Crossroads (3)
Ligret ended up in the same group as Chrome and Akasha, while Pino and Rabaul joined Lyla’s team. Those two could probably brute-force their way through most obstacles even if they had to go solo. Loto wasn’t participating in this request anyway. He was staying behind at the academy to manage the Midas Cube shop while Chrome was away, so aside from the financial side of things, he was safer than anyone else.
‘If anything, I’m the one who should be worried.’
Chrome looked over the party members he’d been assigned. Fiore, the healer and leader. Chase, the archer and scout. Those two were no problem. Fiore went without saying, and Chase was one of the top two archers alongside Pino—though Pino’s shooting sense was abnormally good. He also had a fairly friendly relationship with Chrome thanks to their previous dungeon encounter.
The two martial arts students, Toreo and Ruben, stood out with their red and green equipment. Chrome wasn’t entirely sure they’d follow orders well, but at least their skills were better than Loto’s. There was just one thing.
‘Frelia Magnus. What is that girl doing here?’
The Frelia Magnus Chrome knew from the original story grew into an unparalleled alchemist over time, but she was never the type to shine in combat. Unless the player specifically put her in the party, she wouldn’t even appear in combat-related events. Even without that prior knowledge, anyone would feel concerned or puzzled seeing her with those dull, lifeless eyes and the clear aura of “Why am I even here…?”
“If you’re not really feeling up to it, it might be better to drop out now, Lady Magnus.”
At those words, Frelia shot Chrome a sharp glare. Startled by the mysterious pressure, Chrome reflexively took a step back. She let out a sigh and shook her head.
“…No. Since I’ve already decided to do it, I’ll see it through to the end. Besides, it’s not really your fault either.”
“Huh? Ah, right.”
Chrome had no idea what she meant, but if she was willing to go through with it, there wasn’t much he could do. Just then, Toreo, one of the martial arts students, stepped forward.
“So, Midas… that’ll get confusing. Should I just call you the vice-captain girl?”
“Yes, call me whatever’s convenient.”
“Then I’ll do that. It’d be nice if you could tell us exactly what our group needs to do.”
The detailed contents of each group’s request had only been shared with the vice-captains. This, too, felt like an intentional move to create an information gap among the students and clearly establish hierarchy. Fiore clapped her hands together.
“Of course. So our mission is—bandit subjugation.”
The client was Baron Brin of the Spero Kingdom. A bandit group had taken root in his territory, and one of their leaders appeared to be a mana user. The request was to take them down. Toreo and Ruben, both from ducal martial families, reacted with disbelief.
“Leaving a bandit group to fester in his own family’s territory is one thing, but the fact that the request for help reached the Empire is downright comedic.”
“Does this Baron Brin have no sense of honor?”
Frelia, also a noble from the Spero Kingdom, looked away awkwardly, while Chrome shrugged at the two men’s comments.
“No need to look at it so negatively. It’s still better than struggling alone and making the problem bigger. Staying silent while bandits run rampant and harm the people just to avoid exposing your own shame—that’s not exactly ‘honorable’ behavior.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Ahem.”
This time the two fell silent, looking uncomfortable. As if to clear the awkward atmosphere, Fiore continued.
“Well, let’s think differently. Shouldn’t we be grateful instead? Thanks to this person making the request, we got assigned a relatively easy job. With two knights from a grand duchy here, we’re not even fighting the entire bandit group—just a portion of them. It should be simple.”
“You don’t have to flatter us that much. And it’s dangerous to let your guard down just because they’re bandits.”
Thinking it was blatant flattery, Ruben let out a hollow laugh. Fiore tilted her head.
“Even if the bandits are strong, they can’t be stronger than the Empire’s southern army, right?”
“……I have no response to that.”
Everyone present nodded in agreement. After all, if a mere bandit group was stronger than the Empire’s regular army, they wouldn’t be bandits—they’d be a warlord faction.
“The time limit is two weeks at most. Finish your preparations and gather in front of the magic train station after lunch. Alright, dismissed!”
With Fiore clapping cheerfully, the group began to disperse one by one until only Chrome and Fiore remained.
“I’d like to say you’re doing fine without my help… but aren’t you making them too complacent? It’s true the bandits won’t be stronger than the southern army, but when it comes to underhanded tactics, they’re in a league of their own.”
Unlike the southern army, which fought on a bright stage while upholding pride and rules, this opponent had no restrictions or shame. And no matter how skilled a mana user was, a surprise attack while defenseless could end them instantly. At Chrome’s concerned words, Fiore simply smiled.
“There’s a doctrine I learned in tactics class.”
—Those who make decisions must be excessively pessimistic.
—Those who follow orders should be foolishly optimistic.
Declaring that it was the commander’s role to worry on behalf of teammates so they wouldn’t have to, Fiore added,
“Ah, but big brother, you should still use your head a little. After all, having a competent adjutant makes things much easier.”
With a playful smile that said “It’s the opposite of usual,” Chrome replied,
“As you command, Captain.”
Being separated from most of his usual main forces, including Ligret, this mission felt like it would be quite a different kind of adventure.
After a full day of traveling by magic train, the group arrived at Baron Brin’s territory. The first thing they did wasn’t to meet the client, the baron.
“Let’s split the group. Lady Magnus, Toreo, Ruben, and I will go meet the baron and hear the situation. Big brother and Chase, please scout the surrounding area right away.”
Frelia tilted her head and asked,
“Is that really necessary?”
“It’s just in case. As Toreo and Ruben mentioned, entrusting the resolution of a problem that occurred in one’s own territory to outsiders can be quite shameful depending on the person. Besides, even though we have the academy as our backing, we’re still just students.”
Professor Neville had mentioned that the academy had taken on some of the requests that should have originally gone to the military. If Baron Brin had been expecting intervention from the imperial army or the Spero Kingdom’s forces, how would he feel upon learning that his request for support had been arbitrarily redirected to the academy? The academy had contacted them in advance, so they wouldn’t be turned away at the door, but there was still a non-zero chance he might feel uncomfortable or dismiss them as inexperienced. It was ridiculous to have to watch their step even while offering help, but perhaps this situation was also part of the academy’s evaluation criteria.
With that, the group split into two. Chrome and Chase wandered around the baron’s territory gathering information.
“Huh? Who are you folks? Bandits? What do you care about—”
Clink.
“Ah, those guys. Well, the thing is……”
“You want to hear news from around here? Hah! If you’re not buying anything, get lost!”
Clink.
“Oh my, welcome! I’m quite the local information broker around here!”
“Hey! What are you snooping around for in our territory?! You look suspicious. Come quietly or—”
Clink.
“I didn’t realize you were the lord’s guests! I’ve committed a grave discourtesy! Please forgive me!”
Watching Chrome tuck a heavy silk pouch into his clothes, Chase muttered in disbelief.
“Is this how investigations are usually done?”
“When it comes to smooth human relations, nothing greases the wheels quite like money.”
“When you say it, it sounds terrifyingly convincing.”
The two organized the information they’d gathered through their inquiries.
—The bandit group had settled in a village located in the western wilderness of this territory, quite a distance away. It had originally belonged to another lord’s family, but after a great plague wiped out all the residents, ownership passed to Baron Brin’s family.
—Although they received ownership, Baron Brin’s family, still devastated by the aftermath of war at the time, lacked both the ability to manage the land and to deal with the plague’s aftermath, so they left it abandoned.
—As time passed and Baron Brin’s family regained their strength, they tried to develop the neglected territory, only to find that a fairly large bandit group had already taken root there.
—The exact size of the bandit group was unknown, but it appeared to be at least over thirty members.
Chase muttered,
“Thirty, huh. That’s a tricky number if we’re aiming for a head-on confrontation.”
Considering that everyone in their group was a mana user, it wasn’t impossible to win, but there was no need to push themselves. Especially since that was only the minimum estimate—there could be even more in reality.
“Well, our request is only to take down the enemy leaders anyway, so we don’t need to fight all of them… Whether we can get military support depends on the members who went to meet the lord.”
The two men’s gazes turned toward the mansion built at the highest point of the territory.