The people from another star were being called an inspection team by the others before even a day had passed.
It was because they went around the ruins, prying into every little thing. On top of that, there were the complaints they tossed out now and then.
It was not as if they were especially throwing their weight around.
But since their words were laced with dissatisfaction, and the work they were doing was itself an inspection, people could not look kindly upon them.
Perhaps that was why.
When they said early the next day that they were leaving the ruins, everyone rejoiced.
Since they were going to the ruined city, naturally, I ended up going with them as well.
I would be leaving the expedition members behind and going alone, but they were not worried.
“I don’t think we need to follow you this time.”
Even Hannah waved me off with those words.
Only Margreta, however, followed me to the entrance with a worried expression.
Sterling looked at me and Margreta with displeasure, but the reason she had followed me was entirely different.
“They’re people who came to inspect. There has to be someone to report back.”
Soph had been like that too, and now even Margreta found me unreliable.
As expected, I was lacking in credibility.
I repeated to Margreta what I had told Soph.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best with the task I’ve been given.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Margreta pouted at my words, but there was nothing I could do about that either.
“But I don’t think they’ll entrust anything else to me.”
All they believed about me was that the capacity of my box was larger than other people’s and that I was good at finding my way.
They did not believe in the slightest that I was good at fighting.
“What nonsense. We don’t even know whether the advance party would be any help, so there’s no way someone from another country would be of use.”
Yesterday, at Sterling’s firm words, David had been unable to bring it up again.
Margreta let out a sigh.
“I’ll try talking to him again.”
She went back to Sterling and spoke to him, but it was no use this time either.
Sterling shook his head firmly and frowned as he looked at me.
Seeing that, I had no choice but to click my tongue as well.
After Margreta’s final attempt at persuasion fell through, we left the ruins.
At dawn, when the sandstorm had stopped, we made our way out of the sandy desert.
Since it was a path I had taken once before, guiding them was not difficult.
Perhaps because we had stirred up the city factory, we did not encounter any humanoid monsters along the way either.
We did occasionally run into native creatures, but the people other than Sterling dealt with those monsters quickly.
“The monsters’ appearances aren’t completely identical to those in Paradise.”
“Dark energy is much more abundant here, isn’t it?”
‘Paradise? Is that what they call the other star?’
Leaving my question aside, the two continued their conversation.
At the Black man’s words, another man answered.
“Maybe that’s why. Their movements were definitely a little faster, and their attacks sharper.”
“Even so, it doesn’t make much of a difference to us.”
Hearing the man’s words, the woman snorted.
At her words, this time the Black man shook his head.
“That’s because there’s a big gap in skill between us and them. It must not have been easy for the people who came to this star.”
At the Black man’s words, the woman glanced at Sterling, who was standing behind them.
“Still, isn’t he pretty impressive? I wonder how much he can put inside that box. I never thought we’d be able to travel this comfortably on this star.”
I, who had been putting monster carcasses into the box elsewhere, perked up my ears at the sudden remark.
I could feel the others looking at me.
“The box does seem to be very large. We didn’t even need to butcher these things.”
When another man agreed with her, she continued excitedly.
“Right? It doesn’t seem like he became the new expedition leader for nothing. He’s not American, but he’s good at finding his way and they say he fights quite well too. I think he suits Margreta.”
At her words, the two men watched Sterling’s reaction.
A sigh escaped me on its own.
I had wondered why she was suddenly praising me, but the reason was truly nothing special.
It had merely been bait so she could say that Margreta and I suited each other.
She was continuing to use me to drive a wedge between Sterling and Margreta.
It seemed she really disliked the fact that Sterling liked Margreta.
[That man doesn’t seem to love her so much as think she is suitable for him.]
[What does that mean?]
[Is it because your world emphasizes equality that you don’t know? It is the value system of nobles. That man named Sterling thinks Margreta is a woman suited to his position.]
At Soph’s words, I ended up laughing.
This was not some fantasy comic, and I had never imagined I would come to a star dozens of light-years away from Earth only to witness something like this.
I decided to lose interest entirely.
The reason I had been observing them all the way here was to check their skills and Sterling’s magic.
However, the others’ skills did not stray from my expectations, and Sterling did not show his magic.
They seemed stronger than the advance party members I had seen so far, but perhaps because the gap between them and me was so large, I could not feel much of a difference.
Even if they fought my members one-on-one, I felt like my members would win.
The only one left was Sterling, but he had not used magic even once on the way here.
That did not mean he did not fight at all.
He did use a spear, but he did not show himself fighting properly.
[Why do you think he’s hiding it?]
[I’m not sure. Still, he’ll show it in the city.]
Was it because of Soph’s words?
Until we arrived at the city where the control object was hiding, nothing much happened.
We hunted a few more native creatures and put them in the box, and during camp they were amazed by the blankets and sleeping bags that came out of the box, but other than that, it was an entirely ordinary journey.
During that time, Sterling did not show his magic, and I faithfully did my own work.
In other words, I did not participate in a single fight.
They never included me even once.
I had no complaints either.
If they had told me to fight, I had even been planning to come up with an excuse, but there was no need.
And so, with each of us devoted to our own roles, we arrived at the ruined city.
Before entering the city, we hid behind the stone mountain where I had come with my members before.
The distance was far, but there was no need to get any closer.
“It wasn’t a lie.”
Perhaps he had used magic, but Sterling was able to confirm the state of the city even from here.
“Those monsters resemble humans far more than I expected. No, with the naked eye, it would be difficult to distinguish them.”
At Sterling’s words, the others narrowed their eyes and looked at the city.
However, as ordinary(?) people, they could not see inside the city.
They asked Sterling again.
“There really are monsters that resemble humans?”
“If there are monsters like those and monsters that look human too, isn’t it really dangerous?”
At the Black man’s words, the woman continued with a troubled expression.
They could not see the humanoid monsters, but there was something they could see.
Thud. Rumble.
Huge monsters that suddenly protruded above the city buildings.
Monsters covered in white blood were slowly moving between the buildings and along the main road.
They were the monsters I had seen not long ago.
The defensive-type monsters that had torn their way out of the cocoons I saw while fleeing.
[Those monsters are still wandering around. Didn’t you say they wouldn’t last long?]
[That is why they are dying now. Judging by how slowly they are moving, and by the blood that keeps flowing from them, I doubt they will last more than a few days.]
It seemed Sterling had seen what Soph had seen as well.
“The big ones don’t seem to be in proper condition…”
At those words, the woman looked at Sterling with a worried face.
“We confirmed that it wasn’t a lie, so let’s go back now. You’re not planning to go inside the city, are you?”
At her words, the two men also looked at Sterling.
Sterling folded his arms and glared at the city.
I leaned against the stone mountain and waited for him to reach a conclusion.
It did not matter to me what conclusion he came to.
After all, my role ended here.
After agonizing for a long while, Sterling glanced at me and came to a decision.
“We cannot draw a conclusion based only on what we’ve seen here. We need to confirm how many more monsters like that there are, and we also need to personally confirm how dangerous those monsters are.”
Just as expected. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“But…”
The woman tried to object again, but Sterling cut her off in a strong tone.
“Have you forgotten our position! We are the chosen ones. Act in a way befitting that position!”
Honestly, I was impressed by the words he spat out as if giving a speech.
He was different from the commonly seen fake classists.
He believed he was a member of the privileged class, and that the rights and duties unique to the privileged class truly existed.
[It seems hierarchy still remains. An excellent young nobleman.]
Even Soph believed in his sincerity.
Under Sterling’s pressure, they ended up heading to the ruined city.
Was it because of Sterling’s heartfelt speech? Or was it because of what Margreta had left behind?
I said one final thing I did not mean.
“Shall I go with you?”
Sterling looked at the backpack containing my box and shook his head.
“You’d only be a burden. Wait here.”
“Understood.”
At his words, I promptly raised both hands.
With this, my conscience was clean. I had done my best to uphold Margreta’s request too.
I could just stay here and watch their performance.
A moment later, as I watched them leave the stone mountain, I muttered softly.
“What a shame. I don’t have popcorn.”
***
The group slowly approached the city.
They moved while hiding as much as possible, but even from here, I could see them clearly.
It would be the same from the city.
Last time, when I entered the city with my members, we had concealed ourselves with earth magic, but they could not use such a method.
“Oh dear…”
As expected, they were discovered before they reached the city.
Piiiik!
The shrieks of the humanoid monsters reached all the way here, and monsters swarmed out of the city.
The fight began before they could even enter the city.
They quickly formed up.
With Sterling behind them, the three people at the front dealt with the charging humanoid monsters.
“They fight better than I expected.”
What they had said on the way here had not been wrong.
All three of them had not shown their true skill when dealing with the native creatures.
They dealt with the charging humanoid monsters with swords and spears.
Humanoid monsters collapsed to the ground.
I did not understand it, but Sterling still did not participate in the fight.
They were fighting well, but this was only the beginning.
“It’s about time for the main event.”
After they took down about a dozen humanoid monsters, a large monster appeared from the direction of the city.
A huge monster thickly smeared with white blood.
It was a defensive-type monster that had torn its way out of a cocoon.
When the monster charged, the humanoid monsters scattered in every direction.
The group that had been fighting the humanoid monsters did not run away and instead looked at Sterling.
And then Sterling, who had been standing still until then, raised both hands.
A magic circle formed above Sterling.
It was a fairly large magic circle, and one I knew as well.
“Oh, he’s finally using magic. That’s a pretty powerful spell, isn’t it?”
Honestly, I was surprised.
With that magic circle, though he would not be as good as Soph, he could cast magic far stronger than the spells I could use.
However, Soph said something different from what I expected.
[I got my hopes up for nothing. I thought perhaps I had found a usable mage instead of a strange shortcut mage, but he is a novice mage who learned through half measures.]
The moment Soph finished speaking, a large fireball shot out from the magic circle.
The fireball collided with the charging monster and began burning it.
Seeing that, Sterling’s group cheered, but Soph spoke in a voice full of contempt.
[Look at that. All his energy was depleted with that single shot. On top of that, it wasn’t that he hadn’t been using magic until now. It was that he couldn’t use it because the preparation time was too long.]
Sterling dropped to one knee and gasped for breath.
Come to think of it, while the group had been fighting, he had stood motionless and kept muttering to himself.
He had been chanting the entire time.
[There is nothing more to see.]
Seeing that, Soph seemed to lose interest entirely.
But I kept watching.
Because the situation looked better than I had expected.
One way or another, the defensive-type monster was burning from Sterling’s magic.
The humanoid monsters were still unable to approach, too.
“If things go well, they might be able to escape safely.”
I said as I drew a line on the ground.
However, Soph did not agree with my thoughts.
[Impossible. The scout will come.]
Just as Soph said.
Kraaaaaa!
Tentacles shot up above the building.
A black monster suddenly climbed onto the rooftop.
The black monster came running this way.
The scout had appeared.
Modern Magician (3)