Strolling through the kingdom with my hands in my pockets, I headed toward the academy. I wasn’t wearing shoes—just a pair of slippers. Mom had told to buy so before going to school, but shopping would’ve only slowed down. Besides, I don’t even like wearing shoes. My feet always get sweaty.
Just a few ters from the academy, I noticed an old woman sitting on a tattered mat by the roadside. Probably just another beggar. I walked over and tossed a coin in front of her, but as I did, I noticed her wrinkled hands shuffling a deck of black cards. Her long, unkempt black hair covered most of her face.
When she looked up, my breath hitched. Her pale, cloudy eyes locked onto , unblinking.
Creepy.
I turned to leave, but before I could take a step, she suddenly stopped shuffling her cards and whispered, just loud enough for to hear:
"The road ahead... thorns and embers... stepping forward only to burn."
I ignored her and kept walking.
Then, her voice ca again—louder this ti, both unsettling and strangely playful.
"Oh, the fool marches with the sun at his back... but does he see the shadow in the flas? Does he see the teeth gnawing at the edge of his fate?"
I paused, my brows knitting together, before spinning around.
She was grinning now, revealing a sharp-toothed gap in her smile.
"You talking to , old lady?" I asked, raising a brow. My hands stayed in my pockets.
She lifted a single charred playing card and let it drift to the ground.
"Fire that has died is never truly gone, boy. It only smolders... waiting for breath to wake it again."
...Yup. This old woman was just wasting my ti. I scoffed and turned to walk away.
Behind , her voice called out one last ti:
"Run along now, child. Play in the fields while the sky is still blue."
Crazy old bat.
I muttered under my breath and kept walking, not wanting to hear another word from her.
But... sothing felt off.
When I glanced back—she was gone.
Well, whatever. I was here to have fun, not stress over so random nonsense a crazy hag spouted.
Once l arrived at the academy, my classroom was, of course, empty. Only the second and third years were around in their own classrooms.
I headed to the principal’s office, and she barely even acknowledged . Not a surprise. After all, thanks to my Sexdusa skill, she’d been way too horny in front of before. No wonder she avoided eye contact now.
Not that I cared. She was way too old for my liking anyway.
I got straight to the point. "I want to join the field trip with my classmates."
Thanks to the whole Priestess situation, people were treating better than before. She didn’t argue, just sighed and called in a janitor to escort to the forest where my classmates were.
The guy arrived shortly after.
"I’m Lawrence," he said as we climbed onto a horse-drawn cart.
"I’m Asher. Asher Reynolds."
"Oh, I know who you are." He scratched his head, looking a little shy. "Most of the guys look up to you."
I frowned. "Really? Why?"
"Well... because of how the Priestess respects you at your age." He let out a small chuckle. "As n, being acknowledged by soone as mighty as the Priestess is a huge achievent. We work hard for that kind of recognition, but even at my age, I’ve never been as close as to even see her face to face."
I tilted my head. "Huh. I didn’t know it was that big of a deal."
This guy was at least thirty-eight, maybe older, and he’d never even seen Seraphina face to face? Damn.
n really had it rough in this world.
The cart took an unfamiliar route, heading straight south.
Soon, we passed endless stretches of farmland, each bursting with different kinds of crops.
But what really caught my eye was the people working there.
n labored like slaves, drenched in sweat, while won in mini-skirts strolled around like managers.
As we passed, every man paused his work to wave at , showing respect.
I was really getting famous.
Not a bad life for in this fantasy world, if I had to say so myself.
But... seeing my gender suffer while I got treated like royalty didn’t sit right with .
I had to set them free.
I had to ascend to the heavens as soon as possible.
That ant I needed clues about the Four Guardians of the Key of Ascension.
Hopefully, Seraphina would tell everything I needed to know.
After leaving the farms, we entered the wilderness.
Lawrence, or whatever his na was, glanced at . "The camp’s gonna last six days, right?"
I blinked. "Yeah. Why?"
"Well... you don’t have any luggage, sir. How are you gonna survive?."
Oh, right.
I waved a hand dismissively. "Don’t worry. I’ve got a pocket dinsion where I store everything I need."
"A... pocket what?"
Explaining it would take too long, so instead, I retrieved two steaming bowls of noodles in mushroom soup from my pocket dinsion—one for , one for him.
His jaw dropped. "Whoa... That’s insane! You can use magic like that without even chanting?"
I chuckled. "I’m flattered. Thanks."
We ate our noodles, which mom had woken up early to prepare for .
Soon, I spotted smoke rising in the distance—probably from my classmates’ campfire.
A spark of excitent shot through .
When we finally arrived, all eyes turned to .
I hopped off the cart, my gaze darting around in search of Madam Sarah. But before I could spot her, a familiar voice rang out.
"ASHERMAN!"
...Four Eyes. Obnoxious as ever.
He ran up to , grinning ear to ear. "Dude, I thought you were—"
I cut him off, deadpan. "If you say anything about being dead, I’ll punch you."
He threw his head back, laughing hard. Adjusting his glasses, he leaned in close.
"Man, you know too well. Good. Because now that you’re here, operation ’Sneak-At-The-Girls’-Bathroom’ can comnce!"
He laughed even harder.
This pervert...
Then again...
Who was I to talk?
I smirked.
Guess I wasn’t much different.
TBC
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