Chapter 205 - Episode One - A Certain Fixer's Visit (1)
As the Palgas Village began to calm down after the disease case of the Levi Church, I was in the storeroom of Village Chief Heil’s mansion, going through the records and documents.
I was researching the matter of the witch’s tower.
In the witch’s tower, the alchemist Altamir, who was sealed up eighty years ago, lies dormant.
Because of this, the witch’s tower seems to have a crazy magic field, and powerful magic beasts and demons are said to appear around and inside the tower.
The strong wards make it impossible to take shortcuts such as jumping between levels or breaking down walls, and the only way to get to the upper levels is to break through the corridors where the demons and monsters appear.
For this reason, in the past, it was often used as a test of adventurers’ abilities, but these days it is forbidden to enter for the reason that “you never know what might happen”, and it seems that even in Palgas village have a half-rule to stop adventurers who try to approach the tower.
When I finished checking the materials I brought with me and was about to get out of my chair to search for more materials, Fleur appeared from behind a shelf with a stack of papers in her hand.
“Abel-sama, did you find anything useful?”
This is Fleur, the daughter of the village chief.
At the time of the disease case, she looked tired and gloomy after caring for her father, the village chief Heil, but she looks much brighter now.
The red hair that she inherits from her father also looks brighter than before.
“I’ve put together a list of documents on Altamir on the back shelf, if you’d like to see them.”
Fleur placed the stack of papers in front of my desk.
“Thank you. …… I’m sorry, Fleur, but really, from the village’s point of view, it’s against the rules, isn’t it? For the village chief’s daughter to hand over the materials of Altamir to a traveler. It’s off-limits, isn’t it? Eighty years ago, this tower was built near the Pargas village so that the people of the village could keep an eye on it……”
Fleur’s cheeks turned slightly red as her hair when I praised her, and she hid the lower half of her face with a piece of material she was holding in her hand.
Then she watched me apologize, but she covered his mouth with the material and chuckled.
“Abel-sama is the hero of this village, so no one would complain about that. Don’t worry about it. It’s only recently that the ban on invasion was put in place, and the reason for it was…… announced unilaterally by the royal family, so father doesn’t really understand, but it was probably for the safety of the adventurers. In that sense, there’s no problem for you, Abel-sama.”
“R-Really? Then I’ll take your word for it……”
Lark also looked rather reluctant, but he didn’t say a word that would clearly stop me from visiting the witch’s tower.
I’m sure Lark has already factored in that I will be heading to the witch’s tower.
There should be no problem at all. Rather, it would be rude to Lark if I don’t go.
…… No, that’s not probably true.
“Oh ……”
I noticed a bundle of reports from the days when adventurers were climbing up to the witch’s tower, and their crests.
Apparently, there used to be an adventurer’s guild in the Pargas Village, but they closed it down as soon as the witch’s tower was forbidden to enter.
Looking at the documents, though, it’s not a very large place, and it seems to have been turned into a witch’s tower administration office.
As I was reading the materials, I suddenly looked up and met eyes with Fleur.
Fleur is smiling at me.
“Um …… I’m sorry, if you look at me too much, it’s a bit, shall we say, hard to concentrate ……”
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”
“N-no, not really that much, but ……”
Suddenly our eyes met, and it was somewhat awkward.
Amidst the strange atmosphere, I somehow managed to calm my mind as I looked down at the material.
“Abel Abel! I’ve got a book that looks interesting! …… hmm?”
Mea emerged from a room separate from the storeroom.
A book was held in her hand.
Mea frowned unexpectedly and then stared at Fleur with probing half-eyes.
When Fleur laughed deceptively, Mea gave a small bow before coming up to my side.
“…… What were you talking about?”
“No, Fleur brought me the material……”
I glanced over to the cover of the book Mea had brought with her.
“The Wegener Expedition — The Abominable Causes of the Witch’s Tower — / Written by Wegener Wolcock.”
I thought that I heard about it…… which I’ve heard of somewhere, and the face of the thin-haired scholar during the exploration of the ruins popped into my mind.
“…… Oh, so it’s Wegener-san’s”
“Yes! This is Wegener-san’s expedition! Mea didn’t know there was a title like that in that man’s series!”
It seems a little suspicious to me…… A book written by that guy.
I took the book from Mea and flipped through it.
“It’s a detailed, real-life experience, so it might be helpful to you……”
“Mea-sama, that’s actually something that caused a collection racket when I was little. When I heard from the adventurers that such a book was circulating, father contacted the author via the lord of the Fage territory.”I told him that it would be dangerous for an adventurer to enter the tower.”
Fleur giggled, hiding her mouth.
Mea blushed and gently grabbed Wegener’s book in my hand.
I didn’t have any reason to resist either, so I decided to just hand it over to Mea.
Mea glanced at Fleur’s materials in my hand.
She puffed up her cheeks a little and ran down the aisle where she had come from with Wegener’s book in her hand.
“Me-, Mea will go find the materials, too!”
“It’s dangerous if you run, Mea-sama.”
Fleur looked at Mea’s back with a somewhat triumphant look on her face.
…… I didn’t understand this person because she was tired before, but she has a pretty good personality.
A flustered-looking village chief Heil had just opened the door when Mea touched the door.
“What is the matter with you, father?”
When Fleur asked, Village Chief Heil had a troubled looking face looking at my direction.
“Actually…… a bishop from another province is here to hear the story of Abel-dono, the man who arrested the Levi followers. Would you be willing to meet with him?”
“The bishop? Has he been sent out this way for Marias and Nelgliffe’s case?”
If you’re going to contact a frontier area like this, why not leave it to a more lowly person?
“That may be part of it, but …… apparently he originally intended to stop by this territory.”
…… in this territory?
I’m sorry to say it, but the Fage territory, and Pargas Village too, is in the edge of the Dinrat Kingdom.
Going to the other territories through here is a significant detour no matter how you think about it.
At most, the only thing beyond this was the Witch’s Tower and the Riveras Nation.
“I understand. Is he in this mansion now?”
“In the dungeons of the village. He asked that he want to talk with that Nelgliffe. I suggested that we take our time here at…… and apparently, he was quiet busy, as he didn’t care about appearances, so he never minded wherever it is.”
“…… That’s not a person disguising as Levi follower, is it?”
“He also had the markings of the Kudor Church, so I’m pretty sure of it, though……”
It’s kind of suspicious……
“Okay. Anyway, I’ll see him once. What kind of person is he?”
“He said his name is Peter-sama. Abel-dono, please do not be rude to him for any reason. He said he didn’t care about appearances, but he seemed a little …… well, he seemed to be a bit hard to talk to, so……”
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