Mage? Magic Engineer!

You can’t do much in a village in just one day, so Rorschach only took out the nearby nests.

After the mill caught fire, some people feigned attempts to put it out, but the blaze spread incredibly fast. Even though the mill was right by the village’s small river, they couldn’t salvage anything. All that remained was the gaping mouth of the cellar and the collapsed stone walls. As for the people... they were completely unrecognizable.

Some said the outsider was suspicious and had fled. Others claimed it was just an accident, and he’d probably died inside.

To put the village chief’s mind at ease, Rorschach performed another Purification before dawn. While the others slept soundly, a blue radiance washed over the village, then swept across the fields.

The most severe contamination had already been put to the torch, by Rorschach’s own hand.

Of course, those who had gone to the mill that night couldn’t sleep a wink. Unease kept their eyes open, their minds filled with the sight of flames devouring the mill. When they witnessed the blue light seep into their houses like water, they were so scared they rolled out of bed and began to grovel and pray haphazardly until everything returned to normal and the sky whitened with the crowing of roosters.

"So let’s go. Let’s leave this place." A flash of inspiration struck Rorschach, and he thought of a way to persuade Old Mercer. "In Bayern, where I work, land can be freely bought, sold, and cultivated. As long as you have money, you can buy as much land as you want. The only condition is that you can’t let it lie fallow."

Seeing Old Mercer remain silent, Rorschach patiently sweetened the deal. "In northern Bayern, they have the finest wine, while other places have their own beer. And my Magic Tower has a miraculous Alchemy Wine Jar that can turn grain into fine wine in a single day..."

Old Mercer could finally sit still no longer. "Good heavens! Are we not father and son? Why didn’t you say so sooner!" He "angrily" started packing. "Old woman, Angela, we’re leaving now! Let that blockhead who only knows how to fight find our family in Bayern himself!"

"Village Chief, you... you should come with us too." Both the original Rorschach and the current one had been helped by the chief, and Rorschach was very grateful to him.

The chief hadn’t slept all night. He didn’t have the energy of the young men or Old Mercer. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "You all go on. I have to wait in the village for my son to come back."

Rorschach remembered that the chief and his son shared the same name. "You can write a letter to tell Little Melson."

The chief was silent for a moment. "...He can’t receive letters anymore."

The room fell quiet. Old Melson closed his eyes as if about to fall asleep. "I always think, if I had just let him wear my prized Leather Armor back then, would he still have been sacrificed? I regret it so much... It’s just a Mage’s relic. How could that be more important than my son..."

"So you gave it to Franz later."

The chief nodded. "You absolutely must protect him. Don’t let him end up like poor Little Melson... I only received a notice and a few Silver Coins. He never came home, not even his clothes..."

Rorschach didn’t know how to comfort the old man. "I tricked Franz into going to a military academy to study. He’s very safe now."

"That’s good, that’s good. He has a capable older brother."

Mercer was utterly shocked. He took Old Melson’s hanging hands. "You never told us... From now on, we’re family. Come to Bayern with us."

In the end, the old chief still refused the invitation. Mercer then offered to have him move into their manor before they left. The chief refused again, but he did promise the Mercer family that he would help look after their courtyard, which gave Mercer the chance to press the key into the chief’s hand.

Besides money, Rorschach also gave him some Healing Potions, a metal insignia carved with his own crest, and a bottle of Alchemy Potion.

"Since you insist on watching over the village, I won’t force you. If there’s an accident or disaster in the village, you can drop this insignia into the Potion, and I’ll know. It’s much faster than writing a letter."

"I understand. Thank you."

"I’m the one who should be thanking you." Rorschach glanced at the old man. Although Old Melson might be younger than Kano, he was just an ordinary person. Injuries from his youth and a lifetime of labor had aged him far beyond his years.

Rorschach met those kind, tenacious, yet aged and cloudy eyes for a long moment, sighed deeply, and formally bid the old village chief farewell.

And so, the Mercer family quietly moved away from the small village where Rorschach was born.

...

Rorschach and his family took an Airship to Bayern. With him on board, there was no fear of any mishaps on a vehicle whose accident rate had been soaring for years. They landed smoothly at the newly constructed Lansite transportation hub.

He asked Andre to help settle Old Mercer’s family, then turned around, entered the Guild, and vanished into a Teleportation Array.

"I didn’t expect you to pay a surprise visit." Alexander von Humboldt had been designated to meet with the uninvited guest.

Rorschach took out the contaminated wheat seeds, along with a few samples he had kept from clearing out the city’s nest—Potions, mutated chunks of flesh...

"It seems the Mother Goddess’s invasion of reality has restarted, or perhaps it never stopped. The efforts of Valois and the Lord of Order last year only temporarily cleared some of the contamination. Now that the war has started, new organizations are rising from the ashes." Rorschach’s worries were not unfounded.

Humboldt also shared what he knew. "For the most part, the main grain-producing regions within the Empire are showing no abnormalities. However, the survey teams dispatched this year have indeed discovered and brought back a significant amount of Mother Goddess contaminants from various places. Some teams were even attacked by cultists, right around the time you invited me."

’No wonder Humboldt couldn’t get away during the harvest season. He was busy dealing with Cult Groups too.’

Rorschach thought for a moment before speaking. "If the Sect continues to tamper with the grain—and the Mother Goddess’s past incarnations did have related authority—then as military rations are requisitioned, I’m afraid problems will arise throughout the entire Empire. Not only that, but the situation in Valois might be the same."

"The Tower of Forest is already in communication with the Empire Army and the Imperial Family. For centralized military rations, we can add an inspection and Purification measure specifically for Mother Goddess contamination. The Empire’s Forbidden Magic Devices are very powerful; they can even dispel Basic Level Divinity."

The young Great Mage was still not satisfied with this measure. "But that’s a stopgap, not a cure. A large portion of the population will still be contaminated. It would be best if the Guild took action as well."

"Yes. You and I can write a detailed report together, and I will submit it to the Elder Council. If we could reach the Star Realm and enter the Symbolic Realm, besides monitoring the Tree of Truth, we might also be able to detect the activity of Divine Spirits on a macro level. That would give us a sense of the Mother Goddess’s activity."

"Then we’ll have to speed things up. Besides the Guild, the secular institutions should also coordinate their efforts. After all, protecting the common people is their responsibility." After speaking, Rorschach saw Humboldt’s hesitant expression and couldn’t help but ask, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you’re right. Very right." Master Humboldt said he was right but couldn’t stop shaking his head. "You don’t know. There’s currently a sentiment in the Empire Council that we should cover all the Empire’s major cities with Forbidden Magic Devices, and the current Emperor is clearly in support of it."

"The war has concentrated the Town Mages at the front lines, so they can’t voice any opposition. The only remaining obstacle to this plan are the Mages belonging to the Guild—us, in other words."

He glanced at Rorschach and added, "Originally, there were many technical difficulties with the long-term, continuous operation of Forbidden Magic Devices, but they’ve been solved one by one. Especially with the appearance of a company called ’Basif Energy,’ which seems to be able to solve the fundamental power supply problem..."

"Heh, actually, I think it’s impressive that the Empire has such boldness." Rorschach acted as if he didn’t understand Master Humboldt’s underlying meaning. "Shouldn’t we be making progress and finding a way to crack the Forbidden Magic Devices?"

"Easier said than done. The Moncado Fortress incident was there for all to see. Five devices activated simultaneously, and the contamination from the Mother Goddess’s Activation was completely wiped out."

"The Divine Spirits of today are either undead husks or are still in a state of chaotic stupor and haven’t awakened. It’s not impossible to find a power that can suppress their blind movements. But we are living, thinking people. We can always find a way to overcome it," Rorschach said firmly.

After he finished speaking, he didn’t stay long. He handed the collected samples and evidence to the Great Mage and took his leave. Talk was cheap. Rorschach immediately teleported back to his Magic Tower to begin his experiments.