Chapter 18: Rosenne’s Blood Spear

This time, I decided to head east from Rosenne toward the forest’s edge, but ever since I’d lined up at the city gate, I could feel someone’s gaze on me.

There was no killing intent, yet it was an unpleasant, sticky sort of stare—one that felt like it was licking across my whole body.

Even after I left the road and walked through the grasslands toward the forest boundary, that clinging gaze wouldn’t disappear.

Whoever it was didn’t get close enough to trigger my detection magic, but since they seemed so fixated on me, I decided to greet them properly.

I picked a spot without any undergrowth and constructed a cylindrical barrier about a meter wide—a kind of defensive “Shelter!” spell—and waited.

Since it was a colorless, transparent construct that didn’t stir up dust, I doubted anyone would notice it.

I kept my eyes fixed in the direction of the gaze that had been bothering me. Whoever it was realized I was waiting for them and finally showed themselves.

The ones who approached were familiar—those big-game hunters I’d seen before.

“Do you need something?” 

I asked.

“That Olga guy from Gentle Breeze said you had some skill…” 

One of them replied. 

“But walking the plains alone takes guts.”

“You seem decent at detection too…” 

Another added. 

“If you went into the forest with Olga’s crew, how about teaming up with us sometime?”

“You take care of birds and small fry, we’ll handle the big prey. It’d make the hunt a lot easier.”

“Sorry…” 

I said flatly. 

“But I don’t work with people I don’t know. Especially ones who’ve been leering at me like creeps since the gate.”

“You’re just a lone mage—what’ll you do if something happens?”

“If you’re wondering who we are, we’re Rosenne’s Blood Spear—a party with a bit of a name around here.”

“We split the earnings evenly, even with newcomers. You’d lose nothing joining us.”

“If you could manage with Olga’s muscleheads, you should do fine with us.”

“Hmm, interesting…” 

I said. 

“Then why don’t you show me your killing intent? If you’re as good as Olga’s team, I’ll humor you for one round.”

“Hey, Gentle Breeze! Don’t get cocky just ‘cause we were being nice.”

“You forget, this isn’t the guild hall. Olga’s not here to back you up.”

“Pretty face like yours, we figured we’d go easy on you, but you’re asking for it.”

“Looks like you’ve got cat or elf blood in you—yet you’re wasting it on wind magic? Pathetic.”

“Oh? I thought you came to recruit me, but it seems you just came to pick a fight.”

“If you won’t join us, we’ll settle our debt with you here and now.”

“Debt? You mean the one you owe Olga’s team. I only got in your way by accident.”

“Nah, it’s ‘cause you defied us that Olga’s pack of trash butted in. You come first.”

“Olga’s not here now, is he?”

“Maybe I’ll make you my little plaything instead.”

Ah, so this was the guy behind that slimy gaze.

I wasn’t into his kind of “fun,” and judging by his words, he just wanted revenge after getting humiliated by Olga.

“Sorry,” 

I said coolly.

“…but I’m not your stress relief, and I don’t play with creeps. So why don’t you disappear before this gets ugly?”

“‘Disappear,’ he says! Thinks he can take us, does he?”

“At this range, you won’t even have time to stir up a breeze. Come here, pretty boy—uh, what the hell?”

One of them suddenly lunged for my collar—only to slam into my invisible Shelter barrier and look stunned.

A single shield plate might be bad for multiple attackers, but this full dome of protection covered me from every direction.

“So we’re going straight to violence? Fine by me.”

“What the hell’s that attitude? Smash him!”

“Wait, what’s this weird thing here?”

“You little—huh? What is this—?!”

Before they could react, I wrapped the lot of them in a wide “Whirlwind!”, bunching them together and then tipping the vortex sideways.

The six of them spun around inside it like laundry in a washing machine.

It was a slow spin, so there wasn’t blood everywhere, but they kept crashing into each other midair, groaning all the while.

“Sorry! Stop it!”
“I’m going to puke!”
“Please, have mercy!”
“Stop! Or we’ll report you to the guild!”

“Oh, so when things don’t go your way, you throw a tantrum, and when you lose, you threaten to snitch? What a charming mindset.”

I tossed a fist-sized rock into the spinning vortex.

“Stop! You trying to kill us?!”
“Gyaaaaah!”
“We’re sorryyy!”
“Murderer!”
“Please, stop!”

Their cries grew weaker as the thuds and groans mixed together.

If I stopped halfway, they might try to report me—or worse, I could end up enslaved for “assault.”

Considering some of them might be noble brats like that count’s sixth son, better to silence them properly.

As the sounds died down, six limp bodies spun like rag dolls inside the vortex.

It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight, so I shifted the Whirlwind into a full Tornado, flinging them far away.

No one showed up on my detection spell, so I doubted anyone saw. Still, I felt gross afterward—so I decided to head back to the city for a drink to cleanse the mood.

The next day, I changed direction a little and wandered the forest’s edge looking for birds.

I caught five runner birds and three chikki-chikki birds, but my boots had worn down so much that walking became a pain, so I decided to head back.

On the way, my detection magic picked up something suspicious.

Carefully changing course, I found a group fighting goblins—but their perimeter defense was completely neglected.

Watching someone die right in front of me would ruin my mood, so I decided to lend a little help.

Since there were too many enemies, I went with the shotgun spell.

First, I needed to take care of the goblins closest to me, so I wrapped six of them in a Whirlwind! and spun them away, then rushed over to the group of adventurers.

“A pack of Horned Dogs is coming! Gather up in one spot!”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Did you say Horned Dogs?!”

“Haven’t you heard their barking yet? Hurry and form up for defense!”

They froze up even as the barking drew closer, so I gave up on organizing them and instead began preparing my shotgun array—a vertically spinning ring of magic.

I pulled out a pouch full of fist-sized stones and aimed toward the incoming pack of Horned Dogs.

The first of the pack burst out of the grass, and I left that one to the adventurers, focusing instead on the group following behind.
I flipped my magic pouch upside down and fed small stones into the vertically rotating ring, which launched them outward like shotgun pellets.

As I swept the rotating ring left and right, I heard crack, snap, thwack—the sounds of shrubs and grass being mowed down.

At the same time came a chorus of yelps—gyan, kyaiiin—and the frenzied barking of the horned dogs suddenly stopped.
The screams from the front pack must have frightened the rest, because the ones behind froze in place.
They were a bit far, but I fired another shotgun burst their way, and the surviving dogs turned tail, whining and yelping as they ran off into the distance.

A few horned dogs staggered away wounded, while others lay on the ground, coughing up blood but not quite dead.
When I turned around, I saw the six adventurers furiously beating two of the dogs to death—so worked up they hadn’t even noticed the beasts were already dead.

Approaching a panicked group like that would be dangerous, so I wrapped them in a light “Whirlwind!” to cool them down a bit.
After draining the magic right away, they’d only spun seven or eight times—but that was enough to leave them wobbling on their feet.

When I called out, “Calm down a little, will you?”, they finally noticed the dogs in front of them were already corpses.

They looked like a team of eight men—probably Iron or maybe Bronze rank at best.

“Who are you?” 

One of them asked.

“Just a passerby,” 

I replied. “You got too focused on those goblins and forgot to watch your surroundings.”

“Ah, you saved us. Thanks.”

“Looked like a huge pack for a second there…”

“Don’t act so high and mighty over a few horned dogs.”

“Getz, watch your mouth! Look behind him!”

The man who thanked me scolded the rude one, and the others, staring past me, suddenly looked shocked.

“Weren’t you with the Strong Arm team the other day?”

“Yeah, I went into the forest with Olga’s group. Have we met somewhere?”

“You gave us those goblins back then. Even those goblins were staggering like this.”

Ah, so it’s that party from before. I barely remembered their faces at the time.
If they’re saying the goblins had been wobbling, they must’ve realized the ones at their feet met the same fate—from my magic.

“I heard the wind mage called Gentle Breeze went into the forest with Olga’s Strong Arm team.” one of them said.

Oh great—so I’m being called “Gentle Breeze” now?
That pompous bastard must’ve spread the name. Next time I see him, I’ll spin him till he coughs up blood.

“Those horned dogs lying there—and a few more up ahead are all yours.”

“That’s… kind of you, but we don’t have a magic pouch, and some of us are injured…”

Their makeshift bandages were soaked through, the cloth around one man’s leg blackened with blood, and two others had wounded arms.

No magic pouch, and carrying the injured—yeah, they’d have to abandon the spoils.

“Do you have any potions?” 

I asked.

“We’re a low-rank, broke lot. What do you think?”

“Ignore Getz—he’s got a foul mouth, but he cares about us.”

“It’s fine,” 

I said. 

“I’m heading back to town anyway. I’ll take the carcasses for you—you can sell them and buy some potions. Make sure you pull out the goblin magic stones first.”

As I finished off the still-breathing horned dogs and tossed them into my magic pouch, I noticed how effective the shotgun spell had been.

Even with just fist-sized stones, the impact had crushed skulls and caved in flesh—proof enough of its power.