How a Wizard Survives (5)
How a Wizard Survives (5)
My puppet was finished sooner than I expected.
As always, Ash's puppet was remarkably capable, but that did not make my workload any lighter.
As if a major battle had recently taken place, repair orders flooded the smithy.
As I joined more rings than I could count, I made an earnest suggestion to my revered teacher.
"Teacher, couldn't we just make plate armor instead?"
Plate armor is extremely expensive, but the labor involved is far less than chainmail.
Ulysses, however, shook his head without a moment's hesitation.
"Absolutely not."
"Absolutely?"
"For one, we lack the technical skill. Smiths who can make plate armor are few and far between, even if you search the whole kingdom. That field follows a highly specialized process where each part is made separately."
But for someone like Teacher, acquiring such skills would be trivial, wouldn't it?
The moment I thought it, he cut me off.
"Even if we could, we shouldn't. If a tiny two-person workshop starts churning out plate armor..."
"It would draw attention."
"Exactly. We already handle a remarkable volume for a two-person workshop, don't we? Besides, these are repair orders, so what we make while working on them doesn't matter."
Well, he had a point.
Resigned, I dunked a suit of chainmail into sand soaked in vinegar.
This process removed rust from the armor, though it gradually wore the rings down until they were unusable.
Once I demonstrated the process, the puppet beside me copied it without delay.
Without 'Mr. Smith' and 'Mr. Jaeger,' I really would be working all day.
Thanks to the free time they gave me, I moved to another spot with Teacher and began swordsmanship training.
After a few exchanges with blunted practice swords, a satisfied smile spread across my teacher's face.
"Sending you to the Swordsmanship Guild was money well spent."
"They keep asking me to join officially. Are they trying to squeeze more money out of me?"
"No, accepting an unskilled swordsman as a full member only tarnishes the guild's reputation. You do know guild swordsmen get challenged by other guilds all the time, right?"
Ulysses pressed me with skilled sword strokes.
This man was strong even without magic.
The moment I was cornered, Teacher hooked my foot and tripped me, ending the spar.
"Pay more attention to your lower body. Civilians don't usually target it, but experts are different."
"Yes, sir!"
I was leaning against the wall, hauling myself upright, when Ash trudged up from the basement.
Had we been too loud?
Before I could even greet her, she tossed something my way.
"Whoa?"
"I was building your puppet anyway, so I made this while I was at it."
"Thank you. But what is it?"
Ash's gift had an odd shape.
She demonstrated its use with a gesture.
"It's a mask. For covering your face."
"Ah, a mask... but it's small, isn't it? Does it only cover up to the nose?"
"Covering the eyes restricts your vision a lot. A person's impression changes drastically just by hiding the lower face and philtrum."
The eyes were still the most expressive part, but they could not be covered completely.
Since I'd received a gift, I promptly tried it on.
It clung to my cheeks; the fit was better than expected.
"This is nice. Talking isn't uncomfortable, either."
"Ash is an expert on the human body," Ulysses cut in. "Don't wear that during the day. Don't even carry it with you."
At Teacher's words, I went to my room and hid the mask safely away.
As he said, walking around in something like this during the day would only draw eyes.
Just as I was about to thank her again, I sensed a presence outside the smithy.
"Who's that? Another order?"
Mr. Smith and Mr. Jaeger darted outside and soon returned hauling a load of damaged armor.
Each piece bore a large cross engraved on it.
"An order from the Inquisition," Ash said.
"We handle their work too?"
"Of course. The moment you refuse an Inquisition order, you're a heretic. Fail to complete it properly, you're a heretic. Ask when they're going to pay their tab, you're a heretic."
"What absolute bastards."
"That last one was Ulysses's joke," Ash added. "Those people have insane amounts of money."
Looking at the armor's craftsmanship and quantity, I could believe her words.
"Seems like it. How many sets of plate armor is this?"
Still, it's hard to imagine they'd entrust a knight's armor to a city smithy. Could they be issuing this to regular soldiers, too?
Well, anyone working for the Inquisition must be competent. You'd need at least this level of gear to face magic with your bare body.
Ulysses decided to postpone all other commissions and focus on the Inquisition's order.
When I asked with my eyes if I could use magic, he shook his head.
"No magic. Though we can borrow the puppets' hands."
"Why not?"
"Because Heretic Inquisitors are sensitive to mana."
I get that, but does it mean I can't even use it in the smithy?
Ulysses picked up a chainmail ring in each hand and held them out to me.
"Here. One ring was made with magic, the other by honest labor. Can you tell them apart?"
"Hmm."
I focused on the two rings.
Soon I sensed an exceedingly faint trace of mana from the one on the right.
"The right one was made with magic?"
"Correct. Using magic in the crafting process leaves mana traces. Detecting them is called a Mana Trace Examination."
"Ah... then was the work we've done so far okay?"
"Traces that faint disappear quickly. Honestly, most Inquisitors wouldn't even notice them. But just in case."
Work would get a lot busier without magic.
I was about to get moving without another word, but Teacher, for his part, seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Thought I'd taught you a fair bit about the Inquisition... seems there's still plenty you don't know. Anything else you're curious about?"
"Ah, well... you mentioned once that even among Inquisitors, there are some who use powers similar to magic. What are they?"
"Look at me, forgetting things. There are exactly two groups in the kingdom who can use magic without getting arrested."
Teacher readily answered a question I'd been holding onto for nearly a year.
If I'd known, I would've asked sooner.
I listened closely to his metallic-tinged voice.
"First, the Einhold Family. Also known as the King's Mages."
"King's Mages?"
"Yes. As the name suggests, they are a mage family that serves the king. They backed the right side when the kingdom was founded. I believe they hold a ducal title now."
Letting Inquisitors run rampant while they themselves freely use magic.
Nobles never get any better, do they?
As I lamented inwardly, Teacher's lecture continued.
"And the second is the Wizardvein Family, also known as the God's Mages. They sit at the very top of the Inquisition."
"That's..."
Absolutely ridiculous.
Seeing my reaction, Teacher gave a bitter smile.
"Avoid getting tangled up with either of these two if you can."
"...The mages of these two families are ultimately contractors bound to demons, right?"
"They are. But the demons they've contracted are a bit unusual."
"They still have to offer up their souls to the demons when they die, don't they?"
"That's why they don't die."
"Excuse me?"
They don't die?
What on earth does that mean?
"Once mages from these two families pass a certain age, they enter an eternal sleep. The technical term is Cold Sleep. Of course, not everyone avoids death entirely..."
"Sounds horrifying just hearing about it."
"Well, that's how badly they want to use magic."
We ended up working through the night.
We could've left it to the puppets, but Teacher wasn't the type to let tasks pile up while he relaxed.
Judging by the noise coming from the neighboring smithies late into the night, everyone else was in the same boat.
Still, mobilizing everyone, including the puppets, paid off, and we finished first.
To avoid suspicion, Teacher waited a day, then sent a courier to the Inquisition.
They'd entrusted us with an enormous amount of expensive armor, so we couldn't just deliver it ourselves.
A thief could steal the lot, remove the Inquisition's insignias, and sell it for enough money to live in leisure.
"An escort from the Inquisition will arrive soon. You go with them."
"I was hoping not to set foot in the Inquisition..."
"A tour now and then isn't a bad thing."
Teacher smirked, patting me on the shoulder.
I practiced my expression in the mirror while we waited, and soon the Heretic Inquisitors arrived.
Most wore white uniforms, but the one in charge was fully armed in an expensive-looking suit of plate armor.
Seeing him wear a helmet even inside the city, I figured he must be a real stiff-necked bastard.
One of the uniformed Inquisitors approached me and asked, "The commissioned items?"
"Right here."
"Let's see... good. Properly maintained."
They inspected the cart loaded with spears, swords, and armor, nodded with satisfaction, and settled the bill.
I hauled the cart and went out into the street with them.
Hauling the cart in the middle of a group of Heretic Inquisitors, I thought my heart might burst.
Probably a little of it showed on my face, but this sort of reaction is common, so no one thought it odd.
Yet everything wasn't going perfectly smoothly.
Something felt off about these people.
Inquisitor or not, they're still human and should share some small talk or casual comment, but from them there was absolutely nothing.
The sheer level of military discipline felt unnatural.
'It's because of that armored Inquisitor, isn't it?'
The source of the strangely rigid atmosphere was their commanding officer.
Everyone was hyper-aware of him.
He hadn't so much as uttered a single word since they arrived.
Even though the sun was beginning to set, there was almost no foot traffic.
Passersby and even carriages scurried out of our way.
That was, of course, because of the Inquisitors, not me.
Thanks to that, I easily hauled the cart along... until one of the Inquisitors pointed down an alley.
"That way's faster."
"Understood."
Eager to get this over with, I promptly turned the cart that way, when an unfamiliar presence suddenly surrounded us.
The armored Inquisitor seemed to sense the same thing and hesitated for a moment.
I thought it might be my imagination, but the killing intent prickling my skin was all too vivid.
'What is this? Can't be robbers after the gear.'
It's true that what's on this cart is worth a lifetime of leisure, but isn't that exactly why the Inquisitors are escorting it?
As the saying goes, what good is money if you're not alive to spend it.
No matter how I thought about it, this couldn't be a simple robbery.
Before my reasoning could finish, shadows descended at both ends of the alley.
A conservative count put their number well over ten.
The Inquisitors drew their weapons on reflex.
Though most wore uniforms rather than armor, they were still armed.
"Who goes there? Stand back!"
"Don't be scared, men! Those bastards aren't even wearing armor."
"Avenge our teacher!"
As I suspected, they were mages.
Wearing masks and hoods, they drew their weapons and fell upon the Inquisitors without hesitation.
"Damn it!"
I snatched a sword from the cart and immediately took a stance.
The situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable... but at that point, claiming I was a mage too wouldn't have done me any good.
'They could've just ambushed these guys on the road!'
In this situation, the best move would be to slip away alone, but as a rule, a great mage has much in common with a great criminal.
And a great criminal never leaves witnesses.
I wasn't sure how great those mages were, but I trusted they had at least that much sense.
Just as I thought, there was no time to put on armor.
The city mages used crossbows first, easily dropping the uniformed Inquisitors.
I almost got hit by a bolt myself, but I threw myself aside just in time to dodge.
'Damn, do I have to use magic here...?'
"Kill them—urk!"
A mage charging from the front went down, slashed by a blade.
Even as his subordinates fell around him, the armored Inquisitor stood firm, cutting down mage after mage.
I held off on using magic for now and dashed to his side.