Chapter 22: A Trip to the Imperial Capital Part 1

“Why do you suddenly want to go to the capital?”

Clea, who hadn’t been very involved in the conversation until now, asked.

“Hm? Well, I’m curious. The capital has a lot of things, doesn’t it? Including His Majesty’s palace.”

“So, you want to see the imperial palace?”

“Yeah, I do. And besides, I’ve never really been inside a city before.”

Her mother had apparently been a prostitute working in the capital, but she had been sent to an orphanage shortly after birth.

Even though she had spent most of her life near the capital, she had never actually returned to it.

“Then I’ll guide you.”

“Clea?”

“Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

“It’s just unexpected. I thought you were the type to stay in your room and rest on weekends.”

“You’re not wrong. But I can spare a day. Besides, I don’t think we’ll get any assignments this weekend.”

“Really? Then I’ll count on you. Is Saturday okay?”

“Sure. We’ll go on Saturday and rest on Sunday. But…”

Clea asked cautiously,

“Eli, in the future… I mean…”

“I know what you’re going to ask.”

Eli grinned confidently and reached for her fifth piece of bread.

“You mean money, right? How I plan to handle things when we hang out.”

The other girls’ shoulders flinched slightly at the table.

They had all considered this to some extent.

Eli was the first student in the academy’s history to be discovered and recruited by an admissions officer.

Because of that, her dormitory fees and textbook costs were covered, and she received a small allowance for food and living expenses.

However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with four noble daughters as their friend—especially if they planned to go out beyond the academy.

“It’s simple. You guys will buy things for me.”

The answer itself wasn’t unexpected.

When they had decided to be friends with Eli, they had all come to terms with this reality.

But none of them had expected her to say it so boldly, so they let out confused sounds like, “Huh? What?”

“Of course, I’m not just going to freeload off you.”

Eli grinned and placed her half-eaten bread in the center of the table.

“I promise.”

As if swearing an oath with a wand held forward.

“If you become my friends and patrons, I will repay you far beyond what I receive from you.”

‘How exactly would she do that?’

Yet, it didn’t feel childish at all.

In fact, it carried more weight and trust than a half-hearted mage’s vow—it seemed to resonate deep into their very souls.

‘To me, she really…’

And so, Clea couldn’t help but think to herself, ‘Do I even deserve to be friends with someone like this?’

A thought as sharp as a thorn piercing her chest.

But once a thorn was embedded, it had to be dealt with—even if pulling it out would hurt.

***

In the end, Clea was the only one who joined her in the carriage heading for the capital that Saturday.

Philia had declared that she would spend the weekend alone.

Stella wanted to explore the academy grounds and the nearby mountains.

Isabel had been assigned homework, despite it being the first week.

Among the non-students, Jeina and Melrit were there as well.

But Jeina had humbly insisted she wouldn’t dare tag along, and Melrit was already overwhelmed by the first week’s lessons.

‘Honestly, it would be a bit weird to have Melrit and my friends together.’

She was a professor, after all.

If it were just the two of them, that would be one thing, but if she was seen hanging out with a few students, people would immediately accuse her of favoritism.

Not that Eli particularly cared about rumors like that.

Due to the influence of magic, society was materially wealthy, but its structure was still medieval.

Public and private matters were loosely separated.

If someone had power, they were expected to use it to help their friends and harm their enemies.

It was also considered natural for those in power to use their influence to settle personal grudges.

The only real issue was that Eli didn’t actually receive any academic help from Melrit—so if people accused her of favoritism, she would be annoyed.

It would be insulting.

After all, she had achieved her results through skill alone, and she didn’t want anyone whispering that she only succeeded because of favoritism.

***

“…Eli.”

“Hm?”

Clea’s voice broke the silence in the carriage.

“Do you remember what I asked you before?”

Of course, she did.

Clea had once asked why the other students avoided Eli.

They didn’t seem to hate her, and some even wanted to get on her good side—but they couldn’t bring themselves to approach her.

And back then, Eli had told Clea that if she ever wanted to talk about it, she would.

Until then, Eli would wait.

“The truth is—”

“Don’t say it.”

Clea’s round eyes widened in surprise.

“I won’t listen, not right now.”

Because Clea didn’t actually want to say it.

She just felt like she had to.

“…You really are something else.”

“Coachman, how much farther do we have to go?”

“We’re about halfway there.”

“That close? If someone were riding a horse at full speed, they’d get there in ten minutes, right?”

“If they sprinted with all their might, yes. If they kept a steady pace, it would take about twice as long. Of course, it depends on the horse.”

“I see. Thanks for the info.”

“Haha, it’s no trouble at all.”

Ellie turned her back to Clea again and yawned.

“Haam… Clea, will you wake me up when we arrive?”

“…Alright.”

No matter how she looked at it, this was just a considerate way of telling her to calm down.

“Okay, thanks.”

Then, Ellie sprawled out on the seat, closed her eyes, and started breathing softly in sleep.

“…Ellie?”

‘Wait.’

‘Is she really asleep?’

‘Just what kind of nerves does she have?’

Most people would only close their eyes and pretend to sleep at best, right? Even if she thought, ‘I’ll take a short nap,’ could she actually just fall asleep like that?

Clea let out a deep sigh.

She felt… like everything suddenly became meaningless.

All the worries she’d debated over whether or not to tell Ellie just a moment ago.

Clea moved to the empty seat beside Ellie—more precisely, right next to Ellie’s face.

“…You really are something.”

And then, for the first time in her life, she reached out and gently stroked her first-ever friend’s black hair.

…She had intended to do it just once, but it felt better than expected, so she kept absentmindedly playing with it until they arrived.

***

“Oh. So this is the capital.”

Contrary to Clea’s expectations, Ellie’s reaction was rather indifferent.

She raised an eyebrow without thinking.

“You’re not very surprised?”

“Is there something to be surprised about?”

“Haven’t you said this is your first time seeing a city? That means it’s also your first time seeing such a large crowd.”

“Ah….”

Ellie awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“Is that so…? Hmm… I guess I just never found big crowds all that surprising since I was little.”

“What? No, I mean, how could you possibly know that—”

“Whoa, what’s that? It’s food, right?”

Ellie quickly changed the subject.

There was no way she could start talking about her past life in a metropolis with a population of ten million.

But in truth, she was actually interested in the food.

Regardless of time period or region, street vendors had always existed in cities.

Whether it was medieval London, Edo-period Tokyo, or Joseon-era Hanyang— even ancient Rome and Babylon had them.

After all, cities were filled with busy workers, and there was always a demand for food.

Especially for simple, handheld meals.

“Hey, hey, Clea, that’s food, right? It is, isn’t it?”

It was obviously food.

Rough-looking men were taking skewers of meat and hungrily tearing into them.

Clea recalled what Ellie had told her just the other day.

That she should sponsor her.

That one day, she would repay her with something incomparable.

“Sigh…”

Clea rummaged through her handbag and pulled out her coin pouch.

In the Empire, nearly all currency in circulation was either silver or copper coins, so a wallet was essentially a coin purse.

From the heavy pouch, Clea took out a few silver coins and handed them to Ellie.

“Thanks! Hey, mister, I’ll take two skewers!”

“That’ll be 20 knuts.”

“Got it!”

One silver coin turned into a handful of smaller coins and two skewers.

Ellie handed one of the skewers to Clea.

“Here.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really? Then I’ll eat both!”

It wasn’t that Clea disliked cheap commoner food.

She just hadn’t fully digested her last meal yet.

In any case, nobles in this world were expected to be able to chew through even the toughest, blandest food to maintain their warrior identity.

On the other hand, if they only liked soft, delicate foods, they’d be mocked as fragile flowers.

She couldn’t forget—mages were considered nobility because they were part of the warrior class.

“Well then… chomp!”

Ellie took a big bite of the skewer, chewing and swallowing happily.

A reasonable amount of meat juices dripped onto the ground.

The rich, savory aroma of seared meat filled the air.

Then she gulped it down and, without hesitation, took another bite.

It looked so delicious that Clea, despite having just refused, found herself swallowing involuntarily.

“Gulp…”

‘Maybe she should have just asked for one after all—oh.’

Ellie was already eating.

‘No, wait.’

If she really wanted one, she could just buy one herself.

There was no need to ask Ellie for—

“Hm? You want some after all? Here.”

Ellie offered the skewer she’d already half-eaten.

“…Excuse me.”

Clea hesitated, wondering if it was okay to eat it, but strangely, the fact that Ellie had already bitten into it didn’t bother her at all.

She tilted her head slightly to take a bite, but the length of the skewer was a little awkward, so she turned her head to the side.

Her hair fell over her face.

She tucked it behind her ear and carefully brought her lips to the skewer.

“Nom… chew… gulp… it’s good.”

“Uh, um… d-do you want more?”

“No, just tasting it was enough.”

The flavor itself seemed fairly ordinary.

It was just that Ellie’s enthusiasm had acted as a kind of seasoning.

“Ellie? What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Ahaha… A-anyway! Since I’m here in the capital, there’s a place I wanted to—”

A booming voice suddenly rang out.

“Make way and lower your heads!! His Majesty’s carriage is passing!”