Count Marsh
After repairing the wall the six-armed beastkin golem had smashed apart, I immediately started sketching out a bombing golem.
The difficulty was absurdly high.
Every golem I had built so far could change shape as long as it had a lower body sturdy enough to bear the load, but flight meant I had to redesign the golem’s structure from the ground up.
If I had studied the principles of airplanes or helicopters, this might have been something worth trying, but I was a middle school dropout.
I had no way of knowing any of that.
Even though I lived in a world where access to science media was easy, my head was packed with nothing but anime, web novels, and the fake alchemy knowledge I’d picked up back on Earth.
The algorithm on every video streaming service was the same, too: anime, web novels, songs, alchemy.
So what was I supposed to do?
I had no choice but to hit things head-on with my own two hands.
Unfortunately, that was difficult too.
Especially since the size of the room limited my research.
If I could have tested it somewhere like an open field, that would have been one thing, but the inn room was far too small to do anything meaningful in.
And so another goal joined the bucket list in my heart.
I wanted to change the image of alchemists for the better, even if only a little.
That didn’t mean Aaron was wrong.
He had said he had his reasons for doing what he did.
Still, that didn’t mean I could just sit around and do nothing.
For the sake of my research alone, I had to improve the image of alchemy.
“Among adventurers, are there people who mostly hunt wanted criminals?”
“Of course there are. One of the five Platinum Rank adventurers in the whole world does nothing but chase down fugitives.”
“Why are they so fixated on fugitives?”
Sera, who had been sneaking glances at me, spoke up cautiously.
“W-well... I heard his wife died because of The Third Calamity...”
“I see.”
The answer came quickly to me as I debated whether it would be faster to build a giant transforming, combining tyrannosaurus or to change the image of alchemists for the better.
The former would be overwhelmingly easier and faster.
Even so, I couldn’t give up.
Like I said, even for the sake of my own research, alchemists needed to be able to work in public a little more comfortably.
“Let’s go catch a bird.”
“Why? Are you hungry? There’s supposed to be a place nearby that makes really good fried chicken. Want to go there?”
“No. Chickens can’t fly, so I’m not interested.”
“Then should we go eat fried razor beak?”
The razor beak was a monster that resembled an eagle, and it was famous for flying exceptionally well.
Apparently, it could even hover in place like a helicopter.
It was also one of the few monsters that people actually ate. I’d seen in the bestiary that, despite being cheap, it tasted surprisingly good.
“Yes. Let’s have fried razor beak today.”
Sera and I went out at once and ate fried razor beak. After that, I brought home the stripped bones and kept working.
And then four days passed.
The day came for us to leave Valag City and head for the Eskart Empire.
Even on that day, we didn’t need to restock any supplies.
That was thanks to Merchant Leader Palmon keeping his promise.
He had supplied all the goods our party of four adventurers would need on the road to the Eskart Empire, completely free of charge.
He even suggested we forget about escort duty altogether and just rest in the soft, cozy carriage, so Lulu, Sera, Kairon, and Gerik all climbed aboard the merchant wagons practically bare-handed.
The newly selected escorts assigned to protect us and the caravan were knights from Valag City.
It was an astonishing arrangement, if you asked me.
“How can city knights be assigned to escort a merchant caravan?”
Even if I had been reborn after living in another world, there were still some things I knew.
-Memorize this, even if it’s boring. If you go out into the world without knowing things like this, you’ll die young for sure.
It was knowledge Aaron had drilled into me by force.
So I knew very well just how absurd it was for the guards and knights of Valag City to be escorting nothing more than a merchant caravan.
Gerik answered my question.
“There were rumors that Palmon used a medicinal elixir he had to cure Count Homan’s daughter, and I think that’s probably why.”
“Are Valag’s lord and Count Homan close?”
“If you mean the Valag baron and Count Homan, then it’s probably just a relationship built on mutual profit.”
“But if we’re talking profit, the Gidum Empire is about to go to war with the Barango Union, isn’t it?”
“War causes a lot of losses, but for someone, it also becomes a huge gain.”
“I see.”
It seemed that after hearing that the caravan that had saved his daughter was in trouble, Count Homan sent a letter to the Valag baron asking him to help.
No, maybe it wasn’t a request at all.
It could have been an order.
After all, a count outranked a baron by a long shot.
In any case, that was why Merchant Leader Magnic, with Count Homan behind him, had been able to assign knights as escorts.
So this was what people meant by connections mattering.
Clack-clack—watching the knights mount their horses with crisp, disciplined movements, Gerik lowered his voice and said,
“I heard Baron Valag wanted to meet you once, but Palmon barely managed to stop him.”
“Me?”
“Lulu! The magnificent and great wizard! Of course the baron would be curious!”
This time Kairon answered for him.
Unfortunately, he was the sort of brawny fighter whose language skills declined a little when he put his tools down, so Gerik’s interpretation was needed.
“He’d naturally be curious. You pulled this many wagons out from among a monster horde, after all. He probably assumed you were a genius with the qualities of a high-ranking mage.”
“Me?”
Gerik burst out laughing and nodded.
“Yes, you. The magnificent and great wizard Lulu. You’re the one I mean. Nobles usually like mages. They covet the power to solve the hard problems in their territory with ease, and the prestige that comes with a mage tower.”
“But I’m not a mage from a mage tower.”
“That’s exactly why they would have wanted to approach you. It means you’re not bound to a tower.”
“I see.”
If I had actually met Baron Valag, what would have happened?
I didn’t need to think very hard to know the answer. Just looking at Sera trembling beside me made the outcome of such a meeting painfully obvious.
“I’m glad Merchant Leader Palmon cut that off for us.”
Merchant Leader Palmon Magnic.
He was the fourth person I had memorized after Gerik, Kairon, and Sera who was not an alchemist.
Not long after that, the carriage set off.
And seventeen days later, we found ourselves before the border of the Eskart Empire.
There had been a few ambushes and skirmishes, but for the four of us adventurers, it was a very comfortable journey.
The bandits took one look at the Gidum Empire insignia painted on the knights’ armor and fled in a hurry.
Monsters that didn’t recognize the Gidum insignia popped out from time to time, but the knights and the original escorts joined forces and put them down as well.
“If you’re not too busy after we reach the capital, could you spare some time for me?”
“What’s this? Are you asking me on a date?”
At Sera’s mocking jab, Gerik gave a bitter smile and tapped his greatsword with a hollow thunk-thunk.
“There’s at least a twenty-year age gap between us, so what kind of date would that be? Have you already forgotten that I promised to pay for my life and my greatsword?”
“Ah, right!”
Sera, the money-crazed one, made her eyes sparkle.
“Then of course I’ll go. I’ll go even if I’m busy. So what is it? What are you planning to give us that you’re making us look forward to it like this?”
“It wouldn’t be fun if I told you in advance. Just come and see.”
“What? I’m seriously getting my hopes up now.”
Gerik shrugged and turned his gaze out the window. A little later, Sera scooted over to my side and began peering out the window on this side as well.
A small commotion between the merchant leader and the border guards had caught her attention.
“...What? Are they fighting?”
“The guards are probably checking the caravan’s cargo and the party.”
“Why would they check something like that?”
Sera, who usually had no interest in anything unless her life or money was on the line, asked first.
That was her signal that the dispute with the border guards had started to feel like a threat to her life.
“If they say there’s a suspicious person among the caravan party and keep the whole caravan here for an investigation, the schedule is bound to be delayed. A caravan that hates that, or can’t afford to be delayed, has no choice but to offer a little ‘sincerity.’ Then the guards take whatever they’d already had their eyes on.”
Sera, who was genuinely suspicious herself, went pale.
“Th-th-tha—what kind of nonsense is that?”
“Right now, with Gidum preparing for war, the only countries a caravan would bother coming from are the Eskart Empire or the Luminarion Holy Kingdom. So once they’ve come this far, even if it means taking a loss, they have no choice but to enter the Eskart Empire—or turn back to the Gidum Empire.”
There was a huge river between the Eskart Empire and the Luminarion Holy Kingdom, wide enough that you couldn’t cross it over land.
So as Gerik said, once a caravan had come this far, there was nowhere it could go except the Eskart Empire or the Gidum Empire.
But the latter made no sense.
They had already taken massive losses just getting here, and if they turned back now, there would only be even greater losses waiting for them.
In the end, the only option was to offer the guards a little “sincerity” and enter the Eskart Empire.
From the very beginning, there had only been one choice.
After understanding Gerik’s explanation, I prepared for any possible situation. Sensing that, Sera quickly finished preparing to run.
But Gerik calmly shook his head.
“There’s no need to worry.”
“Are you sure it’ll be okay?”
“It has to be.”
Gerik gave a low chuckle and jerked his chin toward the window.
“Even if you’re a noble from another country, having a count behind you is an enormous source of power. And right now, don’t we even have a Gidum knight here to prove it?”
The dispute I’d heard from outside went quiet.
When I peeked out, the border captain’s face was bright red as he ground his teeth and opened the way.
Meanwhile, the knights of the Gidum Empire and the merchant leader were returning with proud, triumphant expressions.
It was exactly the kind of scene you saw in novels and other media, where some noble gets utterly rolled by someone with real backing.
“Connections really do seem important.”
“They definitely are. Even adventurers like us, who roam around freely, have to treasure connections.”
“Uwaaah... thank goodness...”
Sera, who had stiffened up all over, melted into a puddle of relief.
Only for a moment, though, before she suddenly sat up and stared at Gerik.
“But Gerik, you know a ridiculous amount of stuff, don’t you? You seem like you read a lot of books, too. Wait, you’re not actually the second son of some noble family who hated his stuffy house and had low succession rank, so he just ran away and became an adventurer... or something like that, right?”
“That’s incredibly specific. Have you perhaps seen an adventurer like that somewhere?”
“No? I haven’t. I just thought you might be.”
She leaned in, her tone turning huffy again. That meant she no longer felt any threat to her life.
I wondered if I should try to nurture that instinct by provoking it over and over. It could make a fine alarm system.
The moment I had that thought, Sera turned her head toward me.
“What are you thinking right now?”
“Nothing.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm? Is that so? Fine, I guess I’ll let it go for now.”
Maybe this wasn’t just instinct. Maybe it was a sixth sense outside the range of the ordinary five senses.
With the thought that I might have found Sera’s hidden talent, the carriage set off again.
And then, five more days later, we finally arrived at Erendia, the capital of the Eskart Empire.
*****
“—And that’s why I would have died without them. They’re the benefactors who saved my life. They’re also the kind souls who recovered even my master’s keepsake.”
“You don’t need to say that much. I’d take care of you properly anyway, so why do you keep adding all these extra words? Gerik, do you perhaps not trust me?”
“My brother has a very narrow view of things.”
“Well, now. Do you really have to smear my face like this in front of your benefactors? No matter how much you’re my blood, remember that I’m still a count first.”
When we reached Erendia, Sera and I learned that Gerik was the younger brother of a count.
His full name was Gerik Marsh.
And even more astonishingly, Geor Marsh, the current Count Marsh, wasn’t just any noble—he was a capital noble.
We had revealed our identities to the younger brother of a capital noble who directly participated in imperial politics.