Chapter 72: A False Silver Vein (part one)
Early morning on the third day in Trade City Knot Reed.
I came home early and substituted with Palug, who had been taking a nap, and left for the city with Tirnanog.
From the people of the city where the morning mist was drifting, I heard a relaxing song.
It was the night watch singing the Dawn Song.
Shadows of men in black uniform were seen here and there as they were managing the fire of the street lamps.
The shadows were not just of the night watch.
Early morning Town of All Kinds of Goods was much more crowded than I expected and there were even open stores.
“I wonder what to do. Do you think we have time to make a side trip?”
『What are you going to do?』
“It’s necessary to prepare for if we were trapped in a pit or transited to an unexpected place.”
『Fumu, I think that’s just a needless worry……but since it’s you we’re talking about, I cannot say that for sure.』
“That’s right.”
So, I decided to buy a few items.
A little magic tool for groceries.
I carried a lot of wands as usual, so I was going to fill in parts that couldn’t be covered with a wand.
While walking by a ship without getting on it, I searched for the grocery store and the general store.
Biscuits with mineral water, compass, and things like that.
When I tried to enter a magic tool store, I passed by a young man who was exiting the store in a hurry.
(Hmm……?)
Somehow, it looked like a familiar face.
Although he looked very plain and ordinary, there was an exquisite sense of incongruity.
Yeah, somehow, for example, were the glasses crooked?
I turned around and looked for the figure of that person.
『What’s wrong, Erica.』
“I feel like there was Actorius-sensei just now.”
『Hou, that gray mage?』
Elric Actorius.
He was a student of Lindis, a clumsy, glasses-wearing man.
He was one of the capture targets of the game 『Liber Monstrorum』 and a friend of my older brother Eduart.
But, unless he had some important business here, he was basically a person who was supposed to be in Lindis.
Why was he in a place like this?
“Elric Actorius-sensei!”
I called out his name toward the flow of people who were coming and going.
On the other side of the road, someone with gray hair stopped perfectly.
Ah, there he was.
It seemed that he actually was Actorius-sensei.
Actorius-sensei looked around the area restlessly.
His line of sight passed through the place where I was several times, but he finally noticed me.
A cheerful smile appeared on his face, he waved his hand as he approached me.
At the moment he tried to cross the path for a carriage in a small jog, his leg tripped over his own staff.
“Erica-san, whoaaa~~~~~!?”
“Be carefu–………aah——!?”
Actorius-sensei fell and his bag that was thrown opened mid-air.
The contents of the bag were flying out as if they had their own will.
Multi-colored potion bottles, numerous scrolls, and various magical tools.
A package that probably contained valuable items rolled through the road as well.
And then, to top it all, a wagon carrying fresh fruits went over it.
What was left behind was the wreckage of the destroyed magic tools and a teary-eyed mage who was reaching his hand out for the remains.
What a disaster, what a misfortune.
I severely regretted inadvertently stopping Actorius-sensei.
Truly sorry.
However, even if I had a previous knowledge about the disaster, it was impossible to avoid the klutz flag.
I regained my senses and immediately ran toward the worn-out Actorius-sensei.
He raised himself up and picked up his glasses which were dirty with mud.
It seemed miraculous that only his glasses were safe.
He put on the dirty glasses and smiled heartily despite such disaster.
And as expected, his glasses were slightly misaligned.
“Ahaha……long time no see, Erica-san.
Wow~, I showed you something unsightly, it’s embarrassing.”
“Are you okay? Are you injured?”
“I’m fine~, even if I look like this, my body is quite tough.”
“I apologize, because I called you out suddenly, something like this happened.”
“No, no, it’s me who was careless.”
Actorius-sensei gathered the damaged tools and thrust them into his bag casually.
Scrolls with horses’ footprints, broken potion bottles filled with contents, and other magical tools that had been made into junks.
Tirnanog and I also helped collecting the scattered goods as much as possible.
“Ah, this key……it’s damaged……I’m in trouble……”
I raised my face to the voice of Actorius-sensei, who seemed to be troubled.
A small silver piece of metal covered with mud was on top of his hand.
Although it was mercilessly bent like a screw, it seemed that it was previously in the form of a key.
It might be some sort of magic tool as it had Hafan magic characters carved on the handle.
“Perhaps, is it expensive?”
“Ah, no, no, it’s not that. We can make it from inexpensive materials.”
Actorius-sensei stopped me who was trying to take out my wallet.
As it seemed that he became more troubled when I tried to worry about it, I decided to withdraw.
“What is this key? If it is urgent, I will ask an acquaintance to introduce you to a locksmith.”
“No, that’s not it.
This key is a branch authentication key of the transition magic circle established by the investigation team of Lindis.
With my materials, I can easily make it.”
“That’s good.”
“Also, I cannot leave it to the general locksmith due to confidentiality.”
Transition magic circles were variously privileged and confidential, so the management was strict.
Tirnanog who gathered the scrolls that had rolled far also came back and joined the conversation.
『You have the spare materials, huh. You are pretty thorough.』
“Yes, that is, of course……ah, oh no. I should have prepared them on my desk.
I have to procure them from somewhere else now.
This is troubling……I wonder if the store dealing with that sort of thing has opened at this time……”
When Tirnanog pointed it out, Actorius-sensei turned pale and held his head.
As usual he was a careless and unreliable person.
“I know someone who is familiar with this area, do you want me to introduce him to you?
He might know the convenient material store that has opened even this early in the morning.”
『Umu. If it is that redheaded brat, he will have some connections and is knowledgeable.』
“Ahhh~~, I’m saved, Erica-san. Please introduce me to him by all means.”
To my proposal, Actorius-sensei bowed his head repeatedly to me like he had found a Buddha in Hell.
Together with our new traveling companion, we continued moving toward the meeting place.
By the way, Actorius-sensei seemed to be curious about Tirnanog.
It seemed that he finally noticed the strange appearance of my companion.
“Who is that?”
“He is my servant. Because it’s dangerous for me to be walking around the town alone.”
Increase the thickness of the skin of my face by 40% and evaded the question with a smile.
Recently, I felt like I could tell a lie with a composed expression.
Actorius-sensei nodded with a look as if he was convinced.
“He looks very strong.”
“Yes, he is a very reliable servant.”
“So that’s how it is~.”
With only this explanation, Actorius-sensei had a look that didn’t have a shred of doubt.
That spared me some trouble, but I became worried about him.
“Ah, by the way, why is Erica-san here in Knot Reed?”
“I am here with my father for the launching ceremony of the new aircraft carrier.
Since I got a little free time this morning, I’m walking down the street for a society tour.
Why did Actorius-sensei come here to Knot Reed?”
Towards my question Actorius-sensei’s expression became a little clouded.
“There was some urgent business.
The trader who was doing construction near Knot Reed found something that seems to be an archaeological site.
Since there was a strong magic reaction in that ruins, the investigation team was sent from Lindis in a hurry……”
“Is there any problem with the investigation team?”
“The document I happened to verify contained important statements about the ruins.
I hurried here in haste to warn them that there is a possibility that an unexpected accident may occur at this rate.
It will be faster for one person to process the document rather than forming an additional investigation team.”
This!
Finally, some information about a suspicious ruin emerged.
There should be a monstro in that ruin that would kill me in six years.
“Is it a ruin where a dangerous phantom beast being sealed?”
“No, no, it’s rather a ruin of magical equipment for military use.”
“For military……?”
Oops, was it not like what I thought?
However, this was my first time hearing that there was a military ruin in this city.
“According to the literature, there seems to be a possibility that there are large-scale destructive weapons from about six hundred years ago.
It’s very dangerous since that was before each country’s Law of War was enacted.”
〈Law of War〉 was the law that was stipulated in the Union Kingdom that all organizations should obey even in extreme conditions such as war.
Large-scale environmental destruction, genocide, assassination, brainwashing, torture, etc. were the main prohibitions.
“So you came to tell the investigation team that.”
“Yes, if I don’t convey this to the people of the investigation team, bad things can happen.
The starting investigators are mainly composed of alchemists.
If the description of the literature is correct, the power of a mage should also be needed.”
Actorius-sensei fixed his misaligned glasses by himself and gazed towards the mountain area.
Ooh, when he looked like this, he was quite a dignified person.
“Especially because at the launching ceremony important people from the neighboring areas will gather.”
“Oh, that’s certainly dangerous.”
Indeed, the timing was bad now.
In the launching ceremony, not only influential people from the neighboring areas, but also nobility and royalty from Ignitia would gather.
What kind of catastrophe would happen if a large-scale destruction magic started up in this place?
Cold chill ran through my spine.
“That’s why I need the key to enter that ruins.”
“Is this the key to the transition magic circle?”
“Yes, the ruins are severely blocked so that non-investigators cannot enter.
The transition magic circle to the ruins also needs to be unlocked with keys that incorporate authentication spells.
If you don’t follow the regular procedure, there will be a mechanism to transit you to another safe place.”
That was an interesting technology.
The mechanism of branching metastasis was something that I would like to learn.
I felt that the application seemed to be useful for searching a labyrinth and storage department creation.
While we were talking about that, we reached Goblin Street.
In front of the bridge of goblin and the pickaxe, a redheaded boy with the feeling of readiness was waiting.