'I'll never complain about magitech carriages again...'

Reivan grimaced as he got on his third train of the day. It had been three days since he left the capital, and he had to ride a minimum of four to a maximum of five trips daily before it eventually got too dark for the trains to keep running.

And it was hell.

Of course, train cars were much more comfortable to ride in than a magitech carriage. It was smooth sailing and since the rails were well-maintained, bumps were few and far between.

The problem was how you had to sit down for hours.

It wouldn't have been much of a problem if he still had his original body. He was someone relatively close to ascendence, after all.

But he had Clover's body right now. And even if he could specify his lie so he would look like Clover but have his original strength, he couldn't do it, because any Ascendent could see the discrepancy and immediately decide that something was strange.

With that, Reivan was stuck with a body whose butt hurt after a few hours of sitting.

Then there was the boredom.

That wasn't much of a problem though, since Reivan had countless hours of movies and anime to replay in his head. He could even spend the time daydreaming about what-if scenarios about his favorite works — like what if Ash Ketchum didn't oversleep in the first episode or what if Suzuki Satoru woke up in the new world as a human necromancer instead of a bony overlord of death.

'There are definitely fan fictions of that on the internet somewhere... Too bad I'll never get to read them. Shit...'

Slightly dejected, Reivan shuffled to the very back of the train car as usual, taking his seat and placing his bag beside him as usual. He was just about to stare out the window and enter his own world when someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me? Your bag's in the way."

Reivan threw a quick glance at the other seats in front and saw that the car really was packed, so sitting right next to him was truly the last option. Trying not to sigh, he picked up his bag and placed it on his lap, not even looking at whoever spoke to him. He was far too eager to get back to the world of his own fan theories.

"Well, hello to you too, stranger. Cold today, isn't it? Not as cold as you though." the stranger — a woman, he presumed — spoke with amused exasperation as she sat down next to him. Their shoulders pushed against each other, all while her feminine scent washed over him in an instant. "Hey, stranger."

Reivan sighed and turned to face her, discovering that the brunette had a charming pair of brown eyes. But that didn't deter him from scowling in the slightest. "...What?"

"I'm Maya."

"Oh really? I didn't ask."

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I don’t dislike guys like you though."

"Again, I—"

"Didn't ask?"

Reivan paused for a moment, snorted, and then looked away. "That's right."

Maya giggled, seemingly finding something funny. "Does the charmer right next to me have a name?"

Feeling as if she wouldn't give up no matter what, Reivan sighed and answered. "Clover. Clover Salwyn. And I'd prefer to be left alone."

"Clover? Like, the plant? I think there was something about it having six leaves..."

"...Yes, it's the plant. And no, it normally only has three leaves."

"Ah, that's right. I remember now." Maya clapped and nodded. "I think the name comes from the east? And there's a special clover with an additional leaf that symbolizes luck or something. Am I right?"

Reivan debated whether to ignore the talkative woman but relented when he felt her tap his shoulder. "Yes... It's from Aizen. The kingdom."

"That's cool, your name actually has a meaning. Mine's just something my nanny came up with."

"Wow, that's crazy..." Reivan answered in a monotone voice and looked back out toward the window.

A few moments seemed to pass in silence as the train finally surged in motion, and Reivan thought he could finally get some peace, but then his seatmate spoke again.

“There’s no need to be so cold, Clover. We’ll be sitting together for hours so we may as well get to know each other to pass the time, no?”

Reivan actually wanted to agree since it really was boring to sit in silence for hours, but the most recent version of Clover wouldn’t have felt the same, so he just scoffed. “I’ll pass.”

“Fine, fine…”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“Sure. But it’s been a while since I’ve met someone like you. Just curious, do you ever get girls? Or is that it? You’re one of those people who want to give their virginity to their spouse?”

Reivan felt as if his ears were ringing at that. Not because he was mad, but because he never expected a young woman he’d only just met to use such a pleasant voice to bluntly utter such things. She must have really been offended when he ignored her.

But sadly for her, Reivan didn’t really care either. “You can go ahead and think whatever you want. There are more important things in life than having relationships.”

“You don’t say. Like what, pray tell?”

“Like being a battlemage, for example.”

“... A battlemage, you say?”

Reivan smirked and pulled out his wand, which was hidden in one of his coat’s inner pockets. He twirled it around his fingers just like he practiced and filled it with a bit of his mana to make it glow. Satisfied, he stowed it back where it belonged. “Yes. Like being a battlemage.”

‘I hope this shuts her up.’

“Oh, that’s nice.”

Contrary to his expectations, the woman actually held out her hand, where a wand appeared out of nowhere. The numerous little runes etched into it also glowed with a blue radiance.

Reivan stared at it in stunned silence for a moment before his gaze rose up to her face.

Maya smirked. “I’m going to be one too, loser.”

For a moment, Reivan feared that she was an Ascendant observer sent to come in contact with him, so he immediately used [Supreme Insight].

 

 

‘Good. She’s clear.’

It was apparent that she wasn't lying and wasn't an actual battlemage yet. A real one would have had some kind of spirit bond contract listed in their extra skills, but hers was completely empty.

Her threat level slightly alarmed him but it only made sense in his current weak state. And seeing as she’d demonstrated her possession of a spatial storage artifact, she may have also had a few spell balls or something else dangerous hidden away.

‘So she’s headed for the tower too.’

That changed a few things.

Reivan wouldn’t throw away the opportunity to pre-order an ally inside the tower. Also, even though Clover was outwardly anti-social, he was warned to work on improving his sociability. So it wouldn’t be out of character for Reivan to try to get along with someone like Maya, who he would likely spend a lot of time with.

He couldn’t be all buddy-buddy all of a sudden, but it wouldn’t be strange if he actually engaged her in conversation here and there.

“Get a load of the look on your face.” Maya snickered and put away her wand, a playful sneer on her face. “How’s that, Mr. Gloomy? I’m a battlemage too.”

“Good for you, I guess.”

“What an unsatisfying reaction.”

“I don’t really know what you want from me here…”

“I just wanna talk about inconsequential things. I get bored easily, you see.” Maya nudged him with her elbow, jokingly screwing up her face. “Surely that beats brooding like this in silence for hours, right?”

Reivan pretended to think about it before agreeing with feigned reluctance. “Fine. But I don’t have a whole lot to share, you know?”

“That’s what you think. It depends on how much I can get out of you.”

For the next three hours, Reivan was practically forced to get to know his seatmate. They started off with small talk, but as the subjects dwindled, topics that were more personal came up.

Maya was a talkative lass and freely offered her experiences.

She was a love child born of some woman who wasn’t the main wife, and even she didn’t know where the woman was or why exactly she carried a child for nine months just to leave her. From a very young age, she was well aware that she would be kicked out of her father’s house when she turned eighteen. That was why she strived to obtain a profession that would ensure a high and stable income — a battlemage, the most respected type of civil servant in the Republic of Arkhan.

The problem came when she failed to get in the first time. Maya had just turned eighteen by then and was, as she had expected, kicked out by the main wife who saw Maya as an eyesore since before she could remember. Luckily, it seemed Maya’s father still had some remnant affection for her and sent her off with a lump sum and some other items.

Maya wasn’t too descriptive of how she toughed out the next year by herself, but she, like all test takers, had to fight against the stress of studying for her second attempt at becoming a battlemage — which ended up bearing fruit.

And now, here she was.

‘Hm. The latter part of her story’s somewhat similar to Clover’s, except Clover definitely didn’t have a lump sum to let him get by.’

Still, Reivan didn’t look down on her situation. But at the same time, he didn’t really care all that much either. There was no need to pity her since she seemed to be doing very well for herself anyway.

After finishing with her own tale, Maya pestered Reivan into revealing his own, so he just gave a rough summary of what Clover had to go through.

“I thought I had a hard time, but I guess there’s always someone worse off, huh?” Maya looked at him with a hint of pity before reaching up to gently pat his head. “There, there…”

“Stop it.” Reivan gently grabbed her wrist and stopped her. “It’s all in the past, anyway. My interviewer said so as well — I have to move on now. That’s what my mother would say too…”

“You sure are strong, Clover.” Maya giggled as she took back her hand and massaged her wrist. “Like, in a literal way. Your grip’s pretty tight.”

“... Oh, did I grab you too hard? Sorry about that.” Reivan cleared his throat, feeling genuinely guilty since he actually couldn’t control his strength perfectly despite lots of practice as Clover.

“Well, look at you. I thought you were a heartless man, but I guess not?” Maya playfully slapped his arm. “Don’t worry though. It didn’t hurt or anything, I was just surprised.”

“I see… That’s good.”

“Uh-huh. Anyway… did you do manual labor or something? How’d you get so strong?” Maya asked and suddenly poked his biceps. “They’re pretty hard. And your arms are kind of thick too, now that I look at them…”

While some people would have found it rude to touch someone so suddenly, Reivan didn’t really mind this level of contact, so he just let her poke away.

Instead of worrying about that or getting mad at her, Reivan spent the time thinking of an excuse instead.

‘What do I say here…?’

To be honest, Reivan had told Clover — and all of the other candidates for his key to the tower — to develop some muscle because he wouldn’t have wanted to live out the life of someone who was skin and bones.

He was more of a physical fighter, after all. So he wanted to close the gap between his real capabilities and his disguise as much as possible so he had an excuse to utilize a fraction of his true skills when he needed it. It would have also been extremely inconvenient if he couldn't open a jar on his own.

The problem was, from Clover’s standpoint, there wasn’t much merit in doing so.

Not only was Clover busy studying for the entrance exam, he also had to work jobs during his spare time since his father’s pension couldn’t pay for all of his expenses. And as someone who lived alone, there were chores that Clover naturally had to use his time on.

With all of that, it didn’t make much sense to spend hours every day to maintain a trained physique.

‘In fact, I’m surprised he actually managed to do it. Clover really worked hard, huh? It kinda makes me feel bad… But I cured his mom and everything, so that should even things out, I guess. Besides, it’s all in the past now.’

Reivan couldn’t think of a very good reason so he just went with something simple. “I just felt like it.”

“You felt like it?” Maya raised a brow, and Reivan suddenly realized how close her face was and how long her eyelashes were. “It couldn’t have been easy, though. I thought you were busy studying and working at the same time?”

“I was.” Reivan nodded, and was suddenly struck with inspiration. “But a healthy body begets a healthy mind. My Father used to say that a battlemage shouldn’t neglect their physique. My dream is to follow in his footsteps so of course I wouldn’t neglect my body too.”

“That’s so cool.” Maya beamed, the tip of her finger running down his arm and sending a tingle up his spine. “Actually, I prefer men with a bit of muscle on them.”

“...Is that so?” Reivan slowly pulled his face away from her.

“Uh-huh.” Maya nodded, slapping his thigh. “That’s why I was thinking I wouldn’t see anyone my type in the tower. For sure, every guy there’s going to be bookish and lanky. All skin and bones, right?”

“I dunno about that… Battlemages are kind of expected to have some close combat capabilities too, right? Surely, I’m not unique…”

“I hope that's true.”

“Also, you’re getting real close…”

Maya giggled, smiling impishly. “Am I?”

“Yes. I just said so,” Reivan answered without hesitation.

“Don’t pay it much mind. Anyway, can I see your abs too?”

“...Excuse me?”

“Your abs. Like, are they hard? Or do you have a fat belly?”

Reivan frowned and answered in defiance. “I have them.”

‘Or rather, Clover has them. But I also have them too, so it’s all the same… ‘

Something about the way she said it just rubbed him the wrong way so for some reason, he wanted to prove her wrong.

“Look.” Reivan pulled up his tucked-in shirt a little and flexed the abdominal muscles he was currently equipped with. They weren’t as defined as his real ones, but they were pretty good too. “See? I have them.”

“You certainly do…” Maya beamed and then poked them with the same finger she’d been using since earlier.

“Hey.” Reivan scowled at her but she didn’t stop. “I didn’t say it was okay to touch.”

“Don’t be such a prude…” Maya giggled but it seemed what short amount of time she spent touching him was enough. “Thanks, anyway. That was fun.”

“Well, I’m glad you think so.”

“How nice of you to say.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“I know.”

Reivan rolled his eyes and looked back out the window, assuming that the conversation was over. He then noticed how the next town was vaguely visible.

“Hey.” Maya placed a hand on his thigh, sending another shock up his spine.

“What is it now?” Reivan swatted her hand away and faced his head towards her, a scowl on his face. “And would it kill you to stay quiet?”

“I just wanted to ask if you can see the city from your spot. You don’t have to yell at me.”

“I can see it. And I wasn’t yelling.”

“Okay, okay. Thanks.” Maya smiled and then curiously faced forward again, seemingly finding something interesting out front.

Enjoying a slight reprieve from the talkative woman’s pestering, Reivan waited for the train to stop.

 

---

 

“What do you mean all trains are suspended?”

Reivan grimaced at the clerk on the other side of the counter, who wouldn’t let him purchase the ticket for the next connecting train he should be taking on his way to Vel Ayala.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience, sir.” A male clerk said apologetically. “There were unforeseen complications.”

Maya, who literally had the same destination as him and invited herself to be his designated travel buddy, asked from beside Reivan. “Apology accepted. But we’re actually on our way to Vel Ayala for the start of our battlemage training and we really can’t be delayed for too long.”

“B-battlemage training… Ah well, please don’t worry. This matter has already been escalated to the local ministry and battlemages — or rather, more of them — are being sent to handle the issue.”

“And what is this issue, exactly?” Reivan demanded.

The clerk seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally answering. “My apologies, but I’m not all that well informed. As you can see, I’m just a humble clerk, so…”

“It’s fine to tell us what you know.” Maya reached forward and placed her hand over the clerk’s hand. “We just want to have something to tell our superiors if we get scolded for being late.”

The clerk’s lips pursed and he stared at the hand touching him for a moment before answering readily. “Uhm, again, I don’t know the specifics, but there was some monster trouble a few days east of here. Battlemages were sent to handle the problem but…”

Reivan grunted, finishing the hesitant clerk’s statement for him. “But some of the monsters escaped their net. And now they’re everywhere — including here.”

“Yes…” The clerk looked down at Maya's hand, slightly blushing.

Noticing this, Reivan tapped on the counter to get the clerk's attention. “Then what about the knights from the kingdom? Aren’t there a few stationed at every station?”

“Oh, yes.” At the mention of the knights, the clerk seemed to regain some pep. “This is just a small town, so there are only two knights assigned here. One of them stays in their office inside the station to protect it while the other one normally goes out to patrol the tracks. He’s actually reported to have slain quite a few runaway monsters already.”

“Then shouldn’t it be okay?” Maya tilted her head in confusion, pulling her hand away from the disappointed clerk and crossing her arms. “Just have one of the knights ride on the train. The local government can loan out some battlemages too.”

‘There’s no way that’ll work.’

Reivan was aware of the deployed knights’ protocol, so he knew it wouldn’t work that way.

In cases like these, where the route along the tracks wasn’t secure, all trains that travel along that route must be stopped at all costs. Aside from the obvious concerns of passenger safety, it was also done to ensure that Aizen’s possessions — namely, the trains — weren't put at risk.

All trains also had built-in enchantments to prevent anyone from discovering their mechanical secrets, and it would take far too much trouble to transport another one all the way from Aizen.

Since the ones at fault were the battlemages for their negligence of letting runaway monsters impede logistics, then Arkhan would have to take responsibility for the cleanup — which was ideal, since it would be a troublesome task for just one or two knights.

Sadly, considering how the republic worked, there was bound to be all sorts of red tape and other issues preventing a speedy deployment of battlemages. Not to mention how long it would take for those battlemages to arrive.

That meant Reivan and Maya would be forced to stay in place for a while — maybe even a full week.

‘Obviously, that’s not going to spell good news for me.’

“Shit.” Maya cursed under her breath, seemingly having the same realization, though probably not as detailed as Reivan’s thoughts. “Something tells me we’re stranded here for a while…”

“Yeah…” Reivan agreed, nodding at the clerk before turning around and walking away.

Walking in step with him, Maya turned to him and asked. “Hey, Clover. How much money do you have on you?”

“Not much, if we're being honest.”

“Me too. I was counting on reaching the tower before I ran out. I have no leeway here so I’m actually kind of panicking right now.”

“I suppose I’m slightly better off.” Reivan thought back to the contents of the wallet in his inner coat pocket. “I still have enough to safely camp out here for a few days without much trouble.”

“Really? You could’ve fooled me. Why didn’t you at least buy a decent shirt, then? Were you planning to show up at the tower wearing that?”

“... Shut up.”

‘Did you think I didn't know that…?’

Reivan had planned to procure better garments just before arriving at Vel Ayala, pretending to have realized the importance of being presentable. But he supposed being teased about it by a woman was enough of an impetus for a man to buy a new shirt out of embarrassment.

It would be the perfect excuse for him to do it now.

‘The ideal outcome is if the nearby monsters are cleared out by the Ascendant battlemage observing me.’

Although he couldn’t sense any Ascendants around — an impossible task even for his real self — Reivan knew he was still being observed in secret because he had an arrangement for Valter to inform him when he was free to act as he pleased.

‘Valter is also here, so he could just sweep away all the monsters along the way, but obviously, he can’t just do that since it would be strange for all the monsters to suddenly disappear.’

Reivan licked his lips, trying to think of a way out of his current dilemma.