14 Chapter 14 (1/2)
Lucy and Lucius stayed to help Wilfred clean up the room, it was a total mess. Someone had come in and ransacked the place while they were gone. Wilfred's primary suspect was Valery. Seeing as how she had exited the apartment and she had plenty of time to do it as well as knowing that Wilfred was stuck over there.
On top of his belongings being scattered everywhere, much of the furniture was destroyed as well. Wilfred went to see the secretary, Geneve, who had initially brought him to this room and she was devastated.
”Hey, at least you can still make more right?” Lucius tried to cheer him up but it would prove to be an impossible feat.
”Do you have any idea who else would have done this? ” Wilfred asked Lucy and Lucius. Lucy answered promptly.
”Well, there are multiple factions in precarious balance at work in Leganon. The n.o.bles are a prime suspect. You already have bad relations with the daughter of a duke, Isabella and the son of a count, Hovard. ”
Lucy then laid her hand against her head and thought for a bit.
”I suppose there's also the army and the mage corps. Although they work together, they're two separate ent.i.ties. Word must have gotten around about your weapon, especially when you used it in the fight against Hovard. ”
Argh. Wilfred cursed himself. He didn't think about the possible ramifications of that. At that point in time it was personal, he wanted to win no matter what.
”We can't rule out possible spies from foreign nations either. They're likely to keep an eye on the upcoming talent coming from the academy. It's not because both Nansen and Moburi are peaceful with us right now that they don't keep tabs on us. There's also that weird dragon cult, they want to revive the old dragons that used to rule the world. I don't see them stealing your weapons though. ”
Hmmm, there was much more to this world that Wilfred hadn't yet learned. He would have to get informed on all these big players sooner or later if he was going to serve as a general in the army. Well, that was his end goal currently but it could change.
”There is another faction. They're very hard to find but you can see some of their propaganda in the city sometimes. They call themselves the Leganon Liberation Front and are aiming to remove the n.o.bles from power. Rumor has it they get some support from the Dwarven Republic, which would like a different form of government to take over here. Plus, if we're busy fighting each other, we don't bother them.”
Wilfred was impressed, Lucy really knew a lot about the local situation.
”Wow, you're pretty knowledgeable about all this stuff Lucy.”
”Well I have to. I'm a Prince's daughter after all. All this stuff was forced down my throat whether I liked it or not. I did take an interest in other kingdoms though. A lot of the monsters we fight aren't really monsters, they're demi-humans. There's a lot of tribes and species. Some of them even trade among themselves, we're really doing ourselves a disservice by not doing it also.”
Wilfred tended to agree with her opinion. Deep down, what most people want is simply a good life for their families. It's the countries that usually spark wars in order to obtain resources and land. Many would say a soldier's job is only to act but there is a moral aspect as well. Even if it is a military order, obeying a command that involves the commission of a crime; such as killing unarmed civilians, is unlawful and naturally one should disobey such an order. Of course, no one is excited to appear in military court to defend themselves about refusing to follow orders.
In a world such as this one, is there such things Wilfred wonders. It appears that in this world the n.o.bles are in charge and that the laws only very loosely apply to them. Would he be forced to commit atrocities? Would they simply kill him if he refused?
Wilfred's thoughts continued to wander on such matters until before he knew it, the cleaning was done.
”Thanks. You were both a great help. I suppose I need to report this, sigh.”
Wilfred thanked his friends and bid them goodbye. They would meet later at any rate, there was a small celebration planned for the students who graduated. That night, Wilfred slept with one eye open, unable to shake the feeling the burglars would come back.
Deciding that his number one priority was to report the theft, Wilfred headed downstairs to the Headmaster office right after waking up. Still being early in the day, it seemed that Primus was not yet too busy, simply reading some doc.u.ments at his desk. Knocking on the door, Wilfred proceeded to enter after the Headmaster waved him inside.
”Ah, Wilfred. I trust everything from yesterday is fine?”
Wilfred nodded negatively.
”My guns… the artifacts I created, they were stolen.”
”Oh, no, that's normal. You see, magically created items just vanish after the mana powering them is gone. It ranges from a few hours to a few days maximum.”
'No, you don't understand. My room was flipped upside down, everything was taken apart and they've stolen two of the four artifacts I had made!”
Primus's eyebrows raised and his eyes narrowed.
”What!? Can you show me the ones you have?”
Wilfred took out the two guns he had on him, deciding to keep them with him at all times now. He still had the Colt Anaconda and another he had experimented with on a slow day, an HK MP5 submachine gun. Obviously, the stats from this world were very different than on earth as these fired magical energy as bullets. The concept of damage was also a bit different here. Getting shot by one of these in either the chest or head would almost mean death unless treated immediately, in his world anyways.
However, it seemed that an overall Health Points system calculated the life of people here. Would that mean a shot to the heart would do the same as one to the hand? Wilfred had many questions but no real way of answering them, not yet anyhow.
Wilfred deposited the weapons on the desk and Primus examined them more closely, turning them up and down and casting an [Inspect] on them.
[Artifact Weapon]
Colt Anaconda, Lv35
ATK: 322
DEF: 4
DUR: 24
Ammo: 5/6
Effect: Fires a pure magical bullet, non-elemental. Can fire 6 shots before you must recharge with mana.
[Artifact Weapon]
HK MP5, Lv28
ATK: 196
DEF: 8
DUR: 16
Ammo: 20/30
Effect: Fires pure magical bullets, non-elemental. Can fire 30 shots in full automatic fas.h.i.+on or semi-auto before you must recharge with mana.
”Hmmmm, very interesting. Also very dangerous. I cannot stress how important it is that you do not simply...well, let them fall into the wrong hands. I will have to teach you a spell.”
Primus opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out an empty scroll. Taking a quill and dipping it in ink, he etched some symbols on it and casted a spell, [Deconstruction]. He then handed the scroll over to Wilfred.
”Now, please read this so you may learn the spell.”
Wilfred looked curiously at the Headmaster.
”What? You can learn spells this way? Why doesn't everyone do that? What will I learn?”
”The paper is specially made for enchanting, we can't do this all the time. I am doing it now because to let you keep creating these weapons is too dangerous. You will learn the spell [Deconstruction], it allows one to destroy magical items, permanently.”
Wilfred was about to question Primus when he interjected.
”However! It is much harder to destroy something not only made by pure magic, but with physical components, such as that trinket from yesterday that miss Isabella owned.”
”And what happens when I destroy something?”
”Well, it returns to its original state, Mana.”
Wilfred took the scroll and opened it up, reading the symbols etched on it. At first, it did not make much sense, some meaningless scribbles with no purpose until he took it all into view and the symbols started glowing. Wilfred felt a tingle in his spine, a bit like when one listens to music and gets those little gooseb.u.mps in their backs.