Chapter 11: Playing Possum
I gathered them together and, since there were seven of them, created a dome about five meters in diameter, attaching it to mine. I also left an entrance just big enough for one person to squeeze through.
“Whoa, that’s amazing.”
“Hey, bro, this isn’t ice magic, right?”
“Never seen anything like it before… and it’s chantless?”
“Ah, it’s wind magic.”
I explained.
“And I’m just using short incantations inside my mouth. If you stick some sharpened stakes at the entrance, you can keep wild beasts out.”
“Ah, sorry to trouble you. Here’s some payment.”
He handed me a silver coin and I gladly accepted it. It was early winter, November, and they were drenched to the bone, lips purple from the cold. Paying for this shelter was probably cheaper than returning to town.
“How long will this last?”
“Roughly twenty-four hours before it disappears. Don’t forget that.”
“You’ve saved us. If we went back to town now, the guild or any cheap inn would just glare at us for being soaked.”
“Yeah, you’d better change before you catch cold.”
“Still can’t believe this is wind magic…”
I wasn’t interested in watching half-naked guys strip to dry their clothes, so I sealed the entrance to my own dome and stayed inside.
“Hey, someone’s coming!”
“Looks like adventurers… and townsfolk? Don’t let your guard down.”
“Brother, you know them?”
I turned toward their voices and saw two adventurers approaching, supporting a man who could barely walk.
What’s with all the guests tonight? This isn’t exactly an inn.
They looked between me and the half-naked men wringing out their clothes, then the unsteady man stumbled toward my dome. The rainwater ran down the dome’s surface, so he could see inside, but there was no visible entrance, leaving him confused.
“Do you need something?”
“I serve a noble from the city of Huberry in the Rosenne domain, on our way back to the royal capital, Luclair. We’re in a hurry, but the carriage wheel is in poor shape — one more push and it may break. Seeing that you’ve made camp here, I came to ask if you might let us share your shelter for the night.”
Oh great, this guy’s from the world of nobles. Guess they picked my “campground” because they’re stuck in the downpour.
“I’m just an adventurer, as you can see. I can provide a dome, but that’s all I can offer. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, thank you very much. I’ll inform my master at once.”
The guards who accompanied him didn’t look too friendly. Not that I could blame them. They were on duty, after all.
Before long, their carriage appeared, escorted by mounted adventurers. It crept slowly over the grass, the front wheel wobbling so badly it was obvious they couldn’t go any farther.
“Hey, that guy said ‘his master’. Looks like a pretty big shot.”
“Look at that carriage! Four horses! It’s a noble’s coach for sure.”
“And there’s another wagon with them.”
“With all those guards and adventurers, how many people are there?”
More than the guards, what caught my eye was one adventurer nursing an injury. Definitely some trouble behind this trip.
Soon, the man returned with another. The leader type among the adventurers.
“Sorry to trouble you, brother. There are seventeen of us adventurers, six knight guards, four passengers in the carriage, and five attendants. How large can you make it?”
“I can make one slightly larger than the neighboring dome. Just tell me where you want it.”
“This… doesn’t look like ice magic.”
“It’s wind magic. It should hold up fine against something like a wolf attack.”
Thirty-two people plus horses — yeah, I’m not taking care of the horses too.
I threw on my robe and hood again and stepped outside. The rain was still pounding down hard.
I made two domes for the adventurers and another one for the knights and attendants, positioned opposite each other.
But no one seemed to be getting out of the carriage.
“What about your employer?”
“They said they’ll stay in the carriage. It doesn’t look like they can lie down properly in this weather.”
“Alright. Then please gather the horses together. I’ll make a barrier fence to keep beasts away, though I can’t make a dome for them.”
Once the horses were gathered, I formed a large circular barrier to keep wild animals at bay.
“Impressive work. You don’t seem to be one of their group, though.”
“I was just sightseeing around the capital when this rain hit. I was taking shelter here when they showed up and asked me to make one for them too.”
“The capital, huh? I’m Ethan, leader of Fang, an adventurer party based in the royal capital. I’m in charge of this group. If you come to the guild sometime, let me buy you a drink.”
“Name’s Leon.”
“You’re not going to ask any questions?”
Well, no. I could already tell from the injured adventurer, the wounded horses, and the damage on the coach that they’d been ambushed.
Since they weren’t talking, I just shrugged — not getting involved was safest.
Even after I built their domes, some of the guards stood watch in the rain.
As it grew dark, there wasn’t much else to do. I decided to eat an early dinner and get some sleep.
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I woke up to an eerie silence. The rain had stopped, and everything was unnaturally still.
With so many people around, my sense detection wasn’t very useful — but I could still feel something approaching from a different direction than the guards.
When I looked toward the neighboring dome, I saw men sitting by a small campfire, the flickering light reflecting off their faces.
While I was still deciding what to do, I felt the presence creeping closer toward the carriage.
Since there were guards posted near it, it was obvious that the attackers were after whoever was inside.
Even with my senses sharpened by magic, I could barely see my own feet in this darkness — yet these guys could move so silently. Impressive… but I couldn’t just ignore them.
Praying they couldn’t see me, I drew a short bow from my magic pouch and nocked an arrow.
Through a small hole I’d opened in my dome, I watched the shadow sneaking toward the carriage.
A break in the clouds let in faint moonlight, revealing the outline of a man.
Killing him outright would be bad, so I aimed for the leg and drew the string tight.
Thwip! — the bowstring sang, and the man froze mid-crawl.
Quickly, I nocked a second arrow and loosed it toward another dim shape.
A grunt — then a body collapsed.
“Who’s there!?”
“We’re under attack!”
“They’re coming from the grasslands!”
I’d only just started formal combat training. Jumping in now would just get in the way.
Now that the guards were alerted, my job was done. I might as well watch from the sidelines.
Under the pale light of lanterns and simple magic lamps, the skirmish was over quickly.
We were somewhere past the midpoint between Colfutz and Randall, near Count Arkwright’s territory — the last place I wanted to get caught up in trouble.
I decided to “play dead” or rather, play possum and pretend I’d slept through everything.
Apparently, my “fake sleep” turned into real sleep. When I woke up, daylight was streaming in.
The adventurers next door were gone, probably back to town, and the guards looked exhausted, still tense from standing watch all night.
After a light breakfast, I packed up my camping gear into the magic pouch and dispelled the dome.
I asked one of the guards to call Ethan and told him I’d also dispel the barrier surrounding the horses.
“Hey, Leon. Thanks for last night!”
“Not at all. Is it alright if I dissolve the dome now?”
“How long will it hold, anyway?”
“It should last another ten to twelve hours before disappearing.”
“We’ve sent someone to fetch help for the carriage repairs. Mind if we use it till then? It’s safer inside than standing out here exposed.”
Since it didn’t matter to me, I agreed. He told me to wait a bit, then went off toward the carriage.
When he came back, he brought along the man from last night.
“Master Leon, my lord wishes to thank you for your assistance. It’s not much, but please accept this token of gratitude.”
He handed me a small leather pouch. I accepted it gratefully.
After saying we might meet again in the royal capital someday, I parted ways with Ethan.
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“Young, but quite the skilled mage, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. Seems to be a solo type, but that ability was something else.”
“Huh… ability?”
“You remember the attack last night? Leon must’ve noticed before any of our guards and fired the first arrows.”
“He’s a good mage, but aren’t you giving him too much credit?”
“Then who else could it have been? None of us fired first. The guys next to his dome were just as panicked, and he was the only one who stayed calm, pretending to sleep, even. Nobody else claimed to have shot an arrow during the chaos.”
“Now that you mention it… yeah. Without those arrows, it would’ve been a clean ambush. I saw the attackers pulling back once the alarm was raised. So, who were they?”
“The employer won’t say a word. Even if we asked, he’d dodge the question. Still, if Leon settles down in the capital, I’d like to recruit him.”
“Same here. He said he was a wind mage, but I’ve never seen wind magic like that before. If he can make those domes, that alone makes for perfect defense.”
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What started as simple rain sheltering had ended up as a little showcase of my wind magic.
Thankfully, since it wasn’t offensive magic, no one seemed too interested.
I planned to head out right away — today I wanted to reach the city of Welner, beyond Randall.
After stopping by the Welner Adventurer’s Guild, I grabbed dinner and asked for directions to a clean inn.
Then I headed to an adventurer’s shop to restock my arrows.
Wearing only a single large knife at my waist made me stand out, apparently — I noticed three shady-looking types tailing me ever since I left the guild.
They pretended to browse spears and swords nearby, but their intent was obvious.
Better to stay where there are crowds. I’d take the busy streets to the hotel.
I bought twenty arrows, a spare bowstring, and a glove, then made my way toward the inn I’d been told about.