Magicraft Meister Part 1

The next day, the 27th, Jin and his crew left for Alban after breakfast.

Spica 7 of the 5th column (Quinta) was in charge of the Alban area, and they had found an abandoned building nearby that they had remodeled and turned into their base.

Of course, the base is equipped with a warp gate, so we can jump to the base by using the gate.

Again, Hanna was blindfolded and moved to the base just to be safe. Although not visible, a covert maneuver unit (SP) was also with us.

"We have been waiting for you, Chief, Sister. And Erza-san, Hannah-chan."

Spica 7 greeted us. She was about the same size as Elsa. She had a little more chest.

Her hair was a brown bob like Jin and the others. Her eyes were gray. She was dressed in brown linen clothes like a commoner.

"Oh, thank you."

As Jin worked to greet her, Hannah, who had just taken off her blindfold, said to him,

"Who is she?

"Who's this?" she asked.

"Oh, I guess she's Reiko's sister. She looks bigger than Reiko.

When Hitoshi explained, Hannah made a subtle face, as if she understood or not.

"We're here to see Alban, the capital of the Klein Kingdom. I'm also here to deliver this sword to you.

"Yes, you can count on me, Chief. I will take you there.

To which Spica 7 replies,

"Don't call me Chief right now. And don't call Reiko Sister. I'll be Jin and Reiko will be Reiko. And no "like" either.

Okay, Jin-san.

Yes, that's fine. So, what should I call you?

Yes, in town I'm Burgoo.

Okay, Burgot. Well, get on with it and show us the way.

We step out of the ruins. The sky was clear in Kunlun Island, but it was a light overcast here. Jin puts on the half-coat he has brought with him, which is the mark of the Honorary Magi Craftsman of the Kingdom of Egelea.

The ruins seemed to be protected by wards, and he felt a slight discomfort when he left. The wards were quite strong.

There was a small forest around the ruins, which also had simple wards to confuse our sense of direction. Spica 7 seems to be very cautious.

After a 10-minute walk, the capital city of Alban finally came into view.

This is also a fortified city, and its walls are about 8 meters high. The walls of Asunto, the capital of the Kingdom of Egelea, were 10 meters high, so the height of the walls was lower than that, but the stone walls were still very massive.

We left Kunlun Island a little after 8:30 a.m., so it was past 7:00 a.m. in Alban, which is about one and a half hours ahead of Kunlun Island. It seems that the gates of the city have just opened.

"Is there some kind of screening process to get in?"

"Yes. The dispute with the Kingdom of Franz has subsided, but since there was a dispute with the Kingdom of Franz, you will be required to show some form of identification. In Jin-san's case, I think a certificate of Honorary Magical Craftsman "Honorary Magical Craftsman" will be sufficient."

Jin was glad he had worn this just in case.

"What about Hannah and Elsa?"

"Yes, Hannah is small, so I think she can be Jin's sister. Elsa is a bit more subtle. It would be easier if we could prove that they are family members.

Jin recalled that he had once proved that he was a magecraftsman in Potrock.

"Erza can now use a lot, can't she?　Let's go with that."

He then went through his pockets to see if he could find any materials. He found a scrap piece of light silver. It was probably the half-silver scraps from the carriage construction in the Kingdom of Egelea.

When I test-drove the carriage, I put on a half-coat and shoved the leftover scraps into my pocket at random and left them there. It is small, but it is enough to make a pen like the one I made the other day.

"Okay, when they ask you for proof, make a pen out of this and show them.

"Yes."

That's a relief. Reiko disappears in stealth.

The group then heads for the open gate.

"Hello, Bago, you look beautiful today.

Thanks, and good luck with your work.

I thought Spica 7-Bargo didn't need any identification, but he seemed to know the guards well enough to get a pass.

"Who are those guys over there?

"Yes, my friend Jin-san, a magecraftsman, and his sisters.

Jin and his sisters bowed to him.

"Oh, I see. Do you have any proof?"

They seem to be treated with a certain amount of politeness, as they are Bago's acquaintances. On the other side, another guard is checking a man who looks like a merchant.

"I am the Honorary Magical Craftsman of the Kingdom of Egelea.

Jin showed the coat of arms on the left breast of his half-coat.

"If this is not enough ......"

He tried to take out the certificate engraved in mithril silver, but the guard stopped him,

"No, I understand, thank you. Where is your daughter?

I'm your daughter-in-law!

Hannah answered cheerfully.

"Yes, I got it. And finally, who is your daughter?　...... She's a beauty too.

She looked at Erza and said, "She's quite light-hearted, isn't she?

"I am brother Jin's sister. This proves it."

Erza said this and showed the light silver in her hand to the guards,

"<>"

He showed a pen formed by engineering magic. The guards were amazed at the speed at which it was made.

"This is amazing. All right, please go through. Here is a temporary proof.

He presented three wooden bills to the guard.

"If you have these, it proves that you have been properly examined at the gate.

Jin, Elsa, and Hannah took them.

"Please give it back to me when you leave. If you do not have it, you may be treated as a suspicious person.

"Okay. Thank you very much."

Jin said and walked through the gate. Finally, it was Alban.

"That went well, Jin-san."

"Yes. BARGO, are you close to that guard?

Jin asked, sounding at ease.

"Yes. His name is Barthes, and he is a knight in his own right.　As you can see, he has a lighthearted personality, so if you talk to him when he's not busy, he'll divulge all sorts of information on his own, which is very useful.

"I see. ......"

Jin was strangely impressed by the fact that the fifth column (Quinta) had grown so strong in a short time.

"Well, I'd like to hand over the sword first. Reiko, show yourself."

Jin calls Reiko from a place between buildings, where no one can see him.

"Yes, father."

Then she held out the sword in her hand to Jin. It was wrapped in a cloth so that no one would recognize it as a sword.

"Good. Burgoo, do you know the house of Faarheit?"

But he didn't know that,

"I'm sorry, I don't know."

He bowed his head.

"No, it's okay if you don't know. I'll ask someone. ...... In the meantime, do you know the area where knights, barons, and other low-ranking nobles live?"

"Yes, I can tell you that."

"Yes, I can tell you that. ......Hanna, Elsa, what are you going to do?　I'm going to give you the sword, but you don't have to go with me, you can go your separate way, okay?

Jin asked, and they both shook their heads.

"I want to be with you!"

"Me too. Since we're here together, why don't we do things together?

"Okay. Then let's go together.

So the five of us, including Reiko, showed up and walked down the main street of Alban. On both sides were two and three-story stone houses.

Many of them have stores on the ground floor. I'll take my time to see them later, Jin thought.

Walking straight down the main street for about 10 minutes, he came to a central intersection with a large sundial. He turned right at the intersection and headed toward the east area.

There were many large buildings just after the turn, but the scale of the buildings gradually became smaller and smaller.

"This area is where the knight (ritter) dwellings are located.

Most of the houses are two-story with small gardens. From the outside, it looks as if about 20 square meters of land is allotted to the knights. Considering the size of Alban, which is about 2 km square on each side, this is probably still a large plot.

Since there were few pedestrians or passers-by other than Jin and his friends, we could not ask them where Licia's house was.

"Well, what should we do?

As Jin was pondering what to do, he saw someone running in front of him.

"Oh, good, let's ask that person.

He waited for the person to come closer. The person looked like a young woman.