kscans

Chapter 145 - Chapter 14: The Rendezvous

Having finished preparing the main culture for the red colony, we said our goodbyes to Fulsy, who was wrestling with noise reduction using IG-1. After getting a vague reply from him, we left the lab.

The evening autumn sky was already dark. As the temperature drops, adjusting the culture conditions becomes that much more difficult. We’ve taken precautions to block the outside air and are being careful with the fireplace, but unlike in my former world, we don’t have incubators to regulate the temperature.

Even a slight drop could cut the growth rate in half, or cause problems like contamination from other bacteria. If magical resistance changed with temperature the way electrical resistance does, I might be able to make a thermometer using that principle, but that seems unlikely.

If that were the case, it should have affected our magical measurements. This experiment wouldn’t have gone so well up to this point. Magic, it’s truly a mysterious power. I can’t help but wonder what kind of knowledge the Empire possesses.

...I'm already dealing with magical biology, which is completely outside my expertise in every sense. I don't have the luxury of getting bogged down in magical physics, do I?

"Sorry for keeping you both so late."

I said to Rilka and Noel as we stepped outside together.

"If we don’t help out on this side of things, it’ll be a disaster. Mostly for Mia, that is."

"That’s right, that’s right. Vinder, you work Mia way too hard."

Noel chimed in, agreeing with Rilka’s sarcastic tone. Though I’m pretty sure Noel relies on Mia for her analysis of the magic circles, too. ...And that’s also my fault, isn’t it?

"I know, but..."

I had no comeback. On top of her secretarial duties for the Vinder Company’s main business, I’d recently made her my proxy and added the out-of-scope task of calculating ballistics for the catapult.

"I almost fainted when I found out what Mia’s salary is, but that’s not the point."

Mia is not a servant. Her income grows in proportion to the profits Vinder earns. In terms of share ratio, she makes the same amount as I do. It’s become a staggering sum, but I’ve never seen her spend any of it on herself. Then again, the same could be said for my father and me.

We just don’t have the time to spend it. I was thinking of having the entire company building rebuilt, but then we ended up taking up temporary residence at the grand ducal estate. Either way, it’s impossible until the war is over.

"It doesn’t matter how much money you have if you work yourself sick."

At Noel’s words, I looked toward the school building. From the courtyard, I could see a light on in the head librarian’s office. Mia tends to try and help me with everything when she’s in the lab, so I’ve had her use the librarian’s office instead. Its rightful owner is staying here overnight, after all.

An image of Mia, alone in the office, writing with charcoal on a slate, floated into my mind.

"The least I can do is go pick her up."

A carriage from the grand ducal estate comes to get us. Having us return separately would be a huge hassle for the guards and everyone else, so we go home together. Our usual meeting spot is the back gate.

"Don’t say something so obvious like it’s some brilliant idea."

As I mulled over the gap between what a normal person considers obvious and what I, a socially awkward person, do, I changed course toward the school building.

"Good. You’re still here."

Dalgan, who was just coming out of the building, spotted me and called out.

"It’s about the culture medium. The batch we made from the first cow is almost gone. You told me to let you know."

"We’ve used a lot of it, after all."

The culture medium I buy from Dalgan is almost entirely biological in origin. That means I have to consider the effects of individual differences between the cows used as ingredients. We’ve been using the IG-1 extracted from one liter of medium as our stock solution, but if the quality of the medium changes, so will the bacteria’s growth rate and the amount of IG-1 it secretes. In other words, batch variation will become too significant to ignore.

"...So, you’re saying I should just make a big batch all at once to even out the differences."

"Yes. If we combine three cows, the differences between each one won’t matter."

"I see. If we coordinate the timing of the processing, we should be able to manage that."

"For aseptic handling and to maintain secrecy, we’ll do the culturing here for the time being. But I’ll have Vinaldira’s company handle the extraction and other processes. It’s fine to have a large quantity. For storage, please concentrate it as much as possible."

"Got it. I’ll let them know."

"Oh, and one more thing..."

I placed an order for medium with the components extracted. The simpler it is, the better it is for purification. I want to find the minimum required components. There’s also the matter of cost.

"Alright. That settles it, then," Dalgan said, having jotted down my order.

"Sorry for all the trouble."

"Don’t worry, you’re paying me well for it. And on paper, it’s a delivery for the Knight Order and the Magic Dormitory. My old man is beaming, calling it an order from Prince Craig and the Great Sage. He’s been bragging about it all over the place, along with my medal."

"That’s great to hear. Ah, sorry. I can’t keep her waiting, so I have to go."

I glanced at the school building and saw that the light in the librarian’s office was now off.

"Can’t keep Mia-chan waiting. You work that girl too hard, you know."

Everyone says the same thing. And since every single one of them is also overworked because of me, I really have no leg to stand on.

"...Once this business with the Empire is over, I’ll make sure she takes a long vacation. At the very least."

I headed for the back gate.

I could hear the sound of carriage wheels receding from beyond the wall. Multiple carriages at this hour. And they were in a real hurry.

"Vi, Vinder!"

As I neared the back gate, Sherry came running up, panting for breath.

"What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the bean paste or the sugar?"

It was the next likely trouble. We were also using highly refined sugar for the culture medium. Its production was already limited, and now there was a sudden surge in demand. There shouldn’t be a sudden spike in orders in times like these, but if it was interfering with her business, I had to deal with it.

"S, suddenly some men came in through the back gate... an, and they took Mia."

"What!?"

For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what she’d said. Several knights were running toward the back gate. Mia, who was supposed to be waiting there, was nowhere in sight.

◇◇

In a downtown area near the eastern edge of the Royal Capital, the back of a collapsed merchant company building was dim even during the day. A single candle on a long, cracked table illuminated the anxious faces of five men.

"W, what do we do now?"

Unable to bear the silence any longer, one of the men spoke. He had a thin, timid-looking face, utterly out of place in such a setting.

Not too long ago, these men held respectable positions in the Royal Capital. One had been in charge of a shop under Dorefano. Another was an expert in rough business hired by Calest.

"What to do now, you ask? I believe that is my line. I ordered you to make Ricardo Vinder the primary target. Weren’t you all familiar with the inside of the academy?"

Across from the men, a figure stirred in the darkness. At the robed man’s suppressed voice, the thin man flinched and looked down.

"B, back when we were there, there weren’t so many knights on patrol..."

"And that little brat took forever to come out. We were thinking the Grand Duke’s carriage would be here any minute, so we were cutting it really close."

A rugged-looking man with a scar on his cheek said, sounding defensive, as if he had some trauma associated with that very carriage.

"Y, yeah, that’s right. We did our research and found out they were supposed to meet at the back gate... Besides, you’re the one who told us to grab both of them at the last minute. If we’d pushed any further in, we’d be in a cell by now."

The men made excuses one after another. They were trying to reclaim their lost lives. What good were they if they weren’t willing to risk a life or two? The robed man clicked his tongue inwardly.

"We have no choice but to use that girl as bait to lure out Ricardo Vinder. If you can do that, I will forget this failure."

He said suggestively, but his attention was not on the men before him, but on what was behind him. A petite, black-haired girl was tied up there. She was abnormally quiet and docile.

"Th, that’s crazy. We already failed once, they’re bound to be on high alert. And the guards are already..."

Having failed an attack once, it was certain the target would raise their level of caution. But the expiration date on the passage permit provided by their collaborator was fast approaching.

"It is not a problem. If we do not care whether he lives or dies, it will be simple."

Clink.

A sound came from the back of the room. The girl had shifted. Seeing the disquiet from the girl who had been so calm despite being captured by a group of strangers, the spy smirked to himself.

There was a reason he had added a target, knowing it was a long shot. His mission, above all, was to seize the source of Vinder’s hidden knowledge.

From that perspective, this girl, Mia, was more than abnormal enough.

According to Lisabet’s information, she was Ricardo’s secretary. That alone gave her value as an information source. What’s more, information from the Second Prince revealed she had a connection to the Chancellor’s secretary. She was also extremely close to the alchemist Noel and the Oracle Princess Alfina.

The deciding factor was the scene at the First Knight Order’s training grounds. It had looked as though the Great Sage and even her supposed master, Ricardo Vinder, were moving at the girl’s direction.

It was strange enough that the heir to a silver merchant company had such a network, but for his mere servant to be on equal footing with the most important figures in the kingdom was an anomaly.

And above all, this girl possessed a slight aptitude for sorcery. It was a trivial amount, but the difference between having it and not was everything.

The man slowly approached the girl. Conscious of the candlelight behind him, he drew a knife.

"Do not scream."

He brought the knife to the girl’s throat for a moment, and after confirming her small nod, he removed her gag.

In truth, his earlier conversation with the men was merely groundwork to extract information from her. It was an act to ensure he followed the unreasonable order to bring her in without a single scratch.

The conditions were like those for kidnapping a beautiful woman. He thought that as long as she could speak, it shouldn’t matter, but he had no choice but to obey the orders of the next emperor.

Of course, there was no need to tell that to his potential target.

"It’s about time you talked. What do you know of Vinder’s secrets? My client is interested in your knowledge. If you can provide the knowledge we seek, you will not be treated poorly. For example..."

With the knife still in his hand, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a metal ring.

"This carriage part that the Vinder Company deals in. What is its secret?"

He spun the bearing in front of the girl’s eyes.

"..."

"I see. Then I suppose we will have to go after Ricardo Vinder once more..."

The man in the black robe turned his back to Mia.

"You men, prepare the weapons for the next operation—"

"! ...Please wait."

"What is it?"

The man asked without turning around.

"...Please tell that person... the numbers I am about to say."

A string of numbers spilled from the girl’s lips. They matched the numbers Maytyl had given him up to the third digit. Then came the fourth digit, the fifth...

The robed man decided to leave the Royal Capital.