Chapter 151
“You have an acquaintance?”
Franz asked Hera.
It was because he hadn’t even considered that she, who only lived in the Great Forest, would have an acquaintance in Ganiphus.
Hera, who was chewing on fruit, swallowed what was in her mouth and spoke.
“I got to know them in the process of saving my kin who had become slaves.”
“I see.”
To gather information on the elves who had become slaves, she would have had to do her own legwork, and it wouldn’t be that strange to make an acquaintance or two in the process.
Even so, the reason his doubts weren’t resolved was that she had hated humans back then.
Even if she didn’t think all humans were bad, she wouldn’t have had any positive feelings to the point of becoming acquaintances.
However, Franz decided not to voice those doubts.
There was nothing good about digging up memories from those days, and it wasn’t polite to ask about personal matters either.
'Well, I’ll know once we go and see for ourselves.'
Franz organized his thoughts and put the food in his mouth.
Perhaps the saying that the best seasoning is the environment was true, as eating outside made the same food taste different.
Of course, when he was in the Hero’s Party, they ate outside day in and day out…
His mindset is different now than it was back then.
If he had been a fierce wild beast just trying to survive back then, now both his body and mind are in a fairly relaxed state.
The meal, which had continued for a while, was completely finished.
While cleaning up the area, Franz asked Hera.
“Could we perhaps meet that acquaintance?”
“It shouldn’t be that difficult. Though it would be a tricky matter if they’ve moved their residence.”
“We can just ask around if that happens, so don’t worry too much.”
“Understood. Do you happen to have a map of Ganiphus? It would then be a bit easier to explain.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a map on him.
To begin with, for Franz, who perfectly grasped the surrounding terrain and features through magic detection, a map was no different from a plain piece of paper.
However, it wasn’t as if there was no way at all.
“Wait just a moment.”
Franz took out his staff from the bag at his waist.
As he drew up his magic power, the red jewel attached to the end of the staff began to glow.
Tap-.
The tip of the staff lightly struck the ground.
Franz’s already strong magic power began to spread out, amplified several times over through the World Tree Staff.
“G-Gah?!”
Arian, who was cleaning up the area next to him, flinched and let out a bizarre sound.
As a mage, she had a higher mana sensitivity than the others, so she reacted more sensitively to Franz’s magic power.
'Excluding living creatures, I’ll just separate the information regarding the terrain and features…'
The magic power that spread out like a wave returned to Franz as information.
Mountains and fields, the sea and cliffs. The terrain and features gathered, connected, and formed a single world.
A map of the entirety of Ganiphus was drawn in Franz’s mind.
And at an accurate and precise level, as if from a satellite.
“Based on the map of Ganiphus currently in my head, if I turn the magic power into particles…”
The magic power, which had no form or property, manifested in the world as a single small dot through Franz.
Small blue-tinted dots gathered and slowly began to draw a picture, soon expressing the terrain and features of Ganiphus exactly as they were.
Thus, the completed map of Ganiphus floated in the air like a hologram.
“Are things like this possible with magic…?”
Hera expressed her admiration at the feat unfolding before her eyes.
However, the one who was truly surprised was someone else.
“Just how do you whip something like this up…? This isn’t at a level that a person can do…!”
Grasping the terrain and features of the entirety of Ganiphus with magic detection might somehow be possible if about 100 outstanding mages gathered, but precisely manifesting it would be a completely different story.
Without a single exaggeration, it was something close to impossible.
Franz was the only one in history who could do such a thing single-handedly.
Since Arian was a mage, she knew the value of what Franz had just done better than anyone else.
“If you’re curious about the method, I’ll write it in a thesis for you later.”
“…No thanks. It’s not like I’d be able to do it just by looking at it.”
Grumbling, Arian returned to the task of cleaning up the area once again.
Turning his gaze away from her, Franz spoke to Hera.
“Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, if my memory serves me right, it was definitely this way.”
Hera’s finger pointed to a place not too far away.
Marking that spot on the map in his head, Franz cut off the supply of magic power maintaining the hologram map.
The map scattered back into small dots and slowly lost its color.
The cluster of blue lights scattering into the air was reminiscent of fireflies.
“Franz, we’re all done. How about you guys?”
“We’re all done here too.”
Answering Yuna’s question, Franz took a step toward the carriage parked nearby.
“Then let’s go now. Figure out the next turn for the passenger seat among yourselves.”
He wanted to stop them fighting over that again and talking about destroying the world or whatever.
* * *
Rattle, rattle-.
The carriage shook quite a bit every time it ran over a stone.
Even though shock mitigation magic had been cast, as long as the wheels were on the ground, it couldn’t be completely avoided.
“Magic Tower lord, would you like some candy?”
“Yeah, give me one if you have any.”
He wasn’t particularly sleepy, but he was just a bit bored.
Arian took out a piece of candy from a small glass bottle and held it out to Franz.
Franz held the reins with one hand and tried to take the candy, but when he actually reached out, she didn’t give it to him.
“Weren’t you giving it to me?”
“Just open your mouth. It looks like you need to focus, so I’ll put it in for you.”
It was true that he needed to focus on driving, but he naturally had enough leeway to take a piece of candy.
However, instead of explaining that, Franz opened his mouth.
Because even if he explained it, it didn’t seem like Arian would comply.
Soon, the candy entered his mouth, and a sweet fruit flavor filled it.
At that moment, Yuna’s voice was heard from behind.
“Franz, do you like candy?”
“I don’t usually eat them, but strangely, I crave sweet things whenever I drive.”
“I see. Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Keep it in mind? Just where was she planning to use this kind of information?
Was she perhaps thinking of writing a thesis on the topic of Franz’s behavioral patterns?
Franz thought so and brushed it off as nothing much, but the others were all actually engraving that information in their minds.
If the moment ever came for them to sit next to him, they could do something a bit embarrassing under the excuse of offering him something sweet.
How much time passed after that?
Suddenly, Yusti-ah spoke.
“But are you sure this is the right way? It seems like we’re heading into the mountains.”
“I’m sure. It’s changed a bit, but most of the trees are exactly where they were.”
“You remember the locations of the trees…?”
“Well, we live close to nature. If we don’t have a map, we sometimes find our way using this method.”
While Hera and Yusti-ah were conversing in the backseat, a large mansion began to appear through the trees in the distance.
Judging by the size of the mansion, one could tell that the owner possessed no small amount of wealth.
Perhaps they were even a noble in Ganiphus.
Since it was someone related to elf slaves, he had naturally thought of a vagrant in hiding, but his expectations had missed the mark spectacularly.
Not long after that, the carriage Franz was riding in arrived at the main gate of the mansion.
At the appearance of the bizarre carriage, the guard protecting the main gate showed an expression mixed with doubt and wariness.
“Franz, I’ll go and try to explain.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting.”
Hera, who got out of the carriage, immediately approached the guards.
It was impossible to know what conversation was going back and forth between them, but it seemed certain that their wariness had decreased.
Soon, one of the guards went inside the mansion, and not long after, came back out with a smile.
It seemed the talk had gone well.
Presently, Hera returned to where the carriage was and gestured for them to get out.
Everyone, including Franz, immediately got out of the carriage.
“Franz, I got permission.”
“That’s a relief. But can I ask you one thing?”
“Ask me anything.”
“What kind of person are we about to meet?”
He would judge the exact details after meeting them in person, but if he could know some information beforehand, he could prepare for how to lead the conversation.
Hera tilted her head for a moment as if troubled, then soon spoke in a calm tone.
“There’s no particular way to explain it. They’re just like ordinary elves.”
“An elf…?”
The moment Franz asked back, the door of the mansion opened and someone revealed themselves.
She was tall for a woman, with long ears. There was no need to even think about it; she was an elf.
The man next to her was definitely a human, but…
Matching rings were placed on both of their ring fingers.