Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 38

“Hope you make some pleasant memories in Apate.”

With the portal administrator’s greeting, we arrived at our destination.

“Whew. That was a long way.”

Noah Grentel shook her head. It was a long journey, passing through several portals from Ias in the northern part of the continent.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

Following her lead, we stepped outside.

Whoosh!

A dry, cold wind tousled my hair.

‘It’s desolate.’

The scenery was too bleak for a kingdom. Sparsely placed buildings barely hinted at human habitation.

Regma Desert. Known as the forsaken land.

Since no one had lived here a thousand years ago, it was impossible to imagine how this place had changed.

[A place like this is perfect for the Central Council to hide out.]

A city that people clearly avoided. It seemed like the perfect place for criminals to hide.

‘True. This city reeks of something fishy.’

[This could be fun.]

Noah also shrugged, looking around.

“This is my first time here too, and it’s more desolate than I thought.”

Clio scratched his head at our reaction. He seemed to be the only one familiar with the dry wind, taking a deep breath.

“It is a bit rough, isn’t it? But it gets a little better if you go further in.”

Clio pointed to a place where the buildings were relatively clustered compared to where we were.

“Ah, then let’s hurry and go!”

It wasn’t far, so we arrived quickly.

‘This side definitely feels more like people live here.’

Most of the buildings were made of packed earth, and there were people passing by from time to time. It felt quite urban. Of course, even so, it was still more dreary than other cities.

‘Is Admun following us okay?’

Oberon naturally checked behind us at my question.

[Yeah. He’s coming along just fine. Though I don’t know why he’s hiding behind buildings with only his head sticking out.]

‘Right. There’s no need to hide his identity.’

After all, only Drew knew his identity, and I had told Drew to pretend not to know.

‘Whatever. Let him do what he wants.’

He’s probably just at the age where he wants to feel like he’s tailing someone, even in this situation.

The children stared blankly at Noah in the unfamiliar environment.

“Here, this is the request form.”

Noah handed over the paper.

“From now on, you have to solve this on your own. I’m just here to watch, and I was told not to help you at all.”

As Professor Andre had said, Noah’s role was simply to protect us in case something happened.

“Okay.”

The request form contained the details of the request along with a simple map.

“This must be where the client is. Clio, can you make sense of this map?”

When I handed the request form to Clio, he nodded.

“Yeah! It’s near where we are now. It’s just a short walk that way.”

He pointed to the right.

“Then, let’s meet the client first.”

The children seemed excited about their first request. And my steps felt a little lighter too.

* * *

“It should be around here…….”

Clio buried his face in the map. Drew approached him.

“Could that be it?”

Drew pointed to an inn.

“Oh! I think that’s right! It’s marked right there on the map.”

The exterior was a bit old. But considering the constant sandstorms, it looked relatively clean.

“Let’s go inside.”

As I opened the door and stepped inside, a delicious smell stimulated my nose.

‘They must be running a restaurant too.’

The first floor was a restaurant, and the second floor and above were guest rooms. It was a typical small-town inn.

“Welcome!”

A middle-aged man greeted us from the front counter at the entrance.

‘Is this the one who made the request?’

His gaze quickly scanned our appearance. Soon, his stiff expression brightened.

“Oh my! Young masters. What brings you to such a humble place? What do you need?”

He rushed out from behind the counter in his socks.

[He thinks he’s caught a sucker.]

It was a common occurrence. Usually, the children of prestigious families or nobles didn’t know the ways of the world and spent money freely. So, merchants like him thought they had struck gold.

“Would you like a meal? Or do you need a room?”

The children were flustered by his aggressive demeanor. Instead, I opened my mouth.

“We’re here to work.”

“……Excuse me?”

The man blinked.

“Are you the one who requested this through the Magic Tower?”

When I took out the request form, his eyes narrowed sharply.

“Ah, yes. I did make the request, but…….”

Then, the man scanned us again. A faint sigh escaped his lips.

“Haa. Well, let me introduce myself first. I’m Rugo, the owner of this place. Are you all the ones dispatched from the Magic Tower?”

The man seemed somewhat displeased.

‘Is he looking down on us because we’re young?’

However, finding a lost item was something we could handle on our own.

“Yes. We’re all there is. Don’t worry. We’re also official members of the Magic Tower. We can use basic search magic.”

Of course, there was no need to add that it was a field practice for new recruits.

“……Hmm. I understand. Please help me.”

Reluctantly, Rugo nodded. He began to explain the situation in detail.

“A customer came here a while ago. A customer who used a guest room. But after going out for a short time, he came back and said his belongings were gone, wouldn’t you know it?”

“The belongings he left in the guest room?”

“Yes. The customer said that someone must have stolen it, but I have no ability to find the culprit.”

Rugo shook his head.

“But since then, that customer has been coming back every day, threatening me to find his belongings. Because he’s creating such a tense atmosphere, the number of restaurant customers has decreased a lot.”

His gaze turned to us again.

“Can you find it for me?”

“We’ll do our best. But what is the item?”

“He said it’s a family treasure, a uniquely shaped jewel.”

“Hmm……. Are there any suspects? Other people who stayed that day? Restaurant customers?”

“I don’t know. There are so many people coming and going, and there are many foreigners too. If you need it, I can give you the names of the people who came and went that day. I wrote them down in a ledger.”

It was a more complicated mission than I thought.

[It wasn’t a simple missing item case, but a theft case.]

‘That’s even better. We have to find the remnants of the Central Council anyway.’

The longer it took to solve, the better for me. I could stay in this city without worrying about being watched.

“Okay. Please give us a room to stay in too. It might take a few days.”

“Of course. Come this way.”

* * *

The children met after unpacking in their respective rooms.

“Let’s have dinner here on the first floor first.”

Since it was a case that happened here, the goal was to understand this building first.

“Ooh! That’s great!”

Drew was just excited.

When I went down to the first-floor restaurant, a man winked at me from a corner. Admun was also taking a seat and ordering food.

‘He’s following us well.’

[But is that a disguise or not?]

He was glancing this way, wearing a strangely shaped hat pulled down low.

‘Let him do what he wants. Our Admun can do whatever he wants.’

We also sat down near Admun, and Rugo brought out the menu.

“Um, this and this! And give me this too.”

The order was placed under Drew’s leadership.

“Hmm…….”

Noah’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I don’t think we should take this request.”

Her sudden recommendation made the children’s eyes widen.

“Why?”

Drew and Clio asked at the same time.

“This is a theft case. If it was a simple missing item case, you could handle it, but I don’t think this is a request you should take.”

She was right. It wasn’t something that a group of new students could handle like playing detective.

“Then can’t we do it? Isn’t it just finding the culprit?”

At Clio’s disappointed voice, Noah explained again.

“The Magic Tower’s requests are divided into four stages, from A to D. And the ones assigned to new students should be the easiest, D-level. But theft cases are at least C-level or higher. It seems like the client wrote the details too vaguely, so it was misclassified as D-level.”

It was natural for her to worry. As she was dispatched to take responsibility for the children’s safety, she wanted to eliminate any risk factors.

‘I need to stay in Apate a little longer…….’

I didn’t care whether the request was carried out or not, but I had to look for traces of the Central Council. In the end, I had no choice but to persuade Noah.

“Then, how about we look for a few days and then go? It’s our first mission, so I want to at least try it.”

“It could be dangerous. We don’t know what kind of people the thieves are. They could be vicious criminals.”

“It could be a simple loss. And if something dangerous happens, we can give up then.”

“Hmm……. Are you really okay with that?”

“Of course.”

It was at that moment when I was arguing with Noah.

Bang!

The door of the store was thrown open roughly.

“Hey!”

A gruff male voice dominated the store.

The eyes of the few customers in the restaurant all turned to the entrance. Three burly men with fierce eyes were standing there.

“Oh my, what is it this time, sir!”

Rugo, who was bringing out our food, ran over in a hurry. The man at the front grabbed his collar without hesitation.

“Did you find my stuff yet! Do you know what it is? Should I turn this place upside down?”

Rugo trembled at the loud noise.

‘Those guys must be the owners of the item.’

Surrounded by the threat of the three men, Rugo’s mouth moved hastily.

“I, I requested it from the Magic Tower! They’ll find it soon.”

The man’s brow twitched at those words.

“……The Magic Tower?”

Only then did the man slowly release his grip.

“Haa, haa…….”

Rugo’s hand, gasping for breath, turned to us.

“Those young masters are the ones! They’ve already come and are looking around.”

Naturally, the men’s heads turned. Three pairs of eyes scanned us.

“Those kids are going to find my stuff?”

Then, the man approached Rugo again.

“Yes…….”

“Are you out of your mind! You’re telling those little brats to find our stuff?”

In an instant, a light flashed from his chest.

Clang!

It was the man who took out a dagger and held it to Rugo’s neck.

“Why, why are you doing this!”

I couldn’t stand by any longer. Protecting the client was the basis of the mission.

As I got up from my seat, Drew sent me a worried look.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Of course.”

They didn’t seem to have learned magic. Those big, hulking thugs were no match for me.

‘Well, there are plenty of people who can help if something happens.’

Already, Noah was conjuring blue flames under the table next to me.

Admun was also ready to pounce at any moment.

“Hey. Mister. Let’s talk it out.”

In the end, I grabbed the wrist of the man holding the dagger.