Magicraft Meister Part 1

"Is it aconita (......)?"

"Yes, it's a grass that grows in the mountains, but in the spring when we pick wild vegetables, it's still small and we sometimes mistake it for an edible wild plant.

Martha explained that if eaten by mistake, it can cause numbness in the limbs, vomiting, and difficulty breathing.

"It sure looks like that, doesn't it?"

"Right?　It grows in the mountains around here, too. In the summer, it grows large and produces distinctive purple flowers, so there's no mistaking it.

From what he said, Jin thought that it might be similar to aconite on earth. If so, he had seen it in photographs.

"...... but it's not so poisonous that it will kill you..."

"What?"

"At most, it will numb you for a few hours. I've never heard of anyone dying from it.

It seems to be less toxic than the aconite known to Jin.

Then, if Martha was right and the poison was from the aconita leaves, it made no sense to use such a weak poison.

Jin thought for a moment, but then changed his mind and decided that now was the time to go back to Erza.

"Thank you very much. It was helpful."

Are you leaving already?

Yes, I'm worried about Elsa too.

"Be careful, girl. Take care of Elsa too!　Reiko, take care of my baby girl!

"Yes, Hannah-chan."

Reiko smiled at Hannah, Jin patted her head, and they turned themselves around.

"Well then, I'm off."

Jin returned to Horai Island and confirmed that the airship had been checked and remodeled.

"Yes, you did a good job."

Ten golems, each measuring 5 centimeters in height, were lined up on the floor.

<<

"That's good enough. Okay, I'll take care of the rest.

Jin sets them with the necessary control cores and so on.

"Okay, <>"

"Hi, Goshujin-sama."

The numbers one through ten are written plainly on the chest and back.

"You are ......."

"Hi."

The name <>, meaning thumb, was chosen because there is a man named Tom who lives in the village of Kaina, an allusion to Thumb Tom.

"Okay, let's go."

Jin boarded the airship and took the transporter to the sky over Alban. He then descended and landed again at the plaza in front of the Royal Castle.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Brother Jin, welcome back.

A slightly nervous Erza greeted Jin. She was accompanied by Edgar and the knights escorting him.

Erza looked relieved when she saw Jin's face.

"What's wrong, is something wrong?

"Yes. ...... Anyway, let's go to the room.

Jin and the others moved to their rooms in the castle. They left the steward on the airship.

Since it would be troublesome to have their luggage inspected, they left <> and the others on the airship. When there are no more people around, they will start moving.

"So, what happened?"

Jin asked Erza again as he closed the door to the room.

"...... one of the servants was found dead."

"What?

"According to the story, he was in charge of maintaining the equipment of the rooms in the palace. He was found cold in his room this morning by a colleague.

Erza expressed her opinion that it was a way to keep her mouth shut. Jin agreed.

"So, is Erza going to be all right?"

"Nope. There was no poison in her lunch either."

"<>, the old man said.

Reiko opened her mouth.

"The old man guessed that Erza is the one who is directly targeted. The reason is that they don't want the king to be healed.

"A conspiracy, you say? ......"

This time he contacted me through Reiko because he didn't have time to talk with the old man.

"Yes. The old man also said that <>.

"......"

That would be the heir to the throne. Jin looked at me with difficulty.

"You mean Prince Arthur or Prince Edmund?"

Elsa frowned as well. She could not understand the idea of harming her parents for her own benefit.

"No, not necessarily the two of them, yes."

Reiko, who is talking to the old man, continues her explanation.

"There is a possibility that one of the two would be the one who would benefit if one of them becomes the king," he says.

"I see. ......"

Jin reminds me of a family feud I once saw in a historical drama. It was a storyline where the feudal lord or second-in-command would bring out the young lord and plot to take over the family.

"I'd hate to be caught in the middle of such a situation!"

Jin said as if to throw up.

"Nope. But that's exactly why I can't forgive anyone who would try such a thing.

Erza, too, had a past where her brother had been manipulated by hypnotic magic, and her father had been incited by the demon tribe to act in ways that would be detrimental to the country.

He resented the fact that his family members were being manipulated for the sake of other people's ambitions more than anyone else.

Jin was aware of this and was determined to expose this conspiracy.

"By the way, that poisonous herb in the herbal tea..."

Jin decided to tell Erza about the information he had heard from Martha in the village of Kaina.

"Well, it's a poisonous herb called aconita," she said. According to Martha, it's not very poisonous.

"Aconita ...... yes, that's a strong possibility. At the time I was in a hurry because it was so sudden, but now that I think back on it, I don't think Delight's condition was so critical."

It was understandable that everyone there was in a panic because he had been poisoned.

"I was hoping for a clue as to how they got such poison, but it's hard to say."

Jin and Erza continued to speculate and consider various possibilities, but not much progress was made. There was too little information.

"By the way, what happened to Mr. Delight?"

"Well, I just checked him out and he's much better. He should be able to wake up tomorrow. I still think it's partly because the toxicity was so weak."

"That's good to hear. I'm glad to hear that, because I feel like I've just been caught in the middle of it. ......"

* * * *

Meanwhile, Jin's airship.

It is securely moored and covered with a temporary cover to protect it from the slightest breeze.

It is guarded by a steward.

Therefore, there is no special guard, but only a regular patrol of soldiers.

Taking advantage of this gap, <> and the other golems scattered about the castle.

So the day passed without any particular summons.

The next day, the 11th. Princess Rieschen told me that she was looking for a sick person with similar symptoms to the king. If she finds one, she will examine him and try to cure him.

"But I don't have time for this. ....... Hannah is not here either. ......"

Bored, Rieschen came to Jin and the others' room to chat, but he seemed to have had enough of that too.

"Shall we play Shiritori?"

Rieschen's face turned a little red for some reason.

"Shiritori?　What is that?

Jin felt that the princess was imagining something strange and immediately started to explain.

"Well, I'm going to say each word in turn, but there's a condition. You have to start each word with the last letter of the word that the person before you said.

Rieschen nodded again and again, as if satisfied.

"I see, I see, that's why it's called shiritori!"

"Yes. And you can't use the same word. If you can't come up with any new words, you've lost.

"Well, that sounds interesting."

"There are other things we can do, too, such as adding some strict , but let's not complicate things at first, shall we?"

"Okay, okay, let's try it. Jin, you may begin.

"Okay, let's see, I'm ...... going to do the GOLEMATIC. GOLEMATIC, right?　Then, the next word will start with << or (C)>>. ......I'll give you one more example: ......<>. The next word starts with <>. Ries, can you say it?"

Princess Rieschen thinks for a moment before answering.

"Yes, let's say, let's say ...... let's say ......<

"Dried plum."

Princess Rieschen questioned Elsa's answer.

"What is it?　What is this Umeboshi?"

"It is a food made from the dried fruit of a tree called ...... plum."

"Is it sweet?"

But Erza frowned and shook her head.

"Sour and salty."

"......"

Princess Rieschen's face was indescribable when she heard this.