Adolf (1)

Two thousand gold coins were already a lot to Angele since it could even completely fill a big, heavy bag. When he was still in the Rio Territory, he could buy plenty of things with that amount of money. But in Marua, he needed even more.

‘Aunt Maria was right,’ Angele thought. He read the course list once again. However, as he didn’t find anything useful to him, he could only scrunch his eyebrows. Only the words at the bottom caught his attention:

“The recommendation exam will be held by the end of September. Students who pass three of their courses will be qualified.”

“Pass three of them?” Angele muttered while re-reading over the selections he had.

“I’ll take sword skills, archery, and language then. I’m good at those. The chip will help me get through the language course easily.” Angele finally made his decision and put the sheet back into his pouch after.

People outside the room were still noisy. Angele could hear some of them laughing as they talked. He donned his favorite black hunting suit and checked the things he had brought. Angele put them aside before leaving the room. There were many students around, each forming their own groups. They were either gossiping about certain teachers or about some well-known students. Some were merely talking about the new jewelry and clothes that had just been imported into the city.

Angele walked across the hall, feeling alienated in the atmosphere around him.

‘This place is so peaceful. I guess I’ll need some time to get used to it. I fought too many battles back then at the plains.’ Angele thought. He didn’t plan on staying at this place for too long. After all, there was no point in interacting with the children of high-class nobles or merchants.

Angele walked out of the dorm and looked at the schedule that was pinned on the wall by his side. He took a note of the locations and timetables of the courses he wanted. He then walked straight toward the study area at the back. He could see that all the school buildings were indeed white. Angele headed into the most crowded area — the dining hall. He saw white bread, wine, fish soups, and pan-fried mussels there. He quickly finished his lunch and returned back to his room to get some rest.

The second morning, Angele woke up early. He changed his clothes and quickly finished washing his face and brushing his teeth. Many students hadn’t woken up yet, which was the reason why the dorm was eerily quiet. Angele walked around the hall and saw several students coming from up ahead. They didn’t wear luxurious suits, signifying that they most likely originated from small merchant families. It was likely that they were the most hardworking students in the school. Angele studied hard as well, but only a few nobles would try hard like him.

Angele walked out of the dorm. It was still a bit dark and the area was empty. He could barely see any people. The morning breeze blowing over him was still chilly, and chirping of birds could be heard.

‘My first class is Language, and it’s taught by Master Adolf. Location is at Building 19 Room 304,’ Angele stored the information in the chip earlier, so he quickly found the location after seeing the black mark on the building.

It was a three-story building located at the rear end of the school. There were only five rooms on each floor. Outside the building was a board standing there. The words written on it were Rudin and two other languages Angele couldn’t recognize. These words meant ‘Language’. These words were written in an art form, similar to that of Chinese calligraphy on Earth.

The building was surrounded by wooden fences and between them was an empty ground. A young girl sitting by a red wooden desk that had a label ‘Fee and Registration’ was yawning. Angele looked around, only to find that he seemed to be the only one around.

“You’re here for the Language course?” she asked while yawning. She who was dressed in red saw Angele standing outside the fences.

“Yea, can I register now?” Angele walked in and took out his high gold card.

“Yep, you’re a new student? You don’t know me?” she asked.

“I was just admitted yesterday,” Angele nodded honestly. He handed over his card to her, and the girl wrote down his card number and personal information. She also wrote ‘-20 gold coins’ beside it before returning the card to Angele.

“Haven’t seen formal students waking up so early in a while. I’m the daughter of your language teacher, Adolf Runsol. You can call me Sophia. You can go inside now, my father is already in the room,” the girl said as she looked at Angele.

Angele couldn’t find any chance to speak. It was likely that she didn’t want to talk to him too much. He nodded and walked into the small building.

The building was white, yet there was a hint of it being grayish. The stairs were located at the right-hand side of the building. By the end of the passage, there was a half-opened door with a label ‘304’ that indicated Room 304. Angele walked in and saw a white-haired old man reading a book. The old man heard the footsteps and looked over Angele’s direction. He didn’t say anything, only staring at Angele for a while.

‘A scholar with a specific daily routine, I suppose,’ Angele thought. He sat down in the front row, waiting for the course to begin. After half an hour, students started pouring in from outside, but they still looked drowsy. When there were about 13 students, the old man closed his book and stood up.

“I’m Adolf, invited by the school to teach Language. You may or may not know about me, but let’s just pretend we don’t know each other. I’ll earn some cash by teaching you while you kids pay to stay in this class. That’s it. Any questions?” the old man said, his tone serious and stubborn.

“We know Master Adolf’s rule. Please start the class,” one of the girls sitting in the front row said. Her skin seemed a bit too pale white for a human being.

“Well, let’s get started,” Adolf went straight to the point, not wasting any time.

“I’ll be teaching the universal language from one of Andes’s neighbors, Polen Empire. I’ll also be teaching the language of Holy Anmag Empire. Especially the second one, it’s very useful and important. We use it in many different areas such as Marua, the capital, and many more cities,” Adolf said.

‘Zero, analyze all language-related information,’ Angele ordered while looking at Adolf.

‘Mission established. Analysis beginning…’ Zero said. There were only about 10 students there, but Adolf was treating his job seriously. He talked about the basic structure of the two languages and the history of their developments. He also taught about the basic components of the words. Angele felt as if the time in the two classes flowed very quickly.

“Two days later, I have an applied course. To attend or not is your choice,” Adolf said in a serious tone before leaving the room with books in his hand.

After Language, Angele attended the sword skills and archery courses. The two courses had everything Angele expected. The content was way too easy for him, but it was a chance for him to practice. He attended a class once, but then realized there was no point for him to attend again. The teachings were less useful compared to the ones he had found in the castle. The skills they taught weren’t practical. They looked cool, but it wouldn’t help Angele survive in a real battle. The sword skills of his father and Knight Audis were much better than the ones taught here.

‘Well, at least the teachers are knights. However, they’re just average.’ Angele knew knights were still elites here. They were ones that students couldn’t meet all day. With the help of the chip, Angele found the strongest person in this school. He was dumbfounded because the strongest was a teacher who had about the level of a mid-knight. There were not even many post knights here. Barely any people had experiences in actual combat. Most students were akin to flowers in a greenhouse living happy lives. They liked funny stories, fashion, and beautiful sword dances, but they were not interested in participating in a real war.

‘This is the place rich kids want. Pay for some certificates and make themselves look better. No wonder why money is the only thing I needed to get admitted here,’ Angele concluded. In the next ten days, Angele didn’t do anything other than studying, eating, and sleeping. He had already mastered the two languages Adolf had taught. It took 6 classes for him to achieve this, and it cost him 60 gold coins. He was well-behaved in class and could answer the questions asked by the teacher. Adolf thought he was pretty good and smart.

“That’s it for today. Come to my desk if you have any questions,” Adolf said. Only 6 students were still inside the classroom. Angele was at the front row where he sat quietly. He was considered as the most hardworking student in the class. He raised his hand after hearing the words Adolf said.

“Master, I got a question. I wonder if you could teach me some other language besides those two?” Angele asked. He knew Adolf had mastered more than ten languages. He was, after all, the most renowned polyglot in Marua. People highly respected him in the academic world.

“Other languages? Angele, were the two I taught not enough for you?” Adolf said while scrunching his eyebrows.

“Well…” Angele was about to continue speaking, but several other students started asking questions. Adolf was instantly surrounded by several students. They just kept asking basic questions. Obviously, they were fawning on Adolf. Angele shook his head, only sitting there as he waited for them to finish.

Adolf’s patience was running out, but he finished conversing with the students nonetheless. He saw Angele still waiting inside the classroom.

“What else do you want to know, Angele?” Adolf felt goodwill toward Angele, so he remembered his name.

“You haven’t mastered the two languages I taught, yet. Don’t be greedy,” he continued.

“Master, may I ask what the language requirement is for the Andes Alliance School?” Angele asked after he stood up.

“Language requirement? You want to get into the alliance school? What do you want to do there? That’s just a place for people who are wealthier than most,” Adolf said while staring at Angele.

‘Warning! Warning! Target is using an unknown magnetic field to scan your mind.’ Zero suddenly warned before Angele could answer.