Following the guiding light from the floating ship, we arrived before it in midair.Vwoong—.Passing through a space that felt like a barrier, the scenery around us changed in an instant.Before I knew it, we were inside the floating ship.The interior of the ship wasn’t all that different from other passenger vessels.White-painted walls and railings, a smooth wooden deck.Everything was finished with a classy touch, but the basic look wasn’t so different from any other ship’s interior.As I was looking around inside, an announcement came on.[You can use your student ID as a room key card, so please go to your assigned rooms, unpack your luggage, and check in. We are confirming head count through check-in, so please make sure to check in from your assigned room. Once again……]I repeated the number glowing on my student ID in my head.'A-17, huh…'After following the complex corridors, I reached Block A.Most students were put in 12-person rooms, but VIPs like me were assigned private rooms.I opened the door to my assigned room with my student ID.Whirr—.As the automatic door opened, a window greeted me with a clear view of the blue sea and clouds lying along the horizon.White and blue bedding and quilts.It had a distinctly exotic mood, like I’d arrived on a southern sea.'Nice.'There was also a simple desk and lamp for reading, plus a fridge and a monitor displaying a map of the ship’s interior.It wasn’t that big, but it had everything you’d need—like a hotel room.I set the bag I’d brought onto the desk and threw myself onto the bed.A soft mattress wrapped my body in a plush embrace.“Phew.”Letting out a deep breath, I lay there staring blankly up at the ceiling.It really felt like the first truly peaceful rest I’d had in a long time.Ever since I’d possessed Loen’s body, I’d been living days so busy I barely had time to blink.After spacing out on the bed for a while, I got back up and examined the map of the ship’s interior.Inside the floating ship were an opera theater, a luxury buffet, a swimming pool, a shopping mall, and all sorts of cultural facilities.You could call it a consideration for the students worn out from midterms and the Competition Battles.We’d be able to enjoy all the facilities inside the ship at our leisure during the few days it took to reach Full Moon Island.And on top of that, the destination of this ship was the famous resort of Full Moon Island.The student councils’ decision to include Full Moon Island as a summer camp candidate had been met with nothing but praise.When I finished unpacking and stepped outside, I heard the students chatting in low voices.“Damn, look at this place. The facilities are insane. The student council pulled this off?”“This is nuts, seriously. So we just chill on the ship, and then party again once we get to Full Moon Island?”“Of course we will. They say it’s a famous resort. Let’s get a tan and hit the water.”“Think we should try picking someone up while we’re at it? I heard the Saintea kids are crazy pretty.”“Idiot, with that face of yours?”They traded random talk as they painted rosy pictures of their future.Their joy wouldn’t last long, but I’d let them enjoy it for now.Still, hearing the students all excited and buzzing, I felt a bit of the same flutter as a school trip.As I wandered around, taking a look at the ship’s interior, I sensed someone approaching.Beatrice, Yulina, and Trishy.Seeing that combination, I could roughly guess their reason for coming over.I waved at them and greeted them cheerfully.“Long time no see. Ah, well, I guess it hasn’t been that long, actually.”“Loen, if you have time right now…”“You’re going to suggest going to the alchemy lounge on the ship, right?”Cutting in and skipping straight to the point, I watched Beatrice nod.“You’re quick on the uptake.”“Sure, let’s go together. You’ve seemed interested in the artifact I have anyway.”As I brushed my hand over the Azoth Sword at my waist, Beatrice spoke.“Yes. We determined that the abilities you showed in your match with Ciel originated from that Azoth Sword. If you don’t mind, Loen, let’s go to ‘Patek’ in the alchemy lounge and have them perform a detailed analysis, then review the results. I’ll pay for the analysis.”Beatrice wanted to know the detailed analysis results of my Azoth Sword.It wasn’t that she coveted the item.Pure intellectual curiosity, nothing more. She wanted to know who made it and exactly what abilities were embedded in it.The one who actually wanted this sword was the one next to her—Trishy’s eyes.I snorted as I looked at Trishy, staring at the golden sword at my waist with her eyes half rolled back.“What are you staring so hard for? Even if you want it, you’re not getting it.”“Th—That’s… I never said I wanted it.”Trishy wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth while denying her desire.At that moment, Yulina asked,“But hey, Loen, where’d you get that? It looks insanely rare.”Seeing my Azoth Sword, Yulina asked where I’d picked it up. It apparently never occurred to her that I might have made it.Softly stroking the sword, I answered calmly,“I made it.”“Huh?”“I crafted it myself. Took me about a month. It was a tough process.”“Oh, come on, don’t joke. How would you make something like that? Just looking at it, it screams heirloom relic handed down by a great house or royal family. Did your family get it for you? Must’ve cost a fortune.”“Tsk.”I’m telling you, I made it myself.Then again, even I hadn’t been able to believe it at the time I made it, so I couldn’t really blame Yulina for her reaction.The birth of this legendary Azoth Sword had been a complete fluke.Even now, I didn’t fully grasp all the history and abilities wrapped up in this sword, so it wouldn’t hurt to have it analyzed while we had the chance.After staring at the Azoth Sword at my waist for a good long while, Beatrice spoke.“Well, that’s fine. The truth will reveal itself once we have it analyzed.”***The shopping district of the ship’s mall section, which could have passed for a massive department store.The floating ship was essentially a passenger vessel, but at its core, it was a relic owned by the Magic Tower—an “Ark” from the Golden Age that had been remodeled.Naturally, inside it were lounges for each of the Empire’s seven Magic Towers.The place we were visiting now was the alchemy lounge in the mall section.In this alchemy lounge, you could purchase rare materials and artifacts available only from the Magic Towers, as well as receive various alchemy-related services.Walking through the lounge with Beatrice’s group, I thought,'I should stock up on items that are hard to get through the underworld.'They said there was nothing you couldn’t get in the underworld, but items exclusively handled by the Magic Towers were still hard to acquire.For example, spatial pocket pouches.I’d decided to buy one of those pocket pouches I’d always wanted here.'All spatial pocket pouches are artifacts handcrafted by tower mages.'On top of that, they were imbued with space-time magic, which was notoriously difficult to handle, so they were incredibly expensive.After wandering around the alchemy lounge for a while with the others, I suddenly headed for one particular shop.When I abruptly veered off, Beatrice asked,“Where are you going?”“There’s something I want to buy.”I stepped into a shop, selected a B-rank spatial pocket pouch, and handed it to the clerk.Total capacity: 500 liters.The perceived weight wouldn’t exceed one kilogram even when filled to the brim.On top of that, time flowed extremely slowly inside, so you could store perishable goods, and it even had partitioned storage functions.Very convenient—you could pull out exactly what you wanted, when you wanted it.Of course, the price matched that convenience.The clerk repeated the price {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} in a slightly worried tone.“It’s 1.5 billion krone at the duty-free price. Will that be all right?”“…….”Pricey, indeed.Considering my current assets, it was a big expenditure, but not a bad one.I could cover 1.5 billion easily just by selling a few of the dwarf-crafted gold bars.“Can I pay with a check?”Just as I was about to pay, Beatrice stopped me.“Loen, I’ll buy that for you.”“Hm?”“Thanks to the expedition we did together, I earned quite a bit of income as well. And you saved me several times. Think of it as a small token of gratitude.”Beatrice took a red card from her coat and handed it to the clerk.A card stamped with the Cassandra imperial family’s seal.Basically, the equivalent of a modern black card with no spending limit.The clerk accepted the card with both hands, looking deeply honored, and completed the payment.“Yes, the payment has gone through, Your Highness.”Then he carefully packed the spatial pocket pouch into a high-end shopping bag and handed it to me.Accepting it, I thanked Beatrice.“I’ll put it to good use.”With the bag in hand, I looked over at Trishy, who was practically glued to the display window, staring at the items.“Trishy, you’re not buying anything?”In response to my question, Trishy muttered with her forehead resting on the glass.“Need… need money to buy stuff.”“I gave you a lot of sponsorship funds, and you made quite a bit during the Sports Festival too, didn’t you?”She should have at least a few hundred million.Trishy slumped her shoulders and replied,“I used it all to pay off debt. And I bought supplies for the clubroom. I’ve only got a few hundred left.”“Hm.”True, even if she’d made some money recently, she’d had debt hanging over her all this time.Since we’d come all the way to the alchemy lounge, I decided to buy a few things for her as an act of generosity.“Well, while we’re here, pick out a few things. I’ll treat you this once.”“R—Really?”“Yeah. Thanks to Her Highness giving me a present, I’ve got some cash to spare.”Just like a chain of hatred sparks fresh conflict, goodwill also has a way of coming back around in the end.The way I protected Beatrice earlier had returned to me today, and someday this choice would probably benefit me too.Opportunities to buy magical tools in a tower-owned lounge didn’t come often. I’d take this chance to put Trishy in my debt.I added one note,“Of course, it’s not completely free. I’ll note it as a debt. Pay me back someday when you’ve made a lot of money.”“Hehe, don’t worry about a thing. Now, what should I get first~?”Grinning ear to ear, Trishy immediately started grabbing everything that caught her eye and tossing it into a shopping basket.By the end of the day, she owed me 1 billion krone.I’d hooked her good—there was nowhere for her to run now.***We finished our shopping in the stores near the alchemy lounge.After that, we headed to Patek, a specialist shop for artifact analysis and repair.“Welcome, Your Highness. And everyone. Welcome to Patek.”A handsome man in a white suit greeted us with a polite bow.“It’s been a while, Sir Dedolaire.”Dedolaire Paracelsus.A member of House Paracelsus, he possessed the trait [Interpretation], specialized in artifact analysis.You could call it the superior version of the system analysis I had—and the inferior version of Rije’s [Magic Eye of Replication].“This way, please.”Following Dedolaire’s lead, we headed to the VVIP room.A luxurious space cut off from the outside, where neither mana nor sound could leak out.Beatrice spoke first.“The reason I’ve come here today is to request an artifact analysis.”“Hehe, that is indeed the wish of many who visit this place. What sort of item would Your Highness like analyzed?”At his question, I drew the Azoth Sword from my waist and set it on the table.“This. I request an analysis of this sword.”“Oh? This is…?”Adjusting the gold frames of his glasses, Dedolaire continued,“An Azoth Sword, I see. You could say it’s the symbolic weapon of an alchemist. And it holds truly impressive mana. May I touch it?”“Feel free.”Dedolaire slipped on a pair of white gloves and carefully lifted the Azoth Sword from the table with both hands.His blue eyes gleamed behind his glasses as he examined the blade from every angle.“Oho… This beautiful form, the refined mana, and the Azoth alphabets bearing the power of the Five Elements. Its ‘history’ may not be long, but in terms of class, it’s worthy of being called a divine object. I would surmise that it was crafted by a once-in-a-century genius possessing talent on par with an archmage.”“Mhm, exactly.”Who do you think made it? Of course.Arms folded, I nodded with all the confidence in the world.“……?”Yulina and Beatrice both gave me puzzled looks, then turned their eyes back to Dedolaire.“These graceful golden curves and exquisitely engraved patterns show the touch of a master craftsman. And the magic circle inscribed within this Azoth Sword… there is tremendous power sleeping here. Just from a brief look, I already find myself curious about its maker.”That would be me.Gently setting the Azoth Sword back down, Dedolaire said,“For more detail, I’ll have to use my ability to ‘interpret’ it. It will take a little time—would you mind waiting for a while?”

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