C07- Moving to the Capital

Corvin and Noah were on their way to the capital. Currently, they were watching the outside and talking about trivial stuff.

"Hey, Noah."

"Hm?"

"Why do you think monsters appear?"

He was almost as strong as an experienced knight who didn't use magic when he used his magic to his limits, which is pretty strong for a 15 year old child. And this question was something that bothered Corvin ever since he first went to watch monster hunts with Felyp during training. 

Monsters weren't normal predator animals. They didn't have blood, reproductive organs or a proper digestive track. They used more magic than normal animals and they only used it for combat, unlike animals. Most look like weird versions of animals, and some look like a mixture of two or more. Rarely, some monsters also appear as morphed humanoid shapes made from inanimate objects, like rocks.

Monsters don't reproduce, they pop into existence in places far away from humans. No one knows the exact situation that causes their appearance yet. And they also disappear just like how they appear. If a monster is stuck somewhere and no humans are reachable for it, after some time it will disappear. And if a monster is killed, most of it's corpse start to disintegrate after generally 3-4 hours, but this number changes depending on the monster. Only if a part of a monster is severed before it dies or is severed from the corpse before any signs of disintegrating shows on the part, that part sometimes doesn't disappear. And these parts are used as decorations or material, usually fur or leather that is used for clothes and armour. But these seemingly generic materials are especially useful at the hands of someone who can use chemical magic or magical craftsmanship.

"I don't know man. They just appear out of nowhere and hurt people for no reason. They don't even need food to survive. They torment people for no reason, kinda like nobles don't you think?", said Noah inattentively while looking out of the window.

"-Ack!"

Corvin looked at Noah with a shocked expression.

"Y-you know Corvin-"

"You know what you just said can get you executed right?"

"No no no, listen now that's not what I wa-"

"Well, I also think the idea of nobility is weird."

"Eh? What did you say?", this time, it was Noah who was surprised.

"You know, why would someone's family make them an important person? What is the difference between my 3 months old sister and the three months old kid of the royal family?"

"What you said is even more punishable by death you know?"

"Well, you wouldn't send me to the gallows, would you?"

"Huh, I don't know actually, should I?"

Noah looked at him with anger and pride. Corvin felt himself get smaller and unimportant as he looked at Noah.

"E-eh?"

"Well I am a noble you know? The son of a margrave at that. You just disrespected me, so I should punish you, no?"

"Wh-what are you saying Noah? A-aren't we friends?"

Noah stared at Corvin for some time. Corvin couldn't say anything and could only look back.

Gulp

"Puhahaha!! Corvin you really are an idiot aren't you?"

"Wha-? Are we just going to repeatedly ask eachother that our whole life?"

"Then why did you think I was serious after I compared nobles to monsters? Hahaha!"

"I don't know okay? You looked so serious."

'His talent for art includes acting too, definitely.', thought Corvin.

"Well, I am serious of course, that's why."

"Huh?"

"Ah no, I am serious about nobles being like that."

Then Noah looked at Corvin solemnly.

"Corvin, what would you do if I told you I want to bring an end to empires?"

'Oh, this guy is more ambitious than I thought.'

Corvin thought for a while. The place he saw in his dreams came to his mind. A world where everyone was richer than commoners of this world.

"I would help you, probably. I also want to change the world. But you really have a giant ambition to waste your life chasing. You really are an idiot aren't you?"

"Says the guy who wants to 'change the world'. So unoriginal. And isn't your dream harder than mine?"

"Haha, of course it is! I am way stronger than you after all."

"Ha? Okay, peasant. Good luck changing the world from your wooden shack."

"Hah?"

"Who thaught you how to fight?"

"Ugh!"

"Who was going to die to a bunch of eyeballs if it weren't for my help?"

"Okay! I get it, okay? Thank you. Are you done now?"

"Well, let's stop being dumb for a minute and talk."

"I think that's impossible with you around..."

"What did you say?"

"No-nothing. Cough, anyways. What do you want to talk about?"

"I plan to find noble kids who would help us, I want you to find important commoners who would help us."

"And, did you think about what will happen at the final step? You know you have to sacrifice lives at some point don't you? Can you order people to die for your ideals?"

"Ugh... I know.", said Noah. His face became just a little bit whiter, but Corvin didn't notice this.

"So, because of that, I think we should start off from improving people's lives first. So, money, we need money. And to change the world, we will need more money than the margravate could ever make."

"W-we will figure that out later okay? First step is education!"

"Right. We do have a lot of time to work on our dreams.", said Corvin, once again turning towards the window of the carriage to watch the outside flow in front of him.

'Hmmm...'

Suddenly an idea came to his mind. He remembered what Ton said about vector magic. He closed his eyes to concentrate and imagine their carriage as an arrow. He tried to make it go faster, but he couldn't change anything before going out of breath.

Haa~ Haa~

"Hm? Why are you so out of breath suddenly?"

"Huh? Oh, nevermind me, I just tried something."

"Did it work?"

"Nah."

"What did you even try to do?

"Make the carriage go faster."

"How?"

"I thought maybe if I could think of the carriage as an arrow, I could make it go faster..."

"Why woudn't you just push the carriage from the back?"

"Ah! Why didn't I think of that?"

"You really are an idiot aren't you?"

*****

"Finally, we are here!"

"Took long enough!"

Noah and Corvin arrived at the Institute's front gate.

"Let's get inside."

They walked inside the gate and walked towards the closest building.

"You would expect something more eye catching when you think of the Empire's number one school, wouldn't you?"

"Well.... It is efficient of space and low on costs. Exactly what I would expect from buildings designed by nerds for the nerds they are raising."

Most buildings of the school were fairly normal. Too normal in fact, as they were almost just boxes with roofes on top of them, except for the exceptions like the art building or the student workshops.

After getting their keys from the reception, the two walked towards their dorms. Because Corvin enrolled as Noah's guard, his room was close to Noah's. 

"The dorms are nice though! There is the Ghetam Lake nearby, and every room is like a small house on it's own since they don't even share a wall with eachother."

"Yeah, well that is normal since most students are noble kids."

"Now, now. Just enjoy this luxury for now Noah. Our dream doesn't change just because of this right?"

"Sigh, Okay I will do that for now."

"Let's walk around the lake and take a breath of fresh air. I need to stretch my legs."

"Fine."

-15 minutes later-

"Noah."

"Hm?"

"We can't talk when so many people come to greet us you know?"

"Yeah. What can we do though? I am the son of the margrave, and my dad also bragged about his 'super talented disciple' a lot."

"Then why do I feel like some people hate us? All the hostile gazes come from guys as well."

"Well... Probably because we both are good looking, that would be my guess. Are you going to play with girls the first thing here?"

"Huh? No way. I already- ah-"

Noah gave him a shit eating grin and opened his mouth.

"Heeeh? You already what? You already found someone? How did you do that when we were together the whole time since we came here? Are you sure you don't have playboy magic instead of vectors?"

"Magic like that doesn't even exist, idiot. Uuhh... I also don't know what I was trying to say. I may be too tired. Let's head back, the sun is setting too."

'I can't believe I almost said I think I love someone from my dreams. He really won't shut up if I do. Need to be more careful.', thought Corvin as he went to his dorm and laid down.

*****

SAM was watching Corvin go back to his dorm. This time, he wasn't using a monster's enhanced senses to search for him, and was there himself.

"Well well well. He is finally going to school. So let's send some sparks that might light this world on fire shall we?", he said to himself as he teleported.

He was now inside another student's dorm. He took out some papers and hid them in a way they would be noticed sometime later.

Then he teleported to anoter kingdom to the north of Altus. He went to a village and walked in the streets. He caught a rat and patted it's head.

"This will do.", he said while smiling.

His hand glowed yellow for a second while petting the rat. He put the rat back on the ground and the animal ran away.

Then he disappeared again.