Chapter 94

The Allied Army’s Archmage (1)

Iliana flinched at my words.

"Wh-who are you...?"

Her eyes darted from side to side in confusion.

Just then, Kai suddenly asked me, "Do you know her? And who is she to make you stand at attention all of a sudden?"

"... Hm?"

At his words, I looked down and found myself standing rigidly at attention.

... I hadn’t even noticed. It was an automatic reflex—a habit from my days in the allied army.

Understandably so, since Iliana was the commander of Magic Command. As Chief of Covert Operations in the special warfare unit, I had ranked far below her.

It was only because my first encounter with Isolde had been a brawl that things had turned out differently with her. Had we met like this, my reaction would have been much the same.

I consciously relaxed my rigid posture.

"... Ah, my apologies. You look so much like someone I know."

But I couldn’t help slipping into respectful speech.

Iliana looked young at a glance, and she was indeed younger than me. But to me, she was the commander of Magic Command.

Kai, who knew none of that, was making a truly bizarre face.

"B-but how did you know my name...?"

Iliana eyed me warily as she asked. As expected of the Archmage, she was remarkably sharp...

Oh, to hell with it.

"Is the medicine finished?"

I simply dodged the question and played dumb. There was no way in hell I could beat Iliana in a battle of wits or logic.

"P-pardon...?"

"Weren’t you making the medicine I commissioned?"

"I-it’s true that I received a commission to make medicine..."

Her eyes darted from side to side, and she flinched again. Apparently, having three men staring at her was making her uncomfortable.

Sure enough, she answered in a voice that dwindled to a whisper.

"But the commission came from... the merchants’ guild..."

"This fine gentleman here commissioned us. We’re the subcontractors, so to speak."

Adlan tactfully stepped in, and Iliana’s small shoulders gave another twitch.

"H-huh?"

"Th-then...?"

"You can give the medicine to Lord Adrian here."

"... Adrian?"

Iliana repeated my name, deep in thought. She kept tilting her head this way and that, as though she had heard it somewhere before.

"Wait! You’re the one who sells monster meat?!" she cried, her eyes widening.

Apparently, the rumors had reached Langrid Mage Tower as well as the Holy Kingdom.

"That’s right."

"How did you remove the monsters’ Madness?!" Iliana exclaimed, eyes wide.

Her earlier hesitation had vanished without a trace, leaving her face brimming with curiosity.

"I’ve done so much research, but all I managed to come up with were a few hypotheses!"

Iliana really was Iliana. Her curiosity about magic hadn’t changed a bit.

"May I have the finished medicine first?"

"... Pardon? Oh, y-yes."

She looked a little disappointed as she answered.

Then she reached into the air.

WHOOSH!

Her hand disappeared into empty space.

Subspace magic.

I had grown used to my Inventory, but Subspace magic was high-level magic. It wasn’t something a newly appointed apprentice mage should have been able to use, yet Iliana handled it with ease.

"I put it somewhere around here... Ah! Here it is."

She pulled her hand back out, bringing a red bottle with it. The potion was as red as if blazing flames had been condensed into liquid.

"As for its effects, I aimed to alleviate the symptoms described in the commission as much as possible..."

Iliana explained the medicine’s various effects. But...

"By leaving the ingredients’ side effects intact, it works by reversing the Thermal Energy Deficit and grants thermal resistance. And this also—"

... I couldn’t understand a word of it.

It certainly looked as though Iliana had made it herself.

'Then it’s bound to work.'

Iliana was Iliana, after all. An alchemist who put the likes of Avarus to shame, and an Archmage versed in every field of magical studies, not just alchemy.

There was a reason she was called the [Mage of Truth].

"...and those are the medicine’s effects."

Apparently finished with her explanation, she paused to catch her breath. I hadn’t caught a word she’d said, but...

"Adlan."

My call snapped the dazed Adlan back to his senses. He busied himself retrieving a large box from his safe.

"Here’s the remaining five hundred thousand gold."

Iliana stepped in front of the box, glancing around hesitantly. Then she stored it in her subspace.

"Well, goodbye."

And promptly headed out of the shop.

"One moment."

CREAK!

Iliana froze while opening the shop door at my call.

"You need to give me the medicine before you leave."

"... Oh! Oh, right!"

She scurried back to me and carefully handed over the medicine she had been cradling. Then she bowed.

"Th-then... goodbye."

She headed out again.

"One moment."

CREAK!

Once again, my call brought her to a halt.

"If you have time, would you like to try some monster meat?"

"... P-pardon?"

"Weren’t you curious about how I removed the monsters’ Madness?"

"W-well..."

"A single observation is worth more than a thousand theories."

Those were Iliana’s own words from my previous life.

"Oh, um..."

She hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I don’t... have any money."

... No money?

Of course, I hadn’t intended to charge her, but...

"Didn’t you just receive your commission fee?"

Five hundred thousand gold, at that. A fortune that could buy a month’s worth of all the Rex meat she could eat.

And she had no money?

"That’s n-not my money..."

... Well, that was true. The commission had been entrusted to the endowed chair mage supervising her.

But...

'That’s strange.'

Something was very strange.

It looked as though Iliana had made the medicine herself. Shouldn’t she receive a bonus for her work, then?

"I won’t charge you. I’d like to treat you as thanks for making the medicine."

"R-really?!"

Her blue eyes went round. Despite her attempts to hide it, she must have been intensely curious about the magic behind the monster meat.

"Th-then...!"

"Would you go ahead to the Predator restaurant in Frecce’s central square? I’ll join you shortly."

"Oh, yes! I’ll go on ahead!"

She answered enthusiastically and hurried out of the shop. I watched quietly until she was completely outside.

"Adlan."

"... Yes, sir?"

"Well done."

"... Pardon?"

He tilted his head, apparently unsure what he had done well.

"Er... I did well, sir?"

He’d done far more than well.

"You did a fantastic job."

By placing the alchemy commission with Iliana’s supervising endowed chair mage, he had given me a natural opportunity to meet her.

How much would I otherwise have had to spend to meet Iliana? I couldn’t say for sure, but I would have needed to be ready to part with tens of millions of gold—and grovel before Langrid Mage Tower besides.

Yet Adlan had arranged all this for a mere million gold. I really couldn’t help praising him.

He looked as though he hadn’t expected quite so much praise, but...

"Hehe! I’m honored, sir!"

Since I said he’d done well, he was simply delighted.

* * *

After lavishing praise on Adlan, I asked, "Adlan, can you investigate this supposedly brilliant endowed chair mage who accepted the commission?"

"Of course, sir. What would you like me to investigate?"

"Find out everything you can, including his past, his reputation within the tower, and his recent activities."

"Yes, sir! I’ll make it as quick and accurate as possible!"

"I’m counting on you."

I didn’t forget to give him a generous bonus for it. Strictly speaking, Adlan wasn’t one of my men, so perhaps “bonus” wasn’t the right word. In any case...

"My first loyalty is to money! My second is to you, Lord Adrian!!!"

Leaving him bent a full 180 degrees at the waist, I stepped out of the shop.

Just then, Kai followed me outside and abruptly demanded, "What was that?"

"What now?"

"That woman from earlier."

"Commander Ilia—No, Miss Iliana? What about her?"

Kai’s eyebrow twitched.

"You treated her very differently from how you normally behave."

"So what’s the problem?"

"There’s no problem, but could it be..."

He gave me a knowing look.

"Have you taken a fancy to her?"

And started spouting nonsense.

"Is that your type?"

What the hell was he on about?

"Then what about the Saintess?"

"... What?"

"Aren’t you in that sort of relationship with her?"

Ask him to exercise his imagination, and he exercised his insanity instead.

"It’s not like that."

"So the Saintess wasn’t your type?"

"I told you, it’s not like that. And what’s all this crap about my type?"

"Well, you used to make advances on every woman you saw. I assumed being female was your only requirement."

"What are you—"

... Oh, right. From his perspective, my days as a wastrel weren’t that long ago.

"But now that I think about it, you never actually slept with any of them."

Well, that was true.

Honestly, I barely remembered my wastrel days. I had no memory of making advances on all those women Kai mentioned, either. Even so, I knew why I had never slept with any of them.

It was my father’s influence.

As a count, Father placed tremendous importance on bloodlines. He would not tolerate his eldest legitimate son sleeping around indiscriminately.

Somehow, he had tolerated my life of gambling and debauchery. I was still his own flesh and blood, after all. But precisely because I carried his blood, he absolutely refused to allow it to mix carelessly with anyone else’s.

Under his influence, I had never slept with a woman, however deeply I’d sunk into gambling and debauchery. To avoid any unnecessary sexual entanglements, I had never even let the maids attend me in the bath.

"I wondered why. Was it because none of them were your type?"

Unaware of the circumstances, Kai was jumping to his own conclusions.

"Timid and introverted. Small and petite. Cute features. You certainly don’t see that type in the county."

What was all this nonsense he kept spewing?

Besides, he only said that because he didn’t know Iliana. She was not timid or introverted. How could the commander of Magic Command, the allied army’s greatest fighting force, possibly be timid and introverted?

But the Iliana I had just met was very much both.

'That was strange.'

She was nothing like the Iliana I remembered. Considering that Isolde was exactly as she had been in my previous life, it was certainly odd.

"It’s not like that."

"Really?"

"Romance isn’t the only reason to be interested in a woman."

"Then what sort of interest do you have?"

"None of your business."

Kai gave me another knowing look.

"Usually, when a man takes an interest in a woman—"

"By that logic, you and Seraphia must have that sort of relationship too."

"... I spoke out of turn."

He immediately apologized, apparently understanding at last.

Honestly, this guy. Just when I thought I understood him, he baffled me again.

To be frank, I had wondered whether he harbored romantic feelings for Seraphia. How else could he be that loyal? What other reason could he have to be so obsessed with her?

I had suspected it all stemmed from love, but...

'That doesn’t seem to be it.'

At least, that was how it looked right now. Of course, I couldn’t be sure if he was hiding his feelings for her. Or perhaps he didn’t realize that what he felt was romantic love.

But who could understand what went on inside a lunatic’s head? Wouldn’t understanding make me a lunatic too?

"Enough of this nonsense."

I handed him the medicine.

"As you’ve seen, I still have work to finish in Frecce. Kai, take this back to the county."

He accepted the medicine as though it were more precious than his own life. Hell, he probably wouldn’t treat his own life with that much care.

"And when you get there, you’ll find some unfamiliar recruits."

"Recruits...?"

"You’ll see when you get there. You wouldn’t believe me even if I explained."

"I’ll decide that after hearing—"

"Never mind. You’re in charge of their basic military training."

Kai was the head knight of Whitewolf county. Commanding operations and training soldiers were part of his duties.

And he was a lunatic as exceptional in chivalry as he was in loyalty. The soldiers of bitter cold in my previous life had possessed outstanding combat prowess. Considering that he had trained them all, he was reliable enough to entrust with the Visters’ basic military training.

'Besides, killing Kai has become difficult now anyway.'

Immortal Link[E] was one reason, but what to do with Seraphia had also become rather uncertain.

What if Ian was keeping the Emperor’s attention on himself? It would be a long time before I could hear Ian’s regrets.

Of course, that might not be the case. It was only a hypothesis based on my own speculation. That was precisely why the situation was “uncertain” for now.

So I might as well put Kai to work like this. Whether he would obey was another matter, of course, but perhaps because his affinity was at [Trust]...

"Understood."

He didn’t voice a single complaint.

* * *

Predator was the most popular restaurant in Frecce. It was always packed with customers—but not now.

Adrian had announced that they were closed for the day and sent everyone out. The nobles had raised an incredible fuss, but he hadn’t budged. He had thrown them all out as though this day were meant for Iliana alone.

'Wh-why go this far...?'

Iliana hadn’t expected such a warm reception. He had said this was his thanks for making the medicine, but she had simply fulfilled an alchemy commission. The fee had been more than generous—excessive, even.

In other words, she had already been paid. Adrian had neither a need nor a reason to treat her like this. Besides, why lavish such hospitality on someone he had only just met?

'How did he know my name?'

No matter how she thought back over it, she had never introduced herself first. And on that note...

'Wh-why does he keep staring at me...?'

Why did Adrian keep looking over at her? Why were those red eyes so intense?

'I’m scared...'

What if he ate her? Or intended to use her as a test subject?

What if she was abducted without anyone ever finding out...?

Perhaps this was how Adrian kidnapped people—by luring them in with monster meat. Perhaps countless abductees were imprisoned in the dungeons of Whitewolf county, subjected to horrific torture and experiments every single day.

Experiments like combining humans and monsters to create grotesque creatures. Or using forbidden drugs to turn people into monsters. Or swapping the souls of monsters and humans!

What if the monster meat itself was the product of such experiments? Come to think of it, wasn’t Adrian notorious as a “wastrel”?! Had her curiosity led her straight into a dragon’s nest?!

'C-calm down. Stay calm...!'

Iliana repeatedly rubbed her chest with trembling hands. Didn’t they say that even if you were dragged into a dragon’s nest, you could survive as long as you kept your wits about you?

Slowly releasing her ragged breaths, she calculated the 63,455 escape scenarios springing to mind, but...

'If it comes to it, I can use teleportation... Oh! I haven’t set the spatial coordinates for Frecce...! A dimensional gate would consume too much magical power, and it would be even more dangerous if it were interrupted...!'

Every escape route ended in failure inside her head.