The Noble Lady Without Magic Aims to Become an Adventurer! - Chapter 91

“Good morning.”

“…Oh.”

I arrived at the Zero Division’s training grounds, a bit later than usual but ready to start my regular physical exercises.

It seemed someone else was already there.

It was a man I hadn’t met before. He had black hair, an average build, and an unremarkable appearance—an ideal example of a typical Anbu operative.

Without sparing me a glance, the man continued practicing his sword swings. Unsure if I should approach him, I decided to start my warm-up routine with running and squats. Once I was done, I picked up one of the wooden swords provided and began my usual practice swings.

“Hey.”

I turned around at the sound of the voice, interrupted mid-swing.

“Yes, Senpai!”

“…Duro.”

“Duro-senpai!”

“Duro is fine.”

“I’m Roa!”

“Ah, I know. The captain mentioned you’re the new recruit.”

“Yes! It’s a pleasure to meet you. Duro-san, do you need something?”

“Help me with some training,” he said, holding a wooden sword in one hand and gesturing for me to approach. Was he a one-handed sword user? That’s pretty rare.

“Alright, here I come!”

I might have been a bit overconfident, thinking I could hold my own in a spar—even against the vice-captain.

The result? I was utterly defeated.

“Roa, you’re quite skilled.”

“I yield. I couldn’t even land a hit on you, Duro-san. Please, one more round!”

I readied my wooden sword again and charged at him. Duro-san skillfully deflected my strikes with one hand while using his free hand to mimic casting spells.

Occasionally, he cast real spells. Combining swordsmanship and chantless magic is an incredibly difficult feat. Typically, one would either focus on their sword attacks or imbue their weapon with magic for a magic sword fighting style.

I’d been training in swordsmanship with the vice-captain and studying magic with Lydia-san, but seeing Duro-san’s simultaneous use of both techniques was revolutionary. It was like a lightbulb moment for me.

“Duro-san, you’re amazing. I never thought of attacking with both sword and magic at the same time.”

“I don’t have an abundance of magic power, so I developed this method for more effective attacks,” he explained as we resumed sparring.

It was my first time witnessing this kind of technique, and I was genuinely thrilled.

Duro-san mentioned he’d be coming to the Zero Division every day for a while as part of his information-gathering duties for the royal palace. I definitely needed to learn more from him.

After finishing my morning training, I headed to the knights’ dining hall, where I unexpectedly found Fars having breakfast. Grabbing my own meal, I sat down beside him.

“Good morning, Fars. How have you been?”

Fars looked at me in surprise, then let out a small chuckle.

“It’s been a while. There was a big commotion with the knights yesterday, wasn’t there? Were you involved?”

Even though I had disguised myself and cast perception-blocking magic, Fars seemed to have recognized me. He spoke in a voice low enough not to be overheard.

“Kind of. It was a hassle. What about you, Fars?”

“I’m still a rookie knight, so it’s just constant training for me. I haven’t been given much else to do yet, so it’s been pretty easy.”

“By the way, Fars, have you visited Yele-senpai lately? She sent me a letter saying you should stop by occasionally.”

“Oh no, I forgot! I’ll make time to visit after work one of these days. What about you?”

“I haven’t seen her recently either. I should visit her soon too.”

As we chatted, it felt comforting to spend time together again. No matter how busy things got, talking with Fars always put me at ease.

“Don’t overdo it. If we both get a day off, let’s go into town.”

“Sounds good. You take care of yourself too, Fars.”

After our conversation, we each headed off to our respective duties.

“Good morning!”

I greeted everyone cheerfully as I entered the room. Captain Jenise and Vice-Captain Marco, who seemed to have pulled an all-nighter, were busily working on documents and making reports.

Meanwhile, Lydia-san and Duro-san were leisurely sipping tea, and Hendrick-san was managing administrative tasks nearby.

The captain and vice-captain were compiling reports on yesterday’s events. Apparently, the knights who had stormed the place were preparing their own reports on the count and the trading company.

Until the captain and vice-captain finished their mountain of work, I figured I’d have some time to relax.

I had some free time, so I thought about visiting Arnold-senpai for the first time in a while.

“Lydia-san, may I go visit Arnold-senpai?”

“The alchemist? Sure, go ahead. While you’re at it, could you deliver these documents to the Alchemy Division’s head alchemist for me?”

“But if I take these, won’t it reveal that I’m part of the Zero Division?”

“Royal alchemists are special, you see. They’re the ones who craft the special magical tools used by the Zero Division. Sometimes, they even make custom tools tailored to each individual. To request these, it’s customary to deliver things personally. Besides, they’re bound by strict confidentiality contracts, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Lydia-san pushed the bundle of documents toward me as if to say, “Here, take them.” It was quite a large stack. Resigned, I took the documents and headed toward the alchemists’ department, which was located a little ways from the castle.

The alchemy department had relatively few people, but each alchemist had their own furnace and worked in an independent building. This was what set them apart from other craftsmen.

While there were weapons and armor craftsmen as well, they typically worked in teams, repairing the knights’ swords in just two workshops—one for weapons and one for armor. Most knights didn’t have their weapons made within the royal palace.

New knights often used swords issued by the palace, but as they rose in rank, they would commission renowned craftsmen with their own workshops in the capital.

As these thoughts ran through my mind, I arrived at the alchemy department. After signing my name at the reception desk, I headed toward the head alchemist’s office instead of going directly to Arnold-senpai as I usually did.

It was my first time visiting the head alchemist.
“Hello, is Head Alchemist Soltra in?”

“That would be me. And you are?”

An older man, who had been working by one of the furnaces, stopped what he was doing and turned to face me.

This was the man who practically supported the royal palace’s alchemical needs. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every magical tool in the palace was his creation.

From palace lighting to the magical control bracelets for the royal family, he had invented a wide range of tools. He was also Arnold-senpai’s mentor in alchemy.

“I’m Roa from the Zero Division. I’ve brought these documents for you.”

“Hmm, I see. Thank you, I’ll take them. By the way, Roa, could you try this on for me?”

He handed me something that resembled a necklace, freshly taken from his alchemy furnace. It was a rugged-looking piece made of metal and magical stones, connected together in a crude design.
I had a bad feeling about this, but as a rookie, refusing a request from the head alchemist was nearly impossible.

Hesitantly, I took the strange necklace and slipped it over my head.

Suddenly, a viscous liquid began oozing out of the magical stones.

“!!! Soltra Head Alchemist! Something’s leaking out of this!”

Ew. Startled and grossed out, I couldn’t help but drop my usual composure.

“Ah, that’s dragon-slaying poison. Isn’t it fascinating? Once worn, it slowly seeps death into the enemy’s veins. Brilliant, don’t you think?”

Upon hearing this, I immediately yanked the necklace off and cast a detoxification spell.
“Are you trying to kill me?!”

“Now, now, don’t throw it like that. You’ll break it. The poison works slowly, so as long as you cast a detox spell quickly, you’ll be fine”

Soltra said, completely unfazed as he picked up the discarded necklace from the floor and cast a cleansing spell on it.

This man was undeniably brilliant, but his thoughts often went in strange directions.

Incidents like this happened frequently, and knights were often the unwitting victims of his experiments.

To him, as long as no one died, it probably didn’t count as a serious injury.

“…I’ve delivered the documents. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Leaving already? I was hoping you could help me with more experiments. Well, come again soon,”
Soltra said, waving me off with a smile.

…That was nerve-wracking!

Shaking off the lingering tension, I headed to Arnold-senpai’s room.

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