Chapter 438

“Senior.”

When I arrived at the checkpoint between the river and the railway, I knocked on the back door with the back of my hand before going inside. Vice Captain Erich Reichenau opened the door and came out first. I greeted him with a polite smile.

“Good afternoon, Senior. I’ve come to see Lord Mecklenburg.”

“…He told me to send you away.”

Of course he did. I kept my faint smile and answered without being fazed.

“That’s rather cold of him. I’m not here for personal business, so please let me in. It’ll only take a moment.”

“……”

The vice captain looked confused. He gestured that he would go ask, then started to step back inside. I stopped the door with my foot before it could close. When the vice captain’s attention was drawn down to it, I pushed the door open and walked inside. He stared at me in disbelief, but that was hardly my concern.

I caught his hand where it was holding the doorknob, pulled it away, then let go. After giving him a casual nod, I stepped inside. A familiar figure came into view. Mecklenburg, who seemed to have just returned from outside and was holding his hat in one hand, was staring at me with exactly the same look of disbelief the vice captain had worn moments ago. He finally opened his mouth, looking utterly dumbfounded.

“No, you really…”

“I did say I’d come earlier.”

“I clearly told you not to come. You at least have mages who can use divine power. We’ve got no support from here on out, so we have to search through everything ourselves. We’re busy.”

“So it seems. But there are a few things I need to check.”

“What is it you’re trying to do?”

“Your team is taking shifts too, aren’t you? How did you divide yourselves?”

“Three each, with the vice captain and me as the leaders.”

Mecklenburg pointed toward the chart with an expression that seemed to say, Why are you asking about every little thing? I memorized the names written on the sheet lying on the desk and nodded.

“Why are you taking shifts?”

“The higher-ups told us to. What else are we supposed to do? Your team is taking shifts too, aren’t you?”

“That’s quite the catch-all answer. Do you really think I’m asking because I don’t know, when our own team is taking shifts too?”

At that, Mecklenburg smiled with an expression that suggested he was about ready to grab me by the collar. He pushed me out the door and followed me outside. After casting a soundproofing spell, he answered in a deliberately quiet but sharp voice.

“…Watch what you say when people are around.”

“I’ll try.”

“I don’t know why you’re asking when you probably already know, but isn’t it to minimize the damage if someone gets contaminated? We need to know where and during which shift the contamination occurred.”

“So you do know. Good to know. Then, did anyone leave this area while you were changing shifts?”

“Would anyone have? Even though we changed shifts, it was basically just a matter of switching positions while continuing to work.”

Mecklenburg answered curtly.

I understood why he was acting like that. From the moment we sent the letter from Austria-Hungary at dawn, Germany had been controlling every ship, train, and person entering the country from abroad. At 12:30 PM, everyone had been held around the border until the mages sent by the government arrived. They were supposed to start letting people through properly at 1:00 PM. The 98th A members stationed at the checkpoint must have been working nonstop from 1:00 PM until now.

“What about before 1:00 PM?”

“There might have been then, I suppose. I don’t know. Satisfied? Now go back.”

“Come to think of it, you were away from your post before 1:00 PM, Senior.”

“I went to see you!”

“Doesn’t that count as leaving your post?”

“The mission officially started at one, so technically, no. Are you seriously trying to play word games with me?”

Do you think I am? My ears are starting to hurt. I glanced at my watch and asked, “I told you there were things I needed to check. Did you use the bathroom today?”

Mecklenburg stared at me with an incredulous expression, as if he were seriously trying to figure out what he had just heard.

“…You came all this way just to ask me useless questions like this? Of course I did. What, was I supposed to hold it?”

“When? How many times?”

“What…”

“Why did you go? To wash your hands again? And what time did the others go?”

Mecklenburg started looking at me like I was insane. I wanted to explain what I was after, but at the same time, I didn’t particularly want to. So I simply stared at him without saying anything. Either way, I needed to gather the information. Perhaps I really did look like a lunatic, because Mecklenburg looked at me with a faintly sympathetic expression.

“Isn’t this hardly the time for this? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard you say something like that, Senior. So, your answer?”

“Who sits around remembering every little thing like that? I don’t know.”

“You were the one who went. How can you not know? It’s not even difficult. Try to remember.”

Mecklenburg grabbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes. I quietly waited, having already decided that I would accept whatever came next, whether he grabbed me by the collar or punched me.

“I don’t know why you’re going around investigating this, but first… I washed my hands a little after you grabbed me.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s not because you were dirty or anything, so don’t take it personally…”

“It’s fine. I’m not offended at all. If you grabbed my hand, I’d go wash mine too.”

“What?!”

‘Huh?’

I hadn’t expected him to get angry. Why was he? Didn’t people normally wash their hands after someone else touched them? Maybe not immediately, but still. I was actually taken aback by his outburst before I finally understood what was going on. This bastard… had genuinely been disgusted by the fact that I grabbed his wrist. So when I said I’d do the same to him in return, wasn’t that why he’d reacted so strongly? What did he mean, it wasn’t because he thought I was dirty? What else could it possibly be?

I nearly let out a deep sigh, but managed to hold it back and decided to focus on what he was actually saying.

“That must have been around one o’clock, then. When did you go after that?”

“…Um… Hold on. I need to think.”

“You actually have to think about it…? Just how many times did you go wash your hands? You were wearing gloves, too. You should stop washing them so much.”

“Don’t you know how uncomfortable it feels?!”

What exactly is so dirty about it? I almost shook my head, but stopped myself, figuring it would be better not to criticize him too much. When I remained silent, Mecklenburg tried to retrace his memories.

“…I think I went about once every hour. I can’t say for sure, but I went to wash my hands one more time sometime between two and three. I just went again, too. Why am I even telling you this instead of a doctor…?”

“Thank you. What about Vice Captain Erich Reichenau?”

“How the hell would I know? The six of us were split into groups of three, so that was the first time I’d seen him just now.”

“I see. The others must have gone as well, right? Did any of them behave differently from usual?”

“Of course they did. At least the other two on my side haven’t. You can tell at a glance that everyone’s normal. If that’s all, I’m going back inside.”

“Senior.”

I called softly after Mecklenburg. When he simply looked at me, I spoke again.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“…What am I supposed to say?”

“Nothing, then. Oh, I’ll come back at 6:20. Let’s warp back to the headquarters together then.”

“…….”

“Let the others know, too. Tell them you’ll be returning with me.”

Mecklenburg glanced back at me without a word before going inside. I stood there for a while, then warped back to the coordinates from earlier, since I had plenty of mana to spare anyway. It was 4:20 when I met Elias again.

“Kitty~ Where could the kitties be? I wanna play with a yellow cat.”

Elias walked along almost as if he were skipping, whistling as he went. Technically, it was our turn to take the checkpoint duty, but Leo let us off and sent us on our way. I was glad too; it meant we could start looking for the cat a little earlier. Elias kept walking toward Baden—in other words, southwest if Austria was to the south. The checkpoint I had visited earlier was to the east. I followed behind him and said, “Narke kept purifying the ground at the train station, right?”

“Yeah. Just in case.”

“Hmm. I see.”

We continued walking. The area was almost entirely rural. There were no forests, just wide stretches of grassland. In the distance, I could hear the sound of the river flowing south from Germany into Austria. It might one day be developed and filled with buildings, but for now, it was quiet and empty.

Boundary markers were scattered here and there between the fields and farmhouses, making it difficult to tell exactly where Germany ended and Austria began. The border was divided along the Inn River, but there were places where it didn’t follow the river. Fortunately, we could faintly sense the mana of the barrier, so we didn’t have to worry about accidentally crossing the border.

I spotted a black rabbit wandering in the distance. Perhaps Elias noticed that my attention had drifted elsewhere, because he suddenly spun around.

“You’re not looking for the cat!”

“No. What about that rabbit?”

“Oh.”

Elias immediately took off after the rabbit.

Naturally, the rabbit was startled and bolted away from him. I couldn’t help wondering what the hell he was doing. If we’d come straight here after chasing the dog, I could understand it, but enough time had passed that I had assumed Elias would at least sneak up on it. I felt a little sorry for the rabbit.

I followed after them at a leisurely pace, half-lidded with disinterest. After a while, Elias appeared again, his clothes covered in dirt and bits of grass, clutching something in his arms.

“…What is that?!”

“A rabbit!”

I could hardly believe my eyes. A black rabbit was nestled in Elias’s arms, held by its ears.

“Put it down!”

“Why?!”

“Let it go!”

“Whyyy?!”

“What are you planning to do with a rabbit? Eat it? Keep it?”

“Rabbit meat doesn’t taste good. I just caught it. I’m faster than a rabbit.”

I had no idea what he intended to accomplish by being faster than a rabbit. I lightly pressed my fingers against my eyelids, took a deep breath, and answered.

“…The rabbit’s going to get stressed. And what if you catch something from it? Like ticks.”

“Oh, come on~ Animals that live out in the grass are clean once you shake the dirt off! If anything, those cows and chickens they keep at that farmhouse over there are probably dirtier.”

“Why? What’s the logic behind that?”

“It just is. I’ve observed them, and livestock raised by humans are in worse shape. They’re always sickly. Look for yourself. The cows people raise have more ticks than wild buffalo.”

“Hmm…”

“I’m serious! Apart from them being different species, animals domesticated by humans have gotten weaker in all sorts of ways, including their immune systems. And they only let them out into the grass for two or three hours in the middle of the day, when the sun is shining. It looks like they’re taking good care of them, but from the cow’s perspective, that’s a huge problem. Imagine spending twenty-two out of twenty-four hours in a cowshed smaller than my bathroom! Rabbits aren’t like that.”

While Elias was passionately making his case, I looked into the rabbit’s black eyes. Its fur was trembling slightly, even though it wasn’t cold. I started feeling sorry for the rabbit… Its coat was soft and fluffy, but there was mud stuck to the bottoms of its feet, probably from wherever it had been.

Elias spoke to me with complete confidence.

“Don’t worry, Luka. I’ve never gotten sick from playing with animals that live in the wild. If anything, I once played with a pony someone was raising and got bitten by ticks. I had a fever for a whole week. And the rabbit likes playing with me too.”

“Says who? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. Put the rabbit down.”

“Can’t I take it back and show it to the others?”

“No! Are you going to bring the rabbit all the way back here afterward? No, even if you say you will, the answer’s still no. Let it go!”

I smacked Elias on the forearm, took the rabbit from him, and set it down. The rabbit shook its head, dusted off its fur, and quickly darted away. Elias let his shoulders droop and brushed the fur off his gloves and clothes.

When Elias started looking around for something else to play with, I firmly shook my head and motioned for him to follow me. Elias followed without complaint, muttering, “So they haven’t put up the barrier yet?”

“It’s partially in place. Covering the entire border would be impractical, so they couldn’t do it.”

“What about here?”

“There is one here. You just can’t see it.”

Clearly, this idiot hadn’t given a single thought to where we were headed as he dragged me out here. Now that I realized I’d have to make sure we didn’t accidentally wander into Austria, I could only laugh dryly.

Only then did Elias shoot some mana into the air and grimace.

“Ah~ This is way too weak. Anyone with a core could just walk right through.”

“They might be able to get through if they tried hard enough, but it would still trigger an alarm. That’s about the only thing we can count on.”

Even if someone managed to pass through, the barrier would be damaged in the process, so there was no way it would go unnoticed.

Still, judging by the fact that they had not installed a higher-grade barrier, the authorities probably did not consider the possibility of illegal border crossings particularly likely. The German Empire was simply too large, and covering the entire enormous stretch of its borders with a strong barrier was technically difficult in itself. Besides, even when the fake Acqua Panna had been brought into Austria-Hungary, it had been done under the guise of legitimate trade.

“But you know…”

Elias brought something up on the way back. I glanced at him and waited for him to continue. He kept his eyes ahead as he muttered, “Shouldn’t they increase the guards around the Ministry of Finance’s mana storage?”

“…….”

He was talking about artificial mana.

We already knew that mana was a valuable resource that could be exchanged for other goods. It was used in infrastructure and public services, such as water and sewage systems and streetlights—mana lamps, of course—as well as newspapers, magazines, and the postal system. It was also used in railways and automobiles, including the mana-powered cars that were already in their third generation. We lived in a society that could not function without mana. For me, and for this era, that was an undeniable truth. It was simply a fact of life.

As always, it was the economy that kept a country standing. The centralized system here could not help but be affected by the strength and prosperity of the state. Everyone knew that Anhalt had not remained a minor state but had gained considerable influence in politics and gradually expanded into the territories of neighboring duchies because the Askanier had produced so many powerful mages generation after generation. I knew it too; I had read about it in the books ever since I first arrived in this world.

The Empire was no different. It accumulated mana as well, storing the mana collected from the nobility so that it could be used as an energy source. Mana was stored and circulated in a way somewhat similar to currency—though the system was far more closed off than money.

The most obvious example was that there was something akin to a central bank for mana. If anything, it might have been closer to the Federal Reserve.

In other words, Elias was worried that someone might raid the mana reserves of that central mana bank. And he was right to worry. If Atropos was to be used as a genuine instrument of mass murder, the quickest way would be to raid the mana reserves of each country. The government had obviously increased security around them as well, but Elias did not seem to have much faith in it.

I shrugged and answered.

“That’s true. Still… Pleroma doesn’t seem interested in killing people en masse right now.”

Just looking at the raw mana—something they had made so that, when combined with the mana in our bodies and its liquid form, it produced the effects of a mind control drug—it was obvious what they wanted most. If they intended to kill someone, they could have simply made it so that drinking it would kill them on the spot.

“They’re much more interested in brainwashing people.”

“…….”

Elias nodded and gave a brief reply.

“Luka. No matter what happens to me, you’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong with me, right?”

“Of course. Why would you even think otherwise?”

“You think like that too, though.”

He had hit the nail on the head, so I could only smile.

‘Hmm…’

On the way back, we came across the farmhouse we had passed earlier. Now that I looked at it again, it stood out more than the other farmhouses, probably because it was right next to the border. I greeted the old woman sitting in the shade of a tree in the distance, waving a reed around for a stray cat to chase—only to have to cover Elias’s mouth at the same time, because he had finally spotted the cat and made a strange noise.

“Hello, ma’am.”

“Back again!”

“Yes. I wanted to ask you something. What were the people who came by earlier wearing?”

The old woman looked a little puzzled, but she seemed willing to answer. She came closer, furrowing her brow as she thought.

“As I remember, they were dressed similarly to you, sir. Though I think their ties were blue instead of red.”

Our seniors, then… from the 98th. I nodded and immediately asked, “Do you remember what color their hair or eyes were?”

“Well, I’m not quite sure about that… I think both had blue eyes? Anyway, they were mages, so they weren’t black. Since they weren’t particularly light, I’d say green or blue. Or perhaps brown? Their hair was mostly hidden under their hats, so I couldn’t tell.”

Two people. At least, if their eyes weren’t particularly light, it wasn’t Mecklenburg. His irises were relatively light. The problem was that blue eyes were common enough… The vice captain, Erich Reichenau, had blue eyes, for one, and there were about three others as well.

‘Good enough.’

That was enough for now. I carefully added the information to what I already knew and continued questioning her.

“What time did they come, and what did they do while they were here?”

“I don’t know exactly. I had gone outside around then to feed the cows, so I happened to be out there at the time. So, perhaps… around one o’clock, I suppose. They had a dog with them, one of the dogs kept by that church over there. They asked me where the dog lived.”

‘That church over there’? In the distance stood a small white church. It was on Austrian soil, and it too was right by the border.

“I suppose they thought it was a stray dog.”

“Indeed. Haha. That dog does wander around here and there.”

“What color is it?”

“Spotted. Kind of ochre, though it looks brown too.”

“I see. Is it a large dog?”

“Yes, quite.”

“Is it healthy?”

“Of course. Haha. I even went over and fed him the other day. He was full of energy.”

Elias seemed to find it strange that I was asking so many questions, and he peered around my shoulder at me. I pushed him aside and asked one last question.

“Then where do your cows graze?”

“All the way over there.”

The old woman pointed past where I was standing, all the way to the far end of the field on the other side. I let out a dry laugh and spoke gently.

“Ma’am, border crossings are currently prohibited, so from now on, please keep your cattle grazing within Austria.”

“Even though they didn’t cross over on purpose?”

“Even so, I’m afraid the same applies.”

“Hahahah! I’ve lived here for seventy years, and this is the first time I’ve been told that because they’re Austrian cows, they can’t eat German grass. Still, I suppose that’s how it has to be. Very well.”

“Thank you.”

I smiled, gave her a polite nod, and returned to the train station. It was 5:20 PM. The trip had taken an hour. My friends were waiting for Elias and me. After finishing what I needed to do by six, I told my friends where I was headed and warped to the checkpoint.

BANG—

Before I could fall over, I quickly transformed my wand into a staff and slammed it against the ground, using it to steady myself. This time, I managed to keep my balance and arrive on my feet.

“Phew.”

“…Good grief, you scared me.”

One of the seniors from the 98th raised his wand at me, then slowly lowered it and rubbed his chest. I felt a little awkward, but what could I do? I calmly asked him, “Good evening, Senior. Are you finished for the day?”

“…Yes. I heard you were going back with our captain.”

“Yes. I have something I wanted to discuss with him personally this time.”

“Oh? Before that—”

“There you are.”

Before the senior could finish speaking, the back door swung wide open. Mecklenburg came out, gathering his things. For some reason, he looked rather refreshed. Maybe because he could finally go eat? Though he didn’t seem like the type to get particularly cheerful just because it was time for a meal. Strange.

I smiled and said, “Senior. I warped all the way here.”

“I see. Good job.”

“…….”

I simply stared at Mecklenburg, still wearing the same smile. I could feel the other seniors from the 98th who had overheard our conversation looking at me as if warping here was nothing worth making a fuss over. When I continued standing there without saying anything, Mecklenburg looked at me as if asking what was wrong.

“What?”

“Nothing. Shall we go?”

“Didn’t you say you had something to tell me? There’s somewhere I need to stop by anyway, so we can talk on the way.”

“Where?”

“The government asked me to inspect Veste Oberhaus.”

Veste Oberhaus… There was a small cliff not far from here, surrounded by a river, with an old fortress standing on top of it.

I nodded and followed him. The sun was setting, bathing the world in red. Since we went on foot, we didn’t reach Veste Oberhaus until 6:20. The fortress had hardly been used in recent years, so it now looked more like a well-maintained residence, though no one lived there.

I stood behind Mecklenburg as he scanned the area for mana and looked down at the scenery around us.

“Senior, you don’t like dogs, do you?”

“I’m not particularly fond of them.”

“Did you touch one earlier?”

“I chased it away immediately. Apparently, the vice captain…”

“Oh, so a dog showed up? And the vice captain?”

“…Hmm.”

Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes and moved his lips as if trying to figure out what to say. I clicked my tongue as I watched his flustered profile, then moved closer to his side.

“Senior.”

“Hmm?”

“…….”

Mecklenburg raised an eyebrow and looked at me. Staring at him, I froze for a second before letting out a dry laugh.

“Never mind.”

“You’re awfully vague.”

“Realized that now? Whatever. Let’s finish this quickly and go.”

“If you want to finish quickly, then help me.”

“Yeees.”

I gave him a halfhearted answer, tucked my wand into my belt, and followed him upstairs. After we finished a quick inspection all the way up to the third floor, I looked at Mecklenburg and gestured with my eyes, asking what we were supposed to do now. Standing in front of the balcony, he gave me a light smile as if he had no idea what I was asking.

“We’re done. Let’s go down.”

“Before that, Senior.”

It was already past 6:30 PM. I glanced at my watch and muttered, “Are we even going to get to eat at this rate?”

“That’s what I’m wondering. So…”

“Senior.”

“…….”

I smiled and took a step toward him. For some reason, Mecklenburg didn’t frown or snap at me even as I approached. I looked into his eyes and took another step. Only then did Mecklenburg take a step back, his face expressionless. I gave a short scoff at his unfamiliar reaction.

“I guess I had to come all the way here.”

“Hmm, just say what you mean so I can—”

Crack—

My hand shot out as fast as if I were aiming my wand, pressing hard against his forehead. In that brief instant when I was about to send divine power through him, a hollow laugh flickered across Mecklenburg’s face. His legs hit the low railing of the balcony, as if someone had pulled him backward from above.

“…!”

The scenery below the cliff slowly came into view. How could he go this far? Every curse I knew rose to my throat in an instant. What I had to do was clear. I caught hold of him, forcing down the corners of my mouth as I did. The sound of the fierce wind rushing upward filled my ears.