The Meeting of North and South
The week passed in the blink of an eye. Maybe it was because Count Morken had treated us so well. Or perhaps it was because Morken itself offered so many fascinating sights that felt completely fresh compared to the North.
When the appointed time finally arrived, the escort party gathered at the designated spot and waited for the Southerners to appear.
“The South really is a strange place.”
“I’d heard all the rumors, but seeing it in person… it’s definitely not ordinary.”
“It’s incredibly fascinating.”
Neon and Adela nodded in agreement with my thoughts.
The place where we stood wasn’t in front of the city gates, but at a massive train station laid with enormous iron rails. We had gathered at Morken Station—the terminus of the railway that began in the South—and now stared in awe at the magitech train rolling in from the distance.
“Their technology is insane. So all of this was developed through contact with Mysteries?”
“It’s as dangerous as it is captivating.”
“If that thing spreads beyond the Central region and across the entire continent, it’ll be something to see.”
The train was enormous. Whether it was because their technology still had limitations or because they had designed it from the start to carry massive cargo, it left a powerful impression on everyone present.
Screeeeech!
With the screech of metal grinding against metal, the train came to a halt. Steam hissed out as the doors opened. From within the thick clouds of vapor, people stepped down, stretching their long legs.
They wore black coats adorned with silver buttons, layered with mechanical armor resembling clockwork. Every single one of them had a gas mask covering their face.
We were still blinking in confusion at their bizarre, almost genre-shifted appearance when the Southerners simultaneously removed their masks.
At the center of the group, a handsome blond man ran a hand through his disheveled hair and spoke.
“My apologies. On the way here, a Mystery phenomenon created a zone of hallucinatory fog.”
“You’re telling me that even inside the vehicle you were riding—the train—the seals weren’t enough to keep it out?”
“Southerners react very sensitively to Mysteries. What might be a minor effect to others can become a lethal poison to us.”
“So even a small inhalation is dangerous.”
“Exactly. On the other hand, to Northerners it would be less effective than a poisonous mushroom that only causes a stomachache.”
The blond man, who had been scanning the surroundings with a disciplined posture, extended his hand toward Hornst.
“I am Aron, President of the Royal Academy of Lubern.”
“I am Baron Hornst, commander of the Fifth Knight Order on the Northern frontlines.”
The moment the two leaders exchanged greetings, a strange tension filled the station. Or perhaps it was closer to a competitive spirit than tension.
The gazes of the Southerners in their clockwork armor and the Northerners in their varied suits of plate clashed in the center of the station. The atmosphere was so charged that it wouldn’t have been surprising if a fight broke out at any moment.
Yet the actual mood between Hornst and Aron was remarkably warm.
“I never imagined I would meet a lion of the North in a place like this.”
“Lion? Please. If you met the real thing, you wouldn’t dare say that.”
“Still, a lion is a lion. Your fame has spread even to the South.”
“You’re the impressive one here. Aren’t you the genius who laid the foundation for modern magitech engineering?”
“Genius? Hardly. I simply walked the path that my predecessors paved.”
As the two men continued lavishing praise on each other, the heated atmosphere quickly cooled. Count Morken, who had been secretly tense the entire time, let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.
After exchanging some casual conversation at the station, the two men moved to the train’s cargo car.
Inside the cargo hold sat a massive sphere with a smooth surface. It looked to be at least three meters in diameter.
“So this is the new weapon the South has developed?”
“Correct. Internal testing is complete. All that remains is field evaluation.”
Hornst examined the sphere with curious eyes and gave it a few light taps. Whatever material it was made of, it yielded softly like silicone.
“I can’t even begin to guess what it’s made of.”
“That’s only natural. It’s a brand-new material produced exclusively in the South.”
“A new material… and humans created this?”
After poking and prodding the utterly fascinating object for a while, Hornst suddenly called out to me.
“Argo!”
“Shall I store it in my inventory?”
“As expected of a sharp fellow. You understand without me even needing to explain?”
If I couldn’t pick up on something this obvious, I could never have worked as a guild employee.
Since I had come here specifically for this role, I walked casually toward the new weapon. Aron, who had been standing nearby, suddenly showed a spark of interest in his eyes.
“This aura… Could it be that you are a Mystery Awakener?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. A Mystery chose me a few months ago.”
“My goodness. And yet it carries such a beautiful aura.”
Aron let out a small sigh of admiration, then took a business card from his coat. The card bore the emblem of the Royal Academy, beautifully decorated with golden patterns.
“What’s this?”
“If you ever visit the South, please make sure to stop by the Royal Academy.”
“Are you interested in my Mystery?”
“That’s only a secondary goal. I’ve simply become curious about you.”
This was the first time I’d ever received such blatant flirting. A reflexive sense of rejection made me unconsciously step back. Only then did Aron seem to realize his verbal slip. He smiled awkwardly and tried to explain.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. To Southerners, Mysteries hold a very important place. So please think of it as curiosity toward someone great enough to have attracted a Mystery of this caliber.”
“Well… if that’s the case.”
After clearing up the misunderstanding and relaxing, I stored the silver sphere in my inventory. The moment the massive object vanished in the blink of an eye, a small commotion broke out among the Southerners and Central folk, but it quickly died down.
Not many had actually seen the sphere since it had been inside the cargo car, and everyone seemed to assume Hornst wouldn’t have called me for no reason.
“To be able to store a sphere of that size… I don’t know what the storage capacity is, but that’s an incredibly desirable Mystery.”
“Using a Silver-grade adventurer as a supply carrier would be pretty entertaining.”
“…I had no intention of using a high-ranking knight in such a way.”
Count Morken had shown clear interest, but the mention of Silver-grade made him recoil in horror. Silver-grade adventurers were considered valuable assets even in the North. In the Central region, they were called high-ranking knights and evaluated as being just below Master-class. Using someone like that as a supply carrier would certainly be amusing—though the aftermath would be his problem.
Thanks to that, I was able to store the sphere in my inventory without any trouble and stepped out of the cargo car with a light heart.
“All done. The item has been safely stored in my inventory.”
“No matter how many times I see your Mystery ability, it never stops being amazing.”
It really was a bundle of convenience that would look strange even in a fantasy world. Still, since I was putting it to good use, I had no complaints.
Once I had fulfilled my role and stepped back, both Hornst and Aron turned their gazes in the same direction.
“Looks like they’re finally here.”
“That’s right. The Empire was supposed to send guests along with them.”
As the two men looked over, the escort party and the Southerners followed their gaze. A group was walking toward them. They strode with such confidence, as if they owned the place, that everyone’s attention instantly focused on them.
At the front of the group was Veronika, her flaming red hair roughly swept back.
“Yo. Am I too late?”
“Look at you making a grand entrance. Why are you so late?”
“I was training the kids on the way. They’re all so damn weak.”
“Then I guess it can’t be helped.”
While Veronika and Hornst continued their familiar conversation—apparently they were old acquaintances—the eyes of both the Northerners and Southerners remained fixed on the people from the Central region.
It was overwhelming.
That was the only word to describe what the academy students and professors felt upon arriving at the station.
They had already been annoyed beyond measure at being dragged into the political struggles of the Central region. Now that they were receiving such intense attention from the others, they wanted to abandon the request and run away.
The professors felt it especially strongly. The students could at least be given some leniency for being young, but the professors had no such excuse.
The powerful fighting spirit radiating from the Northerners—each of whom had been crafted from the materials of powerful monsters slain in their lifetimes, giving them distinct personalities—clashed against the refined competitive spirit of the Southerners, all uniformly clad in their clockwork armor. Both pressed down on the comparatively fragile Central folk.
The professors were renowned in the Central region for their outstanding abilities, but the people gathered here were far from ordinary.
The North was a land teeming with high-ranking monsters capable of destroying entire territories. The South was a place where deadly, secretive Mystery phenomena struck as frequently as summer monsoons. To the eyes of Central folk, both regions were little more than hellish realms.
And among those born and raised in such places, the ones who had not only survived but turned the tables and hunted those very threats were precisely the people gathered at this station.
There was no way the pressure they emitted could be weak.
That was why the professors were struggling to endure it. Conversely, it also meant that the professors possessed enough skill to earn the competitive interest of such formidable individuals.
“Oh?”
“The power I’m sensing is…?”
“I didn’t pay much attention since they were from the Central region, but they’re much stronger than I expected.”
“At that level, we could have a good match.”
If they hadn’t been strong, these people wouldn’t have shown any interest in the first place.
Of course, the professors—who had no idea about any of this—simply gritted their teeth and raised their own auras to endure the pressure pouring in from all directions. They never imagined that doing so would only fan the flames of their opponents’ competitive spirit even further.