Chapter 2: It Matched, It Matched
Actually, Wei Gong felt that his relationship with Charlotte hadn't reached that point yet—Wei Gong considered their relationship to be merely a cooperative one between a recipient and a client.
The initial opportunity for them to meet was also a website called “Hunter Network”—this website was specifically for bounty hunters, mercenaries, assassins, and similar individuals to accept commissions and earn money. The scope of commissions ranged from exploring ancient tomb ruins to hiring assassins, with an astonishing breadth, and all sorts of unsavory content were abundant.
Wei Gong was not surprised by the existence of such a website; his adoptive father Wei Gong Kiritsugu did the work of a mercenary and assassin, and Shi Zi Jie Li, who appeared in the FA world line, was also like this, and both of them also had the identity of a Magus, a mysterious-side figure.
This indicates that this is a gray area between the mysterious side and the mundane side. Although the mysterious side strictly adheres to the first principle of “mystery cannot be revealed to the general public,” this area is tacitly allowed to exist.
Since his transmigration, Wei Gong had accepted several commissions for exploring ruins on this platform. Relying on the residual muscle memory of his original body, he was exceptionally skilled and agile, and with reliable teammates, he completed them relatively easily.
Incidentally, he met Charlotte and Gao Lu Governor, two financially powerful employers.
However, Wei Gong Shirou went online this time to find channels to inquire about noble phantasms. Ancient families with long legacies might have noble phantasm inventories, or at least possess key information. He remembered that Bazett’s family preserved the noble phantasm, Anti-Light Sword, passed down from the Age of Gods, and in a certain village in England, there was also Arthur’s holy spear, Longinus.
“Oh, what’s a noble phantasm? It sounds like some kind of setting.”
Gao Lu Governor was intrigued; he was actually a hidden otaku, but his answer was quite disappointing. Wei Gong estimated that the family Gao Lu Governor belonged to had a very short history of inheritance, or was simply a branch family of some major clan—
Ancient Magical families might also have a distinction between main and branch families. Branch families generally only manage industries and do not have family inheritances, so they do not pay attention to news from the mysterious side.
“A noble phantasm, you can understand it as a legendary armament, often appearing in various myths or heroic narratives, such as the Holy Sword in Arthurian legends, Indra’s Vajra in Indian mythology, Odin’s divine spear kun-gungnir (gungnir) in Norse mythology, and so on.”
Wei Gong typed out a line of explanation with disappointment.
That’s right, how could ancient families appear on such a bounty hunter website? They should have their own secret channels.
However, Charlotte’s beautiful girl avatar suddenly flickered, sending him a private message.
“You are someone who knows the true world?”
—
Europe, the vast private courtyard of the Gao Ting Gen family, a famous Alchemic family with a thousand-year legacy.
Charlotte Gao Ting Gen, the current heir of the Gao Ting Gen family and one of the owners of the Secret Party Kassel College Board of Directors, coiled her light golden long hair on top of her head, revealing a fair, jade-like face with a hint of baby fat towards the sun, like an exquisite doll.
The noble green plants in the courtyard outside the window were as delicate as gold and silver filigree, and the interior decoration displayed a miraculously splendid glazed style, with the gentle flow of Beethoven’s “Spring Sonata” playing in the background.
At this moment, Miss Charlotte had a serious expression, staring at the constantly refreshing screen, and then she saw the reply sent by Wei Gong Shirou—
“I know, this website is originally a gray area between your side and the mundane side, isn’t it?”
Charlotte relaxed and began typing: “Then you should also know, many of those mythical era weapons you mentioned are conceptual armaments that transcend the human domain.”
The Alchemy in this world has seven outstanding achievements called the “Seven Great Kingdoms,” one of which is “Conceptual Armament.” Literally, it means armament forged from a certain concept. Time, causality, natural laws, and so on are all within the scope of concepts. The unerring effect of the Eternal Spear, kun-gungnir (gungnir), clearly contains conceptual-level material.
This is something that could only be achieved in the Age of Gods… that is, Dragon King-level Alchemy.
In this Dragon world, all myths are distorted Dragon history. Before the human era, Dragons were the rulers of this planet. The Age of Gods was the Age of Dragons, and the top divine artifacts were certainly Alchemic weapons created by Dragon Kings.
What is now called Alchemy originated from Dragons, equivalent to Dragon science, a tool and knowledge for Dragons to observe, understand, and transform the world.
After the Dragon era was overthrown and the human era arrived, people developed their own science. Only Alchemists like Charlotte pursued the ancient Dragon Alchemy, but her family’s research into the Seven Great Kingdoms was still very superficial.
Then Wei Gong replied: “That was just an example, it doesn’t have to be as exaggerated as mythical weapons; something from a more recent era would also work.”
“That’s good. My family is also a famous Alchemic family; I can help you inquire about recently unearthed ancient weapon ruins.”
“Thank you! My practice of Reinforcement Sorcery has been going smoothly recently, but I almost got stuck in the next step of cultivation.”
Reinforcement Sorcery?
Charlotte’s expression froze. What was that?
Wei Gong explained that it was a technique used to strengthen weapons and break through their original performance, estimating that it could easily cut through alloy steel. He also had many more such items.
Charlotte said, “Isn’t that ‘Regenerated Metal’ Alchemic weapon? The standard Alchemic process is ‘killing metal, then regenerating it’ to form Regenerated Metal with stronger properties… My family specializes in Alchemy and also has a certain inventory of weapons. By the way, how do you, a Hunter, have so many Alchemic weapons?”
Wei Gong immediately replied: “I don’t understand Alchemy. As I just said, I reinforced them myself. If you really want to know the source, they are sword and knife crafts bought online from eBay. Ginza also has physical specialty stores, but I didn’t buy many of the overpriced ones from sword dealers; I only looked for low-end items. It doesn’t matter if the quality is a bit poor; it’s perfect for me to practice reinforcement.”
Charlotte was immediately shocked. If the other party wasn't lying, she might have encountered an Alchemic prodigy!
It should be known that the stable production of Alchemic equipment these days relies on the development of modern industrial technology. As for high-end Alchemic weapons that come with their own Alchemic domains and are comparable to ancient famous swords, they fall within the realm of Alchemic masters…
In other words, the other party, at a young age, is already on the verge of becoming an Alchemic master just by practicing with low-quality swords and knives bought online?
This plot is as absurd as Stark completing the initial Iron Man suit in a cave after being kidnapped by terrorists.
Charlotte couldn’t help but wonder what school Wei Gong Shirou came from. He couldn’t be a graduate of the College, could he?
Wei Gong quickly said, “Oh, I’m not really. I was previously an assistant to a Japanese young lady (referring to Tohsaka Rin), following her to the Association to learn Western Sorcery, not even a formal student.”
Charlotte nodded. She immediately thought of the Kassel College Japan branch. That place sends a wave of Japanese Hybrids to the main campus for further studies every year, but unfortunately, the main campus knows very little about the situation in Japan, even for her as an heir to a Board of Directors seat.
But what was this Association he mentioned, the Abrahamic Covenant (another name for the Secret Party)? As for the Reinforcement Sorcery and Western Sorcery he also mentioned… Charlotte wondered if these were just chuunibyou terms used by Japanese people?
But since Wei Gong wasn’t even a student, it seemed he didn’t have a mentor either, or perhaps he just heard some unreliable rumors from the news department. So Charlotte tried asking Wei Gong about his general impression of the College’s leader.
Wei Gong blurted out: “Your leaders are just a dozen or so so-called ancient noble family heads (Clock Tower Twelve Lords). The biggest one is a grumpy old man who has lived for a very long time (the Jewel Mage, who has lived for over two thousand years), and he’s often not at the school.”
“There’s also one who is a permanent resident of the school but is very difficult to meet (the Clock Tower Director, Brisison). These two are said to be peers, both taught by the same master, King Solomon.”
Charlotte pondered for a moment. Kassel’s seven Board of Directors, plus the four elders like Beowulf, indeed total eleven.
The Secret Party leader, Hilbert Jean Angers, has indeed lived for a very long time and often travels all over the world. The Night Watchman, Nicholas Flamel, is also very old. He is responsible for assisting Angers at the College, and he mostly lives alone in the Clock Tower, so students certainly wouldn't see him…
But King Solomon, was he referring to “Solomon of the Mathematical World,” Blair Bittner? In the field of mathematics alone, King Solomon was indeed a master…