The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

“The knights have been annihilated.”

“The airship? No, what happened to the passengers inside?”

“They say everyone disembarked safely.”

“Damn it.”

The teacup hit the saucer, making a sharp, clattering noise.

“It was a golden opportunity to dry up those traitors.”

“It seems it’s difficult to obtain the passenger list of an external city… There must have been a mistake in the calculation.”

“Isn’t it your job to make those calculations!”

The chaotic situation in Brahms was a matter known to those who knew. Although what exactly was happening was kept as secret as possible, the fact that the city was not at peace was actively promoted in secret.

Most of the passengers who could use the airship were people with a lot on the line. Naturally, the number of passengers on the airship to Brahms gradually decreased.

Who would have thought that among those thinned-out people, there would be a skilled person who could repel the knights? To say that they should have prepared for this was just finding fault.

“I’m sorry.”

But the man just bowed his head, saying he was sorry. There was no sense of injustice. It was a relationship of master and servant, an absolute top-down relationship.

“You must have cleaned up all the physical evidence that could link us, right?”

“Yes, we have already taken measures. We will make sure there are no such mistakes next time.”

“There is no next time. The first time can be dismissed as a mistake, but the second time is intentional. Our purpose is to hunt the abominable traitors, not to have a dispute with another city.”

The passengers and crew of the airship would report the news to the upper echelons of Gellerg City. If the attack had been successful, the operation of the airship would have been suspended for a long time to investigate the truth.

Since it had failed, the purpose of cutting off the route for the traitors to procure external help had gone down the drain. If another problem occurred with the operation of the airship, the city government would not stand by.

“There’s no choice. We have to hurry up and exterminate the traitors as much as possible.”

“But they have cowardly fled to the public district. We can’t recklessly lay a hand on the public district without clear evidence…”

“That problem has already been solved.”

A letter fluttered down from the top of the red-carpeted stairs.

“The king has given his permission.”

At the end of the letter, a golden signature flashed.

***

“It’s quiet.”

Sage said, mumbling with a spoon in her mouth. Her pronunciation was accurate even with food in her mouth.

“Although the public district is the center of Brahms, it’s not a downtown area like District 3 of Gellerg City.”

Basically, the residents of a territory live in their respective territories. It was not common to go to the city center to find a job or for entertainment like in Gellerg City. So it wasn’t that there were few people, but it wasn’t as packed as District 3, where it was hard to even take a step.

“And it’s also because Gellerg City accepts an unusually large number of immigrants.”

The majority of the residents of Brahms were natives who were born and raised in this city. The population density of the city was normal, it was just that the standard became strange when compared to Gellerg City.

“But is that edible?”

“Yes.”

Sage ate the soup, even making a slurping sound.

“Would you like to try some?”

As she held out the spoon, a thick liquid of unknown content dripped onto the table.

“……I’m fine.”

As I shook my head, the same food was on all the tables in sight.

Perpetual stew. It was a specialty that came to mind when you thought of a medieval inn. It was boiled for 24 hours, and anyone, whether the owner or a guest, could add water and ingredients as they pleased. To put it simply, it was a pig’s slop.

Since it was an inn in the public district where people from each territory came and went, they said that it had a deep taste from mixing various ingredients. But apart from the visual, it was a food I wanted to refuse, as I knew the concept of hygiene.

I would rather eat artificially cultured meat, even if it had no taste.

‘Is it necessary to follow the historical evidence even for something like this, just because it’s a city with a setting similar to the Middle Ages?’

The actual standard of living was similar. In terms of safety, Brahms was even superior. Someone might call it romantic, but it was a culture I wanted to refuse.

‘Their expressions are generally dark.’

The customers of the public district inn were not limited to any one territory. It was a place where the stories of people from each region were heard without any filtering.

The number of passengers on the external city airship had decreased, and they had even been attacked directly. As expected, the atmosphere of the public district inn, which should have been lively, was also subdued. It meant that the commotion happening inside the city was affecting even the civilians.

‘I should just achieve my purpose quickly and get out before I get caught up in it.’

Although I had heard a rough story from the captain, the commotion in this city was none of my business. It was enough to have a contractor’s life in Gellerg City, where I was involved in troublesome things. I didn’t want to play the role of a problem solver even in an external city.

“If you’ve finished eating, let’s get up and walk around.”

“Yes.”

Sage, who had finished her bowl, wiped her lips and went out. Sage’s eyes could distinguish a person’s mana and follow their traces. Just as a person unknowingly leaves traces such as body hair, footprints, and hair, so did mana.

In the process, it was the same that the traces were left more clearly when there was a violent action. So she had been able to follow me with her bare body in the slums of District 7, but it was far from the fast and accurate guidance of a navigation system.

In the end, it meant that we had to do the legwork. It was a way of finding the other person by discovering clearer and clearer traces through trial and error. It was much more efficient than me conducting an investigation, but this was also a long process if it took a long time.

For now, I was planning to gradually expand the radius around the public district.

“Hmm.”

But Sage did not readily step out of the inn. A hint of hesitation was mixed in her expressionless facial muscles. It must be that she was at a loss. It was also because she had insisted on following me.

She must be under the pressure of having to produce results quickly. I said, to relieve her burden.

“For now, you can just think of it as sightseeing and move around. It’s the same no matter where we go.”

“That’s not it.”

Sage mumbled her words. She hesitated and then confessed with a sigh.

“There are too many traces.”

“……?”

“There are so many that I can’t decide where to go first.”

It was completely different from the content of the worry I had guessed.

“Was that why you cut off your words in the carriage?”

“Yes, I thought I was mistaken, but I wasn’t.”

Had he been traveling recently? It was good that we had found the traces quickly, but there was a sense of ambiguity. If it was a trip, he might still be wandering around.

Had he been influenced by living in Gellerg City and then returning to his home country? The absence of traces was a problem, but too many was also a problem.

“Where are the traces clearer or more numerous?”

“It probably won’t be of any use. This… from what I see, it’s the same as the pendant.”

“The pendant? Ah.”

“Yes, it’s the traces left on the things that person made.”

Elliot had said that he was a person with good hands. It seemed that the pendant was a mess because Elliot’s design was wrong. To think that he was using that talent in his hometown.

“Shall we go to the nearest person first?”

“We should.”

I thought it would be easy, but in the end, it was an investigation that went around in circles. As if my fate were ill-fated, it seemed I was going through all sorts of hardships.

***

「The World Tree raises its branches and is on guard.」

As soon as I went down the creaking ladder, the World Tree made a fuss on my forearm. Hazy steam filled the ceiling. It was a scene that reminded me of when I had faced the leader of the Guardians of the Dawn.

Of course, this steam was not holy blood.

At the same time as the sound of boiling water, the sound of sucking in air from here and there. A hookah. I was worried about Sage, who was following me down, so I looked at her, and the steam was scattering before it even touched her skin.

My breathing also became much easier. Magic was indeed useful. People thought of mages as just war machines, but in my opinion, the greatness of magic was in the convenience of daily life. She was the one who had evolved from an air conditioner to an air purifier.

If you just threw away your unnecessary pride, the usability of magic was endless.

“……”

As we crossed the hall, people’s gazes focused on us. Although they quickly returned to their own business, the feeling of all the attention in the hall being focused on us for a moment was a strange feeling.

‘Is it because it’s a secret gambling den?’

An outsider, and a young man and woman at that, was probably one of the reasons.

‘But it was a more sticky gaze than ordinary wariness.’

The gazes of a few people were still stuck on us. I went to a table with a sense of incongruity in my heart.

“Let’s play a game.”

Compared to the splendid and state-of-the-art gambling den of the auction, the facilities were far behind. The game was a dice game. Of course, there was no dealer, and the people sitting at the table played the game themselves.

It meant that it was a good place to cheat.

“Hehehe, what about that side?”

“Don’t worry about it. She’s just a kid I brought to serve me.”

Sage nodded her head as if a broken machine were creaking. Seeing my relaxed attitude, they probably thought that a prodigal son of some noble family had come to play out of boredom.

The man with a rough impression handed me a cup and dice without saying a word. The rules were simple. You roll the dice in the cup, and the one with the higher number wins. At first glance, it might seem that the lucky one wins, but that’s when you play normally.

The dice were provided by them. Whether these dice were rigged or not. If I were to make a bet, I could bet all my fortune on the former.

“Let’s start.”

The man rolled the dice. With an ardent gaze that seemed to want to dismantle and eat me up, piece by piece.

***

I lost. I thought I was winning sometimes, but I kept losing. I stopped counting how many times I had lost when I reached ten. I hadn’t bet a large amount, but even small coins could add up to an amount that couldn’t be ignored.

“……Hmm.”

The man who had won this round coughed awkwardly and took the money. You have to cheat moderately so that you don’t get caught. They had gotten excited and had gone on a rampage because I had just kept playing nonchalantly like a fool.

If I didn’t know it was a scam even at this point, I would be a fool. But since I didn’t point it out, they had become uneasy.

“Are you going to play more? I’m telling you because I feel guilty, but just think of it as a good experience and get some change and leave. You’ll go bankrupt if you keep this up.”

The man and woman at the table took out money from their money pouches. They were all in it together. Not only this table, but there must be colleagues at other tables as well. That way, they could fleece the rookies without arousing suspicion.

I remembered the suspicious people and stopped the man and woman at the table.

“Can I ask you something else instead of the change?”

When I gestured to Sage, she poked my side. That’s it.

“Can you tell me where you bought the sword you’re wearing on your side? The quality looks pretty good.”

“What, this?”

The man, who had been lifting the hilt of his sword in bewilderment, soon distorted his expression.

“Was this your purpose from the beginning?”

“I paid a lot for the information.”

“I don’t know either. I found it somewhere. No, did I take it from a dead guy?”

The man chuckled. He didn’t seem to have any intention of telling me.

“That’s strange.”

“What is?”

“There are too many guys with similar things in here to have just found it somewhere.”

From here and there, I felt a series of unnatural presences, such as disturbed breathing and flinching. It was probably not a coincidence that they were the people I had suspected of being the man’s colleagues.

“A workshop if it’s a workshop, a guild if it’s a guild, just tell me what you remember about where it’s from. That’s all I’m curious about. It’s not difficult, is it?”

I hadn’t asked for a difficult favor. I wasn’t going to announce that there was a group of scammers in this gambling den. I had even given them money, so it was a clean deal for both of us.

But it seemed that was not the case for the other party.

“……You.”

In an instant, the atmosphere reversed.

“Where are you from?”

The sound of a sword being drawn cut through the sound of the hookah boiling.

(End of Chapter)