Claude was quite satisfied with Moriad and Dyavid's explanation. At the very least, the two were quite loyal and were willing to sacrifice themselves for their friend.
So, he forgave them for not attending his wedding. At the same time, he showed some concern for Berklin's newlywed life and asked him to tell him if he had any difficulties, such as a lack of money.
At the very least, he knew that most of the salary the three fellows received during the war was sent to the tavern.
Berklin shook his head, indicating that he didn't need to borrow any money. The money Moriad and Dyavid got from the old noble was enough for his wife to live comfortably for a year or two.
Not to mention, he also had Liedefonk's wife to take care of him. Liedefonk's wife hired his wife as an assistant to help her with some trivial matters, which would earn her quite a bit of money.
He also smiled happily. Aboyev's sister, Bonnie, was a great beauty. He didn't think that she would end up marrying him.
Just as Moriad and Dyavid had said in their jealousy, Bonnis, who they had grown up with, was actually taken advantage of by Berklin. They could only blame themselves for not returning as early as Berklin, allowing Berklin to take advantage of her …
After helping Claude pack his luggage and sending him to Zahirak's house, Claude brought his four lackeys, Myjack, and Gum to find a tavern to reminisce about old times.
Claude's four lackeys, Myjack, and Gum wanted to find a tavern to reminisce about old times, but they found out from the villagers that there weren't any taverns in Caleben Village. Some well-informed merchants had already bought a plot of land in the village to build a tavern, but it was still winter and it wasn't convenient to start digging. The tavern would probably have to wait until May or June before it could be ready for business.
The closest tavern to Kleben Village was in another village about five kilometers away. Myjack and Gum volunteered to borrow two mounts to buy some alcohol.
The two of them were quite familiar with the soldiers stationed at the entrance of the military academy. Even if they were late, they wouldn't be locked out.
Claude had no choice but to bring the three of them back to the academy for dinner in the canteen. School would start the next day and he told them to work hard during the training.
He learned from Manrique that due to the downsizing of Ranger, the original plan for all cadets to be promoted at the end of their training had been canceled. Only those who performed well during the training would be promoted. Claude didn't want Moriad and the other two's ranks to remain the same.
Myjack and Gum returned at around eight in the evening. They had bought a case of local blackberry wine and some food and drinks.
But as school reopened the next morning, they only drank till half past nine before it was over.
The military academy closed at eight, but Claude was an exception. Since he was staying in the village, he had that privilege.
The guards at the gate had already been notified and allowed Claude to leave without any hesitation.
When he arrived at Zahirak's house, he found that the old man was still waiting for him in the courtyard. Feeling rather apologetic, he shoved a bottle of fruit wine he brought back into the old man's hands.
The old man looked at the wine in his hand, then at the tipsy Claude. His mouth moved a little, but he didn't say anything in the end. He silently led Claude's mount back to the barn.
The water in the tank was still warm. It seemed that the family had put in quite a bit of effort to make Claude's stay as comfortable as possible.
But they didn't think that Claude would return so late on his first night. Even the bathwater they had boiled earlier was a little cold.
Claude quickly stripped off his clothes and washed himself with the slightly warm water. He changed into a new set of underwear and covered himself with a thick woolen blanket to get ready for a good night's sleep.
He couldn't be late for school the next morning.
Perhaps because it was his first time sleeping in an unfamiliar place, he didn't sleep too deeply. Around three hours later, he was woken up by a faint moaning sound.
Hmm?
Claude opened his eyes in confusion and shook his head. He rubbed his face with his hands to wake himself up.
It wasn't an illusion. He really heard the sound.
Claude wasn't unfamiliar with that familiar moaning sound. Only a man and a woman would let out such a moaning sound when they were in deep contact with each other.
Is it haunted?
Claude used the faint moonlight to look around the room. After making sure there was no one else in the room, he cast Appraisal Eye and didn't find any magical imprints in the room.
However, the moaning continued to reverberate in the room.
Claude listened attentively and confirmed that the moaning came from above.
Then, he recalled that the room on the second floor belonged to Zahirak's second son's daughter-in-law, Doris. Her husband wasn't home and Zahirak was the only male in the house. Could it be that the father-in-law and daughter-in-law were …
Pluck his ashes!
That word popped up in Claude's mind right away. If that was the case, that was the reason why Zahirak didn't welcome Claude into the house. Having more people living in the house would increase the risk of exposing the ambiguous relationship between their father-in-law and daughter-in-law.
But when he paid close attention to the commotion coming down from above, he regrettably found that the truth wasn't as dark as he thought.
This was because there was only one person's rapid breathing in the room on the second floor. There was no one else there.
But why did Doris, who lived on the second floor, make such seductive moans? What the hell was she doing?
He cast Magus' Hands and Fine Control and found a crack in the second floor. He shrunk Magus' Hands into a thin strip and inserted it into the room on the second floor.
He then cast Appraisal Eye and used Magus' Hands to scan the rooms on the second floor. That way, he would be able to vaguely sense what was happening in the rooms above.
The rooms on the second floor were more or less the same as Claude's room. Even the position of the bed was the same.
At this moment, a beautiful and graceful figure was lying on the bed, leaning against the back of the bed. Her two long legs were curled up and spread wide apart.
Her right hand was holding a long object and was rapidly thrusting it into her lower body. Her left hand was unconsciously grabbing her towering breasts and squeezing them forcefully. Her mouth was subconsciously moaning due to the pleasure brought by her body.
Perhaps she was still conscious and was trying her best to suppress the volume of her voice.
Damn it, it hurts my eyes. Claude hurriedly retracted his Magus' Hands.
He didn't realize that Doris, who lived on the second floor, was comforting herself. He thought something had happened to her.
But it made sense. Doris' husband was a soldier in the royal guard and was lucky enough to be assigned to the garrison in the royal capital and didn't participate in the war.
While his safety was guaranteed, his responsibilities were increased. His monthly leave was reduced to half a month.
They had only been married for three years and didn't have any children yet. Doris's self-consolation was inevitable.
Claude felt that he was a good person and could understand Doris's feelings about being a widow.
So, he wasn't interested in peeking at Doris. He wasn't a perverted man who liked to peek at others for thrills.
Claude could only be thankful that Kefnie was already pregnant when he left. Otherwise, she might have been fantasizing about Claude being by her side like Doris did.
Due to the commotion coming from upstairs, Claude didn't feel like sleeping anymore.
He wanted to meditate and finally become a second-ring magus after returning home. However, he didn't know if he could still be considered a rune magus.
Out of the seven grade 1 spells he engraved after his advancement, he only engraved one rune spell, Flame Control. The other two were combat spells, Energy Barrier and Lightning Shackle, as well as two natural spells, Lightness Flight and Stealth.
The remaining two spell slots were left empty for now. He planned to engrave them when he found a better grade 1 spell.
However, Claude realized that he was no longer developing as a rune magus. Instead, he was moving in the direction of practicality.
He wasn't a combat magus or a nature magus. To him, any spell he felt was suitable for him would be engraved and duplicated.
However, he had to wait for the commotion upstairs to calm down before he started meditating. His hearing was sharp to begin with and he wasn't a brute, but a veteran who knew how to interact with men and women.
As Doris's moans were extremely alluring, it made Claude recall the scenes of his intimate interactions with the baroness, Sheila, and Kefnie. He couldn't hold back his desire and tried to force himself to meditate, but to no avail.
Doris, who had waited for a long time, let out a long nasal sound from her throat. She felt her whole body relax.
Claude finally got rid of his thoughts and calmed himself down. Soon, he entered a meditative state.
It only took him slightly more than an hour to finish. When he woke up, he looked at the crystal hourglass on his bedside table. It was around two in the morning.
Remembering that he still had to attend the opening ceremony the next morning, he decided to stop meditating and sleep for another four to five hours.
But not long after he closed his eyes, Doris's self-soothing moans rang out from upstairs again.
It was simply a demonic voice that entered the ears. Moreover, this time, the voice was a little louder, and he could hear it more clearly.
Perhaps because it was late at night and everyone was fast asleep, Doris no longer tried to suppress her voice and only cared about satisfying her own desires.
But the problem was that Claude was staying in the room below her. How was she supposed to sleep like that?
Damn it!
Claude sat up angrily. Sis, are you really that thirsty? Just one time is enough! There's no need to stimulate yourself like this all night long.
How am I supposed to rest if you do this every night?
Even though I understand your physiological needs, you need to control yourself. I don't want to go to the military academy with dark circles under my eyes every morning!
If you were a couple in the middle of a fierce battle, I could have a private chat with your husband to remind him that you're making too much of a ruckus at night and affecting my rest.
But you're the only one comforting yourself. What am I supposed to say?
Claude could only smile bitterly and lie back down. Then, he suddenly wondered if Doris had forgotten that she was staying there and was acting so brazenly because she thought no one knew.
If that was the case, perhaps he could make some noise to remind her that there was an officer who had just moved in.
So, he purposely coughed twice. As expected, the moment he coughed, there was no more noise from upstairs.
Claude cracked a satisfied smile and covered himself with his blanket before going back to sleep.
The next day, Claude woke up early and washed his face, brushed his teeth, tidied up his clothes and went out.
Zahirak was the only one in the yard fetching water. He didn't say anything when he saw Claude and only nodded.
Natalie, on the other hand, came out of the kitchen and warmly asked Claude if he slept well and if he wanted breakfast before leaving.
Claude politely said that there was breakfast in the academy and that he didn't want to trouble Natalie.
He then went to the barn to get his horse and rode it out of the yard towards the military academy.
The first of February, year 582 of the Sacred Light Calendar, was the opening day of the royal military academy.
Even though there were close to a thousand cadets undergoing training and Prince Hansbach also came to the academy to give a speech, the opening ceremony was very simple and didn't have any complicated ceremonies.
After the flags were raised, the academies lined up and saluted, and then a few of the officers in charge of the military academies took the stage to speak for another two hours or so after the first prince's speech. What they talked about was nothing more than clichés like loyalty to the king and serving the country.
When the speech was over, the cadets were divided into classes and training began.
Claude had nowhere to go. Manrique informed him that some of the tools for the seminar, such as the sand table and military chess, hadn't been delivered yet. Additionally, the three colonels participating in the seminar were delayed due to official business. So, the seminar wouldn't officially start for a few more days.
Claude finally had some free time. However, he realized that he couldn't stay in the military academy any longer.
He had wanted to spend some time in Manrique's office, but the colonel himself was incredibly busy. On the first day of school, all sorts of big shots would gather and as the chief administrator, he had to take care of them well.
Claude didn't want to squeeze his way into the big shots' side and had to greet everyone he met. He didn't want to be misunderstood as a bootlicker either, so he quickly left the office.
He couldn't do it on the field either. The cadets who were undergoing training at the sergeant level were already lined up on the field to undergo the most basic military training. He couldn't just stand at the side leisurely supervising and annoying them, right?
Left with no choice, Claude went to the sentry post at the entrance of the military academy.
But he couldn't stay there any longer. There were too many carriages going in and out of the gate. Seeing a captain sitting in the sentry post, they thought he was the officer in charge and reported to him.
After finally making it through lunch, Claude gritted his teeth and decided that he wouldn't hang around the military academy in the afternoon. He would go back to Zahirak's place.
The underwear he changed out of last night's shower was still in the washroom. The uniform he was wearing should be washed too. He would go do the laundry in the afternoon.