kscans

Chapter 130 - An Anomaly and a Reunion

The night passed, and the morning sun rose.

I woke Tina, who was sleeping beside me, and we went outside. The weather was cloudy, but the sun peeked through from time to time. It didn't look like it would rain.

"I'll make our usual field rations for breakfast," Tina said, and quickly began her preparations.

She dissolved a miso ball to make miso soup and sprinkled some salt on hardtack. A meal in the field should be simple and quick. After we finished eating, I used Matter Conversion to turn the iron hut into a simple iron sphere and left it there.

Someone will probably take it, I thought irresponsibly as we set off to resume our survey.

We had already covered all the areas we needed to see yesterday. All that was left was to walk a bit and then report back to the guild. Just then, I saw a group of Lizardmen on the move. There were about thirty of them. The odds were against us, so we decided to hide and let them pass.

The group, armed with spears, headed north.

Once they were out of sight, I wondered aloud, "Are they heading for the border base?"

Tina consulted a worn compass.

"Their direction is a little off, though. The base should be to the northeast from here. That group is heading straight north. It's not towards the Royal Capital, of course, but..."

I'd known about the compass for a while. I'd seen sailors using them in the Republic, and Tina often checked her direction when we were traveling.

"Is there another route to a monster lair besides the one near the base?" I asked, voicing a possibility.

Tina thought for a moment.

"It's not out of the question. There might be a beast trail that only monsters know about. We should report this to the guild."

It was the most significant piece of information from our entire investigation.

We returned to the Royal Capital and went to report to the guild.

The receptionist listened and said, "A group of Lizardmen heading north... I understand. Thank you for your hard work on the investigation."

She handed us our reward of ten small silver coins.

As we left the guild, I muttered, "I hope nothing bad comes of this."

"I doubt anything will happen right away," Tina replied, offering her analysis of the current situation. "Higher-level monsters are intelligent enough to learn. They must have suffered a painful blow in the border battle. Even if their numbers are reinforced, I don't think there will be another fight for a while."

I agreed with her assessment. The border battle had taken a heavy toll on humans and monsters alike. The human side had put the Edgeson units at the forefront as a deterrent, but their actual combat strength was severely lacking due to a shortage of personnel. Having the weapons meant nothing if there was no one to fight. In short, it was just a bluff.

"You're right. No point worrying about it," I concluded. "We should be thinking about what to do now."

Tina nodded in agreement. That's when I remembered something.

"Say, about that Flame Alligator's fire magic stone... if I process it into a ring or a pendant, will it increase my fire power?"

"It will," Tina explained. "Magic stones are effective when they touch the skin or are attached to a weapon. It's an attribute I'm not skilled with, so you should use it, Shinsuke. However, if it's too large, it becomes difficult to control and consumes a lot of magic. The consensus among magicians is that a fist-sized stone is about the right maximum."

I see. So it was a good thing I crushed that wind magic stone I attached to the surfboard before. Knowing that, it was time to act. We returned to our base, retrieved the fire magic stone from the warehouse, and began working.

I wanted to go to my house in the Kingdom, but it was far, and the urge to create was strong. I had the bare minimum of necessary tools here. I decided to make a ring first.

I cut the fire magic stone down to three carats. Next, I used Matter Conversion to change a rock into Orichalcum and shaped it into a ring. Adamantite would be too conspicuous, so I decided against it. Then, to further increase its power, I carved runic characters into it. The first time, I had carved the character for the sun, but this time I added runes representing a torch, daytime, and a gift.

I had a feeling it would increase the power. I did the carving by hand.

I used a chisel and hammer imbued with magic power. It was a method I'd seen in manga and games and thought I might be able to do. The work took an hour and was more difficult than I'd expected.

After several failed attempts, I finally finished.

Lastly, I attached the magic stone to the ring. It was complete. I slipped it onto my left index finger. It felt comfortable. There was no issue even with a glove on. All that remained was to test it in a real fight. With that in mind, Tina and I headed out of the Royal Capital.

After walking for about an hour, we reached a deserted area.

First, I activated the fire magic stone by itself. The fireball was quite powerful, leaving a black scorch mark on a large boulder. Normally, it wouldn't even leave a mark. Now, it was time to test the ring's power. I fired a fireball at another large boulder.

The resulting explosion was on a completely different level—not just compared to the stone alone, but to any fireball I'd ever created.

The boulder it hit shattered, and the projectile continued through, shattering another large boulder behind it. Eventually, I heard an explosion in the distance. It must have crashed into the ground.

As I stood there stunned, Tina placed a hand on my right shoulder.

"Well, I won't say you overdid it... but let's be careful not to hit any allies."

She was right. I had no desire to earn the title of 'ally-killer.'

We returned to the Royal Capital, intending to relax at our base, when we saw three figures standing in front of it.

I knew two of them: Glad and Sakura. The third was a woman in what looked like a village girl's dress, but it exuded a certain air of quality. When I saw her face, I remembered. It was Princess Olivia, whom I'd met in the castle in the Kingdom. How typical of me to forget a man's face but remember a woman's. I was a slave to my desires, truly.

Glad spotted us.

"It's been a while, Shinsuke-kun, Tina-jou. It's good to see you both looking as beautiful and healthy as ever."

As he greeted us, I replied, "Long time no see. We haven't seen you since the Republic. I heard a royal envoy was visiting. Are you here on an escort mission?"

"Something like that," Glad answered. "We came to the Empire to negotiate about the future. The new emperor, Yorune-sama, is in favor of sharing technology. Monopolizing it too much breeds distrust, you see. The former emperor believed that sharing it would only intensify conflict. I'm confident that Yorune-sama will handle its dissemination wisely."

He explained with his arms crossed.

He had a point. If they shared not everything, but just the technology needed for daily life, it would make things easier for the common people. They probably wouldn't share military tech, but they would likely compromise to maintain a good balance between the nations. Not that it had anything to do with me.

"If you have business with us, why don't you come inside?" I offered.

"Really? That would be a great help," Glad said. "Her Highness the Princess wishes to hear your story."

Princess Olivia added, "I'm very eager to hear about your exploits."

She looked positively delighted.

We led them inside. After serving tea to all five of us, the princess mentioned that Glad had already told her about the undead incident in the Republic and that she wanted to hear what happened next. So, I told them everything that had happened since we entered the Empire.

The guild's request regarding the border. Our days at the border base. The arrival of the new weapon and the fierce battle with the monsters. The fight with the Minotaur and Rodel's transformation into a Centaur. The subjugation of the legendary monster, the Behemoth, that had come from the Royal Capital. Our life in the capital.

After I finished the whole story, Glad spoke, his face filled with sorrow.

"So that's what happened to Rodel... To think that someone I fought alongside, even for a short time, would be reduced to a monster... How pitiful."

So he didn't hate the leader with the awful personality that much.

After hearing the story, Sakura remarked, "But it's a strange tale, isn't it? I've never heard of a human becoming a monster. Could someone have helped him?"

The impact of it at the time was so great that I didn't think too deeply about it, but she was right. It would be impossible for Rodel to do that on his own. That meant a magician, and a very high-level one at that, must have lent a hand. The most depraved kind of magician, I'd imagine.

After all, the idea of turning a human into a monster isn't something a normal person would come up with. If they wanted to make him stronger, they would have kept him human. There was no need to turn him into a monster.

In that case, I should probably assume he was used in a human experiment.

As I was thinking, Princess Olivia concluded, "But as long as we don't know who this 'someone' is, there's no point in speculating. New information may come to light eventually."

The princess's point was valid. There was no use thinking about an unknown enemy. But I couldn't imagine they were finished. They would probably try something new. Maybe they were connected to the incidents in the Church and the Republic, too. The thought of a drama or anime-like development unfolding made a part of me secretly pleased, but I would never tell anyone.