Divine Sword Tracking (1)
Divine Sword Tracking (1)
After a short journey, the carriage arrived in the central city of the Pisen Marquisate.
A mining city nestled within massive outer walls.
Just as I remembered, several plumes of smoke rose from the mining city.
The other team members—the female students—stared in wonder at the smoke rising from the city center, just as they had back then.
But having visited this city before, it felt to me like looking at an industrial complex from my past life.
Just as before, the city was filthy, and its people looked exhausted.
The carriage passed through the city and stopped in front of the mansion.
A magnificent mansion gleaming with gold. Mirisa's mouth fell open again the moment she saw it.
We climbed out of the carriage and headed to the reception room.
As we waited in the luxurious reception room, the butler who had escorted us brought in the Marquis.
Marquis Pisen, a merchant-like noble in his early fifties, looked just as he had before.
We greeted him one by one, just as last time, and took our seats.
As he surveyed the team members taking their seats, the Marquis tilted his head.
"One person is missing. Ah, right. I heard there was an unfortunate incident recently."
His first words after the greetings were a sarcastic jab at us.
It was a war of nerves from the very start.
The matter with Joachim had been settled long ago, and we hadn't even mentioned Joachim during the visit negotiations, yet the Marquis was dragging it back up.
I'd expected the Joachim incident to make it difficult to arrange team assignments with people from the Crown Prince's faction.
As I knew from my past life, the Marquis belonged to the First Prince Faction, so I thought it might be awkward to get down to work right away.
But I hadn't expected him to start nitpicking from the get-go.
Clearly, the negotiations had gone smoothly, which had put me at ease, but...
It seemed I'd taken things too lightly.
After landing the first blow, the Marquis immediately asked the Grand Archduchess and the Princess for their understanding.
"Since the two princesses' visit is unofficial, we couldn't arrange a welcoming banquet. I ask for your understanding, ladies."
As before, the Princess and the Grand Archduchess said it was fine.
And, just as last time, the Marquis stared at me.
Last time, he had brought up the story of my duel with his son.
Would he say something even worse this time?
"I heard you helped resolve the incident in the capital. You even saved someone at a crucial moment."
Surprisingly, the Marquis said something different this time.
"I hear your skills are excellent, and since you're a knight cadet who serves the country, it seems reasonable for you to make demands like this. Compared with you, my rascal of a son is..."
Perhaps remembering his son, whom I'd beaten badly in the duel, he clicked his tongue softly.
Since I'd injured his son quite badly this time, I expected the Marquis to look upon me unfavorably.
But contrary to my expectations, he seemed to think even more highly of me than he had before.
Was this because I'd saved Ivana?
Although the Marquis viewed me favorably, he didn't make a recruitment offer this time.
Instead, while making it clear he disliked our team and was doing this only for my sake, the Marquis proceeded with the business at hand.
The Grand Archduchess handed the Marquis a list of the artifacts she wanted to examine, and he instructed the butler to tell her which ones could be shown.
And, just as before, we received permission to spar with the Knight Commander, who possessed a 'Quasi-Divine Sword'.
The Marquis and the butler treated the 'Divine Sword Tracker' who was with us as though he didn't exist.
The Auction House Owner seemed more comfortable with that, though.
"As expected, being around people of high status is quite an ordeal."
A short while later, as we gathered in the parlor next to the guest rooms to talk, those were the words the Auction House Owner uttered.
Although we'd introduced ourselves on the way to the Marquisate, this was the first time we'd had a formal conversation like this.
"Ah, come to think of it, that goes for everyone here, too. You've all been so kind to me, and I only just realized it. My apologies."
Still, perhaps because he had plenty of experience selling artifacts to nobles, he was also quite adept at dealing with the Grand Archduchess and the Princess.
Perhaps because they were unfamiliar with him, the female students avoided talking to him.
"I hear you're an artifact appraiser. Please give us a hand when we examine the artifacts."
Only the Grand Archduchess, representing the group, offered him a greeting.
The Auction House Owner also thanked her for the greeting, his posture polite.
"I hear your nickname is 'Divine Sword Tracker,' but it feels a bit awkward to call you that. Do you have another name you go by?"
Since they weren't mercenaries, a nickname used by mercenaries wouldn't come naturally to them.
At Balea's question, the Auction House Owner replied at once.
"You can call me Lestiado, or Lesty."
As expected, he had another name besides Auction House Owner or Divine Sword Tracker.
And yet, until now, he'd only given us his nickname.
I cursed him inwardly for eagerly blurting out another name just because a girl had asked, but on second thought, the name he'd given us wasn't much different.
Lestiado meant 'tracker' after all. In the end, this name was also a pseudonym.
Even though it was an alias, they weren't particularly interested in hearing his real name anyway, so Balea and the other team members were satisfied with his answer.
No, to be perfectly honest, the female students weren't all that interested in the middle-aged man.
Unlike in the reception room, where he had been completely ignored, being excluded here seemed to sadden the Auction House Owner.
Lesty's expression was incredibly gloomy.
After asking for the Auction House Owner's name, no one spoke to him again.
The female students turned their attention to me instead.
"Although we were able to come to the Pisen Marquisate thanks to Young Lord Alex, I hadn't expected the Marquis to treat us so differently."
"Right? I thought most people wouldn't know about the matter with Young Lord Joachim, but it seems everyone does. When the Marquis first brought it up, I really thought the negotiations had fallen through."
Balea chimed in,
"But seeing how the atmosphere softened completely while he spoke with Young Lord Alex... It's the first time I've felt that a princess's position doesn't carry much weight."
The Grand Archduchess concluded once more.
It was obviously an exaggeration. Everything had already been decided through negotiations anyway.
His opening remark had merely been a slight test of the waters, and nothing had actually changed because of me.
Still, the Marquis had shown me more goodwill than I'd expected.
"If the matter with Young Lord Joachim was the issue, why did the Marquis act like that?"
The Princess rested a hand on her chin and tilted her head.
At the Princess's question, Balea raised a finger.
Then she offered a theory out of nowhere.
"Marquis Pisen is also part of the Crown Prince's faction, isn't he? Could he perhaps think you're in the same Crown Prince's faction, Alex? After all, you were the one who arrested Joachim, and the female student you saved might be an important person."
She'd clearly spoken without giving it much thought.
But to me, it seemed spot on.
The thing was, neither the other female students nor Balea herself—the one who'd brought it up—actually believed what she'd said.
"Well, I don't know the real reason, but if the Crown Prince's faction views you favorably, couldn't Young Lord Alex become a key figure in the Crown Prince's faction? Then a path to success would open wide before you, Young Lord."
There was no reason to do so, nor did I have any intention of doing so.
Balea knew that too, of course.
Though she didn't know what kind of plans I was making, she knew very well that I had no intention of joining any particular faction.
Even so, she hadn't brought this up out of any ulterior motive.
Balea's eyes were smiling as she spoke.
The words she'd just spoken were merely meant to tease someone else.
And this time, I wasn't the target.
At Balea's words, the expressions of the Princess and the Grand Archduchess turned serious.
Mirisa and Lesty stared at the two princesses with bewildered expressions, but Balea watched them with the corners of her mouth curled up.
After a day spent in deep thought, morning dawned.
Today was the day we would examine the artifacts.
As before, the Pisen Marquisate had placed the artifacts in a single room and summoned us.
Some artifacts still worked; others were broken. They were the same items as before, but completely new to everyone else.
Everyone examined the artifacts with sparkling eyes, and Lesty, the Auction House Owner, who had been especially quiet until then, stepped forward to inspect them.
"This clock was found a hundred years ago by a mercenary exploring the sealed grounds. It's an artifact from the era of the Old Empire. This artifact is..."
"Ah, this clock absorbs ambient mana to tell the time, right? It can run almost indefinitely without any separate power source, so it was quite famous before it broke."
The scribe, who had explained the artifacts to us last time too, tried to describe each piece, but Lesty interrupted him to show off his knowledge and expertise.
As he went through the artifacts while bickering with the scribe, the Auction House Owner eventually managed to strike up conversations with the Grand Archduchess and the other team members, with whom he'd felt awkward.
"This seems to be a mechanism that converts mana into heat, doesn't it?"
"Yes, you have a keen eye. It appears to be an object used as a small brazier. It's so old that the heat it produces is weak now, but in the past, it probably would have warmed an entire room..."
Without a doubt, the Auction House Owner's artifact appraisal skills far surpassed the Grand Archduchess's.
Thanks to the Auction House Owner stepping forward, the scribe and the butler had far less to do.
Since I had already seen these artifacts once, I wasn't merely idle—I was downright bored.
So I spoke to the butler, who had nothing to do.
"Are there any broken artifacts you might be willing to sell? I'd like to purchase one. I thought it would be nice for the Princess or the Grand Archduchess to take something home as a souvenir of their visit to the Pisen Marquisate."
They were the exact same words I'd used last time.
Unfortunately, I hadn't managed to secure anything last time because the knights had suddenly barged in.
This time, I was determined to get my hands on one.
"They're not for sale, but... I'll speak to the Marquis about it."
As expected, I got a positive response.
Beside me, Balea gave me a silent round of applause.
It was hard to tell whether she was teasing me or praising me.
Just like last time, we had dinner with the Marquis's family that evening.
As before, the brothers and daughters of the Marquis's son, Gael, were present at the dining table, but Gael himself was nowhere to be seen.
Was he still receiving treatment?
I'd broken his bones here and there, but considering how effective potions were, he should have been fine by now.
While I was lost in thought, the Marquis brought up Gael.
"That rascal Gael couldn't attend because my brother has him in training. He came back perfectly alive after losing so miserably in a duel, so it's only natural that my brother is furious."
It seemed that beating up the Marquis's son had affected someone else as well.
I felt a little worried about the Knight Commander I was scheduled to meet tomorrow.
The next day.
We swarmed over to the training ground, which was surrounded by forest.
There stood the Knight Commander I'd seen before.
Hmm, it seemed the one whose honor had been wounded by the duel wasn't the Marquis, but his brother, the Knight Commander.
The Knight Commander gave me an extremely hostile look.
And beside the Knight Commander stood Gael, the Marquis's son, his face completely black and blue.
I'd heard this was training, but from the look of him, he'd clearly been beaten to a pulp.
The Knight Commander drew his sword when he saw me.
"Let us see for ourselves whether you truly dare to look down on the Pisen sword technique."
I blinked at this completely unfamiliar accusation, wondering what on earth he was talking about.