My name is Ekvar Kroas Karlsroa.
I am the third son of the Karlsroa family, a noble family in the Kingdom of Egdualum. I’m skilled with a sword and can use a bit of summoning magic, though I’m not particularly good at magic. It’s almost an obligation to study magic for someone like me, who is of noble blood in a magical powerhouse, but if forced to do it, I’d rather not.
Recently, something unbelievable has happened in our country, something that makes me want to shout, “Hey, you court mages over there, get your act together!”
A royal order was issued to defeat a sea serpent, and the court mages, working together with the knights, swiftly executed the mission about three days ago. However, it turns out the creature was a sea dragon, and a young female apprentice court mage was sacrificed.
… An unbelievable situation unfolded. Despite it being an emergency, the lack of proper investigation led to this outcome! It’s unforgivable to have done so little preparation for such a threat at sea.
It’s almost miraculous that only one person was lost. If the ship had been attacked or capsized, those unable to fly wouldn’t have made it back alive.
The search for the woman continues alongside the investigation into the sea dragon, but neither has been found yet. The best outcome would be for the woman to be found and the sea dragon to disappear, but… Considering that no one who can use flying magic has been found in three days, the woman’s chances of survival seem hopeless.
The royal extermination squad is mostly composed of members from the Second Knights Order.
The Second Knights Order has its own training grounds where knights are taught to fight various types of magical beasts. Currently, there is no ongoing war with another country, and at most, there are small skirmishes along the borders, so the Second Knights Order, which specializes in extermination, is the most injury-prone unit in the entire knights’ organization.
I casually made my way toward the training grounds.
Normally, there would be sounds of collective efforts to defeat large magical beasts, or joint training with mages from the knights’ ranks, but today, a few people were sitting idly, talking weakly. Half of them are still out searching.
“… It seems like Sumire is… really gone.”
“… I heard it was a pretty dangerous dragon. But at least everyone made it back alive. Iriya-sama will be glad.”
“Sumire” appears to refer to the woman who has likely died. Right, her name was Iriya. It seems she was well liked by the Second Knights Order.
“We just got a message. … They still haven’t found Sumire, and Sebirino-dono is still in a daze.”
“… Yeah, I heard Sebirino-sama wanted to stay with Iriya-sama, but he was told to help with the evacuation. He regretted not staying behind, though…”
“It’s hopeless… I heard Sumire was ready to die…”
… Stay behind? Evacuate the ship? Ready for death?
I felt a sense of discomfort from the conversation I was overhearing.
From what I had heard, the female apprentice had encountered the sea dragon unexpectedly, and in fear, she had become paralyzed and couldn’t escape in time, ultimately dying. This is what was reported to His Majesty the King.
Listening further, I had my familiar eavesdrop carefully, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Sumire blocked the dragon’s attack completely, and even wounded it. She fought well. But the dragon’s tail is huge, and you never know where it’s going to come from. There was no way to defend against it. Even if Sebirino-dono had been there… sorry, but there would have been more casualties.”
“… Wait, she blocked the dragon’s attack?”
“Those on the ship said they thought they were definitely going to die, but Sumire completely blocked both the attack and the big wave. They somehow managed to escape.”
She blocked the dragon’s attack by herself…!? I had heard that her magical abilities were impressive, but I hadn’t heard that she was this extraordinary!
“… Well, we’ve always been counting on Sumire. What will we do with the next extermination?”
“We’ve managed without her before, so we’ll probably manage… but it feels like we won’t be able to handle an emergency situation like this.”
“At least we still have the Elixirs… for now.”
“Yeah, the Second Knights rarely get any… those were Sumire’s homemade ones…”
“Stop, don’t make me want to drink them unnecessarily.”
It wasn’t homemade, I wanted to point out, but that wasn’t the issue.
What they were saying was completely different from the official report!
Iriya, the woman, was supposed to have mostly participated in the support role during exterminations, and this was her first real combat situation. She was known for her thoughtful nature and acted as a bridge between the knights and the court mages…
She was considered more of a support-type mage, not someone involved directly in combat.
But from what I overheard, it seems she was actively involved in exterminations multiple times and might have even been in charge of some missions. She even provided Elixirs… Elixirs.
Elixirs are one of the tasks required to become a court mage. They are high-level healing items. Recently, it’s been said that the noble families with connections are exempt from such tasks and exams, making the whole process a mere formality…
In reality, even many court mages can’t make them, and even if they can, the success rate is extremely low, so supplies are scarce. But this apprentice was providing them to the knights…!? And rather than just handing over a few successful ones, it seems she was regularly replenishing the supply when it ran low…
They sent such a promising woman to her death!?
I remembered the face of the Court Mage Master, full of excuses, and my chest tightened with anger.
That old fool, using his power to suppress reports… to send an unprepared apprentice, a woman no less, on such a dangerous mission! He would not escape criticism!
The mages couldn’t openly defy him. The Royal Magic Research Institute, the experimental departments, and all the magic facilities are all under the court mages’ control. If you upset them, the knights will no longer receive potions. So everyone had no choice but to stay silent.
I had always thought they were a nuisance, but now they were an outright public danger. I don’t care if he’s a duke, just wait! I’ll kick him out of that position…!!
I decided to go and report what I had just heard, hoping to gain permission for further investigation.
