Chapter 5

Speaking of magic, it’s that mysterious art that frequently appears in fairy tales and heroic epics, where beautiful mages or holy clerics perform incredible miracles. They talk to spirits, heal wounds, and pull off impossible feats with a simple “presto-chango.”

Sometimes there are wicked mages, too, but even then, people can’t help but yearn for such supernatural power.

Naturally, being an idiot, I’d spent my childhood practicing incantations with a tree branch in hand, driven by the wish to “use magic just once.” Magic did technically exist in this world, and although I didn’t know the method, I believed that if I just kept wishing hard enough, I’d eventually be able to shoot a “Fire” spell or something.

A child’s blind faith can be a stretch sometimes, but the thing about being a child is that you don’t realize it’s a stretch in the first place.

Fortunately, that fleeting dream of mine crumbled before I seriously set my sights on the knighthood.

I had looked up magic-related books at the library, only to find the shocking truth written right there: “Magic requires a special aptitude, but our Kingdom hasn’t had anyone with that aptitude for ages!”

Thinking there might be a chance if we had immigrants in our family tree, I dashed home and checked our genealogy. My family had been commoners of this country for generations. I wept bitter tears in the privacy of the family storehouse.

Never before had a single sheet of weathered parchment felt so spiteful. To think a mere scrap of paper could make a person feel so miserable—the destiny of one’s blood is truly a heavy burden.

However, if you were to ask if having no aptitude for magic meant we had no relationship with it, the country’s answer would be a firm “no.” In fact, the Kingdom had long held a strong interest in magic. This momentum only grew as they investigated its convenience and economic impact through the active diplomacy policy that began about a hundred years ago.

As time passed and the number of magic-using citizens began to slowly increase due to active international relations, the Kingdom established the Royal Magic Research Institute as if timing it perfectly. They gathered talent from abroad, intending to research ways to utilize magic from various perspectives… but this is where things went a bit sideways.

Our Kingdom had historically possessed neither mages nor magical technology. In other words, we were starting from zero.

Therefore, the Kingdom was desperate for every single magic user they could get, welcoming immigrant mages with exceptionally generous treatment.

The result: a massive influx of eccentric, “high-maintenance” mages descended upon the Royal Magic Research Institute.

Mages are researchers by nature. And research costs money.

From the benefactor’s side, you provide funds because you want results; it’s the way of the world to ignore bizarre researchers who don’t look likely to produce any. Thus, those who were looked down upon by society or the academic world—mages with massive personality quirks—snapped at this “too good to be true” offer like a pack of starving wolves.

From their perspective, this Kingdom was a truly blank research environment where every seat in the Institute’s upper management was empty. In short, by sitting in those chairs, they could immerse themselves in whatever research they wanted without being mocked or pointed at for wasting money.

Naturally, this created a worrying situation regarding the quality of the staff.

Overseas magic researchers were surprisingly oversaturated, it seemed. It was sheer madness to welcome everyone when the lot included countless people who might not research seriously—or worse, might start dangerous experiments.

But this Kingdom doesn’t go down without a fight.

The King quickly shifted gears, having the mages declare their respective fields of expertise and specialties. He and his ministers scrutinized them relentlessly, working with foreign magic experts to weed out the duds and extract the promising ones.

As a result, they filled the Royal Magic Research Institute with all sorts of mages: capable people who had been framed by other scholars and exiled from academia, people with genius brains despite their difficult personalities, and inventors who had brilliant ideas but were terrible at presentations. They then assigned budding mages and volunteers as their subordinates, and finally, the Kingdom was able to set sail on the sea of magical research.

Now, as for the relationship between the order and these intellectuals at the Institute, it’s actually quite intimate.

And for good reason. The knighthood was the first to receive the blessings of magic, such as “Healing Magic” and “Motive Engines.” The Institute, in turn, views the order as “a place to gain practical magical experience” and “a testing ground for prototypes and experimental technology.”

In fact, several Motive Engine mechanics and Healers belong to the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights and are working hard even today. If my memory serves me right, romances between knights and researchers are apparently quite common.

And—there is one researcher at the Royal Magic Research Institute who has a particularly deep connection with our order.

“VARNA-kun!! You really are a WONDERFUL knight!! To take down the boss of an Orc pack with so little damage to the body… haauu~♪ Nonoka-chan is just so moved to have such a precious sample!!~”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it.”

I had entered the large research Motive Carriage—better known as the “Purification Plant”—which was equipped with facilities for storing, researching, dissecting, and purifying Orc corpses. Waiting for me was the passionate embrace of a young girl wearing mysterious shoes with 50-centimeter platforms. I managed to grab her forehead at the last second, so her tiny hands were just clawing at the air, unable to reach me.

Now, I described this small girl with chestnut pigtails and glasses—Nonoka-san—as a “young girl,” but that’s not entirely accurate. Specifically, the “young girl” part is the inaccuracy.

“Hmph! You mean to say you cannot accept this overflowing love?! Nonoka objects to being treated like a child when I specifically developed these ‘Platform-Uppers’ just so I could hug Varna-kun! The knighthood is based on seniority! You should respect your elders!”

“You look like a kid, Nonoka-san.”

“But look, I have more boob than the girls around here, you know?”

“I don’t need to see that! I don’t need to see that!”

Peeking through the gaps of her oversized lab coat were “fruits” of a size impossible for a mere child, swaying as she moved. And then there was that comment about being older. Calculating backward from there—terrifyingly enough—this person was older than me.

Apparently, she’s a member of the Luvocle race—mysterious people whose bodies don’t grow large, but whose brains become highly developed. They stay tiny even as adults. I don’t know her exact age, but she’s at least double the seventeen years I’ve lived. Despite looking like a little girl.

“…Hmph. Varna-kun still won’t go soft on me. All the other rookies are totally head-over-heels! Well, that’s fine too, but thank you so much for the Orc! Now I can investigate its new ecological traits~~♪ Right then, time for the dissection, the dissection!!”

Flashing a dazzling smile, Nonoka-san skillfully maneuvered her platform shoes as she carried scalpels and other tools into the dissection room inside the “Purification Plant.” It’s a bit jarring to see someone with that appearance loving dissections, but her adorable smile is famously healing.

Incidentally, when a mission goes well, she sometimes stands on her tiptoes to pat people on the head while saying, “Good job!♪” This has led several “disaster-humans” in the order to open a very dangerous door. She is, in fact, another of the order’s Three Great Mother Goddesses. Though she’s a completely different type compared to the first one.

Anyway, let me touch upon her skills as a scholar.

She was originally a researcher specializing in the natural environment and agriculture, conducting studies aimed at using magic for plant growth and soil improvement.

Apparently, her fascination with dissecting wildlife stems from her belief that by examining what predators at the top of the food chain eat, she can uncover the intricate relationships between various organisms. Her passion is formidable; she doesn’t stop at Orcs, dissecting fish, birds, and even insects. I did wonder if it was a bit much for a girl, but since her academic career spans at least a decade, she’s likely just used to it.

Come to think of it, she once walked into the mess hall clutching animal entrails and a brain in her bare hands, chirping, “Cook this for me!♪” while everyone around her shrieked. Only Tamae-san was unfazed, responding with, “Oh, you’ve brought something tasty looking!” and was perfectly ready to fire up the stove.

Seriously, the women in this order are too strong. Should we just rename ourselves the “Nagging Wife Knights”?

…No, wait, I believe Nonoka-san isn’t married.

Given her age, she’s certainly old enough, but I wonder if she ever considered marrying within her own race.

“Hm? Something the matter, Varna-kun? Are you going to help me with the dissection? A dissection date! That was all the rage in anatomy circles a while back!!”

“The fact that you’d even say that means you’ve pretty much given up on being a woman, Nonoka-san. I mean, have you even ever had a boyfriend?”

“I have, you know? Back in my hometown.”

“You did?! Someone actually had that kind of… unique taste?!”

“Hey! Your incredibly rude inner thoughts are leaking out!”

That was unexpected. Though, I suppose it’s possible she’s just insisting some neighborhood kid she played with in kindergarten was her “boyfriend.” My train of thought, which was veering into “incredibly rude” territory, came to an abrupt halt at her next words.

“But when I told him I was moving to this Kingdom and asked him to come with me, he said he couldn’t… so I left him behind.”

For a brief moment, the face of Nonoka-san—who always wore a smile as if cheerfulness was her only personality trait—looked strangely fragile.

It made me feel awkward, like I’d overstepped. I probably shouldn’t have asked.

Just as I was thinking of cutting the conversation short, Nonoka-san surprisingly continued talking about her past love life.

“Since Luvocles look like this, we don’t really have a huge age gap in appearance. We usually enjoy life for a while before we hit the ‘marriageable age.’ So, at my age, we often date just for the practice… th-that’s why I don’t care about it at all! Really… I really don’t care…”

“…Nonoka-san.”

“I mean, I’m the one who decided research was more important than a boyfriend, right? And I’m the one who turned him down when he asked me to stay in our country. Besides, I’d always thought he was a bit too childish for my taste—”

“Nonoka-san, is this all the equipment you need for the dissection?”

“—Eh?”

I picked up the case of tools she had been trying to carry and gestured toward the dissection room with my chin.

“You look like you’re pushing yourself right now. I’ll join you on this ‘dissection date’ just to make sure you don’t accidentally dissect your own hand.”

“A-Are you sure? You’re going to see weird white membranes, yellow granules, purple goo, and animals half-melted by stomach acid, you know? Beginners usually lose their lunch…”

“Unfortunately, I’m well-acquainted with Orc guts. Besides, if you’re not feeling like yourself, the rest of the order will worry. Don’t worry, Nonoka-san—you’re a charming woman.”

“…!!!”

Nonoka-san stared at me blankly for a moment, her face turning bright red. She looked down and muttered a soft, “…Thanks.”

She’s a person whose only real asset is her energy. If she’s feeling mopey, it throws my own rhythm off, too. Besides, looking at her tiny hands, I was genuinely worried she might hurt herself.

Just as she feels the urge to treat me like a child, I suppose I might have a bit of a habit of coddling her, too.

Afterward, I accompanied a revitalized Nonoka-san through the dissection of the Orc I’d killed.

If this kind of “date” was ever actually popular, the youth of those scholars must be a dreary shade of gray. And yet…

“I see. So the tendon is here, and I should strike here to hit the muscle seam. This is surprisingly useful… Oh, Nonoka-san. There’s a strange lump in the corner of the Orc’s forestomach.”

“Let me see… Whoa! Look at this, Varna-kun! There’s a tree root inside its stomach! I heard Orcs were omnivores, but a tree root?! Why on earth would it eat something like this? Hunger? Is there some secret in the root’s components? Or does it have something to do with the boss’s habits?! If I solve this riddle, I’ll be one step closer to the mysterious core of the Orc species!~”

…What does it say about me that I was actually having a pretty good time?

Before the Orc corpse—which had been drained of blood by Nonoka-san’s magic and wrapped in a mysterious veil to prevent rot—we continued the dissection for three full hours.

The fact that I could take apart a stomach and not smell a thing is a testament to how wonderful the blessings of magic can be.

Even if it’s incredibly underwhelming compared to the stuff in picture books.

This is the level of magic we, the Pig-Hunt Knights, deal with on a daily basis.