The Magic Corps.
Every member belonged to the Magic Tower.
It was the military organization in charge of the Empire's firepower.
In exchange for fully guaranteeing the Magic Tower's autonomy, the Empire incorporated some of the Magic Tower's combat talent and research personnel into the military system.
The Magic Corps was the organization born from that arrangement.
Its main mission was clear.
In full-scale war, it concentrated firepower to erase enemy positions, and in peacetime, it performed reconnaissance, patrols, inspections, and even intelligence work.
Incursions by other races, magical experiments by foreign nations, or unidentified mana phenomena.
If people like that had come all the way to a countryside place like this—
“Sis, my stomach suddenly hurts…….”
Avoiding them first was the best move.
‘There was also the matter of getting shot last time….’
If it had been a mana-charged gun, it would not be strange even if the other party had been from the Magic Corps.
“Hm? The restroom? No way…… Are you nervous?”
Mischief clung to the end of Lisa's words.
Ugh, my face is burning.
“N-No. The barley I ate for lunch… My stomach just hurts a little. Let us go in after a bit.”
“Pfft! Should I give you some privacy?”
“Uh…… Just ten minutes.”
I hid myself in the bushes appropriately and watched the Magic Corps. Fortunately, they soon left the lord's castle.
No, perhaps it was not fortunate.
‘That direction… is our village.’
With my heart feeling deeply uneasy, I approached Lisa.
“Heh heh, did you take care of it?”
“…Let us hurry inside.”
A short while later, we arrived in front of the lord's castle.
“We are from Heindel Village. I am Lisa, an official dispatched to the Merchant Guild.”
“Ahem. Go in.”
She showed her identification to the guard standing in front of the lord's castle.
Step. Step.
By common notion, when one heard “lord's castle,” it was easy to imagine a grand fortress, but the circumstances were different for a lord who governed a unit as small as these villages.
In reality, it was closer to a lord's manor than a “castle.”
A stone building of about three floors, one yard, one stone wall. A few guards standing around were all there was. It was closer to a government office that handled administrative matters large and small.
As we passed through the small garden, the guard opened his mouth.
“There sure are a lot of guests today.”
“Is it bad if there are many guests?”
I tilted my head, pretending to be innocent.
“Ha ha. You see, little merchant, when people gather at a countryside lord's manor like this, it usually means something has happened.”
“Aha. Then what did the other guests come for?”
“Hmm… You mean those imperial nobles who just left? They came to ask if there were any mana users.”
“……!”
I pretended to be lightly surprised and smiled, but calculations had already begun running through my head.
A mana-charged gun that only some mages could handle. On top of that, the Magic Corps was moving to track a mana user.
……It seemed the one who had targeted me might have been from the Magic Corps after all.
‘This has become troublesome…….’
For the time being, I would have to move as cautiously as possible.
“If you go up to the third floor here, the lord will be there.”
I raised my head.
At the end of the garden stood a three-story building.
Lisa silently looked at it as well.
***
Knock, knock, knock.
“We are from the Heindel Merchant Guild.”
“Come in… Cough, cough.”
Beyond the door, a hoarse voice mixed with coughing rang out.
Click.
When the door opened, the lord who governed three villages—Heindel, Bredel, and Loenta—came into view.
Half his hair was gone, and even what remained was gray. His granddaughter was probably around my age, if I remembered correctly.
“…Right, what brings the Merchant Guild all the way here?”
Lisa stepped forward.
“My lord. We wish to build a warehouse at the road leading to Oxhorn Pass. Would it be possible to lease the land?”
“You said toward Oxhorn Pass…….”
The lord stroked his beard with his fingers and sank briefly into thought.
“There, hmm— magical beasts have been coming down often these days. Do people from Heindel not avoid that area too? Because it is dangerous.”
He set down the cup in his hand and slowly shook his head.
“If you tear that place up just to build a warehouse… Cough, cough. If monsters come down for no reason, the village could suffer damage too, could it not?”
“……Mm.”
He had a point.
Lisa seemed flustered and could not answer.
“…….”
Now, it was my turn.
At times like this, someone with experience had to step forward.
“My lord! I am Mikael, son of Raphael. May I say a word?”
“……Go ahead.”
“A few days ago, I went there myself with Father. There were a few wolves, but they ran away the moment they saw people. Rather than dangerous… it felt more like an abandoned pass.”
I tried to make my words sound as plausible as possible.
“If we build a warehouse there, the wolves will move farther away, so the village side will actually become safer. Our family has already driven out the nearby wolves too. If they come down again, Father and I will try to stop them ourselves.”
“What a spirited young man….”
“Ha ha. Thank you.”
The lord set down his cup and asked.
“…From my position, there is nothing bad about it. It means more tax revenue. But what do you intend to use the warehouse for?”
Lisa answered immediately.
“We intend to supply materials for the western reconstruction project. It is the region where demand will be highest after the war.”
“The west…. It is difficult to grant a commercial-purpose permit when you do not have formal merchant company registration.”
He continued as if sighing.
“Moreover, in truth, I hear another merchant company has marked that site over the past few days.”
“Another merchant company?”
“Another merchant company?”
Lisa and I answered at the same time.
Oxhorn Pass was dangerous because of the wolves, but once one crossed the pass, several villages and cities could be reached immediately.
If the trade route opened, it would truly be a strategic point extending in all directions.
Did that mean someone besides me had noticed this potential……?
“Yes. It is not a contract yet, but they are in a situation where they say they will at least pay the deposit first…. If I granted permission to your side and that side raised an issue, there is a high possibility it would turn into an administrative dispute. Cough.”
Lisa glanced around slightly.
“Then, could you review the contract even temporarily?”
“Very well. Let us do this. I will permit temporary use for free for two months. During that time, bring me actual transaction results. Once the results are confirmed, I will formally lease the warehouse site under Raphael's name.”
“……Thank you.”
The lord opened a drawer and took out a seal.
THUD!
With a dull sound, a red pattern was clearly stamped onto the document.
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
「Temporary Use Permit for Heindel Warehouse Site」
▪ User : Raphael Family
▪ Site : Lot 3-7, Heindel Outskirts
▪ Period : 2 months (formal conversion upon submission of results)
▪ Condition : Full responsibility for any accidents or disputes
Issuer : Lien Val Freed, Lord of Heindel
< Seal of the Lord of Heindel ✵ >
Signatory : Clerk Lisa Arcadia
< National Seal of His Majesty the Emperor ⚜ >
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
And the moment the seal was stamped on the paper, my fingertips trembled slightly.
‘Two months… It should be possible, right?’
I thought of the road to the west.
Distance, weather, and danger.
Even at a rough estimate, I had to start moving today.
I exhaled briefly.
Now, I absolutely had to pull this off.
Just as we were leaving the lord's castle.
Tap.
Lisa lightly hooked her elbow around my arm.
“Mikael, congratulations. I will take care of the Imperial Commerce Bureau documents.”
“……?”
I naturally pulled my arm away.
For an instant, her eyes narrowed slightly.
What was that just now……?
“Ah, no. It is all thanks to you, Sis… Heh heh.”
“As it should be.”
Lisa laughed briefly.
“But are you really going to build a warehouse? You may just spend unnecessary money and have to tear it down again two months later.”
“I am going to assume it will work for now. In any case, if we cannot store foodstuffs in a warehouse, they will all spoil within a few days. Even if it is temporary, we have to build one.”
“…Then have you thought about where you will buy the foodstuffs?”
“We should use our village market day.”
She smiled faintly.
“Right, right. You thought that through well.”
“Oh, right. Thank you for today.”
“Sure. Make sure my efforts are not wasted.”
We immediately returned to Heindel.
***
Murmur, murmur—
The village square was already full of people.
Everyone was looking in one direction and whispering.
“What is going on?”
Lisa whispered with a worried expression.
“Wait a moment.”
It was then.
People wearing black cloaks walked out from among the crowd. The golden insignia on their chests flashed in the light.
I instinctively steadied my breathing and looked at them.
……It was the investigation unit of the Magic Corps I had seen earlier.
“Well… It seems to be the Magic Corps from earlier….”
I quietly closed my eyes.
If the presence of the one I had encountered at Oxhorn Pass was there, what should I do… Honestly, I could not judge.
“…….”
Hm, fortunately, it did not seem to be there—
Then, a man who appeared to be the commander opened his mouth.
“We are the Imperial Magic Investigation Corps! We have come after receiving a report that there is an aura Awakened here! If everyone cooperates, this will be over quickly. Line up and move according to instructions!”
Someone among the villagers shouted.
“Does it make sense for an Awakened to be in a countryside village like this?”
The murmuring grew louder.
“Now that I hear it, that is true!”
“Are you not just trying to harass us for no reason?”
“To gather people at this hour just because of a report, without any evidence!”
But the commander was firm.
“From this moment, those who do not cooperate will be disposed of immediately under imperial law.”
The villagers could no longer answer back and lined up.
The investigation unit called people forward one by one and made them place a hand on a transparent glass orb.
—Tss.
A faint light shimmered inside the orb.
The breaths of the villagers stopped at the same time.
‘A mana detector…….’
If a certain amount of mana flowed through the body, it changed color. The darker the color, the higher the possibility of being an Awakened.
It would detect even a very faint amount….
In other words, this was not something I could solve by hiding it.
When the orb swallowed the light again, the square grew quiet.
Only the sound of someone swallowing was clear.
If someone there knew my face, even if I tried to run now, I would be caught in the end.
‘……Let me first confirm who they are looking for.’
As soon as I made my decision, I hid myself behind the crowd.
Then, taking advantage of the moment when everyone's eyes were facing forward, I slowly slipped closer to the investigation unit.
I could hear several investigation unit members speaking quietly.
“If there were even some characteristics of the Awakened, finding them would be easy.”
“They said there are none. It is just a report saying, ‘They are somewhere around here.’”
“……Then how are we supposed to find them?”
“Who knows. Still, orders are orders.”
One person beside them let out a short sigh.
“Something must have been miscommunicated from above. In the end, we are the ones who suffer.”
So there had been confusion….
I quietly exhaled and moved to the line.
The line at the front was shrinking quickly.
People who had passed through the detector left one by one, and now my turn was approaching.
“Boy there, next!”
One of the investigation unit members pointed at me.
‘…If I am caught, it is over.’
I slowly approached the glass orb.
A mana detector. Its principle was that it changed color when it detected mana above a certain value.
But—
“If it exceeds the permitted value, it overloads and breaks. Funny, is it not?”
In my last life, Arman, the Commander of the Magic Corps, had told me that. He had always been cold-headed, but at that moment, he had smiled a little.
Almost no one knew that fact. Even within the Magic Corps, only some high-ranking mages knew it.
‘The question is whether it will work with my amount of mana.’
In any case, I had no other method.
Tap.
I placed my hand on the detector. Then, for a very brief instant, I detonated the mana deep within my heart.
CRACKLE—!
Blue flames flashed, and the orb burst apart. Cracks spread in all directions, and black smoke rose.
“……Huh?”
A sound slipped out before I knew it.
Fssssss—
“W-What is this?!”
The investigation unit member dropped the orb.
“Commander! The detector is broken!”
This is strange…….
Did my body have this much mana?