I Quit Being a Court Magician Apprentice to Become a Magical Item Craftsman
Two days later, the item craftsman commissioned by the Adventurers’ Guild came to collect the materials.
He immediately returned home and began making the zombie powder. It seemed that the delivery date was approaching, and he sent a message saying he was relieved to have made it in time.
“If the delivery date is close, doesn’t that mean they’ve recently brought in new people to be enslaved?”
At Equvar ‘s words, the mage Derrick nodded.
“That’s possible. There aren’t any walls around this town, so people can enter from anywhere…”
There were a few simple fences here and there, but for the most part, the town was open and freely accessible. Unless it was a major city or a particularly dangerous area, towns weren’t usually surrounded by walls with stationed gatekeepers.
That said, this town was still relatively well-managed, so if people had been smuggled in multiple times, someone would have noticed. That meant the slavers were likely based in a mid-sized town nearby.
Mage Derrick Elwood and Count Victor Remington’s soldiers monitored the item craftsman and detected his movements. The town’s patrol guards also cooperated to track his destination.
The craftsman left town and headed to a forest a short distance away, where the exchange was to take place. Observing from above using flight magic, they saw him move to a secluded spot off the main road. The count’s soldiers carefully closed the distance, hiding in the forest in small squads.
After a while, a man arrived with five guards and two employees.
Just as they were about to exchange the drug for payment…
“We’ve caught you red-handed! Resistance is futile!”
At Derrick’s signal from atop a tree branch, the hidden soldiers emerged from both sides, surrounding the area. The item craftsman and the slave trader, caught off guard, anxiously scanned their surroundings.
“This can’t be… How did they find out!?”
“I’ll pay you well—just protect me!!”
The merchant urged his guards to fight, but they were outnumbered. All that remained was to capture them carefully!
Two of the guards turned out to be mages and began chanting.
“Swift wind, become slicing gales! Black storm, seal the space! Howling tempests, rage with fury! Let the four winds unite and bring devastation! Disaster Typhoon!”
It was a large-scale attack spell—an effective choice to obscure visibility.
As the spell spread toward the soldiers, the merchants tried to escape in another direction. Derrick blocked the magic with a defensive spell.
Some soldiers who weren’t caught in the spell gave chase, but another mage blocked them with a wall of fire.
They were managing to hold out, but the unexpected use of large-scale magic had caught them off guard, forcing them to react defensively.
Protected by swordsmen, the slave trader and the item craftsman tried to flee while keeping an eye on the battle. They couldn’t be allowed to escape. What would they do next?
The count’s soldiers attacked with magic, but the enemy countered with defensive spells. Surprisingly, they were well-coordinated. Soldiers hidden in the forest drew their bows to stop their escape.
“Like descending clouds, like whispers on the wind, be swallowed by silence. Tiny droplets of water, turn into mist and blind their vision! Large Fog!”
A fog spell shrouded the battlefield, drastically lowering bow accuracy and obscuring the merchants’ positions. They were desperate to escape.
Just as they thought they had shaken off their pursuers and looked ahead—
A figure emerged from the ground.
Standing before them was a Count-class demon, Botis. His navy blue eyes, shoulder-length dark blue-black hair, and navy coat over white trousers were pristine despite having surfaced from underground.
Botis couldn’t fly, but as an earth-element demon, he could move through the ground as if swimming. Though he couldn’t see above ground, he could sense vibrations from footsteps. Very few demons had this ability—it was rare and highly specialized.
“W-what the hell!? There was no one ahead or above us! How did he—appear from the ground!?”
The merchants were visibly shaken by the sudden appearance of their pursuer.
“…Let me teach you humans what we demons despise most.”
“A… a demon!?”
“That is the corruption of the soul! When a human’s soul is damaged, even the great power within is lost. Such a pointless, foolish act!”
In other words—what a waste. If you don’t want them, give them to us. A human’s soul (Atman) contains divine essence (Brahman), which can also be a source of power for demons.
Long ago, demons made contracts to claim souls, but that practice had largely faded. Belial had once remarked that souls were difficult to handle and more trouble than they were worth. Besides, demons already had enough power, and such contracts often led to conflicts with angels, so they had fallen out of favor.
Additionally, major soul-exchange contracts had become rare.
Botis stomped the ground, causing a tremor that knocked the escaping men off balance.
Soldiers who had caught up began restraining them, but one of the mages, still on his knees, started chanting.
“Breath, freeze solid! Load and fire—grant me the trigger! Hail of countless ice bullets, strike like torrential rain! Glass Long!”
A mid-tier water spell that bombarded enemies with ice shards about the size of a fist.
Realizing they couldn’t escape toward the demon, they decided to break through the other pursuers instead. But there was no way they could outrun Botis.
The count’s soldiers with magic tried to cast defensive spells, but they were slightly too slow—the ice was about to hit them.
At that moment—
A sudden wall of fire appeared, melting the ice instantly.
“W-what is this…!?”
The flames were too high and wide to be easily bypassed.
“If you continue this pathetic struggle and ruin my mood any further, I will demand compensation.”
Belial and I had been observing from the forest. Once the battle started and everyone’s attention was drawn away, we had moved closer.
As Belial landed in front of the fiery wall he created, his cloak fluttered. With his red hair and billowing mantle, standing against the backdrop of roaring flames, he must have looked like a terrifying demon.
The merchants trembled in fear.
By the way, when Belial said “don’t fight back,” he didn’t mean to surrender—he meant if you’re going to resist, do it in a more entertaining way. Otherwise, it’s boring.
With the enemy completely demoralized, they were captured and transported by carriage to a detention facility—an old wartime building now used to temporarily hold criminals.
Later, in the same building’s reception room, Derrick informed us that he had identified the man who sold the zombie powder recipe.
The seller wore a long, dark robe reaching his feet and had his hood pulled low, obscuring his face. He carried a staff inlaid with gemstones and had a relatively youthful voice.
He was a mage known for his love of magical research—rumored to conduct inhumane and dangerous experiments with enthusiasm. A truly deranged individual.
“So your slaves won’t obey, huh? If you’ve got the coin, I can give you a real good drug. They’ll be obedient for life.”
Apparently, he had approached the slavers himself after catching wind of their activities.
That person’s other crimes were exposed, and the military may have forced them to cooperate with some operation. During the mission, they were taken as a prisoner, recently released, submitted their report, and then disappeared somewhere.
Their current whereabouts are unknown.
That description sounds familiar.
“Does that person use Gros Tourbillon de Neige or lightning attacks?”
“You know them!? There was testimony that they used wide-area water-attribute magic and lightning attacks!”
“I believe they were the mage who attacked the defensive city of Zador-Toshe in Chenkaslar . They declared it was just a game and slaughtered soldiers without hesitation. I didn’t sense any loyalty to their country…”
So they’ve already been released. If I’d known, I would have pushed for them to be held longer… Selling the recipe for a dangerous drug? What a terrible person.
They’re probably no longer in Nigestonia, so although they’ve been placed on a wanted list, the search has been abandoned. Right now, the priority is rescuing the victims of zombie powder.
Count Elwood’s soldiers are currently raiding the owners of enslaved victims to free them. Ekvar, Rini, and Sebirino are assisting in the effort. Finding the jar that imprisoned Ti Bonanger requires a high-ranking mage, angel, or demon.
Most of the owners had no idea what the jar truly was. The slave traders had simply told them it was related to the slaves and needed to be kept somewhere safe. As for the antidote, they had been tricked into believing it was a necessary medication for their slaves, unaware that it contained such dangerous substances. They must have noticed something was off, though.
Most people handed over the jars without resistance. Each one was opened in front of the enslaved victims.
Calling their names—if they regained consciousness, they were safe. If not, it meant their souls had deteriorated beyond recovery.
Newer victims returned to their senses, but those who had been affected for more than ten days were too far gone. I see… ten days is the first critical threshold. This will be valuable data.
The freed victims are being taken to the count’s manor. There were open beds since injured soldiers had been treated and released. The elves who requested our help were given nectar first. There were five elves.
Though some spilled from their lips, they managed to drink it.
“Silvestre, Theodore, Eleonora…”
As Justus called their names repeatedly, a glimmer of awareness returned to their eyes. Eventually, they responded.
“…Ju…stus…”
“You’re awake!? Yes, it’s me!”
The nectar worked! It took about three to five minutes, but they regained consciousness.
“Do you remember what happened?”
“Who are you…? Where is this place? I was taken away, and then… suddenly, I felt so cold…”
He had been missing for years. He’s now eighteen, but his memories since age thirteen are hazy. He vaguely remembers feeling extremely cold and sluggishly walking to a field to work, but nothing more. He was shocked to learn five years had passed.
His body was weak, and he wouldn’t be able to leave the country immediately. For now, he could only eat light meals like soup and boiled vegetables. After one night of sleep, he was so exhausted he couldn’t get up.
Sebirino carefully recorded his condition and progress, asking about his health. I’ll copy the notes later.
There were only two doses of nectar left at the count’s estate.
Priority was given to the weakest victims. But there wasn’t enough, and more victims might still be found.
“The ingredients for nectar are Opst, Morlue, Gaokerena, and Epialthion. We’re running low on all of them, but Gaokerena is the hardest to obtain.”
While making a restorative medicine in a facility we’d used before, I spoke to Derrick. He was preparing a medicinal porridge.
Leintz Tufthefe was available in the royal capital and in limited supply in Renant. Opst was easy to obtain. I knew where to gather Epialthion and Morlue, but we needed more.
“Then why don’t we visit the Wastent Republic’s herbal market? It should be opening soon.”
Derrick, wanting to go himself, suggested we travel together.
“The herbal market! That sounds fascinating. I’d love to join you!”
“Oh, I should thank you…”
Justus had likely been waiting for a pause in the conversation. Since we were discussing travel plans, he must have wanted to settle things before we left.
A reward, huh? I hadn’t thought about that. How much does nectar even cost?
“The elves handle their own affairs, right? Do any of them happen to be engravers?”
“There is one in our village, but it’s just a hobby.”
“That’s fine! I want them to make something for me!”
I pulled a file from my item box and dropped it onto the workbench with a thud—it was heavy with papers.
I took out several design sketches.
Rings inscribed with magic symbols, daggers, specialized talismans.
Derrick glanced over, stirring his porridge to keep it from burning, clearly intrigued.
“These? I can’t guarantee the quality, but I will make them.”
“Please do!”
I had already specified the materials and gemstones to be used, so I’d just have to leave it to them! Elves wouldn’t leak information to humans, and since they lived in close-knit villages, the designs wouldn’t spread. No matter the secret, it would be safe in their hands.
Not that I was requesting anything particularly dangerous.
I also secured some materials from the elves’ forest.
The count paid me for crafting the items and as a reward for helping with the arrests, so I had enough funds.
Tomorrow, we would leave for the Wastent Republic. We’d be cutting it close, but we should arrive just in time. We’d better hurry—before everything sells out!
