Count Marsh
It was said that the rumor of the Third Calamity having a disciple had first begun in the Luminarion Holy Kingdom.
At the time, there had been no one at the mansion except the Heretic Inquisitors who had stormed inside, and the ones outside who had been disassembled by Aaron.
So this couldn’t be a battle that had taken place at the mansion itself; it had to be evidence that someone had been captured elsewhere.
Of course, it was only a rumor, so there would be people who doubted it. But once a rumor spread, the existence of the Third Calamity’s disciple would take root in people’s minds.
It was a mercy that every witness who had been there was torn apart. If even one of them had made it back alive, my life might have become difficult in ways I didn’t even want to imagine.
That much was obvious just from Sera, who had been clinging to my arm and trembling violently ever since she entered the mansion, only to now stand off at a distance.
How could a person change so easily?
An alchemist didn’t abandon friends.
“Hmm, I’ve let the story grow too long. First, I should present your reward for saving my younger brother. Let me ask again: is there anything you need, or any materials you want?”
At Geor’s question, I glanced back at Sera.
A moment ago she’d been keeping her distance, but now she was pressed right up beside me, her eyes glittering.
Money. Definitely money. The most expensive thing. Something that could be sold for money.
That was what her eyes were saying.
I turned back to Geor and said, “A metal with high mana conductivity and low weight would be enough, along with a fair amount of money.”
“The reward money is naturally included. Please, speak more freely.”
I looked at Sera again.
Apparently there was nothing else she needed to check. She already wore the contented face of a puppy that had just had a full meal.
“Could I also receive some books on alchemy?”
“That’s no trouble at all. I always make copies in case something happens. Is there anything else you need? My heart is still not satisfied.”
“Then can I take the rest later?”
“Ha-ha, so you mean to leave it as a debt owed. A splendid choice. Adventurers usually talk only of immediate profit, but Lulu, you possess the wisdom to look farther ahead. Very good. I, the House of Count Marsh, hereby promise that we will certainly assist you and Sera once, no matter what.”
The instant he said that, mana flowed from Count Marsh’s mouth and settled into his heart.
What the hell was that?
I blinked and looked at Sera, only to find her staring back at me with widened eyes.
“Sera, what did His Lordship just do?”
“A—an oath of mana.”
“What happens if you break it?”
“If you break an oath, a promise... your body becomes unable to use mana for the rest of your life.”
Only then did I finally widen my eyes too.
In other words, the vow Count Marsh had just made was basically a promise to become a one-time guardian who would keep saying yes to me and Sera forever.
“Count Marsh, that sounds like a very heavy promise.”
“No, not heavy at all. If anything, it’s light. My little brother’s life isn’t worth so little.”
“Was that rude of me to say?”
“Not at all. On the contrary, your humility is pleasant to see. You seem as though you will become a truly admirable adult, Lulu.”
“Thank you for the compliment. And thank you for the promise as well.”
Geor laughed and stood up.
“This way to the storage room. You should choose the metal materials with your own eyes.”
*****
We chose the materials ourselves in the storage room, then added a book containing the wisdom of a high-ranking alchemist, along with a great many other odds and ends, and even secured our reward money before Sera and I left the mansion at once.
We were invited to stay for dinner, but after Sera said she felt like she’d die from indigestion if she ate any more, we decided to eat by ourselves instead.
“You could rest here a while longer, you know.”
“No, it’s all right. I can’t keep imposing like that.”
“It’s not an imposition. Didn’t you see how openly disappointed my brother looked?”
Just as Gerik said, Geor had been very clearly disappointed that we were leaving.
And it made sense.
From Geor’s perspective, I must have looked like an adventurer who shared his own burning revenge, hiding the fact that I was an alchemist and living fiercely day by day.
It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult it would be to meet a comrade like that.
Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t that kind of person.
Of course, if I shamelessly continued my research in the count’s mansion, that would be far easier and more comfortable.
And since I’d already made the promise, if I were caught I could just ask to be let off once and then run.
But the triangle in my heart was still alive and well.
So I decided to leave.
“It was said that adventurers’ meetings were spontaneous, so their farewells should be light too.”
“Oh, that’s a pretty good line. Who said it?”
“It was in a book I read.”
“I see. I can feel the depth in it. Yes, that’s right. We’re adventurers. We’re not the sort of people meant to be tied to one place. I’m the same way myself.”
Gerik gave a bitter smile and waved.
“Sorry for deceiving you. But I didn’t want to deal with you as a noble. I like adventurer Gerik better than Gerik Marsh.”
“Yes, I understand. In fact, thank you for taking such good care of us. The importance of connections, which I’d felt on the way here, has been filled in for me like this.”
When I bowed my head, Sera, who’d been pouting, had no choice but to bow as well.
“Hmph. I’m forgiving you because you gave us a lot of money.”
“...Can you be that shameless about it?”
“What, why not? You gave me this much money, and I’m not narrow-minded enough to hate you over it. I’m just acting like a reasonable adventurer, that’s all.”
“Haha, yes. Thank you, Sera. And Lulu... thank you too. If it weren’t for you, I would have died with my greatsword and not even left a body behind.”
“If you know that, then behave. It’s Count Marsh’s promise, but you’re bound into it too. Got it?”
“If necessary, I’ll bind myself here as well.”
“N-no, that won’t be necessary.”
Sera, who had been pushing hard a moment ago, immediately tucked in her tail.
“Anyway, we’re off. Next time... well, if there’s a chance, maybe we’ll see each other again, or maybe not. Bye.”
With a prim little wave, Sera turned on her heel.
Leaving her behind, Gerik and I exchanged a cordial farewell.
“Then we’ll be going. It was fun.”
“Yes, I enjoyed myself too. If our paths cross again, let us meet once more. If you need information regarding revenge, you can always knock on the door of the House of Count Marsh.”
“Yes. Take care.”
“Lulu, may the blessing of the journey accompany you.”
At last, the time had come to use that line.
“Gerik, may the blessing of the journey accompany you too.”
With a neat farewell, I turned and caught up to Sera’s pace.
She’d said she was leaving first, but she was walking as slowly as a turtle, so I didn’t need to run.
Once I fell in beside her, she murmured, as though all her tension had drained away, “They twisted the flow of mana to get into the empire...? What on earth did that mean?”
“I don’t know. Didn’t the dark mage we met in Varg say something similar?”
As I walked with Sera, I could feel the necklace around my neck.
“It’s probably because of this necklace.”
“The necklace? Isn’t that a choker?”
“My master made it. He said it would hide my identity.”
If it was Aaron, that was certainly possible.
Sera muttered something under her breath and glanced back.
Gerik was still standing in the same place, waving at us.
“Still, who knew Gerik was really a noble? And not just any noble, but one from the capital. That’s insane.”
“Yeah.”
The difference between capital nobles and provincial nobles was simple.
Capital nobles were directly involved in politics, while provincial nobles managed lands on the empire’s outskirts.
That meant the nature of their military power was different too.
Capital nobles commanded imperial knights, while provincial nobles commanded their own private soldiers. The sort of guards you’d find under the Viscount of Varg, for example. Naturally, the imperial knights were overwhelmingly superior.
But in terms of money alone, provincial nobles supposedly had the upper hand. That naturally followed from having their own armies, mines, or land taxes.
You might think that meant provincial nobility was better, but no.
Capital nobles were nobles among nobles. That was because imperial favor rested on them.
Once blue blood ran in your veins, money was no longer something you could lack. From there, your rank was decided by honor, which nobles valued more than their own lives, and imperial favor filled that honor to overflowing.
So we had revealed our identities to someone very, very dangerous.
“He’s just a bit clumsily smart and kind, so we got lucky. If he’d known even a little more about alchemy, or the field in general, it would’ve been a real disaster.”
“Now that the rumor of you having a disciple’s been spread too, we should be careful.”
“Really? You really will be careful?”
“Yes. If I get in danger, then you’ll be in danger too, so it’s better if we both watch ourselves.”
“Huh? An alchemist.”
“Where? Where is it? The bad alchemist won’t be there, will they? I should go talk to them right away—”
“You said you’d be careful!”
“Are you trying to deceive me?”
Sera flinched and shook her head.
“I’m not deceiving you. I’m telling you to get your head on straight. You really can’t do that in the capital, okay?”
Sera pointed around the city and whispered, “See those people? They just look like they’re standing around waiting for someone, right?”
They really were there.
Some were glancing around, some were reading books, and some were leisurely enjoying coffee.
At a glance they looked like loafers, but the longer you looked, the more an eerie sense of presence seeped out of them.
“Are those all imperial knights?”
“Yep, all of them. They pretend to be that carefree while keeping an eye on everything around them.”
“They weren’t in Gidum, were they?”
“Gidum has the emperor’s force overwhelmingly on its side, so it doesn’t need them. But Eskart isn’t like that. In fact, the previous emperor was... you know, how should I put it? The Third Calamity kind of... uh, did a thing? So security got even tighter after that.”
“That sounds suffocating.”
“What’s suffocating about it? People who’ve done nothing wrong would probably feel more at ease, right? Erendia is actually famous for having the best public safety in the empire. Of course, it’s also the place we need to get out of as fast as possible.”
“Understood. I’ll resist even if I spot an alchemist.”
After nodding, I changed direction and headed toward the street lined with inns.
“It’s late already, so let’s get some sleep here and head to the next city tomorrow.”
“Yeah, good idea. We’ve made a lot of money, so let’s go to one with a bathroom tonight. Those places have bigger rooms and better soundproofing, so you can do whatever you want.”
“Agreed.”
I had a lot to do.
I needed to read the alchemy books we’d received from the House of Count Marsh, make a flying golem out of the metals we’d been given, continue researching delicious potions, and take a look at fourth-tier materials as well.
On top of that, there was still work to do on improving the problems I’d noticed with golems in the dark mage’s monster army, Sera’s bow research, and checking the residue I’d obtained from Gerik’s greatsword.
We’d been through so many things that there’d simply been no time to organize any of it.
“Sera, do you happen to know how good the potions and elixirs released into the world are?”
“Yeah, I know. Why?”
“I was thinking of making some potions today.”
Sera’s eyes began to sparkle.
“There are recovery potions, of course, but there are also potions that give temporary effects like increased physical ability when consumed. Could you try drinking some of those and tell me what level they’re at—”
With a sudden lunge, she threw her arms around mine and grinned broadly.
“Lulu, that’s the thing I’m best at.”
“I can’t guarantee the taste.”
“No problem. I’m from the back alleys, remember? I’ll eat anything.”
After a moment’s thought, I added one more warning.
“There may be minor side effects.”
“My body’s tough!”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yep!”
Sera and I went into the most expensive-looking inn on the street.
*****
After washing up at the inn and checking the potions I’d made, Sera jumped as though she’d seen a ghost.
“T-this is an elixir!!”
“It’s not an elixir. It’s a reinforcement potion.”
“That’s impossible!! How is this a potion?! Low-grade elixirs have exactly this kind of effect! No, this is even better than a low-grade elixir! There aren’t even any side effects!”
“There is one side effect: you sweat a bit too much. If you drink three bottles in a row, you’ll end up needing the bathroom often. What can’t come out through sweat comes out through urine.”
“How is that a side effect...? That’s insane... Here! T-this is the low-grade elixir I’ve been saving, okay? It cost ten gold coins... It’s my second life... Ugh...! Lulu, try researching it!”
Shivering as though she were handing over her own heart, Sera gave me the low-grade elixir.
Thanks to that, I could examine it.
And before long, I learned that it was inferior to my reinforcement potion.
The biggest difference was the side effects.
My potion felt like it drew out only the good parts of the ingredients and simply stimulated metabolism, whereas this one put too much strain on the body and caused damage.
So even one bottle would make you feel ill with body aches once its effect faded. If you drank a lot of it, shortening the body’s lifespan was the natural result.
And because of that, its effectiveness was also lower.
One case gave you good effects while the body stayed healthy; the other gave you good effects while the body was being broken down.
Which one was better was obvious.
“I’ve learned the level of non-alchemists.”
I wanted to die from boredom.
But Sera was squealing with delight.
“We’re rich now!”
“Why are we rich?”
Sera, who had been bouncing around, turned back with a shocked face.
“A-ah, yeah... r-right... only you’re rich, Lulu. I can’t make stuff like that...”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I shook the potion bottle lightly.
“Potions made by alchemists can’t be sold.”
“Gasp... right. You’re an alchemist, Lulu... Wait! Then!”
Just moments after sinking into gloom, Sera popped back up.
“Then if I sell them! Ah... but I’m a dark mage who ran away from the Pantheon...”
But she sank again just as quickly.
“Then we’re poor...?”
“We need to find a way to sell them.”
Sera rolled her eyes around for a long time before suddenly breaking into a grin.
That was a good sign.
If money-crazy Sera laughed at the thought of money, it meant she’d found a real breakthrough.
“I’ve got it!”
“Where?”
“The black market!”
I tilted my head.
Black market. Even the name stank of crime. If I slipped in there and got caught by Aaron, I’d probably have to eat grass for a while.
“I heard there are a lot of alchemists there too!”
“Let’s go right away.”
Our next destination was decided.