Magi Craft Meister

「Now then, in honor of everyone's efforts, Cheers!」

Jin, Reiko, Marcia, Reinhardt and Elsa (4 people and 1 automaton) were celebrating their victory from the other day at a luxurious restaurant.

Although Jin and Marcia were invited by various aristocrats and merchants after the competition, the invitation they received from Reinhardt gave them a reason to decline them all, and were able to shrink away from the attention of the masses.

「No, I lost to Jin! There's no way Lorelei could have won!!!」

「Really? I couldn't believe that you were overworking Lorelei during the last stage.」

Both Reinhardt and Elsa obediently admitted defeat.

「Please tell me one thing, Jin.」

For now, they seem to want to hear various things about Jin's origins.

The first thing that was asked in this conversation -

「Is it true that you came over to this continent with a ?」

Whether or not he expected it to be brought into the conversation, Jin thought about it deeply.

「Yeah, but, I don't want to disclose too much information about it. If by chance it were to be broken, my means of returning home would disappear.」

Jin declined in a polite manner. Nodding in understanding, Reinhardt replied with another question.

「Is that so? I wanted to check it out, but it's impossible isn't it?」

「Big brother Rei, everyone has one or two things they can't tell others about.」

When Elsa said so, Reinhardt also thought it was unsuitable to continue so he backed down.

「Sorry, but, some day I'll be able to invite you guys to my home.」

When Jin said so in a semi-diplomatic manner, Reinhardt took the bait.

「Really? Is that so? It would be my pleasure! Ah, I have to go to another nation's capital as a diplomat tomorrow, it's regrettable, but I'll definitely have to take you up on your offer eventually!」

「Y-yeah.」

Although Jin regretted mentioning the invitation, only the future knows what it will bring.

As the meal progressed, they began to talk about the competition.

The topic came to talk about the golems that Jin and Reiko had caught.

「In the end, there was no evidence of fraud by the operator of the ship, Riche, so she hasn't been arrested. Valentino is being held in custody while the investigation continues.」

「Hmmm, that's understandable, right?」

Because Valentino had several ways to handle this, Marcia made a complex expression.

「Marcia's had various troubles, right?」

Jin understood Marcia's feelings.

Sensing the atmosphere between Marcia and Jin, Reinhardt could tell that they would have a hard time talking about it.

It's normally a topic that people don't want to talk about, but after winning the championship and being in high spirits, drinking wine and becoming slightly intoxicated, Marcia began to talk about her problems before her participation.

「What? Can you explain in more detail please, oh, and also in chronological sequence.」

Reinhardt asked with an unusually serious look.

Marcia began with how she couldn't find a Magic Craftsman and how all of the Magic Stones had been sold out. Furthermore, the price of bronze had doubled, and even poor quality bronze was being sold at an exorbitant price.

「Umm, after that, it was the arson incident.」

She recalled the fire that Reinhardt had put out that was going directly for their ship.

Since he thought there wouldn't be another chance, Jin decided to speak as well.

「Umm, actually, the night before the last preliminary…」

He talked about how Reiko had repelled some intruders and dumped them far away.

「Is that… so. Hmmmm…」

Reinhardt put his finger on his forehead and began to brood.

「Even if it doesn't seem like it, big brother Rai is smart.」

Elsa's praise is done in a subtle manner.

「He isn't just a diplomat for show.」

After sitting like that for a while, Reinhardt appears to have had an idea and looks up.

「At first, it appears that they intended to prevent Marcia from participating.」

Jin agreed with this,

「Yes, but I don't understand why. Why was it limited to Marcia? Would it ignore other participants?」

Reinhardt shows a broad grin.

「It's at that point that I thought "Perhaps it's not Marcia who's being aimed at, but the ship?"」

「Eh?」

In other words, Reinhardt's explanation was that they wanted to destroy the catamaran.

「Destroy it? Who?」

「Of course, Valentino.」

Judging from Marcia's story, if she couldn't participate in the competition, she would be forced to let go of the Catamaran. When it came to that, Marcia who had little gold would sell it to Valentino, or so Reinhardt deduces.

「I see. I had little money, and there's the maintenance fees until next year, I would have had to sell it for some money and the other party would've likely been connected to Valentino.」

Marcia supported Reinhardt's reasoning.

And his deductions continued.

「Now that Marcia was qualified to participate in the competition, they couldn't purchase the ship. So they attempted arson.」

Reinhardt's explanation showed that the ship would cause them trouble, and not that they wanted the ship. He then took a sip of wine to quench his thirst and continued.

「The arson failed, and Jin made an autonomous golem to pilot the boat. If handled poorly, the criminal could be identified.」

Everyone listened to Reinhardt's theory without interrupting.

「Therefore, they had to resort to a more desperate plan. They attempted to kidnap or harm Marcia to remove her from the competition, but that also failed.」

As Reinhardt illustrated all of this, he looked like a completely different person.

「The last resort were the golems in the water, but that scheme also came to nothing thanks to Miss Reiko. Other ships were disturbed as well, and and if things went well, they would get the championship.」

Reinhardt takes a breath.

「If I can check the catamaran, I'm certain that I'll understand something.」

He concluded.

The ships that placed from first to third were under the management of the competition committee at this time. Although it can't be reached immediately, because of the previous methods employed, they couldn't rest easy.

Besides, Valentino is a lord's assistant. But he should be under investigation right now, so now was the prime time for their undercover investigation.

「It should be investigated early if possible.」

As Reinhardt finished, they quickly finished their food and left the restaurant. The outside was already completely dark.

As they walked down the street towards the harbour, with the light of a magic lamp guiding their way. The sea breeze at night was chilly and pleasant on their slightly tipsy faces.

Reinhardt asked Marcia a question while walking.

「When was the catamaran made?」

Marcia thought a little,

「About 2 years ago, I think. Then I readjusted it restlessly. Oh, a large adjustment was made last year.」

「Wasn't it last year… that Valentino said he wanted Marcia as a concubine?」

「Last year… Yeah!」

As expected, it seemed to have some relevance to the situation at hand.

Before long, the party arrived at the public dock. One guard was standing on duty.

「Thanks for the hard work. I'd like to check on a ship a little, would that be all right?」

He was from the team that came in 2nd, the owner of Blue Marine, Reinhardt, a guest of honour who stated his intention.

After he nodded once, the guard unlocked the docks back entrance.

He expressed his thanks as he entered inside. It was pitch black, but because Jin, Reiko, Reinhardt, and Elsa used magic, it quickly became bright enough.

「Now, Marcia, may I check your ship?」

Marcia began to investigate the construction of the ship right away.

First, the whole hull was inspected. Nothing in particular is found, though, because Jin bleached it with .

Next, the right half of the hull. The inside was hollow except for where there was structural material.

「What? What's this?」

An unfamiliar parchment was forced into a gap of the structural material of the right hull near the rear corner.

「It's impossible that I didn't notice this gap until now, stay here.」

A letter and a picture were written on what Marcia pulled out of the hull. Marcia began to read it out loud.

「Now, let's see, It appears to be a contract for 4 (Eruradoraito).」

When they heard this, Reinhardt and Elsa's eyes went wide.

「This is……」

「Eh? Erudoraito*?」

Two people raised their voice in surprise, but Jin,

「What is that?」

It was a jewel that Jin didn't know about.

「Yeah, that's…」

Reinhardt began to explain to him. The thing was a very rare jewel that was discovered about 100 years ago.

Because it had a property that amplified the effects of magic, many countries restricted the circulation of it.

It's also monopolized by the nation of the Elias Kingdom.

It would cost about 10 million Torr for a worthless one, so about 40 million torr for 4, or about 400 million yen.

If an individual was trading such a thing, then they were smuggling.

「EH? I didn't know that!」

Marcia cried. Since it seemed to have concerned the dealings of such a valuable jewel, it was unbearable.

「I understand, it's not a jewel that a mere commoner should have in their possession.」

Reinhardt was referring to an under the table contract that people didn't want others to see.

Then the front door was forced open loudly.

(EN: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN)