“Subjugation…?”
“Yes. All adventurers operating in the Empire have received requests. Of course, ordinary adventurers can be ignored… but I can’t do that.”
Charlotte gave a wry smile.
“Then, do you know where Sirin is?”
After a moment of silence, Rubia spoke up.
“No, I don’t know that. Anyway, the ones who received the request number 13 teams, including my subjugation team. About 300 in total.”
“300…”
“Of course, we’re not all going together; we’ll scatter to different areas… I’ll be heading south.”
“That’s the opposite of Cartia.”
“That’s right.”
After tidying her clothes and fixing her messy hair, Rubia slowly sank into the sofa and looked at me.
“What do you think, Noah?”
“I think… there must be a reason…”
Of course, Sirin can be incredibly light-hearted and annoying at times, but I can’t believe she acted without any reason.
After all, Sirin is no ordinary being.
There’s definitely a reason.
“I agree. Although we’re not very close, I don’t think she’s the type to cause trouble for no reason. Besides, there was an attack by a wizard just yesterday… It’s hard to say there’s no connection, but it’s also hard to say there is.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s not like I’ll blindly support Sirin, but… that’s our stance.”
‘So that’s it…’ Charlotte nodded, then pulled out a small orb from her pocket.
“Then, take this.”
“What is… it?”
“A video transmission artifact. I haven’t opened it, so I don’t know the content. But… I was told it would be helpful for you.”
“…Who said that?”
“Sirin mentioned I should use the wish token, didn’t she?”
Wish token.
It’s Sirin!
“Wish token… Did Sirin come personally? No, does that mean she-”
“Spirit.”
Charlotte chuckled helplessly and pulled out a cigarette.
“The spirit delivered it. An intelligent spirit that can even talk.”
“An ultimate spirit…? How could she… wait, the person who handles spirits is…”
A spirit?
In this world, I only know one spirit master…
“That’s right. It’s the spirit of the Mage Tower master, ‘Ser.’”
Ser.
The one and only spirit master in this world.
Moreover… she’s the Mage Tower master.
I have no idea what the Mage Tower is for or what it was created for.
I don’t even know where it is.
But Ser knows.
Of course, I don’t know the story about Ser…
But I can never forget the appearance I saw during the final battle.
Even I, who despise wizards, felt an urge to try being a spirit master if she ever appeared.
The reason being… she was dazzlingly beautiful and the spirits she handled were stunning as well…
She had this big sister vibe, spoke beautifully, had a wonderful personality, and even smiled beautifully…
To be honest, Rubia is pretty too, but to the level of Rubia-
“Noah.”
“Yes, heh?!”
“What on earth are you thinking?”
“Uh… ah, I wasn’t thinking about anything!”
Rubia, who had been quietly staring at me, leaned back on the sofa and crossed her legs.
“Are you sure about that?”
Her lowered voice… It’s scary…
“I… was just recalling some memories.”
“Memories?”
“…Yes.”
“Let’s discuss it later.”
“Uh… I-I don’t want to… I want to do it now…”
“This isn’t exactly chatty time, is it? We’ll talk about it later, just the two of us.”
“…Okay…”
With a small sigh, Rubia turned her attention back to Charlotte.
“The Mage Tower master has not been kidnapped.”
“Correct. Ugh… what’s going on here… tsk.”
Charlotte neatly burned her magical cigarette, then pulled out another one.
“Couldn’t the spirit just send it directly to you guys? Why send it through me to relay? Were they testing me or something?”
“It’s true… That does seem odd. If they knew where Charlotte was, they would have known where we were, too… Why bother…”
“That slippery girl, it’s annoying. So many things irritate me. Ugh…”
Slippery…?
Is she talking about Sirin, or is it Ser?
“In any case, I came to tell you that. Yuria… well, she will come and tell you herself. She mentioned going to Hephaestus and Loholan.”
“Loholan…”
“She said she’d pack her things and had some place to go. You guys are heading to Cartia, right?”
“…Yes, we will.”
“Noah…?”
Seeing Rubia hesitating, I answered for her.
“Yeah. Even if Rubia says she won’t go, I’ll make sure to bring her.”
“Ah, okay.”
Charlotte nodded as if satisfied and lit her magical cigarette.
“There’s the good news we talked about yesterday, right?”
Ah…? Was there such a thing…?
While I was tilting my head in confusion, Rubia spoke first.
“Oh, right. Well… it’s predictable, but please tell us.”
“Coming out so confidently is a bit startling, though.”
“Just tell us quickly. What is it?”
“Uh, well… the clothes made from Tylant’s leather are all finished, and the fragment… that has been recognized as Noah’s possession.”
Fragment?
The Tylant’s fragment??
“…Really?!”
“Yes. Isn’t there no reason to be so surprised? You did it all by yourself, so if you take it, that’d be quite outrageous.”
Two fragments, Carpen’s fragment and now Tylant’s fragment…
I clearly remember Tylant’s fragment since I used it often.
The ability to absorb magical power floating in the air.
Honestly, neither Rubia nor I had any magical power, so we didn’t really care about Tylant’s fragment.
But now that I have magical power!
I can use magical power!!
Wow! Enjoying unlimited magical power!!
“Woah… Woah! Wooah!”
“Pfft… you really like it, don’t you?”
“O-Of course!”
Moreover, Tylant’s fragment can be used not just for weapons but also for armor, which is a crucial setting!
What’s armor? Just slotting it into earrings, necklaces, or various accessories allows me to use its abilities anytime!!
I don’t know if it’ll be the same in reality, but I guess it will?
Then… then I have two epic-grade fragments!
Oh my goodness… oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!
But… in games, using two fragments at once wasn’t allowed… So I guess it wouldn’t be the same in reality?
If that’s the case… I probably won’t use Carpen’s fragment much.
Not feeling pain and being able to keep fighting is great and all.
But the penalties are too severe.
The condition that I need to drink the enemy’s blood is way too demanding.
And my mind gets a bit weird too!
When that activates, I keep feeling excited and start acting like I did in-game…
That’s why I ended up with weird rumors!
From now on, I’ll only use Tylant’s fragment!
“Uh… okay. Seeing that you like it so much, I guess my efforts paid off…”
“T-Thank you!”
“You’re speaking pretty loudly there… Were you trying to go for that geeky image?”
“Uh, no, I wasn’t!”
“Look at that. As soon as you speak, you revert back. Were you trying to trigger Rubia’s maternal instincts with that geeky concept? That’s pretty clever!”
“W-What… No, I wasn’t…!”
Ugh, how absurd.
Do I really look like I’m intentionally acting geeky?!
I want to speak! I want to speak loudly!
But… ugh… it’s really frustrating…
“Well, anyway. That’s settled. You’ll probably receive the fragment in Cartia. I asked to send it to Ursphere, but… the higher-ups ordered them to send it to Cartia instead.”
“The higher-ups ordered what? What does that even mean?”
“They didn’t tell me the reason. A higher-up from the Central Guild or something, the princess, said they couldn’t tell me.”
Both Charlotte and Rubia’s gazes were fixed on me simultaneously.
“Noah, what exactly are you doing?”
“Uh…?”
“Do you know anyone from the Central Guild’s higher-ups?”
“Ah, n-no…?”
Charlotte set her shield down and sat on a chair.
“I don’t get it. Right, you did take care of everything. You protected the village and the city too. But still… this situation doesn’t make sense.”
“Hm… on one hand, I thought so too.”
“R-Rubia too…?”
“Of course. Too many resources are concentrated on one person. The nightmare Carpen from the east and the white disaster Tylant. On top of that, the most significant fragment. Even if I pushed hard for this Tylant fragment, during the Carpen incident, they decided right away from the Central Guild without any intervention… You’re actually a top-tier adventurer, aren’t you putting on an act as a newbie?”
I was overwhelmed by Charlotte’s barrage, and by the middle, I was barely processing the content…
“The Central Guild wouldn’t just act like this. But if you’re involved, they’re being generous. Something feels… off.”
“Well… let’s think positively. Even with the massive support, they haven’t shown any significant movement so far. Sending it to Cartia feels a bit suspicious, but… Noah, don’t worry too much, okay?”
“Y-Yes…”
Is this really that serious of a problem…?
Even if they treat me well, nothing comes out…
“Sigh… let’s just take it easy. Anyway, this is good. If it’s going to you instead of someone else, then I’m relieved.”
“Relieved…?”
“Yes. I don’t think you’ll go astray. Plus, you’ve got someone to hold the reins for you.”
Charlotte chuckled as she looked back and forth between me and Rubia.
Rubia blushed with a shy smile.
And me?
I tilted my head.
“G-Girlfriend? I don’t have one…?”
At that moment.
crunch-
Rubia’s teeth shattered and fell to the ground.
