Chapter 30

“Hey, hey! Be careful not to get blood on it, you pup!”

“What kind of crow-cow hybrid is this mutant? What kind of thick skull do these demonspawn have…”

The soldiers’ voices pierce through my fading consciousness, drumming against my skull.

Following behind, the sound of slicing flesh and cracking bones hammered by a mallet jolts me fully awake.

Startled by the gruesome sounds, I quickly opened my eyes and sat up. A throbbing headache crashes over me belatedly.

I was lying in the very center of a military wagon prepared for mages. Acting the part of a general, it seemed my subordinates had even covered me with a blanket.

“…Rest a bit longer.”

Slender fingers pressed gently against my forehead as I tried to rise, anchoring themselves to the wagon floor.

Because of that, I had no choice but to sink back into the soft blanket.

The owner of the fingers was Lir.

“….”

Looking up at her, her hat pulled down deeper than usual, I asked where we currently were.

“We’ve already arrived in the Achilliptus Forest. Right now, the soldiers and other mages are dealing with the unconscious mutants.”

*Whoosh-*

“…May Astella guide you.”

Following Lir’s reply, the chilling sound of an axe slicing through the air, and the faint voice of Lex, who replaced one arm with a prosthetic, echoed in my ears.

Turning my gaze outside the wagon, it wasn’t hard to spot Lex.

The large-bodied orc stood out even more due to being amongst the smaller dwarves.

“How far along is the operation? Haven’t we even started constructing the outpost yet?”

“The archer corps and mages are still removing traps. The company commander says we can probably start building the road around this evening.”

“…This is no time to be lying about in peace, then.”

I hauled my skull, which felt ready to shatter, up once more.

“Just lie down, alright?”

“It’s fine, just standing here will be helpful.”

Everyone was working so hard; surely a so-called general couldn’t just sprawl out and rest.

I gently pushed aside Rire’s hand, which was trying to stop me, then stepped down from the carriage, my legs shaky, onto the ground.

“Manifest.”

I muttered, focusing on the foreign energy within my chest.

Then, from near my heart, miniscule particles burst through my pores and began to gather above my shoulder.

The crystal that once saved Rire’s life had appeared.

The crimson crystal, at my will, emitted the sound of interlocking gears at regular intervals, busily shooting beams of dark red light at the still-standing Variants, each pulse releasing a pungent, acrid odor.

The best thing about this crystal was that I didn’t have to expend any stamina or magical power to use it.

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as uttering “Manifest” and then completely ignoring it, leaving it to float around on my shoulder.

How should I describe it? It felt as if a third arm had sprouted and I was controlling it. Or perhaps it was like a tail had suddenly grown, and I was swishing it around.

Whatever it was, it felt like an alien organ, one I’d never used before, had sprouted on my body, and I was maneuvering it.

The more I used it, the more accustomed I’d become to this unfamiliar sensation, and someday I might even reach a point where I could have it floating above my shoulder all day and night without issue… but right now, only calling it forth in moments of need was my limit.

“…What is that? Is that the magic that saved me before? It doesn’t seem like lightning magic… my knowledge of magic outside of lightning isn’t very extensive, so…”

Rire, even after using ‘Bloom’, stared at me with wonder as I obliterated Variants into ashes with a strange crystal sphere on my shoulder, then couldn’t contain her curiosity and posed a question.

“Ah, it’s not magic, it’s an artifact.”

“…An artifact?”

Rire widened those large eyes of hers, posing the question back at me.

“…Did I say something strange, perhaps?”

“Just where did you even *find* an artifact?”

Rire blurted it out, sounding like an adventurer who’d just stumbled upon a trove of gold and jewels deep within a dungeon.

I hadn’t known her for all that long, but I was sure that was by far the loudest she had ever been.

“…Why do you ask?”

“Why, you ask! It’s an artifact! A mystery of this world, of unknown origin and purpose! Such a precious object…where did you find it, really? Have you studied it? Disassembled it? You haven’t, have you? Does it contain mana? Or is it powered by some other…?”

The rarity of artifacts in this world was apparently even greater than I had imagined.

“Did His Imperial Majesty procure it for you? No, even the Emperor couldn’t freely obtain an artifact…How in the world…?”

For the normally composed Rire to become this excitable…

Judging by this reaction…if she ever saw a map detailing the exact location of every artifact discovered, like some sort of wiki website, Rire would surely faint.

“…When I was little, I fell into a dungeon once. I happened to find it there.”

I briefly gazed at the sky, then squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself. I answered with a grave expression.

*Saying “It was in the nest of that young dragon on Enker Plateau that we all went to hunt…I needed it so badly that I secretly ate it”* just wouldn’t do. I couldn’t even imagine the response I’d get.

“Was there any language written in that dungeon? No, never mind that. Just tell me the location of the dungeon! This is an opportunity! We could learn how the ancient people lived, and how they managed to leave such artifacts for posterity…”

To the scholars of this world, an ‘artifact’ was apparently held in the same regard as an ancient archaeological site.

…And I was the one who secretly swallowed that site whole.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t really remember. It was such a long time ago…”

I added another lie to the first.

I’m sorry, Rire.

“But, honestly, I don’t have the courage to tell you…!”

How could I possibly say, with those eyes sparkling so brightly and such a fuss being made, ‘Actually, it was in a young dragon’s nest, and I scarfed it down thinking someone else might grab it, too bad for you.’

“…”

Lille, after a brief silence, calmed her excitement in an instant, as if suddenly struck by a realization.

Was she disappointed?

Why did the atmosphere suddenly die down so much…?

“If the artifact was stored in a dungeon, the difficulty must have been considerable. Just what kind of childhood did you have…?”

Lille lowered her head slightly and carefully patted my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I was so oblivious… It probably wasn’t a pleasant memory. At such a young age that you barely remember it…”

Oh.

This was a scenario I hadn’t considered…

“Um, well… I don’t have many memories of my childhood. Just, gritting my teeth every day to survive. Yeah, well…”

I took advantage of the awkward atmosphere to try and end the conversation quickly.

Lille’s eyes, watching me gaze up at the sky and sigh as if a part of my heart was aching, held a complicated emotion.

…My conscience was starting to ache something fierce, but I steeled myself and didn’t let it show on my face.

I’m sorry, Lille…

Next time I eat an artifact, I’ll at least show it to you before I devour it…

With a bitter smile, like someone with a tragic story, I subtly moved away from Lille.

…My conscience was simply too pricked to keep looking into those big, wide eyes any longer.

“It ended sooner than I expected.”

I felt the surroundings grow quiet, and after looking around, I spoke.

The Variants, offering no resistance, were swiftly dispatched by the skilled soldiers’ axes and blades.

The infantry, their work concluded, took time to inspect their armor for any flecks of the Variants’ venomous blood, and meticulously cleaned their weapons.

“Yes, yes, Master. A… understood.”

While the soldiers cleaned their arms and armor, Lier used the blue crystal orb he carried to communicate with Alter via communication magic.

“The main force reports their work is nearing completion as well, it seems we can join them now.”

Lier approached me after concluding the communication magic and spoke thus.

I saw no need to rush, waiting until the soldiers had fully completed their maintenance. Should they fail to properly cleanse the monster’s blood, a plague could erupt, hindering the operation significantly.

Perhaps another thirty minutes passed. Small talk began to drift from the soldiers’ lips.

Standing amidst the dwarves, Rex’s massive frame was particularly prominent; I stared at him without a word.

He understood the intention of my gaze perfectly, offering a response that preparations were complete.

“Let us join the main force, then. They report most of the trap disarming is complete on their end.”

If I could deliver the skilled dwarven soldiers to the Achilippus Forest without causing any damage, my part in this mission would be, for all intents and purposes, finished.

Building roads and constructing outposts was the dwarves’ domain, after all.

“Lier, once we arrive in the forest, I’d like you to accompany me on a little walk.”

Thus, after that, it would be time to return not as a soldier, but as a mage, to seek out the lightning spirit hidden somewhere within the forest.

“…Is it…official business?”

“Huh? Ah, well… it’s not a soldier’s task, but a mage’s. Why do you ask?”

“No, no… it’s nothing.”

Lier, having posed the question, suddenly turned a vibrant shade of red and tugged at the brim of his hat, adopting a turtle-like defensive posture.

……That elf, I swear, I’ll never understand.