Chapter 15: Meanwhile, Licia and the Others.

“Mr. Ragna, what is this?”

“As you can see, it is a circlet. The mithril used in it is dead—a peculiar object. It has neither corroded nor been painted this color.”

“Metal can die…?”

“Yes. Mithril is a metal that contains mana, but this has lost that property. That is why I describe it as dead.”

Ren had never been particularly knowledgeable about ores. He knew the properties and mining regions of some materials used to forge weapons and armor, but specialized processing was another matter entirely.

“Does a method for producing this exist?”

“No. Mithril’s defining property is that it retains its nature even after being ground into powder.”

“…Then this is strange.”

“Isn’t it? Yet another piece of mithril in the same condition was found just the other day—the first such discovery in decades, also in Old Town.”

During one of the Bureau of Mysteries’ regular surveys, its researchers had uncovered an expensive mithril pen. On closer inspection, Ren could see it displayed in the showcase as well. Ragna and the others had examined it and found that it was in the same state as the circlet.

“I cannot stop wondering what could have killed mithril.”

Ren would have been lying if he claimed to have no interest, but he could not share Ragna’s fascination. To a researcher, it was surely an extraordinary phenomenon. To Ren, who lacked the necessary expertise, understanding it was harder than appreciating it.

He did not possess enough foundational knowledge to probe the subject any further.

“Is your work as the Bag Traveler partly for the sake of excavations like these?”

“Oh?”

Ragna studied Ren with interest, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Where did you learn that? Did Radius tell you?”

“I said nothing,” Radius replied. “I intended to make you explain your activities yourself.”

“Then how did you know, Ren?”

“With such an enormous, unmistakable bag sitting here, it was only natural to conclude that the Bag Traveler was present.”

“Hmm. Where did you see me?”

“In an alley in the Imperial Capital the other day.”

“Ah!”

Ragna clapped his hands. Apparently, Ren had not mistaken someone else for him.

“I had a little free time that day, so I stopped in the Imperial Capital.”

“Wait, Ragna! If you were there, why did you not show yourself to me?”

“I knew we would meet on this occasion anyway. Or did you want to speak with your old teacher that badly? How adorable, Radius. Shall I pat your head?”

“…”

Radius did not fall silent because he wanted his head patted. He simply did not wish to engage and turned away with an exasperated sigh.

“Still, Ren, knowing about the Bag Traveler makes you quite the connoisseur. Are you hoping to become a researcher after graduation? Were the tales of a splendid traveler filling you with excitement? I can tell.”

“Not to that extent.”

When Ren mentioned that several people spoke about the Bag Traveler, Ragna nodded in understanding.

“Yet even after seeing this, you do not appear especially captivated.”

“I think it is remarkable, but ‘remarkable’ is the only reaction that comes to mind. More importantly, couldn’t Radius’s power reveal something?”

Radius possessed an innate power of analysis. Ren thought it might provide a clue, but there was no chance the other two had failed to consider that.

“In fact, this is not my first time seeing the circlet,” Radius said. “I only just learned that the pen had been excavated, but I have already examined the circlet.”

The result had been inconclusive. No plausible answer or useful information had come to him. All he could determine was that an unknown force had caused the transformation, and using his analysis on the pen produced the same impression.

Only one thing was certain: the circlet and pen had been changed by the same power.

“I knew Radius’s power would yield this result,” Ragna said. “But this is precisely what makes relics of ancient times so interesting.”

When the room’s master snapped his fingers, the showcase withdrew. Its doors closed without the slightest sound.

Ren and Radius could only watch the mithril described as dead—the mithril eaten away by blackness—disappear from sight.

This time, Ragna excused himself to use the washroom.

“Ragna is Shelgadian, yet he is allowed to work at the Bureau of Mysteries?”

“Are you asking about his nationality?”

Ren wondered whether someone who was not a citizen of Leomel could work as a researcher in a facility filled with secrets.

“Ragna is Shelgadian only in terms of race, as he told you. His parents were ordinary people—no, that phrasing is misleading. They are researchers born and raised in Leomel, and neither of them is Shelgadian.”

Ragna was an atavism. One of his ancestors had apparently been Shelgadian, and he had been born as a pure Shelgadian rather than a mixed-blood descendant.

Ren had not known such a thing could happen.

“If anything, Ragna hates the Shelgad Empire.”

“Really? Why?”

“Shelgad often intervenes militarily in other countries. I do not remember when it happened, but ruins he intended to excavate collapsed after being caught in a war. The Shelgadian army had apparently taken the lead in using force.”

“Ah… I see. That does sound like Ragna.”

Ren wondered how Ragna had reacted upon hearing that the ruins were destroyed—whether he had flown into a rage, gone blank with despair, or somehow done both.

Then Ren changed the subject.

“What do you think about the mithril we just saw, Radius?”

“Nothing. It lies completely outside my area of expertise.”

“What about a connection to the Corroding Princess we were discussing?”

“…We do not even know which country the Corroding Princess’s folktale came from.”

“I know, but…”

“I understand what you mean. Her power was said to corrode everything.”

“Exactly.”

“Then, if your theory is correct, the objects we saw belonged to the Corroding Princess.”

Ren and Radius laughed.

When Ragna returned, they casually asked whether he knew the term “Divine Child.” His answer was a simple, “I have never heard it.”

Ragna appeared likely to be busy for the rest of the day, so they parted for the time being. Ren arranged to speak with him again before leaving Eupheim.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

An hour’s walk from Eupheim lay a place where steep rocks stood like a maze and trees unmoved by the sea breeze grew between them.

The scenery was beautiful, and intermediate and higher-ranked adventurers sometimes came there to hunt for sport.

A highway also ran nearby.

The surrounding area was home to E-rank monsters whose strength approached D-rank. They appeared near the highway, threatened travelers, and were recommended targets for extermination.

Anyone visiting the area needed a certain degree of strength, but that was irrelevant to the boys and girls who had come today.

The group included members of the Seven Great Houses, Vayne—and, above all, a girl named Licia Clausel. With her present, the monsters in this region were no threat at all.

Even so, the fighting proceeded so smoothly that Licia had no need to display her abilities.

“Vayne! One’s coming your way!”

Sera spoke as she gracefully deflected an enemy with her swordsmanship.

“Right! This is nothing—!”

Vayne answered and felled the monster in an instant.

The next monsters to appear fared no better.

“Hraaaah!”

Kaito first sent one flying with his prized greatshield.

“Too bad. Nothing escapes my bow.”

An arrow loosed by Charlotte pierced another monster through the forehead.

The monsters that had burst from the shade of the trees were wiped out immediately. Calling it a struggle would have been absurd.

The two girls who had not been given a turn began to talk.

“Hey, Licia. Neither of us got anything to do, did we?”

“We knew that would happen.”

Licia did not seem concerned. Nemu merely looked bored.

Licia, meanwhile, silently admired the skill Charlotte had displayed.

What an incredible bow…

Charlotte Rofelia was the daughter of House Rofelia, one of the Seven Great Houses, and a descendant of the Hero renowned as a master archer.

She had held a bow since she was old enough to remember.

Her ability to strike an enemy’s weak point with perfect accuracy was magnificent. Even Kaito, whom Vayne could not defeat, could be driven into a corner if Charlotte maintained enough distance.

With three powerful fighters in the vanguard and Charlotte in the rear, ordinary monsters had no hope of keeping pace.

Nemu could also fight if the need arose. She primarily served in a support role, but she was by no means weak.

“I wanted to see you fight too, Licia.”

Nemu’s comment was followed by Sera, who had just finished the battle.

“Exactly! Licia, were you holding back because of us?”

“That wasn’t it. The four of you were simply so strong that I never got a turn.”

The sea breeze stirred the grass at their feet and lightly fluttered Licia’s skirt.

Elsewhere, in a similar scene that belonged to another possible story, choices had sometimes appeared:

《How about inviting Miss Clausel to join us next time?》

《Come now. Having a Sword Saint watching over us is reassuring.》

But those choices had nothing to do with the present.

“Next time, you’re fighting beside me! All right?”

“…All right. I understand. I’ll look forward to it.”

Licia answered as though she had little choice, while a delighted Sera practically skipped.

The party’s voices rang beneath the vivid blue sky as they continued along the highway.

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