Chapter 46
Chapter 46
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 46
>Chapter Title: Too Excessive, Way Too Excessive
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
A feast of countless spirit elixirs.
They weren't in my hands yet, but I already felt my heart swelling with satisfaction.
'So... three top-grade elixirs.'
Two from the senior.
Plus the one I'd received as a reward from the Pistinikeje tournament, making three in total.
'This life is really...'
Something else.
In my previous life, getting my hands on spirit elixirs hadn't been easy, but in this one, they just rolled in without me lifting a finger.
And that wasn't all.
The biggest prize was this.
Irekein Workshop Artifact Commission Rights
Where was the Irekein Workshop?
One of the three great workshops on the Eastern Continent—a so-called luxury artifact forge.
Minimum wait time: one year.
That wasn't even the crafting time; it was just to get in line for your turn.
'By the time it's finished... it'll take even longer.'
Even the haughty bloodlines of prestigious houses had to wait their turn there!
But with these commission rights...
'No waiting. Straight to crafting.'
How had the senior gotten his hands on something this precious?
"Heh, heh heh."
"You look like a madman."
"Thank you."
I didn't love hearing that from someone who was basically a lunatic himself, but right now, I was willing to go mad right along with him.
But that lasted only a moment.
'Hold on.'
I narrowed my eyes at the senior.
"Senior."
"What is it?"
"This feels off."
"...Off how?"
Let's think about this rationally.
'For just delivering a letter? This much reward?'
The Great Forest was dangerous.
It teemed with monsters no one had ever heard of, swarming with all sorts of venomous insects.
Mages had spent ages trying to conquer it, but they'd barely set foot past the outskirts.
Even so...
'It doesn't add up.'
The elixirs might not have been a big deal from the senior's perspective.
Top-grade instant elixirs, mass-produced by alchemists.
The more you took, the weaker the effect, after all.
At his level, they wouldn't do much.
But an Irekein Workshop artifact?
'Too much. Way too excessive.'
And that wasn't all.
[Rakhel Ore, 1kg]
[Twin-Headed Ogre Heart x1]
[Mutant Wyvern Horn Dust, 100g]
...
The list was packed with artifact materials.
The intent was obvious.
'Stuff to hand over to the Irekein Workshop along with the commission.'
Every single one was rare as hell.
Even in my past life, I'd only glimpsed a few.
High-end goods you'd be lucky to find in the Decullan family vault.
'So generous. Way too excessively generous.'
There had to be something up his sleeve.
Did he read it in my eyes?
"Your gaze is getting impudent."
The senior glared, looking annoyed.
But I didn't back down, meeting his stare with my own intensity.
"Senior, let's be honest here."
"Honest about what?"
"Isn't this reward way too much for just delivering a letter? And..."
There were a few fishy details.
Call it the intuition of a former upstanding Troubleshooter. He was definitely hiding something.
Maybe my look was too obvious.
"Ahem."
The senior cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I was going to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"Well... the truth is, your role isn't just delivering a letter."
"Then...?"
He scratched his head at my question.
From the side, Breakfast No. 1 shot a fierce glare at her master for tormenting her owner, but food glaring at me wasn't scary.
"The truth is, I already know where that guy is. Holed up at one of the Great Forest base camps."
"And?"
"I sent the letter just a few days ago. Mercenaries these days are quick. Who knew they'd punch through the Great Forest to deliver it."
Warp gates had developed a lot.
With the senior footing a generous bill, they'd probably skipped straight through via warps instead of skimping on costs.
Reaching the base camp wouldn't have been hard.
Mercenaries had their networks; hitch a ride on a supply convoy, and done.
"Originally... yeah, I wanted to call him back to the academy. With all the chaos—magic crystals, Decullans, you name it—I figured I could use the help. But... he said he couldn't come right away."
"So?"
"...Junior, could you speak properly?"
"...Sir?"
The senior's sharp gaze pinned me for a moment.
He continued.
"Anyway... it's no big deal. Just go help your friend tie up his loose ends. He said there's something he has to finish."
In other words.
"Not just delivering a letter, but doing some manual labor on top?"
"...I was going to tell you."
"You son of a—"
A low curse slipped out before I could stop it.
'Is this what life is?'
No one you can trust.
Not an axe to the foot, but a hammer to the head from the one you believed in.
Especially, look at this.
"Ahem! Think about it. Honestly, isn't this a good thing? Instead of scouring the Great Forest looking for him, right? Just help with a few simple tasks and come back."
I'm the one who should be mad, yet here he was turning the tables.
Grumble! Groooowl!
Breakfast No. 1 puffed up alongside her master, killing intent boiling over.
I could guess the senior's angle.
'Telling me the change upfront might make me bail, so he dangled the rewards first.'
People give up easily on things that aren't "theirs" yet.
But once they think it's theirs?
'No way I'd give this up. Not even over my dead body.'
So I'd have no choice but to grit my teeth and go along.
"You sly old fox..."
"What was that?"
"Huff, nothing, sir."
I'm a respectful Troubleshooter.
Even if the senior tricked me, I wouldn't hurl insults like some punk with no manners.
Absolutely not because I couldn't win.
Never.
But hold on.
'This...'
My brain was spinning.
"What if—what if I'd gotten lost in the Great Forest and gone missing? What then?"
I gazed at him mournfully, crocodile tears welling in my eyes.
Normally he'd chew me out, but maybe he knew his stunt was low.
"Ah, come on. I was gonna tell you! And you? Die somewhere? I'd worry more about the Great Forest monsters."
He blew up like the one who'd farted.
Seeing that, I was certain.
'From the looks of it...'
I could squeeze more out of him.
"Senior... how old am I?"
"...Fourteen, I think."
Right, fourteen.
And a student.
So what was the senior?
The principal—the head teacher responsible for guiding students right.
Tears streamed down my face.
"How could you send a young kid like me into mortal danger...?"
Pathetic?
Hardly.
A true, upstanding Troubleshooter committing lies, deceit, and cons was innocent by nature.
My spycraft-honed acting skills shone in that moment.
"You, you damn brat...!"
Groooowl!
The senior and Breakfast No. 1 burst into righteous fury.
But it was fine.
'I'm the student, and he's the teacher.'
As long as our roles didn't switch, this tactic was unbeatable.
* * *
The meeting with the senior was a resounding success.
I snagged library access to Rapiter right away...
And another Irekein Workshop commission right...
No, "secured" it.
'People need to have some conscience.'
He who lives by the con, dies by the con.
I'd already cut him a lot of slack.
Deep down, I wanted to crack that thick skull, but I suppressed the urge out of pure kindness.
Definitely not because I couldn't take him.
"Alright then..."
I stepped out of the abandoned warehouse(?) and reviewed my plans.
'Three top-grade elixirs in total...'
I'd originally planned to use them to boost my mana capacity.
But with three now, no need to fixate on that.
'You'll build tolerance anyway.'
So, what next?
'Time to shed this weakling body.'
Physical growth was still pending, but with top-grade elixirs, I could lay the foundation.
Mana Physique.
In my past life, the signature technique that broke me free from Troubleshooter's limits.
'The elixirs' mana should be plenty.'
Sure, it'd consume the full mana of the elixirs to form it, but I'd already gotten promises for two more from the senior...
'A Mana Physique is worth investing in.'
Inspired by knights' ether-forged strong bodies, it replicated the effect with mana.
No.
'It blows strong bodies out of the water.'
Knights couldn't hack it against a mage matching their physical prowess while slinging spells.
'They'd weep in envy.'
Picture it.
A mage blasting spells from afar, then closing in for melee that holds its own.
And in my case...
'Collision Formula, Interference Formula, and all those unused techniques.'
Their minds would shatter.
With a light heart, I headed to the academy training room.
The academy was buzzing with Pistinikeje fever, leaving the path to the training rooms deserted.
A few diligent students headed there to hone themselves amid the hype, but they were few and far between.
'Supplies...'
I'd "borrowed"—no, packed—from the temp dorm cafeteria. Plenty.
Now, just hole up in the training room and build the Mana Physique.
I arrived.
'...Alright.'
I closed my eyes.
There were two ways to form a Mana Physique.
First.
'Extract mana from the core and temper the body.'
But it wasn't efficient.
You had to constantly hammer the body with mana, which had inertia and kept wanting to return to the core.
Fine for advancing an existing Mana Physique, but...
'It'd take a full day of nonstop tempering.'
Easy at first.
But the longer it went, the stronger the mana's inertia.
Plus.
'Less efficient than the second method: infusing mana into every part of the body.'
Into joints, muscle fibers, every nerve cell—that's a true Mana Physique.
Extracting from the core was just a stopgap.
'Not bad for instant physical amps...'
Like in the Trial Chamber, when I'd burst past my limits through the demonic mist.
So, ultimately, what I needed to do was...
'Stick to the plan: ram every drop of the top-grade elixir's mana into my body.'
Far more efficient.
No need for the long absorption into the core.
"Alright, let's do this."
I reviewed the plan, closed my eyes.
Focused my mind, looked inward.
Click.
Opened the box and popped a top-grade elixir into my mouth.
Sssslurp.
As expected of top-grade. The aroma, the feel—leagues above regular ones.
Now...
'Here we go.'
Same breathing as always.
But different form.
This time, infuse mana into the body, not circuits.
But why?
"Ghk!"
Sudden pain exploding in my brain!
The source...
Crackle. Zap.
The Fire Mark, quiet for so long.
The Grimoire.