Chương 106: This Job Is Definitely Staying Simple

Sieghart sat near the rear of a large covered wagon as it rolled steadily along the northern road, surrounded by merchants, laborers, travelers, and several people carrying enough luggage to suggest they planned on remaining away from home for months. Nobody paid him much attention, which was exactly what he wanted.

Phantom Image remained active without difficulty, replacing his crimson hair and green eyes with dark-brown hair and gray eyes while subtly changing enough facial details to make recognition considerably less likely. As far as the people surrounding him were concerned, Sieghart was simply another unusually quiet child traveling toward one of the northern towns. Nobody knew about him, Lunar Arc, the Firians, or the increasingly complicated collection of problems following him around.

That should have been reassuring. Instead, Sieghart remained slightly troubled by the fact that he had accepted Mira's offer almost immediately after discovering what the job actually involved. Apparently, mentioning the possibility of learning new magic was enough to reduce his survival instincts considerably. Yesterday, Mira had finally explained what she had in mind.

The assignment would take Sieghart to another fortified town near the northern border, farther east than the region where he had previously fought against the Firians. There was currently an active battlefield farther north, where human forces were attempting to prevent several foreign groups from crossing deeper into human territory. Sieghart would not be joining those soldiers, something Mira had emphasized repeatedly before explaining anything else.

His destination instead functioned as one of several rear-support towns supplying the northern defensive lines. Weapons, food, replacement armor, magical equipment, medicine, and other materials passed through the settlement before continuing toward the soldiers stationed farther north. Sieghart's job sounded extremely familiar. He would charge magical weapons. Again. The difference was that this time Lunar Arc had arranged for him to assist people who actually manufactured and maintained those weapons.

That meant Sieghart would be allowed to observe their work instead of simply pouring mana into finished equipment. That small detail had been enough. Sieghart had accepted before fully considering how suspicious the situation might become. The first time he worked as a Restorer near the Firian battlefield, several people had already noticed that his mana reserves were absurd. Rumors had spread afterward, especially once he participated directly in defeating the Firian commander.

The disguise solved the appearance problem. It did not solve the mana problem. If another child appeared near another northern battlefield and started charging magical equipment for hours without showing meaningful exhaustion, someone might eventually connect the two incidents even if Sieghart used a different name. Mira had apparently considered that possibility. Her solution had been remarkably unsophisticated.

"Just go easy on the work." Sieghart had stared at her.

"That's your plan?"

"Yes."

"Pretend I have less mana?"

"Exactly."

"That sounds stupid."

"It sounds simple." Simple was not the same thing as smart. Unfortunately, Sieghart had been unable to produce a better alternative that did not involve revealing more information than necessary. Limiting how much mana he supplied each day would at least prevent him from repeating the same impossible performance witnesses remembered from the Firian front. He still disliked depending upon people not noticing similarities.

Then again, most people probably did not spend their lives searching for suspicious children with unreasonable mana reserves. Sieghart's experiences had simply trained him to assume everyone possessed far more curiosity than was healthy. The wagon hit a shallow depression in the road, making several passengers shift slightly while a wooden crate near Sieghart's foot rattled against another. He casually steadied it with one hand before returning his attention toward the landscape outside.

The farther north they traveled, the more signs of military preparation appeared. Supply wagons passed them in the opposite direction, some returning empty while others carried damaged equipment, tired workers, or soldiers being transported away from the front. Sieghart watched them quietly. Nothing suggested the war had reached this region yet. The farms remained intact, travelers continued using the road, and small settlements along the route appeared busy rather than abandoned.

Even so, everyone seemed aware that violence existed only a few days farther north. That difference fascinated him slightly. War in his previous world had always felt distant, something seen through screens, reports, and maps unless someone was unfortunate enough to live directly inside it. Here, military conflict could exist several towns away without interrupting ordinary trade.

Perhaps that was simply normal in a world where borders were constantly threatened by monsters, foreign tribes, corrupted groups, and whatever other unpleasant societies considered human territory worth invading. Sieghart still wondered whether recent events somehow involved him. The thought had followed him since Mira mentioned increased pressure along several borders, and he had not managed to completely dismiss it.

His existence was already abnormal enough that assuming it had no wider consequences felt increasingly optimistic. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! He had a System nobody else appeared able to see. He had unlocked entirely new magical paths by fulfilling strange conditions. Recently, he had even absorbed magical knowledge directly from a corrupted monster core. Any one of those facts would have been enough to make his life unusual.

Taken together, they suggested that something larger might eventually notice him, if it had not already. Sieghart disliked that thought. He also had absolutely no evidence supporting it. Assuming every war, invasion, and unusual monster appeared because of him would be ridiculous. The world had existed long before his birth and had apparently managed to create plenty of disasters without requiring his assistance. Still, Sieghart decided that keeping the possibility somewhere in the back of his mind was sensible.

Paranoia became inconvenient only when it stopped being useful, and so far caution had prevented considerably more problems than it created. The wagon continued eastward before gradually turning north again, following a broad stone road used heavily enough that deep wheel marks had formed along both sides despite the reinforced surface. Sieghart shifted his thoughts toward the actual purpose of the assignment. Runes.

He had possessed Mana Rune for quite some time, yet he had barely explored what the spell could actually accomplish outside controlled experiments. Most of his practical usage remained embarrassingly simple considering its potential. At night, he sometimes created small light-producing runes inside his room. That was basically it.

He had experimented with transferring elemental effects into objects and had occasionally used runes when thinking about magical constructs, but none of those attempts had become reliable enough to enter regular combat or daily use. That felt increasingly wasteful. If professional craftsmen could create weapons capable of holding spells, channeling mana, strengthening attacks, or performing predefined magical functions, then Sieghart should at least understand the principles behind those systems.

His Mana Rune already provided Mentality and Dexterity with every level, meaning training the ability offered significant permanent benefits even before considering whatever practical applications he might eventually discover. Unfortunately, Sieghart had learned another uncomfortable lesson during Bellhaven. Possessing a spell did not mean understanding the entire field behind it. His Mana Sword did not automatically teach blacksmithing. Telekinesis did not automatically teach him how Mira used it so naturally.

Mana Rune apparently did not automatically make him a runic engineer. The people working in the northern town might possess techniques he could not reproduce immediately, but observing how they arranged runes, prepared materials, controlled energy flow, and prevented magical tools from exploding would still give him useful foundations. More importantly, Mira had implied that basic runic knowledge and certain specialized tools were necessary for the work.

That meant the assignment might finally force Sieghart to stop treating Mana Rune like a decorative side skill. He liked that idea considerably more than he liked the battlefield existing nearby. There was also something appealing about leaving Lunar Arc for a relatively ordinary assignment without Mellia, Hernan, Lucia, or Kart dragging him into complications involving undead monsters and collapsing mines. Sieghart paused. That description was unfair.

The teenagers had not intentionally caused most of Bellhaven's problems. Still, what started as a simple bat extermination mission had transformed into bandits, a dungeon, a corrupted guardian, and Necromancy. Sieghart considered blaming everyone involved emotionally reasonable even if logically inaccurate. This job would be different. He would arrive in town. He would charge magical weapons. He would learn about runic construction. He would limit his mana usage. Then he would return to Lunar Arc. Simple.

Sieghart stared toward the road ahead.

"Definitely simple." The older merchant sitting across from him glanced over briefly before deciding that whatever conversation the strange child was having with himself was probably not worth joining. Sieghart ignored him. Whenever he told himself something would remain simple, the world seemed to interpret it as a challenge. Perhaps he should begin expecting catastrophe deliberately and see whether reverse psychology worked upon fate. The wagon continued for another hour before the landscape changed noticeably.

Farms became fewer, watch posts appeared more frequently, and armed riders occasionally passed along the road while carrying sealed messages between settlements. Sieghart also noticed several unusually large supply convoys heading north. Some carried crates marked with military symbols, while others transported bundles of arrows, replacement spearheads, enchanted components, preserved food, and barrels whose contents he could not identify. Nobody looked panicked. That was important.

The activity felt organized rather than desperate, suggesting the border defenses remained stable despite Mira's concerns. If the front were collapsing, Sieghart expected considerably more refugees moving south and considerably fewer merchants traveling north voluntarily. That observation relaxed him slightly. He was still close enough to danger for unusual things to happen, but not so close that armies were likely to appear outside his room during breakfast. Probably.

The wagon climbed a long slope shortly afterward, and several passengers shifted toward the open sides when the driver announced that their destination had finally become visible. Sieghart leaned slightly toward the opening. The town stood several kilometers ahead. Stone walls surrounded it completely, high enough to discourage ordinary raiders but nowhere near the massive fortifications protecting the largest human cities. Several square towers rose above the walls at regular intervals.

From a distance, the settlement looked peaceful. Smoke rose normally from chimneys. People moved along the roads outside. Farmers worked fields extending south and east from the walls. Several merchant wagons waited near the main gate without any obvious urgency. Sieghart almost relaxed completely. Then he noticed the supplies.

Dozens of wagons were entering through another reinforced gate farther north, many carrying crates, bundled weapons, construction materials, and barrels marked with symbols he had already seen on military shipments along the road. Other wagons were leaving nearly empty. Workers moved constantly between warehouses positioned near the walls, while several groups of armed guards supervised incoming cargo and checked documents before allowing anyone deeper into the town. The contrast was strange.

From one direction, the town looked ordinary. From another, it looked like a machine quietly feeding a war. Sieghart studied the walls while the wagon continued approaching. Several newly repaired sections showed lighter stone than the older fortifications, suggesting someone had recently decided strengthening the settlement was worthwhile. He wondered how long the increased border pressure had been happening. Mira had said several months.

That was long enough for towns like this to change their routines without becoming visibly frightened. People could apparently become accustomed to almost anything if given enough time. Sieghart looked down at the small travel bag resting beside his feet. Inside were ordinary clothes, a few books, basic supplies, several guild documents, and enough money for personal expenses. Nothing about the luggage suggested he was carrying anything particularly important. That was intentional.

He would arrive as another Lunar Arc support worker using a temporary identity. He would not mention his family. He would not mention Bellhaven. He would not mention the Firian commander. He definitely would not mention Infinite Mana. And for once, he would complete exactly the assignment he had been given. Sieghart looked toward the peaceful walled town surrounded by military supplies. For some reason, that final objective already felt like the least believable part of the plan.