The Water Magician

Chapter 2

"Your Excellency, it has been confirmed that it is indeed a demon insect."

"That's quite an unpleasant report."

Regent Lord Aubrey frowned deeply in response to the report from his aide, Lumber.

"Even so... I can't just report lies."

Lumber also grimaced and shook his head slightly.

"Is that the case? It means that the kingdom's legacy officer has confirmed it?"

"Yes. It's Viscount Rasharta Deboe from the Central Temple of the Royal Capital. He was the one who directly confirmed it when demon insects appeared in Kona Village of the kingdom. Our relationship improved after sending a delegation to the Western Nations, allowing him to come directly to the site. The high cost of the delegation was worth it."

"Well, we only provided the funds... The hardships faced by His Majesty King Robert Pirlo, who is actually there, are incomparable to ours."

Lord Aubrey said with a wry smile.

It was none other than Lord Aubrey who had begged the former king, now in his seventies and living comfortably, to undertake the harsh journey to the West.

Knowing this, aide Lumber once again shook his head slightly.

"The situation in Kona Village... the seal on the demon has been broken, hasn't it?"

"Yes. Of course, the kingdom has not announced it, but from the information we've gathered, it seems certain."

"However, there are no signs of the released demon rampaging."

"That's right. It hasn't been resealed... it seems to have fled to the West."

As Lumber explained the situation in line with Lord Aubrey's memory, Lord Aubrey lowered his head and began to think.

During this time, Lumber remained silent, arranging documents on the desk.

After a while, Lord Aubrey spoke again.

"My memory is a bit hazy, but... there are records of a demon sealed near the kingdom's border and the allied nation's border causing a great disturbance, right?"

"Exactly. According to legend, it was sealed by King Richard of the kingdom."

"Well, even if it is just a legend... it must be a being that cannot be dealt with unless it is a hero of such caliber, right? I hope it doesn't come back."

"The revival will surely happen eventually..."

"If it's a hundred years later, that would be fine. By then, I will no longer be around."

"The generations of children and grandchildren will face a great crisis..."

"Surely by that time, magic and alchemy tools that can defeat even demons in one blow will have been developed."

Lord Aubrey said, nodding repeatedly, clearly not believing it.

Those who have long supported him, like Lumber, knew that Lord Aubrey didn't truly believe in such things.

They knew, yet...

"I suppose that's just not realistic."

"...Lumber is as serious as ever."

The circumstances leading to Rasharta's confirmation are as follows.

The city of Nirfa in the western part of the alliance.

This city is famous for its wine production.

Vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see, and merchants from not only the alliance but all over the Central Nations come to purchase wine.

However, this year, the vines were infested with a bug never seen before.

About the size of a pinky's nail.

It has ten legs, and when crushed, a body fluid like blood oozes out...

When this bug infests, the trees wither at an alarming rate.

Of course, experts on insects from Nirfa as well as surrounding large cities were called, but no one could identify the bug.

With no effective measures found, they continued to crush the bugs one by one for several months...

The situation changed when a visiting inspector from the government in the Capital Jakelea arrived and saw the bug.

Inspector Assar was an elderly mage nearing seventy years old.

He had long retired and was living leisurely near Jakelea, but he was consulted by his disciple, the Director of the Internal Revenue Bureau.

The wine from Nirfa was in a critical situation. If it continued like this, there would be serious issues with wine bottling and tax revenue would be severely affected.

While Assar didn't care much about tax revenue, he was greatly troubled by the idea of his beloved Nirfa wine becoming hard to obtain.