Chapter 30: The Tareia Incident

Whoosh.

A transparent owl flew into Therese’s dormitory.

As it crossed the window frame, it got caught in Therese’s barrier, and like a fish trapped in an invisible net, it flapped about and took on a visible form.

It was a familiar made of magic.

If I were to touch it, I would die instantly.

In the first place, since it wasn’t a living creature, I don’t even know if it’s right to say it would die.

Therese, with a single gesture, released the owl from the barrier and let it perch on her wrist.

The owl, after looking at Therese’s face once, drew a line in the air with its wing.

Then, letters appeared, engraved in the air.

The Inquisitor has arrived in the Tareia territory.

“It seems Orlevette has arrived safely.”
“……I’ll be leaving too.”
“Yes. I’m counting on you.”

As Therese released the owl back out the window and turned around, I passed her and went to the window.

Then, I jumped over the window frame.

I had already activated stealth magic, and I had also used shock absorption magic.

Building 2, room 922.

It was the 9th floor, but with magic, there was nothing to be afraid of.

In fact, just in case something happened, I had even practiced jumping straight from here and escaping with Therese.

“You’re so versatile.”

Despite having jumped from the 9th floor, I landed neatly in the flowerbed, like Mary Poppins descending with her umbrella, and couldn’t help but say a word.

It was convenient. The types of magic were varied. And once you learned them, you could respond at any moment.

Even the fact that most of the magic I used was basic magic was amazing.

It’s understandable that one becomes dependent on it.

I crossed the flowerbed fence and leisurely headed for the station.

No one was following me.

No matter how much they were monitoring me with magic from afar, I was like an invisible man.

In the modern era, maybe a police officer or detective would have looked at the footprints and said, “He fell straight from the 9th floor and disappeared this way,” but the people in this world, their brains soaked in the convenient civilization of magic, had long forgotten such primitive investigative methods.

“……Should I tidy up?”

I turned around for a moment and used simple water magic to erase the footprints I had left in the flowerbed.

It was a sudden thought, but better to be thorough.

Someone might track me down through them.

A righteous detective who can’t use magic.

A protagonist type.

It’s plausible, isn’t it?

Then, I headed to the station and dispelled my stealth magic near the entrance.

Naturally, there was no one tailing me.

No one waiting, either.

I thought there might be one or two plainclothes watchers or agents on leave, but there were none at all.

Still, complacency is forbidden.

I adjusted the veil covering my face once more and entered the station.

“What on earth is magic……”

Teleporting at the station.

I had never questioned it before, but I heard that Eileen couldn’t use the station.

I thought it was only natural since magic doesn’t work on her at all.

But Eileen—her image was captured on the CCTV-like magic at the facility, just like anyone else.

I think nothing should have been captured.

As for the station, well.

If the station’s output exceeds my capacity but not Eileen’s, then I can use the station but Eileen can’t—which I can roughly understand.

But still, shouldn’t there be some interference?

I was quite fearless in using the station.

And the CCTV.

Both Eileen and I were captured, but shouldn’t we at least appear faint, like ghosts?

“Hello, customer.”
“A rapid scroll to the Diorsion Tareia territory.”
“A scroll to Tareia, you say? Here, please take this.”
“This is…?”

It was a note that felt like a guestbook.

A note with people’s names and residences written on it.

It seemed to have some kind of magical treatment as well.

“Ah, that’s… Currently, due to a request from the Ministry of Faith and Doctrine, all travelers going to the Tareia territory must write down their personal information here.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry. We can’t tell you either. Um. The pen is over there.”

They’re doing something troublesome.

I thought it would be fine to just write a fake name and address, but I decided against it.

I was being watched by CCTV right now.

Not surveillance per se, but probably still being filmed.

There’s no way to confirm it’s me.

But the moment I touch this note, the magic on it will be triggered.

If it’s just a spell that checks for truth or falsehood, it’s no problem.

I could just touch it lightly and break the seal.

But what if it’s magic that transmits the written information in real time?

What if Orlevette’s subordinate is currently checking them one by one in the Tareia territory?

“What’s wrong, customer?”

The magic broke when that person touched it.

I don’t know if it’s related, but he’s suspicious, so let’s just catch him.

If I touch it, it’ll surely go that way.

Even if they try to catch me, I don’t plan on going quietly.

“No, I was just thinking.”

Yes.

If I don’t get caught, it’s fine, right?

I was about to grab the pen and write a fake name on the note—

“Ah! It’s Karmea! Long time no see? What’s up?”

Someone saw me and acknowledged me.

A purple-haired clerk.

She seemed like a friendly woman.

More precisely, she was pretending to acknowledge me.

A person I’d never seen before, and a face I didn’t recognize.

“Hey, Mint. Move aside.”
“Pardon? Do you know her, senior?”
“The timing is really bad. I heard something’s going on in your hometown yesterday and today. I didn’t hear the details, though.”

I quickly glanced at the purple-haired clerk.

The name tag naturally attached to her chest:

Agnes Daret.

“Yes, Agnes. Something bad happened at home.”
“Huh? Do you really know her, senior……?”
“Hey, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize her just because her face is covered. That horn shape is definitely Karmea.”
“Yes. Well.”

The horn she’s talking about is the dragonkin horn on my veil cap.

Finally, the clerk, Mint, changed places without any suspicion.

As soon as she stepped aside and received a new customer, Agnes smiled as if relieved and whispered quietly:

“This is a scroll to the Odileart territory. The distance between the two territories is less than an hour by fast horse, so first go to Odileart and then switch to land.”
“……My thinking was short-sighted. Thank you.”
“If we get caught, both of us will be physically beheaded. So please be a little more careful. Of course, I’m also at fault for not telling you that there was an inspection, but you should’ve noticed with your intuition.”
“What about payment?”
“Well. Should I accept your feelings?”

I took out my wallet, pulled out a few gold coins, and slipped them in with the silver coins for the scroll.

Agnes quickly took the money without checking how many gold coins there were and handed me a scroll.

“Good luck, Karmea!”
“Thank you, Agnes.”

Since Mint’s customer had left, we parted again, pretending to know each other.

I immediately headed for the platform and teleported.

It was a quiet station, as expected for the borderlands.

There wasn’t a single customer—let alone a watcher.

I left the station and rented a carriage and a coachman.

We leisurely drove to the Tareia territory and stopped in front of the gate of the central city, Tarenbort.

There was an inspection here too.

The small window rattled open, and the coachman stuck his head out.

“My lady. Is it alright to stop here?”
“What’s wrong?”

I roughly knew, but I still asked.

“No. It’s just… There’s a rumor going around that Lord Tareia is smuggling weapons, so an inquisitor from the center came and is turning all of Tarenkilaina upside down. They say they’re inspecting carriages with the intent to completely dismantle them, so it’d be faster for you to get off here and receive a personal inspection.”
“Aha. Then I’ll get off here.”
“Oh my. Thank you for understanding, my lady.”

I got off the carriage and checked the state of the gate.

It was surrounded by a double moat, and the gate was quite high.

It must have been built sturdily, so they could enter a siege at any time.

I activated stealth magic and simply walked through.

CCTV or whatever—if they can’t see me, they can’t catch me.

I heard that expensive, high-output surveillance magic can sometimes detect magic—but it doesn’t work on me.

I think it would be good if they developed thermal imaging detection magic, but apparently, such a thing doesn’t exist.

“You are forbidden from passing!”
“N-no, my lord! Why is that?! You know my face, don’t you?”
“Quiet!”

A carriage full of goods was denied entry.

The dragonkin, who seemed to be the owner of the carriage, was clinging to the guard with a tearful face.

Besides the carriage owner, there were many other dragonkin.

Half-human, half-dragonkin, perhaps.

Anyway, the one blocking the carriage must have been the lord.

I didn’t know the person, but it was clear he was suffering because of the uninvited Orlevette.

As soon as I passed the gate, I mixed into a small crowd and dispelled my stealth.

It was a pretty big city.

By no means comparable to Jurden or the imperial capital, but still quite large for a city in the borderlands.

The walls were high, and it was surrounded by a double moat.

I couldn’t be certain, but Marquis Tareia must hold a pretty high position among the warlords of the borderlands.

“Now. What should I do—”

It was the moment I let out a sigh, suddenly at a loss, and said that—

Bang—

The sound of something exploding.

A good feeling.

Without hesitation, I headed straight for the source of the explosion.

And on the way—another explosion.

An exploded carriage.

A high-class building spewing fire and smoke.

Was it a hotel?

“It looks familiar somehow.”

I went against the flow of people screaming and fleeing, and walked straight into the scene of the accident.

Stealth magic—should I have dispelled it?

“The empire must return Diorsion to its original owner!”
“The pure dragon and goddess Angelicabel has spoken to us, the Children of the Goddess! She told us to punish the arrogant imperial inquisitors who interpret the will of God as they please, and to make it the cornerstone of the unification and independence of Diorsion by the dragonkin!!”
“Make Diorsion great again!!”

There they are.

They’re having a great time protesting.

Angelicabel is another aspect of the chief god of humanity, Mehren.

The dragonkin must also worship the god Mehren—not as their chief god, but as one of the great gods of the pantheon.

Still, this is the first time I’ve seen a dragonkin who doesn’t invoke Mehren’s name but instead deliberately calls on the goddess Angelicabel.

Not just a dragonkin—anyone, really.

In the case of demons, they completely deny the god Mehren and only worship Nertallensis, another name for Mehren in their pantheon, so it wouldn’t be strange at all for them to shout Long live Mehren,Long live Nertallensis, or even Long live Angelicabel…

“Huh? L-look at that, leader!”
“Oh, oh!! He’s getting up! He’s getting up again! He’s getting up again from the flames!!”
“Damn it! What are you just watching?! Everyone, shoot!!”

Orlevette was getting up from the burning carriage.

The dragonkin fired at him, but it didn’t work at all.

The magic barrier surrounding his entire body was firm and showed no signs of breaking.

“Damn it, Therese. I know you want to play, but your way of expressing it is too rough.”
“It’s not working!”
“G-get the grenades!”

Someone pulled out a stick grenade but was shot down by an arrow.

Before I realized it, soldiers had swarmed in from all directions and were suppressing the dragonkin.

Are they city guards, not Orlevette’s subordinates?

An eagle crest—which everyone and their dog had—was engraved on their shields.

“I-I’m sorry, Inquisitor!”
“Do you think it’ll end with an apology?! How many of my men—”

Using stealth magic, I approached close enough to reach out and touched Orlevette’s magic barrier.

Tap.

As soon as I touched it, Orlevette’s barrier shattered into pieces.

“Wh-what.”
“Die, Inquisitor!!”

Perfect timing—

The dragonkin who had been shot down by an arrow threw a grenade while pinned down by the guards.

It seemed he had summoned a last burst of strength and shoved all the soldiers aside.

I removed my hand from the Areille in its scabbard and quickly retreated.

Bang.

The grenade exploded right next to Orlevette’s head.

Orlevette, and the guard who had been receiving Orlevette’s protest, rolled across the ground like rags.

“Horrible.”

Looking at Orlevette, now a headless ghost, I couldn’t help but mutter.

The guard, thanks to his shield and magic barrier, seemed to be alive—though barely, and in tatters.

“H-how……”
“Oh! It’s a miracle of the goddess Angelicabel!!”

……Hmm.

I blew my nose without using my hands, so isn’t it all good?