Chapter 220 - Chapter 219: The Disappearance of Documents
The second month of the Earth, the third week, the day of the Wind.
After school. Adelriese's magic tool shop.
Adelriese and the others had been unreachable for about two weeks, but it seems they returned safely.
Yesterday, a child claiming to be Adelriese's messenger came to Mika's house with a letter.
When Mika went to Adelriese's shop, he was immediately guided to the second floor, where Adelriese was waiting at the usual counter.
Seeing her figure, Mika let out a sigh of relief.
Inside the shop, a well-mannered old lady was sitting at a corner table, while one member of the research team was consulting with her about creating magic tools.
"I asked Gaeras. Adelriese-san, she... that is..."
Mika hesitated, unsure if he was allowed to say the name "Soiree" out loud.
Seeing Mika hesitate, Adelriese said with a smile.
"Oh my, did you ask? ...Well, I suppose I can't help it. That chatterbox."
"I forced myself to ask. He said if I didn't tell him, he'd throw money around until he found out."
"You were going to do that? You'd get erased."
Adelriese said as if teasing him.
"To get straight to the point, we will use a designated merchant in the distribution route. We'll just insert them into the existing route."
The route they had used until now involved several middlemen between the primary wholesalers who received the "Orichalcum" directly from Adelriese or her father, and the tertiary wholesalers who supplied the final retail stores.
However, it seems the country had likely identified them up to the secondary wholesalers.
They had inserted useless merchants just to confuse things, but those merchants had been traced all the way back to the primary wholesalers.
"With that, are you really okay?"
Mika asked anxiously, but Adelriese explained with a light hand gesture.
"Yes, it's fine. We'll remove the middlemen who were circulating uselessly and got caught by the country, and change the flow to Primary, Designated Merchant, Secondary, Tertiary. In fact, it will be a clearer flow for you, boy?"
"Well, it does become somewhat tidier..."
Since the useless circling at the secondary and tertiary stages would be eliminated, it would indeed become clearer.
"And the portion saved by eliminating waste will go directly to the designated merchant's share. It will cost the same as before."
"All the fees for multiple merchants? That's quite a fee... But if we can escape the country's pursuit, it's cheap."
Anxiety about whether they would really be caught lingered no matter what.
In stark contrast to Mika's anxious state, Adelriese looked relaxed.
She leaned her elbows on the counter and looked at Mika, leaning forward.
"We'll also work on the higher-ups of the country, so the pursuit will loosen from the start. It seems the designated merchants will move things around inside so they can't be traced. With a different pattern every time."
It seems they are willing to take on the role of moving things around uselessly.
Or rather, what does "working on the higher-ups" mean?
Are the country's ministers connected to the underworld?
Listening to Adelriese's words, Mika's expression became complex.
However, he quickly tightened his expression.
"So, what are the conditions of the Soiree?"
When Mika asked that, Adelriese frowned.
"One is the fee to the designated merchant. The other is... I'm sorry. We ended up having to give up high-purity Orichalcum."
Mika shook his head at Adelriese, who looked apologetic.
"That's completely fine. Did Adelriese-san and the others have to bear any unreasonable conditions?"
When Mika said that, Adelriese looked slightly surprised.
But she smiled immediately.
That smile was a little sad.
"There are no such things. However, we ended up giving one ingot as an advance payment."
Listening to Adelriese's words, Mika nodded.
He was somewhat hesitant to give high-purity Orichalcum to underworld people, but it couldn't be helped.
"I understand. Then, please give me two ingots as an advance payment."
"Eh?"
At Mika's words, Adelriese's eyes widened.
"I expect that much of a result. Please give it."
"But... Is that okay?"
Adelriese confirmed, but Mika nodded firmly.
"It's fine. However, if the Soiree says anything to Adelriese-san and the others in the future, tell me immediately."
Mika looked at Adelriese with serious eyes.
"I will crush them."
At that too powerful and serious gaze, Adelriese gasped.
Until now, Mika had been running away too much.
But he realized it after being admonished by Gaeras.
What Mika lacked was resolve.
Mika has something he wants to protect.
However, he had protected it too much.
No matter how powerful the force is, if it is known that it will never be wielded, it will only be beaten down unilaterally.
If they are not feared to retaliate, they will only be attacked unilaterally.
Having the guts of Yaroibarov is, of course, impossible to achieve immediately.
Still, he must make them think that if push comes to shove, this power will be wielded and aimed at them.
Whether that opponent is the country or the Soiree.
If you just try to settle things peacefully, they will get arrogant.
No matter how solid the defense is, you cannot defend everything by just defending.
He should have known that.
He had been too afraid.
Because the opponent was the powerful existence called the country, he had assumed he couldn't resist.
Mika relaxed his expression just a little.
"If they add conditions or try to burden Adelriese-san and the others, please tell me immediately."
Adelriese stared at Mika, who said that.
But after a while, she let out her strength and took a deep breath.
"Hehe... Don't bully them too much."
She said such a thing.
At Adelriese's words, Mika was bewildered.
"No matter what you say, the Soiree is a gathering of the weak. Everyone can only live secretly in back alleys, that's what they are."
Adelriese's eyes became a little lonely.
"They can't live alone. So they lean on each other. It's a gathering of weak people. So, don't bully them too much."
"A... ah, well, that is..."
At Adelriese's words, Mika was the one confused.
"As long as Adelriese-san and the others don't suffer any undue disadvantage, it's fine. Besides, we are the ones who will be receiving your help."
"Yes, that's fine."
Adelriese directed a gentle smile at Mika.
Seeing Adelriese's smile, Mika decided to feel a little relieved.
"I never thought a boy like that would really..."
After Mika left, the old lady sitting at the table in Adelriese's magic tool shop muttered.
Standing in front of the old lady were Adelriese and three members of the research team.
"Alchemists are all crazy people. I thought the rumored alchemist would be some crazy old man..."
At that mutter, Adelriese and the others smiled bitterly.
The old lady seemed refined, but her mouth seemed a bit sharp.
"Great Mother. Having that boy taken to the country is only a loss to us. Please..."
The old lady, called Great Mother by Adelriese, turned sharp eyes at Adelriese that were completely different from before.
Great Mother.
She is also called Great Mother or Mama, but in reality, she is just the female owner of the underground magic tool shops.
She is just a magic tool freak and a material freak, but like-minded people gathered, and they started running magic tool shops in secret.
She just ended up taking on the role of organizing those who run underground magic tool shops, and that's why she started showing up at the Soiree.
Special magic tools that cannot be handled on the surface are important work tools for those living on the underground side.
Mother became a respected figure even in the Soiree.
Adelriese and the others tried to hide Mika's existence and get Mother's cooperation.
But he was an alchemist who succeeded in generating rare metals.
Mother refused to yield stubbornly.
So, as a last resort, they decided to just secretly spy and meet Mika.
Mother gazed at the Orichalcum ingot with careful hands.
"Really... To be hiding such an interesting high-purity rare metal toy... I'm a little angry, you know?"
"Sorry, Mother..."
Adelriese and the others looked like children caught playing pranks.
A scene just like daughters being scolded by their mother.
"......Well, I see. I can't say I don't understand the reason you tried to hide."
She placed the ingot on the table with a clink.
"You seem like a good kid. I was very worried about you."
She was worried that the Soiree was imposing cruel conditions on Adelriese and the others.
More than the Orichalcum, she was worried about Adelriese and the others above all else.
She had only seen a little of their interaction, but she could tell whether it was acting or not.
"So, you managed to defeat Yaroibarov and the Knight Commander with that?"
At Mother's question, Adelriese and the others nodded.
Mother felt a bad dryness in her throat, reached for the tea on the table, and moistened her throat.
It was an unbelievable story.
Yaroibarov, famous as an A-rank adventurer.
Ozendorwa, said to be a master of the sword.
Even with weapons used by these two, which were heavily [Enchanted] and seemed to come out of a myth, they couldn't lay a hand on them.
Most of all, what was most unbelievable was the [Physical Enhancement] that reached forty-five times.
How much magic power must one dedicate and consume continuously to pull off such a trick?
It requires a ridiculous amount of magic power that you can't even try to test.
The amount of magic power required to maintain that is how monstrous a magic power holder one must be.
Mother remembered the magic tool design diagram shown to her the other day that stabilizes magic power.
"Really, with a magic tool that lets such magic power pass through, you're using rare metals?"
"I don't understand the theory, but they were happy to say it became very easy to make."
"If you can understand that, it's only a crazy alchemist. No, even the masses aren't crazy enough. There's probably no one who can understand it properly."
Mother lightly tapped the ingot on the table with her fingers.
"A mage... a genius academy student also called a prodigy, an adventurer with the epithet 'Dispeller'. An alchemist who succeeded in generating rare metals. A curse user who shook the adventurer guild and buried the Pope, dozens of cardinals, and bishops."
Mother listed rumors related to Mika.
"He holds the Bronze Medal at the youngest age and is currently summoned to the Royal Castle. For some military duty. ...And then, he is the fiancé of a Marquis's daughter."
Each one individually is quite something.
However, all of these are rumors surrounding just one boy.
And on top of that,
"He has the violence to repel both Yaroibarov and Ozendorwa at the same time."
Mother let out a big sigh.
"That child... doesn't he think about becoming king?"
She asked such a thing.
He could wipe out the royal family right now, even faster than knights could gather at the Royal Castle.
With power so great that there is nothing left to fear, what is he trembling about?
"It seems he has no interest in that. ...He seems to want to adventure peacefully and freely."
"......I'm speechless."
Adelriese and Mother looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
Mother shrugged her shoulders.
"They say genius and madman are separated by a paper-thin line."
Probably, the screws in the important parts of his head have completely fallen out.
But they can't just laugh.
Those with a thinking circuit different from the ordinary are dangerous.
Because you can't predict what will touch their dragon's scale.
Mother leaned her elbows on the table and propped her cheek on her hand.
It's best not to even think of trying to use him.
Even if you scrape off a small profit and smile to yourself, one sneeze from that child will cause you to lose everything.
He is that kind of existence.
Do not be deceived by his appearance.
That is a genuine monster.
Mother stood up and looked at Adelriese and the others.
"If that child glares at you, the Underground Magic Tool Association has no chance. You should cooperate as much as possible. The Underground Magic Tool Association will take a stance to fully back up the 'Dispeller'."
At Mother's instruction, Adelriese and the others nodded.
"If possible, it would be easier to unify the Soiree's will if you let them use your name. Do you dislike it?"
"Yes..."
"Yes."
No matter how much the person dislikes it, I think it's just a matter of time.
Mother moved her gaze as if thinking for a moment, then looked at Adelriese and the others.
"Since it can't be helped, I'll deal with the Soiree. ...In return, make sure to embed the Underground Magic Tool Association deeply."
Mother held up one finger and raised it to face height.
"Please make it so that the development of magic tools using Orichalcum can be accepted by the Underground Magic Tool Association. Such an interesting rare metal, everyone will surely want to play with it, right?"
Mother said with a childlike innocent face.
That's natural.
After all, she is the boss of the magic tool freaks and material freaks.
■■■■■■
The second month of the Earth, the fourth week, the day of the Sun.
A few days after going to Adelriese's magic tool shop.
Mika was at the church.
"What!? Is that true!?"
Mika's voice echoed in the quiet library.
Mika had wanted to study curses.
The trigger was a single girl.
A girl named Luness, who remained a Wraith but kept her self-awareness and was cursed.
That girl's existence had weighed heavily on Mika's heart.
He had considered studying Wraiths, but how does one study a normal Wraith?
He asked Yaroibarov, Salomrassa, Trys, and Yunressa about Wraiths that kept their self-awareness, but got nothing.
So, he decided to first study curses and grasp the clues to the existence of a Wraith that keeps its self-awareness.
However, Mika's study of curses had not progressed at all.
Anyway, he simply couldn't find any documents.
On such a day, he suddenly thought of something.
(If there is a God's Miracle called [Dispel], maybe there are related documents at the church.)
So he went to the Great Cathedral in the capital and asked Kifrod.
"Researching curses!?"
Kifrod's face clearly showed he thought, "You're interested in some worthless thing again."
However, since Kifrod already knew he was active as a Dispeller,
"I'm thinking about how to dispel curses more safely, or how to make anyone able to dispel, and various other things,"
he lied to deceive him.
In that way, he obtained permission to use the library within the church grounds, but...
"There isn't any at all!? Not even one book!?"
He couldn't help but raise his voice at the fact that came out.
"What is this?"
Kifrod asked the man in charge of managing the library.
The man asked by Kifrod explained, slightly confused.
"There seem to have been books written about curses and [Dispel]."
It seems there are books in existence that mention curses and [Dispel] in the form of "According to X..." or "Refer to Y."
However, not only is there nothing specific, but even those very few documents only convey the fact that "curses exist" and "dispelling was possible," so nothing is known.
"Then, aren't there any of the referenced X's at all!?"
"Yes..."
It seems this has become something of an open secret.
The fact that the God's Miracle called [Dispel] was lost is also something of an open secret.
However, there are people interested in the God's Miracle called [Dispel] that was lost in the past, and it seems there are rare individuals who start researching it.
"...But, because there are so few documents, everyone gives up."
Kifrod rubbed his forehead with his finger, looking suspicious.
"Is it not just that they are not in the capital's church, but nowhere at all? Even in other churches?"
"I haven't checked all the Great Cathedrals, so I can't say for sure. However, I have served in five Great Cathedrals so far, and I like reading, so I often visited the library."
However, it seems he has never seen those documents anywhere.
He also heard from acquaintances via letter, but apparently, they were not there in other Great Cathedrals either.
"...Is such a thing possible?"
Kifrod's face became even more suspicious.
At such Kifrod, the man spoke with difficulty.
"What is it?"
Noticing that look, Kifrod asked.
Asked by Kifrod, the man lowered his voice.
"This is, strictly speaking, just my speculation..."
After such a preamble, the man lowered his head once.
"......I believe these books were intentionally hidden."
The man said he had once been part of an organization of the church called the Ministry of Sacred and Evil Inspection.
"Even there, books from the Index of Forbidden Books are missing."
"What the...!? Forbidden books!?"
Kifrod, surprised, let out a loud voice for a moment, then hurriedly covered his mouth.
"Books from the Index of Forbidden Books are always kept in several copies. If the originals are missing, we cannot compare them when similar books are published."
However, even those books that should have been kept are actually missing.
It seems he noticed that the books that should have been there were missing when going to put newly added forbidden books into the Sealed Archive.
When he reported this to his superior, he was told not to worry about it.
It seems he was told that this has been passed down for a very long time.
"What they have in common is that they are books written about curses or the God's Miracle called [Dispel] that existed in the past."
"Hmm..."
Listening to that story, Kifrod thought with a difficult expression.
(......Something feels strange. Regardless of books related to curses, why are books related to [Dispel] designated as forbidden?)
It's a God's Miracle?
I still don't quite understand what the church is thinking.
Thinking such things, Mika called out to Kifrod, who was deep in thought.
"Kifrod-sama. Can't you investigate?"
"Investigate? Investigate what?"
"The Index of Forbidden Books. As well as the documents in this library, I think it is necessary to confirm what is missing."
It shouldn't be an open secret; if something isn't there, it should be handled accordingly.
When Mika proposed that, the man panicked.
"Don't worry. I won't say anything about you."
If it was an open secret, a certain number of people should have known.
So, he didn't know the reason why they didn't go to find the culprit...
"Why doesn't anyone try to find those books?"
When Mika asked that, the man let out a resigned smile.
"Probably... I think those documents were lost four hundred years ago. Old things, maybe even earlier."
At the man's reply, Mika's eyes widened.
They have been missing for that long, and they are just left as they are?
(The management is too sloppy. No matter what...)
Even if it can't be managed by computer, there should be some other way to do it.
(By the way, it's not a chained library even though it has old documents.)
With this, anyone can take them out freely.
Is it because it's the church that they don't suspect people, or do they not assume people will do bad things?
If they are stolen all over the place, it wouldn't even be a laughing matter.
(It's too careless, church. Various things.)
The book he had expected was not in the church, and Mika was disappointed.
At such Mika, Kifrod patted his head.
"It seems we need to investigate properly. I'm sorry, Mika."
Kifrod apologized like that, and Mika shook his head.
"Please let me know if you find anything."
Told that by Mika, Kifrod remembered the purpose of coming to the library and made a somewhat reluctant face.