Chapter 52
Chapter 52
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Alchemist Order and First Mission (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The preliminary squads' early missions consisted of pairs selecting from the various mission requests that the squad headquarters had received.
The purpose of these missions was to give the preliminary squad members some hands-on experience. However, the Golden Wings squad that Chloe and I belonged to, being the top tier, had a much wider range of missions to choose from.
I read over the request that Chloe had brought.
Chloe held out the request to me with a confident expression. She seemed to think this was the perfect choice, not even bothering to hide her face behind her fan.
"It's a bit of a distance, but you can easily reach Lutier Territory from the capital by carriage. Plus, the lord of Lutier, Baron Iaron, is on good terms with my family. So, I'm sure you'll be able to complete the mission comfortably, my lord."
Sure enough, checking the request confirmed that a detailed map to the location was included. The road to Lutier Territory looked well-paved.
But not all roads in the Holy Empire were like that. In lesser territories, even with a lord in charge, it was no different from a medieval backwater.
Especially since magical beasts could appear anywhere without warning.
If one showed up in some remote countryside with no proper roads, accessibility would naturally be poor. Missions like that were ones highborn noble cadets would avoid.
'And if the roads are bad, there probably won't even be decent lodging. It could end up being some godforsaken village without an inn.'
Chloe emphasized exactly that point.
"If we take this mission, we can spend the night in a very 'noble' fashion—it's perfect. The baron will provide excellent accommodations. And three Type-4 beasts? With my skills... no, with your skills and mine, my lord, we can handle them with ease."
She looked at me squarely, as if there couldn't possibly be a better mission.
Well, the one thing I'd always scolded her about was how her behavior went against noble etiquette. So, in her mind, this mission was the epitome of nobility.
But instead, I barked at her.
"You pathetic wretch! What do you think a Golden Wings mission even is?"
"Pardon? What do you mean...?"
"The reason Golden Wings is the top tier isn't so fools like you can pick and choose missions at your convenience. It's about taking on the difficult missions that other tiers can't handle. Have you no pride as a Golden Wing?"
Chloe's face crumpled in an instant. In truth, she'd picked it with my sake in mind.
The infamous Julian the Count, who'd never done a single combat mission in his first year and always ranked dead last. She'd chosen a safe C-rank mission to suit me.
She'd even eliminated all the inconveniences—like poor travel routes and shoddy lodging—that would be hard for a high noble to endure.
But all she got in return was criticism, so of course she was pissed. As expected, she tried to hide her expression behind her fan but held back for now.
Chloe replied,
"B-but, my lord, you have no experience with combat missions, so I thought the first one should be as safe as possible..."
"That's another insult. I'm a Golden Wings preliminary squad member just like you. What do you take me for?"
"Th-that's not it! I absolutely don't doubt your skills, my lord, but taking on uncomfortable missions meant for commoners would lower a noble's dignity..."
"Nonsense. The authority of the Border Counts was earned because family members personally led the charge to protect the territory from magical beasts. The same goes for other nobles and lords. Are you telling me that as the daughter of a marquis, you don't even know that?"
Chloe looked even more flustered. It wasn't that she didn't understand my words—it was more like, why are you the one saying this?
But my argument was spot on.
Of course, in reality, far more high nobles abused their privileges than fulfilled their duties.
Still, she had nothing to say because of the heroic legend my great-uncle Wilhelm the Border Count had built over his lifetime.
With no choice, Chloe bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
"I'm sorry, Julian the Count. My thinking was too narrow."
"Good. Then I'll pick the request myself. I wouldn't trust you to bring anything worthwhile anyway."
At my final jab, even Chloe couldn't hold back and hid her face behind her fan.
We accepted the request from squad headquarters and set out immediately.
Our mode of transport was horses, sturdy ones provided by the headquarters for the cadets' missions. They were nearly as good as warhorses.
And my horsemanship far surpassed Chloe's.
"Isn't riding a horse basic for a noble? But it seems you've neglected even that much."
"I-I'm sorry, my lord."
We rode like mad. The new request I'd chosen was as follows.
The distance was about the same as Chloe's request. But it had that added caution: poor accessibility.
And just as warned, once we veered off the main road from the capital, the path deteriorated rapidly. The riding difficulty spiked.
"We'll rest for a bit. Looking at you, if we push on, you'll collapse before we even reach the mission site."
"I-I'm fine... urgh!"
Chloe's horse bucked violently to avoid a jagged rock on the ground. She let out a groan as if the jolt had stung between her legs.
"You don't look fine at all. We're resting."
Of course, it wasn't out of consideration for Chloe.
It was a sly tactic to burden her and drive home that she was nothing but dead weight. Sure enough, humiliated, she bit her lip.
I dismounted briefly and gently stroked my black steed. Right now, my high noble scion trait was active.
Plus, whether due to the Demon King's Heir title or not, the horse had submitted to me the moment our eyes met.
Well, considering what demons meant in the lore of Demon King's Son Surviving in the Holy Empire, it wasn't strange.
'Elves, dwarves, dragonkin, and other heteroraces—in this world's lore, those intelligent beings became demons.'
The human god Jedi and the gods of the heteroraces, whom humans called demon gods. Jedi won the war of the gods.
The heteroraces' gods lost their divinity and were demoted to demon gods. The heteroraces themselves were downgraded to demons by humans.
The Demon King was the ruler of those demons who served the demon gods.
In other words, Julian's Demon King blood also carried the blood of heteroraces. Animals like horses would instinctively recognize it.
Thank goodness my face didn't betray any dwarf blood.
Awakening a non-human demon body was one of the major quests in Demon King's Son Surviving in the Holy Empire.
As I pondered, Chloe sidled up beside me, her groin pain somewhat subsided.
I said to her,
"Well, we've made decent time. We should reach Neuber Territory as marked before sunset. Of course, if your horsemanship had been better, we'd have gotten here faster."
Chloe had no retort to my taunt. In truth, her riding was perfectly respectable for a noble lady.
The road to Neuber was just that bad. And she was being compared to me.
But for someone as prideful as her, the humiliation must have been overwhelming. Even when we crossed treacherous ditches and paths impassable by horse, I'd outshone her, the renowned alchemist.
'Same method as in Professor Elmaier's lecture last time.'
Truth be told, in a straight alchemy contest of finesse and precision, I couldn't beat Chloe right now.
The giant stone golem I'd made in that previous lecture was the result of pouring in the massive mana reserves from quest rewards.
'The trait only consumed my awakened base mana, so I dumped all the extra reward mana into it.'
A typical cadet might have around 120 MP at most. But I'd had over 500 MP stockpiled then.
I infused that into the stone to create a massive golem. The result was a landslide victory.
And today, while riding, it was the same.
Chloe, exhausted and unable to adapt to the rough terrain. In her place, I'd used alchemy to pave passages over the hazards.
'That was even easier than making a stone golem.'
With dirt and rocks everywhere, mana cost was low. I whipped up impromptu bridges on the spot.
Chloe's eyes went wide watching me.
I'd outdone her, the famed alchemist, in alchemy. So now, her humiliation probably outweighed any physical fatigue.
Her hand trembled on her fan—clear confirmation.
'About time she snaps.'
A mission just the two of us. And the night approaching. After all these humiliations, Chloe might not let the night pass quietly.
That was exactly what I wanted. After a short break, we mounted up again.
And just before sunset, we finally arrived at our destination: Neuber Territory.
As the request described, it was an obscure little territory on the outskirts of the capital. But I remembered the name 'Neuber' very well.
The lord of Neuber Territory, Anton, welcomed us effusively.
"T-to think such noble persons would visit my humble territory in person... I don't know where to put myself!"
Anton knelt before us, while the territory's folk prostrated themselves.
'Maybe it's a rural place. The atmosphere's different.'
The old imperial road, now uninhabitable. Even the capital's outskirts near it were depopulated, practically countryside.
Fittingly, Anton was a middle-aged man who barely held a knight's title despite being lord. The territory was a textbook medieval village.
"You've suffered greatly coming to such a rundown place!"
He was stunned to learn we were Golden Wings cadets from Pantheon, and nearly fainted upon hearing our full names.
"We couldn't handle the dungeon that appeared near my territory, no matter what we tried. So we submitted a request to Pantheon, but to think such esteemed persons would come themselves... I'm so sorry!"
He clearly hadn't imagined the Border Count's heir and the Iterne marquis's daughter coming to this backwater.
At his courteous welcome, Chloe's deflated pride visibly perked up.
Still mounted, she snapped her fan open and spoke haughtily.
"Well, it's surprising, I'll grant you that. But showing the example in person like this is the duty of high nobles. It's only natural for cadets of our station."
She'd borrowed my earlier words. But the locals seemed far more interested in me, heir to the hero Wilhelm, than in Chloe.
Lord Anton especially lavished praise only on me.
"Oh... the successor to Border Count Wilhelm. As befits a hero's heir, your face radiates brilliance."
He said he'd been a lowly knight in some nameless order. But he'd fought alongside Border Count Wilhelm's Essenmont forces at the end of the Great War.
"What a valiant figure, truly his grandson! And to come all the way to this remote place! You're a hero in your own right, Lord Julian!"
"Enough. The Border Count's valor stems solely from his great deeds. I'm just a mere Pantheon cadet here on a mission. Treat me as such."
At that, Anton bowed even lower, beside himself.
"So humble too! The blood of a hero cannot be denied!"
Irritated by the reaction, Chloe hid behind her fan.
Afterward, Anton hosted us as best he could. Over dinner, he explained the dungeon and beasts in detail.
"You must be exhausted from riding. Please, take these rooms."
Anton's manor was smaller than my capital residence, despite being a lord's house. Still, there were plenty of rooms, so Chloe and I each got our own.
Chloe went to the room next door. She'd been quiet throughout dinner, the rustic fare not suiting her tastes.
'No, more likely her mind was preoccupied plotting something.'
Sure enough, after I'd unpacked and changed into comfortable clothes, Chloe came knocking.
"Um, Julian the Count? Anton sent up some light snacks and wine. How about we share them to steel ourselves for tomorrow's mission before bed?"
She flashed a bright smile, offering a tray of food. Chloe's red eyes sparkled.