How a Wizard Survives (15)
How a Wizard Survives (15)
Fortunately, the meal was far better than the opera.
The chef at the restaurant Katrina had reserved was talented enough to impress even a clueless outsider like me.
After a pleasant time with her, I saw Katrina off and returned to the smithy as if walking on air.
But unlike usual, neither my teacher nor Ash was anywhere to be seen.
'What's this? Are they in the basement?'
Passing through the darkened warehouse and descending into the basement, I was greeted by relaxed music, elegant lighting, and a pleasant aroma.
Ash's workshop had been transformed to resemble the upscale restaurant I had visited earlier.
Puppets had even been mobilized to play the roles of waitstaff and other patrons.
Ulysses, who had been enjoying a meal with her, teased me as tirelessly as ever.
"You're back early. I thought you'd be staying out all night."
"Wh-what is all this?"
"Ash needs to get some fresh air now and then. Ah, I cooked the food myself."
Ash savored Ulysses's gift while looking slightly embarrassed.
My teacher had a subtle talent for this sort of care.
I chuckled to myself and decided not to intrude on their time together.
No sooner had I turned to leave than good news caught me from behind.
"Ah, and your armor is finished. I put it in your room."
"Really?"
I hurried to my room and saw a full set of plate armor hanging on an armor stand.
It had taken longer than expected for a workshop that divided the labor like a factory...
But the craftsmanship was worth the wait.
When I rushed to put the armor on, it felt light and comfortable.
As expected of a workshop personally selected by Ulysses.
It was my first set of plate armor ever, so I half-wondered if it only seemed exceptionally cool and perfect...
Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
When I wore the armor to work early the next morning, I drew envious looks from the moment I entered the Inquisition Office.
"Whoa, what's this? You got new armor? Don't tell me Lady Katrina gave it to you?"
"Nah. I'm from a smithy, after all."
"That looks really good. Where'd you order it?"
A full set of plate armor was so expensive that ordinary soldiers rarely wore it.
At best, Holy Knights could afford to equip themselves with it.
I fiddled with the helmet and began a happy dilemma.
'Should I engrave a hammer emblem on it later? A cross is plain, too plain.'
But before I could show off my armor to Katrina, the Holy Knights sounded a muster call.
The new week had barely started when a report came in: there were heretics inside Reshutal.
"All forces, assemble in the briefing room immediately!"
"Whoa, they found another one already?"
"The new commander's the real deal, I'm telling you..."
Since Reinhardt's appointment, the Reshutal Inquisition Branch's intelligence-gathering capability had improved to a terrifying degree.
He was probably running his own network of informants.
Truly a man who leaves no gaps.
Just before the briefing began, I was exchanging greetings with Katrina when Reinhardt called me out.
"Katrina and Jaeger will breach from the flank at the start of the operation. You won't need backup, I assume?"
"That is correct."
Just as I'd expected, he worked us pretty hard, but I could hardly complain at that point.
The moment the briefing ended, we deployed to the scene.
Today's opponents were Destruction Mages.
They seemed to be from a different faction than the ones last time, but their skill level was about the same.
Leading with my adamantite sword, I subdued them far too easily.
'Now that I can counter magic even without using any myself, they're barely opponents at all...'
Should I just go in with an ordinary sword?
I was even mulling over such concerns when Reinhardt, who had breached the front door, burst through a wall bare-handed.
"What are you taking your time for?"
"We were taking them all alive..."
"Good work. We are returning immediately."
After wrapping up my duties as a Heretic Inquisitor, I went out night-hunting with Ulysses for the first time in a while.
Normally, he would let me rest after daytime combat...
But today's fighting apparently didn't count as the real thing.
The key to fighting at night was striking fast and withdrawing fast, rather than simply subduing the opponent.
When I returned safely without leaving a trace, my teacher, who had been waiting at the smithy, gave me a slow round of applause.
The work had been so clean and quiet that no report would have even reached the Inquisition.
"Well done. You've gotten used to our night walks."
"Catching them by day, catching them by night... At this rate, won't they go extinct?"
"It'd be a good thing if the bad ones disappeared."
Ulysses chuckled as if he'd forgotten he was a mage himself, then promptly added:
"Still, let's hold off on going out for a while."
"What? Why?"
"Your new commander has an unnervingly good information network. In my experience, lying low is best at times like this. Don't worry about mana; I'll find a way to get it for you."
I'd had a hunch, and it turned out I was right.
I gave a small nod and then hesitated on the spot for a moment.
Noticing I still had a question, Ulysses prompted me.
"What is it? Is something bothering you?"
"No, just... What exactly is your plan, Master?"
Ulysses seemed to have been preparing something long before he ever took me on as a disciple.
Reinhardt, too, had repeatedly stressed at the daily briefings what a thorough and wicked mage Ulysses was.
Reinhardt's assessment was that Ulysses, the Wizard of Change, would undoubtedly be preparing some audacious scheme.
But my teacher looked momentarily awkward, and then he began to gauge Ash's reaction.
"Jaeger. It's not that I don't trust you, but this is a plan Ash and I have been working on for a long time."
"Right."
"And you're currently infiltrating the Inquisition Office. If you don't know anything about the plan, there's zero risk of it being exposed."
I know that.
Depending on the time and place... especially inside the Inquisition, ignorance can be a shield.
But I needed reassurance.
I don't think Ulysses is a truly evil mage, but as he himself has said, aren't mages fundamentally criminals?
What if I'm helping a plan to destroy the world?
"Still, could you tell me just a little?"
Fortunately, Ulysses was a teacher who was weak to his disciple's requests.
He held his silence for a moment, and after receiving Ash's permission, he spoke again.
"First of all, you can rest easy. It isn't the kind of thing you're worried about. Ash's and my plan is solely aimed at eliminating the demons."
"I see. Understood."
Satisfied with his answer, I decided not to pry any further.
Ulysses smiled as if I'd done something admirable and returned to the basement with Ash.
'Well, it'll be fine, right? Worst case, I can just beg them to spare Lady Katrina, at least...'
The next morning.
Carrying a heavier heart, I arrived at work and immediately began morning training with Katrina.
But before lunchtime, a Holy Knight of northern origin approached us and murmured quietly.
"Lady Katrina. I'm here to escort you to the commander's office. Jaeger, you're coming too."
"Understood."
The summons was abrupt.
Being pulled aside in secret meant this was no ordinary briefing.
With an uneasy feeling, we relocated and soon found ourselves face-to-face with Reinhardt.
He looked utterly out of place sitting in front of a desk.
He was the sort of figure who would have looked far more natural seated on a throne instead.
"You're here? Both of you, prepare for a trip immediately."
"A trip?"
"Yes. You two will be accompanying me to the Einhold Duchy."
Einhold!
I jolted at the name I had never expected, but Katrina looked unexpectedly calm.
After a brief, silent swallow, she nodded without hesitation and exited the room.
"The Einhold Duchy, out of nowhere... Isn't that place entirely off-limits to Heretic Inquisitors?"
"It is. But there's always an exception."
"Such as?"
"Such as when a mage appears whom the Einhold family alone cannot handle."
"Good heavens..."
But still, they're called the King's Mages. To call in outside help to handle a mage.
It's a decision that defies common sense.
"Which means this opponent is uncommonly strong. We should assume it's at minimum a mage registered on the Wall of Shame. Keep your wits sharp, Jaeger."
"Yes."
And wait, hadn't that little girl from the Einhold family attended the opera last weekend?
Looking back now, it was highly likely that was a cover.
She'd paid a secret visit to the capital on a pretense, contacted Reinhardt, and requested support.
I wanted to briefly return to the smithy and inform Ulysses, but the mood was such that slipping away was utterly impossible.
My teacher would uncover it somehow. I was sure of that.
As I thought that, I packed my gear and saddled my horse. Reinhardt appeared at once.
Including him, draped in a shabby cloak, the support force numbered just five.
'Still, this much is the very elite of the Reshutal Inquisition Branch.'
"We depart."
"Yes, sir."
An immense zeal was visible in Katrina as she rode slightly ahead of the others.
She probably saw this as a chance to earn Reinhardt's recognition.
With a deeply worried heart, I followed her out of the city and into the grasslands I'd once crossed with Ulysses.
Only after the surrounding area was completely empty of people did Reinhardt begin a brief briefing.
"Five days ago, intelligence arrived that a mage registered on the Wall of Shame had appeared in the Einhold Duchy."
"Ju-just as I thought..."
"A run-of-the-mill mage would have been dealt with by Einhold themselves... Don't tell me Ulysses, the Wizard of Change, has shown up?"
When Katrina asked urgently, the Lion gave a small shake of his head.
"It isn't him. But three mages on par with, or superior to, the Fire Mage Loren have been sighted."
"Three mages from the Wall of Shame..."
At this unprecedented situation for the Reshutal Inquisition Branch, not only Katrina but also the squires from the North froze.
Reinhardt continued calmly.
"Scum flock together. Einhold requested our aid to ensure not a single one escapes."
"Since Heretic Inquisitors can't operate freely inside the duchy... they were hiding out there."
"That's one way to look at it. But our mission is strictly support. We received a request from the royal house, after all, so don't spout any unnecessary nonsense at the Einholds."
After that cold admonishment, Reinhardt spurred his horse forward...
A short while later, a carriage slowly emerged from the forest.
The moment the door opened, the little girl leaped out and gave Reinhardt a respectful greeting.
"Lord Reinhardt of Wizardvein! Thank you for answering Einhold's call."
"Think nothing of it. Have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all. I shall guide you to the duchy straight away."
Reinhardt observed only the bare minimum of noble formality.
I recognized the little Einhold girl and clicked my tongue inwardly.
It was the same child I had met the previous weekend.
"Huh?"
She soon recognized Katrina and me in turn, a flicker of embarrassment crossing her face.
While the Einhold retainers led the way, she fell back slightly and offered greetings to the other Inquisitors.
For a tiny little thing, she seemed to ride better than I did.
'Well, it would probably be harder for a noble to be worse at riding than me.'
After passing by the other two, she finally reached us and offered a greeting with a slightly sheepish look.
This field-trip roster was the elite of the Reshutal Inquisition Branch.
She probably hadn't guessed it would include me, even if she'd expected Katrina.
"...Hello. I am Angelica of the Einhold family. I apologize for my rudeness the other day."
"No, it was all part of your cover, I'm sure..."
When Katrina replied brusquely, Angelica laughed awkwardly.
I also gave a brief greeting, and just then, a wind from the forest made my outer garment billow wide.
As I hastily straightened my clothes, Angelica's pupils visibly dilated.
"Huh?"
Her gaze was fixed unmistakably on my waist.
Where my adamantite sword hung.
She had recognized it at a glance and murmured in genuine surprise.
"Why is the treasured sword of the Lion of the North in a place like that..."
"Lady Angelica. You'll fall behind."
"Ah! Th-thank you."
Once she'd steadied herself in the saddle, she stared fixedly at me for the entire remainder of the journey.
I had to work hard to pretend I didn't notice.