[Lifespan Remaining: 21 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes.]
The next morning, Noct found himself standing in front of a fountain in the middle of the Northern Quarters, watching the people passing through the square.
Despite how early it was, the streets were already packed. Wives and noble ladies shopped with each other while servants ran along, procuring the day’s necessities.
A few storefronts called out to anyone who looked wealthy enough to afford their goods. And unfortunately, Arcadia’s signature eyes were enough to get Noct on their list.
"Young Master! Would you care to take a look? We’ve just received a shipment from—"
"No, thank you."
He probably said those words three times already. But who would’ve known the streets would be this crowded in the morning?
Noct shifted closer to the fountain and took out the list Trevor had given him before leaving. Uniforms, textbooks, writing materials, and several pieces of practical equipment that apparently weren’t included in the Academy’s tuition.
Well, considering the amount of money Stella had handed him, buying everything shouldn’t be a problem. The actual problem was finding the shops.
Stella had assured him that someone would be here to help, but refused to tell him who. And now that he was actually standing here, Noct was beginning to regret not asking a few more questions.
"Noct!"
He turned toward the voice, spotting a girl waving at him from the other side of the square.
She hurried between the passing pedestrians, briefly stopping to let a carriage through before continuing toward him. A bright smile was already on her face, though Noct found himself spending more time trying to remember who she was.
She had the same features as him, short dark hair in a bob cut and maroon-red eyes, yet she was wearing Rexford Academy’s uniform even on her day off.
’One of my cousins then...?’
Noct wasn’t particularly excited at the fact. Given that one of his cousins tried to usurp his spot as one Arcadia’s heir, his first impression of her would likely not be so great. But as soon as Noct spotted the bubbly smile on her face, he could tell that this bias was already wrong.
"Sorry! Have you been waiting long?"
"Not really."
"Good! I thought I was going to be late."
The girl took a while to catch her breath while Noct searched through his memories. He definitely knew her, though most of those memories were somewhat blurry.
"Adelaide...right?"
"Adelaide de Arcadia," she confirmed with a bright grin on her face. "At your service! Seems like my youngest cousin is finally heading to Rexford Academy?"
"It’s been a while since we’ve met."
"It has! I heard you were coming to the capital, so when Stella asked if I could show you around, I said yes immediately."
"You weren’t busy?"
"Not with anything important."
She glanced down at the paper in his hand before leaning closer to read it.
"Is that your supply list? We should start with your uniform. They might need some time to make adjustments, so we can pick it up after buying everything else."
"That sounds—"
"Oh, but have you eaten yet? There’s a place nearby that serves really good breakfast."
"I’ve eaten."
"Then we’ll go there another time."
Her energy was quite infectious. Noct hadn’t really considered himself an introvert or anything, but as he was dragged along while listening to her talk, he could feel his social battery draining rapidly by the second
The first shop they visited was the tailor, who had already prepared his uniform, probably from the Academy’s orders. Yet when he picked it up, the symbol that was sewed on its crest almost made him pass out.
"House Phoenix?" Adelaide commented. "But I thought you placed first?"
"I did..."
The tailor looked between the uniform and Noct himself before commenting politely. "I’ve heard that House Phoenix isn’t bad as well, Young Master. You’ll receive the same education and have access to the same facilities."
Noct couldn’t possibly understand why he was placed into House Phoenix, a place for commoners and rejects. But then he suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place—his demerit points. Apparently they carried over from the Preparatory Academy as well.
’Ahh...so much for getting into Pegasus.’
Obviously, a student’s house was their entire reputation, and those in House Phoenix didn’t have the best. Though unlike great noble families, Academy Houses weren’t something a person was stuck with forever.
If Noct remembered correctly, a student from Phoenix could earn enough merit to move up. Likewise, someone from Unicorn could find themselves dropping down if they decided to slack off. At least on the meritocracy side, the Academy was consistent enough.
"You can still get promoted," Adelaide pointed out. "If you placed first in the examination, earning merit shouldn’t be too difficult."
The next storefront seemed more catered to Academy Students, selling all types of textbooks and whatnot. But what was important was the fact that they also sold sub-spaces.
What they needed to buy also depended on which track they chose as they head into Rexford Academy this year.
There were two types of tracks students could choose: Scholar and Adventuring. Like their names suggest, each track will have a heavier emphasis on their particular field and their grades would weigh more.
However, Adventuring students would still have to take exams. On that same vein, Scholar students would still have to take field commissions.
Really, only a place like Rexford Academy could get away with treating its students like actual adventurers. Anywhere else, sending a group of teenagers out to deal with monsters would probably be considered a desperate last resort.
Here, it was part of their education. Though considering how many talented people had gathered in one place, Noct supposed they had the strength to justify it.
’Well, Graveyard changed my perspective a bit. But Scarlett probably knows what she’s doing...Probably.’
A must-have for Adventuring students were sub-spaces. Noct thought about the sling bag he had been using, and how it dangled around and restricted his movements quite a bit. So he decided to buy the one with the biggest capacity he could get.
One of perks of being from a Great Family like Arcadia was the fact that Noct had near infinite spending money. As Amon was always at the Northern Frigid Lands, the kingdom had to keep throwing money at him to keep him there, calling it a "reward" of sorts.
Well, that was besides the point. Noct had chosen the Adventuring track for the sole purpose of being able to go look for mana cores or mana crystals without being tied to the school or have unnecessary hassles come up.
Still, that was where he was headed to next. Sure, Noct had around three weeks of lifespan left, but that would quickly run out if he kept following the mundane academic life.
He stopped in front of a shop with several crystals displayed behind its window. Some were no larger than his fingernail, while others had been fitted into wooden stands. Even through the glass, he could feel the faint mana coming from them.
Adelaide looked at the cores with an odd expression. "Do you need a catalyst?"
"Not really, just window shopping."
Shops like this purely existed to sell catalysts for class advancement. However, some even held valuable skills of the monster that the core previously belonged to, so many loved to gamble mana cores, hoping to gain a skill despite each costing upwards of half a year’s salary.
’Ahh...it’s like jade stone cutting, isn’t it? Though I’m surprised I didn’t get anything from that lich. Can’t win it all I suppose.’
As Noct pushed open the doors and entered, the woman behind the counter suddenly began waving her hands. "I’m so sorry, customer. We’re about to close soon..."
"Why? Isn’t it only lunch time?"
The woman frowned, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "It’s because we haven’t been able to procure any cores recently..."
Adelaide entered the store a moment later. "Why not? Has something happened to your supplier or something?"
"Robberies, milady..." the merchant answered slowly. "There’s supposedly a gang that has been going after these shipments. We get most of our supplies from the Meria Empire."
’If it’s the Meria Empire which is located in the East. They would have to cross through the various neutral alliances. And only one would be ballsy enough to do such a thing...’
"They’re from Sorstin, aren’t they?"