Chapter 34: Kreis’s Flame and the Shield

I knew that, being short and skinny, there wouldn’t be any clothes that fit perfectly, so I had them adjusted as best as possible and finally chose something that didn’t make me look like a runt. By the time I finished, it was late afternoon and I was exhausted.

I was told that if I wanted anything more tailored, it would cost 2,000,000 Dara, so I swore to myself that next I’d have to earn enough for clothes.

Shirt, jacket, and pants came to 460,000 Dara—no matter how you look at it, that’s expensive.

In one day, I had spent a total of 5,430,000 Dara. But even after earning mountains of money, it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Why?

While eating dinner at the hotel, having spent half my money, I sank into gloom, thinking I wouldn’t be able to buy a cabin anytime soon.

I told Adele’s sub-master that I’d be shopping in Kreis city, so for the time being, I decided to hunt around Kreis and occasionally show my face at the guild.

Three days later, after buying a new set of clothes at the adventurer’s shop, I went to the guild cafeteria, but the atmosphere felt off.

There were no familiar faces, so I sat at an empty table and sipped my ale while looking around. All the stares directed at me were pure curiosity.

Since there was no hostility, I ignored them, finished my ale, and left the guild—but no tagalongs followed me.

I took my short spear and knife, changed my boots, and headed to the guild.

Even though I wasn’t selling any prey, I still went to the guild, had an ale, and returned. This time, however, there were three men in the adventurer’s guild cafeteria who seemed out of place.

They were drinking with other adventurers but occasionally shot sharp glances at me.

I wondered if they were messengers for someone called Lord Warrens, but they didn’t seem inclined to speak, so I ignored them.

The sun was still high, so I decided to go outside the city to test the sharpness of my spear and knife.

Since no tagalongs were present, I left the city and headed straight north toward a distant forest.

Even in an unfamiliar city, as long as you’re on the Blange Road, moving north or south allows you to return to the road without getting lost.

I’ve never really gotten lost—I either have a good sense of direction or excellent homing instinct.

But in an unfamiliar city or forest, returning to the original spot requires retracing your steps, which is a hassle.

There were no big game, so I made it to the edge of the forest and decided to camp rather than force my way back to the city.

Under the moonlight, I laid down under a tarp, released my mana, and fell asleep.

When I woke and checked the time, about six and a half hours had passed, and my mana felt full.

I decided to nap again, pulled the tarp over myself, and closed my eyes, but the distant howls of wolves nearby were annoying.

The tarp didn’t block the sound, and setting it up to avoid touching my body was troublesome, so I wanted even a small cabin.

Perhaps I had fallen asleep while thinking, because I awoke to the sound of voices and the presence of people.

“Is it real?”
“Yeah, it’s hiding in that grass… but it looks like it noticed us.”
“Get ready. Shoot as soon as you see it.”

Hey, hey, I’m being mistaken for prey.

Since I was in a dense patch of tall grass, they hesitated to attack without confirmation, so I called out.

“Hey! I’m not prey. I’m just camping here.”

“What? You’re not prey? Check properly!”
“Then you check! I don’t need someone who can’t even tell a person from a beast beside them telling me that.”
“What did you say, just because you can do a bit of scouting—”

“Ah, can you leave your squabbling for later? I’m coming out now, so don’t shoot!”

After confirming I had no hostile intent, I deliberately pushed through the grass and stepped into view.

Three had bows raised, four had short spears, and one more stood nearby.

Men on the verge of being a mid-tier party… with two women among them.

I’d heard that if there’s a woman in a party, she’s usually a mage—and she certainly didn’t look like a fighter.

From the aura, she was probably a mage, and the other one seemed as physically capable as the men, wielding a short spear.

“Hey, he’s just a kid.”
“Fool, look closer. This is the one who was talking to the sub-master the other day.”
“I heard he brought in a ton of prey. Don’t you know?”
“Really going solo. But camping in the grass, huh.”

One man’s voice of exasperation drew nods of agreement from the others.

I was actually protected by a small dome that could fit a simple bed for overnight camping, but explaining that would be troublesome, so I stayed silent.

“You said you brought in a lot of birds. Can you hunt alone?”

“I catch them with magic, so I have no problem doing it solo.”

“Ah, the rumor about the wind mage seems true. I’d like to spar with magic someday.”

Judging by their lack of awareness, their scouting skills seemed mediocre.

“What magic have you been taught?”
“Earth magic and fire magic.”

“You’d better make a shield then—looks like a hornboar family is coming.”

I pointed to warn them. The man looked skeptical but focused in the direction I indicated.

The hornboar, probably hunting for food, wandered closer, followed by four slightly smaller ones.

The man, now fully aware, glared at me, nodded once, muttered, “No mistake,” and went on alert.

I took a step back to keep watch and observe.

The mage stared at the direction indicated by the scout, with a woman—probably the mother—guarding nearby.

A mage-centered party: the scout, mage, and guard formed the core, ready to engage, flanked by others on either side.

The mage began chanting, glaring at the direction the scout pointed.

“[By the power of the Creator Goddess Felicienne, we shall create a shield to protect our allies… Hah!]”

The ground lifted slowly, forming a wall. With a continuous chant, three crescent-shaped shields were created.

Positioned behind and to the sides, they faced the hornboar that emerged from the grass.

The hornboar, surprised by the ambush, froze for a moment as a stone lance flew.

The stone lance struck its foreleg from a diagonal angle while arrows shot from the sides.

The hornboar’s screams startled the smaller ones, causing chaos. A second stone lance struck its flank.

I impaled fleeing hornboars with my short spear, and shot arrows at those charging toward me while dodging using the shields.

A hornboar charging me was repelled by a shield and fell.

I quickly drove my short spear into its heart through the exposed belly.

Though smaller than its parent by about two sizes, it was still dangerous—but I admired their practiced movements.

The largest hornboar was finished off, convulsing in its death throes.

They worked efficiently, proving my earlier assessment of them being just below a mid-tier party accurate.

They were not as strong as Goryoku, but their efficiency was impressive.

The man who took down the hornboar that attacked me gave me a strange look. I tilted my head in curiosity.

“Quite composed, aren’t you? What did you do when it charged you?” 

He asked.

I was impressed that he had been watching so closely in the middle of that chaos.

Well, I was just standing there calmly with my hands behind my back, so I probably stood out a little. I decided to just smile quietly to myself.

The man who put the prey into his magic bag approached, but before that, the mage girl asked me.

“What did you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“Watch my magic. You saw the hornboar, told us, and then kept watching us the whole time, right?”

“I don’t know mages very well, and I just watched your party’s hunt because it was worth observing,” I said.

“Farana, this guy is really skilled, just as the rumors said. Even though he’s small, he quietly watched the hornboar charge. And do you know what happened next?”

“Stop teasing, just tell me!”

“The hornboar that charged him was knocked back at the last moment and flipped over. He used a spell to defend himself with a split-second chant!”

“Shortened casting…”

The girl muttered that, and I sensed that aura at her shoulder and above her head. She didn’t seem to notice, but this was the first time I sensed two presences at once.

And when I first sensed it, there was only one spirit… are they not benefiting from having two?

The hunt was over, and I planned to enter the forest to test my spear and knife, so I decided to say my goodbyes.

“Well then, I’m going into the forest for a bit. Excuse me.”

“Hey, if you can do abbreviated casting, can you teach me how? Of course, I’ll exchange for anything I can do.”

“Remember when you created those shields continuously, then shot the stone lance? While recalling the long chant you used then, you can release your magic by just saying the word ‘shield.’”

“Just that little bit and the spell activates?”

“If you try, you’ll see—it’s like when you learned a spell, you did exactly as instructed and were able to cast it, right?”

She looked slightly annoyed, but she seemed willing to try, since what I said wasn’t wrong.

She extended her arms, thought for a moment, and with a shout of “[Shield, Hah!]” a wall rose up.

“No way!”
“Can you really teach abbreviated casting with just a few words?”
“Try shooting a lance too!”

She nodded and aimed at a distant tree. “[Stone Lance, Hah!]” The stone lance flew at normal arrow speed, but with its weight, the impact should be enough.

“If you only use earth and fire magic, you can probably omit the ‘stone’ and still cast it,” I added.

“Eh… no way.”

I shrugged, spread my hands, and gestured that since she could do a shield with just one word, she could do this too, then turned my back.

“I’m Farana, Farana of ‘Kreis’s Flame and Shield.’ If there’s anything I can do, call on me anytime.”

“I’m Leon. You should practice casting your spells faster,” 

I said.

He looked slightly older than her, but since I had been taken care of by a motherly figure in my younger years, I had a soft spot for people of that age.

Even so, it amazed me how she could ask for instruction without hesitation from a younger guy like me.