Chapter 123 : The Answer I Gained (1)
Chapter 123: The Answer I Gained (1)
“May I ask what the request is, Lord Arkis?”
I followed Vise’s guidance and went down to the basement.
Sparkle and Rezi still remained upstairs.
It wasn’t that I had told them not to follow.
Simply put, the two of them instinctively realized that this wasn’t a place for them to step in, and courteously kept their distance for a while.
“Uh, I don’t think it’s anything difficult. Could you get me some tools that swordsmen use for stamina or strength training?”
“……Hmm, I did overhear something in passing, but are you referring to dumbbells?”
I didn’t know exactly what that was.
Although I had once heard Garent talk about swordsmanship at the top, I had never heard at all about how swordsmen actually trained their strength or stamina.
“Dumbbells? What’s that?”
At my question, Vise brought over paper and a pen and began explaining while drawing on the white sheet.
“They look like this. They’re something you can lift with one hand. I hear the weight varies from 1kg to 20kg.”
Even after looking at the drawing, I couldn’t quite get a proper sense of it.
It seemed that Vise himself hadn’t really seen them properly either, and was explaining hurriedly with whatever came to mind.
“For now, could you get them by weight and send them to the 6th Class where I am?”
In any case, the 6th Class was the final stage of the advanced level.
As the class went up, the dormitories grew larger and the variety of food in the cafeteria increased as well.
Even if Vise brought a large number of these so-called dumbbells, there would be more than enough space in my dormitory.
“It won’t be difficult. We can just purchase them from a shop in the Swordsman’s District. Shall I bring all of them by weight?”
“Yeah, for now, do that.”
From the swordsman standing at the entrance to the Swordsman’s District, I had roughly heard how swordsmen trained their stamina.
They simply ran all day and lifted and lowered heavy things.
In particular, I was told that the maximum weight of a dumbbell was 20kg, but I had no sense of how heavy that actually was.
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
I asked Vise.
“This is something I can go out and prepare right away. From what I overheard, dumbbells are easy to obtain, like a mage’s staff or wand.”
“Oh, that’s a relief then.”
“Shall I go now? There happens to be a shop near my tavern that sells these dumbbells.”
It felt like things were starting to pick up speed.
“Yeah, I’d appreciate that.”
“Yes, I’ll be back shortly.”
With that, Vise took Rezi and Sparkle and left the tavern.
He returned about an hour later.
He had said they were sold nearby, but it took quite a while for him to come back.
“Why did it take so long?”
I had been waiting in the basement, and when I heard footsteps upstairs, I went up and asked.
But the three of them, including Vise, were drenched in sweat from head to toe.
Especially the ends of their hair were thoroughly soaked, as if they had been hit by a simple spell from a low-circle Water Elementalist.
“Haah…… haah…….”
All three of them let out dying groans at the same time as they practically threw the dumbbells onto the floor.
Thud! Thududak-!
The dumbbells made dull sounds as they rolled away in different directions.
“Ah, they’re heavy as hell. So damn annoying!”
Sparkle blurted that out.
But perhaps it was said unconsciously rather than with me in mind, because the moment she spoke, she hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand.
The total number of dumbbells they had brought was nine.
They had carried three each.
“……It seems you’ll need to help a bit, Lord Arkis.”
Vise said that after glancing at me.
“There’s more?”
“Yes. There are eleven more left, but…… the remaining dumbbells are too heavy for us to carry…….”
“……Got it.”
So I followed Vise.
There were still eleven dumbbells left.
Only after the four of us transported them two more times were we finally able to move all twenty dumbbells.
“……Vise, can you even deliver all this to the 6th Class by yourself?”
I asked because I was genuinely worried.
The Waypoint to the academy was in the forest outside the city.
Only by going there could one open the portal leading to the academy, and safely transport them to the 6th Class.
“This…… apparently totals 210kg.”
“How heavy is that, exactly?”
Vise stated the exact weight he had heard at the shop, but to someone like me who didn’t understand the concept of weight, it didn’t really register.
“That…… I don’t know either. I’d have to have handled swordsmen’s equipment to know.”
But that was the same for Vise as well.
Looking at the dumbbells strewn across the floor, I asked Vise,
“Vise, do you have something like a box that can hold all these dumbbells?”
“There’s an empty wine barrel. If it’s that, I think they’ll all fit.”
“Bring it.”
Vise immediately sprang into action.
Rrrrumble-!
Even without going down to the basement, there were plenty of empty barrels here in the tavern.
Vise rolled one over toward me, then set it upright properly.
The barrel was about as wide as my shoulders and reached roughly to my solar plexus.
It certainly looked like it could hold all the dumbbells.
“Put them in.”
At my instruction, the three of them put all the dumbbells inside.
All twenty dumbbells fit without issue.
“But Lord Arkis…… how exactly are we supposed to carry this?”
Vise groaned, faced with the remaining practical problem.
Ignoring his concern, I forcefully pushed the barrel filled with dumbbells.
The barrel didn’t budge even an inch, and instead my body bounced back slightly like a roly-poly.
But just because we couldn’t carry it didn’t mean there was absolutely no way to move these dumbbells to the academy.
“You’re a Flewd Elementalist and all…….”
I said reproachfully while looking at Vise.
“Yes?”
“Do you really think we’re going to carry this?”
“……?”
Even if all four of us lifted it together, there was no way we could move it.
Moreover, this place was the boundary between the Mage’s District and the Swordsman’s District, so I thought that if the four of us rolled this barrel together toward the forest outside the city, it would draw suspicion from both factions.
I placed my hand on the barrel and cast Invisibility Magic.
“Wow…….”
When the barrel, which had clearly existed, vanished without a trace, Sparkle and Rezi let out small exclamations.
Vise merely watched with an observing gaze.
“The reason you covered it with Invisibility Magic is……?”
“I look like a commoner right now, don’t I? But I can’t lift it with strength. So isn’t this the only way?”
“Ahh…….”
Only then did Vise realize what I was trying to do.
I lifted the barrel covered in Invisibility Magic with Flewd magic.
Clunk.
The moment the barrel rose, the dumbbells inside collided with each other and made a sound.
“This is how I’ll carry it.”
“Just now…… you lifted it with magic?”
The ever-curious Sparkle asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m getting such a rare sight……. It’s my first time seeing Flewd magic in my life!”
Since Vise had disguised himself as a commoner and played the role of a tavern owner, he probably had never shown Sparkle Flewd magic separately.
On top of that, hadn’t Sparkle said she had been serving as a 2nd Class professor until recently?
Having lived only in the Upper World, it made sense that she had never seen Flewd magic at all.
But Rezi, while wearing the same curious look as Sparkle, didn’t react with the same level of amazement.
That kind of reaction meant only one thing.
“You’ve seen Flewd magic before, Teacher Rezi.”
“Yes. I received my first guidance here from Lord Vise. Still…… Lord Vise couldn’t do something like this, so it’s fascinating.”
“Would Lord Arkis be an Archmage for nothing?”
Vise replied.
“Anyway, thanks, Vise. I should get going now.”
“You’re leaving already? Without having even a bite to eat…….”
“I’ve got a lot to do. And…… was it Impel? I heard that mage is here too, but I don’t see him?”
“Ah…… he’s recovering inside.”
Vise answered while pointing to a room in a corner of the tavern, not the basement.
The blatant lock hanging on the door.
Rather than being hidden away for recovery, it looked more like he had been locked up.
“Is he conscious? Has he woken up?”
Vise lightly shook his head.
“Just how far did he push his magic that he’s still unconscious? Isn’t that serious?”
I worried that he might never wake up due to brain death beyond burnout.
But even to that question, Vise shook his head.
“It’s not brain death. He’s simply unconscious. You don’t need to worry too much.”
“Well…… that’s a relief, then.”
I was curious about what kind of person this mage called Impel was, but now wasn’t the time to satisfy my curiosity.
After finishing my farewells with them, I headed out to the forest outside the city.
I focused all my attention on the barrel even as I walked, making sure it wouldn’t jostle as much as possible.
This time, I deliberately passed through the Swordsman’s District.
I thought that if I went through the Mage’s District, there might be someone who could sense mana particularly well.
As I headed toward the forest, I took in the scenery of the Swordsman’s District.
Thanks to my disguise as a commoner, it was my first time coming here.
Just the fact that I was walking through the Swordsman’s District right now felt fascinating.
As I walked on, my gaze still completely stolen by the Swordsman’s District, I failed to watch where I was going and bumped into someone.
“Ay!”
Clunk.
Because of that, a small sound also came from the barrel I was lifting with magic.
“Are you okay, kid? Sorry about that. My mind was somewhere else.”
But the person I collided with spoke kindly to me instead.
“No, it’s fine. I was walking while distracted by something else too, you know. That’s why we bumped into each other.”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“……You don’t get hurt just from bumping into someone.”
“If I were a commoner, would I even ask that?”
“…….”
Only then did I properly look at the man’s face.
He was a young man, but thick muscles were set not only on his arms but across his entire body.
Even his facial muscles were quite pronounced, to the point that his impression felt intimidating.
He also had a distinctly different atmosphere from the swordsmen I had seen in the Swordsman’s District.
It wasn’t like mana, something visibly emanating as with a mage.
But just looking at him made my body automatically stiffen and shrink back, or so it felt.
Anyway, he was a man with a truly peculiar aura.
And that was despite the fact that he wasn’t even armed with armor or a sword.
“Ah…… yes. I’m fine.”
“Hm…….”
The swordsman swept his gaze over my entire body.
“If that’s the case, that’s a relief……. Be careful from now on. Sorry about that.”
Seemingly very busy, the swordsman left only those words behind and hurried off somewhere.
‘Huh?’
As he passed by me, a small piece of paper slipped out from his chest.
I picked up the paper that had fallen to the ground and called out to him.
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“You dropped this.”
As I handed it over, I glanced at what it was—it was a piece of paper with a cloud drawn on it.
“Thank you! That was close!”
To my eyes, it was nothing more than an unremarkable drawing of a cloud, but the swordsman reacted as if I had returned a treasured family heirloom.
He tucked it securely into his chest so it wouldn’t fall out again, and then left.
‘That’s strange. Why does his voice feel familiar?’
He gave off a peculiar aura, and even his voice felt like something I had heard somewhere before.
What a strange swordsman.