Three: You know, it's nice when something actually works out, right?

"Good morning, Leifan."

"Good morning, Craft! Just call me by name, no need for honorifics!"

"Huh? But you're becoming the guildmaster of the frontier village, after all."

"Whatever. If anyone asks back there, we're not just two members of a guild. Think of us as comrades. Just relax, okay?"

"Guess you're right. Nice to meet you properly, Leifan."

"Yep, yep. Honestly, I'm thrilled!"

Yeah, we're gonna be stuck together for a long time. If we can just keep it casual, that's even better.

"So, we're leaving right away?"

"Just finishing loading up the wagons. Hurry, hurry."

"Whoa... twenty wagons? That's a lot."

"Frontier settlement. Gotta bring everything we'll need."

"Hey, when you became an alchemist, you could finally use that 'spatial storage' magic, right?"

The crest—it tells you what powers you can use.

That crest just showed me my new ability.

Turns out, when I got the mark of the Twilight Alchemist, I ended up with a whole bunch of spells and techniques. But there were so many, I still can’t quite keep track of them all.

“Wha—?!”

“Wha—?! What was that?!”

Not just Leifan, the guildmaster jumped out too.

Oh right, I don’t even know his name.

“Whoa! Scared the hell outta me! Where’d you come from, Guildmaster?!”

“Bah! Details don’t matter! Is spatial storage real or not?!”

“I haven’t tested it on anything but my own stuff yet, but I’m certain it’s real.”

“Then how much can you fit in there?!”

“Still testing that part, but the crest’s been whispering it can hold a damn lot.”

“Hmph! Well now.”

Spatial storage is a magic that could theoretically appear on any crest, but the chance of it happening at all was rare.

A pretty rare magic, if you ask me.

Honestly, just having this alone was worth rewriting the crest.

"Please! I'll pay extra—just stash as much as you can, start with that one!"

"Can we test it as we go?"

"Yep! First up, that one!"

The guildmaster pointed at the cart, packed so full of goods it was lashed tight with rope.

"Wait, really starting with that one?"

"Sure, it's packed tight, but that size and weight? Impossible."

"Pull that off, and space storage alone could make a fortune."

"Right. I’ll start with smaller ones, figure out the maximum we can fit."

"Fair enough. Makes perfect sense for testing."

I touched the cart, gave it a quick thought—space storage activated.

The cart vanished into the pocket dimension without so much as a whimper.

"……huh?"

"Wha—?"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?!"

Too smooth. Too easy. I panicked and reactivated Spatial Storage, just to double-check that I could actually pull it back out.

No resistance. No fuss. The cart sat there, perfectly, as if it had never left.

"HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?"

"NO WAY!?"

Guildmaster and Leifan were stunned. I was stunned too.

They were so shocked they’d missed the moment I was supposed to be shocked.

"…s-sick… I’ve never seen a spatial storage this high-end… we should’ve never gone to that backwater settlement… "

"Guildmaster!"

"Wha—! S-sorry! I wasn’t gonna take Craft, okay!?"

"Of course not! I’m not giving Craft to anyone!"

"Sure, sending this many skilled hands our way'll boost the guild's standing, right?"

Hmm.

Even if I don't make it as an alchemist, I could still handle hauling work.

Then again, constantly moving every single day? Not really my thing.

Ah, that's why there aren't many haulers with spatial storage. Makes sense.

"Whatever. Craft! Handle the other wagon too! You there! Don't split it up—pack it all into the biggest damn crates you can!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

The guildmaster's sharp commands flew out, and the cargo piled onto the cart was ruthlessly stuffed into big boxes and wagons.

One by one, it vanished into spatial storage.

"S-sick… almost all of it fit…?"

"Wait… is that guy coming with us to the frontier village?"

"Seriously, that’s reassuring!"

"Ah... I thought people sent to a frontier village like that were all troublemakers, given how it's worded!"

The ones helping with packing turned out to be settlers heading to the frontier village.

You know, the typical frontier folk.

That hot stare was itching in a weird way.

"Whew. We had to pay cancellation fees to send most of the carts back. But since we gave them twenty percent of the agreed amount despite no work, they were happy enough."

"As long as we didn’t take their jobs, it’s fine."

"How about twenty percent of what we were gonna pay for the cart rental?"

"Wha—?! No, no! I didn’t even do any real work, so it’s fine to do it for free!?"

They’d been a real pain in the neck with all the insignia checks and rewrites, that’s for sure.

Then the guildmaster narrowed his eyes, grabbed my shoulder, and pulled me in tight.

"Take it already. Just think what’ll happen if word gets out that a space-storage user like you’s doing work for free. You’ll be swamped later."

"Ah…"

"Can’t hide your abilities anymore. I was careless. Sorry about that."

"No, no! I’m the one surprised here!"

"Good to hear."

Just from space storage alone? Seriously?

You’re making me excited, Alchemist’s Mark!

That’s how I ended up with thirty thousand dots—enough to kick back and do nothing for a month or two.

◆

"Form up!"

It started all at once.

Soldiers in matching, fine armor suddenly lined up on both sides of the main street.

"What’s going on?"

"Wait, wait, wait… we said no departure ceremony, right?!"

I catch it from the guildmaster’s gritted mutter.

So, the nobleman’s arrived.

The burly man at the front of the soldiers barked at us.

“Production Guildmaster! Respond if you’re here!”

“Ah! I’m here!”

The guildmaster answered, and the soldiers snapped into perfect formation, marching in crisp, rhythmic steps.

Huh. The lord of this territory, Lord Bairoroad, the Marquis of the Frontier, really is as sharp as they say. Not a single flaw in his army’s discipline.

“Listen well! This is the second son of Lord Bairoroad, the Marquis of the Frontier—Zaid Gandar von Bairoroad! Greet him with proper respect!”

“Didn’t we agree to skip the departure ceremony!?”

The guildmaster stepped forward, glaring at the captain.

“Hey, Guildmaster. Long time no see.”

“Y-You’re Zaid-sama! It’s been ages!”

A striking nobleman stepped forward, radiating a crisp, cheerful air.

Zaid, so he’s the second son. Should’ve been around thirty, but he looks young.

The colonists had been frozen in place, but when the soldiers shot them a glare, they scrambled to their knees right there.

(Leifan!)

(Oh, right.)

Leifan yanked at my clothes, and I dropped to my knees too, flustered.

“Today’s a secret visit, so everyone—look up.”

Only I did.

Zaid noticed, raising an eyebrow like he was impressed.

“So, Zaid-sama. Care to explain this ruckus?”

“Ah, of course! This time, as the settlement’s overseer, my brother was chosen! Naturally, I wanted to see him off in style, right?”

“My… brother!?”

“That’s right! My pride and joy—Kyle Gandar von Bairoroad!”

The colonists fell silent.

A marquis’s third son, just to oversee some backwater outpost?

Cut the crap.

The boy who stepped forward, prompted by Zaid, was nothing like him—soft-faced, gentle-eyed.

Clinging to the boy’s side was a girl. Somehow reminded me of Kyle.

“Pleased to meet you. I’ve been appointed as the overseer of this frontier settlement—Kyle Gandar von Bairoroad. A young one, yes, but please look after me!”

The boy bowed politely, a neat little dip.

The girl mimicked him, bowing too.

Zaid looked down on them with a bored expression.

Yeah. Nothing good’s gonna come of this.

I’ll try my hardest to post another chapter before the day’s out.

I’m aiming to hit two updates per day by tomorrow’s Sunday.

Thanks for the support, m(__)m