Chapter 69: Nagalev Bastion

    “Would you like to explain the recent expenditure?”

    Umara heard her mother’s voice over the Aerial. It was a good thing she didn’t decide to stay the night at John’s place.

    She sat up in her bed, looking out the window and seeing the moon hanging over the city.

    “It was a gift to John.”

    “A gift that cost 950 thousand coin.”

    “It was a piece of headgear for him. You know he needs it.”

    “That’s not the issue, dear. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt because I trust your judgment and know that you don’t make such decisions without careful thought. So give me a good reason for the sudden loss of a million coin. I’d like not to insult you by saying that your rationale has been completely clouded by your love for this boy.”

    “...”

    Umara frowned, thinking about her words before spitting them out.

    “Mom, if you could purchase an enlightenment, how much would you spend for it?”

    “That’s what this is about? You seemed to be trying to sell me on the value of John’s knowledge the other day. You think he actually directly caused your enlightenment?”

    “Yes. He gave me a new way, the correct way, to understand and view the world around me. Or do you believe that my talent is enough to have been enlightened so early in my life?”

    “...”

    Now it was her mother’s turn to be silent.

    Admit that your daughter is far more talented than yourself, or that John’s knowledge is that valuable.

    Umara inherited her mother’s talent. It was possible that she was in fact more talented than her mother, but the chances were slim because she had reached every milestone about as quickly as her mother did.

    The Talerria family line was long and their talent consistent. They were a very combat oriented family, as many were, and there was very little deviation from the normal timeline of a child’s development. That was the reason all noble families were so tight knit. They could go generations and constantly produce talented offspring, offering no room for another talented commoner to insert themselves into their ranks through sheer strength.

    Umara’s enlightenment was an irregularity, and the only outlier in her life was John and his supposed knowledge.

    The Duchess sighed.

    “I admit he may have played some part. But only the future can tell us if that really is the case.”

    “Well, one of those possibilities is correct. Either way, I see no issue with this purchase.”

    “So long as you don’t push your luck. Pull another stunt like this and you’ll hear from your father next. I’ll trust you. Don’t give me a reason not to.”

    “I won’t. Thank you, mom.”

    “Mm. One more question. Does he know how much was spent?”

    “No. In fact, he was pissed that I was paying at all and I had to force it. If he knew I spent that much... I’m not actually sure how far he’d go to reject it.”

    “...Fine.”

    *Click*

    The call ended, leaving Umara smiling.

    That meant her mother approved. For now, both of them were still in the green.

    ......

    ...

    ......

    The day of our leave approached.

    With my suspension over, I was able to return to Magisterium grounds. I didn’t bother with checking in on classes and simply prepared for the trip.

    I went shopping with Umara beforehand and bought myself some more essentials. Primarily stuff for the inevitably crappy bed and other niceties that I found to be lacking at the last base.

    I made sure I had any and all medical supplies for myself. Changes of clothes in case I got bloody, and the new piece of armor we had picked up the day before.

    As little as I like letting her pay for my own gear, I had to admit that it was gear that I needed.

    It also looked amazing. The surface was actually made of scales, but the scales were small, making it look like a solid material until you looked closer or bent it around.

    The inside also had a whole swath of enchanted lines, along with an implanted White Crystal at the base of the skull.

    As for the mask, it integrated into the hood by wrapping around the bottom half of my face and neck, protecting everything but my eyes. And when it was stowed, it morphed and hung around my collar like a thick chain necklace.

    The mask retained its effects of filtering air and boosting my stamina. It was also replaced with black leather that, like the hood, matched my coat so it didn’t look out of place.

    It was also just as durable as well. It was covered in tiny scales similar to the hood and the air that came through went through imperceptible slits in the scales that minimized weak points.

    It was an amazing piece of work, which made me question just how much Umara actually spent. It shouldn’t have been that much since it was only supposed to protect against blunt Authority 7 attacks, but the quality made me think otherwise.

    Well, she wouldn’t tell me no matter how much I asked. I decided there wasn’t anything I could do but use it and make sure she wouldn’t regret the purchase.

    And so, the time to leave for our next trip arrived.

    I packed a chest and met with all of the fourth year students at the gate. Like last time, there were plenty of carriages to take all of us to the terminal.

    I boarded one with my squad as the rest of the school waved us away.

    A quick trip to the terminal and we were on a Rail headed for a place called the Nagalev Bastion.

    This place, unlike the last, was much closer to what would be considered the front lines. It supposedly faced constant battles and the level of beasts there was generally much higher. It wouldn’t be a surprise to find Authority 7 beasts, maybe even Authority 8.

    “He’s Ponteck Gulliard, the son of a Duke, and... one of my suitors.”

    “You’ve got a lot of suitors.”

    “I’m the daughter of a Duchess. In any other circumstance the list would’ve been tripled and I’d be married by now, likely to the highest bidder.”

    “What, you get auctioned off?”

    “Not technically, but a marriage happens when a party is willing to offer a more beneficial alliance than all the others. It may as well be an auction. Unfortunately, Ponteck comes from a family rather close to mine, as do many of them. And given the fact that we’re almost the same age, he was the most viable suitor and likely one of the most hurt by your appearance.”

    “Fun.”

    I let out a small sigh, continuing to observe Ponteck.

    Sensing my gaze, he looked over as well, giving me a rather fierce eye.

    I just smiled and waved as if he were a close friend, causing him to frown and roll his eyes back to the front of the briefing room.

    Umara squeezed my hand under the table.

    “Don’t worry about it. If he tries anything, you know I’ll back you up.”

    “Hm, we’ll just have to wait and see what he tries. Or maybe he’ll be a good boy and just keep his paws to himself.”

    “Like a dog?”

    “I think he’s closer to a bear, but yea.”

    We both chuckled, hanging around a bit more until the commanding officer finally arrived to brief us.

    “Listen up! One of our Forward Outposts has been hit with a Scourge Tide. Right now it’s still gathering, but they will need assistance soon. Everyone here is a part of the platoon we’re sending out. So gather enough supplies for three days. Now, if you take a look at this map, you’ll see your entry area in relation to the outpost and Tide.”

    The commanding officer went on to give a battle plan. We would be coming in from the eastern side of the outpost whereas the Tide would be coming in from the north. There was a high chance that we would be attacked while trying to enter the outpost, so that was something to be prepared for.

    “Alright, you leave in an hour! Dismissed!”

    As soon as he gave the word, everyone rushed out of the briefing room.

    Time was tight. The longer we took, the higher the chance of the outpost taking considerable damage. We had to get there before the bulk of the Tide hit and the outpost was, by vehicle, about 3 hours away.

    We should be getting there right on time.

    With my squad, I went to the armory to gather some supplies before grabbing a few of my own belongings from my chest before storing everything in one of the several supply trucks going with us.

    After that we entered a Hummer just for our squad, waiting a bit before our driver arrived and took us away.

    A dozen armored vehicles rolled through the gates, speeding off into the distance.

    After that, we waited. I prepared some of my own weapons while the others prepared some of their armor.

    I chuckled while looking at my Springfield.

    There was one variation of this rifle that I found. While the one I first grabbed had standard iron sights, another I discovered had a ladder sight. And when I played with it, I found that it could actually zero to a whopping 2875 yards.

    I chuckled and showed Umara.

    “Look at this. This gun is only really accurate to about 300 yards, and yet this sight makes you think you can even aim at something 10 times the distance, let alone hit it. Really makes you wonder what they were thinking when they made it.”

    “Hm. I guess. I wonder about something else though.”

    “What’s that?”

    “You speak of the people who made those guns like you know them. As far as I know, summons come from other worlds.”

    “...Yea.”

    I went quiet. Surely she wasn’t really thinking that I was from another world, right? That would be preposterous, though true.

    I quickly thought up an excuse.

    “You know that I get some memories from these weapons, right? There’s a lot of knowledge that comes with that. After all, how are you supposed to use something so complex when you don’t know what everything on it does?”

    “That’s true.”

    “...”

    She smiled smugly and left it there, making me feel weird.

    I looked around, seeing the others watching us as well.

    Why did it feel like I lost?

    I suddenly looked back over and put my hand on Umara’s head, tilting her back and planting a fat kiss on her mouth from above.

    She flushed red when I pulled back, making me smile.

    “Why?!”

    “You’re getting cheekier. Gotta keep you on your toes.”

    “Shameless!”

    “Ow.”

    She headbutted my shoulder, hiding her face from the rest of the squad.

    I just sat there in victory, enjoying the rest of the ride to the battlefront.