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Dormitory lounge.
"What? Really? Experiential learning?"
"Yeah. Only those who want to go, say so. You don't have to go."
Nubes asked.
"So, no matter how long it takes, we don't have to attend classes until we subdue the pirates and return? By order of His Majesty the King?"
"Yeah."
"Then I have to go. It's theory class week. It's hardest for me to stay awake during theory class."
Davian nodded.
"Okay, so Nubes is going with us..."
Bellum raised his hand high.
"Me too! I'll go too!"
Liber giggled from the side.
"There's no way Bellum wouldn't go where Nubes goes."
Bellum twitched his shoulder and approached Liber, putting him in a headlock.
"What do you mean by that!"
"What do I mean? Well, you and Nubes..."
"Shut up!"
The arm around Liber's neck tightened.
"Cough, choke! Bellum, you were asking what I meant!"
"Shut up!"
While Bellum and Liber were bickering.
"Sounds fun. I'll go too. Really no penalty points, right?"
"Bonita, you too?"
"Why, can't I?"
"No."
Not at all.
Thanks to a recent awakening of sorts, Bonita Fortis's sword was even sharper.
Liber, barely escaping Bellum's headlock, opened his mouth, panting.
"Let's just all go together! How about it? Our Gray Bear Exploration Team in full force for the first time in a while!"
Luna clapped her hands.
"Wow! That would be fun too. This is experiential learning, so we're not skipping classes, right?"
"That's right, it's totally experiential learning. Experiential learning ordered by His Majesty the King! Latia, what about you?"
"Well, I might as well get some fresh air for the first time in a while."
"Karin, you're coming with us, right?"
"Huh? Yeah. If you all go, I won't have anyone to talk to at the Academy."
"That's why I told you to talk to the other kids too, right? You're good when you're with us now."
"Not really, I just don't want to. I'm satisfied with you guys... Never mind. Anyway, I'm going too. Experiential learning."
And so.
Eight people were selected for experiential learning.
Karin Oberia was added to the Gray Bear Exploration Team members.
Portus City, with its large harbor, is a military stronghold, so a large-scale warp terminal cannot be located there.
Therefore, to get to Portus City, you have to use the warp terminal in Comes City, located to the west.
Upon exiting the Comes City warp terminal, surprisingly, a carriage pulled by six horses was prepared.
"Davian, did you book such a big carriage?"
"No, I didn't do it."
The coachman opened the large carriage's back door, bowing his head.
"This carriage was prepared by Marquis Espin Ellaina."
The back seat of the carriage was spacious enough to accommodate even ten people.
"But isn't the new Border Count also an impressive person? I heard he was the Second Royal Guard Commander."
Luna's question was quickly answered by Liber.
"Gregory Garrett! He's from our Elton Academy, and he got his first job in the Royal Guard, rising all the way to Royal Guard Commander, a true Royal Guard among Royal Guards! Until recently, he was the Second Royal Guard Commander, but was appointed as the Border Count protecting Portus City on the recommendation of Marquis Espin Ellaina! He even received the title of Marquis at the same time!"
"Even the title of Marquis?"
"To become the Border Count, the commander-in-chief guarding the border, you need that level of title and authority."
"He's been incredibly successful."
Bonita shook her head.
"No. Looking at the title alone, that's true, but you can't ignore the position of Second Royal Guard Commander he originally held. It's not quite a demotion... But it's not really much better either. Anyway, this is the frontier, and the Royal Guard Commander is one of the most influential people in the royal palace."
"Ah, I see..."
Liber asked Luna.
"So, the question is, why is such an impressive person struggling so much that they can't even deal with pirates, right?"
"Huh? Ah, no. Not exactly that, but..."
"No, no. That was a good question. I've acquired some high-quality information. Marquis Gregory Garrett only brought half of his subordinates, the Second Royal Guard, with him when he came down here. You can't just completely empty an entire Royal Guard. And the rest of the soldiers were all newly recruited."
"Ah! So that means it's not a fully established army yet?"
"That's right. Besides, Marquis Gregory has been in the capital's Royal Guard his whole adult life, so he won't be familiar with naval warfare."
This time, Nubes asked.
"But Portus City is said to be the most important border, right? That's why someone as amazing as Marquis Espin was guarding it. And the new Border Count is also amazing. Why is this the most important military stronghold?"
Liber clapped his hands.
"Our Nubes, you've become incredibly sharp, haven't you? I'll explain it to you. Portus City is the largest port city on our continent, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Why is that?"
"Well... Because it has the largest port."
"So why does it have the largest port?"
"Well... Because it's the largest port city."
Liber put his hand to his forehead and shook his head.
"I knew it. I thought Nubes had suddenly become sharp. Listen carefully. Most of our continent's coastlines are made up of cliffs or rocky areas. In places where that's not the case, the currents are too strong or the beaches are too shallow, so the depth of the sea is too shallow."
Bellum snapped his fingers.
"It's hard for big ships to come in!"
Liber pointed north with his finger.
"That's right. Just look at the eastern coastal cliffs in the north. Ships can't even enter at all."
"That's true. I see."
"But here in the southeast, we have a coastline with very good conditions for large ships to come and go. And Portus City is at the center of it."
Nubes, who had been listening to Liber's words while nodding, tilted his head again.
"But what does that have to do with a military stronghold?"
"Ugh, Nubes. Our Alcancia Kingdom is a kingdom that unified one continent, right?"
"That's right."
"So, all of our kingdom's borders are the sea."
"That's right."
"You still don't get it?"
"What?"
"What continent is to the east of our continent?"
"The Manum continent."
"What country is there?"
"The Marino Empire... Ah! If the Marino Empire were to invade our kingdom, they would come through this coast!"
Liber snapped his fingers.
"Correct."
This time, Karin asked.
"But you know, the Marino Empire. Isn't it much stronger than our kingdom?"
Liber put on a serious expression, rested his chin, and replied.
"Hmm... Everyone hates to admit it, but it's true."
"But why haven't they invaded yet and are just pulling these weird tricks all the time?"
"Good question! A very excellent question, student. Look, we were unified into one kingdom over a thousand years ago. And what are they?"
"An empire."
"Right, an empire. The continent is too big to unify into one, so they adopted a colonial policy instead. Invading or accepting surrender and then making them colonies."
"So?"
"There's always a risk factor. Like a war of independence. Or the subjugated nations gathering their strength and creating a liberation army."
Davian, who had only been listening to the conversation, nodded.
Liber Specula.
He is certainly knowledgeable and knows how to read the situation.
Latia, who was nodding like Davian, said.
"Even if they have more military power than us, they can't bring all their forces over to our continent. They have to leave forces on the Manum continent to keep the colonies in check."
"That's right. That's why they can't attack our kingdom."
Luna asked.
"Then why do they just bother our kingdom if they're doing well on their own continent? They've taken over that big continent."
"Well, because our continent is much richer in resources."
Davian nodded.
"That's imperialism."
"Welcome."
The Portus City Marquis's castle, already familiar after several visits.
The new owner greeted Davian and his group.
"Hello, Marquis Gregory Garrett."
"It's good to see you again here, Davian Naone."
Marquis Gregory looked around at Davian and his friends.
"You've worked hard to come such a long way to a city without a warp terminal. I've prepared a meal, so eat and get some rest today."
Liber smiled brightly and asked.
"Can we really? A whole day? Awesome."
Gregory replied with a benevolent smile.
"You may have to rest for a few more days. The frequency of pirates appearing in the sea has suddenly decreased a few days ago."
"Wow! Then can we start fishing again? Seafood has dried up in our Elton City."
"No. We can't let civilian fishing boats go out to sea because we don't know when they'll show up again. We're currently searching for their base, so we're planning to attack their base soon. You guys can rest comfortably here until then."
Bellum poked Luna next to him and whispered.
"What, is this experiential learning totally easy?"
"Ah... Yeah, I guess so."
As the Marquis said.
The pirates had not appeared for several days.
Davian and his party spent their time doing personal training in the Marquis's castle.
It was a good opportunity to invest most of the day in mana cultivation.
"Is it okay to just spend time like this while cultivating? We'll get attendance for this, right?"
"It's the King's order. Let's cultivate as much as we can when we can."
Liber, who was lying on the sofa, patted his stomach.
"Ah, a life of eating, cultivating, eating, cultivating, and sleeping. It's the life I've been dreaming of."
"You're not even cultivating right now, are you, chatterbox?"
"I'm going to. After I digest."
"Aren't you going to go eat again after you digest?"
"How did you know?"
"Liber is what he is. Davian is always just lying down like that."
"Davian doesn't usually do mana cultivation much. I don't think I've ever seen him doing it?"
"How does he keep getting stronger like that?"
Latia, who was listening to Bellum and Liber's conversation, turned her head and looked at Davian, who was lying down.
'An oddball.'
At that time.
Poo-ooo-ooo.
A trumpet sound echoed loudly from outside the castle.
Poo-ooo-ooo.
"What's that sound?"
Before long, hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the reception room where Davian and his party were staying.
Bang!
An attendant opened the door to the reception room.
Considering that they were mostly children of noble families, it seemed like they were in a hurry to open the door without knocking.
"There is a large-scale invasion by the pirate alliance! Please take shelter in a safe place!"
The attendant quickly moved to another place, as if there were other guests to deliver the message to.
"Invasion?"
"I thought they weren't showing up lately, suddenly?"
"But where is a safe place?"
"I know. What are we supposed to do if they just deliver that message and leave?"
Davian, who had been lying on the sofa across from Liber, got up and cracked his neck.
"What safe place. Is that why we came here?"
"Ah, that's right. We came here to subdue pirates."
Liber jumped up.
"Let's go! Gray Bear Exploration Team!"
Nubes also jumped up and shouted.
"Let's go!"
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