Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Tracking Request
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Palewood Forest is now occupied by another race.
I get the gist.
You want that race wiped out.
Right?
I'm not hoping for that, or even expecting it. Do you know who they are?
Doesn't matter who they are.
They're the Followers of Evil.
Followers of Evil?
The Followers of Evil are a faction that reveres those among the Transcendents who have fallen to evil. What I'm asking is for you to scout their movements. There's intel that their activity is unusual.
Revere Transcendents?
Doesn't that mean they're weaker than Transcendents?
Do you know a bit about Transcendents by any chance? They have different realms even among themselves.
Stop beating around the bush and spit it out.
There are Transcendents even among the followers. The evil masters they serve are among the higher-realm Transcendents.
That's it?
But hold on... now that I think about it, isn't the request a bit much just to satisfy my curiosity?
That's why I said from the start this isn't a job for you.
Five from now on!
Answer one of my questions each time I have one.
Then I'll take the job.
...Are you serious?
Yeah. Five.
Too many?
Fine, I'll be generous. This time, Bellheim Kingdom.
No, Empire. Anyway, tell me the way there, and we'll have four left.
...
I'm suddenly worried.
If I agree to this deal, won't I be exploiting someone lacking in knowledge...?
What are you talking about?
Are you in or out?
Someone might wonder if I had truly given up on making the manaphone.
But I want to tell them how tenacious lingering attachment can be. How hope, even if just a thread, is something you can't easily let go of.
I thought it was research I'd pour my entire life into completing.
But I hit an absurdly high and thick wall far earlier than expected and gave up.
That wall wasn't simply something like 'hierarchy.'
Well... maybe past the 7th hierarchy, some remarkable breakthrough appears.
Deeper insights into magic, new laws coming into view, more complex calculations becoming possible... but in the end, doesn't it just make magic dirtier?
But to make a manaphone... I needed countless innovative methods detached from that system. Not just one or two, but breakthroughs beyond counting.
I was just a wanderer lost after straying from the set path.
Damn this world... this heartless world that doesn't understand my feelings.
"...What are you doing?"
"Ah, just thinking to myself for a bit."
"Your expression looked really bad."
"I'm already feeling queasy thinking about riding in this carriage for so long."
I quickly stopped lamenting and followed Raistel out the castle gate.
He said he'd prepared a carriage in front of the castle.
As I walked toward the carriage, I heard footsteps running up from behind.
"Ivan!"
"Sis?"
The one who came running was my older sister.
Abella Vieirn.
"Where are you going?"
Her long black hair was disheveled and sticking to her face from running so hard.
"Yeah, I took on a little job."
I gently peeled a few strands of hair from her face with my fingertips.
It was still fascinating.
Black hair being genetic.
Black hair is rare in this place.
"This is Raistel. He's a Senior Knight."
Raistel greeted her with a dazed expression.
My sister narrowed her eyes, scrutinized Raistel, then turned back to me.
"It's not dangerous, right? And if you're going, at least say something."
"I left a letter."
"You... you're too businesslike sometimes. Think about the people who'll find out you're gone only from a letter later."
My sister's calm criticism always felt awkward no matter how often I heard it.
Having seen her fiery side so much usually, this quietly worried demeanor was even harder for me.
To the point where I wondered why she was so gentle only with me.
I averted my eyes slightly and changed the subject.
"Sis... aren't you busy?"
She's been swamped lately. The succession battle with our brother has heated up.
It wasn't the petty bickering from when we were kids anymore.
Now, even that bickering had vanished.
Replaced by something more barren.
"I was in a meeting. I looked out the window and saw you heading out the gate with someone I'd never seen before."
"I'm going to work. It's a kind of commission. I'll be back soon. Not that dangerous."
"You can't come back hurt? You're the only face I want to see in this house."
"Sis... you're almost thirty soon..."
"What?"
"Nothing."
I said goodbye to my sister and climbed into the carriage.
Once inside, I sneaked a glance out the window.
My sister was still standing there. Her black hair fluttering lightly in the wind.
What was odd was Raistel. Even after getting in the carriage, he kept looking toward Abella.
"Your sister?"
"Yes. She's a worrier. Sorry if she made you uncomfortable earlier."
"No, I thought she was your little sister. How is her skin so flawless...?"
"...Pardon?"
As I stared blankly, Raistel suddenly startled himself and cleared his throat repeatedly.
"Ahem, don't misunderstand. I just meant her skin is great. Pure admiration."
"..."
It felt a bit suspicious, but he didn't seem to be lying.
That made me even prouder.
I was the one handling my sister's skincare.
More precisely, the artifact I made was helping with her skincare.
My sister, determined to become Family Head, had lived 30 years without glancing at men.
She's turning thirty next year for real... As her brother, I couldn't let her prime pass like that, so I made the artifact.
After returning home, tinkering with odds and ends naturally increased my herb knowledge.
There were plenty of herbs good for the skin. It was just that skincare wasn't a concept here.
I'd offered it to Father and Brother once too, but they dismissed it as knightly nonsense with near-disgust, so I gave up.
"Hm..."
I slowly sized up Raistel.
Face is fine.
Good status.
Strong enough to protect family.
Even his age matches my sister's.
Sip... isn't he a decent brother-in-law candidate?
"Why, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing. By any chance... are you married?"
"No. Too busy with work to think about it. It's a shame for the family."
"Heh heh, I see."
"Why are you laughing like that?"
"It's nothing, heh heh."
"People might think I dragged in a depraved mage."
Raistel said that, then seemed to remember something and continued.
"Speaking of which, you said you're interested in the research the depraved mage... no, the research he did in his youth?"
"Yes, very interested. Extremely."
"I called it worthless, but maybe not. He's reached the 8th hierarchy now, so he might have advanced his own research and seen results. If we capture him, I'll definitely ask about it, so don't worry."
"I didn't expect you to look out for me this much. My resolve is wavering now."
"What resolve... is wavering? Surely you're not... into unique tastes...?"
"..."
Ah, this guy. Making me get serious.
The carriage kept pressing on.
The road from the rural city to the capital was far from smooth.
No major incidents, just... it was far.
Sitting in the jolting carriage for endless hours was torture.
Raistel and I ended up talking a lot, whether we wanted to or not.
"Transcendents aren't exclusive to humans. Nor is it a realm only mages can reach. Of course, mages do have an easier time getting there."
I didn't know much about Transcendents, but I understood what he meant.
In this world, all the overwhelming powers and phenomena defying reality's laws that modern physics couldn't explain stemmed from mana.
And mages were the ones who delved deepest into mana and handled it most delicately.
In that sense, it wasn't wrong that mages had the easiest path to Transcendence.
...Even mages who wield mana couldn't make a cellphone, though.
"We'll arrive soon. We need to meet the Commander first."
"Got it. What, a skill test or something?"
"No need. I'll handle everything."
"..."
For someone with full authority, his tone oddly lacked reassurance.
But no reason for me to nitpick, so I nodded and looked out the window again.
And just as Raistel said, we reached the destination quickly.
The strict guards surrounding the building made it obvious this was a military base.
Raistel walked in receiving familiar salutes from his subordinates, and I followed.
"The Commander is inside."
Raistel carefully pushed open a door at the subordinate's words.
Screech-
The old man sitting inside slowly raised his head.
White hair. A face etched with the marks of time. But did that mean he lacked vitality...? No.
His eyes were clear, his back straight.
He was an elder with living presence.
Just sitting there made the whole space feel under his influence.
Combat Commander. Parovian Eldis.
The nameplate on the desk clearly stated his name.
"Is that the one you brought as your solution?"
The charismatic grandfather eyes me.
I could tell from his expression. He sized me up in one second.
He doesn't like me.
...Knew it. I expected it, so no big disappointment.
But the grandfather's displeased face began to shift subtly.
At the same time, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.
'Parovian Eldis... Eldis.'
Hm... the name...
"Feels familiar."
"Familiar, indeed."
The same words slipped from both our mouths.
I thought of it first.
"Oz Eldis?"
My academy classmate, who never lost top spot after the first exam until graduation... granddaughter of the prestigious mage family, Eldis Family.
The old man sharing her surname.
Father...? No, he looks much older, so grandfather?
'Wait.'
But why does this grandfather feel familiar to me?