of wood imbued with divine power, and the three of them moved on to the next shop.
The place they visited this time was a shop specializing in artifacts.
Unlike the shops they had visited so far, it had a dignified and luxurious feel.
"Do you also repair artifacts?"
Inette approached the owner and asked.
Artifacts were often dungeon rewards or ancient relics, so they were difficult for even skilled magicians to handle. Inette didn't seem to have high expectations, but the shop owner readily nodded.
"We do. What kind of artifact is it?"
Inette took off the black gloves she always wore and placed them on the table. The owner then took out a monocle, put it on, and examined Inette's gloves.
"I've never seen an artifact like this before. The flame defense is not just high, it's at a level that could be called the crystallization of flame resistance magic."
"So, can you repair it?"
The owner nodded.
"The durability isn't a big problem, so I think just touching up the exterior will be enough. Please wait a moment."
Only then did Inette's expression brighten.
"He says he can! Just wait a bit!"
Radel, hearing Inette's words that there were no workshops in the capital that could repair this, realized once again what an absurd city Marcellent was.
Those gloves were surely an artifact of a level that was hard to obtain even in the empire.
Seeing that Inette only took off the gloves when she used her Ability, the artifact must normally block flames. It meant it was an artifact that could block not just magic but also Abilities.
To be able to repair this in one go.
He didn't seem like just an ordinary artifact shop owner.
'Is that?'
As it happened, an Imperial Magic Academy diploma was hanging on the shop wall.
'Do you become this skilled if you graduate from the Imperial Magic Academy?'
Didn't Ivan also say that if he could graduate from the academy, he could survive?
Radel began to wonder what kind of classes they took at the academy.
* * *
After finishing the repair of Inette's gloves, they headed to the central district of Marcellent, which was the most splendid street they had been to so far.
Statues of famous archmages were erected, and a performance using magic was also being held in the middle of the square.
Inette, as a reward for waiting for the repair, bought lollipops and shared them with the two. Anyone could see that she bought them because she wanted to eat them herself, but there was no reason to refuse since she was giving them out.
Befitting lollipops sold in the city of magic, they had various flavors the more you ate them.
Radel, with a lollipop in his mouth, was wandering around the square when he discovered a small bell tower.
'Is that it?'
[Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method(E)]
The mana training method researched by Archmage Hayden throughout his life.
You can be reborn as a true magician.
Visit Marcellent's Bell Tower(0/1)
Radel opened his skill window and looked at the bell tower again.
'Isn't it a bit small?'
He felt that a bell tower named after the city should be bigger.
Just then, a group of people passed by Radel, chatting. They seemed like tourists who had come to see Marcellent.
"Is that Marcellent's Bell Tower?"
"They say it's been here since this city was founded!"
So this is it.
Sometimes tourists knew more information than the locals.
The tourists who passed by Radel approached the bell tower, exclaiming in admiration. However, after looking around the bell tower and finding nothing much to see, they quickly lost interest and disappeared back into the square.
For some reason, Radel had a conviction that his ancestor would have liked a place like that, and was about to approach the bell tower.
"What are you doing! We have to go eat now!"
Inette shouted at Radel from afar.
"I made a reservation at a restaurant!"
She was the very picture of someone who had come to enjoy the city of magic, not to take the entrance exam for the Imperial Magic Academy. Gusto was also waiting for Radel next to Inette.
It seemed like a bad idea to approach Marcellent's Bell Tower with his companions.
Radel decided to postpone visiting the bell tower until late at night. He could just sneak out after they arrived at their lodging.
"Do you know how hard it is to get a reservation here? It's a good thing I sent someone as soon as we arrived."
Inette led Gusto and Radel into the restaurant, and by the time they had wandered around, it was already evening.
The terrace seat the waiter guided the three to had a good view of the Magic Academy in the center of the city.
Radel admired the grand exterior of the academy.
"It's magnificent."
"Right?"
It was a good enough restaurant for Inette to boast about.
On top of that, for Radel, who had always just been raiding the food storage at the 8th Prince's Palace, the proper meal he was tasting for the first time in a long time was even touching.
The sound of Inette bragging about what she had bought today, and the sound of Gusto making small jabs at it were all peaceful.
Radel enjoyed a moment of rest.
This was it. The reason he decided to survive was to feel this kind of happiness.
The moment he reaffirmed his goal to live comfortably.
"Can we observe the exam this year too?"
He heard the voices of the people sitting behind him.
An exam?
If it's an exam at this time, isn't it highly likely to be the academy entrance exam?
Radel found himself eavesdropping on their conversation without realizing it.
"Last year was quite fun. It was worth watching the new students sparring with the professors."
"Right. Most of them were knocked out in one hit, but there were some students who held their ground well."
"Did you see the principal's face then?"
"Hahaha. I remember."
These people were definitely academy faculty. No one but an insider could talk as if they knew so much.
“I think they'll probably do ‘that’ for this year's exam.”
"Ah, you mean 'that'?"
That?
Radel leaned back subtly to get more information, but they were getting up from their chairs as they had finished their meal.
“If it's ‘that’, it should be worth watching in its own way.”
"Right."
Without revealing any direct information about 'that' until the end, they cleared their seats and disappeared, leaving Radel, who was listening from behind, with only curiosity.