Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely - Chapter 141

Ch. 141: My Heroic Tales…….?

The Kroseid Style 3 Month Short-Term Course Class 10.

Before we began the official course instruction, Mr. Derrick assessed everyone’s ability and finally got through everyone.

We neared lunch time by the end, and Mr. Derrick probably planned it that way.

Derrick: “Okay, we’re done for the morning. In the afternoon, at 1 PM, we will all meet at the Mages Tower at room 403. Oh, and we have student ID’s for the course attendees, so please take one before you leave.”

And Mr. Derrick pulled out a handful of cards out of his pocket.

Derrick: “The Mages Tower’s 1st through 4th floor is open to the public, but you cannot proceed to the 5th floor without a card. There is a dining hall and cafeteria on the 5th floor. You can eat elsewhere, but the food is cheaper, so that’s why I strongly recommend it.

We paid a registration and course fee at the front desk, so I presume that part of that also pays for the food.

Derrick: “Besides that, on the upper floors of the Mages Tower, there are libraries that only the faculty can access…..oh, well. You can find that information on the guide map. In the cafeteria, you should also find guide pamphlets too.”

I thought this might take a while, but Mr. Derrick cut his speech short and began distributing the cards.

Well, unlike the course registrants that “wanted to learn the Kroseid Style” in Class 1, this class only had 10 people. He was done distributing the cards momentarily.

Okay, I guess I’ll regroup with Cyril. But as I was thinking about my plans, Emily stood right before me.

Emily: “Hey, don’t just leave your rival behind and go somewhere.”

Henry: “…….oh, were you serious about what you said before?”

When Mr. Derrick complimented me, he also compared me to Emily. Because of that, Emily said something about deeming a rival but……..I thought she was joking.

Fred: “Haha, Mr. Henry, I knew you were a sly guy. Well, I’ll excuse myselfーー”

Henry: “No you don’t.”

I don’t want to be left alone with this girl. I grab Fred’s shoulder as he tried to gracefully retreat.

Emily: “Oh, it’s the next best person who can use Magecraft besides me.”

Fred: “YーYes. My name is Alfred Spencer.”

Emily: “Alfred….so Alf? Or just Fred? …….it’s easier to call you Fred, so we’ll stick with that. I’m Emily Statia. Nice to meet you, Fred.” Wow. She instantly settled on a nickname for him. Fred’s very skilled socially, but this girl is really used to handling people. I don’t think I’m that bad, but I don’t approach people I just met as directly as these two.

Fred: “Yeahー okay. Nice to meet you, Emily.” I don’t know if he just surrendered, or he saw Emily’s smile and decided to stay, but Fred stopped resisting and answered back with a smile.

Emily: “Oh, Mr. Rival, I don’t know your name yet.”

Henry: “……..it’s Henry.”

Emily: “I see. Mr. Henry then.”

Emily nodded as she memorized my name. …….oh, but she did put Mr. in front of that.

Henry: “Yeahー so, Emily. Did you want something with me?” Emily: “Yes, yes I did! Since we’re taking the same course, why not eat lunch together? Would you care to join me?”

Henry: “There’s plenty of other girls in the class. Why me?”

Emily: “Because you’re my rival! ……….well, I’m joking a little, but you are a Heroic Warrior, right? I wanted to hear about your experience.”

Joking a little? …….I wanted the whole thing to be a joke.

But yes. Emily did say she wanted to become an Adventurer. There were other Adventurers among the class, but I was the only Heroic Warrior. So that’s why she chose me.

Fred: “If it’s about that, I’d like to hear your story too. Since you fought on the frontlines with brother Owen, you must be very strong, right?” Henry: “Ohー but I actually have someone I need to go meet up with.”

I didn’t make any promises with her, but I think I will be having lunch with Cyril…….or as I was thinking soーー

Cyril: (Oh, Henry, hey, Henry.)

Henry: (Cyril?)

As if she was waiting for this exact moment, I heard her voice in my head. It was the communication ability of Cyril’s godly equipment, [Link Ring].

Henry: (What’s wrong? Is this about where we’ll be meeting up?)

Cyril: (Ohー no. I’m actually going to eat lunch with the rest of the Magic Course classmates. That’s why I reached out.)

Henry: (IーI see.)

Cyril: (By the way, the All Magic Course is only 3 students including me, but it’s all girls. You have nothing to worry aboutーー)

Why does she think I’m worried? …….I mean, well, if there was a guy in the group, I would go check to see what he looked like just in case.

Henry: (……then in that case, I’ll eat lunch with some of the people I met in class. Oh, but there is a girl in this group, but don’t worry.)

Cyril: (Uh huh….and what is there to worry about?)

Henry: (Like I won’t cheat on you.)

Cyril: (Henry, I would never suspect that you would have the gall to do something like that anyways. Then see you laterーー)

Oh, she cut the communication.

………what is with this situation? Should I be glad that she trusts me so much or should I be insulted because she doesn’t think I have any lady skills?

Emily: “? What’s wrong, Henry? Do you have a stomach ache?”

Since I suddenly fell silent, Emily looked at me with concern.

It’s actually hard to speak by mouth while communicating inside your head.

Henry: “No, nothing like that. I had a communication come in from my friend. She’ll be eating with her classmates, so I’ll join you for lunch.”

Fred: “Oh, was it Miss Cyril? I remember you using that the first day I met you.”

Fred nodded too. When Cyril was touring the Mages Tower, she had used the telepathic communication to regroup with me.

But not knowing about Cyril’s godly equipment, Emily tilted her head in confusion.

Emily: “Communication?” Henry: “It’s a godly equipment. Even if you’re physically apart, you can talk with each other inside your head. It’s pretty handy.”

Emily: “Godly equipment! Yes! That’s what I want to hear more about that! I looked at my grandmother’s godly equipment, and I really want something as amazing as that!”

She’s really excited. It’s almost cute.

But this “grandmother” Emily keeps mentioning……

Henry: “Hey, Emily. Is your grandmother Elizabeth Statia…..perhaps?”

Emily: “So you know her too, Henry. Yes, that’s right. She’s my grandmother! My pride and joy! She’s really strict during training, but she’s really nice otherwise.”

So it’s confirmed…..

Well, not that that really changes anything. It was surprising that the granddaughter of the Hero of Legend who was once called the [Magecraft Princess] is hilariously eccentric, but that’s all.

Henry: “So food……..since we’re already here, let’s try out this Mages Tower Cafeteria, shall we?” Both Emily and Fred did not have any issues with that plan.

Following behind all the course students who had already dispersed, we began walking too.

<<<<>>>>

Henry: “Whoa….it’s pretty big.”

The cafeteria on the 5th floor of the Mages Tower filled up the entire floor. The far edges of the cafeteria were so far away that it was hard telling the faces of the people there.

The researchers, professors, students, and putting together all the other students from every course, there must be a few thousand people here, so they need a cafeteria of this size to accommodate that many people. But even a cafeteria of this size would be pretty crowded and busy during the lunch rush hour.

Henry: “What should I eat today….”

I try to remember the menu we passed by at the entrance.

There were some standard lunches, and alternatives that change every day. They had the menu filled out for every day of the week.

Today, the fish was fried fish, pork saute if you wanted meat, and bacon and spinach cream pasta. Those kinds of options.

There were pre-prepared plates on a table waiting to be picked up, and you took whatever you wanted to the register. It was a system like that. I’m sure they made it this way to avoid being overwhelmed by customized orders. But because of that, the meal is a little cheaper.

Fred: “I guess I’ll try the fish today?”

Fred reached for one of the fish plates and grabbed a piece of bread.

Emily: “～♪ ～♪”

Emily was humming as she chose a pasta and mini salad.

……..hmmmmm.

As I tried to decide, I put all three types on my tray, and we all got in line to pay and sat down at an open table when we were done.

Fred: “……..Mr. Henry, that’s a lot of food.”

Henry: “Well, the body is the Adventurer’s most important asset, and we did do quite a bit of exercise this morning.”

I had an extra helping of rice on both my fish and meat lunches. I had the potato salad and today’s special soup as side dishes.

Emily: “That was what my grandma said all the time.”

Henry: “But that’s a pretty small portion you chose.”

She chose the plate with less pasta on purpose.

Emily: “I was pretty sick for most of my childhood, so I never really ate that much.”

Henry: “IーI see. Sorry for bringing that up.”

Emily: “? No, I’m well now. And I’m sure I have plenty of room to grow, so I’m going to eat lots and lots more!”

And Emily proudly puffed out her chest. She’s really an optimistic one, this girl.

Emily: “Oh, yes, yes. Now Mr. Henry. Please share some of your experiences. Since you’re a Heroic Warrior, you must have a tale or two to tell us!”

Henry: “A tale, huh?”

But to be honest, there’s not a whole lot of stories where I stood out. The best example is taking down the Demon General Gilverte, but I was mainly doing support, and only coincidentally delivered the finishing blow.

…………but her eyes are glittering with excitement, and for someone that’s about to become an Adventurer and is looking up to me, I don’t want to disappoint her.

Henry: “Well, let’s see. I know that Elizabeth Statia once defeated a Hræsvelgr. I actually defeated one too before.”

It’s a Highest-Tier Demonic Creature that looks like an eagle.

Emily: “Really?! My grandma told me that story during bed time. How did you defeat it, Mr. Henry?”

Henry: “Yeah, first, my Party consisted of a girl named Ageha andーー”

And I exaggerated a little as I described our battle with the Hræsvelgr.

Though it was a complete accident that we ran into one, I described it as a sneak attack we prepared in advance……..for instance. And though there was an idiot trying to behead a flying beast, I phrased it as her trying to keep it distracted.

And as we were looking for the opportunity to take it down with my multiplying spear throw, it actually worked……..and I was the one who was most surprised at the outcome and yelled, “REALLY?!” but I didn’t share that part.

……..so, I don’t think I’m totally lying? Yeah, I don’t think those kinds of edits counts.

Emily: “That’s so amazing! You planned it out, cooperated with your trustworthy Party, and Mr. Henry, you really stood out in that fight! Way to go!!”

Henry: “Ha…haha…..yeah…”

Oh crap. Emily doesn’t doubt me at all.

WーWell, I don’t think Emily will run into Ageha or Yuu who was in that Party that easily, so it should be okay……..or so I would think, and before I know it, in a cruel series of happenstance, they are all going to meet! So just in case, I need to make sure our stories align.

Fred: “……but if you think about it, if you’ve taken down the Highest-Tier, and you’ve been around all these Heroes of Legend……Mr. Henry, you said you left Ligaleo a year ago, but why would you do that? If you’re that amazing, you should be able to become a Hero of Legend yourself.”

And I had to break my gaze with Emily as Fred spoke his question that came from innocent curiosity.

After refining and elaborating that heroic tale, I really didn’t want to get into the reasons why I moved to Flowtier. Since I got her expectations so high, I can easily imagine it plummeting to the earth.

Henry: “AーA lot happened. Really, a lot….”

Fred: “……oh, I’m so sorry.”

Sensing something, Fred apologized.

Well, he didn’t need to apologize at all, really. …………besides, if he speaks with his brother Owen, Owen’s going to spill and ruin everything. I’ll just have to tell Fred afterwards in private.

Oh…..

Henry: “I got distracted with all the talking. There’s not much time left. Let’s go ahead and eat our food.”

As I glance at the Cafeteria’s clock, we have less than half an hour until we go back to class.

We all hurriedly ate, and left the cafeteria together.