How a Wizard Survives (58)
How a Wizard Survives (58)
The second morning since entering the training camp.
I stood in formation with the other candidates before the One-Eyed Commandant.
Most of the Holy Knight candidates who had shared my quarters were not in good shape.
The commandant looked at the mess of bruises they had collected overnight and clicked her tongue.
"This is how you look on the first day?"
"Our apologies, Commandant."
I offered the polite words without a trace of apology.
Honestly, this outcome had been obvious.
No wonder they found me insufferable.
A common-born candidate, not only lacking noble blood but dragging royalty along with him.
And a man like that shoves his way in barely a week before graduation...
It would have been a miracle if there hadn't been a lynching overnight.
Still, I hadn't been in the best mood yesterday either.
I'd been sleeping rough the whole journey here.
On top of that, the level of the Holy Knight candidates fell far short of my expectations—by a lot.
Comparing them to the knights on the front lines had clearly been my mistake.
As I stood with my head lowered, a bruised candidate stepped forward to represent the others.
"Training Camp Commandant, violence occurred last night, so please, disciplinary action—"
"Shut your mouth and keep it shut."
"Excuse me?"
"It was roughly fourteen against one, wasn't it? And you still got beaten this badly—how can you raise your voice like you did something right?"
After snapping in a razor-sharp tone, she turned her attention to the trainees who were in a relatively normal state.
"And why are you lot still clean?"
"Ah, we're from Reshutal, so..."
The commandant grasped their meaning without difficulty and changed the question.
"...Is this bastard famous?"
"In Reshutal, if you don't know Jaeger, wouldn't that practically be heresy?"
"I see."
With a brief nod of understanding, the commandant announced the disciplinary measures.
"Good. The ones who got beaten last night will do an extra month of basic training."
"What? That's—"
"Please reconsider, Commandant! It's only because we weren't armed..."
Well, they had a point there.
If I'd had a sword in my hand, the result would have been different.
While I was thinking that, the commandant fixed the speaker with a murderous glare.
Seeing the noble-born candidates unable to make a peep, she must have worked them over far more harshly than ordinary training.
How embarrassing, after Reinhardt had gone out of his way to introduce me.
The training that continued into the afternoon wasn't exactly smooth either.
"Then shout the suppression call and breach. Always exercise caution with the small battering ram. One, two, three!"
"Hah-ya! Heretic Inquisitor... i-tion..."
I had led the charge through the breach, but a sudden realization stopped me cold.
Something about this felt wrong.
The candidates assigned the heretic role attacked me with a generous dose of personal grudge, then got hit and went flying one after another.
The commandant, who had been observing the training, called me aside and asked, "In Reshutal, does everyone do it that way?"
"No, it's not that..."
"Those rotten bastards. They graduate from the training camp and get all full of themselves..."
Had she run me through the wringer like that for about two days?
The commandant, seeming to judge that further verification was pointless, ordered me to pack my things again.
When I hurried to meet her, she abruptly thrust a live blade at me.
"Listen. Remove your Holy Relics too. This is the final test."
"Understood."
If my adamantite sword shattered during a spar, that would be a disaster.
I was fretting over something I'd never worried about before when she attacked without a moment's delay.
The one-eyed battle-scarred Heretic Inquisitor—and a woman at that, so I'd intended to go easy on her... but unexpectedly, her sword was sharp.
When I barely managed to deflect a blow, she recognized my technique in an instant.
"You've absorbed Reinhardt's swordsmanship."
"...Why is someone like you just serving as the training camp commandant here?"
"Oh, that's my favorite thing you've said so far."
Screech! Grind...
I tried to break free of the Blade Bind, but she wouldn't let me go.
Our swords locked fiercely together in the air.
The One-Eyed Commandant used leverage to press me down, aiming to strike my shoulder.
I twisted my body sideways and managed to shake her off with a kick.
She shouted with odd exhilaration.
"Is that all you've got?"
"It's difficult while trying not to kill you..."
"Impudent brat!"
Was it just my imagination?
As our techniques clashed, emotion began to bleed into every strike.
At this rate, if we kept accelerating, it felt like one of us would end up dead—but the other side wasn't stopping.
'Ah, so that was it. Right. They had not tested that yet...'
I read her hidden intent and laughed inwardly.
The next moment.
Even though I had braced myself for it just moments before, a wave of killing intent surged in at a level that made my whole body flinch.
If this had been real combat, I would have reflexively struck to kill.
'Tch!'
Still, killing intent alone can't kill a person.
This time, I initiated the Blade Bind and locked down my opponent's movement—and the commandant's left hand moved fast.
I braced for impact.
'Magic!'
Rejection Magic specializes in erasing the opponent's mana, but...
It can also be applied offensively by exploiting its reaction with mana.
The efficiency drops far below its primary specialty, but it isn't a magic limited to one thing.
And so I took a blast of magic to the ribs and went flying through the air.
Aside from the killing intent that had been prickling my skin, the attack's power was nothing to write home about.
The One-Eyed Commandant had deliberately reduced its force right before impact.
'Thorough bastards.'
I clicked my tongue anew at the Heretic Inquisitors' thoroughness.
This duel had been a test for me from start to finish.
If I hadn't steeled myself in advance, I might have reflexively used magic.
But it was precisely their relentless paranoia that had protected humanity all this time.
Thinking that, I took the commandant's outstretched hand and rose to my feet.
She didn't even offer a belated confession.
"Sorry about that. It's embarrassing for a commandant to lose to a trainee, you see."
"It looked like it would've been tough even if you hadn't used that miracle."
"I see you're not entirely incapable of social interaction. I was worried Reinhardt might have taught you that part too."
"Sir Reinhardt did manage the bare minimum, actually. Like, in front of His Majesty the King..."
She laughed, satisfied with my answer, and we exited the training camp together.
Before long, unbelievable as it was, we arrived before the Family Head.
The commandant proved my innocence in front of her.
"His upbringing is rough, but he is sound. Think of him as a secret weapon built to slaughter heretics."
"...Is that so? Good work."
The Family Head's voice was deliberately calm, but her eyes were tinged with indescribable astonishment.
Apparently, this was the first time she had heard the commandant speak that way.
Thanks to that, access to the Adamantite Mine came without any further obstacles.
I received my Holy Knight Investiture on the spot, then went straight to Katrina.
"Jaeger! Did it end well?"
"Ahem. Lady Katrina. Please address me as Sir Jaeger, Holy Knight, from now on."
"..."
"You going all stone-faced like that is exactly why I can't stop teasing you, Lady Katrina."
"Understood. Sir Jaeger, Holy Knight. Let us be on our way."
Katrina snapped back with a coldness that matched the day we first met.
I spent a long while clinging to her and soothing her anger before we could finally pay our respects at the grave.
She said it was fine since she had gone recently, but...
I had no guarantee I would ever be able to return.
"Anyway, did you get through the testing safely?"
"Yes. I think that bastard Orphos raised suspicions against me for no reason... but I got through it safely."
"It wasn't for no reason, though."
"Oh, right."
With a small laugh, I finished paying my respects and departed for the Adamantite Mine.
Since it wasn't far from the Winter Fortress, we could go by carriage this time.
Katrina sat Alina across from her and went over the precautions.
"The Adamantite Mine isn't Wizardvein Family territory, so both of you need to be careful."
"Whose territory is it, then?"
"It's no one's. It's the joint property of the kingdoms that sponsor the Wizardveins."
At the mention of sponsorship, Alina puffed out her chest with a proud expression.
Katrina continued, somewhat deflated.
"Of course, you must also be careful of the monsters inside the mine. Scholars believe they are remnants left behind by demons to hinder the mining, but..."
"That doesn't add up. Adamantite is a substance virtually toxic to us demons. For demonic beasts to survive long-term in an Adamantite Mine is absurd."
When Alina stated that calmly, Katrina nodded.
I sensed the conversation turning strange.
"Wait, if they're not demonic beasts, then what in the world are they? Even if they were just wild animals or something, they wouldn't be a match for Heretic Inquisitors, would they?"
"That is precisely why we were dispatched... The librarians active on-site might know more."
As Katrina wrapped up her explanation, the mining town came into view outside the window.
As humanity's most critical facility, the mine operated on an immense scale.
The entire area around the mine entrance had been fortified.
The mountain already had a slight slope, so it truly looked like an iron wall.
"A fine town. Shall we find lodging first?" Alina licked her lips as she spoke, prompting an immediate objection from Katrina.
"Let's get inside first. We should be able to borrow rooms at the temple."
I decided to go along with that.
The carriage passed through the town and went straight up to the mine.
The gate stood wide open, perhaps because it was the middle of the working hours.
Nevertheless, the entry screening was incredibly strict.
Even Alina, a member of royalty, was no exception.
"Wizardvein Family authorization letter... confirmed. Everyone please disembark from the carriage and pass through."
"Understood."
While crossing a solidly built marble bridge, I suddenly felt a sense of dissonance.
This bridge... a Contractor Test plate was laid beneath its floor.
A trap that any unwitting Contractor or Demon Thrall would inevitably trigger when passing through.
In some ways, the procedure here was stricter than at the Winter Fortress.
'Well, the Winter Fortress was originally designed so only family members could come and go...'
If they'd just laid down adamantite, they could test even more reliably, but...
There was not even enough material for weapons, so their caution was understandable.
Besides, this device filters out about ninety-nine percent already.
Alina and I were just extremely unusual cases.
Alina appeared to notice the same thing, and we exchanged a smile as we entered the mine proper. A temple stood inside as well.
It was smaller than the temple in town and appeared to serve the librarians conducting research here.
Katrina headed that way without hesitation.
Perhaps because Alina accompanied us, a senior staff member came out to greet us personally.
"Welcome."
"I heard there are disruptions to the adamantite mining... Is that true?"
"I'm ashamed to say it is. Both the soldiers and the miners are too frightened to enter the mine."
Given that it was practically next door to the Winter Fortress, the Wizardvein Family wouldn't have just sat idle...
The situation was clearly serious.
The librarian glanced uneasily behind us.
"Have only the three of you come?"
"Bringing many would only increase the casualties. As has been the case so far."
"Th-that's true, but... Please, come this way."
Once safely out of sight, the librarian sighed and revealed the monster's identity.
The thing that had been kept under strict security in the laboratory looked nothing like a demonic beast.
There are many types of demonic beasts, so it's hard to jump to conclusions, but still.
"This is the sole sample we've secured. Three Holy Knights were lost to bring down just one."
"Its skin... is it made of mineral?"
"Yes. The form of the other specimens is reported to be roughly similar. We don't know exactly what it is, but it is absolutely not a demonic beast."
The librarian recited information similar to what we had expected.
I looked at the corpse, which had a spider-like shape, and nodded.
A corpse made of hard steel, though its frame was fairly small.
Each of its six sharp legs was like a spear or sword.
Frankly, it was lucky that it had ended with only about three Holy Knights.
'Ah, three Holy Knights specifically—so the actual casualties might be far higher, then?'
"How many of these things are there, exactly?"
"Three confirmed specimens... Fortunately, they aren't coming out of a certain sector. The problem is that we've already mined all the deposits up to that sector. Digging a new shaft in a different direction is also impossible."
"Understood. We'll resolve it. We'll depart early tomorrow morning."
"Would you like to meet the survivors right away? You'll be accompanying them anyway..."
I shook my head at the librarian's anxious question.
"No, on the day itself, only Lady Katrina and I will be entering."
"What? But that's..."
"Having other people around makes using Holy Relics more difficult. When I send a signal, have them breach at that point."
Obviously, I didn't have the slightest intention of actually sending a signal.
I needed to be out of their sight to freely exercise my magic.
The librarian, practically on the verge of tears, did his best to dissuade me.