Benny, the makeshift mage, unleashed a colossal teleportation spell that he couldn’t actually use! The effect was astounding.
“Heh heh. Are you getting ready to come into the Mage Tower, Benny? How do you plan to get by without being able to teleport, as a high-ranking mage?”
“Hey! Are you saying you’re stronger than me because of that?! Want to throw down?!”
Benny, who gets scratched right where it hurts. But the mage Ellie hired… What was his name again? Railey?
Can’t quite remember the name, but I do recall that despite looking twenty-something, he was actually over 120 years old (not an elf).
Railey looked at Benny, who was a hundred years younger, with a cute expression. She tucked her genuine white hair behind her ear and asked me.
“But kid, what brings you all the way to the Kingdom of Historia? Ellie and Benny have been tight-lipped about it.”
Railey had a subtly deadly smile. It didn’t seem to hold any ill will, just pure fondness for a child.
The problem was, even if I wanted to answer, I couldn’t.
No matter how thick-skinned I was, I couldn’t say something like, “Wanna join me in causing chaos in Historia?”
So I decided to lay down some metal of a different kind, metaphorically speaking.
Whoosh.
I hid behind Ellie, popping my head out with a voice full of suspicion.
“Ellie said not to talk to you, sister.”
Baby mode… ACTIVE!
What’s crucial here is that I called her “sister.” Given she seemed to have magically altered her appearance to look younger, it started to click.
Even in a reversed-gender world, ladies still seem to care about how they look.
She probably wasn’t trying to charm me, but I knew she would definitely appreciate what I said. And it worked like a charm.
“Oh my. Is that so? Then I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
Railey nodded with a satisfied face. Stepping back, she reached out to Ellie.
“Then, I’ll need the payment, Ellie.”
“Here you go.”
It was a rare moment of Ellie being formal. Well, given her age, no matter how casual she was, she must uphold some decorum.
Railey received a coin pouch that seemed to be about the same size as what they received for catching the Grim Reaper, emanating a faint magical aura.
“Let’s see. All solid altar gold coins, and the weight checks out.”
“…How did you know that without checking? Magic?”
I couldn’t help but ask, holding back my curiosity. I knew it had to be magic since I felt the mana move, but I couldn’t grasp exactly how.
While it was hard for me to learn and wield magic myself, I was pretty good at recognizing what type of magic it was… specifically, my ability to sense mana was quite strong.
That said, not having a clue about it suggested it was significantly advanced magic, no matter how ordinary it looked.
Was Railey pleased to see my interest as I sat in hiding?
She bent down to meet my eye level, smiling brightly.
“That wasn’t magic; it was just mana detection. However, it’s quite sophisticated.”
“Oh, so you sensed the texture of the surface with mana to determine which type of coins they were and pressed the bottom of the pouch slightly to measure the weight, calculating how many coins were there in reverse, right?”
Right, right. I understood perfectly.
If it was an application of mana detection rather than magic, it made sense I hadn’t caught on.
Since it’s pure mana manipulation, not everyone could do it, but this was Railey, a 120-year-old mage, high-ranking adventurer, and elder of the Mage Tower!
It must be more credible for her to guess using mana manipulation rather than counting manually.
As I nodded to myself, Railey, with a dazed look, turned to Benny and asked.
“Benny, this kid….”
“Oh, I’ve taught him basic magic, but he doesn’t really follow along. But judging by how he suddenly learned magic on his own without asking me, he’s probably a sensate type.”
“So, he’s similar to you, huh? Sadly, even if I brought him to the Mage Tower, he wouldn’t learn much.”
Benny and Railey were chatting away in their own little world.
But wait, Ellie’s using honorifics while Benny is speaking informally? Am I the only one worried about that?
Although I flinched a little at the blurred customs of my past life, it didn’t seem like the two parties cared, so it felt wrong to say anything.
After a brief conversation, Railey scribbled something resembling a receipt for the amount they just received and handed it to Ellie.
She waved goodbye as she prepared to teleport back to Pangrave.
Just a moment after watching the empty trace of the teleportation, I couldn’t help but turn around simultaneously as if someone had called us.
A fierce, howling north wind. The sharply pointed castle was constructed of heavy black iron, topped with a white snow cap.
From fully armored knights to folks in casual clothing holding only a dagger, the streets were alive with the tinkling of metals from everyone.
Even if the atmosphere felt rough and barren, it also emanated a proud confidence all over the area, and I was sure of it now.
This was not Pangrave.
“Ellie, where exactly are we in Historia?”
“Where else? The capital, Camelot.”
Historia was once ruled by the fallen god of knights.
And the god of knights was inspired by the Arthurian legend.
The name of the paradise the god presented to his knights was not arbitrarily called Avalon.
However, my settings were solely focused on the god of knights. The details about Historia were more like extras that came along with that.
Thus, I hadn’t detailed the history of Historia much… but it turns out the capital was Camelot.
Seeing everyone clinking metal, it was apparent this wasn’t just a country full of crazy folk.
Benny seemed to have the same thought, making a tired expression, while only Ellie appeared unfazed, rattling her silvery artificial arm alongside her.
“Ellie, have you been here before?”
“Yeah. I stayed here for about three months thinking I might learn aura since it could be possible.”
“…Just to confirm, where did you learn it?”
“Well, obviously from the royal knight order. If I were to master the aura, I’d retire from being an adventurer and become a knight in Historia.”
“So, you didn’t end up learning it.”
“Right. But don’t worry; I’m stronger even without the aura. I was like that before, and I’m even more so now.”
Ellie smirked, her lips curling into a playful smile. She habitually reached for a Mana Herb cigarette but paused and put it back.
Maybe it was because magic was rare in this land of knights. The people of Historia were giving us side-eyes after we suddenly showed up via teleportation.
A few knights, recognizing Ellie, tilted their heads in confusion, but Ellie, looking unbothered, walked casually towards the castle gates, completely ignoring the long line of people waiting to enter.
Perhaps because she brushed the line aside so casually, no one dared speak up against her, even though the onlookers eyed her with suspicion.
The atmosphere felt light, as if we were just out for a stroll, and you could certainly feel the laid-back demeanor of the strong.
I followed Ellie with Benny right behind me, a moment behind.
There, Ellie was waving pleasantly to the gatekeeper standing before her.
“Thanks for your hard work. By the way, can I ask you a question?”
“…Visitors must wait their turn and state their business.”
The gatekeeper was on high alert, sticking to the manual.
But the person he was dealing with was a wolf who had come prepared for a brawl.
Ignoring the gatekeeper’s words, Ellie continued speaking.
“I heard a red-haired adventurer has recently been brought in. Something about treason.”
“I repeat: visitors must wait their turn…”
“I just saw you twitch your eyes, you know? So, Lydia was brought in, huh? Is today the day?”
“….”
Was he trying not to give anything away? The gatekeeper clenched his teeth, narrowing his eyes and shutting his mouth tightly.
Good effort, but did he not realize that made it more obvious?
Though we had a bit of a breather along the way, teleporting had gotten us here in a matter of mere hours.
Lydia, on the other hand, would have been transported by normal means, so it wouldn’t be strange if she arrived recently after three days.
Actually, thinking back, Ellie might have anticipated this all along.
With a satisfied nod, Ellie raised her fist.
“Step aside. It’s dangerous.”
“I don’t know who you are, but please step back. This is the capital of Historia, Camelot. If you truly respect knights and aura…”
“I said it’s dangerous.”
Saying that, she picked up the gatekeeper and hurled him backwards, straight into the line behind him.
Suddenly, another gatekeeper came rushing in, and a few prepared knights rushed out for good measure, but… their treatment didn’t change in the least.
One was thrown back by Ellie grabbing the nape of his neck, while another was blocked by Benny and Shadow, who sensed the incoming trouble.
With that, no one could stop Ellie any longer.
Ellie clenched her fist, gleaming silver due to her artificial arm.
“Here we go!”
Using this opportunity, I activated Argetlam to enhance Ellie’s artificial arm without anyone noticing.
Noticing something felt off, Ellie tilted her head.
But that was that; since she thought a clenched fist should be swung, she extended her arm.
In a standard form. Simple but without any excess trajectory. …And maybe thanks to Argetlam’s enhancement, it emitted a sudden radiance.
“Huh?”
Only then did Ellie’s ears perk up as she sensed something odd. And then…
KWAAM!
Her fist, crashing down like a meteor shower, completely obliterated the massive castle gate.
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