Magicraft Meister Part 3

Deus ex machina III and his valet Rey return to after leaving the castle of the Kingdom of Celluloid.

They immediately return to Horai Island via the built-in warp gate.

sends the crew back to , the base of Machina.

Arcadia, which can travel at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, is currently located about 200 kilometers east of the Elias Peninsula.

After returning to Horai Island, Makina, after slightly reequipping herself, was sent by to the outskirts of Kupu, a town in the southern part of the Kingdom of Selroa, together with her valet, Rei.

Waiting for them there was <>, aka <>, one of the <>.

"Welcome, Ms. Makina, Mr. Rey."

Mia, is that right? Thank you."

Mia is currently a woman fisherwoman in Kupu.

Since she lives alone, she plans to make her home her base of operations.

Mia's house is in the suburb of Kupu.

Mia's house was located near the coast rather than on the outskirts of Kupu.

It is a house built on a slightly elevated site.

It is made of stone to withstand the sea breeze.

"Is this Oyaishi?

The official name of the stone is Floating Stone Tuff. It is a common architectural style found in the potrock at the southern tip of the Kingdom of Elias.

"Yes. We get some of it around here."

Mia explained as she invited them into the house.

I've been a fisherman here for two years now.

"Then you know a lot about the situation.

"Well, let me briefly explain the situation.

Mia then used the built-in manacam to exchange information in less than two seconds.

It seems that the Sori Society has been on the rise for about five years now.

I see. <

That seems to be around the same time.

How are they recruiting?

They target the middle class, I guess you'd call it. Not the very rich, but the very rich.

Hmm?

They don't reach out to the poor.

I see. What about Mia?

No contact at all.

Mia lives here under the guise of a fisherman who barely ekes out a living.

So you're saying they don't care about people who can't make ends meet?

That's what you're saying.

It's so obvious.

Yes.

So we can say that <>=Mia was able to observe the two groups from the outside.

So what do you think?

Well, from the outside, they appear to be normal.

What do you mean by "normal"?

Well, to be more specific, they gather followers, they educate them, and they do a little of the usual welfare work.

What kind of welfare activities?

We treat the sick and injured 80% of the time, and help those in need.

That's pretty standard.

And as for the drugs, we don't know much about them from the outside.

Is that so?

Yeah. It seems to be used only internally within the organization.

But it's not leaking out?

So far, it seems to be working.

It seems the followers are unaware that they're being used, Mia said.

And it's only been three days since you instructed me to focus on those two groups.

That's true.

If they were so skillful in their activities, it's no wonder that normal intelligence activities, even for the 5th Column, could only provide us with a cursory information.

But we have learned a lot in those three days. Especially today.

What happened?

There was a huge rally.

...... Where?

I'm sorry, I didn't explain. ...... is a cathedral built four years ago on the southern outskirts of Kupu.

That's a very grand name.

Yes. But there are all kinds of gimmicks.

Like what?　What kind of gimmicks?

There's a sound barrier, a rudimentary magic barrier, and a few intruder traps.

That's definitely not normal.

Yeah. There was a large gathering in the cathedral earlier today.

It's where most of the followers gather.

The guru is said to be teaching and the saints are pouring healing light on them.

It seems that only the founder is called "Oyasama.

Well, that makes sense.

At ......, when people came out after the big meeting, they all looked happy. Before they came in, some looked bitter, some looked gloomy, some looked annoyed.

Do you think it was the drugs?

Perhaps. But the rudimentary magic barrier prevented us from really getting a sense of the gathering. I'm sorry.

For now, the old man's instructions are to continue the investigation for as long as it takes. He has not yet given us permission to conduct an investigation so aggressive that our true identity will be revealed.

That's not an option. Investigating them is not the only role of the 5th Quinta.

That's why we're here, Makina.

Tomorrow, we'll ask them if we can join their ranks.

Oh, that's probably not a good idea.

Why not?

Right now, you need a recommendation from a member to join.

You're very cautious.

Yes, I suppose you could say that.

What would ...... do?

Here's what Ray has to say.

Are the public not being taken seriously at all?

No, that's not true. As I said before, we treat the sick and injured.

...... but we can't take advantage of that.

Makina, Rei, and Mia are not human.

If they use medical magic, their identities will be revealed at once.

No, that's not necessarily true.

What?

We can prepare a spell that will return false results from a medical spell.

I see.

And only you could create such a thing.

I see.

So Makina told the old man about this idea.

She asked Jin to consider it.

It took about two seconds.

The exchange of compressed data is several dozens of times more efficient than the exchange of voice information.

* * * * * * * *

The old man confirmed that Jin was in his bedroom and called him.

"What's the matter, Mr. Old Man?"

<.

"Hmmm......... I see......... I understand."

The time was still 9:00 p.m., and Jin, who was in the house of Reuthert, decided to consider the magical tools that Makina wanted.