Chapter 155

I quickly talked to Lark and decided to take a place in the hall to present the results of my research .

It was urgent, but the date of the appointment with Icarus was tomorrow .

We must settle it today .

I asked him to move his private army and spread the word throughout the territory .

By the time the scheduled time came, more than three hundred territorial residents had gathered .

Even those who hadnt come today would be able to hear it from their mouths .

In the center of the three hundred crowds were Me, Mea, and six sorcerers from Rinoas faction .

In case youre wondering, there are two members of the private army that came to guard us near us .

There were several others who seemed to be working to organize the crowd .

What, I heard that the Icarus potatoes were finally finished, but Icarus-sama isnt here?

Hes just about to arrive, I guess .

I have a funny feeling about all these faces .

The residents were buzzing uneasily, as if they were unhappy with their faces .

All the residents seemed to have a.s.sumed that it must be Icarus faction when they heard that the Alchemy Division had finally completed the crop .

We came here with high expectations, what the h.e.l.l do you think youre doing! We dont have time for this either!

Some of the words are laced with cursing .

By the way, that Icarus guy isnt there? Theyd be the first to come running in even if they werent called upon .

Mea produced a pair of binoculars with her hand and looked around the crowd .

I follow Meas eyes and see Lark and Euris approaching us through the crowd .

Lark waves to us .

As you said, I made up some urgent business and turned it over to Icarus . He is now holed up in the back of the lab . Icarus gets horribly cranky when outsiders enter the lab, so I doubt anyone will bother to come in and let him know whats going on here .

And as far as the people in the territory are concerned, they all seem to think that this call itself was opened by Icarus .

There is no reason to go and inform them .

Nevertheless, the chance of Icarus hearing it is not zero .

This is just a check to the extent that I hope it buys us some time .

So, so youve been laying down roots like that

Mea laughed, with a slightly twitching face .

Just in case, you know . Thank you, Mr . Lark .

Even though its a hastily mended thing, and if he proceeds in earnest, hell immediately think its funny . And he might get an inkling of whats going on out there .

I just didnt want to be outed, so its okay . Lets get some air cover before Icarus gets here .

The one thing to be wary of in Icarus is his ability to talk, but on the contrary, thats about the only thing he can do .

As far as research reports go, hes not much of a sorcerer .

If it was while the territory was unstable, he might have been able to rule the f.a.ge territory by successfully becoming the hope of the people of the territory, but once everyone is calm and the plating comes off, hes just a man .

Dont take that guy too easily .

Perhaps sensing that I was feeling loose, Rinoa interrupted me .

Ah yes, Ill keep my temper up .

Speaking of Icarus the Serial Bullet, about twenty years ago, there wasnt a sorcerer in the Kingdom of Dinrat who didnt know that name . I was too young at the time to know much about it, but I remember my father sitting low and rubbing up against Icarus when he saw him .

Lark says bitterly .

The story made sense to me . I thought he was strangely deeply rooted, but hes been here that long .

When he came to this territory, my father was eager to entertain him, hoping to have him become the resident sorcerer of the land . Since then, the problem has continued to grow and has become a source of concern for my generation .

Since the previous generation, huh

Thats why he has more influence than Lark .

From the beginning, Icarus is more of a sorcerer for real battles than for research . I heard him bragging that he once climbed to the top of the list of A-cla.s.s adventurers because of his high interpersonal skills . Perhaps its because he doesnt want to deal with the ha.s.sle, he forced my father to found an alchemy division, and he rarely shows up for the subjugation of magic beasts under the guise of wanting to focus on research to improve the territory

Hes even more of a good-for-nothing than I thought it would be .

While Im at a loss for words, Lark continues to talk .

I know youre pretty confident in your skills too, but I definitely dont want things to get rough . If Icarus gets torn up, you never know what he might try to do to you . I collected the private army under the guise of organizing the crowd, but I really meant it as a deterrent to keep Icarus from resorting to violence .

Violence, you say dont you think youre thinking a little too much about it .

If he does that, not only would Icarus himself not be able to stay in this territory, it would be a case of imprisonment if it was done poorly .

As expected, he wouldnt go that far, is he?

For Icarus, its probably the heavens hes kept for twenty years . That rinoa gourd you developed

Autem Gourd .

Rinoas quick correction came in from the side .

Ortem Gourd would completely negate Icarus years of research . If only we can get the atmosphere of this place, Icarus will completely lose his place in this territory . To be honest, Im starting to get a little scared .

I thought he wouldnt do anything that stupid, but were pus.h.i.+ng him too hard, I guess .

Hes a sorcerer who is a former A-cla.s.s adventurer candidate .

Im a bit curious to see what kind of magic he uses .

Yes, I understand! I would like to set up a meeting at a later date to find a compromise in a moderate manner and keep Icarus influence and voice reduced!

Uh-huh .

Pressured by my momentum, Lark stepped back .

Abel do-, do you really understand?

Mea asks me in a whisper .

Yeah, I know . Dont attack more than you have to, dont corner them, dont agitate them .

Im bringing a copy of Icarus research report with me here .

Ive carefully put all sorts of corrections in red ink so that even those with no knowledge of magic can clearly see what Ive left out .

Its important to know when to get this out .

Well then, Its a bit early than scheduled, but I think its time to start unveiling it .

I took an Ortem Gourd seed from my pocket and held it in my hand .

I must complete the gallows of Icarus before he arrives .

I took out my wand and waved it .

Carry

As if answering my call, an Ortem-type pot appeared at hand .

Since its not made of the World Tree, its using a little bit more of magic power to bring it to hand with the teleportation magic, but if its at a distance of about the f.a.ge territory, theres no problem .

Im confident in the amount of magic power I have to begin with, and Ive just recently succeeded in lowering the cost of the teleportation magic circle when I was playing around with it appropriately .

The Ortem Gourd can grow even if it is buried in the soil, but it grows much faster in an Ortem-type pot .

I think this is better for the purpose of performance this time .