"Magic Cores don't exist solely within Monsters. There's never been a recorded case of one appearing in beasts with strength comparable to Monsters, or in humans who wield power surpassing Monsters. Whether this was implanted or caused by a drug, I don't know — but if word got out that a living human turned into a Monster, it could spark unnecessary conflict."
If a corpse had become a Monster, it would've ended there as just another undead-type case. But according to Eliza, Chaos had appeared perfectly ordinary when the fight began — no different from a normal person. He barely spoke, but he did use human language. However, right after Amour defeated him and was about to pin him down, Chaos transformed into a monster and overwhelmed Amour and the others — people who had been dominating him the entire time. The trigger for that reversal, it seemed, was a drug Chaos used at the moment he was about to be restrained.
"I don't know what kind of drug it was, but there's no doubt that whatever Chaos took either turned him into a Monster or set that transformation in motion. Now then — after Chaos fought Tenma and was taken away, where was he and what was he doing? And why did the news of his escape take so long to reach us?"
In response to Grandpa's question, Lyle stepped forward.
"After his fight with Tenma, Chaos was captured as a criminal and put to work as a slave in the mines."
At the mine, the slave laborers were divided into groups of anywhere from a handful to over a dozen, each managed separately and made to work in different locations. Apparently, a few days ago, reports from one of those groups had stopped coming in. The official overseeing the mine managers assumed it was due to snowfall preventing the couriers from traveling, but when the next day passed with still no scheduled report, he grew suspicious. The day after that, he brought soldiers to investigate — and found the bodies of both the slaves and their overseer from the missing group.
He confirmed the dead alongside the soldiers, but Chaos's body was among the missing. They concluded then and there that Chaos was the perpetrator. They immediately sent alerts to nearby towns and villages to be on guard, while also dispatching a report to the Royal Capital.
"However, it took several days for the mine official's report to reach the Royal Capital... Yet Chaos arrived there at roughly the same time, even though fewer than ten days had passed since the presumed date of the crime. There may be an accomplice involved."
The official had sent the report to the Capital within two days of the incident. Using horses and relay stations along the shortest route between the mine and the Capital, the report was carried forward by soldiers and mounts trading off in shifts, arriving in almost exactly the expected timeframe — despite nighttime pauses. Chaos, on the other hand, had arrived two days ahead of the report-bearing soldiers, but was believed to have traveled almost entirely on foot. Even if he had somehow procured a horse, the fact that he went unspotted at any relay point suggested he had most likely taken a detour.
"So even if he'd had a horse, arriving at roughly the same time as the reporting soldiers is a bit strange — and if he was on foot, it's even stranger..."
"Precisely. That's why we suspect an accomplice."
Chaos could use magic, so he might have been able to reinforce his body or even fly. But if he wanted to escape, he should have done so the moment he was taken to the mine — so why did he wait until now? Where did he obtain the drug? Questions like these still lingered.
"At the very least, if we could figure out when and where he obtained the drug, we could make some predictions... Come to think of it, Chaos's arm—
When
Who
healed it?"
Last time they fought, I'd sliced Chaos's arm clean off — and then the explosive knives he'd used had reduced it to pieces. Eliza hadn't said a single thing about what should have been his most distinguishing feature: having only one arm.
"Jean, get confirmation from Elizabeth right away! She might still be in the castle!"
Jean was already running before Lyle had even finished speaking. And ten-odd minutes later,
"Hah, hah, hah... I've confirmed it! Chaos had both arms!"
Jean came back out of breath.
Apparently Eliza had just finished greeting her acquaintances and the Count's associates, and had only just stepped into the carriage — she was on the verge of departing.
"Then that means we need to find out when his arms grew back at the mines. Have someone check immediately!"
This time, having received the King's orders, Jean took off running again. Apparently the records kept at the royal castle wouldn't shed any light on this matter, so they'd need to question the office managing the mines — and depending on the situation, someone might have to go there in person, which would take time.
"Then we'll need to keep Chaos's body in storage..."
"That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about..."
"I don't want to."
Before the King could finish laying it all out, I refused. Even if someone told me it was perfectly fine to just leave it stuffed inside a Magic Bag, I had zero desire to carry that thing around.
After that, the King, Caesar-sama, and Lyle all piled on the requests, and I reluctantly agreed to take custody of Chaos's body.
"So, Tenma. What was Chaos like after he turned into a monster? In particular, I want to know about his strength and what abilities he had."
The moment the talk about Chaos's body was wrapped up, Din immediately fired off his question. The King and the others seemed just as interested in Chaos's strength, so the conversation moved outside the Dimension Bag.
"In other words, after drinking the potion, Chaos possessed power and durability that could overwhelm Amour, along with regenerative abilities on par with — or exceeding — a Hydra, but as the fight wore on he reverted to a normal person?"
"Yes. The exact reason is unclear, but he may have been using something like an enhancement spell to boost his physical abilities."
"Indeed, his Magic Power ran out and he fell back to normal... or rather,
if we say he *returned*
to that state, then it's conceivable this was a type of magic."
"There's also the possibility that the potion wore off and he reverted on its own... Either way, if the same kind of opponent shows up in the future, the play would be to fortify our defenses and drag the fight out, correct?"
With Chaos as the only precedent, there was no way to say for certain this was the right answer, but it seemed effective for the time being — so all they could do was try it.
"It would be best if none of them appeared at all, but given the possibility that human hands were involved in creating this Chaos, we should assume similar monsters will show up again. Lyle, first gather the knight order's captain-level officers and have them prepare for emergencies. Din, make sure the Royal Guard is ready to deploy as mobile reserves at any moment. However, do not disclose any information about Chaos's magic core. Disclosure of intelligence will happen no earlier than after a second incident."
The King would impose a gag order regarding Chaos's magic core, but would not restrict information about the potion, instead choosing to publicize it as a dangerous substance.
"Well, if we were to impose a gag order on the potion as well, it would become difficult to explain why Amur lost to Chaos."
Since Amur was known throughout the Royal Capital as a formidable fighter thanks to the martial arts tournament, the judgment was that it would be hard to convince people that a former tournament champion—even with a three-year gap and having been worked to the bone in a mine—had pushed Amur to the brink of death in his current state.
"So, Tenma, you may speak about the potion, but whatever you do, keep the magic core a secret. Even if Amur and the others ask, you must not tell them."
After receiving the King's emphatic reminder and nodding my agreement, there was nothing more to discuss, and the meeting was adjourned.
After saying goodbye to everyone and heading for the door, Albert also bid farewell to the King and the others, then followed Grandpa and me.
"Albert, why don't you ride with us in our carriage?"
After walking for a while and putting some distance between ourselves and the room we'd been in, I invited Albert to ride home in our carriage, but he politely declined, saying he had come in the Duke's carriage.
"By the way, Tenma, I was shocked to hear you got caught up in an incident on your way back from the party. And I want to thank you for saving Eliza."
"Well, if anything, it was Amur who saved Eliza."
"Even so. I intend to thank Amur as well, but it's also true that things could have turned dangerous if you hadn't made it in time."
As he said this, Albert bowed once more. A bit embarrassed, I was waiting for him to raise his head when—
"Tenma! Is Amy safe?!"
From a distance, Tida came running over. She was so worried about Amy's condition that she was sprinting at full speed, and by the time she reached me, she was breathing quite heavily.
"Tenma, how is Amy?!"
Even so, Tida prioritized asking about Amy's safety over catching her breath, but—
"Lady Tida, please calm down."
Albert stopped her. It seemed Tida hadn't noticed Albert's presence, and she was startled when he spoke to her.
"Lady Tida, I understand your concern for Amy, but first you should thank Tenma. Then ask Amur and the others who were present. As for Amy, you should ask about her last."
After Albert's admonishment, Tida's expression immediately showed she'd realized her lapse. She apologized to Grandpa and me, properly thanked me again, and after asking about the condition of Amur and the others, she finally asked about Amy.
I told her that Amy was safe thanks to Amur and the others, but she still insisted on going to see her because she was worried…
"There's no way I can approve an outing in this heavy snow."
The moment she heard Lady Isabella's words, Tida became docile and stepped aside so as not to block their path.
"Albert, thank you for earlier. Coming from someone who was in the same position, your words must have truly hit home for Tida. Tenma, Merlin, I'm sorry about this. If Tenma hadn't made it in time, it could have damaged relations with the Southern Autonomous Region and the Sylfield Viscount family. I'm grateful. Also, at a later date, I would like to write a letter of thanks to Amur and the others myself."
Lady Isabella spoke with a different air than usual — perhaps because of the possibility that nobles working in the royal castle might be present — so I replied with as much courtesy as I could manage.
"Tida, let's go back. Amy is safer at Tenma's estate, so there's no need to worry so much."
"Yes…"
"At the estate, suspicious people can't easily break in, and there are escape routes for emergencies, so rest assured. Also, I'll be sure to let Amy know that you were worried about her, so if you have any other messages you'd like me to pass along, tell me."
When she heard this, Tida thought for a moment, then asked me to deliver a message: "I was worried when I heard she was attacked. The next time we meet, show me that you're in good health and put my mind at ease." I felt the message was perhaps a bit underwhelming, but on the other hand, if she had asked me to deliver something passionately romantic, that would have caused all sorts of trouble, so I promised to deliver it to Amy and parted ways with the two of them, heading back to the estate.
When I returned to the estate, there were…
"Nothing but Golems everywhere, eh."
The Golems I had placed in hiding around various parts of the estate as guards were now on alert in the garden.
"I'm pretty sure Slarin did this."
She was probably being extra cautious, but… today's heavy snow worked in our favor. If this had been a clear day with people walking around as usual, there would have undoubtedly been a crowd gathered around the estate.
"For now, I think we'll be fine if we return all the Golems except the number we actually need and step up security beyond the usual level."
"Aye, that'll do. At this rate, it'd be hard for carriages to pass through."
We left roughly double the usual number of Golems in place and sent the rest back to their original positions. Perhaps hearing the sound of the Golems returning, Jeanne opened the door and came out to greet us.
"Jeanne, how is Amur?"
"She regained consciousness a little while ago, but…"
When she said that, I wondered if there had been some problem, but —
"She's being a brat, saying she wants to eat meat."
That was so like Amur that it almost ended there, but both Grandpa and I were worried something might have happened — and when we heard that, we nearly collapsed on the spot like a comedy duo. Well, we barely kept our footing, but the floor was slippery from the snow, so it was genuinely dangerous.
"She didn't say anything about being in pain anywhere, did she?"
"She said her left arm, left side, right shoulder, and right leg hurt, but she didn't mention feeling nauseous or having a headache."
If all she was saying was that the places she'd been punched or bumped were sore, then there shouldn't be any serious problem for now.
"Did you give Amur anything to eat?"
If she'd eaten something and was asking for meat on top of that, I figured it would be better to make her wait — but since they hadn't given her anything yet, I decided to make something easy to digest.
"Amur. I made some porridge, so this'll have to do for now."
I went with egg porridge — something simple and easy on the stomach. But since that alone didn't include the meat Amur was craving, I also made some ground beef and served it alongside.
"Hmph! If you were going to go to the trouble, I'd have preferred a thick-cut steak…"
"Then no food for you today."
"Now wait — that's a problem! Ouch!"
Since she'd been acting so spoiled, I pretended to take the pot of porridge back — and Amur panicked, trying to stop me by moving her body, which made her wince in pain.
"Until the pain subsides, you'll have to put up with easy-to-digest food. Once you're fully healed, I'll make whatever you want."
When I said that, Amur reluctantly nodded. She glanced at the porridge sitting on the side table and muttered,
"Tenma… mmm."
She opened her mouth. The meaning was clear — she wanted me to feed her — but I still couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead,
"Aura, you're in charge."
"I've been entrusted!"
I asked Aura, who had been watching the porridge. Amur protested with all sorts of complaints, but I ignored every single one and let them slide.
After that, I heard Amur's screams after leaving the room, but he probably stuffed his cheeks with it without letting it cool down. Jeanne would likely fetch some water soon, so maybe I should head to the dining hall first and prepare some cold water for him.
"Water, water! Ah! Tenma, you come too!"
Amur's burn was worse than I thought. Jeanne came to get water, found me, and I ended up being dragged along to treat Amur. Come to think of it, I need to remember to pass on Tida's message to Emi before I forget.
Between Tida and Emi, and then with Chaos, it was going to be plenty noisy once we returned to the Royal Capital. I wished it could all just pass without incident from here on out... but that was probably asking too much. Never mind the two of them—the Chaos incident was far too suspicious, and I'd better assume some kind of commotion was bound to erupt somewhere eventually.
For now, I could only pray for peace until the snow melted enough to move around easily.
"Tenma, hurry! Amur injured his arm when he burned himself, and he's in agony!"
...I really did wish for peace.