Exiled Alchemist’s Frontier Life: A Former Elite’s Fresh Start in the Backcountry After Failing Again - Chapter 14: Nakama
Zeke-San, are you really okay with a one-week deadline for this urgent request?”
Once we leave the office, Eerika-San asks.
“If it’s just about 100 pieces, it’s manageable. But is that major always like that?”
“I haven’t met him often, but yes, that’s his usual demeanour.”
He seems like the unpleasant type of noble.
“Eerika-San, I’ll handle this urgent request on my own.”
“Huh? But… I can help you!”
That’s what Eerika would say…
“No, this request is a bit special. I want you to focus on the bricks and ingots. You haven’t worked with ingots before, have you?”
“No. Although I did work with them during school exercises…”
“That’s enough. Anyway, let’s head back to the branch.”
We leave the office and walk back to the branch.
“Um, Zeke-San, are you really okay with this urgent request?”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean by ‘okay’?”
“It’s my first time dealing with an urgent request… And we didn’t have any deliveries of magic stones last year.”
It’s unfortunate that there haven’t been any deliveries of essential military items like magic stones…
“This is a form of harassment.”
“Harassment? Why?”
“I don’t know the reason. Maybe they didn’t like being ordered around or they received money from civilians… Anyway, this request is out of the ordinary.”
I believe they received money from civilians to undermine us. Bureaucrats can be like that.
“I’m sorry… I don’t understand.”
Eerika-San looks downcast.
“It’s fine not to understand this. Normally, unless there’s a war or a large-scale monster outbreak, there shouldn’t be a shortage of magic stones. The military always keeps a stock of them. The fact that this request was made probably means they think the branch can’t handle the delivery.”
Indeed, there weren’t such requests last year.
“I-I see…”
“Well, it’s a chance for the branch to benefit, so don’t worry about it. Magic stones aren’t that difficult to handle.”
It’s a hassle to do it by hand, but it’s manageable.
As we chat, we return to the branch and go up to the second floor, taking our seats.
“Since we’re waiting for the magic crystals, let me teach you how to make ingots… although, you’ve done it at the magic school, right?”
“Yes. We did it during practical exercises.”
“Then give it a try.”
“Um…”
Eerika-San places a piece of iron ore on the desk and starts channelling magic into it, making it glow slightly.
“Well… You can do it.”
There’s nothing more to teach.
“It takes time, though.”
“Everyone says that. If we had specialised equipment, it would be done in an instant, but…”
We don’t have such equipment here.
“I’d like to get such equipment someday.”
Who knows when that will be…
I watch Eerika’s work on transforming the iron ore into iron, giving occasional advice, and then go out to buy some bread for lunch. When I return, I see several soldiers unloading wooden crates from a vehicle in front of the branch. Lutz-San is among them, so I approach him.
“Hey, did you bring the magic crystals?”
“Huh? Oh, Zekevald-san.”
“Just Zeke is fine. No need for formalities, we’re about the same age.”
Lutz is probably in his early twenties.
“Well, yeah. Is Eerika upstairs having lunch?”
“Yeah, she’s having lunch. Should I call her?”
“No, that’s fine. More importantly, I need you to handle the 100 magic crystals. Here’s the appraisal report.”
Lutz hands me a piece of paper, and I read it.
“5 B-rank, 22 C-rank… the rest are D-rank…”
They’re not bad, but they’re a bit mediocre.
“I gathered them in a rush from the market.”
He used people to gather them in the morning. I’d prefer to see better quality even if it takes a whole day, but I can’t complain to the requester.
“Do we need to use a catalyst to improve the quality? It will be more expensive, though.”
“No, that’s not necessary. But the Major said it needs to be done within three days…”
Is he an idiot?
“Requests from the requester mean the cost will double, or even more.”
“…Just between us, the Major wants us to fail.”
I know.
“We can manage in three days. But be prepared for the bill. Well, it might not concern you.”
“I’m just a messenger. But are you really okay? Normally, a request like this would have a deadline of at least a month.”
“It’s urgent, isn’t it? Sometimes, it’s like that. We just need the payment.”
In the capital, urgent requests are common, and I’ve made some myself. If they hesitate, my catchphrase is, ‘There are 24 hours in a day!’
Yeah, I can see why that would make people dislike me.
“Anyway, I’ll need it in three days. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. By the way, I’d like to ask, “Is that major from this town?”
“No, apparently he’s a noble from the north.”
A demotion, just like me.
“I see… Well then, I’ll deliver it within three days. Thanks for your hard work.”
The soldiers use spatial magic to store the wooden crates they placed in front of the branch.
“Spatial magic… If you can use that, you should have mentioned it earlier. We unloaded the crates for no reason.”
“Sorry about that.”
Without feeling any guilt, he responds and heads into the branch, going up to the second floor.