: Mao Nishiura
: Pens Down, Swords Up: Throw Your Studies to the Wind Volume 4
: J-Novel Club
: 9781718315921
: 1
: CHF 6.00
:
: Fantasy
: English
: 250
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

Al en's solo vacation might be over, but summer break is still in full swing! Returning to the capital just in time to avoid Dew's wrath, Allen soon finds himself swamped with work at the Royal Order-namely assisting with security during the biggest event of the year: the Yugrian Foundation Festival! Representatives from all over the continent come to compete in the Nova Cup, a fighting tournament featuring the most talented and dangerous students from the surrounding nations. With rumors of war growing stronger by the day, it's up to Allen to ensure that mock battles don't turn into the real thing-even if all he wants to do is sample the exciting food on offer at the festival stalls... Can Allen make it back for his second semester at the Academy without sparking an international conflict?

Chapter One: Darkwolf Extermination


Back to Work


The day after returning to Runerelia from my holiday, I dropped into the Central Garrison...

“Well, look who’s decided to finally show his face, eh? Stupid brat! You might only be a provisional member, but if you’re leaving town you’ve still gotta let us know, you bastard! Butno, you went off on a little holiday, huh? I was looking forward to working you like a dog the minute you started summer break, and you think it’s fine to go off skipping through the fields without letting anyone know?!”

...which was where I found Captain Dew in an extremely bad mood—whether from a lack of sleep or merely a hangover, I couldn’t say—blatantly admitting to his plan to abuse my labor, just as I’d expected. Of course, I had no intention of admitting I’d run away preciselybecause I’d predicted his plan.

“What?! I thought it would be best to stay away for a while! I’d hate to get in everyone’s way for the whole two months of break, you know? I thought I’d be a burden, with my age and all... I guess I made a mistake.” I sighed, shaking my head. “Well, in that case, I’ll head straight to Kiana for archery train—”

“You’ll sit the hell down,” interrupted Dew, forcing me back into my seat by the top of my head.

From beside him, the kindhearted, cleft-chinned Dante let out a chuckle. “And speaking of being a burden...” he started. “You really put the captain to the test with your disappearance. After he got tired of waiting for you to show up, he got one of the intelligence squads onto it, but they couldn’t find hide nor hair of you. We managed to find out about your trip to Robles with your friends, and then—nothing. Where did you run off to after that?”

Mwa ha ha.

We’d arrived back at the dorm in the evening, at which point I’d promptly changed into plain, civilian clothes, donned a low-brimmed cap, and snuck back out, boarding a late-night train bound for Kosrael. No reasonable person would have expected me—or anyone—to set out on a new trip mere minutes after returning from the last one. Besides, I knew I’d be plagued with unwanted, troublesome callers as soon as people had found out I’d returned, and I needed to defend my right to take a free-spirited solo vacation at any cost. I’d even backtracked through the eastern slums a few times to shake off any potential shadows before heading to the station.

“I went on vacation, of course! I’ve been dreaming of delicious seafood, so I ended up going all the way to Sar