Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 88 - 85: Staying Overnight

Are there no believers of Divine Spirits within the Empire?

Of course, there are. They’re quite common, in fact. It’s just that the Empire Council stipulates that all faiths must be registered, all Church activities must be approved by the Judicial Court and the local Town Mage, and...

No collecting tithing, and no selling Absolution Certificates!

The end of the Old Empire coincided with the advent of the Silent Age of the Gods. When people discovered the connection between the Divine Kingdoms and the mortal world wasn’t as strong as before, the Divine Teachings took a major blow. The Church of Light and Order, which had once dominated the continent, suffered the greatest losses:

The Bishops and Priests, who spent their days drinking newly brewed "Holy Blood" and eating soft, white "Holy Meal," were kicked to the curb by a mob of old farmers and merchants clutching mass-printed copies of the Records of the Divine Words of the Order of Light. The rulers of the Duchies north of the Holy Kingdom seized the opportunity to free themselves from the Church’s political meddling.

Some might argue that among these Priests and Bishops were Divine Benefactors. Though they were fat and round from feasting, they could at least perform miracles. So how could they have been overthrown by a bunch of peasants from the Northern Lands with hoes?

The passing Magic Guild claimed they were merely righting a wrong and lending the righteous folk a little bit of help. On what grounds did the Pope declare them heretics? Just because they didn’t want to pay you anymore? Can you make a god descend to the mortal world and say a few words? If not, then shut up and take the beating. The times have changed!

Of course, the Order Church wasn’t entirely for show. After their rout in the northern part of the continent, they made many changes, managing to stabilize their position and hold onto their core territories in the Holy Kingdom and the southern regions.

From the Silent Age onward, a feud was forged between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom. Another negative consequence was that the religious order established by the Church in the Empire was shattered by those hoes, leading to the emergence of all sorts of unregistered sects and Cult Groups.

This led to the establishment of the registration system and the Town Mages, meant to suppress the chaotic free-for-all in the realms of faith and the supernatural.

Now, the Great Mage needed to know if the "Tree God" mentioned by the innkeeper was some sacred entity or just another demon.

The innkeeper also realized the gravity of the situation. "Master, I’m not actually a believer of any particular faith. A lot of people here worship the Tree God, so I just picked it up from hearing it so often..."

"Are there any believers of the ’Tree God’ in the village now?"

"Yes, yes! There’s only one family left, and they worship it every day!"

The innkeeper pointed to the only couple that had remained. The man’s face was flushed and he reeked of alcohol. The woman avoided eye contact, and the bags under her eyes and her disheveled hair made her look exceptionally haggard.

It was Humboldt Great Mage who spoke again, treating the matter with extreme seriousness. "Hello. Do you have an idol of the ’Tree God’? Could I take a look at it?"

"HAHAHA, who needs a statue or a painting?" The man let out a drunken burp, releasing a foul odor. "This is the Black Forest! The god’s incarnations are everywhere! You’re... surrounded!"

’So he doesn’t mean Deryats or Silvanos?’

The man’s words implied that the image of the so-called "Tree God" was literally a tree, which took Rorschach by surprise.

The woman kept biting her lip, not saying a word. Her winter clothes didn’t fit well and failed to hide her trembling.

Humboldt turned and exchanged a look with Peterson. Peterson shook his head, and the Great Mage stopped pressing the drunk. "Alright, thank you. Sorry to have bothered you."

Back at the inn, the innkeeper had already packed his luggage and was fitting a harness onto his donkey.

"Masters, Mages, to be honest, you’ve come a bit late! If you had arrived when we first reported this to the Town Mage, the villagers wouldn’t have all left. It could snow at any moment, and with the snow comes that... that Beast Tide. Who knows what other terrible things might happen!"

"What’s the story with that couple? Why aren’t they leaving with you?"

"Them? Their precious son was lost a few nights ago. They’re as good as dead now themselves," the innkeeper muttered as he climbed onto the driver’s seat.

"We’ll be staying at the inn."

"What? I’m getting out of here, you people..."

Peterson tossed him a Gold Coin and said impatiently, "How much is this rundown place of yours even worth? We could buy it if we wanted to, and it’s not like we’re going to tear it down."

The innkeeper fumbled but caught the Gold Coin. His expression changed instantly, his face wreathed in smiles. "The master mage is right! My lords, I wish you a pleasant stay!" He tossed the inn’s key, which Cavendish neatly caught.

"Farewell! Farewell!" The donkey pulled the small cart, swaying as it left Rorschach and his party with a view of its back before disappearing down the forest path.

In the inn’s main hall, a fire was lit in the long-unused hearth, sending out waves of warmth. The investigation team held a temporary meeting.

"Something’s wrong with the forest, so why don’t we just leave before it gets dark?" Cavendish’s words made the other Apprentices nod in agreement, all except for Ella.

Ella frowned and said, "The Empire doesn’t have the Order Church. Dealing with this kind of anomaly is a Mage’s duty to begin with."

"That’s the duty of the Town Mages and your Tower of Forest!" As soon as he said this, the other two Apprentices who had been nodding now glared at Cavendish.

Humboldt Great Mage put a stop to the discussion. He explained the decision to stay overnight in a tone that brooked no argument. "We cannot stand by and watch this anomaly develop. We must restore balance to the forest. Judging by the fact the villagers were able to fend off the nightly Beast Tide, whatever happens at night shouldn’t pose a threat to us.

We should use the nighttime anomaly to gather more intelligence and assess the severity of the situation to decide on our next course of action."

Peterson added, "If the Beast Tide is merely a disturbance among the animals, we can consider going deeper into the forest to find the source of the problem.

If it’s something different, something more complicated, we can contact the Tower of Forest and the Town Mages for reinforcements from here." After speaking, he looked at Rorschach. "Rorschach Mage, do you have any other opinions?"

"I agree with both of your plans." Although Rorschach wasn’t sure if the situation would escalate, he was bound by his pact with a Divine Spirit, and he still had a few tricks up his sleeve...

"So we’re not leaving, huh," Cavendish muttered, so quietly that only Rorschach, who was sitting next to him, could hear.

’This guy got tricked into coming here for one academic credit. Kano really is ruthless,’ Rorschach thought, feeling a pang of sympathy for his student.

The meeting continued with room assignments. "Everyone will be in pairs. Hmm, Ella, you’ll take a single room, but an Official Mage must be in the rooms on either side of you.

Everyone will stay on the second floor, in rooms with windows facing the couple’s cabin. We’ll take turns keeping an eye on them."

Next was restoring the village’s peripheral defenses. The Apprentices repositioned the chevaux de frise and wooden barricades. Master Humboldt filled the gaps by summoning thorny vines, which wrapped tightly around the defenses on either side.

When Rorschach approached the thorns, the plants sensed him and automatically unwound, like an automatic door.

"[Druid Forest]. The Master chose to set up entangling shrubs," Peterson explained. "They can inherit the Master’s will to ensnare our enemies and protect us. These shrubs and thorns are quite sentient, aren’t they?"

Rorschach nodded. An automatic door that could distinguish friend from foe was indeed convenient.

He consulted with Peterson for a moment, then used [Stone Shaping Skill] to construct an earthen wall behind the barricades. After a flurry of activity, a simple rampart began to take shape.

To save time and Magic Power, Rorschach only compressed and hardened the outer face of the earthen wall, leaving the inner side as a simple slope. Once finished, he returned to his room. While slowly channeling Magic Power into his body to speed up his recovery, he unrolled a Communication Scroll he had meticulously crafted.

As dusk fell, everyone nervously patrolled the forest surrounding the village. Only Cavendish was on the inn’s roof, fiddling with his instruments.

Master Humboldt sat at the entrance of the inn, his eyes closed, seemingly resting and meditating.

At some point, three or four jays had appeared in Humboldt’s lap. They vied for his affection, nuzzling the Great Mage’s palm before taking flight one by one, circling high above the village.

Night was about to fall.