The Administrator of the North (2)
"We have arrived!" the coachman called out, pulling the reins taut.
"Mm, is that so?"
At the coachman's announcement, Merna and Eron stepped down from the carriage into the crisp northern air. Looming directly before them was a colossal stone rampart so impossibly high its upper parapets were lost in the low-hanging clouds.
This was the seat of the Northern Administrator: Ice Land. It was a fortress city whose name was said to derive from the sprawling, snow-covered mountain range that rose like jagged teeth behind its towering battlements.
"Good work," Merna said, tossing a heavy coin pouch to the driver. "Here, take this."
"Oh, thank—goodness, this is far too much! I couldn't possibly accept—"
"Nonsense, just take it. Consider it a bonus for providing such a smooth, comfortable ride."
Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, the coachman bowed deeply and clutched the pouch with both hands. "Th-thank you! Thank you so very much!"
"Mm. Let us be on our way, then, Eron."
"Ugh... Urgh... Yes, Master..."
Eron forced his screaming muscles into motion, dragging his thoroughly battered body along in Merna's wake. Even though he had mentally braced himself for hardship, the past few days of intense personal instruction had been brutal beyond imagination. Thanks to her relentless drilling, he had managed to internalize a solid grasp of the magical fundamentals, but the physical toll had been merciless. Even Ifrit, utterly spent from the grueling regimen, had curled up fast asleep in the carriage and had yet to show any sign of waking.
"W-W-Welcome, Lady Merna!"
"What is this?" Merna asked, arching an eyebrow.
Two guards posted before the outer gates bent at the waist in crisp, ninety-degree bows, their greetings trembling with panicked reverence.
"Please, enter immediately! You need not wait!"
"Hmph. The administrator here seems rather quick on the uptake."
When the sentries finally dared to raise their heads, their faces were pale and rigid with pure terror. Taking in their petrified expressions, Merna cast an amused, knowing glance around the entryway.
"Wh-what is going on, Master?" Eron asked in an undertone.
"They likely caught wind of my arrival in advance and made preparations accordingly."
"Were we being watched along the road?"
"If anyone had dared to trail me, I would have obliterated them long ago."
Well, that's certainly true, Eron thought, nodding in silent agreement.
"He most likely ordered his scouts to report my whereabouts whenever I departed towns or waystations," Merna mused.
"Still... aren't these guards an awful lot more terrified than necessary?"
The sentries' expressions had progressed beyond merely frozen into a deathly, bloodless pallor. They looked as though a sudden breeze might send them keeling over onto the flagstones.
"The administrator here must have drilled them rather harshly."
"Is that... all it is?"
"Let us head inside before the poor wretches collapse. Given how thoroughly they've prepared, we should be able to conclude our business and leave without delay."
Guided by the marginally less paralyzed of the two guards, they passed beneath the heavy portcullis and ventured into the fortress proper.
"It is an honor to make your acquaintance! I am Felix Linda, thirteenth head of House Linda and current Administrator of the North."
As soon as they entered the grand reception hall, Felix greeted them with a solemn, resolute expression, flanked by a rigid retinue of attendants.
"Indeed. Though I must say, you assembled your welcoming party remarkably fast. It could not have been long since you received word of my approach."
"Ah... haha! Of course you noticed."
"One look at the state of your men makes it glaringly obvious. I take it you heard those absurd rumors about me and took your precautions?"
Rumors? Come to think of it, several people we passed on the road acted rather strangely... Was that why? Eron recalled the terrified glances of travelers they had encountered over the past few days.
"There is no need to be so defensive," Merna continued, waving a dismissive hand. "Those rumors are entirely exaggerated. Am I really the sort of brute who would smash a castle to pieces just because she woke up in a foul mood?"
"Ha... haha! Of course not, of course not!"
Witnessing Merna's graceful, composed demeanor, the tension that had stiffened Felix and his retainers seemed to loosen by a fraction.
"My sincerest apologies. How could a lady of such refinement and beauty ever do something so uncultured?"
"Spare me the hollow flattery."
Noticing her instant disdain for brown-nosing, Felix smoothly shifted his approach.
"Rumors truly are frightful things. The tale claiming you ruthlessly pulverized five Archmages simply because they were being too noisy... that surely had to be a wild fabrication, right?"
"Hmm? Oh, no, that part is entirely true. My research was proceeding splendidly until those pests started making an infernal racket right outside my workshop. So I disciplined them a little."
"..."
Felix's attempt to ease the room's atmosphere died a swift and agonizing death. The faint color that had begun returning to his attendants' cheeks drained away in an instant, leaving them more petrified than ever.
And Felix found himself silently thanking the heavens that his daughter was away from the castle today.
"So... you are asking me to expunge this child's name from the Hynek family registry?"
"Mm, precisely. And the sooner, the better."
"Pheeew..." Felix exhaled a long, weary sigh, his gaze shifting back and forth between Merna and Eron. "If I may be so bold, might I inquire as to the reason?"
"You heard that he became my apprentice, yes? His fool of a father was raising a pathetic fuss, so we reached an amicable agreement: strip the boy's name from their lineage entirely."
What on earth kind of 'amicable agreement' ends with striking an heir from the family registry?! The question nearly burst past Felix's lips, but he swallowed it down with monumental effort.
When he first laid eyes on the boy accompanying Merna, Felix had harbored a faint hope that he wasn't the child from House Hynek. But reality was far more daunting. At first, curiosity had piqued his interest—who was the youth that the notoriously solitary Merna had taken as an apprentice? Yet every thread tied to this boy only threatened to worsen Felix's chronic migraine.
The eldest son of House Hynek.
The heir Jaylen had kept strictly concealed behind estate walls under the pretext of an incurable illness.
Because the boy had never officially debuted in high society, granting Merna's request was not entirely impossible from an administrative standpoint. But expunging a noble scion's lineage from official imperial records was by no means a simple feat.
And while Merna claimed her reputation was exaggerated, her standing as an Archmage of the 2nd Seat remained an undeniable, terrifying reality. A flat refusal was simply not an option.
"Well... nothing would please me more than to accommodate your request, but altering such records—even for an Administrator—is hardly a matter that can be done lightly—"
"Oho? Are you saying it cannot be done?"
"No, well... that is..."
Every soul in the chamber felt the room's temperature plummet to freezing in an instant. In the corner, a maid standing on standby began to tear up in sheer dread.
"Well, if it is too troublesome, it cannot be helped."
"Pardon?"
"I shall simply have to find another way."
"W-Would that really be acceptable to you?" Felix stammered, his eyes widening to twice their normal size at her unexpected concession.
"Did you expect me to throw a temper tantrum and tear your castle to pieces?"
"O-Of course not! How could I ever imagine such a thing?"
Contrary to his polite denial, cold sweat was already drenching Felix's back and armpits.
"I may harbor little affection for pointless aristocratic customs, but I maintain a baseline respect for them," Merna said evenly. "Otherwise, why would I have bothered making the journey here in person?"
She had a point. If she truly cared nothing for the rules, she wouldn't have troubled herself to negotiate through official channels.
"I believe it is not unheard of among nobles to alter a family registry through adoption, yes?"
"Indeed. While virtually nonexistent here in the North, I have heard it occasionally occurs in the Central and Southern regions."
Ever since the reign of the previous emperor's predecessor had relaxed laws regarding illegitimate offspring, such practices had dwindled, yet they still resurfaced from time to time. A family would adopt a talented child from a branch lineage or a lower noble house. Though originally intended to provide heirs for childless couples, the system had grown severely corrupted after one such adoptee rose to become a 1st-Class Mage. Since then, it had devolved into a sordid trade where gifted children were bought and sold like commodities.
Felix utterly despised such cynical transactions, which was why he had strictly barred the practice throughout the northern territories. Thus, Merna's suggestion rubbed uncomfortably against his core principles.
"There is no need to look so grim," Merna said, cutting into his thoughts. "All I desire is to strip away the shadow of that family from this child completely. His father wishes for the same, after all."
"In other words... you simply want to ensure that no trace, record, or rumor ever connects this boy to House Hynek within high society?"
"Precisely. You catch on fast."
Felix turned his gaze toward the boy sitting quietly beside Merna.
I can't sense a thing.
This was a child whom an Archmage of the highest caliber had gone out of her way to claim as an apprentice. There should have been an immense reservoir of mana or some extraordinary magical resonance radiating from his frame. Yet Felix could detect nothing from the youth save for a faint, peculiar presence that defied categorization.
Under normal circumstances, even an unrefined novice possessed a detectable ripple of mana. To feel nothing meant either the boy possessed an absurd, unfathomable degree of mana suppression, or he was incapable of wielding mana at all.
A son whom House Hynek kept confined behind manor walls under the pretext of illness... Given that fact, the possibility that he was mana-defective seemed quite plausible.
Yet if that were true, why would someone like Merna take him as an apprentice?
"Very well," Felix said, steeling his resolve. "I will find a way to handle this."
"Oho~ You are far more reasonable than I gave you credit for."
"However, I have one condition."
"A condition? You dare impose terms on me?"
A primal shiver of dread crawled down Felix's spine, but he forced his cultured composure to hold.
"I am the Administrator of the North. I cannot sanction an act that carries political ramifications for my domain without securing something in return."
"Hmm. Fair enough. State your condition."
Amused by his audacity in the face of sheer terror, Merna generously permitted him to speak.
"Once this child achieves independence as a recognized mage, allow him to serve in the North for one year."
"Hmph. Aiming high, are we? Three months. Let us make it three."
"One year! I cannot accept anything less than a full year." Despite the pressure, Felix dug his heels in.
"Too long! Do you have any idea how precious a single year is to a burgeoning young mage?"
"Then perform a task for me in exchange. In return, I shall reduce his term to one month."
"You sly dog. That was your true aim all along, wasn't it? Out with it, then."
Though his ploy had been laid bare, Felix had anticipated as much. Without missing a beat, he stated the request.
"There have been reports of draconic roars echoing near the Ten-Thousand-Year Cliff to the north. I would ask that you—"
"Exterminate it?"
"N-No! Good heavens, no. Merely verify whether it is indeed a dragon—"
If a true dragon had emerged, subjugating it would require an expedition force of dozens of elite mages even with an Archmage leading the charge. Yet Merna spoke of it as though swatting an annoying fly. Her absolute nonchalance sent another jolt of dread through Felix.
"If I am going to inspect it anyway, I might as well dispose of it in one stroke. Let us proceed under those terms."
"Y-Yes... If that suits you..."
Felix found himself slightly dazed by how effortlessly she accepted.
"Eron? Are you agreeable to this? It will require you to work here for a month."
"I don't mind at all. If that will settle the matter, I'm glad to do it."
As far as Eron was concerned, anything that permanently severed his connection with Jaylen and House Hynek was more than acceptable. Truthfully, he had little desire to be tied down or beholden to any faction, but a single month of northern service was a remarkably small price to pay.
"Is that so? Very well. I accept your terms."
"Understood! Leave everything regarding the boy's registry to me."
In truth, while having the dragon matter investigated was a welcome development, it had not been an immediate crisis. Felix's true aim had been securing Eron's presence in his castle for as long as possible.
Even if his own senses could discern nothing of the boy's talent, Felix was willing to gamble on the odds. This was a student personally chosen by Merna—a legendary recluse who had refused apprentices throughout her entire life. Fulfilling her request would require immense administrative maneuvering and carried no small risk of political blowback, yet Felix judged it a wager worth making.
Still, the negotiation had not unfolded entirely as planned. He had originally hoped to bargain down to half a year of service. While eliminating a potential dragon free of charge was unquestionably a massive windfall, Felix couldn't shake the nagging sensation that he had somehow been shortchanged.
"Then I trust you will take care of the paperwork without any issues?"
"Rest assured, it will be handled impeccably."
Though slightly rueful, Felix decided to count his blessings.
"Well then, shall we head out immediately?" Merna asked.
"Right now? Would you not prefer to rest first? Accommodations have already been prepared."
"Hah! Spare me your empty courtesies. Besides, if I linger any longer, I fear that poor girl over there will faint dead away."
"Pardon? Ah..."
Following Merna's gaze, Felix spotted the young maid desperately clinging to consciousness. Having undergone Felix's rigorous briefings regarding their guest's terrifying reputation, she was petrified beyond reason. She had narrowly survived multiple brushes with fainting—and worse—by a thread. Her nerves were stretched well past their breaking point.
"My apologies for such an unsightly display."
"Think nothing of it. In any case, I prefer to dispose of tedious chores as quickly as possible. Where is this place?"
"Allow me to guide you."
"You are coming along as well?"
"There is a teleportation circle that connects directly to the cliff. It requires my personal authorization to activate," Felix explained, displaying an intricate pendant bearing the crest of the Northern Administrator.
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Yes. Overseeing such critical strategic zones is my duty, after all."
"Then let us make haste."
With Felix taking the lead, a party of roughly ten people—including Merna and Eron—stepped onto the magic circle and vanished in a flash of light toward the Ten-Thousand-Year Cliff.