Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Meteorite Retrieval
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The knighting ceremony festival came to an end in the blink of an eye, and the people returned to their own territories.
The administrators and knights who had participated in the ceremony, as well as those who hadn't, were all summoned to the grand conference hall.
Thanks to mobilizing every possible means as quickly as possible, the vassals gathered in no time.
"Is everyone here?"
"Yes, my lord."
In the packed conference hall, Lord Nut surveyed the room with a stern expression.
Once he confirmed that all eyes were on him, he spoke.
"Good. First, let's hear from the friend who brought the letter from Ilren Castle."
Standing right in front of the lord was the man who had arrived moments earlier, drenched in blood from head to toe.
He must have taken a moment to wash up and change his clothes while the vassals assembled, as he looked far cleaner than when he first arrived.
"It is an infinite honor to meet you, my lord. I am Bizta, son of Rasil. I serve as a squire at Ilren Castle."
"Very well, then explain. About the contents of the letter."
It was apparently his first time in such a setting, and the squire looked extremely tense under everyone's scrutiny.
He swallowed once to moisten his dry throat and then opened his mouth.
"Nine days ago, a massive meteorite was discovered to the south of the castle. The castle lord said that judging by its color, it likely contains a large amount of black star iron."
The conference hall fell silent at the squire's words.
Black star iron was a dark blue metal used in knights' weapons and armor, the finest metal unmatched in strength or anti-magic properties.
It could never be mined from the territory's own mines and could only be obtained from meteorites falling from the sky, making it the rarest metal as well.
"Ilren's castle lord... Lord Rudas, was it? Did Lord Rudas retrieve the meteorite into the castle?"
"He could not. The meteorite was the size of a decent house and deeply embedded in the ground, making it impossible to extract."
As the squire cleared his dry throat, a nearby administrator handed him a glass of water.
After gulping it down and expressing his thanks, the squire continued.
"Moreover, since the meteorite fell between our southern border and the neighboring territory, it was decided that we should first report to you, my lord. So I and four comrades set out with the letter. But on the way... all of them fell to magic beasts except me."
"My condolences."
As the lord patted his shoulder, emotions welled up, turning the squire's eyes red.
Leaving him behind, the lord stroked his goatee, lost in thought.
Black star iron was a crucial military resource that could determine the armament status of the territory's knights, who were its most vital force.
The current armaments of the territory's knights had been painstakingly assembled over long years of collecting it, and Belluan Territory had already suffered a major blow a few years ago when one knight lost his full plate armor.
The black star iron from a meteorite too large to transport easily could not be given up.
"If this fellow's words are true, we need to dispatch an expedition immediately. And a mage as well."
With Belluan Territory's current technological capabilities, there was no way to extract and transport such a massive meteorite.
Mobilizing hundreds of territorial soldiers might make it possible, but that would completely paralyze security and border defenses within the territory.
Moreover, gathering hundreds outside the territory in the wild would attract an unmanageable number of magic beasts—it was far from a wise decision.
But a mage capable of refining black star iron could separate it from the meteorite.
"For now, we'll assemble eight knights skilled in combat against people, and thirty squires. As for the mage... Lord Luden?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Is extracting and refining black star iron particularly difficult? To the point Eloise couldn't do it?"
"It's not that hard. It's a simple task; the only issue with a large size is the mana consumption. The young lady lacks some experience and skill, but in terms of mana, she's already a better mage than I am."
Luden, standing unobtrusively in the corner of the conference hall in his black robe, answered.
The lord furrowed his brow in contemplation at the response.
"So, does that mean Eloise would be better than you at extracting the black star iron?"
Sending both territory mages would be too risky a gamble.
Thus, if sending just one, choosing the faster one made sense.
As a father, it was natural not to want to send his daughter, but the lord of the territory could not judge based on a weak father's heart.
"As you said."
After Luden's reply, the lord briefly wore a tormented expression before composing himself.
In that short moment, various calculations raced through the lord's mind.
Luden's vast knowledge and experience, young Eloise's potential, the current situation, the future... After brief deliberation, he reached a conclusion.
"Then we'll dispatch Eloise as the mage. The command will be yours, Lord Ramun. Depart tomorrow. We'll send an additional supply unit to Ilren Castle later, so procure food and water there."
Lord Ramun bowed politely in response, then posed a question.
"Atar Territory to the south is likely to dispatch troops for retrieval as well. How should we conduct ourselves?"
Atar was the name of the territory south of Belluan.
Unlike the northern territories with frequent exchanges due to proximity, Atar was so distant that even riding lizards nonstop would take over half a month, resulting in almost no interactions.
Ilren Castle was the southernmost fortress under Belluan Territory, and with the meteorite fallen even further south, there was ample room for disputes over ownership.
"Prioritize retrieving it quickly without conflict if possible... But if it seems we'll lose or take heavy casualties, withdraw. If we can win, attack without hesitation and repel them. No need to worry about diplomatic fallout."
* * *
After the knights remained to discuss who to dispatch and how to organize the group, the sun was beginning to set.
Feeling the unusually chilly wind brush his cheek, Arsen headed to the mage's tower and knocked on the door.
"It's me, Lord Luden."
As usual, the door opened, revealing Luden looking somewhat fatigued and Eloise busily packing her belongings.
"Come in."
"Ah, you're here? Hold on. Let me pack this too, and then..."
Luden opened the door and plopped back down into his chair, opening the book he had been reading.
Thanks to that, Arsen got a clear view of Eloise packing, and he couldn't help but comment.
"Can you even carry that much?"
The bag made of magic beast leather was larger than an adult's torso, yet stuffed so full it seemed ready to burst.
At Arsen's perfectly reasonable remark, Eloise pulled out an item she had just stuffed in.
"No, but don't you think this is necessary?"
The item Eloise held up was a round metal canteen.
Arsen briefly recalled the old canteens used in the military.
"What's that?"
"A canteen that purifies water. If we get separated, we'll need this to drink."
"Why on earth do you think we'll get separated?"
Ignoring Arsen's question, Eloise stuffed the item back in and struggled to tie the straps, sealing the opening.
Watching her, Luden spoke up.
"You can cast a weight-reduction spell anyway, so carrying it won't be hard."
Luden said this with an oddly fatigued air.
"Lord Luden. Could we speak privately for a moment?"
"Why?"
When Eloise nearby asked back, Arsen grinned and lightly flicked her forehead.
"Ah, I told you not to do that."
"It's just guy talk for a bit. Miss, step out for a moment."
"What're you talking about?"
Grumbling though she was, Eloise didn't pry further and turned her attention to organizing her travel bag.
Luden, who had been sitting with a strangely listless demeanor—as if deep in thought or dozing—stood up.
Leaving Eloise inside, the two stepped out of the tower.
"So, what is it you want to talk about?"
"I might be mistaken, but during today's meeting, it felt like you particularly wanted to send Ellie in your place. Is there a reason?"
At Arsen's question, Luden pressed his temple and sighed.
"You felt that, did you?"
"Yes."
If he had just said 'Eloise can extract the black star iron too,' it might have passed, but mentioning 'faster' made Luden's attitude seem almost blatant.
Probably no one present hadn't sensed it.
The lord himself had read that implication in Luden's words and hadn't questioned further.
"It wasn't a lie. That girl is truly a better mage than me now. Of course, I'm more adept and experienced, but aside from that, she doesn't fall short in mana or skill."
"That alone doesn't explain wanting to send Eloise instead. It doesn't make sense."
Arsen twisted his lips slightly and stared piercingly at Luden.
After a moment of eye contact in silence, Luden finally averted his gaze, as if unable to withstand the pressure.
"Fine, damn it. I'll be honest. I once tried to settle in that territory. They approached with friendly attitudes. But once inside, they served me a drugged drink right away. In escaping, I caused considerable damage to the territory. If I go there and run into them, it'll spark a diplomatic incident far worse than the meteorite issue."
"Why didn't you say so honestly?"
"Because I didn't want to reveal I have the power to inflict massive damage on the territory whenever I feel like it."
It was common knowledge among the knowledgeable that a mage couldn't defeat a knight.
Even a highly skilled mage needed considerable time to concentrate and cast a spell powerful enough to pierce a knight's armor and anti-magic defenses—and then land it accurately.
In that time, a knight could kill the mage ten times over.
This applied even to Luden, who claimed to be among the top mages in the neighboring territories, and was one reason he enjoyed significant freedom in his activities.
The confidence that if Luden ever rampaged or pulled some nefarious scheme, any knight could step in and subdue him.
"I used illusion, enchantment, and spatial distortion spells to evade the knights, broke through their encirclement somehow, and set fires all over the territory. I must have burned at least a tenth of it."
That level of damage was more severe than what the vine magic beast had inflicted in its raid on the territory a few years ago.
He didn't know Atar Territory's size, but at least hundreds must have died or lost their homes.
At that scale, it wouldn't be strange if Atar drew swords to kill Luden on sight.
"They gouge out a mage's eyes to prevent attack magic. Without clear sight of themselves and surroundings, only contact spells are possible. Since magic requires hands, they leave one wrist or both, but no need for walking, so they cut the ankles."
Luden looked up at the sky with a bitter expression.
"If those damned bastards hadn't tried to gouge my eyes first, I wouldn't have done such things. But... my heart isn't at ease with it. I don't want to go back there. I poured fire on ordinary folk just trying to live."
Arsen turned his gaze from Luden and sighed.
Now that he heard the reason, he had no desire to press further; it just felt stifling.
"They probably harbor no small grudge against mages, so absolutely don't leave Eloise alone with them. Keep her completely out of sight if possible."
"Understood."
Watching the sunset spill over the mountains, the old mage and young knight stood silently for a long while.
Until Eloise, waiting inside, called out to them.