“Guhk!”
Pedro staggered from the impact to his jaw.
Yet, true to his war-mage origins, he quickly backpedaled to regain posture and chanted spells aimed at me.
<Electric Shock>
〈Bolt Knuckle〉
<Double Spark>
Zzzzt-zzzt!
Triple casting.
Impressive skill.
But unfortunately for him, with the Thunder God Physique trait and Ure equipped, I am essentially immune to lightning attributes.
I leisurely walked toward Pedro.
Zzzzt-zzzt!
Pzzzt!
I took every incoming spell head-on.
The energy from a level 30+ mage’s lightning magic converted wholly into my mana.
“Uwaaaa! You monster bastard! What the hell are you!”
Pedro fell into panic as his prized lightning magic proved utterly ineffective.
In contrast, I felt vitality surging through my entire body.
It might be an illusion, but right now I felt like I could fight anyone and not lose.
The distance had closed sufficiently.
I sheathed Ure and began pummeling him with my fists.
Thud! Thwack-thwack! Smack! Thud!
“Gaaahk!”
A sound like a pig being slaughtered echoed throughout the village.
After thoroughly massaging Pedro’s entire body, I suddenly struck him hard in the solar plexus.
“Guhak!”
Pedro lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ground.
“I won.”
Having wrapped things up, I turned around to see my entire party staring at me with dumbfounded expressions.
Between the lightning rod incident and now, I’ve been getting that reaction a lot lately.
Shouldn’t they be used to it by now?
I turned my back on them and approached the fainted Pedro.
I rummaged through his pockets and pulled out something that caught my hand.
“…Found it.”
What I recovered from Pedro was a sinisterly glowing crimson orb.
As expected, he had it at this point in time.
[Recovered MacGuffin No.548 / Respinel’s Carrier.]
[Achievement Points +500]
The message announcing MacGuffin recovery.
Seeing it, I smiled faintly.
Truthfully, if I had wanted, I could have left the village right after waking up.
Then I wouldn’t have had this dispute with Pedro.
Yet the reason I waited here anyway was the possibility that Pedro might possess this item.
<Machine God Tribe Core – Respinel>
[Level: 0]
[Description: Dormant state.]
Respinel’s core.
This appeared in Part 3 of the original work, stored in the Alpanium Library.
But there was a hint in Part 1 that Pedro possessed a red-glowing gem.
I had personally speculated that the gem he had was this Respinel, and the message floating before me confirmed my guess was correct.
In the original timeline, Pedro was defeated by Epio and dragged to a laboratory in the Alpanium Library, so Respinel likely ended up in the library’s storage during that process.
The important part is the use of this gem.
Explaining it would take a while.
In the Reca Chronicles world setting, there is a unique race called the “Machine God Tribe.”
Their main body, the “core,” looks like a small gem and serves as both heart and brain for humans.
What I am holding now is the core of a Machine God Tribe member named “Respinel.”
The Machine God Tribe can attach various metals or mechanical parts around this core and control them as if they were their own body.
In other words, they can endlessly modify and strengthen themselves.
One might ask if they are not just machines rather than living beings, but the setting book clearly defines the Machine God Tribe as living beings with souls.
Though their form differs from ordinary humanity, as seen in the [Level: 0] entry, they also possess character sheets.
Circumstantially, they seem to be artificial lifeforms created during the Magical Empire era, but neither the setting book nor the main story clearly reveals their origins.
[Description: Dormant state.]
As the sheet shows, it is currently dormant, but with special measures, the sleeping ego can be awakened.
The Machine God Tribe has long lifespans and clearly repays favors, so if I wake it and ask for about 20 years of assistance as repayment, it will likely accept without much hesitation.
Da-da-da-dak—
“In the name of the Lord of Herus, I warn you! Everyone, do not move!”
The sound of countless footsteps rang out as dozens of territory guards appeared and surrounded us.
“They’re quick.”
Clicking my tongue lightly, I shouted toward the guards,
“Take this mad alchemist away! He tried to steal an item whose ownership was directly transferred to me by Lord Frank!”
“Y-yes, understood!”
Upon invoking the name of the Lord of Herus, the guard captain’s attitude became extremely polite.
During the explanation, I presented a copy of the contract regarding the Infinite Thunderstone, and upon confirming the lord’s seal, the guards turned serious and restrained Pedro.
Pedro probably planned to kill me and flee somewhere in the south to wash his identity, but having laid hands on the son of a Grand Ducal house with influence in the north, he won’t escape heavy punishment.
“So… um, Your Highness of the Stroke Grand Ducal house?”
“If it’s uncomfortable, don’t bother with formalities and just call me whatever’s convenient. It’s stifling for me too.”
“Haha… The noble lord is quite reasonable. So what about that group of subhumans? From what the villagers said, they seem to be mercenaries hired by this Pedro fellow.”
“…Wait a moment.”
I told one of the guards that, then approached the subhumans who were blankly staring this way and asked,
“Who among you is the sub-leader?”
“…You even know that term; it seems you are well aware of our clan’s structure.”
A hissing, drawn-out voice.
But more fluent than the other subhumans.
The one who answered was a lizard-like subhuman, a female of the Stonecheek tribe.
When the Quentaltin clan dispatches medium-to-large groups, they always attach one staff-like member skilled in judgment—these are called “sub-leaders.”
Sub-leaders handle thinking and negotiations on behalf of the other subhuman mercenaries who are ignorant of the ways of the world.
In other words, she can be reasoned with.
“I appreciate that you didn’t interfere in the fight. But the fact remains that you were hired by Pedro. As someone of rather high status in human society, if you’re dragged off by the guards like this, it’ll become quite troublesome. You might end up unfairly punished alongside Pedro.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I have a personal connection with the lord here. If you grant one small request, I’ll use that connection to cleanly pardon you.”
“Hmm… and the request?”
“Nothing big. Just relay a message to your clan master, Kubri Rendi-Rollango.”
“A message?”
“Yes. Tell him I know the whereabouts of a man named ‘Lavalbeaga.’”
“…Is that all?”
“Why, is it strange?”
“No. That much is not difficult. I gladly accept.”
Hearing the answer, I told the guards, “These mercenaries actively cooperated in capturing Pedro, so there’s no need to restrain them separately.”
But anyone cross-checking the villagers’ testimonies would easily spot holes in my story.
Accordingly, I appropriately name-dropped the Lord of Herus, and the guards, realizing it was not something for them to meddle in, quietly withdrew.
Since it was true that the subhuman mercenaries merely watched our fight with Pedro, and I was actively defending them, it was ambiguous to press charges.
Making acquaintances with mercenaries of the Quentaltin clan and creating a connection to Kubri, one of the Twelve Heroes.
This was the third reason for coming to Mirsen village.
For reference, the person I mentioned in my conversation with the Stonecheek tribe, “Lavalbeaga,” is a Cowman (Minotaur) warrior and Kubri’s old friend.
He went missing five years ago for some reason, so if Kubri hears this, he will definitely take interest in me.
Later, to easily obtain the elixir called “Wings of the Bifrost (S-),” I will need the help of subhumans including him, so I am laying the groundwork in advance.
With that, the incident was resolved.
The subhuman mercenaries fled as fast as they could in case the guards changed their minds, and Pedro was locked in the underground dungeon of the lord’s mansion awaiting trial.
We left Mirsen village amid the villagers’ farewells.
I received 10 platinum coins from Lord Frank as reward for handling the Infinite Thunderstone, and my purse grew considerably heavier.
Clinging to the lightning rod to take dry lightning.
Self-harm using Ure.
Swallowing the Infinite Thunderstone.
Charging straight into incoming lightning spells.
Wolfgang, one of the elite knights, recounted what I did in the village and stuck out his tongue as if still incredulous.
“If I keep traveling with Your Highness like this, even ten livers wouldn’t last a year.”
We’re only just getting started—if he’s shocked now, what will he do later.
Well, I won’t be traveling with him and the other two elite knights for much longer anyway.
After possessing Aiden, I compiled a complete list of companion candidates to recruit while building the clan.
First, I wrote down hundreds of characters and ranked who to prioritize recruiting.
The conditions considered in this process were varied.
- How likely they are to be connected to low-numbered MacGuffins.
- How high their level or how useful their abilities (generally 50+).
- Whether I can easily control them.
- How easily they can be recruited.
- Whether their personality or values mesh well with other companions.
The numbers indicate order of importance.
But if they scored exceptionally high in other areas, I raised priority even while accepting some minor drawbacks.
After systematically organizing the recruitment list, the companion candidates were largely divided into four tiers from 0 to 3.
There are only three in the must-recruit “Tier 0.”
First, the protagonist Epio.
Then the Solar Priestess, Clara Rephindarx Aldemar.
There is one more in Tier 0, but strictly speaking, he is closer to Tier 0.5.
Due to various circumstances, his priority is relatively lower than the other two.
Epio and Clara are characters deeply connected to the main MacGuffins, so I absolutely need to manage them closely.
I plan to rush over and pick them up the moment the right time comes.
Next, Tier 1.
Considering how special the three in Tier 0 are in many ways, these are effectively the top-priority recruits.
Chesa also belongs here, scoring near-perfect in items 1 through 4.
Thus, her priority is at the very top of Tier 1.
Sotiros, whom I bought from the black market and married into the Utland family, is Tier 2.
His level is a bit lacking, but not critically so, and excellent traits can patch it up adequately.
Above all, near-perfect scores in items 2 and 3 are outstanding.
To reiterate, this is not ranked purely by ability but the result of considering as many conditions as possible.
There are even characters with potential levels over 60 who were classified as Tier 3 for completely failing items 2 and 4.
Two months after leaving Herus Territory.
We arrived at a small domain near the border between the Ralanta Republic and the Baskaya Knight Empire.
I directed my steps toward a slum inside it.
Maximilian asked me,
“…Your Highness, do you really have business in a place like this? No matter how I look, it just seems like a slum.”
“Very important business.”
Naturally, the three elite knights have not heard about the prophetic dream setting.
Thus, unlike the two women quietly following me, they continually show bewilderment at my strange behavior.
But I absolutely have to visit this place.
It is where someone who far exceeds full marks in recruitment condition number 3 resides.
And that guy belongs to the same Tier 1 recruitment candidates as Chesa.