Mountain now (archaic).
I don’t know the details, but it seems that recently, there’s been some unfamiliar monster or something lurking around Veje Mountain, and it’s not uncommon for people to be attacked by it.
Apparently, this monster is humanoid, breathes fire, and burns people to death by touching them with glowing arms…
These creatures are said to be wandering deep in the forest, and it’s extremely dangerous. So, we’ve been told to guard the students…
Of course, there’s no real need to obey, but if we don’t, the underlings I’m currently training might end up dead, right? That’s what the old man from Kuruges said.
He has a point.
My supporters or, rather, my underlings among my classmates are currently in the middle of their training.
You can always make more mages, but it’s only the nobles and wealthy merchants who have a decent foundation of basic education…
As I always say, the commoners in this world, especially the uneducated peasants, feel like ‘talking monkeys’ if you sum them up in one phrase.
Those Japanese light novels or fantasy stories that were popular back when I died? I don’t really know much about them… but the medieval worlds depicted in those creations are inaccurate.
Modern Japanese people probably wouldn’t understand. After all, they don’t have ‘completely uneducated people’ around them. Without a model to reference, authors likely can’t even write about them.
Being ‘uneducated’ isn’t just about ‘not being able to read’ or ‘not being able to use polite language.’
It means lacking the minimum knowledge and manners needed to be recognized as a human being in Japan. Can you imagine? Grown adults with the manners of a five-year-old? It sends chills down your spine before you even get angry. It’s disgusting…
Well, to be fair, they have at least the bare minimum knowledge and manners needed to maintain their village society, but still, they’re mostly scumbags who commit immoral acts without a second thought. They’re dirty and disgusting.
Saying things like this might sound like I’m doing some ‘bad noble act,’ but compared to nobles, commoners are truly filthy, both inside and out.
That’s just the kind of era this is.
So, you have to educate those peasant monkeys from the stage of turning them into human beings first. Even if you could turn them into mages, you wouldn’t want to because it’s just not worth the effort.
That’s why all I can do now is gather ‘completely clueless orphans’ from various places, brainwash them, educate them, and raise them as mage candidates.
The whole ‘education for all’ thing is a dream for the distant future, isn’t it?
So yeah, it’s going to be a problem if a lot of my underlings die. I mean, I could just cut them loose, but there’s no reason to do that for free.
At the same time, it’s not like I can just say, ‘Let’s cancel this exercise!’
You can’t oppose something without offering an alternative plan.
And even if I had an alternative, if I proposed it, I’d probably end up responsible for it…
Sure, I could force my way through, but if I did that for every little thing, I’d never get anywhere…
Honestly, it’d be quicker if I just went out there myself and investigated this humanoid creature…
I mean, I am kind of curious.
Oh, could it be an ‘elf’?
Apparently, they exist, but I haven’t found one yet.
Thinking about it that way, it might be worth investigating.
That old man from Kuruges really knows how to manipulate people, doesn’t he? I could learn a thing or two from him.
And so, here I am in the mountains.
My squad, called the ‘Special Skirmisher Unit’ or something, is going around the forest to defeat or negotiate with that humanoid entity.
The other squads are going to stick together for the most part.
Apparently, as long as the humanoid entity stays deep in the mountains, it should be safe for us to thin out the monsters at the base of the mountain.
By the way, it’s been around for a few months now, so they can’t reschedule the exercise.
‘So… what exactly is this humanoid thing?’ Zes, a fellow squad member standing next to me, asks.
‘Wait a second, I’m flying the drone right now. Oh, there it is. It’s a human in a ghillie suit.’
Huh?
Yep, it’s a human.
Probably someone from the Adon Magic Nation.
They’ve got pale white skin and blonde hair.
And…
‘Huh? They’ve got a “rifle”? Seriously?’
Yeah… they were holding a rifle…
Remote analysis magic… Hm?
No sign of gunpowder.
This is… right.
It’s likely a flamethrower powered by magic stones placed in the magazine.
A ‘magic tool’—a magic weapon—that uses magic stones as fuel, controlled by a core magic stone, and activates magic through a technique.
Wow… impressive. Our neighbors sure are something.
If they’ve got this level of magic tools, they can use magic without mages as long as they’ve got magic stones.
This is exactly how I was thinking of creating low-level members!
Should I lose my temper and start a fire at an anime studio because they stole my idea by reading my mind?
This is rough.
So, they crossed the mountain to get here, huh?
They’re stronger than I expected.
From what I heard yesterday from the Carenheit Marquis, the forces of the Adon Magic Nation are supposed to be about equal, but…
Ah, but I heard that the mages they’re sending from Adon are foreigners?
Apparently, they use a magic tool called a ‘Slave Collar’ to capture foreign mages and turn them into soldiers, according to the Carenheit Marquis.
So, back in their home country, they’ve been training professionals like this…
The battle on the mountain’s bypass was just a show of equal strength with slave mages, while the real professionals are infiltrating like this…
Wow, they’ve got some skills.
