Chapter 53 - My Friend Disappears from the Capital
My friend had arranged for a carriage to send something from the capital.
And it was sent to the Fortress. There were three carriages in total. I accepted them, but now the question was what to do next. The coachman handed me a letter written by My Friend. As usual, it was an elaborately crafted letter, though not particularly thick. However, the coachman’s tense expression worried me.
I opened the letter on the spot and took out its contents. It was written using his usual concealment technology. I understood that My Friend was trying to protect something with utmost care. I channeled my refined mana to reveal the hidden text and began to read.
“Finally, my father has also been called upon to cooperate. I cannot do it. I refuse to hand over my research for something designed to kill people. Fortunately, since I am not the heir, I will hide for a while. Once this dubious situation blows over, I’ll reappear. I’m entrusting my research to you for now. Do with it as you please. I’m even granting you the patent rights. I know you won’t create magitech tools meant to kill people. Instead, I ask you to create tools that bring happiness. I’m sending you some of the actual items and all the manuals for the magitech tools I’ve devised. I am truly proud to call you my friend.”
Between the lines of the letter, I could sense his various resolutions. If he acted against the orders of the kingdom’s upper echelons, his noble status would be stripped. If charged with insubordination, the best outcome would be exile. The worst...
Yet, he still chose this path. It wasn’t just about noble pride and duty—it was about upholding his beliefs as a human being. Fool... If you were so determined, why didn’t you come to the Fortress? Why didn’t you think to seek refuge with me? Disguised as a coachman, the person who was clearly a representative of those associated with My Friend finally opened his mouth to speak, albeit reluctantly.
“Young Master... was deeply concerned for your well-being. He said, ’It would be easy to rely on my friend, but I fear the possibility of him becoming a criminal because of me.’ ...After saying this, he sent us off and left the mansion alone.”
“My Friend... you didn’t have to worry so much. This is the frontier. The capital’s enforcers can’t reach here. Even if they did, I could easily hide you... Damn it! Why do the people I care about always slip through my fingers? It’s because I lack the strength... Those days at the Alchemy Tower were the shining days of our youth. You were always by my side. So why didn’t you rely on me?!”
“Young Master anticipated those very words. He said the same thing himself. That’s why he couldn’t bear to involve his dear friend in his troubles.”
“...What will you all do now?”
“We will take our leave, My Lord. We’ve been provided with travel funds and money to hide ourselves, so please don’t worry. The carriages are yours to use as you see fit. That was his instruction.”
“When the time comes, and my friend returns home, I will return everything I’ve been entrusted with. I promise to keep it safe. I also promise to make good use of the knowledge. If you ever see my friend... please tell him that.”
“Understood. Dark clouds are gathering over the kingdom. Please take care of yourself. It is the Young Master’s heartfelt wish.”
“I understand. I’ll do my best.”
“Then, farewell.”
The three drivers, likely following My Friend’s instructions, left the Fortress. What remained were My Friend’s research outcomes and numerous manuals. I stored the carriages in an unused warehouse within the Fortress and sealed them. As for the horses... if My Friend said to use them, then I would. I took the twelve horses to the stables at the knightly family’s main residence.
I explained the situation to the surprised household and decided to put the horses to use. After all, our main force didn’t just operate within the Demonic Forest—horses were invaluable for transportation. As for the horses from the high comital family... well, the knightly family would take care of them.
With a sense of helplessness, I returned to the Fortress and examined the cargo in the carriages. True to My Friend’s thoroughness, each carriage had an inventory list. I took the lists and returned to my office. While scolding and encouraging my sinking heart, I began to review My Friend’s research.
“Make good use of it”...
...My Friend had said. My duty was to put his words into action. With seriousness and sincerity, I read through the catalog of My Friend’s research outcomes.
My Friend had conducted a wide variety of studies—truly diverse. Among them, I found a few that could be useful here in the frontier—or rather, research that could provide a solution to what could be called urgent problems.
The territory of the knightly family, being on the frontier, was vast. The distance from the distant villages bordering the Demonic Forest to the knightly family’s estate was so great that it required half a day of hard riding. While we always kept a close eye on the forest’s anomalies, the distance meant that reports from the villages often lacked immediacy and posed financial challenges.
Even if a hunter in a distant village noticed something unusual in the Demonic Forest, whether the village representative reported it often depended on their discretion. Communication methods were limited. Even if they wanted to send an urgent message, the lack of fast horses or messengers in such a remote area made them hesitate. I’d even heard rumors of some messengers demanding special fees.
As a result, critical reports often arrived too late.
At the very least, if it were a nearby village, someone could run to deliver the message, but even those villages faced similar issues. The communication soldiers from the main force of the knightly family had taken on the role of messengers, patrolling the edge of the forest, but even this had its limits.
I had been racking my brain, thinking, “If only there were some alternative...” And then, My Friend’s research outcomes offered a glimmer of hope.
One of My Friend’s research projects involved the development of a communication magitech tool to connect the capital with nearby towns. However, he had abandoned it midway. The reasons were twofold: he couldn’t find a way to amplify the weakening signals, and the development of the necessary equipment for signal exchange proved too difficult.
The signal exchange, in particular, seemed to be the main issue. Apparently, he had even laid magic communication lines between the capital and a nearby town for experimentation, but the signals got tangled, making it impossible to connect with the intended recipient.
It seemed he had been exploring the idea of a magitech tool for signal exchange, but the switch device, despite utilizing known runes, kept malfunctioning. The kingdom’s military had shown some interest, but they deemed it unusable in its current state.
The communication itself worked like Telepathy, allowing two-way conversations. The device was about the size of a backpack, consisting of a transmitter and receiver. It was powered by an internal magic battery, making it usable even by those without internal mana. The rune that converted sound into mana fluctuations had an extremely high mana-drive efficiency, and even a baron-level magic battery wouldn’t easily run out of energy.
Just to be safe, My Friend had used a viscount-level magic battery.
It seemed he had even sent the actual device to the Fortress. The fact that he sent something he had abandoned, hoping it might be useful for future development, was so...
――― Very much like him ―――
...Let’s put it that way.
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