“Why, certainly, Your Royal Highness. Since someone of your vaunted status is willing to act as the guarantor, we would be all too happy to allow your friend access to the libraries,” said the academy’s Headmaster from behind his desk. The way the old scholar looked in his robes reminded Alissa of some popular stereotypical looks for old wizards in her previous world, though unlike most there, the Headmaster was completely bald, wore his beard and mustache neatly trimmed, and had no pointy, wide-brimmed hat.
They went to the Academy before noon on their second day in town, since they slept in during the morning and had a late breakfast in the inn first. The rest was something the three of them needed greatly, and it helped them feel more refreshed to rest in proper beds while getting hot, freshly made meals instead of bedrolls on the ground and army rations.
Alissa had also promised to tag along with Nadine and Maribel for the rest of the day, in exchange for Nadine helping vouch for her to the academy. Since they were keeping Alissa’s identity as a [Hero] a secret, they could not use it to gain entry, so instead Nadine would act as her guarantor. An easy enough thing given her status as the Fifth Royal Princess of the Kingdom.
Sure enough, they were granted entry to the academy without a fuss, one of the instructors personally guiding them through the complex while giving them a tour, as the Headmaster was still busy at the time. Alissa had no idea whether some sort of skill was used to notify the instructor when the Headmaster was ready to see them or it was just some good time management on their part, but right after the tour ended, they were brought to the Headmaster’s office and welcomed moments later.
The academy’s Headmaster himself was one of the highest leveled persons Alissa had ever seen so far, at the eighteenth level of his fourth tier, with many high rarity classes to boot. That said, his classes were obviously ones that emphasized organization and pursuit of knowledge, rather than power of any sort. As such, the man himself was rather frail with age, and likely wouldn’t give much of a challenge even to a second-tier soldier or the like.
In fact, practically none of the people in the academy – other than the guards – had anything resembling a combat class at all. It was indeed a facility dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, instead of the typical fantasy tropes of having such places also teach magic or fighting skills as well. In some ways, it was both disappointing and refreshing to see.
“I would like to impress upon the young lady that you may only read the books within the library itself, and may not take them out of the premises, is that understood?” continued the Headmaster, to which Alissa nodded firmly. “Naturally, we would request that you remain quiet while in the library’s premises, so as to avoid disturbing others who are perusing the facilities there. Should you wish to take notes, you may do so. You can either bring your own writing implements, or the librarian could provide you with some for a reasonable price.”
“Other than that, you are free to use the library as long as the academy grounds are still open. While we do have staff members who live here in the academy itself, the librarian only works until the ninth bell at night, so please vacate the premises by then at the latest,” added the Headmaster in a tone not unlike a teacher that was lecturing his students. “Oh, right, you will also need someone from our staff to accompany you when you enter or leave the premises, as we have wards set up to detect unauthorized people. It would be annoying if the ward triggers because you entered or left on your own.”
“Understood, Sir. I’ll keep that in mind,” Alissa said with a nod.
“Good. You can get yourself a token of permit from Professor Ageli, he was the one that showed you around. He should be waiting for you outside,” noted the Headmaster. He did not say it out loud, but Alissa and Nadine understood it as a silent dismissal since they had finished what they came there for. Perhaps the Headmaster didn’t dare dismiss them due to Nadine’s status, but that was not something Alissa wanted to dwell on.
Sure enough, the instructor that showed them around the academy was seated outside the office, waiting for them, and brought Alissa to where a clerk processed her temporary entry permit. Unlike the tokens used by the students and staff, the permit was just a sign that she was allowed entry to the academy grounds and library, but she would still need someone else to bring her inside without triggering the wards around the academy building.
Alissa didn’t know whether that was because there was a limited amount of tokens that were keyed to the ward and thus the academy reserved them for those who would need it more often for longer periods of time, or if they just did it out of principle.
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They definitely took pride in the ward set up around the academy building, which was supposedly done by one of the greatest mages in the Kingdom’s history many generations ago. Such wards were rare, though the Royal Castle and the main temple complex in the capital had similar wards as well, which were much older, even.
Of course, Alissa had a token to identify herself with back there as a summoned [Hero].
After they were led out of the academy, it was still close to noon, so she allowed Nadine to take the lead. While Alissa wanted to check the older books and see if they had any possible hints to her suspicions, she had to admit that she did need some time to rest and relax as well. As such, going around the city with friends she made in this new world ought to help with that.
They did save themselves nearly a full day of time by traveling on their own to Clearridge after all. The caravan of wagons that brought the soldiers whose turn it was to take a break along with them only arrived in the city shortly after they woke up. If they traveled on their own on the way back to the fort, they would be able to save themselves another day’s worth of time in the city.
Nadine first brought Alissa to a theater in the city that performs plays for the public from noon to nightfall. There were multiple showings a day, and they were on time to catch the first showing of the day after they left the academy. The play itself was a typical romance story that reminded Alissa of a soap opera – it might well be one, if it was written by a previous [Hero], she thought – and focused on the tale of a couple of star-crossed lovers.
As if whoever wrote the play wanted to make the story as typical as possible, the man was from a rich noble family, while the woman was of low status, the stepchild of a vicious old hag who favored her own daughters over the actress playing the lead. Alissa thought it looked rather like some old fairy tales combined with some more modern stories in execution, which reinforced her guess that it was probably written by a fellow otherworldler.
Naturally, the male lead character encountered the female lead coincidentally and fell madly in love with her, yet the two could not be together due to opposition from the male lead’s family. The female lead’s stepmother on the other hand, was all too happy to pawn off the female lead to a brothel on the bequest of the male lead’s family.
Apparently, however, the male lead somehow caught wind of the plot and rushed to the brothel right as the place’s customers were in the middle of bidding, as the female lead’s first night was being auctioned. He naturally won the auction with an exorbitant sum of money and eloped with the female lead that same night, supposedly living happily ever after with her.
Maribel told Alissa that there was actually another version of the tale, but that one ended with the couple committing suicide together as they were unable to make ends meet after they eloped. That version was far less popular, though, which was why the version with the happy ending was the one that was shown more often than not.
Even so, supposedly the tragic end was the original one. Maribel heard of it from an older maid when she was still younger and training to be Nadine’s lady in waiting. Of course, that was all before Nadine chose to join the Royal Guards and took Maribel along with her.
They had a hearty late lunch after the show, enjoying more of the town’s cuisine along the way. Alissa found herself quite enamored with the way the locals prepared their roasted pork, which was roasted whole over a slow fire from the early morning, slowly cooked to perfection over time to ensure that the meat was as tender as it could be.
The insides of the pig’s cavity was rubbed with spices which had seeped into the meat during the long cooking process, while the skin on the outside had turned into a crisp, shattery layer that also helped contain the pork’s meat juices within itself. Despite the light seasoning, the natural flavor of the rather gamey meat made it an excellent dish in itself.
Something Alissa could say was one of the best things she had eaten since coming to Ephemera.
Of course, the locals had to offer them some stuffed chili peppers as well. Since the peppers were given a strong sear on the outside, neither Nadine nor Maribel realized what it was and bit into them before their mouths gaped open from the spiciness. The seared peppers were stuffed with a mixture of minced meat and what seemed to be some local cheese, and Alissa quite enjoyed them, though the same could not necessarily be said about her companions.
They spent most of the rest of the afternoon touring some art galleries in the city’s northern district. The art scene in Ephemera was not an obvious thing for Alissa back in the Royal Capital, as she rarely left the Royal Castle, but in Clearridge, at least, there were art galleries which showcased paintings, sculptures, and even poems done in beautiful calligraphy.
Some of them were pretty impressive, some sculptures were lifelike in their detail, though what Alissa found odd was how the locals loved to paint their statues in all sorts of garish color, which felt like a clash with their lifelike portrayal to her. Similarly, the style of painting that was popular amongst painters in Ephemera was very much high on the realism when it comes to the detail, yet they also portray things in unusual colors all over the place, which gives the paintings a strong sense of dissonance.
The poems and calligraphy was at least more normal, though the locals also enjoyed using colored inks for their work. At least it was simpler and not as garish as the rest to Alissa’s sensibilities, so she could appreciate them more compared to the sculptures and the paintings.
They went sightseeing in multiple such places until the sun had set at which point they returned to their inn for another hearty dinner before they tucked themselves in bed early so as not to oversleep too much the next day. Alissa planned to browse the academy’s library for older texts that might have more of the sort of information she was looking for, while Nadine and Maribel would go out and enjoy themselves some more in the city.
Alissa woke up the next day as the roosters crowed, and stretched herself a bit before she washed her face and went down to the main floor for breakfast. After she finished her meal, she said her goodbyes to Nadine and Maribel and took off towards the academy.