"Dammit! I''m also a member of aristocrats, for god''s sake! Why do I have to do something ridiculous like that?"


    On the way to the quest of moving stuff, Cliff swore and kicked the ground.


    One nightter, Cliff still hadn''t said a word about what had happenedst night. That was also the case for Mia. The reason must be that they hadn''t yet grasped the situationpletely.


    It was surprising that there were other people who could use teleportation to Straheim other than Shirabe-sensei. However, what troubled Mia the most was why An and Ronald showed their unconcealed hostility toward her. Both were angry, at least when Mia fell from ss S to ss G. With their personalities, they should have encouraged Mia, who usually had no choice. She hadn''t expected them to be hostile.


    "If you''re dissatisfied, why don''t you just quit this ss G? No one is going to stop you!" Pluto shouted at Cliff.


    "I helped you move! Are you really defending this charade at such an important time!?"


    "Beat me. It''s annoying. But that person''s ss is clearly different from the others. First of all, have others taught you continuous magic until now?"


    "........" Cliff gritted his teeth silently.


    Cliff was also a student of this Magic Knight Academy. He was aware of the constant abnormalities of this ss.


    "Indeed, the continuous [Body Strengthening] magic isn''t written in any books of Magic Knight Academy."


    Today''s ss was about [Body Strengthening] magic and sensing the way to continuous magic while maintaining a fixed condition. More specifically, how to continue [Body Strengthening] with a single magic chant.


    Of course, Mia herself was good at this magic, so it was possible to use it for a long time. Since a while ago, she was confident that she was thoroughly familiar with it. However, she had never heard of a way to continue the [Body Strengthening] magic.


    That was right. It was general knowledge that the duration of [Body Strengthening] depended on the magic power of the said person. It was the reason Mia was so good at this magic.


    Because Mia''s mana reserve was iparably higher than ordinary people, she could use this magic for a longer duration.


    However, in today''s ss, Shirabe-sensei had easily overturned thismon sense of Mia and the other students.


    It was possible to maintain this magic easily just by adding "Mana Utilisation 1, Effect Continue" to a certain position in the rune phrase of [Body Strengthening].


    Even if you just added it, you still had to perform precise mana maniption when chanting, like "Mana 2, Utilisation 3, Effect 5, Continue 4," and the activation itself was extremely difficult.


    In any case, the effect of this magic would be maintained until you invoked the chant of "Release."


    "Isn''t that it? It looks like we''ve arrived!"


    Mia and the others'' thoughts were quickly interrupted by Teresa''s lively voice, as if she was on an outing. She was pointing at an old two-story brick building.


    It was already in shambles and considerably decrepit.


    When they rang the bell, an elderly, kind-looking woman came out.


    "I heard from the Guild. You are the neer Adventurers who are going to help us today, right?" she asked.


    "We are—"


    "That''s right. Here''s the quest eptance form. Please sign underneath when we''vepleted it."


    Interrupting Cliff, who was about to argue, Pluto handed out the quest eptance form.


    "Yes, yes, thank you for your help. When you''ve done, I''ll have some of Straheim''s favourite snacks ready for you."


    After receiving the form and winking, thedy beckoned them to enter the mansion.


    Thus, the first quest of Mia and other students had begun.


    "Eight-chan, are you done?"


    Teresa carried the wooden bed as if it was a stuffed toy, looked back over her shoulder, and asked Eight.


    "Uh, yeah, somehow..."


    With beads of sweat sticking to his forehead, Eight gave a firm nod while lifting a cab. The cab was rtively big. Of course, it was impossible to lift it up with normal human beings'' physical strength. What Eight was doing right now was using the magic of [Body Strengthening] that he''d been taught just the other day. Surprisingly, Eight was able to invoke this magic in just one day.


    It was true that he''d practiced all night with the magic bag given to them by Sensei, but the world of magic was not so easy that a person who had never touched magic could easily activate it. Even Sensei had also looked surprised, so it seemed that Eight might be a "genius" in magic.


    Apparently, for Eight, today''s lesson about "Mana Utilization 1, Effect Continue" was rtively tough, as he wasn''t able to chant it properly yet. He seemed to be taking the method of piling on again as soon as the effect was about to expire.


    "Think about it again. That mana maniption training using the magic bag is really quite important, isn''t it?" Pluto, who suddenly turned up next to Mia, muttered to himself.


    "I think so too."


    Mia had the same opinion. Of course, the improvement of basic magic like [Fireball] was possible with enough training. However, in Eight''s case this time, even though he learned new runes, if he couldn''t handle subtle mana maniption, he wouldn''t be able to create any effects. Because of this, it certainly didn''t matter how much you learned about magic alone. Perhaps the shortness of Shirabe-sensei''s magic lessons was an indication of it.


    "You guys are really amazing!"


    The owner of the mansion, a well-built gentleman, gave his words of admiration at Mia and her friends.


    "This is thest, uncle!"


    Pluto reported in an unusually cheerful tone of voice as he ced the designated table in the newly-built living room.


    "Thank you for your hard work. Once everything isplete, let''s have some tea!"


    "Oh."


    "Um!"


    "Yes!"


    "Yeah!"


    "Thank you very much!"


    After everyone nodded with their respectively different reaction, Mia and the others started their final job.


    "It''s delicious!"


    "Yeah, I feel like my cheeks are going to melt."


    The sweets were served on a table in the living room of therge mansion, and Mia enthusiastically popped one into her mouth.


    The yellow fluffy dough was filled with honey and yellow liquid. When she put a piece cut by thedy in her mouth, a sugary sweet taste filled her mouth.


    "I know, I know. After all, this is the popr product of [Mont nc], a confectionery shop in Straheim. It''s called a pancake."


    Pancake, huh. It was the first time she heard the name of this sweet.


    While everyone''s face eased in happiness, only Eight stared at the sweet with a mysterious face without saying a word.


    "Pancake...."


    "What''s the matter? Don''t you want to eat it?"


    The owner of the mansion asked worriedly as he looked at Eight''s face.


    "If you aren''t going to eat it, then I will eat it for you." Pluto, who was sitting next to Eight, muttered that as he swiftly moved his fork.


    "I-I will eat!!" Eight hurriedly put the pancake in his mouth. And then, just mumbling to himself as he chewed, Eight began to eat the pancake.


    "It''s... delicious."


    "It''s Shirabe-sensei who''s managing [Mont nc], right?"


    When the te of pancakes was empty, Eight asked the owner of the mansion with a mysterious look on his face, as if he was dealing with his fate.


    "What are you talking about?" Cliff shrugged his shoulders, trying to deny the fact. "No matter how much senseless that person is, even if the professor of Magic Knight Academy is a merchant—"


    "That''s right. Mr Sagami Shirabe of Sagami Co. is the owner of the sweet shop, [Mont nc]," the owner of the mansion affirmed matter-of-factly.


    "........"


    In contrast to Mia and the others, who were speechless, Eight nodded several times in agreement.


    "I see. As expected, that person is..."


    "Shirabe-sensei made this sweet? Although I know he isn''t an ordinary person, he really is like a jack of all trades."


    "What, by Sensei you mean, you guys are his students?"


    "Oh, do you know about Sensei, Old Man?"


    "You are being rude, Pluto!" Cliff chided.


    "S-sorry," Pluto''s shoulders hung down.


    "Of course. Or rather, there isn''t any Straheim merchant who doesn''t know about him. He''s an influential person who moves the world''s economy, after all."


    "......."


    When no one opened their mouths inside the room, the owner of the mansion began to exin about Sensei.


    "He not only invented [Hand Pump], [Wristwatch], and [ss], but he also even has his own armed forces. Moreover, he was also awarded a royal title for his remarkable achievement during the Undead event a few months ago."


    Most of it must have been an exaggeration. It was really hard to believe it was the same person.


    "This is also one of the drinks developed by the Sagami Co."


    As Mia and the others were dumbfounded, thedy held out a cup filled with a ck drink.


    They tried to drink the ck fluid but couldn''t help taking their mouths away from the cup.


    "Haha! It''s a little bit too bitter for kids, but it''s addictive."


    "No, I understand," Eight sipped it and replied sincerely.


    "It''s your guys'' luck that he is your teacher. Keep that in mind."


    "Hey, hey. Don''t talk about such serious things with young people."


    "That''s right. Oh man, am I not getting older?" the owner scratched his head grumpily.


    "There''s still a lot. Bon appetit."


    Thedy brought another te of pancakes from the back of the house and ced it on the table. Mia and the others resumed eating.