Chapter 47: College Preparation

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

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One day in March…

After Lush recovered and returned home, Ashera began going back to her house before dinner. Naturally, as her fiancé, I always escorted her to ensure no bad elements caught up with her on the way.

On that particular day, as I prepared to accompany Ashera as usual, Marl suddenly spoke up.

“Since you two are engaged, wouldn’t it be natural to hold hands while walking back home?”

I froze at the unexpected suggestion, but when I glanced at Ashera, I noticed a strangely expectant glimmer in her eyes…

“I-I’m sorry. I just thought about it suddenly. Please forget it. I apologize.”

Marl apologized, seemingly realizing that it might have been an intrusive remark.

“N-No, it’s okay. I mean, holding hands isn’t a big deal or anything.”

Feeling flustered, I took Ashera’s hand. It felt soft… I couldn’t help but wonder how such a hand could deliver such deadly thrusts… That was the first thought that popped into my mind.

She glanced at my face briefly but quickly looked down.

(Is she capable of reading my thoughts with her magic eye?)

Despite my suspicion, I held Ashera’s hand and walked through the mansion. The maids smiled warmly at the sight, passing by us.

When we reached the entrance, I asked Ashera.

“Are you okay with this in the town?”

“I don’t mind…”

Seriously? Even in the town, we were going to walk hand in hand…

Seeing Ashera looking at me with anticipation, I had no choice but to brace myself for what lay ahead.

Walking the familiar path to Ashera’s house, I noticed our escort following behind us. Today it was Garl, but he seemed a bit queasy.

As we held hands, the people passing by in the streets smiled affectionately at us. However, I noticed an occasional girl who gave us a bitter look.

“Aldo, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, got a glare from a girl?”

“Good…”

Ashera murmured something quietly.

“Did you say something?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Aldo, just keep looking ahead.”

We continued chatting casually as we walked towards Ashera’s house. The only difference from usual was that we were holding hands.

Finally arriving at Ashera’s house, she opened the door and greeted her mother.

“I’m home, Mom.”

“Welcome back, Ashera.”

Clearly excited, Ashera seemed very happy, perhaps because she hadn’t had someone to greet her upon returning home before.

“Aldo, thank you for everything every day.”

“No, I’ll be leaving for the capital in two weeks…”

“I’ll miss you.”

“It’s just three years. I’ll be back during long vacations.”

“Yeah, Ashera needs to polish herself in these three years, or Aldo might be swayed by other women.”

“I wouldn’t…!”

“I trust Aldo… to come back to me…”

“Ara ara.”

And so, after the customary exchange that had become a recent routine, I bid farewell at Ashera’s house. On the way back, I decided to strike up a conversation with Garl.

“Do I have unfinished business here?”

“Unfinished business, huh…”

“I have a feeling there might be something…”

“If you feel that way, there probably is.”

“What did I leave undone?”

“How should I know about that!”

“Garl, you’re no help.”

“Eh? Come to think of it, didn’t you mention something about teleportation?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Is this something different?”

“Short-range teleportation… if only there were some clues or leads.”

“I’m terrible at magic, but is it that difficult?”

“Well, it can be. If I had some kind of starting point, there might be progress.”

“What about historical records? I’m not into books, but I guess you are, Aldo.”

“Documents… magical books! I didn’t understand them before, but now I might…”

“Oh, have you figured something out?”

“When I get back, I’ll read through the magical books. Thanks, Garl.”

“I don’t really get it, but sure.”

Walking back together with Garl into the sunset, we arrived straight back at the mansion.

Upon reaching the estate, even before dinner, I headed straight to the library.

I took a magical book from the shelf and quickly skimmed through it.

Reading it now, after having gained the ability to use magic, I found lots of useful information. Tips on manipulating magical energy, visualizing fire creation… clearly, this would be meaningless if one couldn’t use magic.

As I progressed through the book, I stumbled upon a section about teleportation. It seemed that there was indeed a form of teleportation magic in the past.

It mentioned apostles who used this magic, instantly moving across various parts of the world. However, disappointingly, the specific method wasn’t detailed.

Well, just knowing that teleportation magic existed was a significant discovery.

I decided to ask my mother about it during dinner.

Dinner—-

“Mother, I have something I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“What are apostles?”

“”!!””

As soon as I asked about apostles, both my father and mother stood up. What’s going on? Did I ask something bad?

“Al, who did you hear that from?”

“It was written in a magical book…”

“A magical book? Where?”

I fetched the magical book and showed the section about teleportation.

“I was researching teleportation magic and found something about apostles using it. I was wondering what apostles are…”

“I see…”

Mother and father took their seats back, looking quite unsettled.

“Apostles…”

Father, looking concerned, began explaining.

“Can I tell you what I’ve heard?”

“Joshua!”

“Rafi, I only know the general information…”

“…”

He glanced at me as if to ask, “Is it okay?”

“As long as it’s within what you know.”

“Got it. But even then, I don’t know much.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. There were people known as apostles in ancient times. They were given roles by spirits.”

“…”

“They purified the miasma of the demonic realm and expanded the human realm.”

“Demonic realm?”

“I don’t know.”

“Miasma?”

“I don’t know.”

“Human realm?”

“I don’t know. That’s about all I know.”

“I see…”

“There was an extraordinary person in the past who probably used teleportation.”

“So, teleportation is a distant possibility.”

“There might be other things. You’re free to explore the books in the library.”

“Thank you!”

In the end, the discussion about apostles concluded there.

During my stay at home, I intend to read through the books in the library to see what’s there. I plan to ask El, Ashera, and Marle to join me, as it seems too overwhelming to do alone.

On another day, I overheard a conversation between Ashera and Marl. It seems that many girls intended to speak to me when Ashera and I were leaving. To counteract this, they suggested that Ashera and I hold hands. It appears that even in this other world, girls forming alliances isn’t much different.