Ch.107Magic Corps #4

“Today… I’ll stop here for now.”

As the sun was setting beyond the western mountains, Eve announced the end of today’s training, breathing heavily. For someone who was usually more of a bookish scholar, the physical exertion of moving around the forest was extremely taxing.

“Tsk. Your mana is completely drained. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

While groups of dark elves chatted as they departed, Orkus approached Eve, who had collapsed alone on the dirt ground. It was no wonder she was exhausted after consecutively using flight magic and elemental magic.

“I’m not… okay, but I’ll be fine.”

“Kuk kuk. You’re surprisingly stubborn. Here, drink some water first. It’s from Aila.”

Aila was a dark elf who was close to Eve. Orkus offered her a water pouch that Aila had prepared in advance. It was a leather water pouch commonly used by travelers crossing deserts.

Eve gratefully accepted it and drank desperately. The water seeping into her parched throat felt like blessed rain during a drought.

“Haah…! I can breathe again…”

With a long sigh of relief, Eve’s shoulders slumped. It wasn’t from weakness but from the release of tension that had been gripping her body.

“It’s been about a week now, hasn’t it? You’re enduring better and better.”

“My mana is… increasing little by little, very gradually, the more I use it.”

For a mage, mana is like muscle—it develops the more it’s used. Although there are innate differences in the size of one’s mana pool, effort was most important. Even those with talent couldn’t increase their capacity without training.

Eve knew this well, but she had never particularly focused on expanding her mana pool. For her, magic was something to research, not something to wield herself.

At least until she was appointed as the head of the Magic Corps.

“That’s true. The more you use elemental magic, the longer you can maintain it. But the efficiency is still terrible.”

“You mentioned… communion, right? As the most important element in using elemental magic…”

“Yes. The ability to deepen communion with spirits and summon higher-dimensional spirits is crucial.”

Unlike conventional magic, elemental magic prioritizes deepening communion with spirits. The more one communes with what are commonly called high-ranking spirits, the greater their power becomes, and the longer they can wield that power. This was common knowledge among elves.

“Yes. That’s what I’ve heard.”

“While communion ability improves the more you converse with spirits, there’s a huge innate component to it. Those who don’t have the gift are destined to live with basic spirits for their entire lives.”

Orkus exhaled deeply, as if shaking off memories of his desperate attempts to summon high-ranking spirits. He was reminded that he too was one of the elves who had been broken by the wall of talent.

“Well then.”

Anyway, enough of these depressing thoughts. Instead of continuing down this gloomy path, Orkus voiced something he’d been curious about.

“By the way, why did you accept this role when you didn’t have to? As a noble in this land, if you had refused, you wouldn’t have faced any harm—in fact, they would have respected your decision.”

“You mean… the Grand Duke?”

“Who else would I be talking about? I know the Duke here is unique and good, but he’s not particularly interested in you like the Grand Duke is.”

Though unofficial, on the day the Magic Corps was formally established, the image of Helena exchanging pleasantries alongside Zion Krauser flashed through Orkus’s mind. Her polite, dignified, and friendly demeanor, yet with eyes that showed little genuine interest in them.

Eve nodded quietly, recognizing what he meant.

“The Duchess is… that kind of person. As the ruler of the domain, she has an appetite for talent and is beautiful, but… in all matters, the Grand Duke comes first for her.”

“You mean she’s obsessively attached. I hear there have been some incidents because of that?”

“Yes. I only know from what I’ve heard, but… honestly, it was hard to believe. The Duchess I’ve seen has always been beautiful and dignified. It’s hard to imagine her as one of the continent’s few Sword Masters.”

Yet her chilling madness made her all the more frightening. That’s why Eve felt the need to maintain a proper distance and was grateful for living away from the mansion, which could be considered the headquarters. Though it felt somewhat empty, safety came first.

“Anyway, I wanted to repay the Grand Duke’s expectations of me. He’s someone who believes in me.”

When Eve first entered the magic tower as a child, all the mages had high expectations for her. They thought she would play a significant role because of her quick understanding and aptitude for magic.

But from the moment she decided to research the peculiar field of micro-elements, that interest gradually cooled. Mages, being people who clarify through research, wouldn’t dismiss any field of study outright—they knew that new research couldn’t happen that way.

Nevertheless, Eve’s claims seemed so unrealistic that the once-warm expectations gradually chilled.

Then Zion Krauser appeared, adding possibility to her research, understanding it, and offering help. Even if the catalyst was something as trivial as catching mosquitoes, success was success.

“I see.”

Orkus nodded inwardly, understanding why she was so passionate. He recognized that Krauser had spotted potential buried in obscurity and provided support. Every action, no matter how trivial, had its reasons.

.

Elves were far superior in guerrilla warfare strategies and tactics in the forest. It wasn’t an area where I could presume to comment, nor was there any need for me to train in it.

So instead, we trained for combat scenarios outside the forest. Since the unit was created for domain defense, we focused on siege warfare, urban combat, or escort missions protecting refugees.

“If we go left from here, there’s a plaza, and if we go right…”

What’s most important for urban combat? Helena answered that it was understanding the terrain and landmarks, and I agreed.

Therefore, under the pretext of touring the domain, I had the dark elf group familiarize themselves with the terrain.

“Phew.”

After touring the western district with the group of dark elves, I let out a short sigh and headed to a nearby inn to order food for myself and the group. The innkeeper was startled by the unexpected visit of a noble and even more surprised by the silver coins I offered for the meal. Probably because I paid extra.

One might wonder why we went to an inn rather than a restaurant, but in this continent, most restaurants double as inns. We could have gone to a tavern for food, but it was too early and the portions would have been smaller.

“The point is to get a general overview and become familiar with the area. Don’t try to memorize everything on the first day.”

I moved between the scattered groups, reassuring them there was no need to rush. It was good that they were diligently studying the maps I had provided, but it would take time.

“Thank you for your hard work. You could have sent someone else to do this, yet you, busy as you are, took it upon yourself.”

As I returned to my seat, Orkus, who had been holding it for me, smiled wryly and offered words of comfort. As the village’s deputy chief and de facto chief, he had accompanied me. Olivia had conveniently slipped away to slack off.

“It’s fine, I have plenty of help. The paperwork is going smoothly too.”

“Ah, right. The Duchess is handling that, isn’t she?”

I nodded, imagining Helena’s face as she would be busy processing documents. The gloomy expression she must have, being in a position where she had to follow my orders and focus on paperwork.

She would probably be quite dejected by now, so I thought I should give her an appropriate reward when I returned.

“Yes. By now she should be finishing preparations for the knights’ training.”

“Training the kingdom’s knights. How strange to be doing that in a ducal territory. Aren’t other nobles displeased?”

“Fortunately, it’s quiet. There’s no place better at military training than the Krauser duchy, and with their firm position as royalists, it’s understandable. It’s already become something of a tradition within the kingdom.”

The Krauser duchy itself had deep expertise in swordsmanship and other martial arts, and this practice had been ongoing for generations, leaving no room for complaints. The abilities of knights trained in our domain had long proven this.

“H-here’s your food, sir.”

“Thank you.”

The innkeeper brought soup and bread with trembling hands. Despite the good reputation of the duchy’s nobles, it was natural to be nervous when actually facing one. Of course, not everyone reacted this way, but it was common enough.

“Come, let’s eat.”

I dipped bread into the soup and began eating, and Orkus followed suit. Like Ellen and her friends, this man and the dark elf group had no qualms about eating meat.

“I didn’t think someone like the Grand Duke would enjoy such homely food. The more I learn, the more surprising you are.”

When I was halfway through my bread, Orkus muttered in surprise.

“Even nobles are just people once they remove their hats. Just as disasters sweep through without discriminating by status, there’s no need to distinguish between common and noble food. Though there are differences in taste, of course…”

“It’s strange to hear such words from a noble, especially one at the top. No wonder your reputation is good.”

Orkus casually made this somewhat embarrassing comment while picking up his bowl of hearty soup and gulping it down. It was like watching someone drink water from a rice bowl.

“Whew! Anyway, thanks to you, I’ve eaten well and got a real home… I’m truly grateful.”

Clatter. Orkus put down his empty bowl on the table and lifted the corners of his mouth. It was a pleasant smile despite its rough quality.

“Thank you. I feel somewhat guilty that I couldn’t offer it out of pure goodwill… but I’m glad you like it.”

“No. If you had offered it without asking for anything in return, that would have been more suspicious. The fact that you didn’t hide your desire for our strength actually made us trust you more. My other friends feel the same way.”

Other friends. As I heard those words and glanced around the inn hall, I inadvertently made eye contact with the group of dark elves who were watching us.

With their excellent hearing, they seemed to have caught every word of our conversation.

Their silent nods and the look of understanding on their faces confirmed this thought.

“By the way, you said you wouldn’t use us in training with the knights?”

“Yes. The Magic Corps is a hidden army, unknown even to our domain’s people. So I can’t expose you in official schedules like training. Once rumors start, there’s no stopping them.”

“But, when war eventually breaks out, everyone will know anyway. Considering that, even if it’s revealed now…”

Orkus had a point. As a unit created for defense, they would inevitably be revealed in the event of war. But I wanted to keep them hidden as long as possible to prevent unnecessary rumors from spreading. When I explained this, Orkus seemed to realize his oversight and responded with embarrassment.

“Right. It was like that before. I forgot.”

“Yes. I’m glad you remember now.”

While there’s an advantage to the impact of revealing something hidden, my greater concern was avoiding scrutiny. Orkus seemed to recall this and nodded. He appeared to have no intention of debating the issue further.

“By the way, how is Eve doing? I heard she’s struggling quite a bit…”

“Eve? She’s adapting very well. Full of enthusiasm, in fact.”

“For military training rather than research? That’s surprising.”

Suddenly remembering Eve, who would be in the village with the remaining dark elves, I asked about her and received a surprising answer. Eve Greenwood had always been extremely passive except in her fields of interest, so to hear she was enthusiastic about military training was unexpected.

Perhaps she had suddenly developed an interest in the aggressive application of magic? Or maybe she was relieving stress by using offensive spells? I was about to speak when—

“She keeps going by saying that the Grand Duke has expectations of her. It’s quite impressive.”

Somehow, I heard a reason that was concerning enough that I couldn’t simply let it pass.