Chapter 48.1

Luquis, the country that resides next to Lyngle Kingdom .

Inside this country, there exists a large magic academia . The structure itself is large enough to be mistaken for a castle . There was also someone who held the most authority and governed this academia . This person would be similar to something like a principal or a headmaster at a school . The students studying here developed their own systems of magic and even competed against each other as rivals .

From what Ark-san said, the students here not only studied magic but other subjects as well such as martial arts, sword techniques, and so on .

From what Welsey-san said, one could only graduate from here with excellent grades and the ones that do graduate become powerful mages .

From what Amako said, there was no shortage of discrimination against inferior lineages of magic that people were born with .

There weren’t a lot of factors to consider when characterizing one’s system of magic to be superior or inferior . The factors were the raw amount of magic power, its usefulness, and how much demand there was for it . You could make up for some shortcomings with your own effort to a certain extent but you couldn’t change the system of magic that you were born with no matter how hard you try .

“…At least that’s what I’ve heard…”

It was currently the night of the 6th day since we’ve departed .

As I was blankly staring at the lit campfire, I thought about our current destination, Luquis . Except for the guards that were keeping watch, everyone else had already turned in for the day . I really should be resting as well since we were scheduled to arrive at Luquis tomorrow . However, just thinking about our destination made me feel restless and I couldn’t fall asleep .

“Ark-san, you shouldn’t push yourself . ”

“No no, I rested plenty just a while ago . ”

Ark-san who was sitting in front of me gave a refreshing laugh as he replied . Since I couldn’t sleep before, I had gotten out of the carriage . I noticed Ark-san and had called out to him out of concern .

I already knew this but he really was a very polite and kind person with good manners . It may be due to the nature of his line of work as a knight but it was fairly easy to have a conversation with him . He was similar to a committee chairman at school .

“Ark-san, you…”

“Yes?”

“You’ve been to Luiquis, right?”

Senpai kept going on about Ark-san being a ‘main protagonist’ and saying incomprehensible things about ‘light novels’ . Of the nonsense Senpai spouted, she mentioned this matter . But Ark-san had displayed a somewhat awkward expression to my words .

Was it a topic that I shouldn’t get into?

“… . . Yeah . ”

“Sorry, was it something I shouldn’t have asked?”

“No, that’s not necessarily the case . ”

Ark-san panicked at my question and quickly denied it by crossing his arms . I could see how frantic he was just from how the sword on his hip swayed from side to side due to his sudden movements .

“I suspect that… You’ll know about it sooner or later at any rate . I should at least tell you about it myself . ”

“Is it related with what will happen tomorrow?”

“Yes . I’m guessing that you’ve already heard about the discrimination in Luquis with regards to the systems of magic from Amako, right?”

“… . Well . ”

Although I thought it was cruel, I also personally thought of it as someone else’s problem .

Kazuki and Inukami-senpai might get angry over this issue but I felt like it didn’t concern me .

“The discrimination against what type of magic system you possess… There’s also discrimination against non-humans . ”

Discrimination against non-humans? Wasn’t this something in every country and not just Luquis? At the very least, that’s what I’ve been told .

“Luquis is a gathering of people from various places and they all have their own objectives… Whether it’s to become a knight or to live a life in luxury, everyone studies hard to achieve their goals . It would take too long for me to explain everything so I will omit most of it . The main thing that I want to say is that the non-humans who choose to enter Luquis will be persecuted and have to prepare themselves to face that . ”

“Aren’t they aware of how dangerous it could be?”

“Yes, but that’s just how much value Luquis holds . ”

If it was my world, I guess it would be like a school with a gathering of the elite .

However, I just can’t see how valuable this was to others just from this conversation . Why would they go out of their way to undertake magic training? That’s just hell . I speak from personal experience… You get struck and beaten down . . if you get back up, you get beaten down again . . if you somehow manage to avoid a blow, you’ll be immediately kicked . I just can’t imagine why one would participate in this kind of training which required no thought; it was simply physical suffering .

Was it a school specifically for non-humans to get a beating?

“You’re showing an expression like you don’t understand . ”

“Well, yeah . I can’t comprehend it . ”

“Even if it’s filled with danger, there are things that they must accomplish . On the surface, Luquis prohibits the act of buying and selling non-humans but this is where students gather from all over the continent… Although there aren’t many people who discriminate against non-humans, there will always a group of people or individuals with extreme prejudice against non-humans . ”

While Ark-san directed a slightly troubled smile at me, he reached over to a stack of dry wood and tossed some more into the fire . The fire grew larger and brighter from the added fuel… The illumination was also enough for me to catch a glance of Ark-san’s faint but sorrowful expression .

“That academy is the best place to study magic, there’s no other place that would be considered more ideal . However, it is also the worst place to be for a small number of individuals . Honestly, I don’t like it over there . ”

“…I’m sorry . ”

“Ah, no! You didn’t do anything wrong, Usato-dono! I really wanted to helpful to you in some way and seriously thought about being your guard when I accepted the request . ”

Even so, I was still the person to make Ark-san accompany me to Luquis . He considered it the worst place to be; I couldn’t help but feel very sorry .

“I-incidentally, what kind of impression do you have of non-humans, Usato-dono?”

“My impression? Hm . ”

Different from humans? But that was obvious . Even so, the only non-humans I’ve met so far are Amako the beast girl and Felm the demon . Looking at just those two…

“I don’t really have any . ”

It may have been due to the bad influence over me since the average non-human didn’t seem all that monster-like or scary compared to Rose the demonic Leader . It feels like the Rescue Squad itself was a band of monsters… In fact, Felm treated them like goblins and ogres . But what was with Ark-san’s question? The person himself seemed to pause for a moment but then in the next moment, he gave an uncharacteristically loud laugh .

“Hahahahahaha!”

“E-eeh . . ?”

What was so funny? Ark-san tried to suppress his laughter . I don’t think I said anything odd . . it was just a simple and plain response with no other meaning behind it . Even so, Ark-san laughed uncontrollably .

“Don’t really have any, you say . It really is a statement that’s unique and something only you would say, Usato-dono . ”

“Only me you say…”

“Yes, it suits you . That’s probably why Amako was not worried about you… Someone like you who would treat humans and non-humans equally . ”

Meaning that the people of this world had a much different impression than me . . so much that they would burst into laughter, I guess? As expected of me, I wouldn’t fear non-humans from how much fantasy novels I’ve read about them .

To begin with, our common sense and impressions were different as we had come from a different world . Everything in this world already felt different after all . . whether it be non-humans or anything else . The people in this world accepted magic as it was something ordinary and naturally regarded non-humans as dreadful existences .

“Even if you say it’s very much like me to think so, I’m exactly a good person like you think . ”

“Usato-dono is a good person . You’re just not aware of it yourself . ”

“Don’t praise me so much, please . I might get conceited, you know?”

“Hahaha, it would be better for you be a little more conceited . ”

From just our recent exchange, Ark-san’s expression had gotten a lot softer . He even had a cheerful smile . Right now, Ark-san didn’t give off the courteous impression he gave when we first talked but rather it felt like he was being more open and honest .

Usato and Ark got on slightly better terms with each other .