Chapter 48
‘This is definitely something that can make money.’
Rattle, rattle.
I thought this as I sat inside the violently swaying carriage.
I bet a shock-absorbing spring that reduced the carriage’s jolts would sell well.
After all, it would be an invention that magic couldn’t replace, but that would produce even better results when used alongside magic.
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and after suffering from the carriage’s jolts for three days, I arrived at Drosselmeyer territory with yet another item in mind.
“Thank you very much for making the long journey.”
When we arrived at the marquess’s mansion, the maid I had seen at the wedding welcomed us.
“We meet again.”
“Do you remember me?”
“Of course. Your name was… Gaviel, wasn’t it?”
“!”
The eyes of the maid called Gaviel widened.
Right, it was rare for a noble to remember the name of a maid working in another territory.
But that was only true of an ordinary maid.
When I remembered Ruby’s true identity, I also recalled one detail after another about the people around Lady Esdia.
One of them was that Gaviel had been a thief who came to steal the Drosselmeyer family’s heirloom.
‘I didn’t realize it at the wedding, but I can tell now.’
Of course, I had no intention of telling Marquess Drosselmeyer about this.
If I left her alone, she could become an excellent ally supporting Lady Esdia, so there was no need to stir up trouble for no reason.
“After hearing that you had just arrived, my lord invited Baron Fortune to dinner. What will you do?”
“Dinner….”
After riding in a carriage for so long, I desperately wanted to rest rather than eat, but—
‘He said there was something he wanted to discuss about mage supremacism.’
Besides, his letter had asked me to come as soon as possible.
“Then, if you don’t mind, I will accept the invitation.”
“Yes.”
After entrusting our luggage to another servant, we followed Gaviel’s guidance to the dining room.
“Baron Fortune has arrived.”
Upon arriving at the dining room, the first things that caught my eye were the long dining table and Marquess Drosselmeyer and his wife, Lady Esdia, seated at its head.
“Good evening, Marquess Drosselmeyer.”
“Thank you for coming. Please, take a seat.”
Before long, I took my seat at Gaviel’s direction and began dinner.
At first, my stomach had felt unwell and I hadn’t wanted to eat, but once I saw the food in front of me, my appetite returned.
The menu consisted of a giant roasted bird, meat stew, bread, pickled fruit, and, finally, diluted wine.
It was somewhat lavish, but considering his rank as a marquess, it also seemed a little sparse.
‘Well, the original did describe him as frugal.’
Still, I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
Anyway, as I ate and thought about that—
Clatter, clink.
‘…What is this?’
Why wasn’t he saying anything?
I had joined the meal thinking he must have something to say, but Marquess Drosselmeyer simply ate in silence.
Just as I was wondering whether he intended to speak after we finished eating—
“Baron Fortune.”
“Ah, yes.”
At last, the marquess opened his mouth.
“Is the food to your liking?”
“It seems to be…?”
“Good.”
“?”
Was that the end of the conversation?
‘…Ah. Come to think of it.’
I remembered.
In the original, Lady Esdia and Marquess Drosselmeyer got along well because their personalities were similar.
Perhaps he hadn’t invited me to dinner for any special reason after all.
‘Then… I should relax and just eat.’
Thinking it was for the best since I was tired, I scooped up some stew and put it in my mouth, when—
“How did you realize that the mage supremacists had infiltrated our wedding?”
“Cough, cough!”
Just as before, the marquess suddenly spoke without even blinking.
After drinking the water Ruby handed me, I answered with an expression as though nothing had happened.
“Haha, I think you should ask Sir Heter that, not me.”
“No, you must have been the one who told him there was a mage in the venue.”
The marquess shook his head, pointing at Heter.
“…How can you be so certain?”
Heter had clearly reported that he hadn’t mentioned me when he met the marquess at the wedding.
Therefore, as far as he was concerned, I should have been nothing more than an ordinary noble.
“After your knight defeated the mage, you left immediately, didn’t you? That is the evidence.”
“Pardon?”
I had left because I didn’t want to get entangled with the protagonist for no reason, but how was that evidence?
“If the mage had not been subdued beforehand, countless people would certainly have been killed or injured.”
‘He’s right.’
I agreed with him inwardly.
The original actually mentioned that many people had been injured.
If not for that, I would never have stepped forward.
“Thus, your knight accomplished a great feat. Ordinarily, if one’s knight accomplished such a feat, one would have remained to make my acquaintance, if nothing else. But you fled the territory as though running away. Why?”
Gulp.
Watching the marquess recite his deductions like a detective in a novel, I swallowed.
“First, you were formerly affiliated with the mage supremacists. You left because you did not want anyone to know you had betrayed them. Second, though I do not recall it, you and I had an unpleasant connection in the past. Thus, you left because you did not wish to become involved with me. Lastly, you have some special reason for knowing about the mage’s presence. You left because you did not want to reveal that ability to anyone else. For example… a prophecy?”
‘Is he insane?’
After hearing the marquess’s deductions, I wondered whether he, too, might be a reincarnator like me.
Otherwise, it meant he had come close to the truth through pure deductive ability alone.
“Is that why you invited me—to hear the answer?”
“I cannot say it isn’t, but that is not the only reason.”
The marquess gazed at Heter.
“I also wanted to see with my own eyes whom a knight who might be equal to me, or perhaps even superior, follows.”
“…Pardon?”
Wait, Heter might be equal or superior to Marquess Drosselmeyer?
Of course, I knew he was strong, but I hadn’t realized he was strong enough for such words to come from the marquess, who was practically the strongest person in the world.
“You flatter me too much.”
“Is that so?”
The marquess answered Heter’s words calmly.
Then I wondered if that was the end of the reasons he had called me, but—
“And one more thing.”
It seemed there was still one thing left.
“What is it?”
“After the tea party ended, my wife kept bringing you up, and I became a little jealous.”
“M-Marquis?!”
Esdia, her face turning bright red, shouted at the marquess.
“In the end, I simply wanted to see you in person.”
“….”
This was bad.
As the marquess said, why would I have refused a reward and left after accomplishing such an impressive feat?
It was all because I didn’t want to get involved with the original protagonist.
Yet now, the original protagonist was taking an interest in me.
“Then now that you’ve seen my face, your business here is finished, right?”
I set down my spoon and fork and rose from my seat.
If I stayed any longer, I felt I would become irretrievably entangled with the protagonist.
“The personal reasons are over. There is still an official one.”
“If it’s an official reason….”
Was it about the mage supremacists, as written in the letter?
“That’s right. More precisely, it concerns the treatment of those they brought with them.”
“Those they brought with them?”
After hearing the marquess out, I understood whom he meant.
“Ah, you mean those who almost became human bombs.”
“The wording is a little harsh, but it is not incorrect.”
“But… their treatment?”
Why was he telling me that?
‘Couldn’t he simply take them on as servants or maids himself?’
Unlike me, who was barely managing to pay the salaries of Ruby, Sir Gold, and Heter, a marquess should be able to employ all of them as servants or maids.
“Still, would that be all right? The more mages there are, the better, so I have no objection.”
“…Wait a moment.”
What had the marquess just said?
“Those human bombs… I mean, those people are mages?”
“That is right. Of course, they know only a few simple spells, so calling them mages is a little questionable.”
Come to think of it, as in the original, the mage supremacists had attempted a terrorist attack at the marquess’s wedding by causing the magical power of the people they had brought to run wild.
The description had resembled a bomb exploding, so I had called them human bombs.
But from the marquess’s account, it seemed they had magic power of their own.
‘Well, they would need magic power to cause an overload in the first place.’
How could they cause an overload without magic power?
Besides, simply put, they must have had a large amount of magic power to cause such extensive damage.
Gulp.
I swallowed and cautiously asked:
“Then what level are they?”
The man I had hired before was on the verge of reaching the Third Circle.
They would need to be at least that capable to create inventions.
“As you know, mages who cannot use combat magic are generally assessed one rank lower. So they are… mages at an average Second Circle level.”
“Gasp.”
Then did that mean they could use up to Third-Circle magic useful in daily life, rather than combat magic?
“Besides, some of them can rival Fourth-Circle mages in terms of sheer magical power.”
“!”
People who could use only magic related to daily life, but possessed a great deal of magical power?
They were exactly the kind of mages I had been hoping for?!
“So, what will you do? Are you going to leave already?”
“….”
After hearing him, I quietly sat back down.
“Then what do I need to do?”
“I am not asking you for anything. I simply thought it would be nice if you spent time with Raindeer while I considered whom to take with me.”
The trouble that would come from spending time with the original protagonist VS the trouble that would come from failing to find mages.
Faced with the two choices, my choice was—
“I’ll impose on you for a few days.”
Naturally, it was the former.
The hardships the original protagonist had to overcome were problems I could solve, but I couldn’t see any answer to the immediate problem of having no mages!
And… though they had grown faint, I did still have memories of the original story, didn’t I?
So it should be all right even if I got involved with the protagonist.
…Probably?