Eminence in Technomancy c6 (Patreon)

Claire Kagenou didn't give up easily. Nope, it's simply impossible. She has to find that Alchemist!

Witnessing him wipe the floor with that Beast was a wake-up call that one doesn't need a sword to dominate the fight.

“Ugh…”

The girl grabbed her neck as pulses of hotness washed her over. Then, some pain followed.

Her mana went chaotic for a bit.

“...What is happening to me?”

The pain continued for a while as she got herself together and continued to look for Marcus.

That has been her daily routine: train for a while, then spend time looking for him.

“Once I see him, I will brag that I won the local tournament! That should impress him!”

The girl pumped herself up as she proceeded to take a few more steps, but then her mana went out of control as pain erupted from the back of her neck!

This time, it was far more chaotic than ever before.

The black-haired girl couldn't control her footing as she collapsed on the ground. She touched the back of her neck.

Her eyes went wide with horror as her neck was all mushy and smelly!

“N-No… thats…” She realised what this was! It was demonic possession!

“N-N-No! This can’t be happening!” Just like that she realised that her life was over!

“You don't give up, do you?”

A familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts; Claire lifted her head and looked towards this voice.

She saw Marcus fully clad in light grey armour, holding a helmet in his left hand.

“M-Marcus, stand back! I am possessed!”

*Scoff*

“Don’t be naive, Claire. What you experience is mana overload. The cells you inherited from Hero Freya are going haywire; this happens when you constantly train your magic.” He explained to her as he crouched down and touched her neck.

Claire can sense his mana flowing into her, soothing her mana!

Slowly, the pain and feeling of burning are gone.

“...You…”

The moment he removed his hand, she touched the back of her neck. It was her skin! There was no more feeling of that mushiness! The smell was gone!

“...You saved!” The girl exclaimed with a happy voice. She slowly stood up.

Her eyes inspected his armour! It looked simplistic, but that was just a cover-up. She can see runes dotting it. It was an artefact!

“Yes. Well, I thought I did that. Even though you are annoying, I don't want them to harvest you like some sort of food.”

“...Them?”

“The cult.”

“...Cult?”

“The cult of Diablos. The cult behind the church. All those possessed people are being harvested for the cells. Most of the time, it's the elves.

How many elves do you see around?”

Claire blinked a couple of times. The girl tried mentally to recall that.

“...Well, we are at the corner of Midgar Kingdom, so there are no elves here.”

“Indeed. Regardless, the cult has you on their list. They will try to get you.”

“!!!”

“For what?”

“Harvest you, obviously.”

For a second, she hugged herself! From sheer horror, she Imagined herself as food for some creepy older men!

“H-Hell no!”

“Indeed.”

She then looked at him, seeing the armour. From the looks of it, he was recovering his lost art. If he can make artefacts, he is on a level like no other!

“Since you know about them, you must tell me about them!”

“Hmm, I don't remember needing to help you more than it is.” Marcus rolled his eyes at her overbearing behaviour.

“...Y-You! They are after me! Don’t you think it's essential that I know more!?”

“If I tell you more, you will fight them alone. Which breaks the point of me rescuing you.”

“...Ugh!”

“Their front is the church; they have been around for over a thousand years. Direct fight is pointless because they will use the public. You will be harvested faster if you fight them head-on.”

She calmed down after hearing that. While this goes against her knighthood training, the girl gets the picture.

“Regardless, I won't roll over and allow them to turn me into a barbeque!”

Claire huffed, but then she got an idea.

“In that case, I want to join you!” She clenched her fist as the idea was perfect.

“Uhuh… I am not going to babysit you.”

“Huh? Babysit!?”

“Indeed.”

“...H-Hey, I have won the local tournament! I have a talent for Spell swords!”

“Good for you.”

‘Does he want me to beg!?’

The girl bit her lower lip. She then recalled that he was the Grand Alchemist, someone who knew a lot of magic and alchemy. Someone like him has enough ability to make things happen.

And she tried to command someone like that.

Yeah, now she knows why it doesn't work.

“...Fine. I understand. Please, let me join you; I promise to follow your commands and not argue.”

“Oh? Did Claire pull that stick out of her ass?” The Alchemist teased her.

His tease made her blush from sheer embarrassment!

“I— did not! I simply realised that you are not my servant! Okay?”

“It's the other way around. Since you want to join me, we need to establish a pecking order?” For a second, his eyes glowed with mana. His dense mana made her feel dread settling in.

“N-No, it's okay. I understand.” This time around, she respectfully bowed towards him.

“...Hmm…We will see. You see, old habits die slowly.”

Her lips strained for a bit. It appears she might have underestimated Marcus’ dislike towards her previous behaviour.

“T-Then I have to prove that I can follow your lead. Yes?”

“We will see.”

He then motioned for her to follow him.

Claire did just that. They proceeded to walk for a few minutes.

The girl realised that she was looking for him in the wrong place. He was far closer to her home than she had expected!

Soon enough, they arrived not far from a stream of water.

“Have you noticed anything strange about this place?” He asked her.

“...Umm, apart from the change in water flow and a missing boulder?” She pointed out. This place is very familiar to her.

“...Wait, this is where you have been staying?”

Instead of answering, he lifted his free hand and released a burst of mana at a specific tree.

A magic circle appeared on the wall; it glowed for a second. The ground in front of them moved to the side, revealing a flight of stairs.

“...How fast did you build this?”

“...Claire, I have been around long enough to learn how to build fast. Don't compare me with regular construction workers.” As he said that, he motioned for her to follow him.

As they entered inside, the entrance closed itself up after them.

After passing the entrance hall, they entered what looked like a living room with cushioned seats and a wide glass table.

“My Lord?” A blonde elf greeted them. Claire’s eyes widened.

“...Is she…one of the girls with a similar situation as mine?” The black-haired girl asked with realisation. Did he already rescue several of them?

“Yes. Alpha, this is Claire Kagenou; she started to transform, and before it could finish, I saved her.”

The blonde nodded after hearing that.

“Alpha is the first one I rescued from a group of bandits not far from here.”

Claire’s eyes widened as she just solved the mystery of missing bandits!

“...I see, my father was curious where the bandits disappeared too.”

“Well, I took care of them. Anyway, Alpha, call Beta and Gamma; I will explain how Claire will join us.”

“...What does ‘How’ mean?”

“You will be joining us ‘partially’.”

“...Partially!?”

“Yes. Your public image isn't compromised.” He clarified to her.

“...What does that even mean!?” She complained with a confused look. Why is he using such difficult words!?

“First, let's wait for Alpha to collect the girls.”

The girl stiffly nodded; for now, they sat on the cushioned seats. The black-haired girl ended up looking around. Her gaze explored the room. She noticed the light source; it wasn't candles or fire made from magic; instead, it was similar to sunlight.

‘Some sort of stuff made from alchemy?’

Less than a few minutes later, Alpha arrived with a pair of elves.

Claire realised that the cult was doing something to the elves.

‘Are they harvesting them like he said!?’

“Good, since everyone is here, let me start with a question. How is one to destroy a cult like the one we are facing?”

“...Kill the leaders?” Alpha commented with a thoughtful look.

“Kill all of them?” Claire scoffed after putting that image of her being eaten alive by some old men who wanted her ‘cells’; whatever these things meant, she was willing to kill all of them!

“Take their wealth?” Gamma chipped in.

“Destroy their bases?” Beta added her thoughts.

“No. But some of the ideas you proposed would work to a degree. Their most powerful asset is their influence on the world.

This influence comes when people are high in the hierarchy. For example, the leader of the church no doubt is high in the cult.

It wouldn't be hard for him to destroy Claire’s family if he wanted.

Imagine the situation where you try to attack them head-on. All it takes is for the church to brand you ‘heretic’, and you wouldn’t have a place to run off to. All the kingdoms in this continent follow the same religion.

In simple terms, what I am saying is that this group has fingers in every single aspect of life: the religion, the nobility, the business, the army.”

After hearing that, Claire lost the desire to fight them head-on.

“...So what you are saying, my Lord, is that we need to do the same?” Alpha was the first one to understand what he was saying.

“Indeed. After you girls finish training, you all will go to the wide world and start making a name for yourselves.”

“...Understood!”

There were no complaints or uncertainties from the three elves.

Claire noticed that she felt slightly ashamed that she felt the dread while these younger girls didn't care about the odds.

“...And me?”

“You are the next Baroness of these lands; you will follow the path set for you by your family.”

“...So I will go to Midgar Dark Knight Academy?” Claire clarified.

“Indeed. You should excel, graduate at the top of your class, and end up in the knight order. Eventually, take over the whole order if you can.

If you can do that, you can command an army against the cult.”

“...Oh…”

When he put it that way, yeah!

“...That makes sense!”

“Good, then we will start. I will teach you swordplay and some hand-to-hand combat.”

Claire’s red eyes gleamed for a second.

“A-And magic?”

“If you want.”

“Of course I want to!” She huffed for a second.

The trio of elves noticed the black-haired girl’s attitude. They can't believe someone who just got rescued could be this disrespectful.

Instead of saying anything, he flicked her forehead.

Claire hissed from pain as she stroked her forehead.

“You do realise that I can wipe your memories of the event. You will forget that you have been here.”

“!!!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Please teach me your magic! I will be a good girl!”

“There. Much better. But there will be a test.” Marcus said that while he looked at Alpha.

“You will teach her the basics, Alpha. If you notice her disobedience, you can tell me.”

“...Yes, I will do that.”

The blonde smirked at Claire. The black-haired girl frowned heavily upon hearing that.

“...I will pass it. Don't worry. This is new to me; I never had a ‘proper’ competition.” The red-eyed girl slowly got severe. Since this is the game, she will excel at it.

No matter the competition, she will win it. She even pushed the whole cult stuff aside; those people can wait. Once she impresses the Alchemist enough, he will give her all the tools and magic needed to crush the people who want to turn her into their food.

But to do that, she needs to ace everything thrown at her!