Chapter 30: Chapter 30

It was spring, when winter ended and new buds sprouted.

In Hasra, the capital of Pendia, rumors that had originated from the royal court began spreading like wildfire from place to place.

‘The King has decided to make whichever prince brings back a way to restore his health his successor!’

Since it concerned matters of the royal court, people could not speak of it openly, but once such stories began to spread, they were inherently uncontrollable.

Before long, the two princes began overtly gathering capable warriors.

This was to find powerful individuals who could aid in exploring the Demonic Realm, and even proud knights who would normally not show the slightest interest in such treacherous places began to make an appearance.

Naturally, this information soon reached the commoners as well, and everyone chattered about it in the taverns.

Along with that, what naturally drew attention was none other than the ‘unidentified warrior who slew the Cockatrice.’

it was a tale that sounded like a lie… that someone had succeeded in subjugating a Cockatrice in the Demonic Realm either alone or with only a single mage and priest.

No one knew the warrior’s true identity.

Some said he was a mountain of a giant, others said he was a middle-aged warrior with an agile build and fierce eyes, while still others claimed it was a tall female warrior.

There was even nonsense claiming he was an Altoan boy who had not yet reached adulthood, but this was a story that even the Altoans in the slums scoffed at as absurd.

Callion took advantage of this current to subtly sound out those belonging to Prince Elvin’s faction among the noble families he frequently traded with.

He did so in a joking manner, asking whether the nobles would knight the warrior who slew the Cockatrice if he turned out to be an Altoan, claiming he had made a bet with an acquaintance.

Naturally, immense flattery and bribes were included as a bonus in the process.

Regrettably, the responses that came back were negative without exception.

At best, the most positive response was merely ‘coax him by promising knighthood, then use him as much as needed.’

While Callion took Roden along and worked hard pounding the pavement, Shan did what he had to do in his own way.

That was taking care of his body, his most crucial asset.

“Are you heading out somewhere, Young Master?”

“I’m going to see the doctor. I’ll be back soon.”

Draped in light spring clothes, Shan smiled as he answered the maid who asked his destination, then stepped out onto the street.

After passing two major streets and a small alley, then crossing a river, a familiar amethyst tower appeared, one he had seen several times before.

It was none other than the Magic Academy of Pendia, of which all mages were proud.

Shan’s business lay in one of the mages’ workshops located behind the Magic Academy building.

“Is anyone here?”

Knock, knock. When he tapped on the wooden door, a clinking sound rang out a moment later as a small hole opened in the door, and two eyes peered at him.

Before long, the door opened and a middle-aged woman with a warm impression stepped out.

“How long has it been, Shan! It seems you’ve already returned from the Demonic Realm. You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?”

“No, Professor Maya. I just came to get a checkup to see if there’s anything unusual, like I mentioned before.”

Maya Bekaris was an authority on alchemy and life sciences, a professor who had formally received a degree from the Magic Academy.

In other words, the kind of person referred to as a doctor.

Of course, since most sick people went to priests, being a doctor was something like a side job.

The catalyst that forged his connection with her was an introduction from Sir Darkal.

Around the time Shan had just begun his training to become a knight, Sir Darkal confirmed that Shan’s body possessed several characteristics different from others, whereupon he dragged him here and forced him to undergo a physical examination.

‘Wait, a mage sounds a bit scary… What if she performs weird experiments on me?’

‘Cut the bullshit and get inside right now!’

Sir Darkal’s philosophy was that while priests were far better at simple healing, those fellows didn’t even know what they were curing or how, so mages were far superior when it came to examination and analysis.

Had he mentioned that he received quite a lot of help in systematizing his training to awaken fighting spirit?

Here, Shan had learned quite a few secrets regarding his own body.

Things like how his bones were made of a lighter, more flexible material than others, or how his muscle fibers were thin and dense, allowing him to exert greater force with the same amount of muscle.

Upon hearing the story, Sir Darkal had merely remarked, ‘It’s a relief that you aren’t missing several internal organs like I thought.’

Teaching an Altoan disciple despite being an Old Believer, keeping mages as acquaintances… reconsidering it now, he was an eccentric in many ways.

“Come on in.”

Her workshop was cluttered with various glass instruments, research papers, and biological specimens, giving off a musty odor.

Recalling how he had once freaked out and tried to avoid stepping inside what looked truly like a witch’s hut straight out of stories, Shan adeptly sat on the examination chair.

“I was going to mention this last time, but why don’t you hire a servant? Even if it’s next to the Academy, living alone as a woman seems dangerous.”

“I hired one in the past, but the fellow sold off all the tools in my workshop and ran away. Ever since then, I’ve been too frightened to keep a servant. If you know anyone trustworthy, please introduce them to me.”

Hearing that, he noticed several items that seemed like they would fetch quite a bit of money if sold to other mages.

Even while engaging in small talk, Maya skillfully collected Shan’s hair and blood, submerged them in several alchemical solutions, and measured his height and weight.

“You’ve grown quite tall. Your weight has increased a lot too.”

“I hope I keep growing like this, like Roden.”

“For that to happen, eat well and sleep soundly. If you do just that, you’ll probably grow another twenty centimeters.”

Maya then checked several solutions, confirming that he had not contracted any of several infectious diseases.

“It’s amazing every time I see it.”

“What is?”

“That you can figure out the body’s condition like that with magic.”

“It’s the result of studying and researching hard. Magic gives nothing for free. One must personally put in the effort until their eyes drop out and their brain burns up.”

Tapping her temple with her index finger as if the mere thought gave her a headache, Maya pointed to Shan’s body and spoke.

“I find your body far more mysterious than that. I don’t know how many papers I’ve written on this topic alone so far.”

Maya went on with her story with an intrigued look on her face.

She explained that although she had examined the bodies of several Altoans so far (naturally all within legal boundaries) there had never been a case where physical advantages were maximized like Shan’s.

Generally, they stopped at cosmetic peculiarities or even manifested in disadvantageous directions; mutations that aided physical or mental abilities were extremely rare, occurring in roughly one out of dozens.

Naturally, a mutation at Shan’s level was unprecedented territory.

“I really wanted to meet your parents… Ah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Having shared various small talks with him over time, she too knew the fact that Shan was an orphan and had been abandoned by his parents.

Bowing her head slightly to apologize for her slip of the tongue, Maya observed several solutions containing Shan’s hair and blood once more, then furrowed her brows.

“Mmm…”

“Has something changed?”

“A little.”

The reason Maya had told Shan to drop by once he returned was that she wanted to know what kind of impact the unique environment of the Demonic Realm had on Altoans.

Most Altoans in the capital were people with no reason to visit places like the Demonic Realm, and Altoans who had visited the Demonic Realm lacked physical data from before their visit, making it surprisingly difficult to obtain data.

“Did anything special happen in the Demonic Realm? Like soaking in a strange spring, or being exposed to unusual light?”

“Nothing like that… Well, I did hunt a Cockatrice.”

“A Cockatrice!?”

Her startled eyes widened and glared so much like a witch that Shan flinched without realizing it.

“Could the story circulating these days be… a kid like you? My goodness! You could have died! You fearless child!”

“It was manageable enough to deal with.”

Treated like a young child standing near the edge of the water, Shan acted somewhat boastful for no reason.

After nagging him not to do things that were too dangerous (in truth, going to the Demonic Realm at Shan’s age was inherently dangerous) Maya shifted the topic.

“Did you happen to bring back the Cockatrice by-products? There are a few things I really need, and if you’re fine with it, I’d like to buy them at a good price.”

“I already sold all of those to the guild.”

“Ah…”

At Shan’s response, Maya’s face was painted with disappointment.

Naturally, selling to mages in the capital rather than to the Explorer Guild would be more profitable due to cutting out distribution markups, but doing so would directly infringe upon the Count’s interests.

If he had boasted about slaying the Cockatrice while getting caught selling the mana stone and by-products elsewhere, the Count might have tried to obstruct them in every way imaginable.

“At any rate, it’s certain that something has changed. Have you noticed anything yourself? Like your strength suddenly increasing, for instance.”

“Not at all.”

Shan, who was adept at controlling his own body, could not possibly have missed that kind of change.

After conducting a few more experiments, Maya let out a sigh and spoke.

“It seems difficult to figure out anything right away. May I draw a little more blood? I think I’ll have to get some help.”

“Help?”

“Yes. Calling her a disciple… is a bit much, but among the children I taught before, there is an exceptionally talented girl. I don’t know if she’ll have time since she’s so busy lately, but if not, I’ll at least try to borrow some equipment.”

*

“Dammit! The nobles of this country are all rotten to the core!”

It was dinner time after returning from the examination.

Roden burst out in anger.

Seeing Callion silently nod beside him, it seemed things were not going well lately.

“Do you want to drink this?”

“Thanks.”

Gulping down the wine Shan poured for him, Roden wiped his mouth with a gasp.

With alcohol going down, his mood seemed to ease slightly.

“Every single one of them is the same. There were even bastards who said they’d rather knight a dog than knight an Altoan! Good grief, he beat a Cockatrice to death alone! What the hell does race matter!”

“Be quiet.”

Roden, who was venting his rage, soon calmed down at his father’s solemn voice.

After a brief silence, Roden intentionally changed the subject.

“Speaking of which, it seems the Kingdom of Ajun sent an envoy not long ago.”

“Ah, is it about that?”

“Yeah. It seems the person who died in the holy order back then was a duke’s son. Since that duke’s wife is the King of Ajun’s younger sister, it fits perfectly that he was the King’s nephew.”

Since mere jewelers like them had no qualification to observe talks between the two kingdoms, it was only a story heard secondhand, but the envoy from the Ajun Kingdom reportedly showed quite a fierce stance.

They demanded a high-intensity investigation targeting Pendia’s explorers, specifically demanding that even if it meant arresting everyone who recently excavated Altoan ruins, the culprit must be handed over.

Naturally, the Kingdom of Pendia responded to such tyranny with an effectively ‘screw you’ attitude.

They had already disliked how the holy order constantly interfered with their explorers, a key national industry, and following such demands would make them look like a vassal state.

Furthermore, with the King bedridden, the two princes attended the talks, and both adopted an excessively hardline stance to impress their own nobles, refusing to yield even an inch.

In the end, the talks collapsed, and unless the Ajun Kingdom secretly infiltrated spies, the likelihood of them being exposed as the ones who killed the Ajun noble became practically nonexistent.

Considering that the two countries were separated by rugged mountain ranges, it was no easy task.

“That’s a relief…”

“And because of this incident, it seems the engagement between the Ajun prince and our kingdom’s princess was broken off.”

“The princess?”

“That’s what they say. Good grief, I never imagined we’d leave such a huge footprint on inter-kingdom politics like this.”

Thwarting the alliance between two kingdoms was an act on a scale that mere jewelers could never achieve in a lifetime.

Watching Roden snicker, Shan recalled the princess he had met at the Magic Academy about half a year ago.

So… was she blonde? Silver-haired? He could not remember well.

He did not know details, but since they said there were two, it was likely one of them.

“More importantly, Roden, let’s go get checked up together soon.”

“Why?”

“I went today, and she said something changed compared to before going to the Demonic Realm. We’ve been acting together almost continuously.”

“If there’s a problem, both of us probably have it. Fine. When should we go?”

“The professor said she’d contact us when she’s ready.”

After securing a promise from Roden to go along for the next examination, Shan asked Callion to introduce a blacksmith.

Someone skilled enough to work with the rare alloy common in the Ajun Kingdom, while keeping his mouth shut.

Although the Merchant Guild and the Blacksmith Guild were separate organizations, they had many points of connection, so finding someone of that caliber through connections was not difficult.

Because his skill and credibility were solid, he had such a backlog of orders that it took about a week before Shan could meet him.

“You came with an introduction from Mr. Callion?”

“Yes. I’d like to have this processed.”

What Shan pulled out were four severed chunks of metal.

He had used Thousand Shapes to cut up the shield captured from the underground passage of the Altoan city into smaller pieces and completely ground down conspicuous patterns, resulting in a shape that even its original owner, had he returned from the dead, could hardly be sure was his own shield.

“I don’t know what on earth you fought to end up like this, but it’s gruesome… Hm, did they mix a lot of Keledo into wrought iron?”

Muttering professional terms Shan did not quite understand, the blacksmith advised that because it possessed properties of absorbing shock well, it would be good to use for armor.

Shan had wanted to craft a weapon to substitute for Thousand Shapes, which he could not normally use, but it seemed he would have to settle for crafting armor instead.

“Then please make a shield. A small one that can be strapped to the forearm.”

“If you don’t grip it directly with your hand, its defensive capability drops a lot.”

“That’s fine.”

“Unless your reaction speed is exceptionally fast, you won’t be able to block properly.”

At the blacksmith’s point, Shan lightly demonstrated the extent of his reflexes.

By asking him to throw an iron poker lying nearby, then effortlessly catching it time and time again.

After starting gently out of fear of causing injury, the blacksmith eventually threw the poker with full force from a distance of a few meters, and seeing Shan catch it, he wore a dazed expression.

“Right, with that level, even if it’s this small, it’ll be plenty usable… I’ll have to melt it down from scratch and remold it. Do you mind if I adjust the proportions a bit? A few good ideas popped into my head. The crafting cost might rise slightly, but you can expect great quality.”

Shan nodded, accepting the blacksmith’s proposal.

If even the alloy ratio changed, the chance of the shield’s true identity being discovered, even if he encountered someone from the Ajun Kingdom in the future, would become virtually nonexistent.

In the first place, many people in Pendia also used armaments containing rare metals from Ajun.

Along with the small shield, he decided to use the remaining material to craft an open-faced helmet.

Although Shan recognized, dodged, or blocked almost every attack, in a truly desperate moment, whether he had something like this or not could decide his life.

*

The contact from Maya asking him to visit for an examination arrived the day after placing the request with the blacksmith.

It contained a request to come at noon on the final day of the holy week during which the Goddess fashioned the world.

Fortunately, Roden had no special schedule on that day either, so the two headed to Maya’s workshop right on time.

“Hm?”

Shan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he strode forward without hesitation.

It was because he caught an unusual impression from a person leaning next to Maya’s workshop, who at first glance appeared to be an ordinary mercenary.

The senses he had gradually awakened while interacting with various warriors informed him.

That there was a considerable discrepancy between that man’s skill and his appearance.

Even from the sword-bearing woman standing in the building opposite, a similar presence was felt.

“Roden.”

“Huh?”

“The man in front of the workshop and the woman opposite, both are skilled individuals at least above the level of an ordinary knight. Do you happen to know who they are?”

“What?”

“Don’t stare openly.”

At Shan’s whisper, Roden glanced subtly and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“If anything happens, hide behind me.”

“Don’t worry, man. As if there’d suddenly be an attack in the capital…”

About to say that, Roden swallowed his words.

Come to think of it, among the things they had done in the meantime, there were surprisingly quite a few reasons to get attacked.

In particular, if the Ajun Kingdom had figured out their identities, it would not have been strange even if they sent assassins.

Approaching the workshop and knocking on the door, Shan felt the gazes of those two turn in this direction.

However, they merely glanced over without reacting, and before long, Maya opened the eyehole, saw Roden, and widened her eyes as if startled.

“Oh my, Roden came too? You should have told me you were coming!”

“I went to the Demonic Realm with Shan too. This fellow pestered me to get checked up together if he was getting checked…”

Since Roden was also a former disciple of Darkal, he was acquainted with Maya.

Hesitating for a moment, she soon opened the door and told them to enter.

“Excuse us.”

Stepping inside familiarly, Shan realized there was one more person in the workshop besides Maya.

She was a girl with dark blue hair tied back tightly and wearing a mottled dress.

Perhaps due to poor eyesight, she wore dark amethyst glasses, but for some reason, she flinched upon seeing Shan.

“Who is she?”

“She’s the child I mentioned teaching before. I only meant to borrow some tools for the examination since she was so busy, but it seems your body intrigued her. Is it alright if she joins the examination? While her theory might fall short, her intuition is better.”

“As long as the examination is done properly, I don’t mind.”

Having answered like that, Shan glanced back when Roden gave no answer.

Yet for some reason, Roden was staring at the girl with wide eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh? Uh, no. It’s nothing.”

Shan realized that in a brief moment, an unidentified rapport formed of glanced had passed between that blue-haired girl and Roden.

Could this be that thing called love at first sight?

Having no desire to interfere with his friend’s first love, Shan nonchalantly asked her name instead of acting tactlessly.

“What’s your name?”

“…Ah, me? Sh-Chery. It’s Chery.”

“Nice to meet you, Chery.”

After greeting her, he sat down first on the examination chair, whereupon Maya began handling several sizeable tools.

Judging by how they were not visible normally, it seemed they had been borrowed from that girl named Chery.

“Mmm, to use this, you’ll need to remove your clothes. Could you take off your shirt?”

“Yes.”

As he pulled off his shirt, a sharp intake of breath resounded from the side.

Realizing Chery was staring intently at his body, Shan chuckled sheepishly.

“Sorry, is it hideous?”

He knew well enough that a body covered in scars was not pleasant for others to look at.

Though he wondered how she would manage an examination that involved slicing flesh and drawing blood if she reacted so sensitively to just this.

Fortunately, contrary to her somewhat dorky first impression, the gaze in Chery’s eyes once the examination began was as sharp as a professional’s.

Using several instruments, the two mages engaged in all kinds of dialogue that Shan and Roden could not understand.

“Seeing the sublimation reaction in the solution, it’s similar to Albart’s case.”

“Shall we add a little more Kosa solution?”

“That sounds good too.”

Her interest in Shan’s body was clearly not a lie, as Chery delighted in observing the drawn blood in all sorts of ways.

Though he did not understand well, she seemed to be grasping far more through it than expected.

When tens of minutes had passed like that, Maya finally delivered the results of the examination.

“It seems your body is becoming harder.”