The First Commission
With a scream from Sera, I pointed my finger. The finger froze mid-motion, and the five dolls collapsed. But there was no time to worry about the carriage.
**[CRAAAAAK―!!]**
A Death Knight that had been trailing us suddenly swung its sword.
The rusted blade rushed toward my right arm. It would probably be too late... Would I end up as the alchemist dashing around with a cool auto-mail?
Just as that thought crossed my mind―!
**PING!** A snap of the bowstring, followed by **THUD!** A thick arrow lodged itself in the Death Knight's wrist.
The blade's trajectory twisted.
Unfortunately, the dream of becoming a cool auto-mail alchemist was now a distant memory.
“Thank you, Sera.”
I had infused mana into the ring I crafted the day I accepted the request. **KIIIIING!** A rough operating sound rang out as the ring shot a shadow blade, vomiting out darkness.
But this ring was a bit too hastily made, and its power had exceeded my expectations.
“Ah.”
**ZZHEEEEEEK―!**
Instead of a shadow blade, a massive pillar-like thing exploded upward and swallowed the Death Knight whole.
“What... is this...?”
It was Sera's mumbled words.
I stared at my broken finger.
‘Looks like I have to tone down the power.’
The finger had snapped, and the doll tied to it could no longer move.
I could drink a recovery potion and heal in an instant, but I would just break it again. So I decided to leave it broken and ragged.
Even if I took only nine of the twelve carriages, that was more than enough gain.
I injected mana into the remaining nine dolls and guided the carriages toward Gerik.
“Oeeek, Sera. Please call Master Gerik... oeeek...”
“**GERIK!!** **GERIIIIIIK!!**”
“What, what is it?! Sera?! Sera! Are you—?”
**KWAANG―!**
“I’m right here!!! Come running!!!”
“Just get down and pull it over... uuuh... oek...”
“Hah, damn it...”
Sera leaped down from the carriage and grabbed Gerik's hand, dragging him along.
Monsters that had heard our voices rushed toward us during the process, but they were all taken down by the shadow-shooting ring.
“LuLu? Is that LuLu?”
“Yes. Hello. I took the vanguard. Now we just need to escape.”
“I can't see ahead... Huh, how... no... anyway. Thank you. Really... really thank you.”
“Sera, make room for Master Gerik to see.”
“Eh? B-but is that okay?”
“Yes. Master Gerik will be fine.”
“…Ah, really...”
Even though Gerik probably didn't want anyone to know, Sera still made sure he could see ahead.
Now that Gerik could clearly see the world in the darkness, his mouth fell open.
“…A carriage-pulling... doll? What is all this?”
“They're golems. The thing pulling the carriages is a carriage.”
Gerik's trembling gaze met mine and Sera.
Sera, trying to avoid Gerik's eyes, pressed herself tightly against my back.
Gerik smiled bitterly at the sight and pulled the vanguard from beside the carriage, steeling his resolve.
“I won't sell out my savior.”
“…R-really? You won't betray us?”
“Master Gerik, I already sensed that you know I'm not a magician.”
“Whaa?! Then why did you pretend not to notice?!”
Gerik muttered while glancing between me and Sera.
“I... I knew you weren't a magician, but I didn't know you were an alchemist.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t worry. As I said, I won't betray you two. Even if you're an alchemist, it doesn't change the fact that you're my savior.”
Even while the carriage shook, he stood firm.
“LuLu, focus only on driving. I'll handle the monsters coming toward us with Sera.”
“What?! No, I'm not... I got it! LuLu, just drive! I'll feed you mana potions too!”
“Thank you.”
One less thing to worry about thanks to the two of them.
I swallowed my rising nausea and pulled up more mana.
But it seemed the Death Knight could still issue commands to the monsters.
The monsters that had been stumbling around in the explosion moments ago now swarmed toward the carriage we were riding in.
“Do you not need my help?”
“It's fine. We'll protect you somehow.”
“W-well, it would be better if we helped...?”
Amid Gerik and Sera's opposing reactions, I decided we had to help.
At the very least, there were only about ten monsters running now, but if more came, the other carriages we were protecting would be smashed.
That couldn't happen.
I draped my ragged finger over the reins and prepared to use the ring at any moment.
The one good thing was that the monsters were all targeting Gerik's vanguard.
Unless they were particularly smart, they had charged straight at our carriage, allowing Sera and Gerik to push them back as much as possible.
But the dumb ones had charged toward the other carriages. I dealt with only those.
**KUNG KUNG KUNG KUNG!**
“Sera! It's on the right!”
“I got it! I hit it!”
**[KYAAAAAK―!]**
“Wings! Shoot the wings!”
“Hey! How the hell am I supposed to— hey! I hit it!”
**[KRARARARARARAK!]**
“It's shooting up from the ground...! Sera, head down!”
“Ugggh?! I dodged! Wait, no?! I dodged and hit! I hit without even realizing? Did I accidentally become the archer god?!”
I cut, tore, sliced, broke, knocked down, and pushed away the monsters while running.
“…This is troublesome.”
“W-what now! What now!!”
We were on the verge of being completely surrounded by monsters.
The monsters seemed to be charging haphazardly, but I realized they were coming in a well-organized formation.
Their numbers were still immense.
I thought the explosive potion golems had handled them all, but there were probably quite a few golems that had exploded in useless places.
Gerik, watching the situation, said,
“It looks like we have to abandon the carriages before it's too late.”
“It’s not the carriages.”
Gerik gave me a questioning look.
The monsters weren't chasing us because of the carriages—they were chasing the mana remnants attached to Gerik's vanguard.
That residue carried the mana properties that humans had used in life, unchanged. Magicians would take on its attributes, while knights would take on its characteristics.
And black mages used it to create Death Knights. It seemed Gerik's master must have been an incredible person to make them crave it so much...
There was no time to explain.
I looked at Gerik's vanguard.
“Master Gerik. Would Master Gerik's master wish to see you alive?”
“I can't fully understand my master's will, but I'm certain he wanted to protect me and Kairon until the end.”
“What a wonderful master.”
Without hesitation, I extracted the mana residue from Gerik's vanguard and placed it in the workshop.
“Eh? Eh? Eh?! Lu, LuLu! You—!! That thing just now!”
Sera sprang up in shock, but neither Gerik nor I could pay her any attention.
“…What suddenly? LuLu... did you do something?”
“Yes. It worked as I expected, so I'm glad.”
The monsters stopped completely.
They stood there blankly, like animals suddenly blinded, staring around in confusion.
“What? What is it? LuLu, those guys... are you sure you didn't chase them here?”
“Yes. First, let's get out of here quickly. Keep your guard up just in case.”
I poured as much mana as I could into the remaining dolls and had them run toward our destination.
**Dalg-rak! Dalg-rak! Dalg-rak!**
Just as the durability of the dolls was about to reach its limit, a relieved voice rang out.
“LuLu! Gerik! Where are you?! Sera!! Answer me!!”
It was Kairon's voice, capable of accurate judgment even without tools.
Sera had finally reached the end of our spreading smoke screen.
The situation was already precarious, but since it had worked out, I stopped the carriage we were riding in.
“Do we have any cargo in the carriage we came from? Then please pull one carriage.”
“Eh? I can't pull it? My strength is weak!”
“Tie one carriage to your waist and hold onto mine. Then I should be able to pull it somehow.”
A good idea.
I crafted a metal restraint and connected it to the carriage.
“…This quickly?”
“What kind of alchemy... alchemy circle...? It's not drawn...?”
“First, let's start.”
Gerik stared at me with a dazed expression, and Sera looked deathly pale, but they soon composed themselves and began pulling the carriages.
I drank recovery potions and separate body-strengthening potions behind them, then released a few more modified explosive potions.
I pulled one carriage myself while using the dolls to pull the other five.
Monsters that occasionally attached themselves were dealt with by Sera's bow and my explosive potions.
And before long, Gerik successfully escaped the thick smoke screen.
I didn't follow him out; instead, I peeked outside for a moment and then threw a reduced-power explosive potion.
**POOONG!**
A short explosion from an odd spot.
As everyone's eyes turned toward it, I had the dolls run to position the carriages as far forward as possible.
Then came the dismantling.
The green light fading and people discovering us happened at the exact same time.
“Gerik! The great and wonderful alchemist LuLu! Sera! You're all alive! Hahaha! Uhehehehehehehe! Kan... uuek! Khehe... I believed you! I believed it!! Hurry up! I'll carry you!”
Kairon was, of course, the one who greeted us the most violently.
Laughing so hard his voice cracked, he carried Gerik on his back while keeping me and Sera in his arms and started running.
“Everyone run! Escorts, run! We'll run to the nearest village! Run!!”
“Master Kairon, please stop for a moment.”
“I can't! I'm going to die! I don't want to die!”
“We're not being chased anymore.”
“What?”
Kairon stopped in place and looked back.
The black smoke screen was still there, but no monsters had emerged from it.
Only then did Kairon put us down and catch his breath.
“You guys were the bait! You bit it perfectly!”
A bright smile spread across Kairon's face.
However, the merchants' expressions were grim.
They say money is like blood, don't they.
Humans die without blood.
And for merchants, money is blood itself.
They hadn't lost everything, but they had lost a considerable amount, so their faces being darkened was only natural.
Even surviving was a blessing, right?
People feel lonely after achieving one thing. Especially merchants who live off greed would feel it even more.
“…We still survived. Thanks to you, we survived. Thank you all. If it weren't for you... we would have been abandoned by the other adventurers and fled. Really... really thank you.”
But Palmon, the caravan master, suppressed his sorrow and expressed sincere gratitude.
“And, even though it's improper to say this, could you please escort us just a little further to the next city? I haven't lost everything; I can somehow raise money by the time we reach the next city. I'll definitely pay you a generous additional fee, so please...”
Will such a merchant succeed? Or will a merchant like this fail to succeed?
I left with a puzzled look, retracing the path Kairon had taken.
“The great and wonderful alchemist LuLu! Where are you going?”
“I couldn't bring them all, but I managed to bring most.”
“Eh? What did you bring?!”
I pointed beyond the black fog.
“The carriages.”
“Eh?”
“…Eh?”
Kairon was stunned, and Palmon quickly ran over.
“M-magic... magic user, what did you say just now?”
“I brought about eight carriages.”
Palmon blinked for a long time before plunging his face straight into the smoke screen. The other merchants rushed over and peered into the fog the same way.
And―
“**AAAAAHHHH!!**”
One merchant let out a scream.
“Th-there! There!! Gold bars! Caravan Master!!”
“Over here! There are silver ingots!”
“The delivery documents are... still intact... hwaaaah...”
“Misril! There are carriages loaded with misril ingots!!!”
“Hoha! Hohahaha! The goods we have to deliver are still here! Wow! W-we're saved!! We're saved!!”
“Ah, aaah... aaah...”
**THUD.** Palmon sat down heavily in place, looking up at me with a sandy face.
His face was covered in dirt from the wet sand and tears, but the bright smile remained.
“Thank you. Thank you! Really, really... kuhuk... You are the savior of the Magnic Merchant Group! No, you are a nobleman!! Long live! Long live the alchemist!!”
“Magic user” chants turned into “alchemist” chants.
I smiled contentedly and looked at Gerik.
“It was fortunate to recover the vanguard too.”
“Thank you. Really. How could I... repay this favor...”
“Don’t worry. You also took care of my staff, right?”
Gerik's lips twitched before he let out a bitter smile.
With that Gerik in mind, my gaze turned to his vanguard.
Sera, sensing my stare, turned deathly pale.
She had definitely seen me consuming the residue.
Sera must also be a highly sensitive non-alchemist.
Gerik, glancing back and forth between the two of us, asked,
“What? Is something wrong?”
While pondering over Gerik's vanguard, I simply told him the truth.
“I absorbed the good energy from Master Gerik's vanguard.”
Gerik tilted his head.
“…Was there such a thing?”
“Yes. It was the good energy left by Master Gerik's master.”
“Then the monsters chasing us must have stopped because of that, right?”
“Yes, probably.”
“In that case, I'm glad. If adventurers like you were able to take it and survive together like this, my master would definitely be pleased.”
“Really?”
“Yes, since he's my master, I know him well. So don't worry.”
Then what?
Well, we ate well.
“There’s no time to waste! Escorts, pull the carriages quickly! Me, Gerik, the great and wonderful alchemist LuLu, and Sera will escort you!!”
Even though he couldn't use tools, Kairon made a wise judgment this time as well.
Only after the escorts began hurriedly pulling the carriages could we finally leave the spot.
Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation on my skin and turned around.
A gaze from somewhere in the dark smoke screen was staring at me.
It was probably the Black Mage's gaze commanding the monsters.
A uneasy feeling arose that we would meet that Black Mage soon.
But that uneasiness vanished in an instant.
‘Just what kind of residue was it?’
All my attention now focused on the mana residue I had obtained moments ago.