Kays Translations

Chapter 30: A Second Request and Ren’s Concern

The special class was the pride of the Imperial Military Academy.

On this day, its students had gathered at the boarding area for the magic ship that would carry them to the site of their final examination.

Every one of them wore high-performance winter clothing.

They had finally reached the last test.

The boarding area had been established in a town several weeks from the Imperial Capital.

The magic ship prepared for them was first-rate.

Even if it encountered a powerful monster in the sky, it had been built above all else to deliver the examinees safely to the town.

Only crew members with more than twenty years of experience had been selected.

The surrounding area would also remain under strict control until immediately before the students were delivered to their destination.

Once they boarded the prepared magic ship, their safety was all but guaranteed—not to the same degree as within Leomel’s proud Imperial Castle, but more than sufficiently.

Faculty members from the academy and knights from the Imperial Capital had also been stationed at the examination site in case of an emergency.

The chance of hostile intruders slipping into the operation was therefore exceedingly low.

Eventually, after every check had been completed, a crew member addressed the captain in the wheelhouse.

“Captain.”

“All prescribed checks and inspections have been completed.”

“Then we depart.”

Unlike the bridge of an ordinary ship, the wheelhouse of a magic ship was a specialized chamber lined with numerous magic tools.

This particular vessel was even more unusual.

To preserve the fairness of the examination, its destination could not be confirmed until immediately before departure. The moment the order to depart was given, the route appeared on a glass-panel magic tool positioned in the center of the wheelhouse.

“Wha—?”

The captain stared at it in shock.

Several crew members fell silent at the same time.

“Are you certain there is no mistake?”

The captain questioned the crew member beside him.

“Th-There shouldn’t be! The magic-tool artisans checked it, as did the magic-ship administrator—and even the directors of the Imperial Military Academy!”

The captain examined the report he had received.

It contained a detailed record of more than one hundred inspection items, identifying the person responsible for each one and recording when and with whom each check had been performed.

As he read through it, he found that several crew members had conducted the confirmations alongside the magic-tool artisans and academy directors.

“You are all certain?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“We confirmed it repeatedly! When we asked whether this destination was truly correct in winter, they said that only in such an environment could the examinees’ true worth be tested…”

The crew members themselves had initially been astonished. Nevertheless, both the directors and the magic-tool artisans had insisted there was no mistake in the assigned route and that it matched the predetermined examination site.

“…Very well. We will transport the examinees along the designated route.”

At last, the captain accepted the result and gave the crew the order to depart.

Powered by magic stones, the furnace within the magic ship came to life and lifted the vessel from the ground. Before long, it had climbed far above the boarding area.

“Destination: the Baldor Mountains.”

With those words, the magic ship carrying the examinees raced through the sky.

Its destination was the final stage of Legend of the Seven Heroes I.

It was heading toward the very place that Dean Chronois was supposed to have avoided.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The story then returned slightly into the past.

A week had passed since Ren repaired the roof, and only a few days remained until the end of the year.

On the final day of the year, the main residence would host a dinner to thank the servants and knights for their work.

Weiss had told Ren that everyone was looking forward to it.

Ren had been looking forward to it as well.

“Forgive me, boy.”

It was just before dawn.

A knock sounded at the door of the room Ren used as his primary living space in the old manor, accompanied by Weiss’s voice.

Ren woke immediately and checked his clock. It was only a little after four in the morning.

(What happened?)

Rubbing his heavy eyelids, he climbed out of bed, threw on his cloak, and went to the door.

When he opened it, the bitterly cold air turned his breath white.

“I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour.”

“It’s all right. Has something happened?”

“…Yes. I was uncertain whether I should tell you, but I decided that you needed to know.”

Speaking gravely, Weiss took a sheet of paper from inside his coat and handed it over.

Ren accepted it and tried to read.

The room was too dim, so he invited Weiss inside, activated the magic-tool lamp, and looked again.

The notice had come from the Adventurers’ Guild.

“…A designated request?”

It was another notice concerning the same designated escort request he had declined the other day.

This time, however, the circumstances described in it were alarming.

“Historic snowfall near the Baldor Mountains…”

The snow that had already been falling for some time had intensified further. Villages in the surrounding region could no longer meet their needs with their advance preparations alone.

Worse, people had become trapped in the Baldor Mountains, at the center of the severe snowfall.

“An emergency signal fire from an old fort in the mountains?”

“Yes. We received news of the situation at almost the same time, though through a separate report. Upon learning of it, our lord decided to dispatch knights to the surrounding villages…”

At the same time, the Adventurers’ Guild had sent Ren a designated request.

The client was Meidas.

He was Kai’s partner—the male wolfman who had recently submitted an escort request naming Ren.

Apparently, however, those involved had not vanished without any indication of their whereabouts.

“There is an old fort near the middle of the Baldor Mountains that adventurers also use. During an emergency like this, they shelter there and raise a signal fire to request rescue.”

As the notice indicated, the people in need of rescue were believed to be at that fort.

Fortunately, it contained food, and they could survive as long as they were able to keep warm.

They could obtain water by melting snow, but both food and heat would become serious problems. No one could expect an old fort to contain abundant supplies.

(I don’t think they can last for weeks in that place.)

Ren knew the fort.

In the game, it had served as a rest point where the characters recovered on numerous occasions.

It held little firewood or other stored supplies, so the stranded adventurers would have to rely mostly on the equipment they had brought with them.

Even if they hunted monsters for food, how long could they preserve their strength?

(They should never have gone…)

As that thought crossed his mind, countless others churned behind it.

(Meidas helped me obtain the Platinum Feather. But I can’t ignore the fact that they’re headed for the Baldor Mountains in weather like this.)

This was no time for prolonged hesitation.

Lives were at stake.

Ren understood that adventurers were responsible for the risks they chose to take, but—

(There’s another reason I can’t ignore this!)

His feelings shifted toward accepting the designated request.

He had remembered one crucial piece of information, and it erased his hesitation in an instant.

“Is Lord Lessard awake?”

“Yes. He should be in his office.”

Ren asked Weiss to take him to Lessard.

He dressed quickly, hurried from the room, and crossed the connecting corridor from the old manor to the main residence.

Unlike usual, the main residence was noisy even at that hour.

Ren felt guilty for taking Lessard’s time during an emergency, but the concern that had just occurred to him had to be voiced immediately.

“My lord, I have brought the boy.”

Weiss spoke outside Lessard’s office and opened the door when he heard a reply.

He allowed Ren to enter first, then followed him inside.

Lessard stood near his desk, moving restlessly between it and the shelves.

“What is it, Ren?”

Despite the situation, Lessard did not sound irritated by Ren’s arrival.

He was busy, but nothing in his manner suggested resentment.

“I’ll be brief. I would like your permission to accept the designated request that was sent to me.”

“There is no need. You have no reason to expose yourself to danger.”

Lessard dismissed the idea immediately, as though the answer were obvious.

“Adventurers choose to take risks through their own judgment. You have no connection to this situation and no obligation to help them.”

The words sounded cold, but they were true.

Ren nevertheless refused to back down.

He owed Meidas for the Platinum Feather, but there was another reason he needed to accept the request at any cost.

“Did you know that the person the adventurers were escorting was an official merchant serving a certain noble?”

Lessard, who had been hurrying about the room, abruptly stopped.

Behind Ren, Weiss’s eyes widened.

“Surely not…”

There was something neither man could ignore, just as Ren could not.

“Sit.”

Lessard moved to the sofa and had Ren sit opposite him.

He had realized that he needed to hear everything.

“One of the adventurers we cannot contact is an acquaintance of mine. He told me that their client is an official merchant serving a noble of the Hero Faction.”

Lessard had half expected the answer, but he still pressed a hand to his forehead and looked toward the ceiling.

“This is troublesome timing…”

“My lord, if the man is an official merchant of the Hero Faction, we should not ignore the matter,” Weiss said.

“Agreed. So soon after that incident, we are better served by being overly cautious. Our friendship with Marquis Ignat will not prevent the Hero Faction from harboring its own feelings toward House Clausel.”

They did not want to expose even the slightest weakness.

Less than a year had passed since the incident involving Viscount Given, so all three agreed that the situation could not be disregarded.

“I’m sorry. I should have reported this when I first declined the escort request.”

“Hmm? Yes, it would have been preferable for you to report it, but the outcome would likely have been the same.”

Lessard was not merely trying to console Ren.

Even if he had known about the merchant, there would have been little he could do.

He could have informed them of the severity of the winter around the Baldor Mountains and urged them to change their plans.

Beyond that, however, his options would have been limited.

If the merchant had close ties to the Hero Faction, which viewed House Clausel unfavorably, he was unlikely to heed their warning. He might instead have complained that changing the schedule would delay the delivery.

Detaining or placing the merchant under surveillance was entirely out of the question.

Such actions would have been interpreted as open hostility.

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