Without exchanging greetings, I was led by Mage Trickle to the Monster pen. Mage Trickle was a woman in her early forties, with reddish-brown hair tied in a round bun on top of her head. She had beast-like, bright yellow eyes and a radiant smile.
Or perhaps, what was in front of her now made her feel even better. I swallowed hard, watching the Troll lumber around with thick metal restraints on its neck and limbs.
Trolls were medium-sized Monsters, ranging from about 3m to 8m in height. Their arms and legs were of similar length, so they sometimes walked on all fours and sometimes ran on two legs. Their skin was thick like crocodile hide, but without scales. Their faces looked like a very ugly dog’s face pressed flat, with tusks that looked like they were over a hand-span long protruding like a boar’s.
The Troll behind the bars was a little over one ‘jang’, or 3m, in size. It lumbered around the empty space, sniffing as if it didn’t recognize our presence outside the pen. Its nostrils were so wide that I thought my fist could fit inside, which made it a little funny.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a fresh Troll. You can tell a Troll’s age by the degree of tail degeneration, and this Troll is about four years old.”
“…It has a tail?”
“Yes, it’s very small, though. A newborn Troll is about 80cm tall and has a tail about 12cm long. During its growth period, it grows up to 1m per year, but the length of its tail doesn’t change. After 5 years, it falls off.”
“How long do they live?”
“The oldest Troll ever found in the Yuil Mountains was estimated to be 20 years old. It’s generally known that they can reproduce asexually after one year of birth, and die of old age after 12 years. But beyond the Yuil Mountains… who knows?”
Following Trickle’s kind explanation, Maelo Sanson’s voice chimed in.
“Now, look. Trolls use both their fore and hind limbs to move. Unlike humans, their joint range of motion can move up to 270 degrees. Even if you aim for the Troll’s back, you have to use the blind spot in its vision, not focus on the range of motion of its limbs first.”
“Shall I open the door for you for a moment?”
“Yes. I’ll go in alone.”
Mage Trickle and Maelo Sanson treated it as if it were nothing, so I didn’t worry either and just watched quietly. As a few Magic Circles floated up between the bars, the Troll’s gaze immediately fixed on them.
The docile creature became fiercely ferocious and bared its teeth.
However, it couldn’t immediately pounce on Maelo Sanson. It behaved exactly like a bear running away when it saw me. Maelo Sanson must have already grappled with it when they caught it. It seemed to remember his face.
Maelo Sanson drew the longsword at his waist, still in its scabbard, and tapped the Troll’s shoulders once each. With that light gesture, the Troll roared loudly and tried to lunge forward. Clang, its body wrapped in chains couldn’t move any further.
Thwack.
The Troll’s arm, swung like a whip, struck the floor. Thud, the air in the room vibrated with its powerful force. It was quite fascinating how the arm swung without any bones. The floor vibrated slightly, but no one in the room was surprised. I was reminded of how I felt when I first saw an elephant.
Although the creature didn’t look as docile as an elephant right now.
I understood what it meant for the range of motion of the joints to be different only after seeing it. Maelo Sanson even pretended to alternately grab and fold the Troll’s fore and hind legs to demonstrate.
The Troll, frustrated because Sansone had already disappeared from the spot where it struck, scratched at the wall in an attempt to escape the pen.
Sansone made a few hand signals, and the door opened again. Sansone, having stepped out of the bars, turned to me.
“Do you understand a little bit how it works?”
“Yes. Somehow…”
“Somehow?”
“The last time Professor was imitating a Troll for us, I wondered why he kept hitting the floor… Now I understand.”
“Imitating a Troll?”
Mage Trickle smiled brightly, and Maelo Sanson cleared his throat.
Meanwhile, Edwin, who had been standing silently beside him, wrote down a few things in his notebook. Curious about what he was writing, I glanced over and saw that he was recording the current time, details about the joint movement test, the use of Magic Circles, and the current Mana concentration in a table…
It seemed to be the things needed to raise Monsters, so I stopped looking there.
That day, we only looked at the Troll and the Goblin. Of the many Monsters that had been caught, those were the only two that were stable enough for me to observe slowly.
Maelo Sanson said that he didn’t want to show me the Monsters in an excited state yet. As someone who would have to go up to the Yuil Mountains in just one semester, I wondered if it was really necessary, but knowing how careful they were when dealing with young children in the Sierran Empire, I just accepted it.
While Sansone excused himself to talk to Trickle for a moment, I was treated to tea by Edwin. He was always letting his half-tied hair down, neatly combed. But today, it was gathered and tied high. The straight hair fluttered below his shoulder blades.
Should I ask? I hesitated, and he spoke first.
“What? If you have something to say, say it.”
“…That.”
“The Magic Circles installed in the Monster pen earlier were all 6th Circle ones. They were overlapping soundproofing, visual distortion, and shock absorption Magic Circles, and they used eight Mana Stones each.”
“Not that.”
“Then, what?”
…What had been bothering me like a hangnail since earlier was something more personal.
“The Second Prince… didn’t he come to see you, Senior?”
“What?”
Edwin Kiadris’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed. Even as I watched his reddish lips twist, I couldn’t take back the words I had spoken. It’s useless, I shouldn’t dwell on it, I kept repeating to myself… But I couldn’t swallow all my curiosity.
Edwin, who had been silent for a while, mulling over his thoughts, opened his mouth.
“No. I haven’t seen him. Why?”
“…That is.”
I cleared my throat for a moment. Today’s meeting was a coincidence, but I was going to visit the First Magic Tower with Maelo Sanson every Monday from now on. I would run into Edwin every time, and if things went well… I might even see the three of them, including Rubel.
I wasn’t worried about someone else sticking to Ruben’s side. I just wanted to see with my own eyes if the children were close, if they could get along well… I kept reciting excuses to my heart.
“You said you disliked Wesley Kiadris, Senior.”
“…I’m going crazy, seriously. So?”
“Whether the First Prince or the Second Prince becomes Emperor, the Kiadris family will remain strong, right?”
“You want him to stick to you?”
“…Is that not allowed?”
“Ha…”
Edwin Kiadris looked at me with a complicated expression, then ran a dry hand over his face. I didn’t have to try to read his expression to know that he was tempted by my words.
“Ruben might come to see you soon, Senior.”
“…What did you tell him?”
“Just, the same as what I said now. If… If you think it might be awkward, I wanted to suggest making an appointment on Monday afternoon to see each other together.”
“The three of us? You, me, and the Second Prince like this? Seriously?”
“…Yes.”
I avoided his suspicious gaze for no reason. While I cooled my hot neck with my cold hands and waited quietly for an answer, Sansone and Trickle, who had finished their conversation in the next room, returned and wrapped things up.
I heard that for the four months of this semester, I would observe the ecology and appearance of Monsters in the first month, spar with Wizards or Knights dangling around for observation in the second and third months, and learn how to kill Monsters directly and handle byproducts in the fourth month.
It might be natural for those who wield swords to live close to blood, but I was a little embarrassed by Sansone’s overly worried expression when he talked about the last, fourth month of class. I repeatedly told him that it was okay and that I could do it.
It wasn’t until right before leaving the Magic Tower that Edwin grabbed my shoulder and replied casually.
“I’ll think about it.”
Edwin would do as I said. I could tell without him saying more.
❖ ❖ ❖
Wednesday.
At lunch, I was introduced to Ivan Holmos’s twin brother, Alan Holmos.
He looked even more identical up close. Ivan and Alan were both tall and slender, and had the same silent faces with little change in expression.
Without much thought, I mentioned that he had the same name as Professor Alan Lager, and a grumpy answer immediately came back.
“It’s because there’s a superstition that using a common name will help you live longer. Ivan, Alan, Damian… These names are used a lot here and there. Once you’re on the family register, it’s not easy to change your name.”
“I have no complaints about my name.”
When Alan grumbled, Ivan immediately cut him off in a calm voice.
The identical twins were said to be the same in everything else, but somehow their personalities and tastes were completely opposite. Ivan didn’t talk about himself much and was quiet, while Alan liked to talk and had clear likes and dislikes.
I also heard for the first time at this time that Ivan Holmos had a fiancée, while Alan Holmos did not.
“A fiancée… you had?”
“Yes. I saw her face for the first time at the last New Year Festival. After the marriage, I might be able to introduce her to you in a suitable setting.”
“What was she like?”
“…Cheerful and energetic…?”
Alan quickly added to the clumsy explanation.
“She’s the eldest daughter of the Eldos Merchant Guild, with one son and one daughter. Eldos has a Single-rank title, and they’re a family that extends their title by marrying into a family that can receive a Single-rank title every generation. On the other hand, we have a Hereditary Peerage but no money.”
“…Then it will become the Holmos Merchant Guild?”
“Ah, no. My eldest sister should inherit the Viscount Holmos title. Ivan and I are each planning to receive a suitable Baron title from the Hereditary Peerages that can be inherited from our ancestors. Right now, we’re still using the Viscount Holmos name because we’re not married yet.”
“Then that Baron title.”
“The surname will change as soon as we get married, but the Eldos Merchant Guild’s name will remain the same. There’s no need to match the title name with the guild’s name. Even if it’s a Baron title, if we can pass on the Hereditary Peerage for generations, there’s no need to look for someone with a Single-rank title anymore, so the guild has agreed to prepare a large dowry.”
“Hmm.”
The method was complicated and I couldn’t understand it right away, but I understood that it was a marriage made with mutual calculations. I had often heard stories about contract dating and contract marriages, so it wasn’t unpleasant, but somehow I felt strange.
Was Ivan in love with his fiancée?
For some reason, I kept imagining Ruben having a fiancée in this way and felt distressed all alone. I gathered my spreading thoughts and hid them tightly.