Ch.257257. Mir Park Blockade Battle (6)

“Miss? This is just magnetite?”

“Magnetite… you say?”

That black lump of stone with magnetic properties, one of the most common minerals?

“Is it really magnetite? Not polybade?”

“Miss…”

As Renias asked again for confirmation, the appraiser looked at her with eyes full of pity. Upon closer inspection, the magnetite she had brought wasn’t the issue.

“Were you really out looking for polybade? After hearing it’s an ingredient for a panacea?”

“…”

“Good grief. Polybade is so rare that even if you deliberately enter a mine, you’d be lucky to see it at all. It’s something difficult to find even if you brought professional mountaineers and miners, not a noble young lady like yourself.”

Her fair skin had darkened with dirt, and the clothing under her hood was in complete disarray from wherever she had been. One of her knees must have been scraped as well, as the handkerchief she had used instead of a bandage was soaked with blood.

It was enough to make one click their tongue at how a noble young lady had ended up looking like a beggar.

“You should give up. The panacea is just a folk tale, not even verified. Some people have died searching everywhere out of curiosity.”

He sincerely advised her to give up, for the girl’s own sake.

But Renias couldn’t possibly endure this situation where even her last remaining family member was unable to rise.

“Ahaha… I’m fine. Want to see? I’m about to enter my third year, and I’ve been assigned to Class A.”

The girl smiled.

She forced her lips upward into a smile, trying to cover up any sign that she might appear to be struggling.

“A Lebrant Academy student ID. It doesn’t seem to be a lie. But still…”

“Come on. I told you I’m fine. By the way, sir, do you happen to know where this might be found?”

“Good heavens… you’re going to move around again with that injured body?”

“My body is, umm… despite how it looks on the outside…”

Hop, hop.

“See? I can jump like this without any problem. I’ll just check this one last thing and then stop.”

Wearing a mask and telling lies was something she was used to.

Meanwhile, as the masked girl rummaged through various shops and gathered information through her lies, the Mirpark blockade operation was proceeding smoothly, having reached the outskirts of the base city.

But the information they had received only went this far. The Tembris party, which had been relying on Junon’s information until now, was now left with only the largest city where the Mirpark nobles had gathered.

“Still no contact from Junon?”

“…No. For some reason, there’s no reply.”

Senia had sent messages to Lebrant several times, but no response had come back.

“He’s a busy guy, so that could be why. Actually, what he’s provided so far has been a great help, hasn’t it?”

“Well… that’s true. He’s been acting almost like a spy, entering Mirpark alone.”

“Think about how much effort he must have put into obtaining information about Mirpark’s internal movements without a single second of error. It’s probably not good to rely solely on him anyway.”

They couldn’t just sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for news from Junon just because they couldn’t contact him.

Michelle also agreed with Senia’s opinion.

“He might be quietly active somewhere, but that somewhere is probably not Mirpark. He said there was nothing more to find out there.”

“Then what is he doing?”

“Aris, the issue isn’t what Junon is doing that’s preventing him from contacting us. The point is that we shouldn’t just be dependent; we need to know how to move autonomously.”

After all, we received things like this.

Senia held up the synchro-type magic armor they had received from Junon and were using well.

At the mention of autonomy rather than dependence, the other two came to their senses. These pieces of information were more likely to be deeply embedded memories from his past rather than something Junon had directly dug up.

“That’s right. It doesn’t seem right for us to keep waiting like this.”

“Even if that’s not the case, shouldn’t we give him some time to rest?”

Junon must have his reasons. The other members nodded in agreement with Senia’s words.

All except one.

“I don’t think that’s the reason.”

It was Erika, who had been cautioned several times before, but now she was speaking with remarkable confidence.

From Senia’s perspective, Erika shouldn’t have been able to speak so boldly.

‘I thought I had already driven the point home.’

The impact of the Defornice III subjugation battle had been so great that stories of his exploits and heroic deeds were still circulating among the principality’s residents, led by the Lakan tribe.

Despite his lower status and position, the fact that a commoner not belonging to any faction had achieved such a feat left no room for criticism. Even though he was an academy student, the fact that he had devised such a plan was more deserving of praise than criticism or condemnation.

Yet, was there still something negative to say about Junon?

‘I thought sufficient measures had already been taken.’

His exploits had spread, so there was nothing to say about that, and he had proven his capabilities through a one-on-one duel. She had even held a knife to his throat in the hospital as a warning.

Erika’s tone suggested that she knew something about why Junon couldn’t be contacted at this moment.

“Don’t you still wonder why he suddenly cut off contact? What if this is all part of his scheme?”

“That seems like quite a stretch.”

“It’s not a stretch at all, Michelle. Do you not understand our situation? Tembris is currently advancing into Mirpark with the principality’s army, conducting a blockade. What happens if Junon pulls out now?”

“So you’re saying that if we fail, we’ll have been caught up in his plan? Is that what you want to say?”

She had said something like that before.

That Junon was hiding some ulterior motive, and if this operation failed, Tembris would bear all the responsibility.

In other words, she was claiming he had abandoned them.

“This is ridiculous. Why isn’t he responding? Of course he won’t. He’s dropped out of Lebrant Academy.”

“What?!”

“He probably didn’t contact you either. Because he has no intention of taking responsibility. That bastard only ever thought of using us!”

She then nervously handed Senia some documents she had brought from somewhere.

‘This is…’

For the upcoming fourth year, Junon’s name was missing from the roster.

Michelle and Senia looked to see if he might be somewhere else rather than among the fourth-year students, but his name was nowhere to be found. Not on the graduate list, not on the leave of absence list.

Finally, they turned to the dropout list. Only there did Junon’s name appear.

‘I expected she might know something, but I didn’t expect this.’

‘Erika might spread this information like what happened at the hospital. But… this…’

This wasn’t just an action limited to her hatred of Junon; it was clear evidence recorded in documents.

Neither Michelle nor Senia could refute after seeing the papers.

Observing the situation, Goden spoke up.

“I understand what you’re saying. But Erika, even so, we can’t consider Junon’s actions as malicious when he passed information to us about nobles turning humans into Mains.”

“Even that could have been us being used.”

Goden shook his head.

“It would have come to light eventually. He just accelerated the timeline, and we would have had to act inevitably. Was this really harmful to us?”

“But, but…”

“At least the Junon I saw is not someone who would harbor ill will toward us. You can tell just by how he stubbornly refused the Grand Duke’s medal of honor despite rising from the bottom to where he is now.”

That’s right.

At the very least, Junon is not someone who would harbor malice toward others.

“Control yourself, Erika. The one bringing shame to Tembris by acting emotionally right now is you.”

“…”

Goden, who had cleanly erased any potential for controversy, sharply rebuked Erika and ended the argument.

“And Senia, Michelle. I’d like you two to stay behind for a moment.”

“Just us two?”

“For the next operation. We need to break through that gate on our own.”

To Erika, the request for only the two who had defended Junon to stay behind sounded somewhat like an order to leave.

***

“Ah.”

My eyes snap open.

This isn’t the familiar ceiling I’m used to seeing, nor the dormitory bedding I feel every day.

Right. This is… the house built on the land in my name, constructed by the Lakans yesterday.

“…I ended up sleeping here after all.”

I had planned to stay at an inn with the money I had set aside. How did I end up sleeping here?

─Are you in there?

Speak of the devil. Are these guys actually tigers, not werewolves?

“Coming, coming.”

I thought it would be perfect to bring up the debt first.

I jumped up and opened the door to find not one but three people standing there. Somehow, their expressions seemed quite dissatisfied.

Though it doesn’t seem to be directed at me.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well… it feels unsettling that we can’t do more for our benefactor before leaving.”

“Pardon?”

“The chief has called everyone to gather at Algenieb. Don’t know the reason why.”

“So all three of us have to return without even touching those stones you asked us to find.”

“What happened?”

“Remember how our relationship with humans soured when we fell for the nobles’ tricks? The chief wants us to gather to prevent that from happening again.”

It seems the Lakan tribe’s false accusations were deeply connected to the Mirpark nobles, and with the Mirpark blockade currently underway, the leadership had decided to gather at Algenieb to avoid antagonizing the humans during this sensitive time.

That makes sense.

While the Lakans may have grievances, it’s hard to definitively rule out cases where they might attack humans, as happened with Defornice and Pimpert.

So they intend not to move until the Mirpark blockade ends and the nobles’ research is completely eradicated.

Since I was curious about how the blockade was progressing, I asked a few more questions. They quickly sketched the front lines on a map, added brief explanations, and then hurried off, saying their carriage would arrive soon.

“Hmm…”

The boundary line looked reasonable. It seems a siege battle will begin soon at the front line surrounding the base city.

From here on, they should be able to break through on their own without me having to relay any news.

Judging by their rate of advance, it should all be wrapped up in a few days.

“Then I have only one job left.”

Gathering all the remaining Badlite and Elcherium.

“Sleeping bag… right. I’ll take it. I can stay there for a night.”

I expected it would take a day or two, but I’ll reduce even that time.

In my memories, the principality would soon face the worst creation made by the nobles in Mirpark, which would be designated as a named monster, causing the front line to collapse.

So I’ll hurry. To send the magic armor as quickly as possible so Tembris can prevent the appearance of Feltiburugos even a second faster.

As I climbed the hill, I sensed someone’s presence in a place that should have been untouched by human hands.

Wondering if it might be noble lackeys who had followed the Lakans, I raised my guard to identify them when—

“Ugh… hnngh.”

I heard a girl’s sobbing.

It was a familiar voice. The voice of the girl with the beautiful smile, who used to tease me with her playful face.

But… why are you here, Renias?