Ch.442Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

I checked on the ongoing business separate from pursuing the cultists in Necropolis.

-‘The signal quality is quite poor. Where are you located?’

“Underground. Both radio waves and magical waves don’t reach here, so it’s been a struggle.”

As soon as the communication connected, I informed Matt of the current situation. That I had arrived at the destination.

Matt responded that it was fortunate and added that his worries were eased.

-‘So you arrived safely.’

Holding a communication device as thick as a brick in my hand, I continued my conversation with Matt. Since there were battery concerns and nothing good would come from prolonging the communication, we kept it brief with questions and answers.

“How are Asen and Sanya’s movements?”

-‘Just as your intelligence indicated, the two warlords have begun their offensive.’

Today marked three months since the war began. The warlords’ offensive had started once again.

Of course, we had already obtained this information quite some time ago. Hassan’s intelligence capabilities, having escaped the flames of conflict, were undoubtedly superior among the three warlords.

Matt noted that the warlords’ offensive had begun ahead of the upcoming pilgrimage period of Al-Yabud.

-‘The pilgrimage is Al-Yabud’s sacred religious ceremony, so they couldn’t wage bloody battles during such an auspicious period. The offensive will likely end to coincide with the start of the pilgrimage.’

“As long as neither Asen nor Sanya is pushed back. They’ll probably enter a temporary ceasefire around that time.”

I urged strengthening intelligence gathering on Asen and Sanya. Though someone of Matt’s caliber would surely handle it properly.

After the brief work talk, some casual conversation began. Of course, it was casual only by our standards.

“Are Camilla and Lucia safe?”

-‘The Hero and the Saint are the same as always. The Hero, who entered the uninhabited zone with the peacekeeping forces, caught another monster. An Arachne. A giant spider that could slap a seven-story building.’

A spider, huh. She had defeated a building-sized monster in the northern part of the Empire. Seems like she took down another spider this time.

I don’t even have the energy to be surprised anymore.

Dispatched to the uninhabited zone as a firefighter, Camilla was setting new records daily by sweeping away monsters like a fish in water. I wonder if she’s pushing herself too hard, but well.

Anyway, I’m glad she’s safe.

Following news of Camilla, I also heard about Lucia. After staying at a refugee camp caring for patients, she had headed to the front lines with priests from the Order upon hearing rumors of multiple casualties in the border region.

For reference, that front line wasn’t far from where Camilla was operating. As for why there were casualties, it was because of sorcerers.

-‘Those warlord bastards seem to be at their limit. When they heard you were coming, the government forces launched a preemptive attack on rebel-occupied territory, but the government forces were defeated instead, and two cities fell into the warlords’ hands.’

“Ah… these fucking idiots, really…”

-‘If there’s any good news, it’s that the warlords have tacitly approved the Saint’s relief activities. They guaranteed her safety on the condition that she only attends to civilian casualties.’

“By civilian casualties, you mean the government forces aren’t included?”

-‘That’s the condition. They can allow rescuing civilians, but they won’t tolerate infidels interfering in Mauritania’s affairs. Treatment is only for civilians. They said to only receive patients at designated hospitals, and threatened to blow up the hospital the moment government forces are treated.’

This is maddening. Al-Qaeda or Taliban or whatever.

I frowned with a cigarette in my mouth, making a mental note to deal with the neighboring warlords soon.

Just as I was about to wrap up the communication, Matt threw one more question.

-‘By the way, how’s Necropolis? Have you made contact with the collaborator?’

“Ah, about that…”

I did find a collaborator.

But the condition is a bit…

I trailed off ambiguously and turned my head.

In my line of sight was a mage enthusiastically shaking his behind while holding a bottle of liquor and marijuana.

Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

Around the time Matt finished the communication and was about to make contact with the warlords.

The mage who had been excitedly swinging his hips introduced himself.

“Joaquin Raphah Goodman. My name is Joaquin and my surname is Goodman.”

Joaquin Goodman.

That was this mage’s name.

“People who know me all call me Joaquin, but I prefer to be called by my surname rather than my first name.”

Unlike his surname ‘Goodman’ with its positive meaning, Joaquin’s condition was terrible.

His disheveled hair was a mess, and I couldn’t tell when he last cut it. His stretched-out shirt, seemingly oblivious to the concept of laundry, had what looked like drool stains.

The problems were numerous.

“Um… I had a bottle of liquor somewhere? Is this it…? No, this is a reagent. But when did I make this…?”

Joaquin muttered while rummaging through a cabinet filled with glass bottles whose purposes were hard to determine. He looked exactly like a madman.

For now, let’s set aside his shattered sense of hygiene. People can be like that when they’re out of sorts.

The same goes for storing reagent bottles and tableware together in the cabinet. Even Ayla used to bring magical experimental supplies into living spaces when her workshop was cramped. Yeah. That’s okay up to that point.

But this guy is a fucking junkie.

“…Found it! Hah!”

Joaquin, who had been searching through the chaotic cabinet, showed off something. It was a whiskey bottle covered in grime.

The 50-proof liquor sloshed around, and after removing the cap, Joaquin put his mouth to the opening and blew the bottle horn with all his might.

-Gulp, gulp…!

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with each swallow of the hard liquor.

After demolishing the bottle in one go, the crazy mage also indulged in the marijuana he was holding.

“Sssip- Keuhhh… This is it, shit…”

“……”

The mage, who put down the liquor bottle with a thud, continued his self-introduction. It was an introduction in name only. In reality, it was just nonsense from someone high on drugs.

“I’d like to be called Goodman, but you can call me anything. Goodman, Joaquin, Raphah, hey, you, there, sir…”

“……”

“But who are you? Who are you to barge into someone else’s house like this? Huh?!”

Staggering. Rambling.

I turned my gaze away from Joaquin, who was spouting nonsense with marijuana in his mouth, and looked at Francesca.

“…Was this the best you could do?”

Francesca, who had been looking around the workshop, shrugged.

“It’s a crazy neighborhood. Joaquin is actually pretty normal here. But he’s reliable when it comes to getting things done, so trust me.”

“I think we should take away his marijuana first…”

Sure enough, with a crash and bang, the mage ran across the living room, dashed into the bathroom, opened the window, and shouted:

“I am the king of the world!”

“……”

I stared into space and then lifted my head toward the ceiling. If I didn’t do this, I felt like tears would flow.

One alchemist, one martial officer, one beastkin and one nymph.

And now a deranged junkie.

What a maddening combination.

What the fuck am I supposed to do?

*

I wondered where this absolute idiot had come from, but regardless of the situation, work had to be done.

We decided to follow the plan for now.

“From now on, we’ll search for the cultist group. Based on the timeline, those who crossed the border from the camp likely entered this city yesterday.”

Having joined up with our internal collaborator, we decided to begin searching for the cultists.

I was the one commanding the operation.

I assigned missions to the intelligence officers.

“To determine the exact location of the item, we first need to know the position of the cultist group. Since the limitations of tracking magical tools are clear, we’ll track them without such tools. Caer?”

“Nya.”

“Find their approximate location.”

The difference between this neighborhood and Earth is the presence of various sentient beings.

There’s no difference between the two places in that the world order is maintained with humans at the center, but the existence of sentient species other than humans is a unique characteristic of this neighborhood.

Beastkin are known to have the keenest senses among sentient species. Hearing, sight, as well as touch, taste, and smell.

We plan to use these characteristics to find the cultists.

I took out a large sealed container from my bag and placed it on the table. Inside the tightly sealed jar, which prevented air from passing through, was a piece of old clothing.

“This is part of clothing collected from the fence at the camp’s perimeter. When we reviewed the surveillance equipment, we found that a group of cultists attempted to climb over and got caught on the fence.”

This is the clothing they left behind at that time.

“…Sniff sniff.”

Caer opened the sealed container and smelled it. Even though it was only slightly opened, there was an immediate reaction.

Ears twitching and fur standing on end. Caer left the residence and leaped to the rooftop with the jumping power unique to beastkin.

I closed the sealed container and continued my explanation.

“Now that Caer is using his sense of smell to find areas where their scent is present, I’ll search that area with the tracker.”

The tracker provided by the warlord is only civilian-grade, but magic is still magic.

Even if it’s just a tiny bit of magical power, once it’s detected, the direction will show. If I move in the direction indicated by the tracker while carefully concealing my movements, at some point the clear tracking magic will be caught in the detection net.

That’s where the cultists’ base is.

“I found the scent nya. The direction is west. It’s in a district far from here nya.”

Caer, who returned after searching, tapped the compass with his nail and pointed in the direction where they were located.

I grabbed the tracker and looked at the three people.

“Now that we have the location, let’s move. Francesca, follow me, and Caer, please confirm the exact location once more.”

“Ah… where is this Charnoi going…?”

Charnoi, who was sitting at the table, raised his hand and asked a question. As I was gathering my gear for the field, I handed Francesca an overcoat and spoke.

“You stay here.”

“…Eh? What does that mean…?”

Someone needs to guard our belongings.

While Caer was adjusting the sling of his assault rifle, I opened the door for the beastkin to leave. Then I placed a radio and candy (containing 0.002% synthetic honey) in Charnoi’s hand.

“Keep an eye on the equipment. Radio us immediately when that gentleman comes to his senses.”

“The damned black-haired beast is abandoning Charnoi…!”

I heard complaints about beastkin discrimination and threats to file a complaint with the labor office.

But unfortunately, Charnoi’s wails couldn’t pass through the iron door.

After closing the explosion-scorched main door, I headed west with Francesca.

*

The search was conducted carefully.

-‘From south to west. The scent comes from the direction where air flow is felt nya.’

Caer, who was moving across rooftops, kept sending radio messages.

In a big city, if a beastkin were jumping between buildings, police would be dispatched to issue a fine, but this wasn’t a big city—it was Necropolis.

A magic tower in the shadows created by mages for mages.

A place beyond the reach of any public authority.

“I just looked around but couldn’t find anything.”

“It’s probably because of the buildings and plants. Magical power decreases each time it passes through objects.”

Francesca observed the landscape of Necropolis. And she shared the information she had discovered.

“I just realized something. All the flora and fauna here contain magical power. It’s not a natural phenomenon.”

“It’s probably because they’re artificially cultivated plants.”

“That might be part of the reason, but it’s more likely due to the species. Plants used in magical reagents contain more magical power than other plants.”

I scanned the plants scattered around while listening to her explanation.

Gardening beds, greenhouses for plant cultivation, window pots, and even gaps along the main streets.

Plants blooming throughout the city were imbued with magical power. All of them were magical plants used in alchemy and magic.

“It’s amazing to see plants everywhere. You usually need a permit to grow such plants.”

“And they should be cultivated in designated places. The magic tower regulates indiscriminate cultivation, but it seems that’s not the case here.”

“It’s Necropolis after all.”

People who were expelled from the magical society for breaking the precepts wouldn’t have any sense of law-abiding. If they hadn’t done things they were told not to do, they wouldn’t have a reason to live here in the first place.

I concealed the detector and asked a question. There was something I’d been wanting to ask.

“By the way, how did Joaquin get expelled from the magic tower? Did he violate the precepts?”

“Hmm, he didn’t break the precepts. He did violate school rules and criminal law, though.”

As it turned out, Joaquin, who was recruited as an internal collaborator, wasn’t an exile. Exile is a severe punishment only sentenced when precepts are violated.

Francesca explained that he was a criminal who had broken the laws of the magic tower. She added that he had fled the magic tower to escape punishment after committing illegal acts.

What crime could he have committed to come all the way here?

When I asked with such curiosity, Francesca continued with an indifferent expression.

“He was caught growing marijuana in the alchemy department’s greenhouse.”

“…Ah. Well. I guess he was cultivating drugs to pay for his tuition.”

“No. He was growing it for his own use. He was growing marijuana in his rented room until complaints came in.”

“……”

This is fucking insane.

I decided to stop thinking about the past of this incomprehensible collaborator. I dashed into the alleys of Necropolis with the tracker in hand.

Although it hadn’t even been a day since I entered this city, within half a day, I was able to see all the underbelly of the city. That’s how gloomy the back alleys of Necropolis were.

As if proving that even the bottom has its own bottom.

As I thoroughly searched that underbelly, at some point I began to slow my steps.

“……”

A faint green light appeared on the tracking magical tool.

“Got it.”

Right direction.

I held the magical tool in my left hand and lowered my right hand to my waist. Ready to draw my weapon at any moment.

-Beep…. Beeep….

A green dot moves along the edge.

No matter which way I turned my body, the direction indicated by the magical tool was only one place.

-Beep….

Exiting the alley, passing through the street. Going around the wall and up the stairs. The faint dot emits an even clearer light.

The distance gradually narrows. And the moment the dot points in one direction.

-Click!

After hearing the low beep, I raised my head and looked around.

“…Francesca.”

“Yes, Officer.”

“Prepare long-distance communication magic.”

“What’s the destination?”

“The refugee camp.”

I turned off the detector and turned around.

“Tell them we’ve found it.”