“Fuhahaha… I don’t know,” Barbat said with a sinister grin.
For a moment, I thought I was being tricked, but he didn’t seem to be lying.
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t know his face, his name, or even if he was a man or a woman. He was wearing a black Perception-Blocking Robe, you see.”
“Tch, Perception-Blocking? Just who the hell is he?”
If he’s using Perception-Blocking, then he must be someone who can’t show his face in public.
Perception-Blocking Robes are controlled as contraband, so they don’t circulate among the general public.
Therefore, what’s conceivable is that there’s a noble or armed group behind him that can handle them.
“…However, he called himself ‘Lynx’.”
“Lynx? …I don’t know that name. More to the point, how could you act on information from such a shady guy?”
“Well, I didn’t think he was lying. But since you guys actually showed up, his information was genuine.”
“Where did you meet Lynx?”
“About that…”
After that, Barbat became surprisingly compliant with my persuasion.
I couldn’t get any more useful information, so I’ll have to take it up with that Military Official Barbat pointed out next time.
This time it worked out by chance, but next time, I should hire someone with more skill in Magical Power manipulation as a persuader.
“I’ve heard pretty much everything I wanted to hear.”
“Is that so? Then let me ask you one thing.”
“I have no obligation to answer you.”
“Hah, you don’t intend to let me live anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to tell me as a souvenir for the afterlife, would it?”
I will never befriend someone who has been my enemy.
I don’t intend to let Barbat live, but I was curious about what he was thinking and what his intentions were.
“We were attacked by a mysterious ‘Intimidation’ on the way to Fort Ronchant. Now that I think about it, you’re the only culprit I can think of. Hey, did you do that?”
“Who knows?”
“Hah, you’re bad at lying, aren’t you? Just how did you get that much Magical Power?”
Barbat distorted his handsome face with a grin as he watched my expression.
I was a little bothered by the way Barbat said it.
It was as if he was asserting that I had acquired Magical Power after birth.
“My Magical Power has always been like this.”
“That’s a lie. I can tell. There’s no geographically logical explanation for why a brat like you from House Ortenos has so much power!”
Hmm, geographically? What the hell is he talking about?
Don’t suddenly turn out to be an intellectual.
You’ve been an idiot all this time, stay an idiot.
“Geographically? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Tch, that’s why I hate ignorant brats.”
Barbat suddenly started trying to show off his knowledge.
Certainly, House Ortenos is a relatively new noble family, and all they think about is crushing the Kingdom of Naia, so there’s probably a lot of information they haven’t received.
From the Imperial Capital’s point of view, it’s a land far to the east, and Ortenos is sometimes seen as a bumpkin.
“Hmph, I hate pseudo-intellectuals like you too.”
I provoked Barbat for no particular reason.
I was annoyed that he seemed to think of me as an ignorant bumpkin.
However, Barbat ignored my words and continued.
“Ortenos doesn’t have a corridor leading to Lost Grenia. In other words, it’s clearly unnatural for you to have so much power, just like Ulgool!”
“Lost Grenia…?”
I muttered those words.
—Lost Grenia
They say it’s not an environment where people can live—
They say ferocious monsters live there—
They say relics left by ancient humans lie dormant there—
Lost Grenia is considered a mysterious land even on the Atra Continent.
Geographically, it’s the Tsetia Khanate located north of the Empire, and the glacier area in the northern part of the Weskenil region in the western part of the Empire.
However, this is only the western part of the Atra Continent.
Lost Grenia is divided into east and west by Shario Bay, the largest bay on the continent, and I believe the Kingdom of Naia is contiguous with the eastern Lost Grenia.
“Did you enter Lost Grenia via Tsetia or Weskenil?”
“Who knows?”
Barbat continued to talk glibly, but I honestly didn’t know what he was talking about.
However, I’ve come to understand a little that there seems to be some way to amplify Magical Power in Lost Grenia.
“…From that reaction, could it be that you don’t know anything?”
Gulp.
Am I that obvious?
Should I play dumb? …No, I’ll be honest here.
“Yeah, so what?”
“…So it’s not a replica…? Did you perhaps take down the original…? No, that’s impossible! There’s no way you could do that… but that Magical Power Capacity…”
“?”
Barbat suddenly started muttering something.
Then, as if he had arrived at some kind of truth, he opened his eyes wide and turned a solemn face towards me.
I tilted my head, not understanding what he was saying at all.
“–You don’t mean to tell me, but did you get that Magical Power during the Naia-Ortenos all-out war six years ago?”
Barbat was looking at me with eyes as if he was seeing something unbelievable.