“Would you like to explain the recent expenditure?”

Umara heard her mother’s voice over the Aerial. It was a good thing she didn’t decide to stay the night at John’s place.

She sat up in her bed, looking out the window and seeing the moon hanging over the city.

“It was a gift to John.”

“A gift that cost 950 thousand coin.”

“It was a piece of headgear for him. You know he needs it.”

“That’s not the issue, dear. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt because I trust your judgment and know that you don’t make such decisions without careful thought. So give me a good reason for the sudden loss of a million coin. I’d like not to insult you by saying that your rationale has been completely clouded by your love for this boy.”

“...”

Umara frowned, thinking about her words before spitting them out.

“Mom, if you could purchase an enlightenment, how much would you spend for it?”

“That’s what this is about? You seemed to be trying to sell me on the value of John’s knowledge the other day. You think he actually directly caused your enlightenment?”

“Yes. He gave me a new way, the correct way, to understand and view the world around me. Or do you believe that my talent is enough to have been enlightened so early in my life?”

“...”

Now it was her mother’s turn to be silent.

Admit that your daughter is far more talented than yourself, or that John’s knowledge is that valuable.

Umara inherited her mother’s talent. It was possible that she was in fact more talented than her mother, but the chances were slim because she had reached every milestone about as quickly as her mother did.

The Talerria family line was long and their talent consistent. They were a very combat oriented family, as many were, and there was very little deviation from the normal timeline of a child’s development. That was the reason all noble families were so tight knit. They could go generations and constantly produce talented offspring, offering no room for another talented commoner to insert themselves into their ranks through sheer strength.

Umara’s enlightenment was an irregularity, and the only outlier in her life was John and his supposed knowledge.

The Duchess sighed.

“I admit he may have played some part. But only the future can tell us if that really is the case.”

“Well, one of those possibilities is correct. Either way, I see no issue with this purchase.”

“So long as you don’t push your luck. Pull another stunt like this and you’ll hear from your father next. I’ll trust you. Don’t give me a reason not to.”

“I won’t. Thank you, mom.”

“Mm. One more question. Does he know how much was spent?”

“No. In fact, he was pissed that I was paying at all and I had to force it. If he knew I spent that much… I’m not actually sure how far he’d go to reject it.”

“...Fine.”

*Click*

The call ended, leaving Umara smiling.

That meant her mother approved. For now, both of them were still in the green.

……

…

……

The day of our leave approached.

With my suspension over, I was able to return to Magisterium grounds. I didn’t bother with checking in on classes and simply prepared for the trip.

I went shopping with Umara beforehand and bought myself some more essentials. Primarily stuff for the inevitably crappy bed and other niceties that I found to be lacking at the last base.

I made sure I had any and all medical supplies for myself. Changes of clothes in case I got bloody, and the new piece of armor we had picked up the day before.

As little as I like letting her pay for my own gear, I had to admit that it was gear that I needed.

It also looked amazing. The surface was actually made of scales, but the scales were small, making it look like a solid material until you looked closer or bent it around.

The inside also had a whole swath of enchanted lines, along with an implanted White Crystal at the base of the skull.

As for the mask, it integrated into the hood by wrapping around the bottom half of my face and neck, protecting everything but my eyes. And when it was stowed, it morphed and hung around my collar like a thick chain necklace.

The mask retained its effects of filtering air and boosting my stamina. It was also replaced with black leather that, like the hood, matched my coat so it didn’t look out of place.

It was also just as durable as well. It was covered in tiny scales similar to the hood and the air that came through went through imperceptible slits in the scales that minimized weak points.

It was an amazing piece of work, which made me question just how much Umara actually spent. It shouldn’t have been that much since it was only supposed to protect against blunt Authority 7 attacks, but the quality made me think otherwise.

Well, she wouldn’t tell me no matter how much I asked. I decided there wasn’t anything I could do but use it and make sure she wouldn’t regret the purchase.

And so, the time to leave for our next trip arrived.

I packed a chest and met with all of the fourth year students at the gate. Like last time, there were plenty of carriages to take all of us to the terminal.

I boarded one with my squad as the rest of the school waved us away.

A quick trip to the terminal and we were on a Rail headed for a place called the Nagalev Bastion.

This place, unlike the last, was much closer to what would be considered the front lines. It supposedly faced constant battles and the level of beasts there was generally much higher. It wouldn’t be a surprise to find Authority 7 beasts, maybe even Authority 8.

That meant the soldiers stationed there were equally strong.

The ride there took an entire day and went through three stops before arriving.

And this time, we weren’t the only passengers.

The Magisterium was only allowed to take two cabins as the rest were filled with supplies or other soldiers. So we filled the cars with rows of seats. It felt like riding an airplane.

But I was okay with being cramped with Umara. Feiden did the same with his girl. It seemed he and Mira were making some good progress.

Mira was the daughter of a Marquess like Feiden, so unlike Umara and I, their relationship was completely acceptable and encouraged. If time passed and they loved each other, I would be wishing him a happy life at his wedding sooner rather than later.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

As for Vetsmon and Tana, well, the big guy was trying.

I cheered him on from nearby as he tried to put the moves on Tana while they sat together. She looked like she was having fun, but it was difficult to watch knowing that everything was blowing right over her head.

He was getting more comfortable though. Knowing that Tana wasn’t really judging him, he was able to gradually come out of his comfort zone.

Umara and I didn’t talk much on the trip, just resting and sleeping in the comfort of each other’s arms.

And we arrived at the base with rested minds.

“Welcome to the Nagalev Bastion.”

The Puppet Master shouted as soldiers crowded through the terminal around us, speaking through all the chatter.

All the 4th year students stood before him as luggage was unpacked. Soon, a Major General, an Authority 8 officer, came to speak with us.

It was the same as the last trip. He welcomed us and since it was noon when we arrived, he went on to give us a tour.

This base was much bigger than Calatrop base, at least triple the size. It had huge walls and several two story buildings just for housing along with all the main buildings for logistics and commanding.

The armory was massive. There was an entire field dedicated to holding a fleet of armored personnel carriers. And when we arrived, we could already hear the sounds of battle.

Soldiers along the walls were operating magical cannons while warlocks rained down hell from above. There were also knights securing the gates, occasionally launching their own attacks to soften the front lines of the enemy.

There was much more activity here, especially since the population of soldiers was far bigger than Calatrop base.

The Major General expressed his appreciation for our help, telling us how there was always work to be done. There were apparently three outposts several miles from this base, outposts that occasionally needed reinforcement. They suffered attacks often, so we would no doubt be going to help.

The patrol missions were also frequent, as were extermination missions. Sometimes a patrol would spot groups of beasts, sending out the order for their extermination.

All missions were done in at least two groups, and ones that involved scaled conflict would often be assigned a platoon of soldiers.

Everything was much more dangerous, but at least for the Elites with squads of Authority 5’s, it was nothing we couldn’t handle within reason. If there was a chance to encounter something beyond our capabilities, we wouldn’t be sent out without sufficient firepower.

Once we finished the tour, we were let go to find our housing. And once I found our room, I was thankful to have bought the bedding that I did.

Like the Calatrop Base, each room could fit two people. But the room was about half the size and the beds weren’t as large, enough to fit a man plus a bit of room to roll around in.

There was at least enough room to fit our chests and store our stuff, but that was about it. I wasn’t even sure if it was bigger than the kitchen in my hotel room.

On top of that, in this two story housing complex, all the girls were right above us. It was rather noisy hearing all the footsteps above us, thankfully not enough to be too irritating.

Feiden and I decided to group together again, unfortunately leaving Vetsmon to fend for himself.

In the end he managed to snag a room all to himself though, the lucky guy.

When evening of our first day came, everyone seemed mostly situated. My squad had also taken a look at the walls and I found a few good vantage points for shooting should we come under siege.

After that, we simply waited. Everyone knew that being on a military base involved nothing but boredom with short moments of excitement sprinkled in. It was just a game of hurry up and wait.

……

The only thing I did on the second day was perch myself up on a tower and take shots at any surrounding beasts, getting a bit more practice with my Springfield.

Also, I learned an interesting detail. Turns out, we wouldn’t be at this base for the full month, only three weeks.

The end of the year was approaching. Although I didn’t often notice, it was in fact getting much colder outside.

We would be released early for Christmas, which, unlike Earth, marked the end of the year and start of a new year. People would go to sleep on Christmas Eve and wake up on Christmas Day, celebrating the birth of Christ and the birth of a new year.

It was the most popular holiday in this world. Every city would be celebrating it, especially the Capital. I heard that the midnight countdown was rather bombastic.

Well, it was at least nice to know that we would be here for one less week. But that also meant we would get more work.

Sure enough, it was on the third day that we got a mission.

And not just us. Two Elite squads were being sent out. The first was ours, and the second…

Perhaps they were even stronger than us.

The five of us arrived at a large briefing room. Inside were several officers as well as the other squad.

The squad of five sat at one of the tables behind the officers. We took another nearby.

We eyed each other. I saw two people I recognized and three that I didn’t.

The two I saw were the Rank 5 and 9 Elites, a Knight and Warlock respectively.

And Umara told me about the other three, pressing up beside me with a whisper into my ear.

“Those are the Rank 1, 3, 5, 9, and 13 Elites. I’m sure you can pick out the Rank 1.”

“Mm.”

I nodded subtly, looking toward one particular man.

It was like somebody combined Feiden and Vetsmon. Tall, but not hulking, yet very obviously stronger than anyone in this room. He carried a longsword on his back and was dressed in slim and masterfully crafted armor.

“He’s Ponteck Gulliard, the son of a Duke, and… one of my suitors.”

“You’ve got a lot of suitors.”

“I’m the daughter of a Duchess. In any other circumstance the list would’ve been tripled and I’d be married by now, likely to the highest bidder.”

“What, you get auctioned off?”

“Not technically, but a marriage happens when a party is willing to offer a more beneficial alliance than all the others. It may as well be an auction. Unfortunately, Ponteck comes from a family rather close to mine, as do many of them. And given the fact that we’re almost the same age, he was the most viable suitor and likely one of the most hurt by your appearance.”

“Fun.”

I let out a small sigh, continuing to observe Ponteck.

Sensing my gaze, he looked over as well, giving me a rather fierce eye.

I just smiled and waved as if he were a close friend, causing him to frown and roll his eyes back to the front of the briefing room.

Umara squeezed my hand under the table.

“Don’t worry about it. If he tries anything, you know I’ll back you up.”

“Hm, we’ll just have to wait and see what he tries. Or maybe he’ll be a good boy and just keep his paws to himself.”

“Like a dog?”

“I think he’s closer to a bear, but yea.”

We both chuckled, hanging around a bit more until the commanding officer finally arrived to brief us.

“Listen up! One of our Forward Outposts has been hit with a Scourge Tide. Right now it’s still gathering, but they will need assistance soon. Everyone here is a part of the platoon we’re sending out. So gather enough supplies for three days. Now, if you take a look at this map, you’ll see your entry area in relation to the outpost and Tide.”

The commanding officer went on to give a battle plan. We would be coming in from the eastern side of the outpost whereas the Tide would be coming in from the north. There was a high chance that we would be attacked while trying to enter the outpost, so that was something to be prepared for.

“Alright, you leave in an hour! Dismissed!”

As soon as he gave the word, everyone rushed out of the briefing room.

Time was tight. The longer we took, the higher the chance of the outpost taking considerable damage. We had to get there before the bulk of the Tide hit and the outpost was, by vehicle, about 3 hours away.

We should be getting there right on time.

With my squad, I went to the armory to gather some supplies before grabbing a few of my own belongings from my chest before storing everything in one of the several supply trucks going with us.

After that we entered a Hummer just for our squad, waiting a bit before our driver arrived and took us away.

A dozen armored vehicles rolled through the gates, speeding off into the distance.

After that, we waited. I prepared some of my own weapons while the others prepared some of their armor.

I chuckled while looking at my Springfield.

There was one variation of this rifle that I found. While the one I first grabbed had standard iron sights, another I discovered had a ladder sight. And when I played with it, I found that it could actually zero to a whopping 2875 yards.

I chuckled and showed Umara.

“Look at this. This gun is only really accurate to about 300 yards, and yet this sight makes you think you can even aim at something 10 times the distance, let alone hit it. Really makes you wonder what they were thinking when they made it.”

“Hm. I guess. I wonder about something else though.”

“What’s that?”

“You speak of the people who made those guns like you know them. As far as I know, summons come from other worlds.”

“...Yea.”

I went quiet. Surely she wasn’t really thinking that I was from another world, right? That would be preposterous, though true.

I quickly thought up an excuse.

“You know that I get some memories from these weapons, right? There’s a lot of knowledge that comes with that. After all, how are you supposed to use something so complex when you don’t know what everything on it does?”

“That’s true.”

“...”

She smiled smugly and left it there, making me feel weird.

I looked around, seeing the others watching us as well.

Why did it feel like I lost?

I suddenly looked back over and put my hand on Umara’s head, tilting her back and planting a fat kiss on her mouth from above.

She flushed red when I pulled back, making me smile.

“Why?!”

“You’re getting cheekier. Gotta keep you on your toes.”

“Shameless!”

“Ow.”

She headbutted my shoulder, hiding her face from the rest of the squad.

I just sat there in victory, enjoying the rest of the ride to the battlefront.