Chapter 26: Twisted Temperament
As I approached with the sound of footsteps, the group all raised their weapons in alarm—but one man with an injured leg lost his balance and fell to the ground.
“What the… don’t scare us like that.”
“He looks hurt, but if we don’t hurry, the sun will set and the city gates will close.”
“As you can see, we were attacked by a pack of prairie dogs and ended up injured. Sorry, but could you help us get back to town?”
“At that pace, you won’t make it before dark. It’d be faster to build a stretcher and carry him.”
“I get that, but we don’t have the tools for that.”
Come on… any adventurer should at least know how to make a stretcher.
“Find two straight, long poles. Then use the coats of two of your larger men—you can make a stretcher that way.”
I told them to find poles about two meters longer than the injured man’s height, but since only four of them could move properly, it was taking forever.
It was irritating, but since none of them seemed able to detect enemies or sense presences, I had to keep watch myself or we’d be attacked again.
“Hey, could you lend a hand if you know how to make one?”
“I could help, but since no one’s keeping watch, it’s too dangerous. If you don’t hurry, it’ll be dark soon.”
“Bart, stop talking and get moving!”
They cut down a thorny bush, stripped it clean, and evened the lengths. After buttoning up the coats and turning them inside out, they passed the poles through the sleeves and tied on crossbars.
Once the injured man was on the stretcher, they set off—though Bart kept grumbling the whole time.
“I’m the leader of this group, Thaddeus. You really saved us.”
“I’m Leon. Is Korche your base of operations?”
“Yeah. As you can tell, we’re just a low-rank bunch without even a party name. You’re solo at your age?”
“Pretty much. By the way, you don’t have a scout with you?”
“Toby, who hurt his arm, can kind of act as one. But before we knew it, the beasts were already on top of us.”
“I keep telling you we need a decent scout, but nooo—Toby, that damn fool—”
“Shut it! If you’ve got complaints, then you stand watch yourself!”
“You talk big, but maybe work on your skills first.”
“Your fireball was useless, you know that?”
“Quit whining and carry the stretcher, you big lug.”
Oh boy… another useless fire mage.
Marco had fire and lightning magic too, with a magic power of… what, 78? He could barely manage a weak fireball—lots of noise, no power. Lightning spells were totally out of his league.
I started wondering how much mana this “Bart” guy had, but judging by how much he just complained, I bet he never practiced at all.
“Hey, when are you going to switch out? How long do I have to carry this thing?”
“I’ve been hauling it since before you even took over. Stop whining and walk!”
“If you’ve got that much stamina, why don’t you carry him the whole way?”
“You telling me to abandon a comrade?!”
“If you’re just dead weight who can’t even help your friends, maybe leave the group!”
“Yeah, sell your fancy fireballs to some other party. I’m sick of your bellyaching.”
“I never said I wouldn’t help! I just asked someone to take over for a bit!”
Uh oh, here we go—infighting. Even more useless than that bluffer Marco. But there’s something about this guy that bothers me…
“Thaddeus, do you think we can make it back to the city?”
“Probably not. We’ve never camped out in the plains before, so I’d rather get as close to the city as we can.”
“I camp outdoors all the time. Let’s find a flat spot—and start gathering firewood.”
“There are seven of us. Even if you can camp alone, we should stick closer to town.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we’re safe from beasts. If you don’t trust me, Bart, you can go ahead on your own.”
“You really think we’ll be fine out here overnight?”
“Yeah. That spot looks good—hang on.”
On a flat patch of ground, I cast [Dome!], creating a barrier and opening an entrance before waving them over.
“Looks like… something’s there.”
“Is that a barrier spell?”
“As long as we’re safe from beasts, I don’t care what it is.”
“Leon, what is that?”
“A dome. It can easily withstand a Big Horn Boar’s charge, so don’t worry. Once the injured are inside, gather dry wood—the nights get cold.”
“Ah, right.”
The four who could still move hurried off to collect wood, and I told them to make barricades too.
The injured man’s bleeding had stopped, and while walking would be hard, it wasn’t impossible.
They were a poor group without potions—not that I had any either. Maybe I should start carrying some, just in case.
Still, that one man bothered me.
We couldn’t go far, so we didn’t gather much wood, but I made a small hearth for warmth.
Four of them could use basic life magic, and when they tried to fill up on just water, I shared some of my stored rations.
“Sorry to take your food too.”
“Don’t worry about it. I stayed in Rosenne for a while—how big is Korche?”
“Bigger than Rosenne, that’s for sure. It’s the marquis’ domain capital.”
“How are the guild’s buy prices there?”
“We only deal in herbs and trinkets, so I don’t really know. Haven’t heard any complaints about low prices, though.”
The seven of them ate sandwiches and washed them down with conjured water.
I kept glancing toward Bart—something about the aura around him was… odd. He noticed.
“You’ve been staring at me this whole time. You got a problem with me, or are you going say there’s something weird lurking around me?”
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who sensed that presence.
“I don’t know what you mean. There’s just a beast’s aura behind you, that’s all. If it bothers you, move somewhere else.”
“A beast, huh?”
“You mean it’s coming this way?”
“They haven’t noticed us yet. Judging by their presence, they’re dog-type beasts—nothing to be too afraid of.”
“You can tell that much just from detection?”
“I usually hunt around the border between the plains and the forest, so I can more or less guess what kind of beasts we’re dealing with.”
“When you say ‘presence,’ do you mean you have the Presence Detection skill?”
“I have both Detection and Presence Detection. I’ve heard anyone can learn skills through practice. Even if you don’t officially acquire them as skills, training them a bit can still be useful.”
“How strong are the monsters you hunt, working solo like that?”
“Right now, I’ve got a Big Horn Boar, a mid-sized elk, and about three orcs under my belt.”
“A Big Horn Boar and orcs… wait, are you a mage too?”
“Three orcs, seriously?”
“No way we could handle that ourselves.”
“You must be quite skilled to travel and camp alone like that.”
“Wait… you’re a woman?”
She was young and slender, wearing men’s clothes—no wonder no one noticed. Not that her chest gave any hints either.
“Yes, I’m Thaddeus’s younger sister, Regina.”
“Ah, no need to be so formal. I’ve been an adventurer for less than two years.”
“What, Leon, you’re only seventeen?”
“Hold on—you said you stayed in Rosenne for a while. What’s your magic?”
“Wind magic.”
“Wind magic… Rosenne… Leon…”
Bart squinted at me, muttering as if trying to recall something. Then his eyes widened.
“You’re that wind mage from Rosenne! The coward they call ‘Leon the Gentle Breeze!’”
So, rumors had spread from Rosenne to Korshe—neighboring towns, after all.
“Coward,” though—that’s harsh. Don’t tell me Marco, that loser I drove off, started spreading stories about me.
“Bart, watch your mouth! How dare you insult someone who helped us—apologize!”
“But come on, wind magic’s just a puff of air. You can’t even hunt beasts with that!”
“Still, he’s taken down a Big Horn Boar and orcs. Sounds more useful than your fire magic.”
“Yeah, if you’d landed even one shot back then, we wouldn’t have gotten hurt like this.”
“Stop looking down on people all the time.”
“But seriously, he’s just saying he did that. There’s no proof. If it’s true, let’s see it right here.”
“How ridiculous. Why would I need to prove anything to you? If you think I’m lying, feel free to keep thinking that.”
Bart ground his teeth, and again, I felt that strange presence coming from him.
Yeah… there’s definitely something off about him. But first, I had to handle the situation at hand.
“Nobody move. Stay quiet.”
They looked confused when I stood up, but my tone must’ve gotten through—the air grew tense.
“Are beasts approaching?”
“Are you sure we’re safe in here?”
“If you’re so worried, you can step outside and fight them yourself. Just remove the barricades.”
I teased Bart, and he turned away with a scowl.
The others chuckled, but they stayed still, following my instructions.
Then, out of the darkness, came a pack of Fang Dogs—said to be the strongest of the canine beasts—charging straight toward us, illuminated by the light.
Thaddeus’s group had only two archers, and their magic pouches looked low-tier—probably not much in the way of weapons.
“Hey, those are Fang Dogs!”
“There’s a lot of them—how many do you see?”
“Don’t move. Stay quiet.”
The Fang Dogs leapt toward us, but were stopped midair by the invisible dome, sliding down the barrier.
“Waaah!”
“H-help me!”
“O beautiful Lady Felicienne, hear my prayer—!”
You idiot!
Screaming I could tolerate—but casting Fireball inside the dome? No way I was letting that happen.
“Don’t shoot! Are you trying to kill us?!”
[Whirlwind!] [Whirlwind!] [Whirlwind!]
One after another, whirlwinds swept up the Fang Dogs, spinning them through the air.
Their yelps—“Yipe! Yip! Yaaah!”—echoed for a moment before fading into silence.