Chapter 163 - Chapter 162: A Class Only for the Chosen
The Sun of the Second Week of the First Month of Fire.
The day after the commemorative party.
Mika was bedridden in his own room.
...Why does the King know my name?
That shock was simply too great.
Mika's memory of the audience had mostly vanished, but later Cleiria and Urbano told him what had happened.
Urbano seemed to be enjoying himself completely, though.
"You're amazing to have the Emperor remember your name even before you met him. I didn't know you were such a big shot."
Saying that, he bowed his head and shook his shoulders, trying hard not to laugh out loud.
Cleiria's guess was that perhaps some report had been made to the Emperor regarding the students of the Magic Academy.
"For example, reports like how many students are expected to enter Class One next year, or whether there are many or few who have mastered [God's Miracle] this year, such reports are probably made regularly, aren't they?"
It wouldn't be strange if such reports were indeed made.
Whether they came through the Kingdom Army, the Court Magic Institute, or directly from the Academy Director, he didn't know, but it wouldn't be surprising for reports on the training status of mages to arrive.
"If, at that time, someone with exceptionally outstanding grades appeared, it wouldn't be strange for them to come up in conversation as 'There is someone like this'."
Urbano seemed to have calmed his urge to laugh, straightened his posture, and lightly adjusted his clothes.
"At first, they referred to you as 'that prodigy', so it must have come up in conversation as 'There is someone remarkably outstanding enough to be called that'."
"And then, maybe they asked playfully, 'Oh ho, what is the name of that person?'"
It was quite possible that had been inputted.
In fact, at this stage, the only possibility that the King knew about Mika was that level.
Whether this would turn out to be good or bad.
As he lay rolling around in bed, he thought, I hope I don't get into trouble in the future.
Knock, knock.
"Mika-sama. Lunch is ready."
"Okay, coming now."
Even so, Mika enjoyed Kistil and Nerisfeene's cooking, now that the immediate trouble was over.
Stress really isn't good for the body!
The Moon of the Second Week of the First Month of Fire, the following day.
Since moving up to the Middle Division, a somewhat unusual class had begun at the Academy.
To be precise, it was a class called "Governance" that only a limited number of students could take.
The conditions to take the class were "top-ranking students" or "relatives of noble families."
There were conditions for a noble heir to inherit the family headship, and they needed to graduate from either the Magic Academy or the Knight Academy.
But that wasn't an accurate way to put it.
Strictly speaking, it seemed one needed to complete this "Governance" class.
The reason why top-ranking students were also made to take this class was not to elevate them to nobility.
It seemed that when they became in a position to assist nobles, "You can't use someone who knows nothing!"
"I don't think magical talent has anything to do with domestic politics," he thought, but since grades were a condition for taking it, there was no choice.
Besides, I don't want to take something like that...
Since the class touched upon things like what fields the Kingdom of Ektrem possessed power in and how much power they had, it seemed there was a situation where they only wanted to teach it to carefully selected people.
In the class, the Magic Academy was first explained lightly.
Mika knew it was a national institution, but he didn't know who ran it.
He had assumed it was run by the Kingdom Army or the Court Magic Institute, which seemed to interfere often, but the direct parent organization was the Ministry of Military Affairs.
A military training institution that directly operated under the Ministry of Military Affairs, educating the military branch known as "Mages."
That was the Magic Academy.
This time, for the first time at the Academy, it was explicitly stated, "You are a military branch called Mages."
Yeah, I knew that.
However, since the Court Magic Institute is currently involved in operations, those who graduate are not necessarily assigned to the army; some go to the Court Magic Institute.
Also, it seemed there were cases where they went to local Domain Armies instead of the Kingdom Army.
Details on this would be covered again when entering the Upper Division.
And then, the Kingdom of Ektrem.
Total population: forty million.
Total military strength: two million five hundred thousand.
This military strength includes the Kingdom Army and Domain Armies, as well as mages, knights, and ordinary soldiers; everything is included.
The ratio of soldiers to population is a shocking over six percent.
Is this Sparta?
However, the actual population is likely even higher.
There are unregistered people, and more importantly, it seems slaves are not included.
Regarding ordinary soldiers, it seemed there weren't that many full-time ones.
Usually, they engaged in public works like civil engineering or irrigation projects, swapping out with others who trained as soldiers for a certain period.
It seemed they maintained the quality and quantity of soldiers that way.
And, the self-sufficiency rate for food items such as wheat and beans exceeded one hundred percent with ease.
It seemed that north of the capital, even further north than the village where they had gone to defeat the Agu Bear, there were vast agricultural lands like granaries.
Looking from above, it seemed like a vast green plain stretched out in the distance, but in reality, it was likely wheat or something similar.
There were fields scattered here and there, but it seemed there were huge agricultural lands covering about twenty percent of the country's territory in the north.
Mages with [Abundance] basically visited these northern agricultural lands in early spring.
Of course, there were crops that couldn't grow in the north, so there were farmlands in various places throughout the kingdom, but it was undeniable that one of the pillars supporting the kingdom's life was these northern farmlands.
However, even if they produced that much, how would they transport it?
Transporting grain from the north to the entire kingdom must be terribly difficult.
In this world where there were not even airplanes or locomotives, how did they transport that much food?
The key lay in the Magic Bag.
The Magic Bag Mika possessed held a space of two meters wide, and one meter in height and depth.
And this was a personal-use item.
Originally, this Magic Bag was developed by the Court Magic Institute for military use, or rather, for the nation.
The Magic Bag Mika held was a civilian conversion of that.
It seemed there were Magic Bags with incredible capacity, the details of which belonged to state secrets.
Those used for commercial purposes, or for transporting food like grain, were those ridiculously large Magic Bags.
They didn't tell him specifics, but it seemed there were Magic Bags with the volume of warehouses.
The capital's population was over ten million.
He had wondered how they supported such a population with food, but it seemed they transported it using these Magic Bags.
It seemed they managed it quite strictly, strictly controlling the numbers and prohibiting removal from the country.
And another thing.
The final decisive battle of the Fifty-Year War.
A terrible battle where two million soldiers were deployed.
Normally, one would think it was impossible to deploy such a massive army.
The reason was that there was no means to send the food and various supplies needed to support that many soldiers.
With two million soldiers, a simple calculation showed that six million meals were needed per day.
In one day.
And how did they transport the food and water to support that to the front lines?
It wouldn't do to leave it in the northern warehouses.
It had to be delivered to the soldiers fighting on the front lines in the southeastern borderlands.
Normally, it was impossible.
It would be a ridiculous story that made the person in charge of supply want to ask, "Is this a riddle or something?"
But it was this Magic Bag that made that ridiculous story a reality.
They didn't have to arrange massive supply trains and escorts, doing things slowly and cautiously.
If they could attach it to their waists with a belt like the Magic Bag Mika held, they could send large amounts of supplies to the front lines by riding fast horses.
Moreover, it seemed there were also military-use Magic Bags even larger than the commercial ones.
They used Magic Bags that took several days just to pack, supporting the front lines that way.
The specification of the Magic Bag included "living things cannot be put inside," but this also seemed to be a requirement to effectively utilize the large capacity.
Instead of saying fifty centimeters for personal use, people could stand on top of the bag's huge entrance without falling off.
Instead of standing on the edge of the bag and doing things slowly and cautiously, they could stand boldly at the entrance of the bag and work.
There was probably no Nobel Prize in this world, but the mage who developed this Magic Bag must have received great honor.
Well, in my original world, it would have been a Nobel Prize if they made such a tool.
Mika, who had not expected much from the "Governance" class, was the one listening most enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling without him noticing.
The Magic Bag is amazing! It had such a history!
Civilian conversion of technology developed for military use.
Perhaps it was because Mika was a proper chuunibyou patient that hearing such an episode made him excited.
Like "Mika-P specs" or whatever, just hearing the stories makes my chest warm!
The procurement standards for military goods of a certain major nation.
When he heard stories like "Assume dropping from a height of thirty meters by helicopter, requiring durability to withstand that impact," he was already...!
Mika was biting into the story of the Magic Bag so hard that everyone in the Leventein Group sitting around him was taken aback.
But wait, that raises one question.
So, Mika raised his hand to ask a question.
"It says living things can't go in, but if that's the case, hands can't go in either, so nothing can be taken out. How does that work?"
Mika himself had heard this explanation when he bought the Magic Bag.
However, when he actually used it, his hands could go in normally.
Why? A question arose later.
"We cannot answer anything about the specifications. But----."
The instructor in charge gave an example.
"For example, if you set it so that more than a certain percentage of the creature's body cannot enter, or only hands can enter, wouldn't it be possible to set some kind of configuration?"
They didn't tell him the actual specifications, but the answer was that they balanced convenience, practicality, and safety through some method.
The Magic Bag is powered by [Grant], wasn't it?
He felt like he was told that when he bought it.
Since heat resistance and water resistance are also granted, there might be other fine settings.
It was a highly sophisticated and excellent setting that didn't bother him at all when used normally.
The current Magic Bag was likely the crystallization of various difficult questions, struggles, and conflicts faced during its long history since development.
Amazing. I want them to cover it on Project X.
Please, I really want to know about the hardships of the detailed development and how they overcame them.
While Mika was the only one with sparkling eyes, Rimliche was watching him with a smile.
Everyone else looked at Mika with puzzled faces, wondering what was so interesting about this class.
By the way, he asked if carrying such a thing would make checkpoints meaningless, and indeed, it was meaningless.
However, if it was discovered that they had brought prohibited items, or if it was determined that they possessed a Magic Bag or brought items using a Magic Bag, the punishment would be extremely severe.
Well, even without Magic Bags, no matter how strictly they cracked down, people would still bring them.
It was a game of whack-a-mole that couldn't be completely stopped.
■■■■■■
[Runesarm Great Cathedral]
Bishop's Office.
A bag containing over one hundred silver coins was placed on the table, and the Bishop and a woman sat on either side of the bag.
The woman introduced herself as Humus.
She was in her early twenties, with black hair and a voluptuous body.
She was a very attractive woman who would draw men's gazes.
And she seemed to understand that well, wearing somewhat revealing clothes.
So much so that it might raise eyebrows for someone coming to worship at the church.
"Is that... true?"
Hearing Humus's words, the Bishop widened his eyes in surprise.
"You didn't know, Bishop-sama? I was also surprised when I came to the Kingdom, but I heard such rumors everywhere."
Saying that, she made an expression as if she had just been surprised.
"[Dispel] [God's Miracle] should have been lost, right? There are those who use it. I was truly surprised."
Humus elegantly crossed her long legs.
"Can the church allow those who claim to use [Dispel]?"
At those words, the Bishop made a difficult face.
"...If that is true, the church cannot overlook it."
"Right?"
Humus agreed with the Bishop with a seductive smile.
"Aquu told me that if it was this Bishop, he would surely listen to our story seriously. Good, you are a very sincere Bishop."
Yes, Humus said that with a boldness that showed she was making a personal approach right before his eyes.
"Aquu-sama is a very pious and wonderful person. He is suitable for someone as wise as you to form a friendship with. He hasn't been seen for a while, but he must be very busy."
Aquu was a businessman of the Commercial Alliance who occasionally appeared and made personal approaches.
Just letting the church's postal network be used a little, or issuing a certificate proving the cargo was church property when transporting goods, that was all.
"Is there a Great Cathedral you should stop by on the way back? I would like to meet someone who understands the conversation like you, Bishop-sama."
"The Seven Duchies Federation, wasn't it? That is a very long journey. Please be careful on the road. I will write introduction letters to several Archbishops and Bishops."
"Oh, how kind. Thank you, Bishop-sama."
Saying that, Humus placed three more gold coins on the table, clink, clink.
The Bishop smiled broadly and nodded satisfactorily.
"I'm back."
Humus entered the inn room and hugged a boy reading a book at the desk from behind.
"I'm back, Big Brother."
The boy, who seemed to be in his late teens, was not surprised by the sudden hug and continued reading.
"I'm back, I'm back, I'm back, I'm back, I'm back."
Humus, hugging the boy who didn't respond, shook him vigorously.
It seemed he couldn't read the book in that state, as the boy raised his face with a bitter smile.
"Welcome back, Big Sister. How did it go?"
"Big Sister wouldn't make a mistake. Anyway, the next destination is decided."
Saying that, Humus flashed a seductive smile.
But the boy made a somewhat stiff face.
"Are we still going to travel? Big Brother wants to get back to research soon."
"Eh, please keep me company properly, Big Brother."
Humus said to the boy in a coquettish manner.
From earlier, the first and second person pronouns of these two had been completely messed up.
Humus was in her early twenties.
The boy was in his late teens.
If one thought normally, they should be siblings, older sister and younger brother.
Suddenly, Humus's expression changed completely, becoming fierce in an instant.
Her eyes narrowed, and killing intent radiated.
"We were supposed to have eradicated that detestable [Dispel]! Another user has appeared! This time... this time, with my own hands!"
However, the boy who should have been feeling Humus's killing intent nearby had a cool face.
"That's strange in the first place. Why are there still people who can use [Dispel]? Didn't we kill everyone long ago?"
"I don't know!!!"
At the boy's words, Humus let out a scream-like voice.
The boy stroked Humus's head, who was breathing like a beast, huff, huff.
"It's okay, 'Humus'. Big Brother is here."
As his head was stroked, Humus's excitement calmed down.
"If we stay away from the Federation too long, 'Aqua' will get angry again. If we stop by a few places on the way back, we can leave the rest to the church people?"
"...Yes. It seems Big Sister got a bit too stubborn. Sorry, 'Ventus'."
At Ventus's words, Humus nodded obediently.
"Oh, it's almost feeding time."
Hearing the faint sound of a bell, Ventus picked up a rough bag placed next to the desk.
From there, he took out a large Magic Bag.
"If we don't put them in the bath soon, they'll smell terrible."
Ventus muttered like a complaint, and Humus opened the window with a bitter smile.
Ventus then stuck his hand into the Magic Bag and violently pulled something out.
--- A person.
A man thrown onto the floor with a thud cowered terribly, yet didn't even let out a groan.
Another man was taken out of the bag and thrown violently onto the floor in the same way.
The two men taken out of the bag cowered and hurriedly huddled together.
The men did not attempt to look up at Ventus and Humus.
If their eyes met, or if they did something to offend, they didn't know what kind of treatment they would receive.
They had understood that well through a long life of confinement.
During the investigation of the ruins in Modesse Forest, five research colleagues had been captured by a red-haired young man.
But only two remained.
One of the three had been killed right before their eyes.
They didn't know what happened to the other two, but they were probably not alive.
Ventus and Humus were monsters.
All the captured research colleagues were mages.
Mages excellent enough to be allowed into the Court Magic Institute.
But those mages could do nothing.
The reason was that Ventus and Humus did not need incantations.
They did not need incantations to manifest [God's Miracle].
Just by waving their hands, people were torn apart.
They were forced to fight a Chimera simply because they offended them.
The only reason they were alive today was because they could use [Heal] and because they were spared on a whim.
Even in such hellish days, they still didn't want to die.
So----.
"Here, eat."
The monster in the form of a boy named Ventus threw bread from the Magic Bag onto the floor.
The two of them stuffed the bread into their mouths while crying tears.
Ventus and Humus were not normal.
[God's Miracle] that didn't need incantations was one thing, but a Magic Bag that could hold people was not something a normal human possessed.
They didn't know why they had such things, but while cowering in fear of the monsters, they were desperately trying to survive day by day.
"Ahh... I want to go back soon and do experiments."
The men heard Ventus's mutter with a feeling darker than despair.