CHAPTER 161: TRAIL OF THE ITARIUM

Why is it gone?

Why isn’t it here?

Why?

Just why?

’...’

Until now, the prophecy book had never been wrong.

No, it had been, but that was the result of the butterfly effect caused by Gerhard.

But this time was different.

There was no reason for the elixir, which should have been quietly rooted in the ground—or in this case, the rock—to suddenly disappear.

Could it be that it never existed in the first place?

’Does that make any sense...?’

Lately, he might have been relying too much on the prophecy book, but he couldn’t help it.

Despite some modifications due to the butterfly effect Gerhard had caused, the contents of the prophecy book had all been true.

’Could it be...?’

Gerhard urgently infused mana into his eyes.

And he realized.

It wasn’t that it didn’t exist.

He could see a hole on one side of the rock wall. The crack-like hole penetrating inward resembled the shape of something that had rooted itself.

Not only had the leaves and fruit been taken, but even the smallest rootlet had been completely pulled out without leaving anything behind.

’What bastard dared to take what’s mine...!’

"...What’s wrong?"

When Gerhard stood still, staring at the broken rock wall, a scout expressed his curiosity.

"...I think there’s some strange trace there."

"There..."

"It looks like something was embedded here. A spirit creature?"

The scouts began examining the traces, but they couldn’t find anything beyond the fact that something had been embedded and then pulled out.

"It seems like a plant had rooted itself, but roots penetrating through rock..."

"If something pulled this out, it must be a spirit creature or monster, right?"

Since Itarium itself was an extremely rare plant, none of the scouts could identify it from just the traces.

"Let’s head back now. We’ve checked everything we needed to."

"Yes."

And so the scouting mission concluded.

==

In the night, when everyone was asleep.

Grad made the students experience nightwatch duty as well, and Gerhard, who felt he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, volunteered for the first watch.

Sitting by the fire and watching the flames, he was lost in thought.

There were two possibilities for why the Itarium had disappeared.

’The butterfly effect from my actions unknowingly caused someone to discover the Itarium before me.’

Or.

’For the first time, the premise of the prophecy book itself was wrong.’

From the traces in the rock wall, it was undeniable that the elixir Itarium had existed.

But could he be certain that the flow of the prophecy book necessarily matched the flow of time?

In fact, Aint had originally obtained the Itarium much earlier, and because the timing was missed due to Gerhard, someone else had taken it first.

’But if that’s the case, it’s rather strange that the time flow has matched until now...’

His head throbbed.

’It’s a variable. But this isn’t the first time we’ve encountered variables.’

The suddenly summoned Andromalius was one, and Gismond Ert, who popped up from somewhere and ruined Gerhard’s betting, was another.

’...Wait a minute.’

Gismond?

’...Didn’t they say his sudden rise in rank was due to an elixir?’

Originally, he had thought it was magical energy—that he had become a demonic creature and suddenly gotten stronger.

Honestly, nothing else could explain it.

But Aint had said the source of his power was elixirs. The auras of elixirs so mixed that they couldn’t be defined by just one or two.

’What if one of them was Itarium?’

It was just a highly unlikely speculation.

But if there was even a slight suspicion.

’The final report on Gismond should be coming up soon...’

It was appropriate to check.

"It’s almost time for the shift change. Please wake the next watch and hand over the duty."

"Yes."

Just then, his watch time ended. Coincidentally, the next in line was Aint.

"Wake up, Aint. You’re the next watch."

"Ah, yes."

Aint rubbed his sleepy eyes and got up. Gerhard, watching him prepare, whispered.

"Didn’t you say no magical energy was found in Gismond?"

"Huh? Ah, yes. Senior Gismond was just a case of someone who consumed many elixirs. I don’t know how he managed to consume such precious things to the limit."

"Such precious things? Does that mean you can identify what elixirs they were?"

"Ah, not all of them, but some, yes."

Aint nodded.

"Then, can you tell if Itarium was among them?"

"Itarium?"

It was.

After pondering briefly about what elixirs had been present, Aint immediately responded to the sudden answer he heard.

"Yes. It was."

"...It was?"

"Yes, it was. But why do you ask so suddenly?"

"...No, it’s nothing."

So it was there.

Aint, preparing for his watch duty, didn’t see.

He didn’t see the expression on Gerhard’s face.

==

Apart from Gerhard’s missing elixir, the night passed without incident.

The next day, they packed up the camp and arrived at the barrier before lunch.

"This is the barrier that Altriark boasts of."

The great wall that protected the western Empire was a massive fortress in itself.

But even that was just part of the barrier, not the entirety of it.

Seven fortresses stood at strategic points, not too far from each other, protecting the Empire like a wall.

Together, they were collectively referred to as the barrier.

Where they arrived was Mediark, the largest fortress closest to the capital.

"Welcome, Mediark welcomes the Academy members."

The fortress gates opened.

==

"I’ll guide you to your resting place."

After arriving at the fortress, the Academy group separated from the Iron Blood Knights.

The fortress didn’t have as many amenities as the lord’s castle in Artk, and the Academy students were assigned an entire separate building.

"Young Master."

As they were heading to the building, someone discreetly approached Gerhard.

"Rapelle?"

"Young Master. This way for a moment."

Rapelle pulled Gerhard in a different direction. Professor Grad noticed this but said nothing.

"It’s been a while, Young Master."

"Rapelle, it’s been a while for you too."

Altriark and Goldenheim had been trading for quite a long time, and accordingly, Gerhard was acquainted with several individuals.

Rapelle was one of them, a knight of Altriark.

"The matter is, His Lordship wishes to meet you before seeing the others."

"Is that so?"

This was expected.

"Let’s go."

"Yes."

Rapelle escorted Gerhard to the office door in the fortress.

"Your Lordship, Young Master Gerhard has arrived."

"Tell him to enter."

A response was heard to the guard’s announcement.

Creak-

The Margrave of Altriark was a middle-aged man with a dignified impression. His brown hair was neatly swept back.

He was reviewing and signing a stack of documents.

Gerhard bowed politely.

"It’s been a long time, Count..."

"What do you want?"

The Margrave of Altriark spoke abruptly without raising his head.

"Are we going straight to the point?"

"Isn’t that why you gave this to the Steward?"

The Margrave pushed the documents aside.

Thud, a note fell in front.

It was the note Gerhard had given to the Steward, requesting a deal regarding the demonic creature.

"Do you believe me?"

"Only amateurs deceive people with lies that will be exposed immediately. Those with much to lose know how foolish that is."

"I didn’t expect you to hold me in such high regard."

"It’s not you I hold in high regard, but Goldenheim."

The corner of Gerhard’s mouth turned up. Though the Margrave was saying they were different, the two were essentially the same.

Because Gerhard would soon become Goldenheim.

"Tell me. What do you want?"

"I want the Iron Blood Knights, the Blood Knights, and a thousand troops."

They were the finest knight orders that Altriark boasted.

"Purpose?"

The Margrave didn’t say no.

"I want to lead them to eliminate the subject of our deal."

"So Altriark provides the skill, and Goldenheim takes the fame?"

"No."

Gerhard shook his head.

"I’m not particularly interested in fame. Money, perhaps, but not fame."

"Fame becomes money."

"At least this fame brings more trouble than money."

This was about eliminating the first publicly appearing demonic creature. It was about saving Altriark, and beyond that, the Kingdom of Alfrecen.

It was about becoming a hero, and heroes receive the expectations of many people. Naturally, they also gain many enemies.

"Then?"

"I am not the one who will lead."

"Who is it?"

"Aint Armian."

The Margrave’s hand, which had been stroking his chin, stopped. A slight wrinkle formed on his forehead.

One second. The brief silence quickly disappeared as the Margrave resumed the conversation.

"You."

Instead, the Margrave’s eyes sank coldly.

"You’re being greedy."

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"

"I don’t have any grand plans to make Armian the Emperor or anything like that."

"Don’t play word games with me. We have given our votes to Schwaben in the last three elections."

"So have we."

"I’m not particularly dissatisfied with how things are now. Schwaben promised more support and has been delivering on it."

War consumes many things. Even if most conflicts were small-scale, sustaining such wars for more than half the year was by no means easy.

"We also received many privileges from Schwaben. Thanks to that, we were able to make even more money."

"And yet you abandon Schwaben and switch to Armian, who’s just an empty shell."

"As I said, I don’t have any grand plans to make Armian the Emperor."

"You should speak plainly."

"This continent needs a hero."

The Margrave silently gazed at Gerhard. It was a gesture for him to continue.

"Do you think this spirit creature wave is a coincidence, Margrave?"

"I know that those demonic creatures have been up to something."

"That’s just a guess. You don’t know how long they’ve been building their forces, or how many they’ve gathered."

There was no evidence anywhere. Altriark hadn’t been able to find the demonic creatures.

But Gerhard was different.

"The Academy Chancellor must have informed you. That demonic creatures were discovered within the Academy."

"He did."

"Exactly twelve. They had established three bases within the Academy and were operating covertly. Do you think that’s merely a coincidence?"

Gerhard didn’t avert his gaze. A groan escaped involuntarily from the subtle pressure.

"So."

The pressure disappeared as if it had never been there.

"You think demons will descend upon this land again."

"Demonic creatures, who were exterminated for a thousand years, are popping up as if they’ve been waiting. Would they do so without adequate preparation and purpose?"

"Leave dog matters to the dog dealer?"

"Knights are best at fighting. Can you properly butcher a cow with a knife meant for chickens?"

"Usually it’s the other way around."

"Things in this world don’t always flow in just one direction."

Gerhard shrugged shamelessly. The Margrave silently looked at him.

After a while.

"Very well."

The Margrave nodded.

"Since they’ve been dispatched from the Academy, I’ll have all the Academy students participate."

"An excellent choice."

"You don’t even ask why not just Aint Armian."

"Just as you don’t ask why I’m not raising objections."

"Have you considered changing your repertoire? It’s a method so trite it’s rotten."

"Yet it continues to be used because it’s a proven good technique. It worked this time too, didn’t it?"

"This is outrageous."

Gerhard had known from the beginning that it would be difficult to elevate only Aint.

The Margrave gave a hollow laugh.