Chapter 159
I headed to the square with Mea, Lark, and Euris .
In the square, the residents were swarming around Icarus .
The residents seemed unsettled and seemed to be in some kind of turmoil .
Beside Icarus, there were four sorcerers, the Icarus faction of the Alchemy Division, and a pair of men standing beside him .
Perhaps those four sorcerers were the faces that Icarus trusted in the Alchemy Division .
Some of the sorcerers had expressed their support for Rinoa, but they may have just come in to probe .
The duo was a young man and an elderly, with the young man supporting the elder’s body .
I understand the sorcerer, but what the hell are those two …… .
Thinking about it, I gazed at them and noticed that the young man was the Levi missionary, Ringus .
“Wha-……”
The elder that Ringus was supporting was wrapping a blood-soaked bandage around his body and wrapping it around his chest .
Ringus was supporting the elder with tears in his eyes, but when his eyes met mine, his mouth twisted slightly .
“Oh, you’re finally here, my lord and…… mad magician who does harm to this territory!”
Icarus yelled loudly and pointed at me .
All of the lords’ gazes stabbed at me at once .
Those guys were working together, huh…… .
No, it’s not . It is more likely that they immediately joined hands .
It was shaking in my mind, but now it’s clear .
There is no doubt that the Ringus are connected to the many malicious intentions that have been planted in Fage territory .
They must have decided to use Icarus, who was on the verge of leaving, to eliminate me as an obstacle to their attack on the territory .
Otherwise, there would be no reason for Ringus to join Icarus in making his position worse .
He would have taken a gamble or two, fearing that he would not be able to achieve his ultimate goal .
He must have been aware of the collateral damage if he failed, and tried to use his position of popularity to make up for the trust that Icarus lacks at the moment .
“Wha-, what’s all the fuss about!”
Lark says, dismayed .
Icarus raises his cheekbones and makes a smile .
It’s not the kind of laugh that has been used to poke fun at us .
Sweat is beading on his brow and his eyes are bleary .
It was a face of hatred, wanting our side of the world to be unhappy from the bottom of his heart .
“Fine, I’ll tell you! Everyone listen to me once again! And then you will wake up! This is Murk-dono, who heard a suspicious noise in the middle of the night and went outside, only to have his body bitten by that freak gourd of yours!”
When Icarus shouted, the residents looked at me with uneasy eyes .
I see, you’ve found a way to arouse their anxiety .
“Murk-dono consulted with his good friend, the missionary, Ringus-dono . He was afraid that the lord would rub it out, so he persuaded the guard to consult with me, who was trapped in the warehouse . ”
They were close, huh …… .
For the most part, he must have enlisted his enthralled followers to help him .
“I, I knew that crop wasn’t good …… . ”
Even Lark ended up looking at me with concern .
He must have felt somewhat uneasy about the extraordinary growth rate of the Ortem Gourd .
Probably, so did the residents .
But because of the returns, they were probably trying not to look at the risks .
And right now, the state of the territory was not in good shape .
Maybe…… they have pushed everyone’s fears away .
That’s where Icarus attacked back and poked at us .
No, in this case, it was planned, brought up, and fired up by the Ringus .
This attack is somewhat different from the simple approach of Icarus until now .
It was Icarus’ usual method of throwing all the blame around and blaming them from a third party’s point of view, but this time he was a bit more insidious than before .
“Ringus-sama’s decision was a wise one! The lord seems to have a lot of faith in that sorcerer . To the extent that he wants to falsely accuse me and exile me and appoint him as the head of the Alchemy Division instead!”
Hearing those words, Lark turned blue .
“N, no, that’s ……”
“What? It’s not? Hmm?”
“W, why…… no……”
I could see why Lark was strangely confused .
Probably, he hadn’t told anyone that he was planning to make me the leader of the group .
It was only yesterday that I dismissed Icarus from the position of Commander, and it was only a short while ago that I was approached about being the Commander .
You should have told me first, rather than telling another sorcerer .
You may have consulted with at least Rinoa, but even if the …… story leaked out, it’s too soon .
But if you think about it in the right order, it’s something that was expected, so it could be a hunch or an accusation .
At any rate, even though I was caught off guard and stammered, it’s not good to be late in replying now and then .
No matter what the content, it would cause the residents to distrust me .
But even if I deny it, it’s a bad move when I think about leaving me in charge of the leader’s position later on .
On the other hand, there is no way I can affirm it .
It’s very difficult to deny or affirm a part of an impression in a place like this, where impressions mean something .
The other side must have known that and deliberately tried to make it clear to me .
They are quite familiar with this .
I wondered if Ringus had instilled it in him .
“Wait . What you just said is far too convenient for you . The process from the time the accident happened to this place is too fast . To begin with, the Ortem Gourd is restricted from preying on creatures over a certain size . It doesn’t even attack puppies, let alone humans . In the first place, I’ll have to check the area around Murk-san’s house to see if there is such a large flower blooming that could lead to such a serious injury . ”
“Hmph, how can I leave something as dangerous as the Ortem Gourd that attacked Murk-dono? I’ve already …… . ”
“You won’t say you burned it, do you? You don’t use fire magic to spread fire when you can do whatever you want with other magic…… there’s no way you would, right . It’s as if they are hiding evidence . ”
Icarus’s expression distorted and he shushed himself .
I won, I can push through .
Icarus is quite outspoken, but it was just a hastily made-up plan .
And since it wasn’t a self-initiated plan, it must be hard to get away with it at will .
Icarus looks at the situation, and Ringus moves his mouth in an itchy manner .
It’s going to be easier to take on Icarus than it is to deal with Ringus .
Let’s leave Ringus alone and beat Icarus thoroughly for now .
Ringus isn’t a part to this, and he shouldn’t be in a position to interfere .
“I’m saying it’s too convenient to include that part of the story . If you want, do you want to see if we can verify the wounds?”
I said to him with a smug look on my face .
I hear voices from the residents, “It was made up by Icarus after all,” and “But there’s no way Ringus-san would be complicit in that” .
The wind is blowing over here .
Right now, they’re just barely making ends meet on the credit of Ringus .
If we continue to press on, we can cut off the trust of Ringus through Icarus as well .
Icarus’s face was red and is trembling, but he exhales and catches his breath .
“…… I thought it would be dangerous to leave the seeds of the ferocious gourd behind . But, well, it was certainly my shallowness, I’ll admit it . I didn’t expect you to give up and bite back . ”
As he says it, Icarus pokes one of the sorcerers to his left .
The sorcerer gives him a thin smile and hands him a piece of paper .
It looks familiar somewhere, but what was that …… .
The sorcerer to Icarus’ right is holding a bundle of paper before I know it .
I had a bad feeling about it .
“This paper is the request for permission to use bio-magic that that mad sorcerer sent out to the lord! Fortunately, my lord rejected it, but if this request had been passed, look at what would have happened to this estate! The other one explains the request! That mad magician was sneaky enough to write the request in such a complicated way that it was easy to misunderstand it, and he was trying to force it through to the Lord, who was busy with his duties!”
I broke out in a sudden cold sweat .
When had that paper been collected by Icarus?
It was a form of revenge for the last time .
“I don’t think we had a chance to do that! Let’s just talk about what’s relevant to the case at hand! And that’s, you know, as long as you don’t screw up, there’s no harm in it, or something…… that it’s infinitely less harmful, or…… that’s, well…… In other words…… Anyway, that paper is a no-no, or…… in my own way, I’m just trying to enrich the Fage territory as much as I can…… separately, such and such a frontier I wasn’t thinking that it would be okay to be a little bit flamboyant on the ground……”
“I suppose that wasn’t working this time either, which is why there were injuries! That monster gourd was also developed by a ferocious man-eating monster called Hydra! I’ve heard of people getting hurt during development!”
“Uh, ugh . ……”
The inside story is out .
On top of that, they make it sound as bad as it is bad .
It’s usually true, so it’s hard to deny .
To be precise, Hydra is a magical plant, and I wanted to stick to the fact that there is no time or land where Hydra was officially classified as a magical beast, but I don’t have the time to correct that .
“Even I could have made something like that in two days with Hydra! But to be safe, I wouldn’t think of using such a dangerous magic beast! That little brat disregarded the safety of the people of his domain and took shortcuts by trampling through the taboo with impunity, and the lord is treating me, who was diligently developing the project, as negligent and trying to get rid of me! Even the corrections to that research report are accusations, accusations! It was set up by someone who tried to undermine my authority! My authority!”
He said twice my authority, how much do you care about power .
It’s no longer an argument of legitimacy, but rather the undermining of the other party .
Even the residents don’t know who is right anymore if it comes to this .
“The accusation is yours . Let’s talk to each other calmly . Let’s talk to each other calmly, and don’t use the momentum of the situation to create a bad impression . It’s going to be a fruitless argument . ”
There are plenty of excusable points to be made if I let Icarus’ momentum diminish and the heat of the place cool down .
Even if it’s an Ortem gourd, I’ve taken thorough care to make sure there’s no danger of that happening .
However, it’s a part that is a complete black box from the point of view of anyone other than a sorcerer, so it will take some time to explain it .
“I just want to say this, but looking at your research report, it’s impossible to continue researching with Hydra for another ten years when you use it . ”
I kicked him lightly in the shins one last time while bringing up a calm discussion .
It may have been an unnecessary word, but my pride as a sorcerer didn’t allow me to leave Icarus to say it .
Icarus gave a nasty smile at that moment .
A faint hint of relief could be seen in the expression of Ringus, whose face had been twitching earlier, as well .
Huh……? Did I perhaps misspoke about something?
“I see, you have a better arm than I do . What you’re saying is that I’m out of the loop and that you have the justification, is that what you’re saying?”
“Ye-, yeah…… That’s right . ”
“I want to say exactly the same thing . A little boy with limited knowledge with magic is undermining me here…… with a perfunctory and evil law . But if you continue to rant about the opposite, it will only lead to parallelism . Then I suggest that we should decide this by ability . ”
A contest of ability here?
Was that the prelude to bringing it up so far?
If that’s the case, then it’s a quick story .
Indeed, if we’re both claiming that a lower-ranked person is making accusations against each other, then it’s a quick way to make it clear in a contest of ability .
“Thank goodness…… you managed to do something about it . Mea wondered what was going to happen…… . ”
Mea lets out a breath of relief .
She speaks as if it’s already resolved .
To be honest, I don’t feel like losing at all then either .
When I glance at Lark, he is shaking his head .
It looks like he wants to say no .
“I-, it’s a trap……”
Lark said out quietly .
It’s a bit tricky, but for me, I don’t want to get back to arguing with him after coming here .
“The contents are …… right . I think the dueling method in the style handed down in the sorcerer city of Vernasse will be good . It’s the easiest and clearest way to understand . ”
“A Vernasse-style duel? Okay, that’s fine . ”
I don’t know much about it, but I’m sure there weren’t any strange rules .
In the first place, if you bring up a strange rule, even the residents will not be satisfied .
“Fu, fufu… . . well then, according to the Vernasse-style duel, after a day of unification, the duel will begin . Meanwhile, I’ll go quietly into the storeroom again . Alright, don’t you run . ”
“Yeah, I understand . ”
First, we must expel Icarus this time, slowly and carefully remind him of the safety of the Ortem Gourd, and then confront Murk about the bite of the flower .
It may be necessary to take on Ringus to confront him, but once the safety of the gourd is sufficiently demonstrated, I shouldn’t have much trouble .