Chapter 47
A few hours after leaving the western forest,
Mabel, Agnis, and I stopped at a certain town.
We were supposed to meet one of General Raizenga's subordinates here today.
"I have been expecting you. I am Rondal, steward to General Raizenga Freizad."
The man waiting at the town entrance was a large, imposing old man.
He had short red hair and a long beard.
"By order of the general, I have come to guide you to prospective sites for Alchemist Thor Kanan's workshop. It is an honor to be entrusted with such an interesting task. I look forward to serving you!"
Rondal-san said this and bowed.
One reason I had come to General Raizenga's territory was to scout out a location for my workshop.
That was why the general had arranged for a guide.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, Rondal-san."
"Nonsense! There is no need to thank me, Thor Kanan-dono!"
Rondal-san laughed as he stroked his beard.
"Thanks to you, young Miss Agnis can finally take off her armor. Young Master Raizenga—no, the general—was delighted to see his daughter's smile without a helmet hiding it. I feel that my work has truly paid off! Ha ha ha!"
"Rondal. If you raise your voice, you'll startle Thor Kanan-sama."
"My apologies!"
With that, Rondal took my hand—
"From here on, allow me to serve as your coachman. I shall show you the locations that the general and I carefully selected for you, Thor Kanan-dono!"
he declared with complete confidence.
"You wanted the workshop to be reasonably close to town and somewhere with abundant water, correct?"
Rondal-san said this from the driver's seat of the carriage.
"Yes. It would also help if there were mountains or forests nearby where I could gather materials."
I nodded in response to his words over his shoulder.
"I hear that mining operations will be expanded in the general's territory in the future. Of course, I do not intend to take any silver. However, I would like to gather a small amount of alchemy material at the foot of the mountains, if possible."
"Understood. In fact, if you submit a request, we can gather the materials you need for you."
"No, I couldn't ask you to go that far..."
"Do not worry about it. The general instructed us to accommodate Thor Kanan-dono as much as possible!"
Rondal-san winked and grinned.
...General Raizenga was too kind.
"For the prospective workshop sites, I selected places that merchants or mages used in the past."
Rondal-san continued.
"Such places are usually close to town. If the buildings are still standing, all we need to do is renovate them. That will also allow the workshop to be completed sooner."
"That certainly makes sense..."
Renovating an existing building would be faster than searching for land and starting from scratch.
If someone had lived there before, it was probably a suitable place to live.
As expected of one of General Raizenga's subordinates. His plan was quite sensible.
Beside me, Mabel was nodding.
Agnis, meanwhile, was preparing the documents Rondal-san had brought.
She was looking over building plans and the workshop designs I had drawn.
It seemed safe to leave the selection of the site to everyone else.
All that remained was hoping the land itself was rich in magic power.
If the area had magic power of all six attributes—Light, Dark, Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—it would be easier to use Creation Alchemy there. The magic power in magic stones would also replenish quickly.
It would be the perfect place to practice alchemy.
However, even my Skill could not tell me how much magic power was in the land.
Besides, places with abundant magic power probably already had people living on them. I could not afford to be too demanding.
"Maybe I should have asked Pixie Rune to come with us."
A Pixie who was sensitive to magic power might have been able to find land rich in it.
But I could hardly ask her to work while there was a sick person in her care.
I would ask her once the Light Pixie was feeling better.
As I was thinking about this, the carriage arrived at our first destination.
"This is a building that used to be a shop."
Rondal-san, the general's steward, said this.
We were on a low hill overlooking the town.
There were mountains to the south and the town on the opposite side. The general's mansion was visible in the distance.
"There are three prospective sites, but this one has the best-preserved building. Please look around to your heart's content."
"It is a large building..."
Mabel stared wide-eyed at the mansion before us.
I was surprised, too. This mansion was far too splendid for just Mabel and me to live in.
The building before us was a two-story stone structure.
Since it had once been a shop, it had two entrance doors.
One led to the shop, and the other was probably for the living quarters.
Agnis was checking the documents in her hands.
She read them aloud so that Mabel and I could understand.
Apparently, this place had once been both a residence and a dining hall.
It had belonged to a renowned merchant who took pride in serving dishes made with locally sourced ingredients.
The restaurant had been quite popular, but the cook grew too old to work. Someone else took over, but the food apparently declined in quality, and the restaurant eventually closed.
It had apparently gone unused ever since.
"The location isn't bad. It's close to both the forest and the mountains, so I could go gather materials right away. There are also plenty of rooms, so we might be able to use it with hardly any renovations..."
There were traces of a vegetable garden around the mansion.
They had probably grown herbs and things like that there. Now it was overgrown, and nothing was growing.
There was also a well in the yard. It was covered with boards and held down with a stone.
It was meant to keep dirt and sand from getting inside.
The general owned both the land and the building, so apparently he had them maintained regularly.
"My father said that the building will be renovated according to your wishes, Thor Kanan-sama."
Agnis handed me the documents.
They included a floor plan of the mansion.
The size and number of the rooms were no problem at all.
If there had once been a vegetable garden, the Earth magic power should be plentiful. And if there was a well, Water magic power should be flowing here as well.
The wind was blowing nicely, so the Wind magic power seemed fine, too.
As for Fire... I could not really tell.
"Thank you for showing me such a good location."
I bowed to Rondal-san and Agnis.
I never expected to find such a good site at the very first location.
I really had to thank the general.
"I am pleased to hear you say so, Thor Kanan-dono."
"I recommend this place as well. It is close to the mansion, so I can come see you whenever I wish..."
Rondal-san looked satisfied.
Agnis was also looking at me with an excited expression.
The location was fine, and the magic power seemed adequate.
In that case, there was no need to visit all the other sites. We could simply choose this one—
Pat, pat. Pat, pat.
"Huh?"
I heard a strange sound.
It sounded like a child clapping. What could it be?
It was not Agnis or Rondal-san.
Mabel was checking the fence around the house. It was not her, either.
Pat, pat. Pat-pat-pat!
The sound seemed to be coming from around the roof. Could it be a bird?
Maybe there was a bird's nest on the roof.
When I looked up to check—
"Staaaaare..."
Small figures peeked out from the roof.
They were banging on it as hard as they could, as though trying to get my attention.
All four were only a few dozen centimeters tall. Transparent wings grew from their backs.
They were Pixies.
"...Why are they here...?"
"What is the matter, Thor-sama?"
"Nothing. There is something on the roof..."
"On the roof?"
In a flash,
the moment Mabel looked that way, the Pixies hid behind the roof.
"Shh," a faint voice whispered.
Apparently, they wanted us to keep it a secret.
Come to think of it, Pixies were shy around people, weren't they?
"...It seems there is nothing there."
"It seems there is nothing there."
For the time being, I decided to respect the Pixies' wishes.
When Mabel looked away, the Pixies peeked out from the roof again.
There were four of them.
Their hair was yellow, blue, red, and green.
Each color represented one of the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind attributes.
So each of them was a Pixie of one of those attributes?
But why were they here?
Pat, pat.
Pat, pat.
Once again, the Pixies banged on the roof to draw my attention.
Then two of them swayed their bodies from side to side before hiding beyond the roof.
The other two waved both hands.
Their hair was red and green. Just when I thought that, another green-haired Pixie appeared.
Huh? What was this? Was it some kind of message?
...It probably was.
I could not imagine such shy Pixies doing something like this for no reason.
If so... were they trying to tell me something?
What did the Pixies know that I did not...? It had to be something related to magic power.
Pixies were sensitive to magic power.
Since they could perceive its flow, they had helped the Demon Lords of old select suitable land.
The first four Pixies to appear had all had different hair colors.
They had represented the four attributes of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.
Then they had withdrawn, and one Fire Pixie and two Wind Pixies had appeared.
In that case...
"This place doesn't have magic power from all four attributes. It has strong Wind and Fire magic power, but weak Water and Earth magic power... Is that it?"
The Pixies made a clapping motion.
There was no sound, but apparently I had guessed correctly.
"What is the matter, Thor-sama?"
"Um... I was thinking about the magic power in the land... I think?"
"The magic power in the land?"
"I was wondering if the reason nothing is growing in the vegetable garden is that the Earth magic power is weak."
"...Ah."
Mabel's expression suddenly changed.
"Y-yes, that is true. Normally, weeds should be growing there. The fact that there are none may mean the soil lacks strength. It is entirely possible that the Earth magic power has weakened!"
"...I knew it."
Then I turned toward Rondal-san.
"Um, Rondal-san."
"What is the matter, Thor-dono?"
"Could it be that the well here... is dry?"
"What nonsense. Ha ha ha!"
"Thor Kanan-sama is exactly right. The well is dry..."
Agnis lifted the boards covering the well and the stone holding them down with ease, then cried out.
"It is completely dry. There is not even any moisture..."
"That cannot be... The well should have been maintained regularly..."
Rondal-san peered into the well.
Mabel and I looked down with him—
"It's bone-dry."
"It has run dry."
"There is no sign of water, either."
The Pixies were incredible.
Had they really seen through the types of magic power present here in an instant...?
When I looked earlier, the Water Pixie had completely disappeared from sight.
That meant the Water magic power here really was extremely weak.
The underground water must have changed course.
Perhaps that was why the merchant who had lived here had gone out of business.
"How did you know?! Thor Kanan-dono!"
The steward Rondal-san stared at me excitedly.
"To see the condition of the well from a single glance... I cannot believe it. This land belongs to Young Master Raizenga, and I have inspected it once a month myself. Yet even I failed to notice that the well had dried up... How did you... You..."
"...Um."
I looked toward the roof of the building.
I saw a white arm.
The Pixies had stuck only their arms out from the roof and were making X marks with them.
Was that their way of telling me to keep quiet?
Peek, peek.
While I thought about it for a moment, the green-haired Pixie—the Wind Pixie—poked her head out.
She lay flat on her stomach on the roof, frantically making X marks. Ah, her leaf clothing had caught on a splinter in one of the roof boards. Even so, she continued clapping her hands, and the clothing came loose.
The half-dressed Pixie hurriedly hid beyond the roof.
Even then, she did not stop making the secret gesture. She was desperate.
Pixies really were shy around people...
I suppose it could not be helped.
I would explain everything to the others later. For now—
"...I realized the well's condition through intuition."
"The power of an alchemist-sama is truly incredible!!"
"To know without even looking inside the well... That is amazing."
Rondal-san and Agnis were both impressed.
As for Mabel—
"As expected of Thor-sama. Um... you are very kind."
She said this while deliberately glancing toward the roof out of the corner of her eye.
Apparently, she had realized what had happened.
It seemed the Pixies could not fool Mabel's eyes, either.
"For now, let's put this location on hold. Could you show us the next site?"
I said this.
Rondal-san nodded and said,
"Understood! Thor Kanan-dono!"
"By the way, where is the next location?"
"It is a mansion along the highway a little south of here. There is a hot spring nearby. I highly recommend it."
"The next location is a mansion along the highway a little south of here, with a hot spring nearby?"
"Why are you repeating what I said?"
"...No particular reason."
When I looked toward the building, the Pixies on the roof were giving me enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Repeating it a second time had apparently made sure they understood.
So they intended to come along with us.
"Strange things happen whenever I am with you, Thor-sama..."
Mabel took my hand and said this.
Still glancing toward the roof from the corner of her eye, she continued happily,
"But this is the most enjoyable journey I have ever taken. Let us go to the next location, Thor-sama."
"Yes. Let's go together."
"Yes, Thor-sama."
Mabel declared this with a smile, while the Pixies tapped away at the roof.
Agnis returned to the carriage to check the documents, and Rondal-san took his place in the driver's seat.
When Mabel and I entered the carriage, there was apparently a sound as if something had landed on the roof—
I could not hear it over the sound of the carriage, but Mabel caught it with her elven ears and told me about it.
Of course, it was the sound of the Pixies landing on the carriage roof.
It seemed they intended to keep guiding us.
Come to think of it, while Mabel and Agnis were making the Light-Attribute Clothes in the western forest, I told the Dark Pixie Rune that we were going to scout out locations for my workshop.
Had the Pixies heard that and followed us?
...Well, whatever.
I would thank them later. For now, we would continue touring the candidate workshop sites.
"Then please set off, Rondal-san."
"Understood!"
The carriage began moving as Rondal-san called out from the driver's seat.
There was a tapping sound from the carriage roof. Pat, pat. Pat, pat.
As we listened to it, Mabel, Agnis, and I looked over the documents for the next location.
And so we headed toward the next prospective site.