Book 10 Chapter 13
Episode 238
The party, having left the Sun City Barra, passed through the mountainous region of Southern Solond and moved south.
"It's hot…"
Rem, who had his tongue sticking out, whined for approximately the 158th time.
"I said it's hot…"
"Oh, how hot can it be that you're whining non-stop without even resting? Look at Miria. She's carrying Aki, who's like a ball of fire, and she hasn't complained once."
"Shut up! She can do that because she's a mother. My mom never said anything even after I whined thousands of times in my life, you know?"
"Only on paper, of course."
Miria drew a line.
Of course, it would be nice if she were only Aki's mother, but for that to happen, on the family register…
"Anyway, don't you know this kind of sunlight is a woman's enemy? My skin is getting burned black!"
Is it that hot?
Rain found his own constitution, which was changing to be less susceptible to heat, quite wondrous.
Everyone else was shouting that they were dying from the heat, but he and Aki, who held the Dragon Orb of Flame, were instead overflowing with vitality.
"How much further do we have to go? How much further until we enter the <Shuriganaqus> region?"
"There's also a saying, 'All roads lead to <Shuriganaqus>.' We'll get there if we just keep walking silently."
One of the Seven Great Cities, the Red City <Shuriganaqus>, was the economic hub of the Adrion continent.
The important point for the party now might be that the Red City faces the 'Flowing Desert' to the south.
To discuss only the core, it could be said that it is a key transit point that must be passed through to reach <Flame Thousands of Miles>.
"Our current location is here."
Miria pointed to a spot on the continental map she had received from Obin.
"<Saiph Gorge>. Still, this place is better. From the Shurigana Mountains onwards, it's a volcanic region, so it's terribly hot."
"Sigh, we've walked for a terribly long time, but there's still a long way to go."
"It can't be helped. The Solond blockade across the entire continent is still in effect. We had no choice but to cross the mountains."
Bart cowardly stated a fact, hitting the nail on the head regarding Rem's grumbling.
"Shut up! Do you even know how I feel right now? I've gone through all sorts of hardships, and the kingdom is on the verge of bankruptcy so I can't even get paid…"
"Are you really crazy about money?"
"And at night, some deceiving bastards create such a 'falling sesame seeds' atmosphere that I can't even sleep…"
"Se-se-se-sesame."
"Deceiver sprinkling sesame seeds? I was on night watch yesterday, and nothing like that—"
Miria, who was about to retort, telling him not to talk nonsense, flinched, raised an eyebrow, and then glared at Rem, her face flushed crimson, as if to kill him.
"I think it's a bad habit to try to connect everything to male-female relationships. It's not like the only relationship between a man and a woman is a romantic one, and if you start arguing like that, would there be anyone in this world who isn't wronged?"
While Miria rattled off her excuses, Bart and Rain, unable to understand what she meant, exchanged puzzled glances.
'Was there an enemy attack?'
'It seems Rem and Pipi defeated the enemy who was sprinkling sesame seeds!'
It was then that Miria found herself in a predicament, all because of one oblivious idiot.
Rustle, the bushes parted, and burly men, strong enough to cause trouble, appeared from all directions.
All the companions knew someone was watching them, but they never imagined the opponents would be such rookies that they couldn't even discern their strength.
"Heheheh, young sir, if you quietly leave everything you have, I'll spare your wife's life."
Wife?
Miria frowned unpleasantly. No, it was true on paper, but still.
Just then, Aki, who was sleeping in Miria's arms, opened her eyes drowsily.
"Aki, have we arrived at a village?"
"No."
"Then go back to sleep."
Super-fast sleeping!
Falling asleep instantly even in such a tense situation, truly a True Dragon!
Seeing her unmistakable appearance, the one-eyed man, who seemed to be the bandit leader, slyly licked his blade.
"Oh, the daughter and wife also look expensive. Both will fetch top prices. We're not interested in the men."
"The archer here is also a woman, though?"
"?"
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"No need. She looks too tough; her market value drops."
Rain didn't understand the Central-Southern dialect the bandits were speaking well, so he poked Miria's side.
"What are they chattering about right now?"
Miria's narrowed eyes, already in a frown, took on a glint as if glaring.
"You're asking me now, even though you actually understood everything, right?"
"What?"
"So, those guys are…"
Miria sighed, pressing her temples with a resigned expression.
"If you want to live… well, it's just the usual progression of events familiar in such situations. Do you really need to hear it? With that kind of brain, Rem, who only knows how to whine all the time, would be thousands of times more useful than you."
"What, punk?"
"No, what did I do wrong that you're getting angry?"
But at the same time, a magic circle unfolded in his palm! In the sudden flames that appeared, the one-eyed man's beard and hair were scorched black!
"A-ack!"
Rain's eyes, glaring at the one-eyed man clutching his face in pain, were utterly cold!
"I don't know what you said, but for drooling over Aki, you deserve to die a hundred times over."
At that, Bart repeatedly nodded his head.
"That's a part that's justifiable even if you kill him a hundred thousand times."
The one-eyed man, writhing on the ground in pain from his burns, began to point roughly.
"Kill them all! Kill everyone except the women and children!"
The moment the bandits simultaneously drew their swords, a clear voice came, rustling the palm leaves.
"Stop that, you fools!"
The voice came from above, where someone stood on top of a palm tree, striking a cool pose.
"The Witch of Justice, Shirin, appears."
The hem of the young girl's red robe fluttered impressively in the hot gust of wind.
"The Witch of Justice?"
"A witch, did you say a witch?!"
"Someone so young?!"
As if pleased by everyone's concentrated gaze, Shirin struck a cool pose and shouted.
"Oh, beings of evil that pollute this world. Receive the mace of justice delivered by Shirin, the Witch of Justice!"
Setsunen, who had been disoriented by the heat, looked at Shirin and her eyes sparkled. The reason was unknown.
On the other hand, the bandit group, who had been blankly staring up at the self-proclaimed witch, burst into laughter simultaneously.
"Witch, my foot!"
"You idiot girl, if you're a witch, then we must be heroes!"
"Keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-keh!"
To Rain's eyes, the witch named Shirin seemed to be incensed by the taunts. She suddenly put her hands together and began a long incantation.
"Oh, power of fire residing in nature. Oh, fiery karma that illuminates the world, element hotter than sunlight and brighter than moonlight, burn my enemies by my command!"
Rain didn't know what kind of conversation they had been having until now, but from his perspective, he couldn't help but recognize that particular spell even if he wanted to.
'A spell that ranks in the highest tier among flame magic…!'
It was a spell deeply connected to Rain in many ways, both in his previous life and his current one.
It was also Friede's primary spell 300 years ago, and he had personally experienced the original version of that spell in Harvadonia.
That was at the moment when Casena Page was on the verge of death, and he first met Allakish.
"Drqutos (Dragon's Breath)!"
As the incantation ended, a massive fireball was born. The flames were powerful enough to incinerate everything within a three-step radius.
"Take thissss!"
Seeing its might, the bandits hastily fled, their steps urgent.
"Whoa-aaaaaaack!"
"Run awayyyyy!"
But that was as far as it went.
Did some part of the incantation fail, or was her control over the spell insufficient? The fireball flying through the air suddenly vanished with a cute 'pyong' sound.
"?"
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The bandits who had been trying to escape turned around and laughed 'keh-keh' again. The Witch of Justice, her face beet red, shouted.
"I-I'll do it again!"
Again, the Witch of Justice covered her face with her right hand and struck a cool pose. As if she had just appeared, as if everything that had just happened was a dream.
"Oh, beings of evil that pollute this world. Receive the mace of justice delivered by Shirin, the Witch of Justice!"
At that, the bandits exchanged pitying glances, then awkwardly mimicked their previous lines.
"W-Witch, what the hell?!"
"You idiot girl, if you? A w-witch? Th-then we must be heroes?!"
"Keh? Keh? Keh? Keh? Keh?!"
Rem, unable to grasp the situation, looked at Miria.
"What are they doing now?"
"Well, could you not ask me…"
"Evil (악)?"
Setsunen clenched both hands tightly and shouted. It was unclear what he was saying either.
"Oh, power of fire residing in nature. Oh, fiery karma that illuminates the world, element hotter than sunlight and brighter than moonlight, burn my enemies by my command!"
"…!"
"Drqutos (Dragon's Breath)!"
This time, it was a success.
However, the bandit group, thinking it would fail again, couldn't evade it in time.
Birds cried out and fled, and the fireball, burning everything in the forest, rushed towards the bandits…
"Ah, nooo…?!"
…just as it was about to surge, it was suddenly stopped by flames erupting from the ground. A hot gust of wind swept through with an explosion.
"Hey you, don't you know the meaning of 'moderation'?"
It was Rain's magic.
The young witch, understanding the situation, blinked repeatedly.
"To help bandits… you were evil after all!"
"These idiots are clearly human trash, but there are also some who turned to banditry because life was too hard. It's okay to give them one chance."
As Miria translated those words, the bandits, whose knees had buckled and made them collapse, shed tears of gratitude and grabbed Rain's trouser legs.
"We'll follow you as our boss for life!"
"Boss-ooooooos!"
"Let go! Who's your boss?!"
The witch seemed to be descending on her broomstick from the tree, but perhaps she was clumsy with broom flying, as she tumbled to the ground from a height of 2 meters.
"Gak!"
Up close, she was truly young.
Early teens, perhaps? What was interesting was that her attire was similar to Friede's.
Her conical hat was dark red, and her robe and boots also… not just the color, but the overall style was quite similar.
"Fake? Fake? Fake?"
Pipi, also impressed by that point, landed on her head and kept tilting its head.
"Huh?"
Just then, Miria, having noticed something strange, raised an eyebrow.
"The emblem on her chest is a triangle… she's a sorceress, not a witch."
"!"
"But why did you call yourself a witch? You're far from being a witch."
The self-proclaimed Witch of Justice was about to say something, but clenched her fist and strangely stammered.
"It's natural because it's cool! Justice always has to be cool!"
"You're so brazen after deceiving us?!"
While they were bickering, the situation was quickly resolved by Rem and Bart.
"Whose jurisdiction is this place again? Where should we hand these guys over? Is there an adventurer's guild branch nearby?"
Shirin, who had been staring at Rain, perhaps impressed by how quickly he subdued the bandits, suddenly widened her eyes.
"Uh, uh, uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh?!"
"What, you can speak the imperial language?"
"That conical hat, c-could it be… are you Master Tureina's disciple? You've come to help me by her command, right? My distress signal reached you!"
Tureina.
His heart ached at the poignant tremor those four syllables carried, but he didn't show it.
"Do you know Tureina?"
"Not exactly, but…"
Shirin's expression turned serious.
Although she didn't look serious at all due to the dirt covering her face and hair, nevertheless.
But what that kid uttered in such a state was something that couldn't possibly be dismissed as a joke.
"This is a big secret, but I'm actually Master Friede's disciple. Strictly speaking, you could say I'm Master Tureina's junior sister apprentice."