Chapter 5 of the Academy's Bully

"Porcia! What are you doing! Shoot a Flame Blast!"

Whether she understood Elia's frustration or not, Porcia bowed her head deeply, trembling all over, and hid behind Elia's legs.

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Elia's face turned red as she continued to press Porcia. But Porcia remained steadfast.

Bak Iljin, ignoring the commotion she was causing, began to observe Porcia.

'Is this a spirit? It looks different from Hae-rin's Sylph.'

This was the first time he had properly faced a spirit. Although he had seen Hae-rin's Sylph, he had never observed it in such detail.

Curious, he pointed at Porcia and asked, "Is that a spirit?"

"…What? What did you say?"

Thinking she might have heard wrong, Elia asked again, "Is that a spirit?"

Suddenly, Elia's emerald eyes welled up with tears. The tears that dripped down mixed with her eye color, making her look like a gem.

"You… How can you say that?!"

When she was able to summon the intermediate spirit Porcia, she was so happy. She was proud of the sturdy wolf-shaped intermediate spirit.

'Calling our Porcia a spirit like that…'

She felt embarrassed.

She wasn't embarrassed by Porcia's trembling, but by the fact that she could only summon Porcia in a small form due to her lack of magic power.

Feeling more and more embarrassed, she wanted to leave the scene.

"You… You. We'll see!"

"…?"

Suddenly, she summoned a spirit, muttered to herself, and then ran away crying. Bak Iljin, seeing this, thought the world was indeed wide and full of strange people.

"What, really a strange person."

Although it seemed she had misunderstood something, he didn't feel the need to clear it up.

After that, he continued to explore the village and returned to the village entrance at the agreed time.

There, the village chief and Hae-rin were waiting for him.

"Oh, you're right on time. I've already prepared everything."

Saying this, he handed Bak Iljin a map with a guidance spell and a bag containing extra clothes.

"Your clothes are too distinctive, so change into these."

"Thank you."

"And you should cut your hair shorter; it will be more convenient to move around."

As he said, Bak Iljin's martial attire, long robe, and tightly tied long hair resembled the ancient martial artists in history books.

'Is this outfit strange?'

Hae-rin, who was standing beside him, also greeted him and handed him something. It was a red potion in a glass bottle.

"It's not much, but it's a potion made by my father. Take it when you're tired."

"Thank you."

After exchanging greetings with them and starting to leave, he heard someone calling him.

"Hey!"

Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw Elia, who had disappeared crying earlier. She was standing at a distance, fuming and glaring at Bak Iljin.

"What now."

"…No."

"What?"

"I, I'm sorry! I was wrong earlier…"

Elia's face was as red as the fire spirit she had summoned. Watching her, Bak Iljin nodded.

"I understand. Be more careful next time."

"What?!"

"See you next time."

"Hmph!"

Elia, with a snort, turned and left. Her pointed ears were already red.

* * *

The distance from the Blue Forest to the 'Harbani Estate' of the Huangfu Clan was quite close. It was so close that he didn't even need to use the magic map the village chief had given him.

'All these people?'

After passing through the city gate and arriving at the bustling area, he saw a crowd of people, unlike the quiet elf village.

Looking around, the characteristics of the people passing by were varied.

People with black hair, red hair, a particularly short race, pointy-eared elves, people with blue eyes, and people with a mix of these traits.

While he was dazedly observing, a tout approached him. It was someone with black hair and black eyes.

"Come on in! Our inn has delicious dumplings and amazing five-spice braised pork."

Then another tout joined in. This one had yellow hair and blue eyes.

"Our restaurant has the best pizza and pasta!"

"What? Get lost and stop bothering me."

"You get lost. This is in front of our restaurant."

They soon started a noisy argument, but people seemed used to it and continued on their way.

"Hmm, to the inn."

"Yes, sir, that's a great choice. Sir!"

"Tch."

As he followed the tout, he saw a large building with a sign that read 'Shandong Inn' in the distance.

Looking around, he noticed that many shops in the area had 'Shandong' in their names. Everywhere he looked, it was all 'Shandong.'

'Why are they all called Shandong? Is it a person's name?'

The tout, noticing his puzzled look, asked, "Is this your first time in this area?"

"Yes, and the shops around here use 'Shandong' a lot in their names?"

The tout laughed and replied, "Because the name of this place is Shandong."

"Hmm… Not 'Harbani'?"

The tout looked bewildered. Why was he looking for a place name from 300 years ago? Moreover, from his serious expression, it seemed he was genuinely asking.

'Not Harbani? Not from Roche?'

Then he noticed the unfamiliar attire. The long, tied-back hair style was also unusual, resembling ancient martial artists.

'He must have come from a very far place…'

The tout smiled and began to explain kindly.

"The name changed from Harbani to Shandong over 300 years ago."

"Really? I thought it was clearly…."

In the 'Social Studies of the Roche Kingdom' book he read in the lair, the city next to the Blue Forest was called 'Harbani.'

"Then is it the Huangfu Viscount's estate?"

"Hmm, the Viscount's estate, that's also correct, but actually…."

The border regions of the Roche Empire were essentially autonomous territories of the Wu Lin Alliance, which included the Five Great Clans, and the Tower of Mages.

They sent a portion of the taxes from their estates to the central government in exchange for autonomy.

"So, even though we are Roche citizens, the border estates don't have much sense of belonging to the nation."

After this brief history lesson, they arrived at the inn.

"Enjoy your meal!"

The Shandong Inn was larger and more ornate than the other inns around, which was why the tout was so proud of it.

Upon entering the inn, a sweet lavender scent wafted through the air, and the soft classical music playing from the mana stone speakers added to the luxurious atmosphere.

Bak Iljin, who had only heard children's songs sung by Max, was amazed by the classical music.

'Such beautiful sound exists…!'

A waiter in a navy suit and a red bow tie approached and greeted him.

"Welcome. How many are you?"

"Just me."

"Which seat would you prefer? We have private rooms, the main hall, and window seats."

"Give me a window seat."

Seated at the window, he was slightly shocked by the inn, which was completely different from what his grandfather had described.

'He said inns were old buildings that looked like they might collapse, and the menu only had dumplings and noodles.'

Opening the red leather menu, he saw dozens of dishes he had never heard of.

Whole roasted chicken, five-spice braised pork, soup dumplings, Kung Pao chicken, and more.

'What are these numbers?'

Numbers were written next to the dishes.

'Prices?'

Since he had brought a lot of money, the price didn't matter. First, he needed to satisfy his hunger.

"Excuse me."

"Yes, sir. Would you like to order?"

"Give me the B course."

"Understood."

The dishes started coming out one by one, from appetizers to the main course. Each dish was beautifully presented and delicious.

'But it's not to my taste. It's too slow.'

After finishing the slowly served dishes, Bak Iljin vowed never to order a course meal again.

"For dessert, what would you like? We have mooncakes and bingtanghulu."

"Give me bingtanghulu."

The bingtanghulu, with strawberries and hawthorns alternately skewered on a wooden stick, was incredibly impressive.

The colors, shine, taste, and convenience.

'Perfect.'

After finishing his dessert, he took the bill to the counter to pay.

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

"Yes."

"The total, including service charge, is 455,000 gold."

'455,000 gold, how much is that…?'

Suddenly, Bak Iljin remembered what his grandfather had said.

'One gold coin is enough for a common family to live for a month.'

Nodding calmly, he took a gold coin from his subspace and handed it over.

The staff at the counter, seeing him confidently hand over the gold coin, explained in disbelief.

"Sir, we only accept cash or card payments."

"This is cash. It has the issue date written on it."

The gold coin had the inscription 'Roche 1076.' The staff, checking the issue date, was even more bewildered.

'Issued in 1076? It's been over 500 years since 1605…'

Moreover, the condition of the gold coin, which should have been made in 1076, was too good to be true.

"Unfortunately, we cannot accept barter payments. Sir."

While they were in a tense standoff, a laugh broke the silence.

"Haha, your hairstyle and everything, you're really amusing."

The person laughing was a tall, well-built boy, about half a head taller than Bak Iljin. His deep eyes and high nose suggested he was of mixed Chinese and foreign descent.

"I'll buy that gold coin. How about selling it to me?"

Bak Iljin had no choice but to agree.

Nod.

After finally settling the bill, Bak Iljin thanked the boy who had helped him.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Since we met, let's introduce ourselves!"

"Bak Iljin."

"My name is Charles."

Charles extended his hand with a smile, which was surprisingly innocent and youthful for his large build.

"Still, it's amazing! This gold coin. It's clearly genuine and looks like it had a preservation spell on it!"

"Right. A preservation spell."

"What? Really a preservation spell?! That's incredible. Such a high-level preservation spell!"

They walked around Shandong, chatting. Charles's love for magic, from preservation spells to his enthusiasm for magic in general, was evident.

'He really loves magic.'

They also opened a bank account. After exchanging 100 gold coins and a few gems, a significant balance remained even after the fees.

"Try infusing energy into the card."

When he infused his inner energy into the card issued by the bank, a 3D window appeared, showing his balance.

"What, you! You're incredibly rich?"

"Is that so?"

"A pity. If you had auctioned those gold coins, you could have gotten at least three times the amount."

However, Bak Iljin, who didn't understand the value of money, didn't think it was a big deal. He still had many gold coins left.

After leaving the bank, they went to a nearby café and ordered a coffee, continuing their conversation.

"By the way, Iljin. Why did you come to Shandong?"

"I have business with the Huangfu Clan."

"Huh?! The… Huangfu Clan?"

Charles's pupils dilated and his focus wavered. He seemed uneasy and fidgeted.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-no…."

At that moment, someone opened the café door, saw them, and shouted at Charles.

"Hey! Huang Bo Tieshu!"