Chapter 9: Fire Mage Dir’s Scheme
Approximately two years ago, in the Duchy of Loggervia.
Rit the hero, Princess Rizlet of Loggervia, rose back up. She had
managed to persuade her father, the king, to write a letter
requesting aid from the surrounding countries in exchange for
relinquishing claims to various watering holes and quarries. The
official statement would solicit reinforcements from two neighboring
countries, the Duchy of Sunland and the Republic of Beryllia.
Sunland lay on the other side of the bewitching woods. Receiving
reinforcements from them in particular would be decisive in
determining the outcome of the battle. As was perhaps standard for
neighboring countries, Loggervia and Sunland had a history of
disputes before the demon lord's invasion had even begun. In fact,
the two countries were openly hostile, and Beryllia supported
Sunland's claim and, as such, had been on poor terms with Loggervia.
But in order to save Loggervia, it was essential to get help from both
of them.
The final war council over, I was mentally exhausted. I walked down
the hall as I tried to stretch my stiff shoulders.
"Big Brother."
A voice stopped me in my tracks. It was the blue-haired Hero, looking
up at me with the same quiet expression she always did.
"Hey, Ruti. The meeting's over. In the end, they went along with all
our suggestions. I imagine we'll be heading out tomorrow morning."
"Okay." Ruti nodded but seemed a little sullen.
"Is something wrong?"
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"Not really."
"You seem a bit annoyed."
She probably intended to be expressionless, but there was a slight
tension to her lips, betraying a touch of melancholy. I had been with
Ruti since she was little, so I noticed things like that. Everyone else
thought she was antisocial and expressionless, but on the inside, she
actually had a pretty wide range of emotions.
"You're getting along well with Rit."
"Hmm? I suppose? She's the sort of person you can't just leave be, I
guess?"
"Is that so…?" Ruti's eyes narrowed the tiniest fraction as she
glowered at me.
"Ah, I'm sorry. But since she, Ares, and I are dealing with the
diplomatic relations, it can't really be helped."
Situations like this were sort of a specialty for me thanks to my
training as a knight. Ares had been a high-level government official
before joining the party, so he was well qualified, too. Well actually,
Ares did know the etiquette and how to compose diplomatic
documents, but he didn't really have any sense of diplomacy itself.
Perhaps because of the impulse of the Sage blessing, even if what he
wanted was to be done, he just couldn't let someone else get the
credit for it. His clear self-assuredness that he was the smartest
person in the room and his bad habit of looking down on everyone
else inevitably reared their heads in those sorts of situations.
But Danan, a martial artist through and through, was out of the
question, Theodora the Crusader was an archetypical military sort,
too, and Ruti wasn't a skilled orator. She would just end up using the
effects of the Hero's charisma to make the other side agree.
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It wasn't like I was particularly adroit at negotiations when I was a
knight, but Ares and I still ended up being the most qualified for the
job. It was a bit of a poor showing, honestly, considering this was
humanity's strongest party.
"But Ares is slacking off."
"Well, yeah."
Once a vague course of action had been settled, Ares stopped
coming to the meetings. He was laying the groundwork with the
nobility of the country by arranging a small-scale get together every
night, apparently, though he was probably going to enjoy the
inevitable fawning over him, too. He liked that sort of thing.
"The three of you are talking late into the night, but if Ares isn't
there…then it's just the two of you," Ruti said with a look of
dissatisfaction before tapping my chest. "I want you to be with me
today."
"Okay, I get it, I get it. Why don't we get ready for tomorrow
together, then?"
Hearing that, Ruti finally looked satisfied and nodded with a quiet
expression.
True to the plan, the first thing we did was scatter the demon lord's
forces attacking the forest village. The lower-tier demons making up
the infantry of the force there withdrew without too much
resistance.
"Gideon! You finally came!" a long-eared high elf exclaimed as she
wrapped me in a powerful hug.
"I'm glad to see you in such good spirits, Yarandrala. Sorry for being
late."
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"It's fine. They weren't serious about attacking this village anyway.
The hug was just because I was happy to see you!"
Yarandrala beamed gallantly as she kept her arm clamped around my
waist. She was close enough that our cheeks were almost rubbing
together.
Generally, high elves kept a distance from others until they made
friends, but once they did, they apparently enjoyed a physical sort of
intimacy. It wasn't particularly related to love or anything, but even
knowing that, a human like me still got a bit flustered by it. It seemed
high elves found it amusing when humans they got along with
became embarrassed, which just aroused their affection even more.
"Gideon, who is she?" Rit asked, shocked by the high elf who
suddenly engulfed me in a hug when we reunited.
"Ah, this is Yarandrala, a high elf. She's the one who can help us get
through the bewitching woods."
She was the other crux of this plan. The bewitching woods along the
border of Loggervia was the dangerous forest that the wood elves
around here had chosen as the location of their final stand back in
the era of the previous demon lord. They had cast countless layers of
magic to transform it into an inescapable and unexplored region. It
was unknown exactly what had become of those elves who had
fought here, but it was a fact that the bewitching woods had
swallowed up dozens of skilled adventurers.
"I have a blessing that allows me to communicate with plants and
borrow their strength," Yarandrala said proudly as she looked at Rit.
The power to speak with plants was one of the benefits of the elf's
blessing of the Singer of the Trees.
"The magic placed on the bewitching woods has no effect on beings
born in the woods, so by talking to the plants, it is possible to learn
the correct way through."
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With Yarandrala, we could make it through the bewitching woods.
The perimeter the enemy had formed was thinner near the deadly
forest, and they would be completely defenseless once we crossed.
The members of our expedition were Ruti, Rit, Yarandrala, Ares, and
myself. With the five us, the odds of success were high.
Glancing around, Ares was conspicuously absent. After searching a
bit, he appeared to be spurring on a man who was the head of a
mercenary band. It was a rare sight, since Ares usually didn't pay
much heed to soldiers' morale.
"All right, I leave the rest to you," Ares said to the man wearing a
hat-style helmet with a wide brim called a kettle hat.
"Aye, sir. I'll be sure that the residents get there safe. And you can
count on me for defense, too!" the man said, bowing his head.
The kettle-hat man was named Dir. He was a mercenary, hired by
Loggervian aristocrats, who had served as an intermediary between
Ares and the aristocrats and had helped out with gathering
mercenaries.
The force of fifty or so sellswords had officially been gathered by
Ares. His role in the upcoming fight was to go with the group headed
out to call for reinforcements, but he had arranged to have a
mercenary force under his name in order to be able to claim that he
had helped with the defense of the battle as well. Money earned by
the Hero's party was only to be used for dealing with the demon
lord, not for personal glory. However, Dir had approached Ares with
such flattery and assembled more than fifty mercenaries without any
payment.
Their efforts and accomplishments would be credited to Ares, and
pleased by that fact, rather unlike himself, Ares went out of his way
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to offer encouragement to them, even going so far as to cast some
modest support spells and the like on them.
"But to cross the bewitching woods and solicit reinforcements, I'm in
awe of your bravery, sir."
"Thanks to you, we were able to gather information necessary for
the trip. Just between us, Gideon was the one who came up with this
plan. He has a fondness for gambles with low chances of success, so I
always have to follow behind to clean up after him."
Ares had asked Dir about any dangers lurking within the bewitching
woods that had made the rounds among the nobles. How much faith
could actually be put into the rumors passed around by wealthy men
who had never ventured farther than their own estates, though? For
Dir, the truth didn't matter. As long as his reports sounded
believable, it was fine.
"I thank you for your faith in me, sir. And the decisiveness to act on it
is to be expected of the great Sage."
Ares happily accepted the praise, more pleased than he had ever
been. Dir's face was hidden in the shadow of the kettle hat as he
lowered his head, careful that neither Gideon nor Rit could see it.
If they could have seen his face, they might've recognized the man
glaring sidelong at Rit as the fire mage the blond princess had run
out of that town.
"Haaaaah." Rit sighed.
In the bewitching woods, the voices of the spirits she should have
been able to sense because of her Spirit Scout blessing could not
reach her. The illusionary magic confused even them. Partly because
of that, Rit could not even tell whether their group was actually
advancing through the woods. Her sense of direction and the
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passage of time seemed to have vanished. All the young woman
could do was suffer, stewing in her unease and impatience.
And…
Glancing over, she saw the beautiful high elf chatting intimately with
Gideon. Her chest tightened at the sight. She felt stupid for having
spent so much time with him in Loggervia.
Gideon was one of the Hero's comrades. He was a true hero, who
would lend a helping hand to anyone in need. Of course, the young
man tried to encourage her when she was depressed, and of course,
he would do his best to save the princess's home.
How long had it been since she had stopped being able to look him in
the eye? When she spoke with Gideon, she'd often end up smiling or
blushing. To hide it, Rit had taken to covering her mouth with a
bandanna. Something about it was just so embarrassing. To hide the
feeling, she began speaking more harshly.
Just yesterday, when they had been talking about Loggervia, the
topic had shifted to how Gideon would have run the country, and
even though they had just been making idle conversation at first, she
ended up yelling at him, saying "It's not like I want you to stay behind
in Loggervia! Don't get the wrong idea!"
Gideon looked flabbergasted after that outburst, and Rit regretted it
from the moment the words crossed her lips. She had not meant it to
be like that, but for some reason, she'd lost the ability to have a
proper conversation with Gideon. She'd averted her eyes from him,
her face red.
"…"
And in avoiding him, she met the gaze of Ruti, who stared coolly at
Rit. The princess had buried herself in her sleeping bag to escape and
closed her eyes.
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The next day, she had intended to apologize to him, but for some
reason, he was smiling at her warmly, and the young adventurer felt
she'd missed her chance to broach the topic.
She'd been like that ever since they had set out. Compared to
Yarandrala, who was walking beside Gideon and chatted so easily
with him, or Ruti, who, despite her expressionless demeanor, still
managed to demonstrate a deep affection for Gideon in everything
she did, Rit was just spinning her wheels.
"What am I doing?"
Struck by a sense of self-loathing, Rit hung her head as she walked at
the tail end of the party. According to Yarandrala, they would exit
the forest tomorrow. Rit had subconsciously complained about how
everything looked the same a few times, but Gideon had tried to
cheer her up.
Did I ever properly thank him after that?
Rit was feeling increasingly depressed.
"Hey."
"Hmm? Oh, Yarandrala. What is it?"
At some point, the elf had started walking next to her. The woman
was bent over, peering at Rit's face, which was focused on her feet.
"I asked a white birch tree, and apparently, there's a river a little past
here," Yarandrala said. She tugged at Rit's clothes. "Your clothes and
body are dirty, so why don't we take a break and go bathe?"
"Huh? Bathe?"
"It'll help pick you up. It's a high elf proverb that cleanliness fulfills
the body and mind while evil breeds in impurity."
Rit was the princess of a royal family, so she considered herself
someone who kept herself fairly clean, but Yarandrala was on
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another level. Gideon and the others would diligently set up camp
and make sure not to start any fires because it'd upset the plants of
the bewitching woods, despite causing their party more difficulty.
Yarandrala, however, would shamelessly use a full bucket of water to
rinse herself. Rit could not help but admire it. Even she could not
bring herself to do that much, so instead, she helped Gideon and the
rest of the party. But it was apparently just part of high elf culture to
be finicky about cleanliness. Their values were a little different from
humans'.
"But—"
"We're going to go ask for reinforcements after this. You looking like
that won't be doing us any favors. Let's go. Hey, Gideon! We're going
to go wash up a bit, so you all should take a break."
"Eh? I didn't say I was going…"
But when Gideon glanced over at them:
"Yeah, I suppose it's about time for a break," he said with a nod.
"Are you really going to indulge Yarandrala again?!" Ares groused
indignantly.
But Gideon just patted the other man's shoulder.
"It's fine, isn't it? And we promised to follow her instructions while
we were in the bewitching woods, didn't we?"
"Your softness is the reason that…!"
Gideon was taking the blame for the high elf. When Rit realized this
and was about to speak up, Yarandrala just gently shook her head.
"It will be fine. Just leave it to Gideon and let's go."
"But."
Looking over to the young man, he just waved his hand, gesturing for
Rit to not worry about it and go ahead. He had a wry smile, as if he
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felt bad for having made the blond princess worry about him at all.
Seeing his expression, giddiness rocked her mind. She could not
really understand it herself, but a strong urge to hug Gideon washed
over her. If Yarandrala had not taken her by the hand, she might
actually have run over and embraced him.
The river was a small one. At its deepest point, it barely came up to
the waist.
Because it was in a forest entirely untouched by humans, though, the
water was totally clear and clean. So clear that Rit was hesitant to
submerge her dirty body in it. Yarandrala, however, seemed
unperturbed as she immersed her beautiful, naked figure in the river.
"Come in, Rit. It's cool and feels lovely."
"This isn't the season for that."
It was currently autumn. Beneath the forest trees, the climate was
strangely warm, to the point that Rit had worked up a sweat after
walking for an entire day, but it still wasn't really temperate enough
to be playing in a river.
Rit sat down on the riverbank and dipped her feet in its clear water.
"Cold!"
The young woman reflexively pulled her feet back. Then she
gradually lowered her legs, enjoying the comfortable coolness as she
slowly grew acclimated.
In the end, Rit also stripped and entered the river.
"Phew."
It was cold. There was a calm voice in the back of Rit's mind asking
how exactly they were going to warm up after getting out of the
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water in the bewitching woods where they couldn't build a campfire,
but her desire to cool her head was stronger.
"Hey, Rit."
Yarandrala seemed to be freely enjoying herself, swimming
uninhibited. Rit had been idly wondering whether high elves were
naturally more resistant to cold than humans.
"You like Gideon, don't you?"
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"Huh?" Rit suddenly snapped back from her daydreaming. "Wh-why
are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"If you could see yourself, you'd know," Yarandrala said, breaking
into a laugh.
Rit's face turned red, and she submerged herself under the water.
Yarandrala swam over to Rit.
"You're a wonderful person, and Gideon's pretty taken by you, too."
"…Really?"
"But you should probably work on your habit of getting angry when
you're embarrassed."
"Ugh…yeah…," Rit said, mortified.
Whenever Rit got harsher with Gideon, it was generally because it
had become obvious she was embarrassed.
"If you're going to try to hide the embarrassment, then just go all out
with the affection and play it up a bit. If you're going to get so
flustered, at least say something worth getting embarrassed over
first."
"Even if you say that…it's not like I can just flip a switch…"
"Really? I'm sure if you express your feelings straightforwardly,
Gideon will respond to how you feel."
"What about you, then? You seem to get along well with him… Do
you have the same sort of feelings as me?"
"Me? You've got it wrong."
"Really?"
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Yarandrala was smiling, but to Rit, her expression conveyed a faint
loneliness.
"High elves have a bit of a longer life span than humans. I wouldn't
end up loving a human like that. I've learned that the hard way. You
could almost say the great tree in the capital is my true love now. I'm
the Singer of the Trees, after all."
"…"
"I might not look it, but I'm pretty old, you know? A high elf's
appearance doesn't change much, so it can be hard to tell."
"Y-yeah."
"So to me, Gideon is more like a best friend, or a comrade in arms, or
even the human I consider most trustworthy. But that isn't love."
Having said that, Yarandrala wrapped Rit in a tight hug. She could
feel the warmth of the high elf's body. They may have both been
women, but they were still both naked. Rit, with her human sense of
values, could feel a shyness welling up in her. Yarandrala's serious
tone quickly dismissed the girl's feelings, however.
"I want Gideon to be happy. He has always borne all the hard work
for his comrades and will probably continue to do so, but I want him
to live a bit more for himself. I want him to be able to enjoy a more
standard, straightforward sort of happiness living with someone he
loves."
"Yarandrala…"
"I can't share Gideon's worries. None of them realize it, but Gideon's
strengths lie beyond things like blessings and skills. I can't take his
place."
"Yeah, I understand. If he hadn't said what he did…I don't think I
would be here now. Because he was there for me, I was able to reach
a place where I could try to fight again."
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Rit understood the feelings Yarandrala held for Gideon. She felt the
same way. It was a deep affection, the sort of feeling one might bear
for a precious friend or a sibling. A respect for someone, simply
wishing the best for them.
"Gideon is strong. But he isn't invincible. He can be hurt by heartless
words, and when he's sad, he cries like anyone else would. Everyone
has taken it for granted that they can rely on Gideon, but I think if
things continue the way they have, there will be problems."
Rit could not respond. To her, Gideon seemed an even more perfect
person than the Hero. On an intellectual level, she could understand
what Yarandrala was saying, but it was not really something she
could visualize.
But I want to understand.
All she had seen so far was Gideon's strength, the heroic man who
always came to save Rit when she was suffering, but that was not all
there was to him. He was human, just like her. Their blessings were
different, but he was a man who could be hurt just as easily as
anyone else.
Yarandrala smiled sweetly at the blond girl's expression.
"I think you and Gideon just might be able to make it work, and you
might be able to do more than simply depend on him. You could help
support him, too."
"Me…? But I've only ever been supported by him."
"That's fine. Because in the end, you really love him."
"…Yeah, I do. I love him."
"Then it will be fine. When Gideon's suffering, he'll lean on you."
Yarandrala seemed sure of this. Rit was surprised the elf held that
sort of opinion of her. It was a bit embarrassing, but the princess also
felt much closer to Yarandrala, who cared so much for Gideon.
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From Rit's perspective, everywhere in the bewitching woods looked
the same. No matter how much they walked, it never felt like they
were making any progress. It was just day after day of torturous
changelessness. However, that finally came to an end, and they
made it out of the forest that was said to swallow up all who dared
enter.
And what should have greeted them was hope, the lands of the
Duchy of Sunland, famed for its bazaars.
The bright vista they should have seen, though, was instead being
trampled by a dark horde of orcs.
"Why…?"
Rit sat on the ground, shocked.
The party was hiding in the shade of the trees as they peered out at
the scene. The road a short distance beyond the underbrush was
filled with horses clad in riveted leather armor. It was a battalion of
orc hussars. They were patrolling in shifts, executing careful rounds
so as not to miss anyone coming out of the woods.
The party's gambit was dependent on the demon lord's army's belief
that the bewitching woods were impassable. It was for that reason
that Gideon and Rit had limited the number of people who knew the
whole plan to the bare minimum. They had only told the nobles that
they would use the abilities of the Hero, a sage, a guide, and Rit to
break through the enemy encampment without being noticed.
Gideon had not even scouted the bewitching woods because he did
not want it getting out that he'd been in the area. He had merely
trusted Yarandrala's word when she said she could make it through
the forest and had made no effort at all to corroborate that. He had
said as much to Ruti and Ares, explaining why, but…to Ares the Sage,
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entrusting his life in an unknown place to the word of a comrade he
did not know that well was unacceptable. He had subsequently
leaked details to the mercenary, Dir, in order to further research the
woods.
Rit was in utter despair, and Ares was speechless. Gideon merely
faced the reality of the situation. Internally, he wanted to rampage,
to scream and shout, but it was not as if doing that would improve
their situation. The young man had trained himself in that sort of
emotional control.
Besides, having heard Ares talk so much about the bewitching woods
during the trip, it was not as if he hadn't considered that something
like this might happen. To the extent he had envisioned this
possibility, Gideon could have been said to be as calm and collected
as Ruti. The Hero herself stood beside her brother and observed the
fiendish forces placidly.
"Big Brother, what should we do?" Ruti asked.
There was no fear or panic in her voice. As the Hero, despair was
something to move beyond, not to be overwhelmed by. Reassured
by his younger sister's tone, Gideon studied the orc hussar troops
with the keen eye of a hawk.
"Their forces there are a bit thin. If we were going to break through,
that would be the place."
"Yes, I agree. But it would be hard as we are now."
If they were leading a force of one hundred, they would undoubtedly
be able to breach the enemy lines. Orc hussars made up the core of
the demon lord's army, but they were not well trained and were
well-known for retreating when their enemy had the upper hand.
Their strength was in flanking attacks and wide-range pillaging,
things that took advantage of their mobility.
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Indeed, because they were so quick to retreat, they could continue
ransacking elsewhere without being wiped out, which made them
difficult to deal with. No experienced knights of any country on the
continent of Avalon would lose to such creatures in battle. However,
because the knights wore heavy armor, they could not catch up to
the hussars and truly rout them.
In this situation, all the party needed to do was get past them. It was
a much simpler task than wiping them out.
But there were only five of them.
Just five people. Before their meager group was a force of at least
two thousand. They would have to defeat several hundred orcs with
nothing more than their own power. All while continuing to run.
Every one of the five of them had a strength that would never lose in
a one-on-one battle. Even against dozens of hussars, none of them
would fall. If the five worked together, they could probably even
vanquish a hundred, but that was their limit.
There were just too many.
They were each heroes who might one day be so overwhelmingly
powerful as to be able to face those sorts of odds, but at that
moment, they were still at a level that the five of them together
could not match a force of such strength.
"All right, here's my idea," Gideon said, steeling his resolve. "I'll draw
away the enemy. Ruti and Rit, while that's happening, I want you to
try to break through their line."
The blond princess had still been feeling down, but suddenly looking
up at Gideon's face, the young woman appeared as if she was about
to cry.
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Rit was on a drake borrowed from Sunland and riding hard. Her usual
willful attitude was nowhere to be seen.
A bit of a silver lining to the terrible situation in which they had
found themselves was that Sunland had been wary of the demon
lord forces deployed along the edge of the bewitching woods and
had sent their own army along the border. Having broken through
the enemy's line, Ruti, Rit, and Ares met up with the Sunland army.
The three had requested aid on the spot from Prince Blaze, the
commanding officer in the field, and then moved back across the
border with a force of Sunland drake knights.
Altogether, there were five hundred of the fearsome soldiers. Both
riders and steeds were heavily armored. Following behind was a
compliment of two thousand infantrymen, but it had already been
more than an hour since Gideon and Yarandrala had drawn the
enemy's attention to create an opening for Ruti and Rit's group.
Waiting for the infantrymen to catch up would've taken too long.
"I beg of you, Almighty Demis and Larael, guardian of hope, please
watch over Gideon. Victy, guardian of martyrs, please don't take
Gideon away," Rit prayed as she spurred her drake on.
The force they had secured would surely be enough to save
Loggervia. That alone should've been enough for Rit to rejoice. But in
that moment, Rit forgot all about her home country and prayed only
that Gideon still lived.
Faced with five hundred drake knights charging in formation with
spears at the ready, the orcs were swept up in a moment's fearful
stir, but upon seeing Ruti and Rit riding at the head of the force, the
monsters started jeering loudly.
"Look! The cowardly Hero came back to give us another feather in
our cap!" The orcs believed they had just cornered the Hero's party.
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It was true that Ruti had cut down countless orcs who stood before
her in order to pass through their lines. It was also true, though, that
the Hero's party had desperately fled to escape the onslaught of
sabers that had borne down on them like a storm. The wounds had
only been minor, but the orcs' blades had cut their flesh and drank of
their blood.
"We've got more soldiers! Surround and crush 'em!"
Using their superior mobility to flank the enemy was the standard
maneuver for the hussars. Drake knights would normally be forced to
perform a series of hit-and-run-style clashes when facing an enemy
that outnumbered them four to one. But in terms of mobility, the
orcs—with their lighter armor—were much more agile. The fiends
should've been able to take care of the knights and head home with
another achievement to boast of before the distant infantry ever
arrived.
Rit knew this, of course. She had raced there driven by her concern
for Gideon, but she could feel a sense of dread as she saw the dull
flashes of the orcish weapons through the cloud of dust.
"Rit," Ruti said as she rode alongside her.
"Wh-what?! I'm not scared!"
Ruti was expressionless as she quietly looked at her flustered blond
companion.
"Disperse."
"Eh?"
Ruti suddenly raised her left hand. It was the signal to break away.
The knights' commanding officer responded immediately, sounding a
bugle. The next instant, the orc forces unleashed a hail of arrows.
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"Don't worry, orc hussar bows are diversionary. They're only fired
randomly, so they aren't a threat as long as none of us are too
bunched up."
Readying their swords, Ruti and Rit cut down any arrows that came
their way. They could hear the sound of the metal arrowheads
glinting off armor behind them. There were a few cries of pain, but
because the knights had properly distanced themselves, the damage
they suffered was minimal.
"But at this rate—!"
Their scattering also reduced the strength of their charge. For a
cavalry charge, it was best to maintain a dense formation while
breaching at a single point in the enemy's formation. A dispersed
charge was devoid of any impact or force.
Doubt reared its head in the back of Rit's mind, and she wondered
whether it might not have been better to accept a few more losses in
order to maintain the formation. Ruti's cool expression remained
unchanged, however, as she held the Holy Demon Slayer aloft and
urged her drake to run even faster.
"Wh—?! Wait! Charging alone?!"
Ruti moved faster and faster atop her mount. Rit could only assume
she must have had some kind of riding skill. The princess turned
adventurer tried to keep up, but it was a rate of acceleration she
could not match. The lone Hero reached the army of two thousand
hussars. Even with a blessing that had reached a level that one could
truly call heroic, Ruti needed everything she could muster just to
protect herself. At first, Rit assumed it would be a repeat of when
she and the Hero had been surrounded by the foul creatures,
desperately trying to escape their ranks.
The thought was quickly proven wrong, though, as orcs and their
horses suddenly went flying through the air.
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"Huh?"
A single swing of Ruti's sword sent five of the hussars flying. Every
orc sailing through the air had been cut in half, armor and all. Masses
of flesh thudded to the ground. Some of the felled monsters'
comrades were knocked down by the corpses or else bucked off their
steeds panicked at the gruesome sight before them.
Ruti swung her sword again and again. Every swipe of her blade sent
large groups of orcs into the air.
"Wh-wha—? B-bastard! When did you learn to do that?!" one of the
orcs screamed, his ferocious face twisted in terror.
"I couldn't make a scene before. I'm serious now."
With the plan for Gideon and Yarandrala to lure the enemy away,
Ruti could not afford to fight seriously. Had she stood out, it
would've just drawn the orcs after her, rendering the risk those two
had taken meaningless. It would have compromised the entire plan.
Three orcs, including the commander of the hussar forces, roared
and charged, though they were obviously frightened. However, Ruti
just swung her blade at them head-on. The sabers of the orcs were
infamous for the swathe of destruction they'd cut across Avalon. Yet
they shattered easily, and the bodies of their bearers were left
twisted, collapsing to the ground, still clutching the hilts of their
severed swords.
One after another, the orcs fell. Even as the drake knights
approached, the orcs could not take their eyes off Ruti as she flicked
her blade to remove the blood splattered on it. They were unable to
look away; they dared not, because the Hero was terrifying. If a maneating dragon were right next to you, would you really be able to
take your eyes off it? Even as the monsters were about to be run
through by the spears of the knights, compared to that terrifying
Hero, spears were…
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The force of the hussars began to weaken. Rit and the Sunland
knights finally arrived and charged toward their enemy. The orcs
could not even put up a proper resistance, instead collapsing in the
face of Rit's swords and the knights' spears. The spirit scout adroitly
slashed two orc hussars who rushed her, easily knocking them to the
ground. The orc sabers that had seemed so menacing when she'd
been fleeing now felt like a scant showing.
"So this is the strength of the Hero…"
Before Rit even realized it, the knights were roaring victoriously,
even though they had only just seized control of the first contact.
The orcs were already on the verge of a full retreat, and some had
even started to run. The rout was just a matter of time.
The key to victory in a battle pitting five hundred versus two
thousand had been the lone Hero. The way she had cut into the
enemies head-on and her immense martial prowess and charisma
caused the enemy to cower and her allies to forget their fear. That
was the war fought by the Hero, Ruti.
But Ruti did not even exalt in the victorious cheers of her allies. She
just continued fighting detachedly.
"Yo."
In the middle of the battlefield, Yarandrala and Gideon stood
battered and bruised but still alive. Gideon continued to look fairly
hardy thanks to his Immunity to Fatigue, but Yarandrala appeared
exhausted. Her neat high elf face betrayed her overexertion.
After the two of them had pulled off the feint, they had apparently
kept the ruse and continued running. They must have stolen some
orc horses partway through, too, because there were two mounts
that looked quite unhappy snorting next to them.
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"I'm only still alive because Yarandrala came with me."
"Me, too. If it wasn't for Gideon, there's no way I would have made
it."
They grinned at each other. Their wounds had already been taken
care of by healing magic, but their armor was covered in scratches,
proof that the two of them had suffered a number of wounds and
continued fighting regardless. Gideon's trusted sword,
Thunderwaker, was still covered in a thick coating of orc blood.
"Y-you idiot…"
Elated, Rit was about to rush to them, but…a smaller-framed girl cut
in even faster from the side.
"Big Brother." Ruti gently touched Gideon's face with both hands.
"I'm sorry. There wasn't any other way. Never again."
"It's fine. As you can see, Yarandrala and I are safe."
"Never again," Ruti said with quiet, firm determination.
Ruti was usually so calm, never showing emotion. There had been no
exaltation, pity, or even hatred as she killed the orcs, yet now she
showed a powerful affection for Gideon, even though her expression
did not change.
Neither Rit nor Yarandrala could bring themselves to say anything.
When Gideon had said he would face the orcs himself and lure them
away, Rit had been against it, of course. Ares had criticized it as rash,
too, but Ruti had reined them in.
"Trust him."
"B-but."
"Yarandrala, I want you to go with him."
"Got it. Leave it to me."
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"Wait, Ruti! I can't accept that…"
"I'm giving orders to my comrades. I don't need your consent," Ruti
said as she looked Rit in the eye. The Hero did not glare; it was her
default expression.
"Ah, uh…"
But Rit had been unable to say anything under the pressure of that
gaze. Gideon patted Rit's shoulder as she recoiled.
"It's fine. I don't try to do things I can't do."
Despite the fact that he was the one doing the most dangerous job
there, he had gone out of his way to reassure Rit. At the time, in her
heart, Rit had been enraged at the thought that the Hero would
sacrifice her own brother for the sake of some supposed justice, but
she realized now that she had misunderstood.
Seeing the two of them holding each other like that, Rit could not
hide her shock.
I never thought Ruti could look like that.
Ruti had actually been more concerned about Gideon than anyone,
but there had still been no other way. Because he understood that,
Gideon had volunteered to be the diversion. He didn't want Ruti to
have to be the one to suggest sending her brother to near-certain
death.
"It must be nice," Rit muttered to herself as she looked up at the sky
a short distance from the two of them.
In the end, Rit did not join the Hero's party. Gideon seemed
disappointed. To the princess, Ruti looked relieved.
Part of the reason she had stayed behind was to help oversee the
restoration of Loggervia, but even more so, she had felt it wrong to
come between Ruti and Gideon. At least for now. Gideon was still
too important to his younger sister.
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After the man she loved left, Rit cried by herself for a little while.
"Tch!"
With his things hastily gathered in a bag, Dir the Fire Mage fled
Loggervia looking annoyed.
He had betrayed humanity and sided with the demon lord's army for
the promise of money. Realizing the situation had turned against
him, he immediately moved out. The man had gotten into the castle
under the auspices of the head of the royal guard, Gaius—the
transformed Shisandan—and knew he would get caught quickly as
soon as the war was over. It was the right time to leave.
"Don't you dare forget this, Rit. I'm a vengeful man. Someday, when
you're happiest, I'll appear and destroy everything you love."
There was a hideous hatred in his sinister gaze as he spat on the road
and then fled. He kept turning to look back, unable to let go.
Present day. Zoltan's slums, Southmarsh.
Southmarsh was home to a conspicuously out of place manor. It was
the residence of Bighawk, the number two man of the Thieves Guild.
Feared for his brutal methods, the giant of a half-orc had migrated to
Zoltan from lands beyond.
A thug known as Dir, who stood before Bighawk, had a menial smile
plastered across his gaunt face. The vengeful fire mage readily
bowed his head to Bighawk. Dir's stance conveyed extreme
obsequiousness toward one more powerful than him, but there was
no hint of fear in his manner.
This is nothing compared to dealing with the demon lord's army's
Asura demons.
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Even after fleeing Loggervia, Dir had continued his life of infamy,
working as a mercenary outlaw all around the continent. Along the
way, he had been an informant for the demon lord's forces as well.
The result was that he'd burned all his bridges and had to flee to
Zoltan and the frontier.
"Anyway, what I'd like you to do is take care of the Rit situation."
"I'd be happy to do anything within the limits of my capabilities."
"The Thieves Guild would rather Rit not retire from adventuring. Do
you know why that is?"
"Ummm, because they don't want to lose someone to hire for
difficult jobs?"
"No."
Bighawk slammed his tree trunk–like leg down on the floor with a
thud. Dust fluttered down from the ceiling and sprinkled over Dir's
head. The fire mage felt an urge to brush it off but resisted.
"Cases we can't handle ourselves, we can just get Albert's party to
take care of. The problem is if someone with interests opposed to
our guild contracts Rit the hero."
"Ah."
"She's this country's wild card. Every group with any sort of power in
the area would pay a steep price if she stood against them. When
she gets involved in something, even the Thieves Guild just sucks it
up and backs down."
"So why not celebrate her retirement?"
"Because it's not that simple. In the past, if there was a situation
where we absolutely could not afford to have her stand against us,
we could just send her an unrelated request to keep her far away
from Zoltan while we took care of things. Now, though, she's always
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going to be in town. What if she goes against us on a whim? It's
gonna be bad for business in ways you can't begin to imagine."
"I see."
That was the point that really concerned Bighawk. The wild card they
had been able to control to some extent had entirely slipped its
leash. And if they tried to pull one of their tried-and-true
assassinations, they would be targeting a genuine hero strong
enough to have the upper hand in a brawl with the entire Thieves
Guild. The Thieves Guild chief and every last one of the higher-ups all
agreed that making a move on someone like that would be suicide.
"So we come to you, Dir. You seem to have some kind of dirt on the
girl."
"Or something, at least. It might not be enough to get her to do
whatever I say, but it might be enough to at least get her to go back
to adventuring or else to push her out of Zoltan," Dir intimated with
a sly grin.
It was no coincidence that this man had been summoned by
Bighawk. He had been playing dumb before, but knowing that the
Thieves Guild was struggling with what to do about Rit retiring, Dir
had implied to a member of the organization that he knew
something about her past.
"Huuuh. That's quite intriguing. I'd like to hear a bit more, but…you
don't really plan on telling, right? Our group's got no intention of
taking a stance on Rit one way or the other."
"H-huh?" Dir was flustered at the unexpected turn as he looked up at
Bighawk's face.
The half-orc avoided meeting his gaze, grabbing a walnut from a
plate nearby and crushing its shell with his thick fingers before
tossing the nut into his mouth. He chewed the walnut with an
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audible crunch. Dir was taken aback as he waited for Bighawk to
explain.
"Basically, the gist of it is that I'd be quite happy if this problem just
took care of itself."
"!"
Dir nodded, understanding where Bighawk was going.
"And if that problem resolves itself, might I happen to get a nice little
something?"
"You'd get nothing at all, since the Thieves Guild has nothing to do
with this. Perhaps you might find yourself a nice job carrying baggage
shortly afterward or something. Maybe those bags would be filled
with money."
So basically, instead of a reward, just "steal" that money. Catching
Bighawk's drift, Dir cackled.
"Understood. I'll be taking my leave now, then," he said.
"All right. Sorry for calling you out here. Hey, one of you show him
out."
Some rather unpleasant-looking men from the Thieves Guild showed
Dir to the door with the utmost courtesy. A little parting gift, a bag of
silver coins, had been slipped into his breast pocket.
"I've been rotting away in obscurity to the point of washing up in a
piece-of-shit town like this, but looks like my luck's finally about to
change."
I'm gonna get to smash Rit's happy little life.
The thought of that made Dir want to cackle, but he forced himself
to stay quiet.
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Maybe it's a bit premature, but I, Rizlet of Loggervia, am currently
utterly happy.
I never would have dreamed I would get to live together with
Gideon—no, Red—when I left Loggervia.
"Lunch is ready," Red called.
"Okaaay."
Hearing the voice from the kitchen, I hang the ON BREAK sign on the
store's door and headed to the living room. My stomach is already
preparing to enjoy some more of Red's delicious cooking.
"Today we're having bacon gratin, a seafood soup, and some bread."
The ingredients themselves are not particularly expensive or rare,
but his cooking always looks and smells so delicious. Just seeing the
grill marks on the bacon gratin is enough to pique my appetite, and
the smell of the sea from the soup is irresistible.
"Thank you!"
First, I drink a bit of water to cleanse my palate. Then I take a
spoonful of the gratin… Mmmm, the steam has such a delectable
smell… Hmm, but it seems a bit hot; maybe starting with the soup
was better? It would be a waste if I burned my mouth and couldn't
taste the food he made.
The soup has a bit of red fish meat and two shellfish in it. It also has
some vegetables—cabbage and little green things. Herbs? The
addition of those as a garnish to decorate the amber soup is just
superb.
I blow on it a little to cool it, and then the taste of the sea fills my
mouth as I hold it there for a moment. But it doesn't have a fishy sort
of flavor. Supposedly, boiling the seafood in an alcohol of some kind
gets rid of that fishiness. Is this taste from the wine he used for the
preparation?
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I can't wait; what about the bacon gratin?
The surface is fried to a golden brown, but the inside is pure white
and soft. It gives off a rich steam. Thick-cut bacon, a generous
helping of macaroni, and onions to go with it. Simple ingredients, but
they've all been prepared carefully and properly seasoned. In other
words…
"Delicious!"
Red smiles happily when I say that.
In the morning, Red had been preparing more medicine, but after
lunch he sits at the counter with me. Neither of us is so busy as to
need the extra help, so Red said I could take a break, but why would I
want to spend less time with him?
"Eh-heh-heh." I have to be careful; looking at him from the side, my
mouth just sort slips into a slack smile.
Maybe noticing I was watching him, Red adjusts his clothes just a
hair. He has a faded scar that runs from his neck down across his
chest. He doesn't normally mind it, but he must have felt a bit
awkward when I looked at it. I don't mind it at all, though. It's
honestly endearing. Proof of the life he's lived.
It isn't like I enjoy him seeing my scars, either, so I understand the
feeling.
"Come on, don't hide it."
But I still want to look.
"H-hey."
"It's fine. It's not the end of the world."
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Besides, seeing Red's face blush in embarrassment is a cute side to
him entirely different from his usually cool demeanor.
Today it's my turn to deliver the fragrance bag to Zeff's sauna.
Zoltan's summers are as hot as ever. Though it's technically already
fall if you go by the calendar. Having grown up in the cool
temperatures of Loggervia, part of the reason I chose Zoltan was to
live someplace warmer, but I never would have thought it would be
this hot.
Once I finish the delivery, I aimlessly walk in the direction of home.
"How can it still be this hot?"
The sun has dropped pretty low in the sky, but it's still warm. I wipe
the sweat on the back of my neck with my bandanna.
"So hot."
All I can do is grumble about it, though.
"Missy," someone calls out to me.
"What do you want?"
I'm already a bit fed up because of the heat, so an edge of
annoyance creeps into my response. But it is what it is. Besides, I'm
the uncouth princess who always sneaked out of the castle. While I
might know proper etiquette, that doesn't mean I like using it.
Turning around, squinting, I see the guy who called out to me looking
a little surprised. He's hunched over, his cheeks are sunken, and he
has a dangerous sort of glint in his eyes. I have a vague sense that
I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't place him.
"Do I know you? You need something?"
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"Ah, um, I'm a C-rank adventurer by the name of Dir. I had
something I wanted to talk with you about."
"Really? Then make it quick."
"It's not really something to discuss in public. Maybe we could head
somewhere to relax and chat over a beer or two?"
"Not interested. See you."
I have the feeling I've met him before somewhere, but the fact that
I've forgotten means he couldn't have been that important. I just
ignore him and start leaving at a brisk pace.
"W-wait a minute!"
"I told you to make it quick."
"Are you sure you want to do that? I know where you hail from."
"It's not like I was particularly hiding anything."
"Not just that. I know your real name, too, Rizlet."
"…Hmph."
"Kh, no need to make such a scary face."
This guy is getting unpleasant, and my ire flares a bit without me
realizing.
A look of fear flashes across Dir's face, and then, maybe annoyed at
himself for being scared, he makes an arrogant show of spitting on
the ground. I furrow my brow at his performance.
"So? Start talking."
"You sure you want to have this conversation out here?"
"You heard me. It's not like I was particularly hiding anything."
"Ha-ha, that's the one and only Rit the hero for you. A true princess
does things head-on and in the open, unlike a guy who lives in the
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shadows, like me." Seeing me reach for my shotel, Dir gets flustered
again. "I came to give you a warning."
"About?"
"Don't be so standoffish. Try being a bit nicer, like you are with
Red— Gh?!"
I draw my blade, slamming the hilt into his solar plexus. His face
pales as he recoils and hunches over. The three people passing
nearby glance our way, wondering what's happening.
"I'm a former adventurer. I'm not so high-minded and polite as to
laugh it off and forgive someone looking down on me. Got it?"
"Ugh…gh… Y-you asshole…"
"So warn me about what? If you aren't going to talk, I'll just leave."
I feel like beating him down a bit more, but given that I work at an
apothecary, maybe I should leave things as they are?
"W-wait a damn minute!"
"What now? If you've got something to say, then quit putting on
stupid airs and just spit it out already. You could have saved yourself
some pain that way."
"I'll tell Loggervia that you're living with Red."
Hmph, so that's what this is about?
Seeing my quiet response, Dir smirks as he stands back up.
"Heh-heh, cutting loose when you're far from home is all well and
good, Princess, but you should realize the position you're in."
"…"
"Put simply, Princess Rizlet, I'd suggest you might want to either stop
your little fling with Red and go back to adventuring or else head on
home to Loggervia. Hasn't the whole succession problem just about
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been resolved there now anyway? You're around the age to be
getting married off to some tubby old noble, right? 'For the
prosperity of both our houses' and all, eh? So sad. But that's the role
of a princess, isn't it? I guess it can't be helped. We can't have the
princess becoming damaged goods at the hands of some no-name,
backwater apothecary, after all."
Perhaps a little mindful of the surroundings, Dir lowers his voice as
he prattles. I just heave a disinterested sigh.
"Whoopsie. You're probably better off not trying to take me out
here. I've arranged for a letter to be sent to Loggervia immediately in
the event that I die."
The gaunt man mistook my sigh for a murderous impulse, I guess. He
sure is getting all high-and-mighty talking about what the
precautions he's taken. Sheesh… This guy needs to get a grip already.
"Do as you please."
"Huh?"
"Tell my father or whomever else you want," I say before turning on
my heel and walking away.
"O-oy! I'm not bluffing here! If Loggervia finds out, you might even
get disowned! At best, you're in an awkward position! A hero
princess more popular than the prince—you can be sure there are
tons of people who would love the chance to be rid of you…"
Man, he's persistent. I decide to delay my return home just a little bit
longer.
"You seem to misunderstand, so I'll keep this short and simple. I
couldn't care less about my position as Loggervian royalty."
"What?!"
"If it was for Red's sake and to maintain this day-to-day life, I
wouldn't mind being disowned as both royalty and a hero. If we can
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just be Rit and Red in our apothecary, I don't need fame or wealth or
anything more than just that."
"Y-you're lying! There's no way your blessing could be satisfied with
such an unremarkable life!"
"My blessing? Probably not. But this is what I want." I leave and
don't look back. Dir must have been dumbfounded; he didn't say
another word.
The Fire Mage blessing is one of the four main Mage blessings. Its
special characteristic is that, in exchange for not being able to use
water magic, the skill level required to activate fire magic is lower
than for other mages. In addition to that, fire magics with high
offensive output can be used at an earlier stage.
One particularly notable difference is that Fireball, which causes an
explosion, is a lower-level spell rather than an Intermediate Magic
spell as is normally the case. Fire mages are the most popular of the
four Mage blessings because, in terms of pure power, they can
punch above their level. They are so popular that it was said that
even at level one, people with the Fire Mage blessing would not be
turned down when trying to join a party.
That's only while everyone's levels are still low, though.
There are a wide variety of offensive spells within the flame magic
school. However, that also means that a single kind of energy
resistance spell could counter everything a fire mage brings to the
table.
Dir the Fire Mage made it as an adventurer for five years. That fifth
was the year he was kicked out of his first party. But Dir already
understood the peculiarities of his blessing by that point. It granted
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him a strength that surpassed his level, as long as he faced
opponents with a lower level than his own.
The people of this world had a distaste for fighting those not on par
with them. Even when goblins attacked a village, it was thought that
adventurers of a level similar to the goblins' should be the ones to
defeat them.
Blessings developed and grew by fighting and killing opponents who
also had a blessing, but if the opponent had a lower blessing level,
the efficiency of that growth dropped dramatically. The holy church
taught everyone that this was an expression of Demis's will,
forbidding the exploitation of weaker people. In a world where good
and bad people alike sensed the presence of Demis through their
blessing, the holy church's teachings were treated as fact.
But Dir trusted his own blessing over that dogma. He made a living as
a mercenary outlaw who pillaged and robbed the weak. Seeing the
low-level warriors who protected their small villages being burned to
a crisp with no way of resisting evoked a feeling of satisfaction.
The impulses of the Fire Mage blessing led to enjoying seeing things
burning in flames. Pillaging a village and then setting it on fire, with
the villagers standing there in a daze. All of that triggered a joyous
emotion that proved to Dir the correctness of the life he had chosen
to live.
"Heh-heh-heh, make a fool of me, will you?"
He was unable to restrain the twitchy grin that crossed his face as he
considered what he'd do next.
Dir stood in the shade of the building that neighbored Red & Rit's
Apothecary. He had just placed some dried kindling and a vase of oil
at the foot of the structure. What for? Arson, of course.
"Ahhh, I'm gonna burn that insolent bitch's happy life to the ground.
All because she made a fool of me. Heh-heh!"
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Dir had used Shadow Hide, a concealment magic, before starting the
preparations for his revenge.
People killed in a fire set like that would not count toward leveling up
his blessing, but Dir had successfully killed a knight far more powerful
than him using this method in the past. Four other innocent
bystanders who'd happened to be staying at the targeted lodge that
day had been killed in the blaze, too, but that was a trivial matter to
him.
Unfortunately for the would-be arsonist, the person with whom he
was dealing this day was not someone who could be fooled by a
cloaking spell of that level.
"Hey," I called out to the man about to set fire to my shop.
"Eep?!"
What an irrational guy, just straight-up trying to start a fire like that. I
figured someone might try something like this over the thing with Rit
but hadn't expected it to go this far.
"If you don't want to get hurt, then don't do anything stupid.
Attempted arson's not as serious a crime as going through with it."
Arson was a gravely serious offense. All the more so in the workingclass part of Zoltan with so many wooden homes. Even attempted
arson would merit a pretty stiff sentence, but actual arson meant
death, so it didn't take much to appear light in comparison.
The man in front of me looked around restlessly but smirked when
he realized I was alone.
"I heard about you from Ares. You didn't have any real skills and
were only in the Hero's party because you were her big brother," he
said as he readied himself.
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"If you want to have at it, then fine. I'm honestly ticked at you, too."
"Heh-heh, so you remember me?"
"Yeah, you caused more than a few problems in Loggervia."
I knew this man. We had some unfinished business.
I had guessed that the reason Yarandrala and I ended up in the
situation with the orcs was because of him getting information out of
Ares, but he'd run away before we could know for sure. However,
more importantly… Well, it might've been a bit late, but I was still
annoyed by the way he'd made a pass at Rit in that bar. He'd put his
hand on her shoulder.
I drew my bronze sword and took a step forward. Dir had a Fire
Mage blessing. People with Mage blessings tended to have trouble in
one-on-ones at close range, but Dir still seemed pretty confident.
When I took another step, Dir's stance faltered slightly. The moon
hung at his back.
"It's been awhile since someone was that cautious of me in a fight."
It was almost nostalgic; I'd been getting by as D-rank adventurer
here in Zoltan. Honestly, I thought I'd never be in a position like this
again.
While I was busy awkwardly getting all emotional in the middle of a
fight, a nervous smile crossed Dir's face. When I took a third step,
Dir's face twisted into a broad smirk.
"Do it now!" Dir shouted, raising his left arm high.
He was looking toward a watchtower that stood in the distance. It
would be a great place for a sniper with a bow or crossbow.
Yet…nothing happened.
"Huh? Hey! What are you doing?! Shoot already!"
He kept raising his arm over and over, but there was no response.
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"This makes it twice now," I said.
Dir's face paled.
"I-it can't be? Not again!"
"The roles are somewhat reversed this time, though."
The reason Rit wasn't around was because she had guessed that Dir
would try to get rid of us and had taken a detour to gather some
information. While she was gathering intel, she'd heard there had
been some two-bit thug adventurer asking around for someone with
a Sniper blessing, and just like I had long before, she had
preemptively taken care of the problem.
"Grr, damn you!"
Dir started to cast Fireball, but before he could, my sword pierced his
shoulder.
"Gah?!"
I hadn't hit a vital point, but it cut to the bone, the pain causing his
spell to fail. Concentration was required to activate magic. This was
why spells had a disadvantage at close range. Mages could not
exhibit their true value without someone there to defend them.
"Ugh! Kh!"
I held my sword pointed at his brow as he recoiled in pain. The vile
man toppled back onto the ground. I lowered the blade of my sword
to keep it pointed over his head. I only needed the slightest
movement to pierce his forehead. It was my win. There was nothing
else he could do. Just as I started to put some force into my right
hand…
"W-wait!" Dir shouted in a panic. But his next words were not a
surrender. "I-if you lay a hand on me, the Thieves Guild won't take it
lying down!"
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"What?"
"Bighawk thinks you guys are bad for his business! If you kill me, you
won't be able to stay in this town!"
"…"
I slowly lowered my weapon.
"Is that so?" I murmured in a low voice.
Dir had committed a grievous mistake. But when he saw my quiet
response, he broke out in a triumphant grin.
"Heh-heh-heh, either way, you won't be able to stay here, though.
Once you've made an enemy of the Thieves Guild, you can never
sleep safe again."
Dir slowly scooted back, still clutching the wound on his shoulder.
Then, still acting as though he'd won, he ran away.
"Yeah, it isn't a good idea to make an enemy of the Thieves Guild."
My words never reached Dir as the cowardly fire mage escaped into
the night.
I cleaned up the kindling and oil he had left behind. As expected of a
fire mage, both were of high quality.
"I'll help myself to the fuel, thanks."
Since Zoltan was surrounded by wetlands, kindling was a bit on the
expensive side. I happily reaped the spoils of war. There was
something nostalgic about it.
Returning to the house, I put the wood to quick use and lit a fire to
prepare a bath. A little while later, Rit returned.
"I'm back!"
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"Welcome home."
I met her at the door. For some reason, Rit froze up for a second, and
her cheeks turned red.
"What is it?"
"No, it's just, hearing you say 'Welcome home' made me feel really
happy all of a sudden."
Hearing her say something like that, there was no way I wouldn't
have gotten embarrassed, too.
"H-here, I'll take your cloak, so change into something comfortable."
"S-sure…"
We both smiled clumsily as Rit headed to the bedroom to change.
"Here you go."
When she came back, I handed her a cup of hot milk.
"Thank you… Ah, this is delicious; there's honey in it."
"It's a specialty of mine that I made a lot as a kid."
"Coffee's good, but sweet drinks are really nice, too."
That satisfied smile Rit got after eating something delicious overtook
her face. It was satisfying enough just watching her in that state.
How long had it been since I started thinking about her when I
prepared food?
"Something this delicious, I'm going to want to have it again
tomorrow."
"All right. I'll make it again tomorrow—and whenever else you want
it."
"Hooray!" Rit cheered, looking pleased.
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I was just as happy as she was. Making food for her was way more
enjoyable than when I was only cooking for myself. That was
probably exactly what I wanted out of a slow and easy life.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone