Chapter 146 – The Circumstances of the Magician

“Alright. I think that’s one phase done,” Alfred said cheerfully, stretching widely.

“Really, thank you for your hard work.”

I’d been helping out with carrying tools and assisting with processing whenever I visited the workshop. Thanks to Alfred’s hard work, the alarm devices were now complete. We had enough passes for everyone at the orphanage, plus passes for the knights stationed there.

We’d deliver the completed passes to the orphanage later… Perhaps because we’d smashed their operational forces, the cult hadn’t made any moves since then. With increased patrols due to their previous activity, they probably found it difficult to act. Since I had the matter of the sealed door, I’d been using this time to advance my exploration of the Great Corruption Lake and work in the workshop… But I couldn’t let my guard down.

Regarding the cult, the interrogations were probably progressing, so I expected to hear the results before long.

“Speaking of which, what about those tattoos of the Duoveris Cult?” Alfred asked.

“What about them?”

“Putting aside the demons and miasma talk, as a magic engineer, it’s quite interesting… Or would that be inappropriate to say?”

“Ah… I see. No, I don’t think it’s inappropriate.”

He was talking about analyzing the enemy’s technology and stealing whatever parts we could. I’d considered countermeasures against the tattoos and thought they were effective in their own way, but thinking about their mechanism might reveal other aspects.

That would lead to the question of what kind of technique those tattoos were.

“I know they have tattoos and what weapons they use, but… I’m not that familiar with the cult’s details. They’re active in the southern regions, after all.”

In BFO… I knew about the wrist blades they used because players who admired the assassin style would capture them in the south and replicate them, but…

I think the tattoos probably operate on a similar mechanism to magic circles and magic tools. Just as magic tools require adapting how spells are inscribed depending on the materials. They likely use descriptions suitable for inscribing on the human body. I could guess that much.

“The question is how they handle the miasma, right?”

“That’s right.”

The question arises whether they themselves aren’t corroded by the miasma. Investigating that mechanism might lead to other miasma countermeasures.

Possible explanations… Either they’re converting the magical power of those tattooed into miasma, or more fundamentally, they’re altering their constitution to make their magical aptitude closer to that of demons. Another possibility… Like shrine maidens and clerics borrowing power from goddesses or spirits, they might have formed some contract with demons to temporarily borrow power.

When I presented several such possibilities, Alfred gave a wry smile.

“Somehow it doesn’t seem like it would lead to countermeasures. Using miasma to fight against miasma seems rather counterproductive.”

“It doesn’t feel like they’re nullifying it.”

“The possibility of forming a contract and borrowing power is interesting.”

“…That would mean there might be demons behind it. It’s not impossible, but…”

While having this conversation with Alfred, Viola peeked in.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation. It seems some Valyus silver has been sent from the labyrinth.”

“…That. I transferred it but thought I’d deal with it later since I was busy. There are various production methods to consider, and since we’ve reached a stopping point with the alarm devices, we can discuss that today.”

“Ah, no. I just wanted to ask about its potential uses.”

“I see. Since it’s a metal, it would be for equipment, right?”

At Viola’s words, Alfred also nodded.

“Yeah. I was thinking for Grace’s axe. We still have the Nautilus magic stone too, so I thought we might incorporate that as well.”

“I understand. Then I’ll ask Grace-san for her opinion as well.”

Just as she said that, Grace herself entered carrying a tray of baked sweets. Baked sweets. In other words, cookies. They smelled delicious.

“Thank you for your hard work. Would you like some tea and sweets? They’re freshly baked.”

“Thank you. We just reached a good stopping point in our conversation.”

“In that case, how about in the garden?”

“The weather is nice today, so let’s do that.”

In the workshop’s garden, as usual, everyone was in the middle of training.

“Then I’ll prepare tea over there.”

I moved toward the garden with Grace.

“Ah, Grace-san. We’re planning to make a new axe from Valyus silver. Do you have any requests?”

Asked by Viola during the move, Grace widened her eyes slightly before answering.

“Well… I’d like to keep the basic form the same… and preferably not change the balance too much.”

“Using a familiar form is best. Understood. I’ll keep that in mind when making it.”

Maintaining the same feel while changing materials seemed quite difficult. That would probably be where Viola’s skills come into play.

In the courtyard, Talcott and Chester were conducting combat training with an Aqua Golem. The rest of the party was taking a break. They were training in shifts, so to speak.

The training was mainly to improve their proficiency with aerial combat gear. Both of them seemed somewhat bewildered by the Aqua Golem’s movements, which assumed three-dimensional behavior… but they also looked like they were enjoying it.

“Wouldn’t you two like some tea?”

“No. I just started training.”

“Ah. It’s just getting interesting.”

That was their response. They seemed to get along surprisingly well.

Well, in that case, we’ll enjoy the baked goods and tea while watching them.

While Chester engaged the Aqua Golem in melee as the vanguard, Talcott maintained some distance from the golem, deploying Magic Slaves that could function as remote turrets in various locations. He provided both support and attack by firing Air Bullets from different directions to cover Chester’s openings.

“Talcott’s control has become quite stable.”

He was providing precise cover without interfering with Chester. None of the unstable precariousness from before was noticeable.

“It seems he’s been working hard on his fundamentals.”

Alfred smiled, then glanced toward the table where the women were seated.

The girl with braided hair sitting next to Miss Ophelia, looking wide-eyed at the training scene, was apparently Cindy Banister. She was supposedly the object of Talcott’s one-sided crush.

“You see. I thought she was too good a match for Talcott, but it seems Ophelia was being meddlesome.”

“…I see.”

So she was Miss Ophelia’s friend. That meant Cindy met Talcott through Ophelia’s introduction.

“The Banister family is a knightly house… but apparently Miss Cindy has more talent for magic, so she came seeking employment with House Forbrester.”

“Ah, so that’s how they met.”

“Yeah. Marquis Forbrester sent her to the academy, seeing her potential. Although she’s still a trainee, her magical skills are quite good, and they’re apparently considering having her serve as Ophelia’s escort in the future.”

Since Alfred agreed to bring her here, I assumed her background was solid. Yeah. That would make her feel like part of Ophelia’s inner circle. That made sense.

“Cindy, why don’t you join Talcott in training?”

“W-well, I can’t handle such advanced close combat yet. I only do long-range shooting, so I’d just get in the way of training.”

I could hear Ophelia and Cindy’s conversation.

Cindy was long-range type. In other words, an orthodox magician.

“Oh, Theodore-sama. Perfect timing. Apparently Cindy has been struggling to improve recently. Do you have any advice?”

When Ophelia noticed Alfred and me, she broke into a smile as she asked.

“Long-range combat isn’t my specialty… but let’s see. Perhaps obtaining a familiar?”

“A familiar?”

“Yes. By placing Magic Slaves with remote magic and using the familiar’s vision, the caster can perform ultra-long-range shooting without revealing themselves at all.”

As a countermeasure, it would involve destroying the opponent’s familiar to blind the remote magician. Some players used Life Detection to locate targets through walls and shoot from Slaves, but that method was prone to friendly fire, so it should only be used when there are no allies around.

“…I’m sorry. That’s too advanced for me. I can use Magic Slaves, but…”

Cindy shook her head apologetically… but Magic Slaves are a fairly orthodox technique in the magician’s skill tree. It was just a matter of direction to aim for.

Incidentally, Ashley leans more toward healing magic, so her range is on the shorter side. Marlene is a shrine maiden and summoner, so she’s also outside the basics. From the perspective of magical aptitude, neither of them is well-suited for learning Magic Slaves.

“For now, understanding that getting accustomed to familiars is important should be sufficient. Fighting without standing on the front lines is also one way magicians battle.”

“I-I’ll work hard.”

“Theodore-sama would make a good academy instructor too.”

When Ashley said this with a smile, Marlene nodded repeatedly.

“If anything, Theodore feels more like a drill instructor.”

Sheila said while picking at the baked goods.

“Drill instructor?”

When Irmhild tilted her head, Sheila answered.

“A teacher of teachers. Also called a grandmaster.”

Well… I’m not sure about that. My specialty, Battle Mage, is too niche and doesn’t seem to have much demand. More fundamentally, there seem to be very few people who can perform magical power circulation due to magical aptitude issues…