Episode 13: Written Oath
“Fire Magic, Magical Power is 66.”
“Earth Magic, Construction Skill. Magical Power is 81.”
“Water Magic, Wind Magic, Longsword Skill, Magical Power is 77.”
“Water Magic, Sewing Skill, Magical Power is 96.”
“I received Ice Magic, Lightning Magic, and Agriculture Skill. Magical Power is 79.”
I want to try out Lightning Magic, so I decided to memorize only the Lightning Skill [Lightning Magic x5].
After questioning over 20 people, I finally found someone with Teleportation Magic.
“Fire Magic and Teleportation Magic, Magical Power is 84.”
“About how far can you teleport with Teleportation Magic?”
“Well… in my case, it’s usually just enough to pass through walls.”
“What’s the longest distance you’ve ever teleported?”
“I’ve teleported about 50 meters at most, but I’ve never tried going further.”
While listening to the answer, I desperately repeated (Read and Memorize) and acquired [Teleportation Magic x10]. At the same time, I applied it to myself, and [Earth Magic, Fire Magic, Ice Magic, Healing Magic, Teleportation Magic, 5/5] appeared in my head.
It seems I’ve reached the limit of what I can apply to myself, so when I deleted Fire Magic, [Earth Magic, Ice Magic, Healing Magic, Teleportation Magic, 4/5] appeared in my head.
As expected, deleting it created an opening, allowing me to apply another magic.
If I memorize all the magic this way, I should be able to use all of them.
Practice will be necessary, but I’ll gladly practice.
I didn’t find anyone with Barrier Magic after questioning over 30 people, but I’m very satisfied with the results.
While I was questioning them, I sensed the presence of the escort knights and the Marquis, who seemed to be waiting for an opening.
Each time, I lightly tightened their collars, and when I turned around and grinned, their faces turned pale, and they looked down, dripping with cold sweat.
It’s a shame I can’t show them my smile since I’m hiding my face.
Now that I’ve finished listening to the bestowed magic and skills, as well as reading and memorizing, I dismissed the members of the magic squad I had called, and started my last job.
“Honings Marquis-dono, I have one last request, would you listen to it?”
“If I grant your wish, will you quietly leave?”
“Yeah, my goal isn’t to destroy you all.”
Saying that, I took out the dead heir from my Magic Pouch and placed him in front of the Marquis.
“First, I want this man’s Magic Pouch. Remove the user registration, I don’t need the contents, just the pouch. And you should have a Magic Bag, I’d like to see it.”
Honings Marquis’s face stiffened, and he stopped moving.
“Ah… I’m not saying to hand it over. I just want to see it and answer a few questions.”
“Is that true!”
“If I wanted it, I would have taken it first thing. You probably have treasures stored up, but unfortunately, I’m not a thief. I want the Magic Pouch for a different reason.”
He’s still looking at me with suspicion, but does he understand his position?
If he angers me, he’ll be on his way to the afterlife immediately.
I repeatedly emphasized that I just wanted to see it, and he took out the Magic Bag from his Magic Pouch and showed it to me.
(Read – Magic Bag – 12-360)
As expected of the Marquis-sama, he has good stuff, so I immediately repeated (Read and Memorize) and got [Magic Bag – 12-360 x10].
Of course, it also has shock resistance, blade resistance, and magic defense, but if I get the heir’s Magic Pouch, I can read shock resistance, blade resistance, and magic defense forever, so I’ll leave that for later.
“Thank you. You can put it away. I think it’s about time for me to take my leave, but reoccurrence prevention and an apology are necessary.”
His complexion returned the moment he heard I was leaving, but he stiffened again when he heard about reoccurrence prevention.
“Oh… are you planning to attack that store again after I leave? Or, are you planning to attack once I release the collars and remove the restraints?”
“Absolutely not… please tell me what I should do.”
“Compensation for the damage caused by attacking that store, an apology, and a written oath promising never to attack again, in triplicate.”
“That’s…”
“Don’t you understand why I didn’t use direct expressions? If I said it clearly, you’d kill the guards who knew about it to silence them. If you don’t like it, that’s fine too…”
“I’ll pay! I’ll write the written oath, so please forgive me!”
“You lack consideration. You’re too arrogant, thinking you can do anything because you’re a Marquis. If you want the Honings Marquis family to last, be quiet!”
He slumped his shoulders and ordered the Butler to bring a bag of Gold Coins, and the Marquis himself wrote the written oath, signed it, and presented three copies of the document with his blood seal.
The Butler placed a wagon with bags of Gold Coins in front of me.
The Marquis asked with his eyes, “I prepared 20 bags for the apology and compensation, and two bags for the inconvenience to you.”
This guy is practically confessing that he was making a killing, but I threw the 22 leather bags into the heir’s Magic Pouch.
I opened the door to the study and turned around, saying, “Sorry for the intrusion, I hope we never meet again.” Then I released everyone’s restraints and collars, stepped into the shadow of the door, and hid my presence with Stealth Skill.
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“Father! Are you going to let them get away with this? Let’s capture the people from the store and make them reveal the identity of the thief! Father!”
“Even if we know their identity, how can we deal with an invisible opponent…”
“Father, are you going to remain silent after your brother… your heir was killed? What happened to the pride of the Honings family!”
“Do you have a way to capture the thief from earlier? If we act rashly, and that document and written oath reach the royal family…”
“They’re probably going back to the Kokkola Company anyway, so we can surround the store and kill everyone!”
How foolish, just because I disappeared doesn’t mean I left, and even though I didn’t mention any proper nouns, he’s telling the knights himself.
I shot a Stone Lance into the chest of the idiot who was yelling for me to be killed, blowing him away.
While the relieved Marquis and knights were stunned by the sight of the second son being shot through the chest with a Stone Lance, I quietly slipped out of the Marquis’s mansion and headed for the Kokkola Company.
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It took longer than expected at the Honings Marquis’s mansion, but I arrived back at the Kokkola Company while the sun was still high.
I went to Kokkola Chairman’s office, knocked 3-1-2 times, and deactivated Stealth while waiting for the door to open.
“Do you need something?”
“I’ll be leaving tomorrow, but I want to talk to you alone before that.”
When I said that, he nodded silently and dismissed the Butler and guards.
Facing each other on the Sofa, I piled 20 leather bags from the Magic Pouch onto the table.
“This is an apology and compensation from Honings Marquis.”
Saying that, I placed the documents detailing the connection with the Trigan Company, the documents detailing Honings Marquis’s past misdeeds, and the written oath promising never to attack the Kokkola Company again on top of the bags of Gold Coins.
He showed more interest in the documents than the bags of Gold Coins, and after reading them, he looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“This is… why?”
“I paid a little visit to the Marquis’s mansion and discussed the future. I can’t say it’ll be safe from now on, but it should serve as a deterrent.”
“Won’t they be desperate to get this back?”
“There are three copies of the written oath, and two copies of the others, so even a dim-witted Marquis should understand what will happen if he only attacks you. If you don’t talk about me, no one will know who I was here.”
“Is that why you were always hiding your face?”
“You knew the rumors of that town, and if you realized who I was, you must have people in that town. You probably understand why I had to hide my face and escape from Honings Marquis territory.”
“I don’t know your name, but I knew there was such a child. Is that you-sama? Where are you going from here?”
“I’ll go to the royal capital for now, and then I’ll think about what to do.”
“I’m also planning to go to the royal capital. The branch in the royal capital is larger than this store, so I’m planning to make it the main store and leave this store to a trustworthy manager. Could you possibly escort me to the royal capital?”
“I’ll have to decline that. It would be a waste of all the effort I’ve put into erasing my connection with you. If you’re going to leave this store to someone, tell them this: Since the Trigan Company will disappear instead of this store, it’s a chance to expand the business.”
“…Is that silencing and destroying evidence?”
I just shrugged silently, but that man will definitely do it.
If the documents I have reach the royal family, the situation will become extremely bad. If he can’t touch the Kokkola Company, he’ll think he can create an escape route by eliminating the other party involved.
As a reward for this time, I ended up receiving two bags of Gold Coins, and 400 Gold Coins ended up in my Magic Pouch.
Apart from that, I was handed a leather bag containing 100 silver coins and a Kokkola Company crest medal, as the 10 Gold Coins for the escort fee would be difficult to use.
I was told that anywhere within the Kingdom of Kolandol, if I went to a Kokkola Company branch and showed the medal, they would provide assistance and I could freely contact them.
From what I heard, it seems to be a considerable big business, but I know almost nothing about this world, and I wonder what will happen from now on.
For the time being, my first goal is to go to the royal capital, join up with the [Bums of Hunza], now renamed the [Fangs of the Earth] Party, and register as an adventurer in some town under a different name.