Chapter 146: A Troublesome Guy

After leaving the village with Klanrenska and the others, we headed north, moving in a way that circled around the western side of the valley.

“Are we not going down into the valley?”

“That place is wide open and more dangerous than the forest. Since you hunted Sham, you must’ve gone deep into the valley, so you should know.”

“That’s true. Besides Armor Buffalo and Sham, there are quite a lot of other beasts there.”

“In the forest there are plenty of places to hide, but on the grasslands that’s difficult. I heard the rumor that you swung a dragon around.”

“More importantly, I heard the village was preparing to subjugate the dragon as well. What ended up happening?”

“We gathered all the remaining mages and somehow managed to defeat it.”

So it really was the mages who killed it.

“I didn’t hear anything about that in Roxanne.”

“We couldn’t possibly carry it all the way to Roxanne while wild beasts were flooding the area. And we don’t have large-capacity magic bags, so we ate it.”

“You… ate it?”

“It’s rare for a dragon to come up from the valley. If it’s not one of those times, we’d never get the chance to eat one.”

This is hopeless. The common sense of cities doesn’t apply here.

“I heard Roxanne and Korché had a rough time.”

“They said the losses were large, but they managed to hold things back. You said dragon meat is rare—do they really not come up here often?”

“You saw its size, didn’t you? It moves quickly in the grasslands, but in a forest its movements are restricted and it can’t swing its tail properly. That’s why it rarely climbs up here.”

“Sometimes they chase prey upward. But once inside the forest, they lose their way back. When they get hungry, they just keep chasing whatever prey ran away.”

“So the beasts fleeing from the dragon end up running toward Roxanne and Korché?”

“They’re hungry but don’t want to go into dense forests. They follow slightly more open areas where prey can escape easily, and if they keep going that way, they end up heading toward Roxanne or Korché.”

“There are other cases, but if it climbs up near Faranka, the direction usually ends up toward Roxanne or Korché.”

So that’s why a large number of beasts had rushed into the area we were guarding.

The place where we fought them had also been wide and open, which matched what he was saying. The sub-guildmaster must have known it was part of the dragon’s path.

* * * * *

Our movement stopped at the scout’s signal, but my detection skill didn’t pick up anything.

After a while, something resembling a tiger finally entered my Detection range. Their scouting range seemed remarkably wide.

“Leon, show us the skill that’s been rumored about.”

“Isn’t that your prey?”

“If those rumors aren’t exaggerated, something like that should be easy for you.”

Olivaien, who had been introduced as an earth mage, provoked me with a persistent, unpleasant stare.

Ever since we were introduced by the elders, he seemed to dislike me. In almost every sentence he subtly tried to assert that he was superior.

“Well then, I’ll gladly accept.”

I deliberately made noise with my footsteps as I moved to the front of the line and walked toward the beast I had identified through appraisal as a King Tiger.

“Hey!”

I heard Klanrenska’s voice behind me, but catching the tiger in front of me came first.

When the King Tiger leaped at me, I caught it with [Whirlwind!], spun it strongly, then turned around.

“Klanrenska, did you need something?”

“Th-that…”

He pointed at the tiger spinning around, so I just shrugged and smiled.

Klanrenska and the other seven silently watched the spinning tiger. When I released the whirlwind’s magic power, the tiger dropped heavily to the ground, and they all tensed.

“It’s dizzy and can’t move properly, so it’s fine.”

As I said that, I stabbed it with my magic steel short spear.

Once its breathing stopped, I tossed it into my magic bag.

“What an absurd way to hunt.”

“I heard from the elders that countless spirits are attached to you, but it’s hard to believe you have the same elven blood as us.”

“You can hunt with magic like that? Now I see why you’re so skinny.”

“Huh? I’m a mage. I’m not good at fighting with weapons, so when that’s necessary, I’ll leave it to you.”

Earth magic is excellent both offensively and defensively—I understand that—but why is he so competitive?

Rather than searching along the way, we kept stopping at herb clusters, harvesting some casually, then moving on to the next place.

Near cities, countless adventurers roamed around searching for herbs, and when they found any, they harvested them down to the roots, so large clusters rarely remained.

Around Faranka, they only harvest what the village needs and a little extra to sell occasionally, so the clusters remain.

That made sense.

Even in Lynas there were places where herbs grew every year, and people tried not to harvest everything—but there were simply too many people.

And if someone finds a valuable herb, those with little income will harvest everything without thinking about the future.

So in the end, I’m the one who has to come all the way into the deep forest to gather them.

* * * * *

The earth magic dome felt cramped with eight people inside, so when I created my own dome they were surprised.

Everyone curiously touched the dome or knocked on it with their fists to test its strength, but even here Olivaien kept trying to compete.

“A dome made with wind magic… you really are absurd. Can something like this even block wild beasts?”

“I’ve never once been attacked by a wild beast inside it, so it should be fine.”

“Leon, how does this work?”
“This is completely different from the wind magic we know.”
“But creating it instantly with shortened chanting—that’s impressive.”
“You did the same thing when catching that King Tiger.”
“Not a dragon, but I’d like to see you catch a Golden Bear or an Armor Buffalo with a whirlwind.”

But I was only interested in herb knowledge, not hunting, so I just smiled vaguely and didn’t respond.

* * * * *

After about a week traveling together, I managed to learn the samples and harvesting methods for eight types of herbs.

However, just as I’d been told, Klanrenska and the others didn’t know where to gather Carlandas, Makrandis, Luciange, or Enbes.

They knew a little about the herbs, but apparently none grew in known locations around Faranka, and their group couldn’t gather enough to make the effort profitable.

Places where those herbs could be gathered in profitable quantities were known only to a very small number of people, and they didn’t even tell their own companions.

However, Seraphins were harvested for their bulbs. Since it was still too early in the season, they instead taught me how to recognize their stems and leaves.

They said Elder Kristinka probably had samples, so we decided to return to the village.

Once back, I planned to ask Kristinka to show me samples—and if possible, ask for even a single leaf.

If what I was thinking worked, it should help me search for the herbs they hadn’t been able to teach me about.

After asking Klanrenska for permission, I walked at the front of the line and used detection and presence-sensing to search for Chikki-Chikki Birds.

When I found them, I drove them out with a sling or small whirlwinds.

The birds that burst out were caught mid-air by a whirlwind and pulled into my hand.

Behind me, the others grumbled while watching my hunting, but these were gifts for Elder Kristinka, so they would probably get to share them once we returned.

As we got closer to the village, I also hunted Runner Birds.

By the time we finished, I had caught more than twenty Chikki-Chikki Birds and about twenty Runner Birds. I was satisfied.

“Leon could earn plenty just hunting near a city without bothering with beast subjugation.”

“I’ve never seen anyone earn more than a million dara in a day from birds alone.”

“And yet he came all the way to Faranka just for herbs.”

* * * * *

After returning to the village, I thanked Elder Kristinka and gave her ten Chikki-Chikki Birds and ten Runner Birds.

Then I asked if she could show me samples of the herbs I hadn’t been able to gather.

She gladly showed them to me, but they were all dried specimens like dry flowers.

Still, she let me take one leaf from each and told me which parts were necessary.

Just as I was about to thank her and fly off, Olivaien’s unpleasant voice rang out.

“Why the rush? Or now that you’ve learned what you wanted, the elders and the rest of us are useless to you?”

“Olivaien, did you need something?”

“Leon the Breeze, the man rumored to have toyed with a dragon. After spending an entire week together, the only things you showed us were a whirlwind and a dome for sleeping. That’s rather dull, don’t you think? Why not show the villagers your true Wind Magic? If you need a target, I can even prepare one for you.”

He made it sound polite, but he simply disliked someone else receiving more attention. He intended to provide a “target” and make me embarrass myself.

In that case, maybe I should test just how impressive his proud earth magic really is.

“Then how about we both create domes and see whose can withstand attacks better?”

“Fine! I’ll have the plaza prepared—”

“Ah, unfortunately the plaza would cause damage to nearby buildings. Let’s do it on the grasslands instead.”

“You’ve got nerve. You’ll regret underestimating my attack power.”

“That sounds interesting. In that case, let me try attacking too.”

Klanrenska cut in from the side, looking completely eager.

“Tomorrow morning, outside the village. It’s a contest of magic—spread the word.”

“That sounds fun. I’ll notify the other mages.”
“Tell the elders too.”

And just like that, I gained an opportunity to test the strength of my Wind Magic dome.

I could see how Lindy and Farana’s domes and Gale’s barrier compared with the magic used by the elves of this village.

They had said the Spike Dragon was defeated by mages, so there should be some highly skilled ones here.

So far, the only magical attacks my shelters and domes had endured were those of organized magic units. This was also a good chance to assess the abilities of independent mages.

* * * * *

The next morning, when I approached the entrance gate, I could see from the sky that a large crowd had gathered.

When I landed, Village Chief Selfanka and the three elders were there too. It had turned into something like a festival.

“Lord Leon, word of the magic contest spread and too many spectators gathered. We’d like to move the location to the grasslands on the opposite side of the circle.”

Behind the elders, several people who looked like mages had gathered, their appraising gazes piercing toward me.