Ch.123Expedition Team

In truth, if you only heard this much, you might reasonably think that way.

You might wonder why there’s such a long-winded explanation when all I need to do is just stop by the magic tower to purchase some missing components.

And to get straight to the conclusion… I can firmly state that for a mage, there is absolutely a necessity for such caution.

This is because mages, who are strongly influenced by the mysteries they handle and can rarely be called sane, are precisely the type who could make excuses like this, steal the technology, and flee.

Their actions cannot be explained by “common sense” reasoning like how they could possibly escape after their identity has been revealed, or how they would deal with the consequences of breaking a formal employment relationship.

They possess a mystical quality precisely because it’s incomprehensible to any being with a rational soul, and mages strongly influenced by such mysteries are, I declare, overwhelmingly not in their right minds.

The “Mage Civil War,” where they fought among themselves to prove whether offensive or defensive school mages were stronger. The “Kidnapping of the Pope by the Magic Tower,” which was the decisive event that solidified the independence of magic towers.

The “Demonic Alliance’s Invasion of the Surface,” which occurred when they summoned greater demons to determine which of the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Lords’ demons was stronger.

And even the major incident that could have destroyed the Holy Empire if not for the cooperation of Gregory Aleinos, the legendary Great Druid famous for subjugating the Orc Khagan.

These are just the major incidents, but if we were to count all the minor accidents as well, the number of humans killed by mages might exceed those killed by demons.

In other words, because there are so many mages with illustrious records of betrayal, the social trust in the “mage” species naturally approaches zero.

And as a former head of a magic school who knows this better than anyone, Lord Malakai Falten is seeking my permission even just to visit a nearby magic tower to obtain missing materials…

‘…Hmm.’

Honestly, I couldn’t help but find him rather untrustworthy.

If he somehow enters the domain of a magic tower, he could hide his identity within that organization, and if he manages to return to the Imperial Free City where the Metal School exercises autonomy, that would be the end of it.

No matter how influential our Alzar Barony might be among the nobility, we have no way to deal with such a prominent figure, which is why I’m carefully deliberating now.

Whether to accept the risk and allow him to conduct his business, or to refuse and choose another option.

Of course, my immediate thoughts are quite different.

‘He doesn’t seem to be lying…’

Based on my “hyper-intuition” not sending any warning signals, the issue of lacking materials itself is probably not a lie, but the social credibility of mages as a species is so terrible that it’s impossible to trust them regardless.

A mage, to put it extremely, is an utterly selfish individual trapped in their own world. Someone who can arbitrarily sacrifice anything, both their own and others’, for their objectives.

I don’t know whether only those with such character traits rise to become accomplished mages, or if normal humans simply become that way after learning magic…

But what matters right now is whether I should allow a mage with such character to operate outside of control…isn’t it?

‘…Wait. Couldn’t I just…?’

At that moment, an idea that I had never even considered due to my narrowed thinking—focused solely on the matter of permission—suddenly occurred to me.

“Lord Falten. What if… I simply accompany you to the magic tower?”

“…Ah. AH! Yes, that’s it! Yes, that would work!”

In other words, I could just observe what Lord Falten does at the magic tower.

My pursuit, protected by the power of “hyper-intuition,” would certainly be formidable enough to frighten anyone, and if I (the observer) am right beside him, he wouldn’t even have the opportunity to think of anything else.

This simple solution was something both of us had failed to consider due to our momentarily narrowed vision, but once proposed, it made us wonder why we hadn’t thought of such a simple solution before.

Well… if I had to point out a disadvantage to this idea, it would be that I’d have to leave the village…

But honestly, would my pioneer village really change significantly just because I’m away for a few days?

There’s Corin, Hannah, Gretel, the two chimeras. And even Lucius Wolfblood, who, though still recovering, could crush most lower-rank threats.

Thus, my next destination was decided to be the magic tower.

※ ※ ※

After confirming that I would travel to the magic tower with Imperial Knight Lord Malakai Falten, I began making simple preparations for the journey.

The magic tower branch that Lord Malakai Falten is targeting is the closest one in this vicinity, located at a distance that would take about four days round trip.

Thanks to this, we, who had no intention of planning a long schedule anyway, were thinking of finishing our preparations relatively simply by packing enough food and a fair amount of cash.

With the help of a space-expansion backpack and the warhorse Gus, carrying and moving most things would be quite possible.

And the next issue I needed to consider was… in some sense, the most critical one that needed to be resolved right away.

“What should I do with you two…”

[[[[…Grrrr?]]]]

The problem was how to handle the two chimeras who would remain in the village, currently subjugated to me through the ‘Lord of the Domain’ factor.

For the chimera appointed as the ‘Master of the Small Forest,’ it was virtually certain that there would be no problems for the time being.

Even though their intelligence is at an animal level, they understand the weight of being appointed to a position of authority by me, so the possibility of them rebelling during my absence, which would be at most two weeks, is practically zero.

…Of course, just to be safe, I would ask Hannah to check on them periodically.

But the real problem was the chimera staying in the village. This one probably wouldn’t cause trouble under normal circumstances either, but the issue arises from the potential damage if something were to go wrong.

To put it bluntly, a rebellion in the forest could be suppressed upon my return, but how severe would the damage be if this creature went on a rampage within the village before it could be contained?

Surprisingly, it was Corin who solved this worry of mine.

“Lord Alzar. Would it be possible for me to… give riding training to that chimera?”

His intention was to train the chimera in the qualities needed as a mount to create a flying mount, but from my perspective, where care was the issue, this was actually not a bad idea.

Especially since Sir Corin Lanster would personally oversee this, it was quite a good situation—if a mid-rank warrior took charge of this, I could certainly trust and leave it to him.

“Of course! I was wondering how to manage the chimera while I’m gone, but this works out perfectly!”

I’ll directly speak to the chimera myself, but at the same time, Corin is a knight capable of slicing through a chimera on his own, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Thus, as this biggest issue was being resolved, unexpectedly, someone else came to me with something to say.

“Lord Alzar. I have something I’d like to discuss.”

“Administrator Charlotte? What is it…?”

“Yes. Actually, since you’re visiting a branch of the magic tower, I was wondering if I might accompany you?”

“You? Well, I don’t mind… but will the village administration be alright?”

Though a dropout, Charlotte is still a lower-rank mage (wizard) from a magic tower academic background, conceptualizing the Soul School.

So there wouldn’t be much of an issue with her wanting to visit, as she must have her own circumstances, but the current problem is different. It’s related to the village administration, for which she is currently responsible.

“I can hand over my duties within a day. The deputy administrator learns quickly, befitting their position as second-in-command.”

“…You can do it in just one day?”

“Yes, it’s possible.”

“Then… I don’t see any reason to refuse.”

But when she herself says there’s no problem, it would be quite awkward to refuse, so the conclusion was that there’s no reason to object as long as the handover is properly done.

Thus, the final group of companions was decided to be four in total:

Lord Malakai Falten, the cause of this journey; myself, accompanying him partly to keep an eye on him; Charlotte, who had requested to join; and Pierre, my convenient combat-graduate student servant.

It might seem a bit unimpressive, but that’s how the “Golem Armor Parts Expedition” was formed.