Leon offered Maran and Epiro to stay at his lodgings and provided them with a room.
Leaving Leon’s lodgings behind, I set off alone towards the harbor where the development department was located.
As I entered the harbor, the atmosphere was quite different from elsewhere.
Despite the ongoing war, lively people wandered around the streets.
Most of them were families of soldiers who had come here after their posts changed to Harfen.
There were taverns open here and there in the harbor, giving it quite a city vibe.
As I walked while looking at the rough map that Leon had handed me, I spotted large ships docked at the harbor.
At the end of the line of ships, there was a small boat that was slightly detached from the others.
That boat was the emergency escape vessel of the development department that I was looking for, though it was quite worn out.
The rough map centered around the boat but didn’t seem to be particularly necessary.
There was a large warehouse, and there wasn’t anything nearby that could really be called a building.
Near the warehouse, there was a sound that resembled someone hammering on a machine.
I knocked on the door haphazardly and waited, but no one came out to see.
Since it wasn’t locked anyway, I simply pushed the door open.
Inside, various exercise equipment was set up, and most of the people were using it.
Dozens of eyes focused on me all at once.
“Who are you? This is a restricted area for civilians.”
“I am Ririan, the captain of the 2nd Knight Order. I heard that you were looking for me.”
As soon as I finished speaking, someone from the crowd rushed out in a hurry.
“Ah! Captain, we’ve been waiting for you!”
I had thought that the development department consisted of older individuals.
A neatly dressed young man greeted me with a bright smile.
“My name is Dino. I am the head of the development department.”
When I shook his outstretched hand, the feeling was quite different.
I could feel no mana from his body; he was an ordinary human who had learned nothing.
“Now, this way, please.”
Dino guided me towards a section of the development department that had partitions set up.
“This is my office.”
It was a very cramped space to be called an office.
As I sat down, Dino took a seat opposite me.
“First of all, we have developed a new magic that we want to test, but we rarely get permission.”
The magic they claimed to have developed could obliterate an entire city.
By my standards, it was impossible to do in one go.
“You don’t seem to be a magician, do you?”
“Ah. Just a moment.”
Dino closed his eyes and brought his hands together.
His body slowly began to float into the air, and mana started to gather around him.
Soon, Dino’s body was enveloped in mana as he opened his eyes.
“Oh? You’re fine? Usually, others struggle with it.”
The concentration of mana he was scattering around was quite thick.
To an ordinary person, this level of mana would feel like poison.
“Are you a special physique?”
“That’s right. It’s called a Rare Body.”
I had heard about this special constitution from Teacher Adelia at the Academy.
I had been told it was quite rare, so seeing it right in front of me was hard to believe.
“So you’re asking for permission to conduct an experiment, right?”
“Yes. Is that possible?”
Though he was asking politely, I could feel him concentrating the surrounding mana on me.
It felt like he was silently threatening me to grant his permission.
The others around us understood this too, but no one stepped in; they were all in on it.
“This is a bit unpleasant. The development department is military-affiliated, but I have several authorities.”
Although affiliated with the military, it was a strange department where orders and operational authority belonged to the Knight Order.
This was also authority brought on by Aila bringing work.
“Do you know how many experiments we haven’t been able to conduct because of this?”
“Would I need to know that?”
Dino’s mana was poking at me from all directions like needles.
I lightly surrounded myself with refined mana and blocked his energy.
“Don’t tell me? You’re also a Rare Body?”
“No, I’m not.”
At a glance, we seemed similar, but fundamentally, he and I were different.
While a Rare Body can freely manipulate mana, a Dragon dominates it.
“If you’re going to threaten me, I’ll be leaving.”
“Wait a moment!”
Dino hurriedly retracted his mana, taking several deep breaths.
Once he calmed down again, he stood up and apologized politely.
“First of all, I apologize for what just happened. I got ahead of myself because I really want to conduct the experiment.”
“I understand. Please go ahead.”
Dino shifted the partition just a bit so that it would be harder to see the inside from outside.
“Actually, the people outside are not from the development department.”
I imagined the people with large builds handling exercise equipment.
No matter how I looked at them, they didn’t seem like professionals in development.
“Then who are those people?”
“A good place, isn’t it? They are military-affiliated, but the operational authority belongs to the Knight Order.”
Literally, the development department was a place where useless personnel were discarded from all over.
“But didn’t the development department make weapons for the Elves?”
“That’s the Technology Development Department. We are the Magic Development Department.”
The two departments had completely different roles.
“What does the Magic Development Department do?”
“Usually, we develop magic. We develop offense and defense magic.”
Developing magic is by no means an easy task.
“Who teaches that?”
“Everyone doesn’t seem to want to learn much.”
Dino’s expression glanced at the partition.
In reality, he was probably looking at the people who were concentrating on exercise beyond the partition.
“They say it was originally a department that taught magic to soldiers rather than development.”
There are soldiers who are skilled in magic among them.
It was a department created in the military to nurture magicians, but it was a policy abolished with the establishment of the Knight Order.
Those with magical talent aspired to join the Knight Order, which turned the development department into a relegation-only department.
“Why not become a teacher at the Academy instead?”
“I was a teacher at the Academy before I came here.”
I wondered why someone who had taught students ended up in the development department.
I thought about asking but decided to change the subject to avoid it being rude on our first meeting.
“So what is the name of the magic you developed?”
“New Cleaning.”
“That’s a nice name.”
I stepped out of the warehouse with Dino and walked around the harbor for a moment.
Upon climbing a low hill nearby, I could admire the surrounding scenery for a bit.
“I heard it can wipe out an entire city?”
“Yes, it’s theoretically possible.”
“If it has the power to destroy an entire city, the amount of mana would surely be substantial, right?”
To my question, Dino smiled and replied.
“That applies to magicians using mana cultivation. We are different, aren’t we?”
He meant he would be using the mana drawn from the surroundings.
Perhaps due to his special physique, the power of his magic seemed quite extraordinary.
“So it would be a magic only you can use, then.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
It seemed quite arrogant to complain about others not wanting to learn magic after saying that.
The Rare Body can effortlessly do what those who use mana cultivation cannot.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a genius.
However, they would never explain it; they inherently believe it can be done.
“So where do you want to experiment with the magic?”
“I would like to try it against the main base of the Undead Legion, but that would be quite dangerous.”
It wouldn’t be good to poke a beehive for no reason.
One must be thoroughly prepared to engage the main forces of the Undead Legion.
“There is a city nearby called Lind, and that will be the experiment location.”
“Then I suppose I should report to the higher-ups.”
“That should be fine. There aren’t any proper buildings left anyway. You just need to grant permission.”
I slowly nodded.
“Well then, can we depart tonight to verify it?”
“That should work.”
After agreeing to meet Dino at the eastern entrance at night, I returned to my lodgings.
At the lodgings, Riki, as well as Iwaf and Jie, were waiting for me.
“I heard you came back.”
“Yeah. You’ve all worked hard during this time.”
“No, I was reasonably relaxed.”
Though I had been cooped up in the city, I heard that they had enjoyed a fair bit of comfort.
Had I not seen the atmosphere at the harbor, I would never have believed it.
“By the way, where is Jema?”
“She went up to her room a while ago.”
It seemed she had returned first; it was time to rescue Melorna, who had been trapped by Jema.
I went up to the third floor and approached the door where Jema was staying.
I could hear the sound of two people whispering from the other side of the door.
“Um, can’t I go back now?”
“Is there something busy?”
“I have to help the captain too, and I need to train…”
“A day is fine.”
Jema’s voice sounded quite cheerful.
It seemed that Melorna had made quite the impression.
However, if I didn’t rescue Melorna soon, I might hear complaints later.
Click.
As I opened the door, both of them turned to look at me simultaneously.
Melorna hurriedly stood up from her seat.
“It’s okay. You can stay comfortably.”
It felt like a high-ranking officer entered while soldiers were resting.
On the bed, leather armor was carelessly laid out, and a sword was lying haphazardly on the floor.
Melorna wasn’t wearing her usual leather armor but rather casual clothes I had never seen before.
“How about it? Does it suit me?”
Jema must have bought it and dressed her in quite revealing attire.
It was obviously a wardrobe style heavily influenced by Jema.
“It’s fine to play with her, but she’s not a toy.”
“Yeah.”
Melorna gathered her armor and weapons and quietly moved over to my side.
“It’s okay; you can go back.”
“Then, I will head back.”
As Melorna left the room, Jema took a sip of tea that was on the table.
“Ah, that was fun after a long time.”
“Shouldn’t you be too harsh on her?”
“I didn’t bully her. We just played together.”
I absolutely didn’t think Jema would bully Melorna.
Knowing the kind of discomfort, she would definitely be careful.
From the look on Melorna’s face as she left a moment ago, it was clear that she hadn’t seemed to mind it much at all.
It was evident that she had spent a somewhat enjoyable time.
