Abandoned in the mountains, I was adopted by a lizard ~I mastered magic and surpassed my parents, but I didn't know they were legendary ancient dragons~ - Chapter 50

Chapter 50   New Internship

After leaving the Tridia Trading Company building, I headed back to the church. Since the new drug was being sold, I needed to keep the church updated.

Today, I had to submit documents related to the distribution contract, specifically a copy of the contract with the Tridia Trading Company.

Upon arriving at the church, I handed over the contract copy. Just as I was about to leave, the clerk who handled the paperwork asked me for a favor.

“By the way… there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Could you help us capture an elderly person who escaped from the church’s care facility? Of course, we’ll pay you accordingly.”

“Uh, sure…”

I wasn’t sure why they were asking me for something like this. As I responded hesitantly, the clerk added more details.

“The elderly person in question… he’s a former S-rank adventurer. None of our staff have the skills to capture him. His dementia has worsened rapidly recently, leading to more abnormal behavior… but unfortunately, his stealth abilities from his active days are still intact. Finding him is extremely difficult.”

“I see…”

“I’ve heard a lot of rumors about you. I thought you might be able to bring him back. Could you help us out?”

I see, so that’s the story behind this elderly person. I’m not sure if I can handle a “stealthy S-rank adventurer,” but it sounds like a fun challenge, almost like playing hide-and-seek.

“Okay, I understand.”

“Thank you.”

The clerk looked relieved and bowed his head when I agreed.

“By the way, what’s his name?”

“Marcus.”

If he’s an S-rank, there’s a chance his portrait might be displayed in the adventurer’s guild, I thought as I left the church.

◇

After leaving the church, I headed to the Adventurers’ Guild. I checked the titles of the portraits on the wall, and…

“There it is.”

One of the portraits was titled “The Flame Saint of Dark Deeds, Marcus.” With a nickname like that, this was undoubtedly the person I was looking for.

The portrait depicted him in his younger days, so I used age-adjustment illusion magic to simulate his current appearance. Memorizing his face, I left the Adventurers’ Guild.

Time to find him. First, I rode the clouds of the Great Seitan to the sky.

From there, I cast a detection spell—a facial recognition-type spell called human detection magic. Its accuracy wasn’t great, and the larger the discrepancy between the simulation and the actual person, the lower the success rate. Still, it was worth a shot.

As I waited for the results, something unexpected happened.

A fire broke out in a part of the town. There had been no sign of it moments ago, but now a house was engulfed in flames. It seemed too sudden to be natural, almost as if it had been set by fire magic.

Although I was in the middle of a task, I couldn’t ignore such a sight. I stopped the detection spell and flew to the fire scene.

At the scene, an elderly man was staring at the burning house in shock from the road. He seemed to be in a daze, possibly having just escaped from his burning home.

First things first, I needed to extinguish the fire. I used time-tuning magic to revert the house to its pre-fire state.

Then, I approached the elderly man.

“Everything’s okay now. The house is back to normal.”

However… the old man seemed a bit off.

“My house? What are you talking about? That’s a monster vulnerable to fire magic.”

A monster…? Is he seeing things?

I had a sudden realization. Could it be…?

“Just as I thought.”

The old man’s face matched the simulation result from the Adventurers’ Guild perfectly. By sheer coincidence, I’d found my target.

“So, you’re not the homeowner but the arsonist.”

“A house? What are you rambling about? That was a monster…”

“Let’s head back to the church.”

I didn’t expect him to comply, but I had to try persuading him to return to the church first. The old man’s eyes changed.

“So, you’re one of those from that cursed containment facility.”

With that, he assumed a combat stance.

A cursed containment facility… Is the church’s care facility really that bad? If so, I’ll need to propose increased funding to the state. Poor working conditions can lead to poor staff performance. However, I couldn’t just take a patient who sets houses on fire at face value. I’d have to investigate further.

“I won’t forgive anyone who tries to take my freedom. Prepare yourself.”

The old man exuded a menacing aura, quite unexpected for someone his age.

Even so, from a quick assessment, his combat abilities seemed significantly diminished compared to his prime. I could easily subdue him without causing harm and bring him back to the church.

I used alchemy magic to create a sedative and planned to transfer it into his body. But just then, I had a better idea and dispersed the sedative.

Instead of capturing him, why not treat his dementia? That would prevent future escapes, making it the superior choice.

I cast a diagnostic spell and found that his dementia was caused by a buildup of a special protein in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. I then applied an Absolute Heal with a focused beam to these areas.

And then…

“What am I doing here…?” the old man murmured, his menacing aura dissipating as if it were a lie.

A few seconds later, he slumped and began to mumble.

“I… I remember everything now… What have I done?”

Several more seconds passed before he calmed down and turned to me, making a declaration.

“I’m sorry, young man. I will turn myself in right away.”

Actually, I’d prefer if he returned to the church.

“You probably don’t need to do that. I used time-tuning magic to restore the house to its pre-fire state, so it’s like the arson never happened.”

“What… Time-tuning magic? I suspected some strange magic was used for the extinguishing, but…”

“Well, it was the quickest and most certain way, wasn’t it?”

“Quickest, you say… To wield such magic, who are you…?”

But that’s not the point right now.

“Anyway, instead of turning yourself in, I need you to go back to the church.”

“Right, of course. I’ve caused enough trouble for the kind staff there.”

When I asked him to return, he agreed this time. So, the staff at the church were kind after all. It seems his perception of the “cursed facility” was due to his illness.

“Let’s get going. This will get us there quickly.”

With that, I summoned the Great Seitan’s cloud from my storage magic.

It was at that moment a group of strong men, dressed in what looked like fire-resistant clothing, came running towards us at full speed.

As they surveyed the house, they muttered in disbelief.

“Wait… where’s the fire?”

“There was definitely smoke coming from this location…”

Who are these people?

“Um… who are you?”

“We’re from ZM Fire Services.”

“ZM Fire Services…?”

“Yes. We’re a fully owned subsidiary of Zelgius Marine Insurance.”

…An insurance company. Not an industry I had much interest in, but experiencing it firsthand might change my perspective. It could be interesting to consider them for my next internship.

First things first, I’ll deliver this old man back to the church, then maybe look up information about internships.