Book 13 Chapter 25
Mercenary Request (6)
Beating up the dark wizard was the biggest mistake of my twelve-year-old life.
After I beat up the dark wizard, Link and Nils had already beaten up Svalag.
The first merit of this subjugation will go to those two, I guess.
It was a shame.
If I could have faced Svalag alone, I could have experienced being pushed to the limit.
Right…
I'm sorry to the people, but I wanted a situation like that.
A situation where my limits would be tested.
A situation like this, where I'd have to spin my head at super-speed to find the optimal equation for it.
“Is this it? This?”
“After being struck by your lightning, he couldn't regain his senses. Hahahaha!”
“No, no, no, no! It can't end like this. I have at least twelve more spells I prepared for today!”
“Link, Link, Link!”
Link clapped my back, laughing cheerfully, and I almost burst into tears, thinking my spine was shattering.
Svalag, who had collapsed shaking the earth, began to break apart into countless snow particles.
But I felt something tickling and squirming in the head covered by the fur hood. When I reached in and pulled it out, I saw that…
“What is this?”
It was a pure white furball.
“Kyuung.”
The furball had nothing but round eyes and a triangular mouth. Nils examined the furball with a detector and raised his eyebrows.
“This is Svalag.”
“This thing?”
“For a spirit to materialize so clearly. I thought only witches could control something like this.”
“But why is it here? Seriously, I don't know.”
“Hmm… Perhaps the dark wizards forcibly turned the spirit into Svalag?”
“No, why did it come out of my head?”
“I'm not entirely sure either. Maybe it's grateful to you for freeing it from dark magic. If research is needed, I'll dissect it immediately.”
“What are you talking about? This guy is incredibly sturdy. I should use it as my exclusive magic experiment punching bag.”
“No, entrust it to me for the advancement of technology.”
As soon as Nils and I reached out as if competing, the furball freaked out and disappeared with a pop. Then, I felt a tickling sensation in my head again.
When I tried to catch and apprehend it, it started scrambling through my hair, dodging this way and that.
Just as Nils and Link burst into laughter, someone approached from beyond the gradually subsiding blizzard, their light-blue hair fluttering.
“You, who exactly are you…?”
It was Ce… Ce-something Duren.
The Sun Parrot landed on my shoulder and tilted its head. The Duren family is the only family on both continents that employs Sun Parrots.
“Who, who, who.”
But then, the pure white furball blocked its path!
“Kyuuwoooo!”
“Go away, go away, get lost.”
“Kyu! Kyukyu! Kyukyukyukyu!”
I don't know why these things are fighting.
But I knew this woman would be more annoying than Gizella. 'Who exactly are you?', she says. Does she want to keep up that roleplay?
I can't stand troublesome things. That's why I need to cut off all attention here.
“Is there a need to tell you my name?”
“I heard Nils Blantz call you Rin earlier. Is your name Rin?”
When I glared at Nils, Link started cackling with laughter.
Ah, this isn't good…
I should have used an alias from the very beginning when I first met Nils and Link, I reflected.
I pondered how I could make an excuse to leave this place befitting the [Strongest Mage], using 300 thought circuits in just 1 second. There was only one correct answer.
“Hmph…”
A meaningful sneer! The sneer of a [Strongest] being would make people mistakenly assume positive things on their own.
“…Princess!”
“…Princess Cecil!”
As Ce-something Duren shouted, “Wait a moment!”, a crowd surged from beyond the receding blizzard, and I turned my back.
This way, I wouldn't get needlessly entangled in troublesome affairs.
I wanted to learn hyper-dimensional magic for this quick exit, but the Dean told me, '[Never touch dark magic].' I always keep my promises with the Dean.
Ah, but it's so cold.
My nose is running.
“Achoo.”
Then, the newly acquired punching bag next to me also sneezed.
“Kyu!”
* * *
That's how my first mercenary request ended.
To escape from Cecil Duren, I had to leave the payment issue to Nils and return to <Winter Horizon> first. Link came with me.
About three days after returning to the mercenary guild, Nils came, leading his goons and carrying chests full of gold coins.
The payment Nils distributed to me was more than any of the goons received. It was more than Nils and Link received. It was enough to buy 100 hanboks and still have some left over.
“All this for me?”
“Since most of it was due to your efforts, it's right that you take the most. We Ahen are results-oriented. We're different from people swayed by emotions.”
Nils took a deep gulp from his beer mug and laughed heartily. Link, once again, gnawed on meat, bones and all, shouting, “Link, Link.”
All in all, it was a decent experience.
Since the [Strongest Mage] must be solitary, I suppose there won't be any more forming groups like this in the future.
“Are you leaving, Rin?”
As I was about to leave, laden with sacks of gold coins, Nils, who had been laughing and chatting with his goons, spoke.
“Well, I don't drink, and there's nothing good for me here.”
It's almost a month since I ran away from home. It would be right to hurry back to the magic tower before those gorilla-like students of my school forget me with their regrettable memories and clear out all my belongings.
“May I ask what you plan to do with all that gold at such a young age?”
I could never say it was to buy hanboks for the freeloaders of the school.
This is a matter of honor for two groups.
One is that magic apprentices are so incompetent they can't even get a single hanbok, and the other is that the [Strongest Mage] doesn't do such embarrassing things.
“That… I can't say.”
Then Nils placed his drink on the table and gave a wry smile.
“Someday, I hope the day comes when you can honestly tell me what you carry on those young shoulders.”
“Link, Link, Link…”
“What I'm carrying on my shoulders is gold coins. Have you already got dementia?”
Nils and his goons' mood suddenly turned gloomy. I didn't know why, but I disliked the strong smell of alcohol in the guild, so I quickly left.
“Kyuuuuuu…”
This guy, perhaps disliking the smell of alcohol as well, peeked its face out after hiding in my arms.
This guy's name is Sval.
Since Svalag got smaller, I just removed 'lag' from its original name. If the name sounds a bit like a curse word, that merely means your mind is full of depravity.
“Let's go, Sval. We have a long way to the magic tower.”
When I gave Sval the snacks I'd pilfered from Nils and his goons' table, it ate them very deliciously.
“Kyuuu!”
Unfortunately, as I walked along the alleyway, heavily laden with gold sacks, some thugs appeared, and the [Strongest Mage] development, where the dialogue would completely reverse from “Hey kid, if you drop all that and leave, we might spare your life?” to “M-Mage?! H-huh! P-Please just spare my life!”, didn't happen.
No, why is the public safety so good?
It couldn't help but get better.
Because a renowned physician capable of instantly curing all anger management issues in the entire world was following behind me.
“Why do you keep following me, Link.”
“Link, Link, Link.”
“You'll carry my luggage?”
Link couldn't speak or read, so he wouldn't reveal my shortcomings. He was very suitable as the [Strongest Mage]'s porter.
“H-100 hanboks?”
“Yeah, I hope the colors and fabrics are all the same as the ones I bought before.”
The detailed size adjustments would be handled by the Dean and the Head Senior Disciple, who were sewing experts.
I couldn't get 100 hanboks from the store I'd previously bought from, so I went to other places and bought 100.
I had a fair bit of money left over, so I bought something a bit fancier and more expensive for the Dean.
“Should I buy one for Link too?”
“Link, Link!”
“You don't need it? Well, I suppose there wouldn't be a size big enough for you.”
Guided by Link, who lightly carried the bundles of 100 hanboks, I arrived at the merchant guild.
There was no one trying to overcharge me.
Link had the talent of making ordinary people more honest than anyone else, just by his presence.
After paying the freight costs and boarding the regional shuttle carriage, I left <Winter Horizon> and returned to the magic tower, leaving Link, who had come to see me off at the city gate, behind.
“It's Rin bro!”
“Bro, bro, why are you only coming nowww!”
“Why did you run away? You didn't even stay to watch my test until the end?”
Gizella shot at me, hands on her hips.
But she didn't look angry; on her chest, she had a Bandoran (1-star) rank insignia conspicuously displayed.
And this kid was wearing that hanbok from before.
“Oppa! What's all thaaat?”
Then Riki showed interest in the bundles I had put down in the magic tower yard.
Riki means winter wind.
He's the youngest of the 'Wind Quartet' that Gizella arbitrarily put together. The fatal flaw is that everyone except me, the spring wind, is an idiot.
“It's trash. I picked it up. Wear it if you want to.”
“Wow, these are all hanboks!”
“Bro, where were these dumped? Awesome, they look like new clothes!”
“I don't know. As I traveled all over the North, I found a place where they were discarded.”
Just as I was about to be bombarded with questions, Sval, as if to earn its keep, squirmed and crawled out, gathering everyone's attention.
“Kyuuuuu!”
“Wow, what's that? It's cute!”
Just as the idiots' attention was focused on Sval.
“Rin.”
Upon hearing that voice, it felt as if all noise in the world stopped for a moment. Like a light shining into the darkness.
“I was just starting to get anxious, but you're finally back. I see talent that will make many women cry in the future.”
Atlante, my Dean.
As the Dean approached and gently pulled my earlobe, I untied the bundle I was carrying on my back.
It was a bundle I had kept in my arms, not carelessly handled with telekinesis. Inside it was the Dean's hanbok.
- You wanted something a bit more special than the existing ones? Then all you have to do is reverse the color scheme.
While the other hanboks had a black base with purple accents, this one had a purple base with black accents.
“I picked this up too. Wear it if you need it.”
The Dean took the clothing and laughed, as if dumbfounded.
Then, suddenly, her laughter stopped.
She covered her mouth with her left hand, and her eyes quietly trembled. Then she turned and went into her office.
Oh…?
Perhaps she felt left out because hers was the only one with a different color, and got angry. That clothing store owner, to trick me like that. I won't let it go.
“It's been a long time since I've seen the Dean so happy.”
The Head Senior Disciple, who had approached without me noticing, said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
“She seems angry.”
“She's acting like that because she's so happy. She was like that when I got my Limites (2-star) rank too.”
“But why is her reaction like that?”
“Humans, you see, sometimes cry when they're too happy and laugh when they're too sad. They're truly strange creatures.”
My first runaway adventure ended like that. There, I made two significant mistakes.
One was buying the wrong hanbok only for the Dean, and the other was that I shouldn't have revealed my name from the beginning.
It was in the winter, half a year later, that the second mistake manifested in my life as a clear threat.