Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 65 - 62: I Want to See His Majesty the King

"Will you be my Favored One?"

The resurrected Deer-headed God, Deryats, wasn’t looking at Rorschach, instead gazing at the beetle resting on his finger.

"Why are you asking me?" Rorschach found it amusing, but the laugh tugged at his wounds, making them ache. He had already seen the display on his panel:

[Deryats Forest (Red)] "Magic Control (Orange)" "Activation (Blue)" "Su Sheng (Blue)" "Mapping (Blue)" "Divine Favor (God of the Forest)"

A small note: The homeland of the God of the Forest; only a phantom of a single corner can be summoned.

The Divine Art was completely unlocked, and the need for Blood was removed. He had already received the Divine Favor.

Rorschach thought for a moment, then looked up to study the being again. "As far as I know, the Forest God is Silvanos. Who exactly are you?"

"I am more familiar with His feminine aspect’s name—Silvia," Deryats explained calmly. "He is one of the progenitors of the Elves. After ascending to godhood, He came to preside over the plains and forests and was on good terms with me and the Moon God. Later... You must have met His last descendant."

’Hill? Silvia?’ The Deer-headed God had just spelled out the obvious connection.

He continued to speak, his voice echoing through the cavern. "As for me, I am merely one who cultivated himself out of reverence for nature and the forest. Once, my path had many followers, who managed the balance of the forest and maintained the harmony of nature in my name. However, my path died with me, leaving only a few spells to be used by Exorcists."

His deer-like eyes remained fixed on the beetle, its intricate patterns holding some unknown meaning. After a long silence, he softly announced to Rorschach, "There are no more Druids in this world. If you have no interest, then so be it."

"You’ve been dead for so long, don’t be so pessimistic!" Rorschach couldn’t tell if the being was actually sad, but he offered a few words of comfort anyway.

’As for becoming a Favored One... what a joke. That’s like the worst career path imaginable. I’m better off sticking to being a Mage.’

"To be honest, I’m no environmentalist. No matter how big the forests are, they can’t support the tens of thousands of people we have now. Civilizations inevitably consume resources as they grow, and environmental damage is unavoidable during that development. Once civilization reaches a certain stage, when everyone has food on the table, perhaps more people will be willing to follow you again."

Deryats nodded. "It is good that you are honest. Please do one last thing for me: take this to a suitable place."

The towering figure shattered and dissipated, transforming into motes of blue light. Most of the light flowed into the beetle, encasing it once more in amber. The remaining portion flowed into the bodies of Rorschach and Yina. Rorschach felt the pain in his body diminish greatly, and a good deal of his energy returned.

It was unclear if Deryats had done it intentionally or if it was a consequence of her overexerted Casting, but Yina was still deep in sleep. Rorschach draped her right arm over his shoulder, supported her, and began walking step by step toward the cave serving as their shelter.

"Rorschach! Rorschach!" The team leader saw Rorschach emerge from deep within the cave and rushed over. "What’s wrong with Yina? Is she badly injured?"

Rorschach shook his head. "Yina just exhausted her Ether. It shouldn’t be anything serious... Where is everyone else?"

Rorschach noticed the Dense Forest was empty, with only a red light pulsing continuously from within. The Dense Forest, created by the Divine Art, remained even with no one maintaining it, and light shone down from the broken ceiling of the cave.

’Perhaps this plane won’t be so barren in the future.’

"A Teleportation Array?"

Nemo helped Rorschach with Yina’s left arm, and the three of them walked abreast toward the activated Teleportation Array. "The Main Plane opened a teleportation channel," Nemo said. "We need to hurry. I don’t know how the Great Mages have kept it open for this long..."

On the other end, Kano was drenched in sweat, veins bulging on the sides of his forehead. "For the love of Ether, either Nemo and that kid get back here, or get unit three repaired! I can’t hold on much longer!"

"Teacher Kano, you’ve been maintaining the Magic Array all by yourself? How many Purple Potions have you drunk?" a familiar voice asked as its owner appeared.

"Is that everyone?"

"That’s the..." CRACK! The Magic Array cut out, and the laboratory was instantly filled with rampaging Ether and crackling static.

"Oh, my old bones... Come on, get the... oh, since it’s Nemo and Rorschach, never mind. And this Mage Yina is unconscious, I see. No need, no need." Kano waved his hand, dismissing an eager Apprentice who was holding a paper bag.

He looked Rorschach over. Like Yina, his clothes were tattered and he was covered in red, with flecks of orange dust. The dark red patches were dried blood.

After a moment of silence, Master Kano said solemnly to Rorschach, "I am very sorry..." He patted Rorschach’s shoulder. "Go get changed first. The treatment room is on the fourth floor. Get some good rest..."

Rorschach waved a hand, indicating he was fine, and walked out of the laboratory.

In the hallway of the research building, a man with a paper bag over his head struggled desperately, trying to break free from the Apprentice escorting him. His shouts, muffled by the bag, could be heard all over the first floor. "I must see His Majesty the King! I must see His Majesty the King! I have something important to report!"

At the entrance, Granor frowned as he watched the man being escorted out. He glanced at the representative sent by the King, but the representative’s attention was drawn to something else:

The perfectly synchronized clip-clop of hooves echoed as four tall horses approached. They must have hailed from the north of the continent; even more precious was their pure brown coloring, without a single stray hair. As they caught the sun, their coats and the gold ornaments on the carriage gleamed in unison. The crest on its side proclaimed to all onlookers that a carriage from the Royal Palace had arrived.

If the four horses had been white, the representative would know the master of the Kingdom himself was arriving in person. As it was, the occupant was still certain to be an incredibly distinguished figure.

So he hurried to the front of the carriage. After it stopped, a young man disembarked, followed by an attendant who was even younger and carried himself with an even more remarkable air. It was the Minister of Finance! The court’s rising star and a rival to the Prime Minister! Behind him... the King’s representative recognized Valon, who was now serving as the Minister of Finance’s follower.

"Lord Nekker, what brings you here?" The King’s representative was one of the Guard Captain’s men, but he had no choice but to bow to this lord whose power was on the rise.

Nekker didn’t break his stride, replying as he walked toward the research building, "I happened to be on official business on Prairie Avenue, so I thought I’d stop by to see the commotion." Valon, behind him, offered no response and brushed past the bowing representative. The young man’s jaw, like it was carved from marble, was level with the representative’s eyebrows. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The man, his paper bag now removed, grew even more agitated at the sight of Nekker. He shouted as if he wanted everyone on Prairie Avenue to hear him, "Lord Nekker! Lord Nekker is here!"

"And this is...?"

The frenzied man looked somewhat familiar to Granor. Ruling out his own students, he figured the man must be an Apprentice from the Nobility.

Just as he thought, the man ran excitedly in front of Nekker and stammered out his identity. "Lord Nekker, you must inform the great His Majesty the King that I, Gabriel de Crotti, second son of the Marquis of Picardy, have discovered a gold mine on His Majesty’s territory!"

Having successfully drawn the attention of everyone present, he fumbled inside his robes, pulled out a fist-sized object, and held it up with both hands.

Everyone, including Rorschach who was now looking out a window on the second floor, saw it clearly: Crotti was holding up a pitted, misshapen, but still dazzlingly brilliant chunk of gold.