Chapter 46: Instruction and Lavish Spending
Once my detection skill confirmed no adventurers nearby, I searched for a campsite and created a roughly four-meter-wide [Dome!] for them to sit inside.
“Casting without chanting… that’s amazing.”
“It’s just shortened chanting done inside my mouth.”
One of them, whom I had examined earlier while treating his injuries, turned out to have magic and seemed very interested in magic in general.
I think it was lightning magic and barrier magic, but since I stopped the appraisal midway, I’m not certain.
Still, considering that he didn’t use barrier magic even in that situation, he either can’t use it or he’s terrible at it.
“The other two must have returned to the capital. Judging by their attitude, they’ll probably drink themselves senseless tonight and go on a spending spree.”
“Yeah, that sounds like them.”
“Toma loves alcohol, and Namul is a womanizer and a show-off. He’s probably causing a ruckus at a brothel right now.”
“And what do you think will happen next?”
“They’ll be broke within three days.”
“And when we go back to town, they’ll definitely come crawling to us.”
“Both of them.”
“Just thinking about seeing their faces again is depressing.”
“It’s not that simple. And hearing their personalities, it’s even worse.”
“Is something bad going to happen?”
“They’ll make a huge scene at taverns and brothels. Two guys who are normally broke suddenly spending big.”
“…Ah—people will ask where the money came from.”
“Exactly. And not nicely, either. Even if they don’t talk, everyone will assume their party members—you—are carrying a fortune as well. You should disappear from the capital for a while.”
“No doubt about it… it’ll turn into trouble.”
“What do we do…”
“It’s too late to do anything now. Even if we warn the two of them, they won’t listen.”
“You should go to a town two or three stops away from the capital and spend the time until the money runs out practicing detection and sensing techniques on the plains. Sharpen your skills.”
“That sounds like the best idea.”
“Yeah. By tomorrow or the day after, it’ll definitely become a rumor.”
“You’ve received magic, haven’t you?”
“…Gale. How did you know?”
“I appraised you when treating your injury. I saw your race, age, sex, lightning magic, and barrier magic. I stopped there and switched to checking your injuries.”
“You can appraise people too?”
“I’m Leon. During the Rite of Bestowal, I was told that any skill I wished for could be learned with practice, so I practiced appraising herbs. This was my first time appraising a person. Anyway—can you use your magic?”
“No. My mana’s only 64. Even if I could use them, I doubt they’d do any good, so I never practiced.”
“As an apology for causing your party to split and forcing you to leave the capital, shall I teach you the basics of magic?”
“I only have 64 mana. Even if you teach me, I doubt I can do anything.”
“Even with 64 mana, you can use magic if you understand the basics. The number of times varies per person, but you should be able to use it 5 or 10 times before running out of mana.”
“Really!? I can actually use it!?”
“My mana is 93, but I barely use any mana for my magic.”
“Ninety-three, huh…”
“Gale, listen. He said he barely uses mana for his magic. And he’s the one who made something like this dome. There’s no harm in hearing him out.”
“Yeah—at least listen. What if you actually manage to use barrier magic?”
“You’re right… Leon, teach me magic. Please!”
“I can’t leave the capital because I have business, so I’ll teach you the basic method and show you an example tomorrow. First—do you know where your mana pool is?”
“No, not at all.”
“Start by searching just above your navel. Do it while lying in bed and focusing. Some people take three months, even half a year to find it—don’t give up.”
“That long!?”
“It depends on the person, and on your ability to concentrate. Once you find the mana pool, you practice pushing and pulling it in your mind. Every mage can do this—if you can’t, you’ll never use magic. Once you can push and pull it, stretch it, and then draw it into your arm—up to your wrist.”
“So find the mana pool, push and pull it, stretch it, and pull it to the wrist?”
“Exactly. Once you can do that, you’re close to being able to use magic. I’ll show you tomorrow. If you practice every day, you’ll be able to use it—even if only a few times. For barrier magic, a few uses are plenty.”
I was simply teaching them common knowledge, but without the basics, magic can’t be used.
* * * * * * *
We divided the food we had and ate dinner.
Then I created another [Dome!] a little distance away and said goodnight.
“He uses magic so easily…”
“And that whirlwind spell—he caught chikki-chikki birds and runner birds with it…”
“And this dome… he said even a wolf couldn’t break it. How does wind magic make something like this?”
* * * * * * *
I woke up sensing a beast. In the light spell, a divine fox appeared.
The other dome was quiet, the campfire reduced to embers, and the others were dozing.
They had shoved stakes in as barricades and slept feeling safe, but with only four of them, their detection skills were unreliable. Their future looked bleak.
For now, I had the divine fox perform its midnight dance, waited until it got dizzy and sat down, then stabbed it with a short spear.
* * * * * * *
“Hey Namul, can I drink a little more?”
“Yeah, get whatever you want. I’ll buy you that dress you wanted too.”
“Oh my, something good must’ve happened.”
“Yeah—an adventurer hits treasure once in a while.”
“Then we’re spending the night together, right?”
“Of course! Hell, maybe two or three nights!”
Namul grinned as Berche tickled his chin with her fingertip.
Berche exchanged a glance with her colleague—the day’s goose was fat indeed.
Soon, the free girls gathered around the two men.
Flattered by the women, Namul started making a complete fool of himself.
On the other hand, thanks to drinking at full speed at his usual tavern, Toma was happily swaying as he walked.
With his drunken mind convinced he could drink and live carefree for a while, he staggered toward a cheap inn.
For the bill, he reached into the swollen leather pouch he had taken out of his magic pouch, grabbed some copper coins, and handed them over—but in his drunken state, he didn’t even notice how many adventurers were around him.
Among the low-rank groups, Toma was known for always drinking cheaply.
Seeing him drink like a fish and grab coins from a leather pouch swollen with money, several people’s eyes gleamed.
A shabby low-rank adventurer with a magic pouch… and a leather bag full of coin.
Everyone immediately assumed he had hit a big score, and so he ended up walking with stalking wolves behind him.
* * * * * * * *
When he awoke with a dry throat and a pounding headache, he found himself lying on a huge bed in an upscale room.
He pulled the woman beside him closer—but in the next moment, his hangover nearly flew out of his head.
Around the bed, empty liquor bottles were scattered… and so were several women.
Holding his throbbing head, he desperately tried to remember what had happened.
He remembered drinking with Berche, then how she had called over the girls who hadn’t been hired that night, and how the whole group had turned into a wild party that crashed into this room.
His face turned pale.
A noisy party with a total of seven women… in a room normally used by wealthy patrons.
There was no telling how much he would be overcharged.
Panicking, he remembered—he still had money.
He hurriedly searched for his magic pouch.
Feeling the familiar shape inside the hidden pocket of his coat, he sighed with relief and quenched his thirst straight from the water pitcher on the table.
But that relief vanished the moment the women woke up, grinned sweetly at him, and handed over the bill.
The normally sour-faced old madam of the brothel approached with a beaming smile and presented the invoice—Toma trembled as he read it.
The fee for the women was 60,000 dara each—480,000 dara.
Food and alcohol: 185,000 dara.
Room charge: 50,000 dara.
Total: 715,000 dara.
His remaining drunkenness vanished instantly.
“Wh-… wh-what the hell is this!?”
“Well, sir, it’s the bill for the services you enjoyed. Considering you had seven of our top girls, I’d say we gave you quite a bargain.”
“I don’t know these women! I didn’t call them! I only called Berche!”
“Oh come on, Namul. You said you had plenty of money and told us to bring them in. Otherwise we’d never dare push other girls on a client without being asked—our boss would scold us, you know~”
With fake innocence, she leaned on him, twisting her body seductively, and whispered sweetly in his ear:
“You promised to stay again today too, didn’t you?”
But Toma’s rational mind, sharpened by the insane total on the bill, won the battle.
“I— I just remembered something I have to do! I’m going home for today! I’ll be back tomorrow!”
He shouted, hurriedly dressing himself.
He yanked out the magic pouch from the hidden pocket and grabbed the leather bag inside—
but a chill ran down his spine.
Something was wrong.
Yesterday, it had been much more swollen… and much heavier…
* * * * * * * *
Toma woke up in a jail cell.
The rancid smell and the lice crawling over his body made him retch.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
“…Where is this?”
“West Guard Station. They dragged you in last night—you were lying drunk in the street.
Keep drinking like that and one of these days you’ll get stripped naked and sent to the afterlife.”
That’s right—he remembered.
On the way back to the hotel, someone shoved him from behind…
When he tried to get up, someone kicked him—
Panicking, he checked for the magic pouch he had hung on the inside of his trousers—
but it was gone.
“My money! My money’s gone! My magic pouch—someone stole it! Give it back! Give me back my magic pouch and my money!”
“Shut it! Everything you had is being held in custody. For now, clean up the mess you puked!”
They handed him a bucket of water and ordered him to clean the cell.
Hearing that all his belongings were being kept safe, he felt relieved— and despite his swaying, hangover-ridden body, he began to clean.