The Capture Target Only Loves Magic

1-22. Armory

The streets of the palace all led to a large square. The path widened as I went by. Finding a dog hole, I dropped to the ground and narrowly slipped through it, getting my clothes muddy in the process. I stood up and patted myself down. Well, it wasn't all a bad thing. My clothes were overly flashy. Maybe the mud would help tone it down.

I looked around at the townspeople. It seemed our country wasn't doing badly. Some were carrying about wagons on the streets, some were walking. And though the clothes they wore were yellowed and somewhat frayed, they looked sufficient. There were small stalls and shops. Children sat by the edge of the road having fun tossing stones and killing time.

The path from the palace to the square was pretty empty. It made sense. Commoners had little reason to go to the palace. The square itself, though, was bustling with people. It was a good thing. It was always better to hide in plain sight.

I still had, what, two days? I counted, until I would be needed at the Cathedral. I hoped the guards wouldn't notice my absence. It was normal for me to be stuck in my room for several days at a time, so they might call on me just before I was needed, or that was what I was counting on.

My fingers slipped into my pocket. My heartbeat slowed down as my hand touched upon something familiar, hard, and heavy. I shouldn't forget my goal, I told myself. Which was simple, yet hard at the same time.

The biggest mana stones in the entire palace were as bigger than my fist. There were exactly two of them, both with the same size. One was under strong protection, underneath the palace, though it didn't seem to do anything, I remembered. The second seemed to be the electricity control panel to manage the entire mana system. It was just a guess since it was connected to all the fancy lights and automatic stuff in the palace. I removed it, but for a curious reason, there wasn't a blackout. After removal, the lights were dimmer, but there weren't any largely noticeable changes.

The two stones made slight bulges in my pocket, and I took my hand out of my pocket.

But there was a small problem. I needed to inscribe a pattern on the mana stone, but I didn't know where to go or who to request it to.

Curse it. Faehnrut was a Holy nation, and the Mage Tower had little influence here. It would be hard to find an Earth mage who could properly process stones in my country. Priests were the majority, not mages. If I could find a workshop-

Nothing. Nothing at all. There were only food stalls and clothes shops and houses. 'The Troll's Armour'. My eyes brightened a little, but then dimmed back down again. I almost sighed before I held my voice back in. I would just have to hope there would be an enchanter in the armory with the skill to enchant my mana stone.

The paths were wobbly, done with stone. Compared to my previous life, technology was lacking. I glanced at all the various short stumpy buildings. The palace was quite far from here, I realized. I could see it in the distance, the pointy flag sticking out of the top tower. I must have walked farther than I thought.

I bumped into someone. It didn't really hurt. The man was wearing a black hood so I couldn't see his face, and the second I blinked he was gone. He had disappeared, like he wasn't there. It was so fast, I would have doubted what had just happened if it wasn't for a small clattering noise as something fell to the ground.

I dropped down low and found the object immidiately. It was a small badge, or it looked like one. It was covered in silver and black velvet with the symbol of fire in the middle. No, it wasn't black velvet. I held it up to the light. It was navy-colored. The material was shining.

It looked quite expensive, I concluded, if not important. The person must have dropped the badge by accident. But the man was gone. I didn't hestitate before stuffing the badge into my pocket. It didn't look dangerous, and I was curious. Maybe I could ask around. Navy and fire. Hmmm.