Ch. 134
Volume 2
Chapter 58 : Precise Positioning
“How do you feel?”
“I feel...”
Muen woke from unconsciousness.
After briefly adjusting to the dazzling light, he moved his body under Teacher Mera’s urging.
“My body feels light and relaxed, as if I have been reborn. And...”
Muen looked at his arm in surprise.
“Why do I feel like I have gotten a lot fairer?”
“It is not ‘as if.’ You really have been reborn.”
Mera said,
“Under the erosion of the mercury and the restoration of the crimson flames, nearly all the flesh in your body was replaced. Naturally, your skin was newly grown as well. It would be strange if it were not fair.”
“But I feel that being a pretty boy does not really suit my temperament.”
Muen stroked his chin and said seriously,
“I think I would be better suited to that bronze complexion of a rugged, manly warrior.”
“Oh, give it a rest.”
Mera rolled her eyes.
“A pampered Duke’s son should not be saying things like that. Come on, get up and hop around a little.”
Muen obediently stood up, then obediently hopped a few times.
But in the middle of jumping, he almost lost his balance and fell because he failed to control his strength properly.
“This is...”
Feeling the surging power in his body, unlike anything he had ever experienced before, Muen’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“It feels like my realm has improved.”
After entering the academy, his warrior realm had shown almost no movement because he had been completely absorbed in studying.
Yet now it seemed to have entered another explosive period of growth.
He had actually reached the late stage of the second rank.
“It is normal to improve after being tempered in the Silver Well for so long. After all, your physique was so pitifully weak before that it was easy enough to raise it by a whole level.”
Mera said this while scribbling and recording something.
“But you will not get this kind of effect again afterward. The purpose of tempering in the Silver Well is to improve the toughness and resistance of your body, not its raw strength. If you want to grow stronger, you still have to rely on yourself, one step at a time.”
“I see...”
Muen looked at his hands and could not help clenching them again.
Although he still did not know exactly what this so-called toughness and resistance were good for, he could at least clearly feel that he had improved.
For Muen, that alone was enough to make it a joyous thing.
“Wait, hold on. You just said... afterward?” Muen finally reacted, his face turning pale with horror.
“Don't tell me something like this is not a one-time thing?”
“One time? How could it be? Have you not woken up properly yet, little one? Do you really think that with a physique like yours, one soak in the Silver Well would be enough for you to bear the Eternal Clock?”
Teacher Mera continued scribbling, as though she were calculating something, then said,
“With your physique, you will probably need to soak in it another hundred times or so before you barely meet the minimum standard.”
“A hundred times or so?”
Muen’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
Just once had nearly cost him his life.
If he had to do that a hundred more times...
Even the toughest man would end up with weak knees.
“Relax, relax. The beginning is always the hardest. Since you made it through the first time, it will not be nearly as exaggerated as you imagine afterward.”
Teacher Mera comforted him,
“There is a saying, is there not? You must learn to find joy within suffering. Perhaps if you keep searching long enough, you will truly start to find this pain delightful.”
“I am not a masochist!”
Muen roared.
At once, the life that had just begun to look beautiful again seemed plunged back into darkness.
The moment he thought about how dangerous and agonizing that experience had been, and how he would have to go through it at least a hundred more times in the future, Muen felt he might as well start writing his will now.
One copy for his parents, one for Ann, one for Selicia, and one for his senior.
As for that hateful old loli teacher who loved pretending to be young, he should just leave her a candy wrapper and let her cry while licking it.
Hm? Wait.
Speaking of his seniors...
Muen suddenly jolted awake and looked at Teacher Mera.
“What time is it now?”
“Around nine o’clock.”
“What day is it today?”
“What day? Do you think I would keep track of something like that?”
Teacher Mera spread her hands to show she had no idea.
After all, she had lived for far too long and had long since grown insensitive to the passing of time.
Forget the day of the month—even the current year was something Mera neither knew nor cared to know.
“Then how long was I soaking in the Silver Well?”
“Well...”
A phantom clock appeared in front of Mera. She casually moved its hands and said,
“About thirty hours, I suppose.”
“Thirty hours?”
Which meant...
It was already nine in the morning on the second day of Open Day!
And the time he had arranged to meet his senior was ten o’clock!
Only one hour left!
“Oh no, I am going to be late!”
If he was late for their first date, his senior would tease him to death!
Muen leaped to his feet in a hurry and grabbed Teacher Mera by the shoulders, shaking her with all his might.
“You can torment me however many times you want in the future, but Teacher Mera, hurry up and let me out first!”
“Oh? Are you going out?”
“That is right. I have to leave the academy for something extremely important.”
“Good. Then make sure you prepare the materials for your second stage.”
“Materials for the second stage? What materials?”
“Ancient dragon heart’s blood.”
Mera said,“The academy’s stock is gone, so you will have to collect it yourself. Only with that can I proceed to the next step. Otherwise, you will have to keep soaking in the Silver Well for the time being.”
“All right, all right, I understand. Ancient dragon heart’s blood, right? I will definitely get it.”
Muen was so anxious that he could hardly stand still.
“Good. Off you go.”
Teacher Mera suddenly waved her hand. Along with a violent sense of dizziness, Muen felt the scene before his eyes changed in an instant.
The sunlight was brilliant, and the air still retained the dampness of last night.
Everything in the world seemed freshly washed, sparkling beneath the sun.
“Amazing...”
In a single dazed moment, Teacher Mera had sent him directly to the foot of his dormitory building.
“Damn it, there is no time to marvel at this.”
Muen gritted his teeth and, with what little time remained, hurried back to his dormitory.
...
He bathed.
He changed clothes.
He fixed his hair.
He even sprayed on a few dashing bursts of expensive men’s perfume.
After examining himself in the full-length mirror and confirming that he looked flawless, Muen hurried off on a run to the academy gates, the place where he had arranged to meet his senior.
On Open Day, ninety percent of the students had gone out to have fun, so the academy was much emptier than usual.
He had not encountered anyone else along the way, which was why he immediately spotted his senior waiting by the giant stone engraved with the words “Saint Maria Academy.”
“Senior.”
Anna wore a goose-yellow dress, a pair of white leather boots, and carried a simply woven cloth bag on her arm.
It was clearly not made of any expensive material, yet it was remarkably eye-catching.
Her long hair was tied at the end with a simple ribbon and, as usual, draped in front of her chest.
Elegant light makeup adorned her pretty face, and when she saw Muen, her eyes curved into a smile, making the tear mole at the corner of her eye look especially charming and alluring.
“Muen, my junior, you are late.”
“Hmm? Am I?”
Muen’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pulled out his gold-plated pocket watch for a glance.
The slim hand was still several ticks away from reaching the very top.
“Huh? But I am not late.”
“Really?”
Anna touched her cheek and said with feigned seriousness,
“But when a boy asks a girl out, is arriving half an hour early not basic courtesy? I even came half an hour ahead of time so that you would not have to wait for me.”
“Sigh, I am just a girl, standing all alone in the cold wind for half an hour. I kept thinking, what if I caught a chill? What if someone tried to flirt with me? What if a passing scoundrel abducted me? And what if someone stood me up—”
“Stop, stop, stop! That is enough, Senior, please stop!”
Muen quickly cut Anna off. If she went on like that, his date would be branded as the act of an irredeemable scoundrel before it had even begun.
He took it back.
Even if he was not technically late, he would still be teased.
“I was wrong, Senior. I was wrong.”
Muen pleaded,
“Please spare me.”
“All right, then. Since you are being so sincere, I will forgive you. After all, you are such a cute junior.”
Anna laughed softly.
The charm in her eyes left Muen staring blankly for a moment.
“But from here on, you had better make sure I enjoy myself.”
“Of course. I will make this dat—this repayment of gratitude one hundred and ten thousand percent satisfying for you, Senior.”
Muen puffed out his chest as though making some solemn vow.
...
Inside the carriage, while Anna rested her cheek on her hand and gazed at the scenery outside, Muen secretly pulled out the long-prepared 《Belland Dating Guide》.
Only then did the panic in his heart begin to spill out like water from an overturned cup.
According to his original plan, he had intended to spend all of yesterday reading through the guide, drawing up a plan, and even scouting the locations in person.
But because Teacher Mera had suddenly summoned him and tossed him into the Silver Well for thirty hours, he had not merely failed to make a plan—he was now not even sure of their next destination.
In fact, when he had gotten into the carriage, he had not even given the driver a specific address.
He had only told him to head toward the city first and wait for him to say when to stop.
“Ah, so this place has already become like this? And it has only been two years since I last saw it.” Anna suddenly let out a small exclamation.
Muen followed her gaze out the window.
A street came into view that seemed to have been renovated and rebuilt, bright, clean, and rather prosperous.
It looked completely out of place with the overall atmosphere of the Lower City.
“This is...”
Muen felt it looked familiar and quickly flipped through the guide in his hands.
“That is right, this is the newly built commercial street in the Lower City.”
“It seems it was built to revitalize the Lower City’s economy or something. Quite a few merchants and interesting shops have been brought in, and the foot traffic is not bad either.”
“There is even a special event going on recently. Recommended rating... four stars. That is already quite good.
“Most importantly, it looks like seniors really like this place!”
Muen’s eyes lit up, and he made his decision on the spot.
This was it.
...
...
“Ah, Head Maid, I am so tired.”
The little maid Noelle staggered along the crowded street with a huge pile of ingredients in her arms.
“Seriously, why did we have to cross more than half the city just to come all the way to a place like this to buy things?”
Already exhausted, Noelle looked toward the figure in front of her, dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit.
Though constantly watched by passersby, she still carried herself with perfect poise and elegance.
Noelle’s eyes were full of confusion.
The Duke’s residence was in the western outskirts of the city, yet for some reason the head maid had insisted on dragging her all the way to the east side today to purchase supplies and they had not even brought a single guard.
The Lower City was full of all sorts of unsavory people. What if they ran into trouble?
“Every so often, one should also familiarize oneself with the produce of other places, should one not?”
Ann was selecting fruit at a stall in front of her, though she clearly seemed a little distracted.
Then suddenly, she raised her head and looked in a certain direction.
Her nose twitched slightly, as if confirming something.
A few breaths later, the corners of her lips slowly curved upward into a strange smile that made Noelle shiver involuntarily.
“W-What? Did something happen, Head Maid?”
“Young Master.”
“Huh?”
“I can feel it. Young Master’s scent.”
A sharp gleam appeared in Ann’s eyes.
“Young Master is somewhere within a radius of ten li.”