Noble Carriage

Not long afterward, Li Qi boarded this world's Steam Train once again.

However, unlike the ordinary-class carriage he had taken last time, this time Li Qi was riding in a carriage exclusively for nobles.

This was also Bolent's arrangement. After all, Li Qi's current identity was that of a noble.

And since he was a noble, he could not stay in the carriage where the "commoners" were. Otherwise, given Li Qi's current appearance and identity, he would only attract attention.

The noble carriage aboard the Steam Train was far more luxurious than the ordinary carriages.

It was even much more luxurious than the high-speed train carriages Li Qi had seen before.

In the entire carriage, several seats were spaced far apart, with fewer than twenty in total.

The walls inside the carriage were dark red, decorated with diamond-shaped patterns. Above every window and the doorframes along both passageways were mounted specimens of game animals, along with some oil paintings that were impossible to understand.

A red carpet covered the entire floor of the carriage from one end to the other.

The fixed seats were covered with golden-yellow fabric and blankets, with round tables painted in redwood lacquer placed between them.

At the other end of the carriage stood a liquor cabinet. All kinds of alcohol were displayed inside, and the nobles in the carriage could take whatever they wanted at any time.

When he entered the carriage, Li Qi's first impression was: "Extravagant."

Far too extravagant.

It was just an ordinary carriage. Why make it so luxurious?

He could not understand what these nobles were thinking.

However, Li Qi did not dwell on it for long. After entering the carriage, he was led by Generro to a seat farther away, near the carriage door.

Even among nobles, there were different ranks.

Behind Li Qi's current identity was a baronial family. In this carriage, a baronial family was probably the lowest-ranking noble family, with no right to sit in the more magnificent row of seats in the middle.

Li Qi did not care. Wearing a veiled hat, with his face covered by a veil and Lady's Fan in hand—the kind of fan every noble girl in this world carried—he sat down gracefully.

In fact, he had never studied noble etiquette. But although he had never eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run.

When Li Qi had been a celebrity and the Gambling King, he had often dealt with European nobles, so he knew the basic etiquette.

At the very least, it was more than enough to deal with the other nobles in this world.

Because his appearance was hidden behind the veil, the other nobles sitting there only glanced at Li Qi before losing interest.

Some read newspapers, while others quietly chatted with nobles they knew. The atmosphere was fairly harmonious.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, Generro also breathed a sigh of relief.

He put away the luggage and softly said to Li Qi:

"Little Miss, shall I go get you some pastries?"

"No need."

Li Qi replied softly, pointing at his veil:

"If it isn't necessary, it's best not to remove this."

Li Qi's disguised appearance only bore a slight resemblance to his original appearance.

His hairstyle, hair color, and eye color had all been changed. With some decorative foundation applied to his face, he could be completely distinguished from the Li Qi of before.

However, the Granger family in the Royal Capital should still be searching for Li Qi. To be safe, he should avoid removing his veil whenever possible.

Generro nodded and said nothing more. In a low voice, he said:

"Then, Little Miss, I'll go to the carriage next door. Just call me if anything happens."

"Mm."

Li Qi answered softly, and Generro rose and left.

This was a noble carriage. Only nobles had the right to sit in it. As for the servants brought by nobles...

Unless they were servants brought by the children of a marquis or count, everyone else's servants could only stay in the carriage next door, which had been prepared specifically for them.

Generro did not have the right to remain here.

Generally speaking, however, noble carriages did not need servants present.

Nobles all cared about appearances. When facing others of equal noble status, they were usually quite amiable.

Even when facing an enemy noble they disliked, at most they would trade verbal barbs.

Using force in public was a disgraceful thing to do.

Therefore, there was no need to worry about Li Qi running into trouble here.

After Generro left the carriage, Li Qi took out the small booklet Bolent had prepared for him from his personal bag and began flipping through it.

Showing his talent in front of Bolent last time had indeed been a masterstroke.

Bolent clearly valued Li Qi more now. The booklet he had given Li Qi contained Knight Skills he had summarized himself, all relatively easy to learn.

Most of the Knight Skills overlapped to some extent, but a small number could make up for Li Qi's weaknesses.

Knight Skills were different from magic.

Magic involved using mana to draw runes with one's spirit, then forming various elements from mana and releasing them.

Knight Skills, on the other hand, acted upon the body itself.

Whether it was Magic Entanglement, Beru's Sword of Thunderclap, or Bolent's petrification, they all used mana to strengthen the body.

Li Qi's earlier guess had been correct. The knights of this world did not possess his superpower of seeing through the flow of mana inside their own bodies, so they had no way to safely gather mana in a particular place.

But they could create similar Knight Skills, following specific routes to transform mana into something else and concentrate it in a particular location.

That was the origin of Knight Skills.

And this was also why Li Qi could learn Knight Skills so quickly.

He could see the flow of mana. To him, none of the Knight Skills held any secrets.

In this world, Li Qi was a genius in the truest sense of the word.

Whether as a knight or as a mage, he could reach the pinnacle with ease.

Bolent had seen this, which was why he had compiled some Knight Skills and given them to Li Qi. He had even changed the purpose of Li Qi's journey to Inglis this time because of it.

Bolent had left a letter in the box.

The letter said that Li Qi should forget about his spy mission. His only task now was to go to the Inglis Magic Academy and learn more magic.

He should learn as much as possible—preferably all the magic there. If he could develop something new from it, that would be even better!

This was the new task Bolent had arranged for him after discovering Li Qi's talent.

It was obvious how highly Bolent valued Li Qi now.

"Although I'm grateful to him, none of the Knight Skills here are very useful..."

As he flipped through the Knight Skills in the booklet, Li Qi muttered to himself.

Bolent had indeed organized the Knight Skills he knew and given them to Li Qi out of pure goodwill.

But the Knight Skills in this booklet were either like Beru's, adding an element to a weapon, or redirecting mana to strengthen a particular body part.

The former went without saying. They were not much use to Li Qi. After learning from Beru how to turn mana into elements and enchant weapons with them, he could draw inferences and create other Knight Skills himself.

As for the latter...

Li Qi had always used mana to strengthen himself. He had already learned to redirect mana to any part of his body while on the battlefield.

The techniques recorded in the booklet completely overlapped with what Li Qi already knew.

So it could not be said that the booklet was entirely useless, but it was not particularly useful either.

Better than nothing.

At least it could be used to pass the time.

Thinking this, Li Qi continued flipping through the booklet in his hand.

Just as he was becoming absorbed in it, a slightly androgynous female voice came from beside him:

"Little Miss, may I ask... could I sit here?"

Li Qi closed the booklet in his hand and turned his face slightly to look to the side.

A tall woman in a brown windbreaker, who looked nothing like a noble, stood beside Li Qi, smiling at him.