Chapter 1: New Routine

One week after my duel with Raiza, we were in the forest near Rajah. Kuruta had officially joined our party, and we were out hunting ogres for a job.

With a loud cry, Rouga used his specialty shield bash. An ogre with a large shield and club was knocked back, stumbling for balance. Nino immediately rushed forward and slashed its upper legs, sending green monster blood spurting high into the air. The ogre stopped moving. It was a perfect demonstration of Rouga and Nino’s teamwork.

“There’s more coming this way!” Kuruta called.

“Okay!” I replied.

More ogres came running out of the brush to help their comrade, and Kuruta immediately ran between the trees to deal with them. It was like watching a giant flying squirrel move between the branches. She leaped down on the ogres from above, releasing a slashing attack at their ugly faces.

“Now!” she shouted.

The ogres had managed to block her slash, but doing so created a big opening for us to attack. I immediately released a magic blade with all my might.

Water swirled around the black blade. I roared as I released it with a swing, sending a blue slash through the forest. The water slash mercilessly cut through the bodies of the trees and ogres alike. Large bodies bled and fell loudly, followed by the even louder sound of trees falling after them. The clear sky became visible in the dense and gloomy forest.

“Aha ha... Looks like you didn’t need my signal,” Kuruta said awkwardly.

“Did I go too far?” I asked.

“You did! Have some restraint!” the other three replied in unison.

I reflected on my actions while glancing over at Kuruta, who had nothing to do after I’d stolen the spotlight. I shouldn’t have done everything by myself—and I had to take better care not to destroy the forest next time.

“Confirming the delivery of ten ogre molars!”

The receptionist smiled cheerfully as she accepted our proof of the kills. Well, at least the job had been completed safely. The ogres hadn’t been where the job request had said they would be, so we had searched the whole forest for them. It had been quite an effort. The hunt itself had been pretty quick, but the search had taken half the day.

“The ogre den was in a completely different location than what was written on the request. This is one of the requests the guild regularly puts out, right? Please correct it the next time you post it,” Nino said.

“Huh? Where was the den, exactly?” the receptionist asked.

“Here. It wasn’t in the north of the forest.” Nino took out her map and pointed to where we had found the ogres.

The receptionist immediately changed her documents to reflect the information. “This should do. Thank you for the intel!”

“No problem. It’s an adventurer’s duty to work with the guild.”

“Still, it’s a bit concerning that this keeps happening. The guild rarely ever got these things wrong before,” Kuruta said with a frown.

Right around the time I had settled things with my sister and Kuruta had officially joined our party, this kind of inconsistency in monster habitat had started occurring more. According to the others, such a thing was almost unheard of until now. As one would expect of the guild in an adventurer hub like Rajah, they were normally on top of their information.

“Yes, the guild is aware that things have been abnormal around Rajah recently. We plan on calling experts to come and investigate things soon.”

“Does that mean someone from the research lab will be coming here?” Kuruta asked.

“Yes. There should be an investigation escort request posted soon.”

“Seriously?” Rouga muttered with a frown.

Kuruta and Nino both looked gloomy as well. It seemed the three of them weren’t too fond of these researchers.

“What’s the research lab?” I asked.

“Their official name is the Monster Research Laboratory of the Adventurers Guild. It’s a gathering of monster-obsessed maniacs,” Kuruta explained.

“Monster-obsessed maniacs...”

“Yup! They only care about monsters, making them a real pain to guard.”

“Last time, one jumped headfirst into a wyvern nest,” Nino added.

“Right! The whole herd came after us. I thought we were done for!” Rouga said.

“The one I escorted tried to hold a conversation with an ogre king after stripping half naked,” Kuruta said, sighing.

“Yeah...they do that a lot with demihuman species. Something about attempting communication.”

Hmm... Based on what everyone was saying, these researchers sounded like a crazy group. If the escort request came to us, we’d have to consider things carefully before accepting. It would largely depend on the reward, but it wasn’t like we were struggling for funds right now.

The receptionist looked at our expressions and smiled awkwardly. “Just to be clear, there’s no doubt they’re professionals in their field. They’ve contributed enormously to the monster encyclopedias and the guild’s operation...but it’s true they can be a little eccentric.”

Ah, so she didn’t deny that part. Well, researchers did tend to be a little odd. Back at home, Ciel looked like a rational person, but there was something off with her common sense. Like when she stayed up for a full week, then spent two whole days sleeping. Or when she blew up half the house by trying to pour magic into already-charged magic stones.

“It sounds like it’d be best not to go near them if we can avoid it,” I said.

“Yeah,” Rouga agreed. “All right! Now that work’s over, let’s go get a meal!”

“There’s a good place I go to regularly on the south street. Interested?” Kuruta offered.

“Kuruta’s personal recommendation? Sounds great!”

We had just left the guild to head to the restaurant when I felt a gaze on me. I turned to see Raiza standing behind me.

“Oh. Hey, sis!”

“Long time no see.”

“Long time? We saw each other just yesterday.”

“Really? I don’t recall.”

Raiza was blatantly feigning ignorance. We’d had this exact conversation word for word just yesterday—and every other day since she moved to town. Whenever my party came to the guild to give our report, she was there. Was she keeping an eye on me?

We had decided to keep our background a secret, but it still wasn’t good for her to loiter around the guild. Regardless of her Swordmaster title, Raiza was pretty, so her mere presence garnered a lot of attention, and anyone with a trained eye would be able to see the quality of her armor was on another level.

“You guys won’t mind if I tag along on your outing, right?” she asked.

“I don’t mind,” Rouga said. “Pretty ladies are always welcome!”

“I’m fine with it too. As long as Sieg and Kuruta don’t mind.”

“I don’t have a problem with it—”

“But I do!”

What was almost a unanimous agreement ended up being heavily opposed by a sullen Kuruta. She stepped before Raiza without showing any fear of the Swordmaster.

“Why do you have to join every one of our after-parties? It’s fine once in a while, but you’ve been coming to all of them recently!”

“I’m not causing you any trouble, am I?”

“You being there means we can’t relax and talk about things as a party. Everyone has to watch what they say.”

When she put it that way, that probably was true for Nino and Rouga. Raiza was my family, but she was still the Swordmaster. Everyone was getting used to having her around, but they were still far from relaxing around her. I would be nervous if I was in the presence of someone so much more important than me too. But I couldn’t figure out why Kuruta had emphasized “as a party” so much. Did she actually care more about teamwork than I thought?

“I-In that case, I’ll join your party!” Raiza stammered.

“Um, that’s out of the question. The difference in our strength is just too great. Please be more realistic,” Kuruta replied.

If Raiza joined our party, we’d end up relying on her for everything. Besides, the whole point of me coming here was to get away from her. If she joined us, it would completely defeat the purpose.

“You can say that again,” Rouga agreed. “We already struggle to keep up with Sieg.”

“Right. If you joined us, there’d be nothing left for us to do,” Nino said, nodding.

Raiza grumbled wordlessly.

“In the first place, you’re not even an adventurer, remember?” Kuruta pointed out, dealing the finishing blow.

Raiza’s shoulders shook. “Hmph. That may be true!”

“So it’s even more impossible.”

“Fine, I get it. Then let’s do it this way.” Raiza suddenly grabbed my right hand, pulling me toward her. “Sieg will come eat with me. It’ll be a private, family-only meal.”

“Ah! That’s unfair!” Kuruta protested.

“If you’re allowed to reject outsiders, then we’re allowed to reject outsiders too. There’s nothing unfair about it!”

“I won’t accept that! Help me, Nino!” she cried.

“Right away!”

Kuruta and Nino both grabbed my left hand and started pulling me like it was a game of tug-of-war. Ow! Stop that!

I looked to Rouga for help. But he just folded his arms and nodded with a satisfied look.

“Nice. Very nice. This is what youth should be.”

“No, it isn’t! Save me!” I yelled.

Ignoring my screams, Raiza and Kuruta continued fighting for a while after that.

“Phew... Yesterday was hell,” I muttered as I rolled my shoulders.

Those three really hadn’t held back. I’d honestly thought my arm would come off. But while Raiza had her reasons, I couldn’t figure out why Kuruta was so insistent on inviting me out to eat.

“Hey, Sieg! Sorry about yesterday.”

“If you actually feel that way, you should have saved me, Rouga.”

He laughed loudly. “It’s not every day you get to have three pretty girls grabbing you, you know? I thought you’d enjoy the experience.”

“Not when one of them is my sister! And I doubt Kuruta and Nino had that kind of intention either.”

Rouga shook his head with an exasperated sigh, then corrected me with a disappointed look. “No, no. I agree Nino was just following Kuruta’s orders, but Kuruta was serious. She was imprisoned by an evil demon when a gallant hero came to her rescue. It’s only natural to fall for that hero.”

“But it was my sister who defeated the hydra.”

“You were the one who defeated the demon. That alone is enough.” Rouga crossed his arms and nodded at his own reasoning.

Hmm...is that how it works? Kuruta was a strong and attractive adventurer. Her personality wasn’t terrible, and if she had truly fallen for me, it was kind of flattering. But would someone like her really fall for a newcomer like me? Was it delusional of me to think so? Perhaps Rouga was just teasing me for his own amusement.

“What are you two talking about?”

“Whoa!”

Kuruta and Nino were suddenly standing behind us. They hadn’t heard any of that just now, had they? I immediately stiffened nervously, but fortunately, I seemed to be in the clear. Good grief, that had sent a chill down my back. It would’ve been so embarrassing if Kuruta had heard me—a party disbandment crisis.

“It’s rare to see you here so early, Rouga. Something happen?” Kuruta asked.

“Now that you mention it, Rouga’s normally super sleepy in the mornings.” Nino looked at him skeptically. “Are you feeling okay?”

Rouga immediately objected to the suspicious gazes. “It’s not like I go out every night! But...the research lab guys are visiting soon, right? I figured it’s almost time for that.”

“Oh, that? It wouldn’t be strange for that to come out today, yeah. Makes sense.” Kuruta nodded in understanding.

“See?”

“Um...what are you talking about?” I asked.

Rouga blinked at me blankly, then clapped his hands in realization. “Right, Sieg is still a beginner at this!”

“His skills make it easy to forget that,” Nino said.

“We’re talking about the preliminary investigation the guild puts out a request for. They like to get simple surveys conducted before the researchers arrive,” Rouga explained.

“Huh. What’s so special about it?”

That by itself didn’t sound like something to be excited about. The Rajah guild was always full of requests, so it wasn’t like we were struggling for work either.

Kuruta was the one to answer me cheerfully. “In order to gather participants, the guild sets the contribution points for this job super high. It’s the perfect job for increasing one’s rank quickly.”

“So it’s a good job to do?”

“I used it to rank up quickly too. It’s half the reason I’m A-rank!” Kuruta puffed out her chest proudly.

I see. So that’s why Rouga was so motivated today. He’d mentioned wanting to become A-rank a few times now. Had that been Kuruta’s influence?

“I want to rank up soon. I can’t lose to a newcomer like Sieg in rank,” Rouga said.

“What pointless pride. You’ve already lost in ability, so what’s the point?”

“Shut up. A man has to stand up for himself! Besides, Nino is interested too.”

“I just want to be the same rank as Kuruta. That’s all,” Nino said, defending herself.

“Are you sure?” Rouga demanded.

“All right, calm down. If we keep arguing among ourselves, the other adventurers will take all the jobs,” Kuruta said, looking around.

The guild had gone from being empty to packed in no time at all. It was rare to see it so crowded at this hour. Were they all after the early investigation requests? The regular jobs for the day were yet to be posted, yet everyone was watching the bulletin board closely. A tense air filled the entrance hall.

“Oh! It’s here!” I said.

Eventually, the receptionist appeared behind the counter with a bundle of requests in her arms. She stood on a footstool and began putting up the requests one by one.

“The survey requests from the guild will have a big stamp on them. Keep an eye out for that,” Rouga explained.

“You can only grab it after the receptionist finishes putting all the jobs up. Stepping forward before then is against the rules, so be careful!” Kuruta added.

A big stamp... The guild emblem was the lion hanging above the entrance, right? In that case... There was one!

At the top left of the bulletin board was a request with a red lion stamp. I couldn’t see the details from here, so I’d have to grab it first and check later.

“All done. Okay, everyone, have at it!” the receptionist said. Her words signaled the start of a wild scramble for jobs.

“Yes!”

“This one’s mine!”

“You’re not getting this!”

Whoa, it was more fierce than I’d expected! Brawny adventurers pushed and shoved at each other, making it hard to move to the front. The early survey requests were really popular. I had to make sure I got one too!

“Hyaaah!” I leaped with all my might, tearing down the request at the top of the board.

Thanks to the daily training I’d gone through with my sister, I had the physical ability to evade this crowd. Once I grabbed the job, I swiftly retreated to the back and pumped my fists.

“Yay, I got one!”

A minute later, Kuruta and the others dejectedly returned to the table where I was waiting. They had failed to secure any jobs.

“Ugh. I let my guard down! The momentum this time was fierce,” Rouga grumbled.

“Lots of people have been passing on jobs because of the unstable monster movements lately. That probably had an influence,” Nino said.

“Well, there’s no helping that. How did you do, Sieg?” Rouga asked.

“I got one!” I announced with a chuckle.

“Oh? Show us!”

“Here.” I flattened the crinkled request on the table and showed it to everyone.

“It had to be this one, huh?” Rouga said.

“I suppose it suits Sieg, in a way...”

“No surprises here.”

What? Was the job I’d grabbed that bad? The grim looks on everyone’s faces suddenly had me worried.

“So, the Razgor Valley this job is located in is particularly troublesome?” I asked several minutes later, summarizing the explanation I had just been given. The others nodded.

The job I had grabbed was for a magic density investigation in Razgor Valley. According to Kuruta, it was a request to check the magic density at the top and bottom of the valley for any abnormalities. When the circulation of magic in the valley was abnormal, it affected the entire area.

“Razgor Valley is both deep and steep. You can’t even see the bottom from the top. There are some narrow chain routes along the way, so it takes effort to survey the place. It’s impossible for anyone with a fear of heights,” Rouga said.

“It’s the least popular of all the investigation requests,” Nino added.

“But in our case, it might not be that bad. Nino and I are light on our feet, and Sieg is too, no?” Kuruta said encouragingly, albeit with a strained smile.

That’s true, but... I glanced over at Rouga. It was hard to imagine him moving nimbly with his large, muscular body. On top of that, he carried a super heavy shield with him.

Rouga seemed aware of this, as he was scratching his cheek awkwardly. “I’ll admit I’m not a fan of that terrain. It’s not impossible for me to go, but it’s tough using my shield there.”

“What would you prefer to do? Stay back?” Nino asked.

“But the whole point is for Rouga to earn contribution points. As the one who grabbed the wrong job, I’ll support you to the best of my ability,” I offered.

“Nah, I can just join another party by myself. I’m actually well known around these parts, you know?”

Rouga looked around at the other adventurers in the guild. It seemed he was acquainted with a few of the groups that had safely grabbed the jobs. When he waved at them with a smile, they waved back.

“In that case, let’s split up this time,” Nino said.

It was a little worrying to have our tank leave the party, but it couldn’t be helped. The rest of our members were more than capable of making up for it. Besides, this wasn’t a combat request.

I picked up the document and took it to the counter to accept it. Just then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see Raiza standing behind me.

“Oh! Hey, sis.” It was rare to see her at the guild this early. I tilted my head questioningly.

“Abert called me here. He invited me to give adventuring a try,” she said, answering my unspoken question.

“Again? The guild sure is stubborn.”

“They’re desperate for more forces right now. They’re not about to give up on inviting the Swordmaster anytime soon,” Kuruta explained.

“Even without that title, everyone’s always talking about who will win her over first,” Nino added.

“Ah, now that you mention it...”

There had been wild rumors about that for a while. Raiza wasn’t currently affiliated with any organization. She visited the royal palace often, but she wasn’t an official employee of the kingdom. There was a fierce scramble between the guild, army, and knights over who would win her first. But that was just what I’d heard from others. I had no idea how much of it was true. All I knew was that the Swordmaster had enough strength to rival an entire order of knights. It wouldn’t surprise me if they wanted her.

“I heard what you were talking about earlier. Would you add me to your party as a fourth member?” Raiza asked.

“Huh? You?”

“Yeah. It’s not a combat request, right? So it shouldn’t be a problem.”

When she put it that way, it sounded fine. The biggest reason I didn’t want her to join our jobs was because we’d end up relying on her strength. But that wasn’t a problem outside of combat requests. So it should be okay...right?

“Or is it still no good? I was hoping we could go on a job together for once.”

“Hmm...”

It was hard to refuse that.

Seeing my dilemma, Kuruta stepped in. “Don’t you need to be a guild adventurer to accept a request? Are you allowed to do that?”

“It’s fine. I received this from Abert.” Raiza reached into her pocket and pulled out an item that resembled a guild card. But unlike our bronze-red cards, hers was completely gold. “It’s a temporary guild card. It’s normally given to knights of the kingdom who participate in emergency requests.”

“So you’ll be treated as an adventurer as long as you have that?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

“What do you guys think?” I asked the group.

“Fine. We’ll make an exception this time, just because Rouga won’t be there. But it’s just this time and not a permanent thing!” Kuruta reluctantly agreed.

“Welcome to the party,” Nino muttered, following her example.

While I still had concerns, at least we wouldn’t be at any risk of failing the job. We definitely had the combat force to deal with anything.

I straightened the paper once more and brought it to the counter. “We’d like to take this one, please. Raiza will be temporarily joining us.”

“Got it! Please wait here while I grab the items you’ll need for the investigation.” The receptionist disappeared behind the counter.

Just then, a thought crossed my mind, and I turned to Raiza. “Come to think of it, sis...”

“Yeah?”

“What rank is that guild card?”

Considering she was the Swordmaster, it had to be an S-rank card, right? In terms of combat power, she was considered the strongest in the world, in which case, it was a little exciting to be in a party with her, even temporarily. After all, S-rank was the aspiration of all adventurers. It was my secret dream too.

“Oh, it’s treated as F-rank,” Raiza replied.

“Of course it— Wait, F?!”

That was astonishing to me. But when I thought about it, it made more sense for all the temporary cards to be treated as F-rank. My sister as an F-rank... That sounded like rank fraud. Judging from their exasperated faces, Kuruta and Nino appeared to be thinking the same thing.

“The Swordmaster, an F-rank...” Kuruta muttered.

“Well, I’m technically here as an ordinary knight. It can’t be helped. Make sure you don’t spread any rumors about me,” Raiza said quietly, glancing around at our surroundings.

She was officially here as “a knight of the kingdom who’s assisting the guild.” She had requested that herself, as she didn’t want her presence to create a commotion. The hydra incident hadn’t been publicized either. To avoid unnecessary panic, the guildmaster had decided against announcing it. The people of the town had only been told that our party had defeated the demon.

“Good grief. What awful rank fraud from these two siblings,” Nino muttered.

Kuruta sighed. “You can say that again.”

Hm? From these two siblings?

No way. My sister might be committing rank fraud, but I was nowhere near her level. I scratched my head in confusion at Nino’s unsettling comment.

Chapter 2: Squatter of the Razgor Valley

“We’re here. This is the Razgor Valley.”

The valley was a one-day trip northeast of town. We arrived at the row of steep mountains on the second morning after our departure. Craggy rocks covered the reddish-brown mountain surface, and pointed ridges as sharp as knives pointed up at the heavens. At the foot of the mountains was a valley that opened like a gaping mouth of darkness.

I nervously leaned over the side to look down. A cold wind blew up from the valley depths. Since the sun couldn’t reach the bottom, the temperature there was awfully cold. I wondered how far down it was. Just imagining it sent a chill down my back.

“No wonder it’s an unpopular job,” I muttered.

“Hmm. I should be able to skywalk down from here,” Raiza said.

“None of us would be able to follow you, so don’t even try it.” Kuruta immediately put a stop to my sister’s outrageous idea with a fed up look.

The fact that Raiza could probably descend the valley in a few leaps was scarier than the location itself. If she skywalked, she could basically fly down. Once again, was the Swordmaster really a fellow human?

“There’s no need for that. The path to the bottom is just ahead of us. Let’s measure the magic power here first,” Nino said.

“Right,” I replied, taking out the magic measuring instrument given to us by the guild. It was an object that looked like a large crystal ball, and it changed colors depending on the magic in the area. It was currently a clear blue. The thicker the magic in the air, the redder the ball would be, meaning there wasn’t much magic around here. “No abnormalities. Let’s head to the next measurement spot,” I said.

“Okay,” Nino agreed.

The guild had designated three points for measurements: the top of the valley, the middle of the valley, and the bottom of the valley. The regular measurements for each of these spots were blue, green, and yellow, respectively.

After filling in the result on the form we’d been given, I followed Nino to the path down to the bottom.

“Whoa! I know you warned us, but this path is super narrow!” I said.

“Can flimsy footholds like this hold up?” Raiza asked warily.

Wooden footholds were built into the rock face. They were quite worn out and didn’t look the most stable. I stepped on one gently, and it immediately began creaking in protest. Putting my entire weight on it seemed like a fast way to get sent straight to the bottom.

“It’s fine. Adventurers use this path often,” Kuruta said.

“Yup. It can hold a man in full armor, so don’t worry about it.” Nino stepped onto the foothold and did a flip in the air to demonstrate her point. What a ninja... But while her agility wasn’t a surprise, how was she okay jumping at this height? Just watching was enough to send chills down my spine.

“Oh? That’s better than I thought,” Raiza said.

“I see. But please don’t do such dangerous things, okay?” I said in a trembling voice, wiping the sweat from my forehead. Goose bumps broke out on my arms. Was I more afraid of heights than I had realized? Now that I thought about it, I’d never been so high up before. My sisters always stopped me from coming to places like this.

“Something the matter, Sieg?” Raiza asked from ahead of me.

If I didn’t snap out of it soon, I’d cause trouble for everyone. I took a careful step onto the foothold and moved forward. A high-pitched creak reached my ears, making me flinch and hunch over.

“Hurry it up!” Raiza waved her arm to hurry me along.

Don’t do that in an unstable place like this!

“It’s dangerous to rush!” My voice was a little louder than normal when I yelled back at her. She noticed the fear in my tone and leaned back.

“Are you scared of this place, Sieg?” she asked, peering into my face questioningly.

“O-Of course not!”

Knowing my sister, there was no telling what she would do if I admitted I was scared. She might even force me into some reckless situation in the name of training. I put on a bold front and continued walking without looking down.

“Then let’s keep going,” Kuruta said, seeing us resume walking.

“Yeah,” Nino agreed.

Those two seemed to have sensed my fear too, as they were moving slower than before. We continued walking down the cliffside until a large crag hanging over the valley came into view. It almost looked like the shoulder of a giant embedded in the mountain. We paused to admire the grand work of art created by nature.

“The next point is the middle of that rock!” Kuruta said.

“Okay. Just a little more!” I muttered. Things should be better once we made it there. I eagerly sped up a little.

But just then, a wind blew from below. Uh-oh! My body was swaying!

“Urk!”

“Sieg!”

Raiza caught my tilting body and supported me. Thank goodness! I was saved. I let out a breath of relief and calmed my beating heart down. How long had it been since Raiza felt this reliable?

“You okay, Sieg?” she asked.

“Y-Yeah...”

“Good grief. If you’re scared, just say so.”

“I’m sorry.” I apologized to her reflexively when she extended her hand toward me. Could this be?!

“Go on, give me your hand.”

“Are you sure?!”

“Of course... What are you so shocked about?”

“Since it’s you we’re talking about, I was expecting something like ‘Pathetic! Train more!’”

“I don’t gain any pleasure from bullying you, you know? It’s not like training will help fix a fear of heights either.”

Whoa...Raiza can be kind after all! I couldn’t help but stare at her in wonder. The usual impression she gave off was so scary, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She had said she had acted harshly in order to train me, and it seemed that was the truth... Or was I just being gullible?

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take my hand.”

“O-Okay!” I hurriedly grabbed Raiza’s hand. It was warm and soft. Her grip was rather strong for a woman, but that was probably because of her daily training. Come to think of it, how many years had it been since I last held her hand? It brought back fond memories of my childhood.

“This kind of brings me back to the past,” I said.

“Wha— Don’t let your thoughts stray!”

For some reason, Raiza’s cheeks turned red. Her hand also felt warmer than before. Was there something embarrassing about our childhood?

Kuruta, who had been watching us, turned red as well as she puffed up her cheeks. “You can hold my hand on the way back.”

“Huh? I’d feel bad doing that. I’ll try to overcome my fear on the way back!”

“This blockhead!” Kuruta whirled around and walked off at a rapid speed. Had I said something to upset her again? I was confused, but the job request continued anyway.

“Phew. We made it.”

Halfway up the cliff, on the crag hanging over the valley, I wiped the sweat from my brow with a sigh. It had been harder to get here than I had expected. I’d never known I was scared of heights. I was a little disappointed in myself for failing to realize that I had such a weakness. I had to make sure it didn’t happen again.

“Thanks, sis. You saved me.”

“You’re my little brother. It’s natural for me to help,” Raiza said, tossing me something.

I caught it in my hands and looked down to see a candy. It was wrapped in a red wrapper and smelled of refreshing apples.

“Suck on that. It’ll help you calm down,” she said.

“Thank you. Do you normally eat these, sis?”

“What, am I not allowed to have a sweet tooth?” Raiza said bashfully, turning her back to me. It wasn’t something to be embarrassed about. Carrying a few sweets around seemed perfectly normal. Many middle-aged women had candy stuffed in their bags all the time.

“All right, let’s get measuring,” Nino said once I had calmed down.

Right, we should get a move on. I took the measuring instrument out of my magic bag and watched as it released a red light. This...was clearly not what we’d been told. Kuruta and the others frowned at the ominous glow.

“This looks pretty bad,” Kuruta said.

“The magic must be extremely dense here. The air does feel a little heavier than before,” Raiza noted.

“Let’s hurry ahead. We should wrap up this investigation as soon as possible,” I said.

“Sounds good. Let’s go!”

My sister immediately took my hand again. We were halfway down the valley now, so it was easier to proceed from here.

“This...is beyond measuring,” I said once we got close to the bottom of the valley.

A thin mist was wafting through the air—a mist of magic power. The magic here was so thick, it was physically visible. Ciel had told me about the phenomenon before, but I never thought I’d see it for myself. It was near impossible for this to happen naturally.

“Something clearly abnormal is going on. What do you think it is?” Kuruta asked.

“Who knows? We’ll have to go down and see.”

For better or worse, the mist blocked our vision, making it less scary to look down. The four of us sped up and hurried to the bottom. The valley surrounded by steep cliffs was dark even in the middle of the day, made several times creepier by the mist. A bird’s cry could be heard in the distance, but even that sounded horrifying. It was like we had wandered into another world.

“Wait a moment. Bright!”

An orb of light appeared, floating above my palm. It glowed bright enough to illuminate the area, revealing the scraggy rock face and reddish-brown ground. I quickly took the measuring instrument from my magic bag, but...

“It keeps changing color,” I muttered.

“Looks like it’s exceeded the limit it can measure,” Kuruta said.

The crystal ball blinked as it changed color from blue to red. The magic here was so dense, it couldn’t function properly. The colors eventually swirled together in an ominous but beautiful crystallized rainbow.

“This...looks bad,” said Raiza.

“Yes. We should investigate a little more before we report it to the guild, though. It’s clear that something is happening here,” I said.

“What else is there to investigate?” Nino asked.

“If we adjust the instrument a bit, we may be able to find out some more details.”

“Adjust it? Can you do that? The measuring instrument is quite complex,” Kuruta replied, eyes wide in surprise.

Wait, really? For a magic apparatus, I could see quite a few inefficiencies. If Ciel had been there, she’d have immediately declared it junk. The quality of the crystal being used was good, but the spell formula inside was terrible. The magician behind this was probably a beginner. Even I could easily improve it.

“If you give me thirty minutes, I should be able to make it read the flow of magic better. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Ooh! I should’ve expected as much from Sieg, huh?” Raiza crossed her arms and nodded smugly for some reason.

What was she so proud of? It was Ciel who’d taught me this. Maybe she was just happy to have a handy little brother? Nah, Raiza wouldn’t think like that.

“I’ll get to work right away, but can you all keep your distance? The presence of other people messes with the magic power.”

“Got it,” Nino agreed.

The rest of the party immediately backed away from me. I quickly drew a magic circle on the ground and got to work adjusting the formula.

“Phew... That should help a bit.”

Thirty minutes after I began fiddling with the spell formula, I called everyone back, wiping my brow. All that was left was to measure the magic around us. I placed the crystal ball on my hand, and it spun around once. Then, the measurement instrument began glowing with varying levels of intensity to show the denser magic areas. All right! Now, we could determine which way the magic was coming from using the stronger light.

“You really improved it. I’m shocked,” Nino said.

“It’s the most basic of basics,” I answered.

“Only a sage would be able to do something like that,” Kuruta pointed out.

Now that was just an exaggeration. The adjustments I’d made were nothing compared to what Ciel, who was an actual sage, could do. She would’ve been able to get the instrument to display exact figures in numerical form. In fact, she’d made a similar tool before, but it had exploded when she’d tried to measure herself. That was probably an outlier case, though.

“At any rate, it’s time to figure out where this magic is coming from. We can’t ignore the situation!” I said, quickly changing the topic.

“You’re right. Let’s hurry,” Kuruta agreed.

“Yeah. I’ll protect you if anything happens,” Raiza added brightly.

Thus, the four of us headed farther into the valley in search of the magic source.

“It’s this way. The response is getting stronger,” I said, slowly following the detected flow of magic along the valley floor. I could feel the change in air quality against my skin. If I had to describe it, it was like a humid feeling? The air was almost sticky like a thin layer of water. It made it hard to breathe.

“Hm? What’s that?” Raiza pointed in front of us, brow furrowed.

I looked over to see a part of the rock face glowing red. What was that? We got closer to see a red, semitransparent, jellylike object stuck against the wall. It was releasing a faint light.

“Is it a slime?” I asked.

“Aren’t slimes meant to be blue or green?” Kuruta asked.

“I’ve never seen a red one before. I don’t think it’s a species seen in the East either,” Nino added.

Everyone stared curiously at the strange slime. I drew my black blade and carefully poked it with the tip. The slime wobbled, then moved as though to evade the sword. It was quite fast, but nothing that I couldn’t react to.

I sliced part of the slime off and stuffed it into a bottle of holy water. It was left over from what the nun had given us last time. There was still some holy energy left in it, so the slime shouldn’t be able to do any mischief inside.

“Hmm... It looks like a slime, but I can feel a strong magic power coming from it. The measurement instrument is reacting too,” I said.

“Maybe it has something to do with the abnormality in the valley,” Kuruta said.

“Yes,” Nino agreed. “Let’s show it to the researcher when they arrive.”

The representative from the monster research lab should be able to figure out what was up with this creature. I shoved the bottle into my bag for now and looked back at the valley depths before us. The red lights continued for some ways into the distance. It seemed the slimes had propagated quite a lot. It made the scenery rather creepy.

“It’s kinda gross...” Kuruta muttered.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Nino said.

“Slimes are a pain to deal with using swords too.” Raiza frowned. Slimes were monsters that couldn’t die from being cut, so they were a terrible opponent for swords. In fact, most swordsmen were totally unable to defeat them—my sister was just an exception because she could erase them using the pressure of her sword slashes. But if there were too many, we could get overwhelmed.

“Let’s go in farther. There has to be something here,” I said.

“Yeah. But be careful. I’m also getting an uneasy feeling about this,” Raiza said, warning everyone with a serious look.

We nodded at her words and slowly resumed walking forward. The dark valley floor was extremely quiet, and the only sounds were our footsteps. That just made the eerie vibe even stronger. It was hard to describe the restlessness I was feeling. Normally, places like this would be teeming with monsters. The fact that there was nothing but slimes here was another clear abnormality.

We continued walking in silence for a little while longer, until eventually...

“It’s huge!” Raiza exclaimed.

“Wow, I didn’t know they could get this big,” said Kuruta.

At the very back of the valley floor, right before the dead end, was a humongous slime. Hey, now...how could this have happened? It was as big as a two-story building, which was completely unheard of for a slime. It almost looked uncanny. We all looked up at it in shock, having never seen anything like it before.

“This might be the cause of the valley’s magic going wild. It’s got enormous magic power in it,” I said.

“It’d be best to defeat this as soon as possible,” Kuruta replied.

Nino nodded. “I agree. I’ve never seen one so huge.”

“I’ll burn it. Slimes are weakest to fire.” I grabbed my black blade and sent magic through the metal. Then I aimed the advanced fire magic Grande Flamme at the middle of the slime.

My incantation resounded in the valley as magic gathered at a single point. Crimson flames soon shot up from the ground, swallowing the slime in a huge pillar of fire. The hot air could be felt all the way where we were, almost burning our skin.

But the slime wasn’t burning. A normal one wouldn’t have lasted ten seconds under such conditions, yet this one seemed to be consuming the flames rather than turning to ash.

“Maybe its size gives it better resistance to fire,” I mused.

“Perhaps it’d be better to retreat for now,” said Nino.

“Yeah. It’s creepy,” Kuruta muttered.

“What? It’s just big. Cutting it into smaller pieces should solve the problem!” Raiza reached for her sword with a confident smile.

Indeed, cutting the slime down would resolve the firepower issue. I nodded in agreement and moved out of the way. Raiza drew her sword and took aim at the huge slime before her. The Swordmaster could overpower her surroundings just by holding her blade.

“Here goes. Haaah!”

She moved so fast, she created an afterimage that split her sword. In a single second, she released numerous slashing attacks, layering vacuum blades toward the slime. The giant viscous mass immediately split into countless pieces. What tremendous speed!

I promptly tried to burn them with more fire magic, but a screech interrupted me.

“What?! It’s moving!” Raiza yelled.

“Ouch! Hot!”

The separated pieces of slime wriggled our way menacingly, firing a blast of liquid like a water gun, which quickly turned into a rain of liquid due to their numbers.

The moment I touched the liquid, pain ran through me with a sizzling sound. Oh no! It was acid! And quite strong acid at that! My face twitched at the holes that soon opened in my clothes. At this rate, I’d be melted down to the bone!

“Leave this to me and run!” Raiza shouted.

“But...”

“Hurry up!” She repelled the storm of slimes with her sword as she yelled.

Urk, it looked like we had no other choice! My sword skills weren’t enough to deal with this many slimes at once. I could use wind magic, but flying slimes might create a bigger mess in this situation.

“Fine! Make sure you come back alive, sis!”

“Who do you think I am? Save your worries for someone else!”

“Thank you. I won’t forget you for as long as I live,” Kuruta told her.

“I said I don’t need any formal farewells! I’m not dead yet!”

The three of us leaped away from Raiza at her insistence and waited for some time. She eventually made it back unharmed, but...

“Phew, what an annoying opponent.”

“Raiza! Your clothes!” I yelped.

“Huh? Aaaaaagh!”

Raiza turned red and screamed. The armor she was wearing had melted, revealing her underwear beneath.

Chapter 3: Leaping Sister

“I’ve never heard of a slime like that. Could it be a new species?”

The next evening, the receptionist listened to our report with a hand on her chin in contemplation. As a guild employee, she was fairly knowledgeable about monsters, but she hadn’t heard of such a slime before either. It was either extremely rare or a new species altogether. We’d have to wait until the monster research lab person arrived to know the answer.

“I’ll tell the guildmaster to increase your reward in exchange for the information.”

“Yeah, please do. I went through hell because of that slime!” Raiza said in a trembling voice, clenching her fists in anger. She was pretty offended that her precious armor had been destroyed by a mere slime. Fortunately, she had an identical spare, so it wasn’t the end of the world...but she’d been acting like this since yesterday. Top-level warriors really valued their equipment, and that armor had been her favorite.

“Please put out a hunt request for it as soon as possible. I’ll take it right away,” Raiza added.

“It’s reckless to go on a slime hunt with a sword,” the receptionist argued.

“Who do you think I am?! I let my guard down last time, but I can do it if I’m serious!”

“You’ll take the whole mountain down if you try!”

If Raiza used her full strength, she could easily take out a slime like that. The problem was the location. In a deep valley, she could cause a landslide.

Raiza growled. “Then Sieg! You defeat it. Avenge your older sister!”

“Avenge? That’s kind of dramatic...”

Raiza’s brows shot up. She puffed up her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips. “A man wouldn’t understand the feelings of a woman who had her skin exposed against her will!”

“Right...”

“I can feel shame just like anyone else! Even if people call me boorish or meatheaded, I...”

She ranted on, straying further and further off topic. I guess she was feeling frustrated by everything. It was just one complaint after another. It seemed Raiza was a normal girl after all. I’d never thought of her as boorish before, though.

“And that’s why you should defeat the slime for me, Sieg!”

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t have a means of beating it,” I said.

“Hm? Can’t you do something with magic?”

“If I could, I would’ve done so before coming back to the guild.”

Defeating a slime like that required releasing an incredible amount of firepower in one go. It would require superior magic, the level one rank higher than advanced magic spells, at the very least. But I wasn’t able to use superior magic yet. Ciel had also said it was relatively difficult, and she was a sage. Whether that abnormal resistance could be broken by superior magic was also questionable.

“Hmm...” Raiza grunted.

“The researcher might be able to figure out its weakness. Why don’t you wait for them to arrive?” the receptionist suggested.

“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Raiza grumbled.

“By the way, when are they meant to arrive?” Nino asked.

The receptionist frowned a little. She tapped an index finger against her chin and hummed in thought. “The truth is...they’re running rather late. We have no idea when they’ll get here.”

“Are they dragging their feet about their schedules again? That place is notorious for never being on time,” Kuruta said.

“No, it seems to be caused by monsters this time. We’ve already received word of their departure.”

“Did something happen on the way here?”

“So it seems. We haven’t received any details, though, so I can’t tell you for sure. They may have been caught up in some kind of incident on the trip.”

Well, that was rather troublesome. We were all exchanging looks of resignation when Raiza suddenly stepped forward.

“In that case, I’ll go pick them up.”

“Are you sure?” the receptionist asked.

“For the sake of defeating that slime, yes!”

“All right. I’ll put together a description of the researcher for you!” The receptionist immediately reached for a memo pad and began scribbling on it. She seemed to be used to such tasks from her job. The descriptions were succinct but clear.

Hmm...we were looking for a girl who appeared to be in her late teens, was black-haired and short, wore round glasses, and went by the name Keina. But no matter how detailed the information was, the search area was a little too wide. We weren’t exactly search experts, so I couldn’t imagine we’d find her easily.

“Where was this Keina last spotted?” Raiza asked.

“She was last contacted in the town of Maribel.”

“Okay. I’ll be off now.”

“Huh? Hey!”

Raiza marched out of the guild before anyone could stop her. She’d always been quick to act. Actually, no. It was kind of shocking seeing her leap out of the guild like that! How did she plan on finding the researcher?!

“Ah...what do we do? Follow her?” Kuruta asked.

“The only thing we can do is wait. There’s no catching up to Raiza when she moves at top speed,” I replied, immediately throwing in the towel.

Kuruta glanced over at Nino, who immediately shook her head. “It’s impossible for me to catch up to her. She’s at least three times faster than me.”

“Figures. Maribel’s a ten-day trip or more from here. Maybe she’ll cool down halfway and turn back?”

“I hope so. She must have been really upset about the slime...” I mumbled. Although I was her little brother, exposing her skin to a young man must have been a big deal to her. Raiza had always been firm about her virtue. I should probably do something to cheer her up as well, since it was my fault she’d gone and sliced up the slime in the first place. If I had stopped her earlier, none of this would have happened.

“Hmm... Is there any way I can cheer her up?” I asked aloud.

“That might be tough,” Kuruta said.

“This kind of thing really depends on the person,” Nino added.

We crossed our arms and racked our brains together. Just then, someone called out from behind us.

“Hey! What’s up? I think I just saw Raiza fly out of the guild at light speed.”

“Rouga!”

I clapped my hands together. That’s right! He might have an idea! He was an adult male and seemed to have gone through a lot in regard to relations with women.

“Um, I’d like to get your advice on something,” I told him.

“Sure. What can this old man help you with?”

The job with his other party must have gone well, as he was in an awfully good mood. Perhaps that was why he looked a lot more focused than usual today.

“That sounds like quite the ordeal...”

“What we thought was an easy job really did us in.”

“If I had been there, I might’ve been able to tank the acid with my shield. Bad luck.” After listening to me recount events, Rouga shrugged in sympathy. He seemed to be mystified by how we always ended up in trouble.

I wished I knew myself. It felt like I had been dealing with incident after incident ever since I left home. Rouga, however, had completed his job safely, as evidenced by his good mood. With this, he was another step closer to A-rank. He should be able to rank up as soon as next month or the month after. How nice... At least things were going well for one of us.

“And that’s why you’re asking me for ideas on improving Raiza’s mood.”

“Yes. I figured you’d be used to it.”

“Ha ha ha! Leave it to me, kiddo!” Rouga slapped his chest and winked. The glint of his white teeth gave him a bizarre vibe.

He seemed so confident, it was actually making me a little worried. Oh well, I trusted Rouga!

“So, what ideas did you have?”

“When you’ve upset a woman, the standard way of getting back in her good graces is to give her a sentimental gift. Especially if you’re feeling guilty about your own judgment.”

“In other words, bribe her?” Nino asked bluntly.

“Exactly! That’s how I got Jennifer to fall for me... Hey! Watch your choice of words!” Rouga snapped.

The two were as close with each other as ever. They were the spitting image of a stern daughter and useless father. Oops, “useless” is a bit rude.

“Well, I can agree with the idea of a gift itself. Motives aside, anyone would be happy to receive a present,” Kuruta chimed in.

Rouga grinned. “Right?”

“But the problem is what to give. Do you have any ideas regarding that?”

“What about armor? You guys said hers was melted by the slime, right? Why don’t you get that repaired and give it back to her better than before?”

“I see! That’s a great idea!” I said.

“Repairing an armor set like Raiza’s will be quite costly, but it should be manageable with your current income, Sieg.”

After everything that had happened, I currently had ten million gold in my possession. That should be more than enough for repair fees—they were much cheaper than buying a new set outright.

“In that case, I’ll pay Barg’s shop a visit tomorrow.”

“Hm? The old man doesn’t deal with armor.”

“Really? I don’t know of any other good stores, though.”

The only shop I had really been to in this town was Barg’s. It was a good chance to find out what other good stores there were out there, but I didn’t want to risk them ruining my sister’s present.

Just then, Kuruta interrupted us. “About that... I could recommend Ortho’s shop, if you’d like.”

“Ortho? Huh?”

Where had I heard that name before? It sounded kind of familiar. The answer was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t remember. It was quite a frustrating feeling. If only I’d had one more clue.

“He runs an extensive armory in this town. His stock includes not only his own work, but the newest pieces acquired from other towns too.”

I clapped my hands together. “Oh, that’s right! The merchant I met on my way here!”

Right, Ortho was the merchant I had become acquainted with on my journey to Rajah. He had seen potential in me and written a recommendation letter to the guild for me. I had originally planned on visiting his store once I settled in, but with everything going on, it had completely slipped my mind.

“Do you know him?” Kuruta asked.

“Yes, he helped me out a bit in the past. I completely forgot about visiting his shop.”

“Then it’s perfect! Go and spend your money there!” Rouga said brightly.

He was right; I was yet to return the favor Ortho had done for me, when it was all thanks to his recommendation letter that I’d been able to become an adventurer so smoothly. In hindsight, it was pretty rude of me not to show my face at all.

“I’ll show you the way. I’m a regular there,” Nino offered.

“That would be a great help! Let’s meet at the guild tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

Thus, it was decided we would head to Ortho’s store.

“What an unexpected chance!” Kuruta said with a giggle.

After everyone else had left, she had remained at the guild alone, sipping on her drink. The greatest obstacle to conquering Sieg had been his sister Raiza. Now that she was temporarily out of town, it was the perfect opportunity for Kuruta.

“I can’t wait to go shopping tomorrow,” she mumbled to herself with a grin. She took out a notebook and started writing down the various thoughts in her head.

The night passed by peacefully.

Interlude: Ciel’s Long, Long Journey

In the riverside town of Dahm to the east of Rajah, its location on the bank of the Lonau River that flowed through the land had allowed it to develop into a prosperous trading town on par with Rajah. A few days before Raiza rushed out of Rajah, Ciel was standing at the port of the town—and she was angry.

“What do you mean the boats can’t leave?” she demanded.

There were no bridges across the Lonau River. The only way to cross the large river was via ferry, but those ships had been out of operation for three whole days now, even though the weather was clear and the temperature was comfortable.

“Monsters have settled in the waters near town.”

“You said that three days ago. Why haven’t they been dealt with yet?” asked Ciel.

“We haven’t been able to pinpoint the location of their nest. Thankfully, a researcher from the monster research lab happened to be in town, so they’re assisting with the search,” the captain explained in a mumble, faltering before her.

His living was also on the line here. He had spent a hefty amount on local adventurers, but the problem still wasn’t resolved. The enemy monsters existed in mass numbers within the water, and they moved too swiftly to be followed back to their nest.

“According to the researcher, it’ll take another three days to locate it. Once the nest is found, the adventurers will take care of the rest.”

“Three more days! I can’t wait that long!”

“Unfortunately, we can’t help your circumstances.”

Ciel growled angrily. She had to reach Rajah as soon as possible. What awful timing! The furrow in her brow deepened, making her expression even scarier. “I can’t get in contact with Raiza either. What is going on?!”

She had tried to contact Raiza in Rajah through Fiore before setting out, but they hadn’t been able to get in touch with her. The reason was unclear, but it seemed Raiza had cut off contact from her end. An employee from the shop had tried to make direct contact, but she kept shaking them off.

“Noa might be involved, yet I’m stuck here! Argh! How frustrating!”

The fact that Raiza had moved to Rajah meant there was a high possibility something had happened nearby. And it was even more likely that Noa was involved. He had quite a strong sense of justice, and if something happened around him, he would do whatever he could to solve it. Considering his abilities, most incidents wouldn’t be a concern...but what if he encountered a powerful demon? Just the thought of it made Ciel shudder.

“Raiza can be a bit reckless too, so it’s even more worrying...”

Ciel sighed quietly and shifted her thoughts to Raiza. There was no denying her older sister’s skills as a swordsman. She could probably slash through a dragon with a single swing. But at the same time, Raiza wasn’t the smartest. Ciel recalled the time she had tried to invite a thief into their mansion.

“It’s me! I’m a friend of Aeria’s, remember?”

That was all it had taken for her to trust the unfamiliar man. She put on a cool outer appearance, but she was just a meathead with a soft heart.

“Now I’m even more concerned. Hey, I’ll pay you whatever you want to cross the river. If any monsters appear, I’ll defeat them. Will that work?” Ciel said to the captain.

“I’m afraid not. We can’t take responsibility if something happens while we’re crossing.”

“I’m the one being unreasonable. I won’t complain afterward.”

“Even so. If you get injured, it’ll affect our reputation as well,” the captain said, firmly refusing her request.

In the past, several ferrymen had banded together to unfairly raise the travel fare. As a result, the town had introduced new policies to encourage healthy competition between businesses. Due to the large number of ferrymen in the business, no one would risk their reputation by listening to a customer’s demands.

“Will anyone else let me on their ship? I’ll pay one million gold!” Ciel shouted.

The men around the port avoided eye contact with her, with a couple replying:

“It’s not the amount that’s the problem.”

“There are circumstances stopping us even if we wanted to.”

In their eyes, Ciel was just another ignorant rich girl. Their dismissive attitude enraged her even further. “Fine! I guess I have no other choice! Where can I find this monster lab researcher?”

“They went on an investigation upstream with some adventurers. It was quite a large group, so you should be able to spot them immediately.”

“All right. I’ll go and ask them to speed up the investigation process directly!”

“Hey, now, are you serious? I doubt that’ll make a difference, you know?”

Ignoring the captain trying to stop her, Ciel left the port and headed straight for the river where the researcher was.

“That has to be it.”

After one hour of walking along the river from Dahm, Ciel finally detected the magic energy of a large group of people. A young girl in a white coat was staring at the river in deep contemplation, surrounded by various survey equipment and adventurers. This had to be the researcher and her escorts.

“My calculations are pointing to here. This is weird,” the girl mumbled with a frown.

Ciel immediately raised her voice. “Hey! You! Are you the researcher from the monster research lab?”

“Hm? That I am. Who are you?” the girl asked, clearly wary of the stranger before her. The adventurers guarding her raised their weapons and stood in front of her.

Ciel raised her hands to indicate her lack of hostility. “My name is Ciel. I’m here to ask you about the monsters.”

“Huh? Did the town mayor send you?”

“No. I’m here to make a personal offer.”

“A personal offer? What for?” The girl narrowed her eyes and looked Ciel up and down as though to evaluate her.

In response, Ciel took out a gold medal from her breast pocket and showed it to her. It was the symbol of a sage, bestowed directly by the king.

The girl’s eyes promptly widened. “What?! A sage?!”

“Yes. Have you heard of Sage Ciel before?”

“Of course I have! You’re famous! Oh my god!” The girl panicked. The adventurers with her immediately stepped back and bowed.

Ciel nodded in satisfaction and approached them. “From the look of it, your monster search hasn’t been going well.”

“No, there are just too many of them, and they move too fast. I know they have to be somewhere around here, but...”

“How much longer will it take to narrow it down?”

“Another five days. If you can lend me your strength, then maybe one.”

“What? That’s longer than I was told!” Ciel snapped. The deadline had been extended without her knowledge. There was no telling what could happen to Noa in the five days she spent idling here.

The girl shrank back at Ciel’s fury and mumbled an excuse. “The area the monsters fled to has the fastest water current, so it’s not easy to get close.”

She pointed timidly at the river. Large boulders stuck out of the surface, which water struck to create a fierce white spray. Surging whirlpools roared across the river around the area. Due to the nearby mountains, this spot was where the Lonau River was narrowest. The water was concentrated at a single point, forming a raging current.

“I see. That does sound like a pain,” Ciel admitted.

“It seems the monsters have realized that too, as they chose to nest there. I’m doing my best, but there’s a limit to what I can do.” The girl scratched the back of her head in frustration and pointed at a stack of barrels beside the river. The barrels had round glass windows installed in them like portholes and a long, thick pipe extending from the lid. They appeared to be simple diving apparatuses.

“Did you enter the river in these?” Ciel asked.

“I wasn’t making any progress otherwise. It’s actually pretty fun! Even though it makes me motion sick.”

“I’ll commend your ability to take action. That’s the monster research lab for you.”

The girl giggled as she rolled up her sleeves. “We’ll go wherever the monsters go, be it fire or water!”

Ciel shook her head with a wry smile. She was well aware of what kind of organization the monster research lab was, as she often requested materials for her own research from them. “But that does make this a problem. Is there any way to stop the monsters temporarily?”

“Are you in a hurry to cross the river?”

“Yes. If I don’t cross as soon as possible, something terrible will happen. Something as serious as the end of the world for us,” Ciel said solemnly, her face paling. The way her clenched fists trembled spoke volumes of the severity of the situation.

What could have scared a sage this much? The girl recalled the emergency request that she had originally received and gulped. What if something major involving demons and the world was happening right now? If that was the case, she had to make sure the sage could move forward no matter what.

She hesitated for a few moments, then made a decision. “There is one way. I don’t know if it’ll go well, and it means I’ll have to stay back here, so I didn’t want to suggest it.”

“What does it involve? I don’t mind a little danger, so just say it!”

“Okay. First, allow me to explain the monsters in question.” The girl beckoned to the adventurers.

They immediately understood what she was saying and carried over the large fishlike creature that had been lying beside the barrels. Ciel had assumed they had fished it up because it was in the way of their investigation, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“This is the armor fish that’s been threatening the area. Can you see the horn growing from its head? It uses this to ram into boats and open holes in them.”

“Huh, so this is the cause...”

“And there are quite a large number of them—tens of thousands in this area alone. Normally, they’re dealt with by locating the nest and taking them all out at once, but...”

“But?”

“It’s possible to temporarily limit them. They’re monsters, but they’re mostly fish, so they’ll stop moving if the temperature drops. So if you can cool the river with magic...”

“The boats can set sail?”

“Yes. But it’s only a temporary measure that doesn’t solve the actual problem, so I’ll have to stay here and observe the situation. Most importantly, cooling the entire Lonau River would be a massive feat even for a sage.”

The girl stared at the river with a worried look. Although it was narrower here, it was still a part of the largest river on the continent. The stupendous volume of water made the other side of the bank seem extra far away. Cooling it would require so much magic energy, it would be difficult even for a sage.

But Ciel just nodded confidently. “Don’t worry about that. Leave it to me.”

“Really?!”

“Who do you think I am? I’m Sage Ciel!” She thumped her chest proudly, then turned to the river and widened her stance to shoulder width.

One deep inhale and exhale later, Ciel held her staff up. She drew a detailed magic circle in the air with shocking speed and precision. Lines of light ran through the air, forming a complex pattern. She layered the circles multiple times until they released a bewitchingly beautiful glow. A vast amount of magic energy gathered, creating a faint breeze through the area. Eventually, the end of her staff began glowing particularly bright.

Ciel yelled, “Grand Joli Givre!”

The next moment, the world froze. Blue ice rushed across the wide Lonau River in the blink of an eye. Less than a minute later, a large mountain of glittering ice had appeared on the water. It was large enough to build a small castle on top of, and it released a chill air that immediately made the researcher shiver. Her breaths came out white as she stared wide-eyed at the incredible sight.

Just how much magic energy would it take to pull off a feat like this? Was it even possible for a human to do this? Everyone watching was shocked.

“Wow! So this is the magic energy of a sage!” the researcher cried.

“What do you think? Is this enough to stop the monsters?” Ciel asked.

“It’s plenty! It’ll last at least ten days, yes!”

“All right! I’ll go and tell them to set sail immediately.”

“In that case, let me write a proper letter. With this, the captains should be happy to cooperate!” The girl beamed and reached into her backpack for writing implements. She swiftly wrote a note and signed it before handing it to Ciel.

“Thanks! I forgot to ask earlier, but what’s your name?”

“Me? I’m Keina!”

“Keina. Got it. I’ll remember that!”

“It’s an honor! Please do your best, great sage! I’ll be cheering you on from here!” Keina said, bowing her head deeply. She was convinced there was an existential threat in the making, so her attitude was more reverent than ever.

Ciel responded with a thumbs-up and a wink, then ran off toward Dahm.

“There she goes. There seems to be something serious going on, but I’m sure she’ll be able to resolve it. What a reliable person,” Keina said to herself, eyes sparkling as she recalled Ciel’s gallant figure.

No matter what lies in wait, that sage will be able to handle it.

Her heart was aflutter imagining the wonders Ciel would accomplish. However, Keina didn’t know the truth: The only reason Ciel was in a hurry was to bring her little brother home. It had nothing to do with any requests, nor was she involved in the demon incident!

Chapter 4: A Repair and a Shocking Truth

The day after my sister went flying out of town, I was waiting for Kuruta and the others in front of the guild. Where was Ortho’s shop anyway? Hopefully he’d be able to fix Raiza’s armor. Her armor was really good quality, so it was quite a hassle to repair.

As I was wondering about such things, Rouga arrived.

“Hey!” he said.

“Rouga! You’re early today.”

“Men have to show up early to these kinds of things. Can’t keep the women waiting!”

“If only you applied that diligent attitude to your work as well.”

He burst into hearty laughter. “You can say that again!”

Nino and Kuruta came over while we were chatting.

Whoa...

Kuruta was in a different outfit from normal. She was wearing sporty white clothes that clearly showed off her figure and looked a lot more mature than usual. But was it just me, or was she putting a lot of effort into looking nice for a trip to repair some armor?

“Good morning! Did you sleep well last night?” she asked.

“Yeah, pretty well. What’s up with that outfit?” I replied.

“Since we’re going out, it felt dull to wear my normal attire.”

“Hey, now. We’re just going to repair some armor. There’s no need to put on your good clothes for that. What is there to get so psyched about?” Rouga said, exasperated.

Kuruta’s cheeks puffed up at the criticism. “What’s the problem? We’re still going out!”

“Whoa!” I cried.

She had suddenly stepped up to me and entwined her arm around mine. The faint smell of a sweet scent unique to women...the warm body temperature coming from her arm... These unexpected events made my mind screech to a halt. It was embarrassing to admit, but this was the first time someone other than my sisters had done this to me. In fact, it was rare for me to even see any other women while I was back at home.

“What are you doing?!” I yelped.

Kuruta giggled. “There’s no need to be so flustered! It’s just a little skinship.”

“What...?”

“Kuruta’s just expressing her goodwill. Accept it with joy. Now smile,” Nino demanded.

“Um, shouldn’t I get a say in that?!”

Whenever Kuruta was involved, Nino immediately lost all her common sense. At least she was a little friendlier with me now compared to before. Before I saved Kuruta, she’d always looked at me with a cold gaze. Her eyes were lukewarm now, though.

“Well, whatever. Let’s go to the shop already,” Nino said.

“Okay!”

Kuruta snickered mischievously. “You should pick out some armor for me while we’re there. There’s nothing wrong with what I’m currently using, but I haven’t upgraded it in nearly five years now.”

“Hey, don’t pick on Sieg too much, Kuruta,” Rouga chided her. It seemed like today’s trip would be a noisy one.

We left the guild and walked along the street for roughly ten minutes, eventually arriving at a store with many sets of armor on display. This was Ortho’s store. It was located surprisingly close to the guild, which explained their frequent transactions. Judging from the front of the shop and the quality of products on display, business was flourishing. There was even a set of mithril armor on display at the back.

“This is a nice shop,” Rouga said. He seemed to like the ambience.

“Yeah, it’s very well organized,” Kuruta said. “A lot of shops slack in that regard.”

“Yeah, Barg’s store is a straight up mess in the back.”

“Oh? Look who it is!” a new voice said. Ortho had appeared from the back of the shop. His eyes widened the moment he saw me. As expected of a merchant, he clearly remembered my face. “If it isn’t Sieg! Long time no see, long time no see!”

“Hello again. It’s been a while.”

“I’ve heard the rumors! It seems you’ve been busy defeating demons, huh?”

“Yes, just a little.”

“How impressive for someone so young! The future is bright for you!”

“Oh, no, I still have a long way to go.”

After exchanging greetings, I immediately apologized to Ortho for failing to visit his store earlier. He waved me off with a hearty laugh.

“So, what are you here for today? A new set of armor, perhaps?” he asked.

“I’m here to make a repair request. This is the set in question. Can you fix it?”

I took Raiza’s armor out of my magic pack. She had given it to me when I’d handed her the spare set yesterday. The set had an elegant design, but the gold breastplate was dented and the fabric sections were ripped.

Ortho promptly took out his magnifying glass to examine the damaged areas. His gaze turned sharp and serious—it was almost like he was another person.

“How does it look?” I asked.

“The repair should be possible at our store. It’ll be expensive, but we’re willing to work with you on that. However...”

“However?”

“This armor had a powerful enchantment cast on it, didn’t it? The spell formula for that also appears to be damaged, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to repair that.”

“I see...”

Ciel had cast enchantment magic on the armor Raiza used. As it had been personally cast by a sage, it was obviously extremely powerful. Heat resistance, cold resistance, impact resistance... There were at least five types just off the top of my head. I should’ve realized earlier that there was no way an armory in town could fix something like that. It would take a professional magician in the field to fix it, if not Ciel herself.

“That’s troubling. Is there nothing you can do, sir?” Rouga asked.

“Not unless you can bring a powerful magician here,” Ortho replied.

“Hmm. I’m not acquainted with any magicians.”

“Me neither. There aren’t many magicians who would choose to become adventurers,” Nino added.

It seemed magicians were rather rare around Rajah. That made sense. Magicians were originally scholars. Although this was a large town, there weren’t many people who would want to be so close to the demon realm border.

“Do you know anyone, Kuruta? You have your A-rank connections, no?” Rouga asked.

“Hmm. Technically I do, but...” Kuruta brought a hand to her chin and thought for a few moments. She then looked my way and smiled.

What was that for?

“Isn’t the perfect person already here?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Sieg can apply the enchantments! You said you made your own magic bag, right?”

“I mean, yes, I did.”

“Wow! A magic bag! That sounds promising!” Ortho said brightly.

“It’s really no big deal though!” I protested, shaking my hand furiously. Everyone looked exasperated. Come to think of it, the guild receptionist had also been surprised when I’d first shown her my magic bag. Ciel had insisted it wasn’t anything special, but could she have been wrong?

“Sieg is as ignorant about himself as ever,” Rouga muttered.

“Yes. I don’t like it, but I agree with Rouga here,” Nino said.

“It’s fine! You can do it, Sieg!” Kuruta stared into my eyes expectantly. It was hard to refuse puppy eyes like that. What could I even say?

As I was struggling to reply, Rouga gave me another push. “Why not give it a go? Even if it’s awkward, at least it’ll be handmade. I reckon you could do it as well, but even if you fail, Raiza won’t blame you for it.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds like I have no choice but to do it myself.”

“That’s right, you can do it! We’ll help too. I have a lot of magic energy, so I can probably help out somehow,” Kuruta said, emphasizing her usefulness. Was she really that interested in magic enchantments?

I didn’t have any reason to refuse, so I nodded.

“All right, it’s decided!” she cheered.

“Okay. Could you please repair this armor, Ortho? As soon as possible would be preferable, if you’re not busy,” I said.

“Leave it to me! My workers are all professionals, and they’ll get it done by tonight!”

“Whoa! That’s so fast!”

I had expected at least two to three days. They weren’t located in the mecca of adventurers for nothing—they were top class in everything but enchantment magic. If it was this fast, one could get broken armor repaired before they even accepted their next job. What a nice store to have ties with!

“I guess we can wander around town while we wait,” Rouga suggested.

“Yeah, I haven’t eaten yet either,” I said.

“Oh! How about that black beef restaurant that’s been popular lately? The black beef rice there is exquisite!”

“Hold on a minute. I want to talk to Rouga about something,” Nino said suddenly, interrupting our heated conversation over food.

“Huh? Why don’t we talk over food?” Rouga asked.

“I want to talk to you alone!”

She was oddly insistent about being alone with Rouga. Had something happened between the two? Rouga looked just as confused as me—until Nino went up to him and whispered in his ear.

“I see. I guess it can’t be helped, then. Let’s split up for a bit,” he said.

“Huh? What about lunch?”

“Go and eat with Kuruta. We’ll meet up later.”

With that, Rouga and Nino hurried off somewhere. In exchange, Kuruta closed the distance to me once again. She grinned mischievously and wrapped her arm around me.

“Guess you’re stuck with me! Say, what do you want to eat?”

“Huh? Um...”

It had all happened so suddenly, I was speechless. When she asked me what I wanted to eat, I had no idea how to answer.

Kuruta eventually got fed up with my hesitation and made a suggestion. “How about pizza?”

“Pizza? What’s that?”

“It’s a food that’s been getting popular in Rajah recently. It stretches when you eat it! Like this!” she said, demonstrating through hand gestures.

A stretchy food? I wonder what it would taste like?

I tilted my head curiously, and Kuruta started to lead the way by tugging my hand.

“Since you’re interested, let’s go!”

“Hey! Don’t yank me!”

“Hurry up!”

Thus, Kuruta and I went to find a restaurant that served this so-called pizza.

The western area around the Adventurers Guild was packed with restaurants targeting adventurers at the end of their work day. The restaurant we were going to was a place called Stone Oven, located on the corner of the street at a prime location. The building had a large workshop-sized chimney and furnace, fitting for its name.

An appetizing scent wafted all the way to the entrance where we stood. Was this burnt cheese? I gulped at the mouthwatering smell.

“It smells great already!” I said.

“Yeah! It was worth the hours of research I did yesterday,” Kuruta replied.

“Huh? Research?”

“It’s nothing! Come on, let’s go inside.”

A line had already formed behind us. The restaurant seemed quite popular. I quickly bowed my head to apologize for blocking the way and opened the door. The waiter led us to a table by a window.

“Now, what shall we order? The most popular item is their special mix, so maybe that!” Kuruta said excitedly.

“That sounds good.”

“Okay, then let’s get the large size and share it. Waiter!”

Kuruta called a waiter over and placed our order. Several minutes of light conversation later, the food arrived. It looked like a thin baked pie on a large flat plate. It had to be fresh out of the oven, as the cheese on the surface was still bubbling slowly.

“Dig in before it gets cold!” Kuruta said.

“Yeah! Whoa...so this is what you meant by stretchy!”

When I picked up a slice of the pizza that had been divided into eight, the melted cheese dangled down with a satisfying stretch. I brought the burning piece to my mouth and immediately experienced the taste of bliss. The juicy meat and cheese made a fantastic combination, bringing out the spice of the paprika and chili sauce.

So hot! But so yummy!

I huffed and puffed at the heat as I swallowed the entire slice in one go. Kuruta was also blowing on her slice as she ate it with a smile. She seemed to be a fan of the taste too.

“Mm! Delicious!” I said.

“This place was a great choice.”

“Thanks for bringing me here!”

“It’s fine. We’re comrades, aren’t we?” Kuruta chuckled, then suddenly looked at me seriously.

What, did she have something important to discuss? I took a sip of my water and straightened in my seat.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while... What do you think of Raiza, Sieg?”

“Of my sister?”

“Yes. I’m just curious about things.”

Hmm. It was hard to summarize how I felt about Raiza in one go, but if I had to put it simply...

“She’s a beloved family member. I complained a lot about how tough her training was, but I know she had my best interests at heart,” I explained sincerely, recalling how dejected she had been after our duel. I used to be so certain she hated me, but after seeing that face...it was clear there had been a misunderstanding.

“I see. ‘Beloved family,’ huh?”

“Yep.”

“So you’d never think of her as anything more than that, right?”

“Of course not! That’s a given!”

Just what did Kuruta think was going on between Raiza and me?! We were family! There wasn’t any “more” or “less” to be had. Good grief, her imagination was really out of hand.

“We may not be blood-related, but we’re siblings. That’s all.”

“I suppose that makes sense. You’re the last person I’d expect to have a sister comple—” Kuruta froze mid-word, staring at me in horror.

Huh? Did I say something weird? Her change was so dramatic, I was left feeling flustered.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Did you just say you’re not blood-related?”

“Yes. Didn’t I mention that before?”

Kuruta dropped the pizza in her hand. “No, that’s news to me! If you’re stepsiblings, that means you could cross that line whenever you want to!” She leaned back and stared up at the ceiling in shock until she toppled out of her seat.

“Whoa! Kuruta? Kuruta!”

I rushed over to help her back up. She seemed to have passed out in shock.

What just happened here?!

I only had more questions.

“It was expensive, but the repair itself went perfectly!”

Several hours after our meal, the four of us had met up back at Ortho’s store to pick up the armor. The previously tattered gear was as good as new. The fee would be a hefty one, but I was happy to pay it for the sake of my sister.

“That’s one problem resolved, at least. Unlike...” Rouga trailed off, glancing at Kuruta and shaking his head with a sigh.

The girl standing next to me had been acting weird ever since regaining consciousness. It was almost like she was grumpy or sulking about something.

“Well, I don’t blame her. It’s your fault for keeping the important details secret, Sieg,” Nino said firmly.

“Excuse me? I haven’t lied about anything.”

“Hmph. Do I need to spell it out for you? I’m talking about Raiza and—”

“Aaah! You don’t need to say it!” Kuruta snapped out of her daze and stopped Nino by placing a hand over her mouth.

Nino thrashed about with muffled sounds. “Can’t breathe... Kuruta!”

“Oh, sorry! I used more strength than I intended,” Kuruta apologized, removing her hand. Nino immediately forgave her with a bow, and Kuruta cleared her throat. “But never mind that. Let’s deal with this armor first.”

Although the change in topic was obvious, she was right about the armor being more important right now. Though it had been repaired, it was still useless without enchantments.

“I guess we should start with the materials necessary for enchantment magic?” she suggested.

“Yes, I’ll need quite a few things,” I replied.

“All right! We can go out and buy them for you,” Rouga offered.

“Thank you. I’d also like to rent a workshop somewhere, if possible.”

A proper environment was important in casting a good enchantment spell. A random room wouldn’t do. Ciel had gone as far as remodeling a whole section of the mansion into a large workshop. While I didn’t need something that extravagant, I at least wanted a good workbench where I could manipulate magic easily.

“Hmm. I don’t have any leads for a workshop. How about you, Rouga?” Nino asked.

“Me neither. Why don’t you inquire with the guild? They might be able to find you a place,” Rouga suggested.

“That’s a good idea, but it sounds a little time-consuming.”

“In that case, I may have a lead,” Kuruta said.

“Really?!”

“Yup! My next-door neighbor’s a magician. I may be able to ask if we can borrow hers.”

That sounded perfect, so we made our way to Kuruta’s home without delay. Her house was located in the southeastern part of town, in a district full of wealthy people. As we followed her through the streets, the townscape gradually got neater and neater around us. Trees grew on the roadside in even intervals, footpaths were gently sloping, and grand mansions were spaced along the road. There was a clean and refined atmosphere to the place, completely unfitting for an adventurer.

“Whoa. This place is clearly meant for rich people, huh? You can just feel the elegance,” I commented.

“Yeah, owning a house here is like a status symbol for the adventurers of Rajah,” Rouga explained.

“If Rouga hadn’t spent all his money on women, he’d be able to buy a small property here too,” Nino said teasingly.

Rouga shook his head. “No way! Don’t underestimate the land value of this area!”

So even a B-rank adventurer couldn’t afford the houses here? They already made ten times the income of the average civilian! Wow.

Kuruta looked a little smug at my surprise. “I was only able to buy it because an older place went up for sale. If I wanted to buy a new construction, I’d have to work as an adventurer for ten years.”

“It takes that long even at A-rank?”

“Yeah. It’d be one thing if you could exterminate dragons one after another, but real job requests don’t work like that.”

It seemed that even in Rajah, requests of that scale didn’t come in often.

“That’s why it’s strange how these big incidents have been happening in such quick succession lately,” Kuruta continued with a shrug.

She had a point. Just because this was a place for adventurers didn’t mean it could keep up with such frequent monster spawns forever. The town would be ruined before any money could be earned.

“Well, we’re here.” Kuruta came to a stop before a large brick house. It was two stories tall and had a characteristic veranda supported by stone pillars. There was a small flower bed beside the entrance fitting for a luxury mansion. She had called it old, but this place must’ve cost a lot.

“Wow! It’s huge!” I said.

“Welcome to my palace! Though it’s no match for the place Raiza bought...”

I chuckled. “Well, Raiza does have a higher income. She doesn’t have anything else to spend it on either.”

“She didn’t seem like the type to spend extravagantly.”

“Come to think of it, are you two actually from a super wealthy family? It has to take a real distinguished family to raise a Swordmaster. Are you nobility?” Rouga asked curiously.

Wait, does he think I’m some kind of rich kid?

He hadn’t said it in words, but he must have smelled money. There was no point in hiding my background, and now that I thought about it, I had yet to tell them about my home and family. Might as well clear it up now.

“No, we’re not like that. We’re from a small merchant family that’s lived in the Winster Capital for many generations.”

“Ooh, a merchant family?”

“Yes. Just to make it clear, I was adopted. My biological parents were also merchants, and they passed away when I was young.”

The others frowned sympathetically when they heard that. At the end of the day, they were all good people.

“I see. So that’s how Raiza became your sister,” Rouga said.

“Yes, that’s basically it.”

“But I’m surprised you ended up such close siblings. I was shocked when you said you weren’t related by blood. You seem like true siblings.”

“Really? My sister’s always nagging me about something.”

“No, no. It’s the nagging that makes you look close. If you were strangers, you wouldn’t bother interfering in each other’s lives.” Rouga shook his head as though to say I was missing the point.

Hmm... I guess he had a point. They say that the opposite of love and hate is apathy, so maybe it proved she cared.

“I guess so. Maybe we’re close because of my past actions?”

“Does something come to mind?”

“You see, there’re six of us siblings. So when my foster father fell ill, there were talks about splitting us into two groups of three, since it’d be tough for a foster family to raise all six of us. But I was adamantly against it.”

“Huh. How come?” Kuruta asked.

Hmm. How come indeed?

I’d still been a child back then, so part of it was emotions and rebellion. But if I had to give it a reason...

“I didn’t want my family to be split up. I had a tough time when I was first adopted, so I didn’t want my sisters to go through that.”

“But your father was sick, right? Wouldn’t it be tough for someone else to raise the six of you?” Rouga asked.

“Yes. But I was still a kid, so I didn’t understand the reasoning. I spent a whole day walking to our relatives’ house to beg them in person,” I said, retelling my story as I recalled the past.

I was really reckless back then...

I had waited outside in the freezing cold in protest until they listened to me. For a kid who had lived a cozy life until then, I really had done my best.

“Impressive initiative,” Nino said.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you had it in you, Sieg,” Kuruta added.

“Well, that was all I could do at the time. I was just a kid, and blunt honesty was my only redeeming point.”

“I see. So your sisters felt grateful to you after that,” Rouga said.

“It’s just my conjecture, but yes. Ever since then, my sisters started meddling more and more in my life.”

Until then, they’d been rather indifferent to me. When I looked back on it now, we’d been more like strangers up to that point. The six of us had only truly become a family after that incident. Although in Raiza’s case, the events following that probably played a part too.

“People all have their own history. All right! The three of you can wait inside my place while I have a chat with my neighbor,” Kuruta said, before swiftly walking away.

The three of us waited in her house as ordered.

Chapter 5: Enchantment Magic

“Heh heh. Success!”

Not long after, Kuruta returned, beaming from ear to ear. It seemed the negotiations with her neighbor had gone well. She was so happy, she was humming to herself.

“She said she retired from being a magician a long time ago, so we’re free to use the workshop. You can also help yourself to the materials and magic stones there.”

“Ooh! How generous!”

That would save me the trouble of procuring the materials myself! I’d have to thank her later. With this, I would cast the best enchantment magic I could.

I rolled up my sleeves and clenched my fists in determination. “Shall we go right away?”

“Can we come too?” Rouga asked. “We rarely get the chance to see the inside of a magician’s workshop!”

“I’m fine with that.”

“All right, follow me.” Kuruta led us to her neighbor’s house.

An old woman with white hair greeted us at the door. She was the owner of the house and the former magician Kuruta had mentioned. She must have held a high position, as there was a sense of elegance in her mannerisms. I could also faintly sense her refined magic energy.

“Everyone, this is my neighbor, Marlene.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. “My name is Sieg. Thank you for lending me your workshop today.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure. What a polite child.”

Marlene giggled and beckoned us inside. We followed her through the house to her workshop.

Wow, it’s actually pretty nice!

There was a large window with lots of light shining in, and the workbench by the wall was of high quality too. There was a detailed, double-layered magic circle carved into it, and the surface was even coated in mithril.

“Whoa. You’ve kept this place really well maintained. I heard you retired some time ago,” I commented.

“Oh? Can you tell?”

“Yes. Workbenches that don’t get used for a while decrease in energy transfer efficiency. The fact that it’s flowing this well means you’ve kept it regularly maintained by sending magic through it.”

Marlene looked a little surprised by my answer. I thought that was something anyone should be able to notice at a glance, but it seemed she didn’t agree.

“You’re quite the promising magician, aren’t you?” she said happily.

“Oh no, not at all,” I replied.

“There’s no need to be humble. I’m sure my tools will be delighted to be used by someone like you. Feel free to use whatever you wish.”

“Right! Thank you very much! I’ll be careful with them!”

“Take your time. Let me know if you need anything,” Marlene said before leaving.

“I’ll also step aside for now,” Kuruta said, keeping her distance along with Nino and Rouga.

It was finally time. I took the armor out of my magic bag and considered what enchantments I wanted to place on it.

“Physical strength boost is a given... Flame resistance and cold resistance are both necessary basics... I’d also like to add miasma resistance...”

Unfortunately, there was a limit to the number of enchantments that could be applied. Even with high-quality materials like those available here, that limit was unavoidable. I had to carefully choose which ones to apply. This kind of coordination was where the skills of a magician really shone.

“I also want to add acid resistance, but...”

Knowing my sister, she would most likely wear this armor to challenge that slime again. That’s why I wanted as much acid resistance as possible. But what would it take to resist acid as powerful as that? This armor had originally been enchanted by Ciel, a magician with the title of Sage. If the acid had passed through her enchantments, it was impossible to do this the normal way.

“Hmm. How to go about this...”

I mumbled to myself while considering my options. It was impossible to cast a better enchantment than Ciel’s. I didn’t have nearly enough magic energy or technique to match her. Which meant I needed an idea she never would have come up with herself. Something bold and inventive.

“Ugh! Gotta think harder!”

I wrote the spell formula on a piece of paper, erasing and rewriting it over and over. I tried out every idea that crossed my mind, but none were good enough to stick.

Time passed with no real progress. Before I knew it, night had fallen and moonlight was streaming in through the window. Hours had passed in the blink of an eye.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Kuruta asked. She had come to call me over for dinner, but she took one look at my face and frowned worriedly. “No good?”

“Well, no. I can’t think of a good way to add acid resistance.”

“Ah. Magic isn’t my specialty, so I can’t help you there. Nino’s ninja techniques aren’t quite the same either. You might be on your own here.” Kuruta shrugged apologetically.

Just then, Marlene, who had been watching me quietly for some time now, spoke gently. “If you don’t plan on making noise, I don’t mind if you work here overnight. Young magicians all grow by pushing themselves.”

She smiled with a fond look in her eyes, as though reminiscing about the past. Now that she mentioned it, Ciel had also been completely focused on research in the past. She was reckless to the point of working for five whole days and sleeping for two. She’d only settled into a regular routine after becoming a sage.

“If you don’t mind, that would be great. I don’t want to give up yet.”

“Of course. Do your best.”

“I’ll go make a midnight snack for when you need it.”

And so, a long night of trial and error began for me.

“There we go. That should be all...I think?”

The next day, I was gathering resources on enchantment magic in Marlene’s home library. As I had suspected, she had once been a top-class magician. The books she had were all top-tier items, some of which Ciel didn’t even have.

“Did you find what you needed?” Marlene asked, coming over to check on me as I took a short break.

I left the books on the desk and turned to her. “Yes. I was shocked by how large the selection is.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“You really must have been an amazing magician. It couldn’t have been easy to gather so many resources.”

Marlene giggled with a mysterious smile. “Oh, I was just your average old lady.”

There was no way that was true. But she smoothly dodged my questions each time I tried to ask about it. I guess she couldn’t answer that for an outsider like me.

“I’ll let you get back to thinking about your enchantment magic now,” she said.

“Good point.”

I was still curious about her, but now wasn’t the time to pry. I took my books and returned to the workshop.

Now, back to focusing on this.

With a book in one hand, I returned to the spell formula I’d been writing.

“Wow, enchantment magic can even enchant things with offensive spells? It’s a bit restrictive, though.”

I made a memo of everything I thought was interesting. The resources themselves were so fascinating, I ended up getting distracted and reading them. While I preferred using swords, I actually had a lot of interest in magic as well. That was why Ciel had given me such strict lessons on it. She liked to say that one should always strive to get better at their interests.

“Hm? Oh, it’s already so late.”

The clock in the next room chimed loudly. It was already my second night there, about to become my third day.

Perhaps I should sleep soon?

No, I had yet to decide what kind of enchantment I would cast. I should at least get that done first. Marlene had also said she’d pulled all-nighters in her youth.

“Okay, let’s give this one more try.”

I stood up and stretched a little, getting my blood circulating. Just then, someone knocked on the door. Who could it be at this late hour?

I opened the door to reveal Kuruta standing outside.

“Hey! I brought you a drink!” she said.

The scent of black tea wafted over. I didn’t know my tea brands, but the scent alone had a calming effect. I was grateful for the consideration, since I was just about to begin one last spurt.

“Thank you!”

“No worries. I’ll leave it here for you.”

Kuruta quickly excused herself again, not wanting to get in my way. I reached for the cup she had left on the corner of the workbench—and immediately knocked it over.

“Oops! Oh no!”

At this rate, the precious workbench would get waterlogged! I looked around for something to wipe it up with, but there was nothing I could use nearby.

What do I do?!

Use my clothes? But then they’d get stained with tea. Aeria had bought these for me, so I didn’t want to dirty them like that.

“I know! Petit Givre!”

My fingertips glowed bluish-white and sent cold air across the workbench. The black tea froze into a white mass. All I had to do was throw this away.

There, that solved it.

It was on the spur of the moment, but thankfully, I was able to control my magic well.

“Phew. It would’ve been awful if I’d ruined the workbench I was borrowing.”

Workbenches for enchantment magic had to be custom-made, so they were expensive products. This one belonged to a former top magician, so there was no doubt it had cost a pretty penny. It probably wouldn’t break from some tea, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Hold on. Could this apply to acid as well?”

Just then, a jolt of inspiration hit me. Acid was mostly made of water. In which case, it should be able to freeze at a low temperature, making it essentially harmless. The heat resistance enchantment already used water magic, so if I adjusted that a little...

“This could work! I can do this!”

I immediately got back to work. The first step was to set the conditions. If it was activated upon touch, it could be dangerous for other people. It was better to have an on and off trigger. There also needed to be some kind of guard against the cold affecting the inside of the armor. That could be managed using a magic barrier, which could also be used to disperse heat...

“It’s not simple, but this could be it!”

Now that I can see the first step, I should be able to do this.

With my new bout of confidence, I immersed myself in my work all night long.

Interlude: Sage’s Magic and Swordmaster’s Sword

While Sieg was struggling with the enchantment magic, Raiza had made her way to the Lonau River far east of Rajah. She had made the trip that would have taken a week by carriage in a mere two days on foot—something only possible due to her endless stamina and powerful legs.

“The water level seems higher than normal. I wonder why,” Raiza mumbled as she watched the Lonau River flow.

It was a bright and sunny day, and the wind was refreshing. The land was dry and showed no signs of recent rainfall. Yet the river was at a higher water level than she had ever seen before. The grass on the riverbank was submerged like a wetland.

“Hm?”

Just then, Raiza spotted a man passing by. He seemed to be a local.

“Hey! You there! Do you have a moment?” she called out to him, then asked him about the state of the river.

The man pointed to a sparkling mass on the horizon. “An odd mountain of ice formed down the river. That’s what’s blocking the flow.”

“A mountain of ice?”

“Yeah. It’s a pretty thing to look at, but the extra water’s causing flooding everywhere.”

“That’s absurd. There’s no way ice would form in this warm weather!” Raiza laughed off the man’s words as though he was joking. The climate in this area was always warm. It wasn’t an area with extreme changes in weather either. It was impossible for a mountain of ice to just form naturally.

But the man frowned at her reaction. “I saw it with my own eyes. You can go check it out for yourself too. There’s no other way of describing it.”

“If you’re that certain, then I guess I’ll do just that. Sorry for stopping you, and thanks for answering.”

Raiza bid farewell to the man and began walking toward the ice mountain he had indicated. Ten minutes of walking along the river later, the reflective mass was much larger, while the temperature around her was much lower. The grass was wilted, and frost covered the ground. It was almost like winter had arrived in just this area.

Eventually, Raiza arrived before a mass of ice as large as an island. She frowned in the cold as she stared at it.

“Hmm. I wasn’t expecting it to be true,” she mumbled to herself.

It didn’t look like a natural phenomenon, but who could’ve done such a thing? And why? At a glance, it was beautiful, but its existence was baffling. What if a demon had created it for something?

As Raiza was scanning the surroundings, a girl approached her. “What do you think? Quite the sight, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

The girl was looking up at the ice mountain proudly. She seemed to be familiar with the sight, so Raiza immediately turned to question her.

“Say, do you know what the deal is with this ice mountain?”

“That I do. It was created to stop the active monsters in the area.”

“Oh? This can stop monsters?”

“Yup! They’re called armor fish, and they stop moving when the temperature falls low enough.”

Upon hearing the girl’s explanation, Raiza nodded in understanding. But she quickly noticed something strange about it.

“But this only briefly delays the problem, doesn’t it? Don’t tell me you plan on cooling this area forever.”

“Nah, of course not. This is just a temporary measure. The sage who made this was in a hurry to cross the river, so I suggested it as a way of stopping the monsters. I didn’t think she’d actually turn the entire river into a pool of ice, though.”

“I see. So that’s what happened. A sage who can use magic of this scale...”

Raiza placed a hand under her chin and thought for a moment. The face of her little sister flashed through her mind. There were several magicians referred to as sages in this land, but Ciel was the only one capable of casting a spell this great. If she was in a rush to cross the river to get to Rajah, then it all made sense.

“Did this sage introduce herself as Ciel, by any chance?”

“Yeah! Are you acquainted?”

“I knew it! Ugh! I told her not to worry about me!”

Raiza stamped her feet angrily. If her sisters made their way to Rajah, things could get messy. That’s why she had kept in regular contact with everyone at home. It was only recently that she’d started neglecting them in favor of spending time with Noa.

“Oh no! If Ciel finds Sieg, she’ll drag him back home!”

“Um, is something the matter?”

“It’s nothing! I’m in a hurry, so excuse me!”

Just as Raiza was about to run off at full speed, she remembered why she had come here in the first place. She couldn’t go home empty-handed.

She whirled around to look at the girl. “One last thing! Can I ask you a question?”

“Huh? Sure.”

“Have you heard of anyone called Keina around these parts? She may have come to look at the ice.”

A mountain of ice floating in the middle of the Lonau River was a remarkable sight. If Keina was nearby, it was possible she had dropped by to look at it.

That was the thought behind Raiza’s question, but the girl just stared at her wide-eyed as she answered. “Keina? That’d be me. Did you need something, ma’am?”

“What?! You! What are you doing here when you have an ongoing request?!” Raiza immediately snapped. She marched up to Keina and leaned forward as though about to grab her.

Her menacing glare had Keina breaking out in a cold sweat. Not even a veteran warrior, much less someone in a noncombatant research position, could withstand the vigorous aura of the Swordmaster.

“Eek! What do you mean?!”

“Don’t act innocent! You accepted a request from the Rajah guild!”

“I did,” Keina stammered, “but I also sent a letter saying I’d be staying here! You must’ve left before it arrived.”

“Staying? What for?”

“Because...”

Despite faltering before Raiza’s intensity, Keina did her best to explain the situation. Once Raiza was done listening, she had a frown on her face, but she nodded.

“I see. So Ciel made even more trouble for you.”

Keina laughed nervously. “That’s why I can’t move until this ice mountain melts—and the monster nest is dealt with.”

“I’m afraid that’s a problem for us. We need you in Rajah as soon as possible.”

“I know, but I can’t just ignore a monster outbreak either. The sage’s headed for Rajah, isn’t she? I’m sure things’ll be fine without me!” Keina said firmly, unwilling to back down. No matter how menacing Raiza was, she wasn’t about to leave for no reason. As soon as the ice melted, the armor fish would threaten the riverside towns again.

Raiza stared out at the river after listening to her and said, “Then I’ll defeat all the monsters. That should solve the problem.”

“Um, were you listening? The monster nest is somewhere in this huge river, and I have no idea where, exactly.”

“But you know it’s around here, right? I’ll just blow everything out of the water.”

“That’d be absurd, you can’t—”

Before Keina could finish her sentence, her mouth fell open. Raiza had just grabbed her sword and released an incredible aura. The aura rose in flames, heat nearly tangible.

This is no ordinary person! Keina immediately fell silent and stepped back.

With her sword held low, Raiza did a swift turn on the spot. “Air Slash: Tempest Blast!”

The wind roared, swirling in the sky. A small tornado formed on the spot, sending blades of wind flying out as it spun. The surface of the river was disturbed and a school of fish leaped into the air. They were the armor fish nesting in the area.

The tornado shifted across the river until it collided with the ice mountain.

“Whoa! It shattered!”

With a resounding boom, the ice mountain Keina had been so proud of was shattered into pieces. Water shot into the air like something had exploded underwater. The resulting wave that washed ashore carried the corpses of all the armor fish. There were enough of them to dye the entire wave silver. The storm of slashes had defeated every last one of them.

“That should be all of the monsters in this area,” Raiza declared.

“No kidding. There’s probably nothing left in the water!” Keina rubbed her eyes, unable to believe the large-scale destruction that had just occurred in less than a minute. When she had finally accepted reality, she turned to look at Raiza again. “Who are you? No normal person could do something like this.”

“The name’s Raiza. You may be more familiar with my title of Swordmaster.”

“Swordmaster?! Oh, so you’re a super big shot— I mean!” Keina suddenly straightened up and cleared her throat, reflecting on her attitude up until then. The Swordmaster was someone influential enough to advise the king. Keina had a decent status in society, but she was nowhere near Raiza.

Raiza took one look at Keina’s panic and said, “There’s no need for formalities. I’m no good at them either.”

“I see. You sure?”

“Yeah. More importantly, the monsters have been dealt with. Please come to Rajah as soon as possible.”

“Of course. I’ll arrange a high-speed carriage immediately!”

“Wait! There’s no need for that!” Raiza said in a fluster, stopping Keina before she could run back to town. She turned her back to Keina and gestured for her to climb on. “I’ll carry you there. It’ll be faster than moving by horse carriage.”

“Huh?!”

Even if she was the Swordmaster, it shouldn’t be possible to move that fast while carrying someone. And Rajah was a whole week away from the Lonau River by horse. It wasn’t a distance that could be covered on foot.

All the questions in her mind prevented Keina from responding immediately. Raiza eventually grew impatient and grabbed her hand first. “Come on, hurry!”

“Oh, all right!”

“Okay, let’s go!”

As soon as Keina settled into position, Raiza looked over at the horizon. She leaned forward and took a powerful step against the ground.

“Haaah!”

“Eeeeeek! Wait! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna dieee!”

Keina’s screams echoed through the area, but Raiza paid her no attention as she ran like the wind. All to get back to her little brother as soon as possible.

Chapter 6: All-Consuming

“Wah!” I yelped.

I had nearly fallen asleep and toppled out of the chair in Marlene’s workshop. Oops, the sleep deprivation was finally getting to me. I looked outside the window to see the sky was beginning to brighten again. I must have been pretty tired, since it seemed like I’d been asleep for a while.

“But I’m almost done!”

Ever since I’d come up with the idea two days ago, I had been working nonstop, but I was finally moving on to the finishing touches of my enchantment magic. It had been quite the ordeal to get here. While the idea was fine, bringing the idea to life had required more fine-tuning than I had expected.

It was particularly difficult to get a liquid to freeze instantly. When the magic was too strong, the person wearing the armor was at risk of being frozen as well.

“All that’s left is to fill these magic stones with energy...”

I placed three magic stones on the magic circle I had drawn on the workbench. Two of them had been taken from this workshop, and the last was from the magma titus I had previously defeated. Since I was trying to adjust temperature, a magic stone from a monster that could manipulate temperature was the perfect fit. If it could heat itself, then I just had to reverse that into freezing instead.

“On the road from crown to kingdom, light reflects upon wisdom. The east sage watches in silence, the west fool spins eloquent tales,” I recited, proceeding with the final step.

The magic stones abruptly turned into a superfluid of magic energy. They released an almost divine light before slowly getting absorbed into the cloth. Once the cloth absorbed all the magic energy, it gained a golden glow that stood out in the darkness. One beat later, the three-layered magic circle appeared for a brief moment—proof the enchantment was a success.

“Yes! Oops, that was too loud.”

I quickly closed my mouth to stop myself from cheering further. I’d completely forgotten about the time. Even if Marlene was an early riser, she should still be sleeping at this hour. Hopefully that wouldn’t wake her up.

“I should head to bed too,” I mumbled with a yawn, stretching my arms.

My body was reaching its limit. I was at the point where I was exhausted, yet I was no longer sleepy—it was an odd feeling. I’d better get to sleep soon or I’d be in bad condition for the next few days.

“I can’t wait to see Raiza’s face when I give this to her,” I muttered as I left the workshop.

“The enchantment magic’s done!”

When I woke up several hours later, I went straight to Marlene and the others to tell them of my success. They immediately brightened at the news.

“Good job! Judging from the look on your face, it must have gone well,” Kuruta said.

“Yes! I think it’s perfect!”

“You worked hard,” Marlene said with a chuckle. “If you don’t mind, could I take a look at it as well?”

“Yes, of course!”

I immediately took out the armor and placed it before Marlene. She took a magnifying glass out of her pocket and examined the details of the armor with the look of a professional at work.

“You must have had a great teacher,” she eventually said.

“Huh?”

“There’s no waste at all in the spell formula of your enchantment. It’s normal for spell formulas to be affected by personal habits, but your teacher must have corrected you very carefully.”

Now that she mentioned it, I was often being corrected for being inefficient or wasteful with my spells. I used to argue back that it didn’t matter as long as the enchantment worked, but looking back on it now, she was probably trying to teach me spell efficiency. I had just failed to realize that because of her sharp tongue.

“In addition, this enchantment has three layers, doesn’t it? It’s rare to find someone capable of that at such a young age.”

“Really? I thought this much was normal. Ha ha...”

“If this was normal, magicians across the world would lose their jobs,” Marlene said, handing the armor back to me. With the approval of a former top-class magician, I could finally let out a breath of relief.

And now...to test it.

“Could you bring me some hot water, Kuruta?” I asked.

“Sure. Are you gonna test that enchantment?”

“Yes. I have to make sure it actually works in an emergency.”

“In that case, I’ve got something better,” she said with a wicked grin.

What did she have up her sleeve? Marlene and I waited as she left the room for a bit.

“Here! Take a look at this,” she said when she returned.

“What’s this red liquid?”

“Heh heh. It’s dragonblood toxin!”

Ugh! That was one hell of an item to bring out!

Dragonblood toxin was a powerful poison that was used against large monsters. By coating a blade in it before battle, any wounds inflicted would cause the monster to slowly melt from the inside out. However, doing this would ruin the weapon itself, so it came with a pretty hefty price. It was mostly used as a last resort against monsters with no immunity.

“I’m surprised you have some on hand,” I muttered.

“I prepared it in secret to defeat that slime, since monsters with an indeterminate form are most susceptible to poison. But when they get that big, they can just detach the affected part of their body,” she said with a wry smile.

However, as a test subject, this toxin was perfect. The armor needed to be able to withstand something as strong as that slime’s acid.

I immediately accepted the dragonblood toxin and opened the lid. But the next moment...

“Hey! We’ve got trouble!” Rouga shouted, flying into the room in a panic.

“Huh? What’s got you in such a fluster?” I asked, pausing the test to run over to Rouga.

He had a hand on his chest, gasping for breath as he said, “Raiza’s back! And she’s got the researcher with her!”

“Huh? She’s found her?!”

I could understand her returning alone, but she’d come back with the researcher? She’d actually found her based on so little information? Had she hired an information broker or someone? Even then, it was still ridiculously fast of her. Just getting there and back would have taken most of her time.

“She’s got something to discuss with you, so please come to the guild right away,” Rouga said, interrupting my whirl of thoughts.

“Okay! I can go now.”

“Please do. Did you finish the gift for her?”

“I did, but I haven’t gotten around to testing it yet.”

Rouga looked surprised. “Good job! I thought you’d take another week.”

Well, I’d been lucky to get a good idea early on, and Marlene and Kuruta had also helped out a lot. I’d only been able to get it done so fast thanks to the environment I had fortunately found myself in.

“I guess I’ll go too,” Kuruta said.

“Yeah. It’s probably related to the slime extermination,” I agreed.

“In that case, we better let Nino know as well,” Rouga said.

Thus, the three of us went to find Nino before hurrying to the guild where Raiza was waiting.

“Oh! There you are, Sieg! I’ve been waiting!” Raiza called out to me as soon as I stepped into the front lobby of the guild that also served as a tavern. For someone who had just accomplished a tremendous feat of time, she was as energetic as ever. Her stamina was as monstrous as always.

“Urk. I feel sick...” In contrast to my sister, the girl slumped over the table beside her looked awfully pale. Who was she? If she was an acquaintance of my sister’s, then she wasn’t one I was familiar with.

“Who’s this, sis?” I asked.

“This is the researcher, Keina.”

“So she’s the researcher! She doesn’t look too good.”

The researcher was meant to be the member of the monster research lab dispatched to this town. Her arrival had been so late, Raiza had gone off to find her.

“The world’s spinning... I had no idea humans could run so fast...” Keina muttered weakly. Was she feeling motion sickness? Her gaze was out of focus and her words were slurred. I glanced over at Raiza, who averted her eyes suspiciously.

“What did you do, Raiza?” I asked.

“Nothing! It wasn’t me!”

“If it was nothing, she wouldn’t be like this.”

“That’s because—”

“Ooh, I can see a pretty flower field in the distance...” Keina mumbled. She seemed to be in a risky state.

“Wait! Don’t cross to the other side!” Kuruta shouted. She grabbed Keina by the shoulders and gently shook her back to her senses.

Seriously, what had Raiza done? I gave her a disapproving look until she finally spoke reluctantly.

“I just wanted to get back as soon as possible, so I carried her here on my back.”

“And ran?”

“Yeah. But there’s nothing to worry about! The most I did was cross a river by running over the surface; everything else was safe!”

“I wouldn’t call running over water while carrying someone nothing to worry about,” Rouga commented with a straight face. Kuruta and I nodded in agreement.

Although Keina had a small stature, she still weighed a bit. Running across water with the weight of another person sounded absurd. I mean, my sister was capable of flight by literally kicking air...but it was still a little unexpected.

“My bad. I won’t do it again,” Raiza mumbled.

Huh? She was awfully docile today. The Raiza I knew would never admit her own faults like this. Her attitude had really gotten softer lately.

“As long as you know now. So, what did you want to talk about? Something to do with the slime since Keina’s here?” I asked.

“No, it’s nothing to do with that. The truth is...Ciel’s coming to Rajah!”

“What?!”

Ciel?! As in our sister?! The Ciel who always refused to leave the house because she wanted to work on her research—that Ciel?! This really was gonna be trouble!

Unlike Raiza’s tendency to rush recklessly into action, Ciel was a sage. She had a clever head on her shoulders, although it wasn’t quite on Aeria’s level. It’d be much harder to convince her to go home compared to Raiza. And if push came to shove, I was no match for her. While she was a little more manageable than the Swordmaster, she was still far stronger than me.

“So that’s why you hurried all the way back with Keina,” I said.

“Yeah. I needed to let you know as soon as possible.”

“Who’s this Ciel person?” Rouga asked.

“It sounds like a female name,” Nino said, looking at us curiously.

Hmm. How do I explain this?

If I told them my sister was a sage and headed for town, it could create chaos. How much time was left anyway? She wouldn’t arrive tomorrow or anything, right?!

“Let’s calm down! Why don’t we move somewhere out of earshot fir—”

“Keina! I’ve brought the guildmaster over!”

Just as I tried to get us to relocate, the receptionist came over. Uh-oh, she even had the guildmaster with her. Since Raiza had brought Keina with her, they were going to discuss the investigation immediately. What bad timing!

“What do I do?!” I squeaked, my voice cracking from my mind running over capacity.

Everyone looked surprised by my loss of composure, but the guildmaster remained perfectly calm, probably thanks to his many years of experience.

How embarrassing.

Seeing the guildmaster’s calm helped quiet my heart as well.

“Please come with me first. I’d like to discuss the slime incident,” he said.

Right, it was better to prioritize the slime first. There was no guarantee that Ciel would come straight for the guild even if she arrived in town. Rajah was a busy town that was also called a mecca for adventurers. It wouldn’t be easy for her to locate a single person in such a place. I was also using a pseudonym for this purpose. There should be some time left...probably.

“I understand. Lead the way,” I said.

“Can I participate too? I wasn’t here last time, but it’s important, right?” Rouga asked.

“Of course. The more powerful adventurers the better,” the guildmaster replied.

And so, we followed the guildmaster to a meeting room. As soon as we sat down, the receptionist poured tea for all of us. It smelled like some kind of refreshing herbal tea. Thanks to that, Keina finally seemed to recover a little.

“Aah, that hit the spot. So, you’re the guildmaster who sent the request?” she said.

“That’s right. Are you the researcher Keina?”

“That I am. You should be familiar with the emblem on this lab coat.” Keina pointed at the chest of her coat. Upon closer inspection, there was a flask emblem embroidered there. There seemed to be some kind of enchantment on it, as it glowed a faint blue.

“Excuse me,” the receptionist said, approaching with a magnifying glass to check the emblem. “Yup, there’s no problem here!”

She gave a thumbs-up, and Keina huffed proudly. “Obviously. So, what’s this about a slime? Raiza only gave me a simple summary.”

“I’ll get straight to the point. The local monster habitat patterns have been strange recently,” the guildmaster said, beginning his explanation.

Keina listened to him speak while nodding along intently. She had a deep furrow in her brow, as though she was thinking hard.

“So, you’ve finished the preliminary investigations? Do you have the report?” she asked.

“Of course!” the receptionist answered.

“What about a sample of the slime in question?”

“We have that too!”

“Bring both here. As soon as you can, please.”

It seemed Keina had completely recovered from her motion sickness. She gave her quick and curt orders with precision. Once she was done demanding what she needed, she looked back in our direction. “Now, while we wait for that, tell me everything that happened in detail.”

“Okay.”

“Especially Raiza, who got hit by the slime’s acid directly. Tell me everything.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Raiza replied hesitantly.

Keina gave her a pointed look with a vein bulging by her temple. Ah! It seemed she held an awful grudge toward Raiza for what she’d gone through. She was planning on getting her revenge by being merciless in her interrogation.

Raiza seemed to have noticed that too, as her voice had trembled when she replied. She wasn’t very good at dealing with these types of people.

“First, tell me about the size and color of the slime,” Keina said.

“Sure.”

And so, Raiza was interrogated for a few minutes. By the time she was slumped weakly back against the sofa, the receptionist had finished preparing everything and returned.

Whoa...that’s a ton of paper!

Our jaws dropped at the mountain of documents the receptionist had brought over. The stack was tall enough to sway dangerously. How many hours would it take just to read all of that?

But Keina was unfazed by the amount. “Thanks so much! I’d like to ask a few more questions based on this.”

“You still have more to ask?!” Raiza whined.

“Of course. I want to hear from the other three as well.”

Uh-oh! Not us too!

A chill ran down my spine at the gleeful grin on Keina’s face. It looked like we’d be in for the long haul.

“Looks like there’s no escape.” Rouga grimaced.

Kuruta let out a strained laugh. “Guess we better brace ourselves as well.”

While Nino didn’t say anything out loud, she looked extremely reluctant as well. Keina ignored our reactions and continued asking question after question.

“First up...”

Thus, one hour of interrogation later, we all had exhausted expressions, and Keina’s face wasn’t so gleeful anymore either. She was examining the chunk of slime in the test tube with a dead serious face. Was the slime really that dangerous?

Unable to withstand the ominous mood around him, the guildmaster spoke up. “So, what do you think?”

“This may be extremely bad,” she replied.

“Is it that dangerous of a species?”

“Can you bring me some water?”

“Right away!” the receptionist answered, bringing over a bucket of water.

Keina opened the test tube and emptied it into the water. “Hyah!”

The next moment, we all doubted our eyes. The fingertip-sized slime instantly absorbed the water and turned enormous. It happened so fast, it was almost like an explosion.

“What was that?!” I shouted.

“It just turned a hundred—no, a thousand times bigger!” Kuruta yelped.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Rouga exclaimed.

The slime overflowed from the bucket and continued to grow bigger. The room filled with shrieks at the abnormal sight.

“Well, this is a surprise,” the guildmaster muttered.

The slime that had been the size of a thumb had now swollen as large as the bucket and was wriggling around in an attempt to get even bigger. The red color and throbbing motions made it look like a creepy heart. And all it had done was absorb water!

Everyone in the room was shocked into silence. Even my sister, who had been through all kinds of hardships, was speechless. She stepped between us and the slime as though to protect us, observing the monster with a sharp gaze.

“What is this thing?” Raiza asked.

“It’s a species called gluttony slime,” Keina replied. “They release their superacidic body fluids to melt things down and consume them. They can swell dramatically in size when they come in contact with liquids like water.”

“How terrifying. I’ve never heard of such a slime before.”

“It’s my first time seeing one in person as well. It was only mentioned in ancient records, so it was assumed to have gone extinct several hundred years ago.”

“Then why is it here now?” I asked.

Keina shook her head with a frown. Unfortunately, she didn’t know either.

A sudden thought flashed through my mind. Could this be the work of a demon trying to resurrect ancient dangerous species? Demons had been active around Rajah recently. They had far longer lifespans than humans, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they had preserved an ancient slime in secret.

“Let’s set aside the matter of how it appeared. What’s more important is how to deal with it,” the guildmaster said, redirecting the topic before it derailed. He looked over at Keina and asked in a serious tone, “Does the gluttony slime have any weaknesses?”

“Hmm. According to the Records of King Caldea...” Keina trailed off, crossing her arms in contemplation. Eventually, she snapped her fingers. “It’s weak to fire! King Caldea burned them!”

“Huh? That can’t be right!” I said.

“What? Why are you so shocked?”

“I mean...” I had used an advanced fire spell on the slime, and it had barely had an effect. I couldn’t imagine that being its weakness.

Raiza was equally in disbelief. “Are you sure? Sieg tried using advanced fire magic already, and it didn’t work.”

“Hmm. Well, it’s comparatively more effective than other elements. Maybe this slime has extremely high resistance to all elements of magic as well as physical attacks.”

“Almost like the perfect life-form. How troublesome,” I said.

“It’s a tough fight for me as well. If only I had the holy sword with me,” Raiza muttered, crossing her arms.

The holy sword she was referring to was the ultimate anti-demon weapon of the Winster Kingdom. It possessed holy power that could purify all kinds of demonic energy and had once been used by a hero to defeat the demon king. If Raiza were to swing it, that pesky slime would be defeated easily, but there were strict procedures to access the sword. It was even said that the king himself had never seen it. It would take a threat to humanity for it to be lent out.

“Do you have any other ideas? We can’t just leave it alone,” I said.

“Let me think... I’m pretty sure superior magic should be able to burn it,” Keina replied.

Superior magic? Ciel was basically the only person who could use that, and I didn’t really want to run into her. Raiza and I exchanged a look. Considering the circumstances, it was probably best to ask for Ciel’s help, but doing so would be sentencing myself to be sent back home. Unlike Raiza, she couldn’t be convinced by meathead tactics. But bringing my personal matters into a town crisis wasn’t right either.

Just then, Keina interrupted my spiraling thoughts. “It won’t be easy to find a magician that can use superior magic. Your only choice is to call an S-rank adventurer.”

“Indeed, I was just thinking about summoning the S-rank celestial mage,” the guildmaster said.

“I’ll get in contact right away!” The receptionist bowed and rushed out of the room.

Tension filled the air in the room. Things were more serious than I’d thought.

“By the way, the gluttony slime appeared in a place called Razgor Valley, right?” Keina suddenly asked.

“What about it?” the guildmaster replied.

“Is there any chance of the valley being filled with water? ’Cause if that happens, there’ll be nothing that can be done.”

“Oh, there’s no need to worry. Unless a heavy storm passes, the valley is normally dry.”

We all exhaled in relief. That was good to hear. Rajah was located in the middle of the continent, so there were rarely any storms that made it this far. They were more like a once-in-a-decade event. It was currently the season for clear and sunny days too.

“At any rate, it sounds like it’d be best to act as soon as possible,” I said.

“Yes,” Keina agreed. “But for now, can you show me where the slime is located? I want to see for myself exactly how big it is.”

“All right. Sieg, is your party willing to handle that?” the guildmaster asked.

“Of course! We can go right away,” I said.

“I’ll go too. I won’t be caught off guard this time!” Raiza declared her vengeance, clenching her fists. A fire burned deep in her eyes. Now that her armor had been repaired and newly enchanted, nothing would get in her way.

“I’ll make sure it gets processed as a job for you guys. You can head out whenever!”

“Okay!”

And so, Keina joined us as our party set off for the Razgor Valley once again.

Chapter 7: Respite Before War

On the way to the Razgor Valley, the six of us stopped to camp in the forest. Since we had left town rather late, we were going to spend the night outside. Our departure had been heavily delayed by the disposal of the slime that had expanded in the meeting room. After trying everything we could, we eventually ended up burning it at Barg’s shop. Not even the gluttony slime could withstand the heat of a smelting furnace. But at the same time, it meant we needed a tremendous amount of heat to destroy it.

“It’s about time we started on dinner,” Raiza said, clapping her hands together. She opened the magic bag on her back and took out various cooking utensils. She was oddly fired up for such a tense situation, holding up a shining pot with a pleased look.

“Is this the time to be cooking?” Keina asked.

“It’s the perfect time to be eating a good meal and calming down. You can’t fight on an empty stomach,” Raiza replied.

“I can agree with that,” said Kuruta. “You never know what will happen.”

“Indeed. Restoring one’s energy is essential,” Nino agreed.

They were right. It was especially important to eat well in times like this. We might not have time to eat properly once we reached the valley.

“I’ll handle the cooking,” Raiza said.

“Huh? You can cook, sis?”

My sister nodded proudly. She spun a kitchen knife in her hand and said, “Of course I can. Come to think of it, you’ve never had my cooking before, have you?”

“Well, no...”

We had a chef handle our meals back at home. There were barely any opportunities for my sisters to cook. The only one who very occasionally made a meal was Aeria, who liked to purchase rare ingredients through her company and try them herself. Many gourmets like to prepare their own food, and Aeria was no exception. She was so fussy, her food was always professional quality.

Meanwhile, the only impression I had of Raiza...was how eagerly she gulped down her food. I had no memory of her standing in the kitchen. Did she really know how to cook? What if she served us a burnt black lump?

“What’s that sullen look for? Don’t tell me you’re doubting me.”

“Well, I’ve never seen you cook before.”

“I’m offended. Just because I don’t doesn’t mean I can’t. I go out on training trips alone all the time.”

Now that she mentioned it, before Raiza had become Swordmaster, she’d often gone on solo trips across the continent for training. Of course she’d have to cook for herself while camping, which meant it would’ve made less sense if she couldn’t cook...right?

“In that case, I can help out,” Kuruta said, offering her assistance at the sight of my reluctant expression. If she was taking part in the cooking, it was a little more reassuring. Kuruta seemed more the type to cook than Raiza.

“Hey! What’s that blatant look of relief for?! Fine! I’ll just have to prove it by making something that’ll leave you gobsmacked!”

“Ooh! I’m looking forward to that!” Rouga cheered.

“Yeah, we’ll be waiting!” Keina agreed.

The two were clearly prepared to sit back and watch, but that only made Raiza and Kuruta more fired up. The two exchanged a look fierce enough to send sparks flying.

Uh-oh. Things had taken an unexpected turn!

“Nino, help me out!” yelled Kuruta.

“Of course!”

“I won’t lose! I’ll just use a knife with each hand!”

And so, a sudden cooking competition started in the middle of the camp. With bated breath, I watched Raiza handle her knives surprisingly skillfully.

“Is it just me, or is it a little hot around here?” Keina asked, sipping water from a flask.

“That’s probably the work of the heated battle in front of us,” I said.

Keina tilted her head in confusion. “No, I don’t mean that. Doesn’t the temperature itself feel a little warm?”

Now that she mentioned it, it did feel a little hot and humid.

“We might be in for a shower,” Rouga commented.

“Wait, really?” I asked.

“Yeah. But don’t worry. I’ve never heard of Razgor Valley being submerged in the twenty years I’ve lived in Rajah.”

He waved off my concern with a relaxed look. Since it was coming from a veteran adventurer of twenty years, I’d take his word for it. I let out a sigh of relief just as Raiza and Kuruta wrapped up their duel.

“All right, it’s done! My specialty beef stew!” Raiza declared.

“Mine is my specialty mushroom butter rice!” Kuruta announced.

“And a salad to go with it. Eat up,” Nino added.

The three set their dishes down before us. Even Nino had made a dish while helping Kuruta out.

Let’s see. I’ll start with Kuruta’s butter rice.

“Ooh! It tastes as good as it smells! The rice falls apart in my mouth and doesn’t stick at all. The savory taste of the mushroom is great!” I said.

“Heh! It’s my special dish, after all!”

“Next up, Raiza’s stew.”

Will it be any good?

Appearance-wise, it was fine. Scent-wise...it didn’t smell bad. She must have used wine in the recipe, as there was a faint scent of fruit to it. The fat of the meat had also created an appetizing aroma, making my mouth water. Maybe she was right about her ability to cook. This was better than I’d expected.

“I’m gonna try it!”

The air was tense. I slowly brought a spoonful of stew to my mouth and, with a big gulp, nervously swallowed it. It was...shockingly good. The bite-sized meat fell apart in my mouth, filling it with the juice. The melting gelatin of the beef added great texture. Above all, the soup wasn’t fatty at all despite being so rich in flavor.

“Ooh!” I mumbled in wonder at the taste. I’d had no idea Raiza was so good at cooking! It was impressive that she could make such a great beef stew while camping. No wonder she was so confident in her abilities. “You’re amazing, sis! This is actually delicious!”

“I know, I know. That ‘actually’ was unnecessary, though!”

“Can I try some too?” Kuruta asked.

“Of course.” Raiza hummed cheerfully as she ladled her soup into a bowl.

Kuruta accepted the bowl from her and brought it to her mouth while blowing on it. She took one bite and closed her eyes in bliss. “Delicious! It vexes me to say this, but I think I’ve lost this one.”

“Yup, be awed by my skill!” Raiza said smugly.

“Let me try it too,” said Rouga.

“I want some too. The smell is making my mouth water!” Keina chimed in.

“Don’t worry! There’s plenty for everyone!” said Raiza.

Everyone joined in for a delicious dinner. To think we could have such a great meal while out camping! Friendly conversation flowed naturally, creating a bright and happy atmosphere. Tomorrow, we would finally reach the Razgor Valley. It wasn’t clear how we’d deal with the slime yet, but there was no doubt it would be a challenge. We had to rest up while we could, especially in my case, where just getting down to the valley was an ordeal.

“Oh! We completely forgot about Nino’s salad!” Raiza said suddenly.

Oh, yeah. The delicious stew had completely distracted us from the salad. Even Nino seemed to have forgotten about it. She got up to hurriedly serve it to everyone. It was rare to see her lose her composure so much.

“Here you are.”

“Thanks for the food!”

The five of us poured the specially made dressing onto the salad and took a bite at the same moment.

“Why is it so spicy? And oddly bitter!” Raiza cried.

“What did you wash the vegetables in, soap?!” Rouga yelled.

“Urk... I’m gonna throw up,” Keina muttered.

“Oh! Keina!” I cried.

The taste was so extreme, the camp immediately broke into pandemonium. Keina was even on the verge of vomiting. So...it was Nino who couldn’t cook. That was unexpected.

Ugh. I’m not feeling too well either. I quickly grabbed some potions and handed them out to everyone.

“Phew... That was terrifying,” Kuruta said once we had recovered.

“Yeah. We were about to be defeated before reaching the valley,” Raiza agreed.

Nino, the creator of the salad, looked a little sullen. “Was my salad that bad?”

“Um...let’s call it distinctive,” Rouga said awkwardly, avoiding directly insulting her. I was impressed by his maturity, but the pale look on his face conveyed his true feelings. In fact, his lips were so devoid of blood, he looked like he was about to pass out.

“I’ll try it too. I tasted it while I was making it, but maybe something changed,” Nino said, bringing her salad to her mouth.

Did she really find this salad good? We’d eaten together a few times before, but her taste had never seemed out of the ordinary. I gave Kuruta a questioning look, but she just gave me a confused look back.

Then...

“Oh, this is the— Urhghgf!”

“Nino?!”

Her eyes rolled back into her head as she muttered deliriously. What exactly had she added at the end?! More importantly, we had to treat her first!

“Water! Someone bring her water!” I yelled.

“Got it!” Kuruta said.

“I’ll prepare a remedy!” Keina shouted.

“A potion too!” Rouga added.

We laid Nino down and hurried to prepare everything. The peaceful camping site turned into flustered chaos.

“Good grief. You sure know how to create a commotion, Nino!” Rouga said.

“Sorry for the fuss. I put in the wrong ingredient at the end.”

Roughly thirty minutes later, Nino had regained consciousness and apologized to us. Well, at least it had all ended safely.

“But it was a surprise to learn that Nino can’t cook,” Raiza said.

“It shames me to admit it,” Nino said.

“What do you normally do for food? Even if you eat out in town, you still have to eat while on jobs, right?”

“Oh, that was normally my role,” Rouga explained.

Rouga did the cooking? That was a little unexpected as well. I hadn’t thought he was the type. I gave him an impressed look, but he just shrugged.

“These days, a man has to be able to cook to be popular.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Everything Rouga does is connected to that,” Kuruta said.

“That’s the life of a man for you! Ninety percent of life can be fulfilled by being popular with women!” Rouga declared proudly, standing with his hands on his hips.

The women of the party looked exasperated by his declaration, sending him cold glares.

I hope I’ll never be like him...

As I was thinking that, Raiza approached Nino, who was still sulking. “In that case, why don’t I teach you a bit later?”

“Thank you very much,” Nino replied.

“I’ll help out too. Nino is like a little sister to me,” Kuruta added.

“Kuruta!” Nino was about to launch herself at Kuruta in excitement when she stopped and rubbed her eyes. “Uh-oh. I moved so fast, I’m seeing spots.”

“Huh? I saw something flash too.”

The sky had turned white for a second. That was weird. Was the bad salad causing hallucinations? Just as I was thinking about grabbing another potion, the sky rumbled.

It’s thunder!

Something wet landed on my cheek.

“Rain?” I asked.

“Hey, now. This doesn’t look good,” Rouga said.

The guildmaster had said it would take a storm to flood the Razgor Valley—which meant that if a storm came, the valley could fill with water. Thunder rumbled again, making the six of us stiffen. The crackling sound was much closer than before. The storm was gradually approaching. And it was moving in the direction of...the Razgor Valley!

“Let’s hurry! Camping is suspended!” Rouga shouted.

“Right!”

Everyone responded immediately to his cry, and we ran for the Razgor Valley as fast as we could.

Interlude: The Sage and the Rain Clouds

“Phew. Finally, I’m almost at Rajah!”

After several days traveling west from the Lonau River, Ciel finally arrived at a post town relatively close to Rajah. She had come this far by taking a series of carriages and was now just a day or two away from her destination. The feeling of accomplishment left a natural smile on her face.

“I’ve worked up a sweat getting this far. Better take a bath soon.”

She had been making do with purification magic until now, but not bathing for several days felt awful. She’d splurge here and stay at the best inn in town. Having decided that, Ciel immediately headed for the largest hotel in sight. Just then, something flickered in the corner of her eye.

“Huh? I must be tired,” she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t slept properly for a few days. Just as she was reflecting on how hard she had pushed herself, a small boom could be heard in the distance.

“Thunder? How rare for this season.”

Thunderclouds only gathered near Rajah during one season, and as far as she knew, that was still a few months out. It was pretty much unheard of for thunderclouds to gather the rest of the year.

How unlucky...

Ciel sighed tiredly as raindrops began falling, reflecting her mood. They fell so heavily, they hurt her skin.

“Ugh!”

She rushed to a nearby building for shelter but was already soaked to the bone. She glared up at the sky angrily. Lightning flashed again, illuminating a humanoid shadow for a brief moment. Although it was small, it stood out against the hanging black clouds.

Ciel almost doubted her eyes for a moment, but she had confidence in her eyesight. “What is that?” she murmured. It gave her a bad feeling.

She stepped out from under the eaves and shot a spell in the direction of the shadow. It was completely nonverbal search magic, a simple spell that could detect life-forms using magic echolocation. It was effective and didn’t risk mistaking birds as people. However...

“The magic wave vanished? A crafty one, aren’t you!”

The response to her magic wave had vanished before returning to her. It was clearly an unnatural disruption. Someone who didn’t want to be detected had erased Ciel’s spell.

“Hmph! That won’t work on me! Genere Eclair!”

Ciel immediately deployed a three-layered magic circle: the advanced lightning magic, Genere Eclair. It was an offensive spell that could kill a large monster in a single strike. It wasn’t something that should be used against a person without warning, but Ciel was confident that whoever was on the other end would be fine. They had to be fairly formidable if they could erase her magic wave in a split second.

“Barrier magic, huh?”

Sure enough, Ciel’s lightning magic was blocked by the enemy’s barrier. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the air. While it was no effort for her to cast such a thing, a barrier that could block advanced magic was quite impressive.

“How about this? Trois Eclair!”

Three bolts of lightning shot out in quick succession, painting the night sky a blinding white. Thunder roared, shaking the air. The townspeople nearby looked up curiously. Whoever was hiding among the clouds must have gotten fed up, as the rain started falling harder as though to drive the spectators away.

“Wow! I can’t keep my eyes open!”

The wind pressure that accompanied the heavy rain forced Ciel back under the eaves as the black clouds covering the sky slowly but visibly moved toward the east.

“Hey! Don’t run away, coward! You afraid of me?!” Ciel yelled, but there was no reply. In fact, it seemed like the clouds were moving a little faster. The enemy had obviously chosen to flee from her.

“What was that?” she muttered.

Roughly ten minutes later, the clouds had retreated far into the distance, and the night sky was quiet once again. Ciel stepped away from the building she was sheltering under and gazed in the direction they had gone.

“Is something over there? I wonder what it could be.”

She hailed down a man passing by and pointed to where the clouds had fled.

“What’s in that direction?” she asked.

“That way? It’s a little off from Rajah. There shouldn’t be anything there.”

“Any distinctive feature is fine. Like a mountain or a forest.”

“In that case, the Razgor Valley should be around there.”

“The Razgor Valley?” Ciel’s eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar name. She stepped right up to the man to question him. “Has anything strange happened in the Razgor Valley recently? Anything small? Anything?”

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you—”

“Come on, any little thing will do.”

The man faltered at the pressure from the tiny girl who refused to take no for an answer. While Ciel didn’t specialize in hand-to-hand combat, she could easily overpower the average man if she used physical enhancement magic.

He seemed to sense her hidden potential, as he replied rapidly, “Now that I think about it, I did hear the adventurers talking about it! They said the guild’s sealed the valley!”

“As in the Adventurers Guild?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know the details. They’re saying there might have been a landslide in the valley or something.”

Ciel listened to the man speak and nodded in thought. If it really was a landslide, the guild would have disclosed it when they sealed it, since it would be pretty dangerous if adventurers approached it out of curiosity. The fact that no reason had been disclosed meant there was a reason it couldn’t be.

“I see. Looks like I have no choice but to check it out. Fine. That one will do.”

She grabbed a horse that was standing on the side of the road and climbed on, casting physical enhancement magic on herself. The aura surrounding her spread to include the horse. Physical enhancement magic normally only applied to the caster, but in Ciel’s case, she could affect the animals near her too. It was a high-grade technique that only she could do.

“Here goes! Hyah!”

“Ah! Horse thief!”

“This should be enough!”

The owner of the horse came running over in a panic, but Ciel threw a bag of gold coins at him. It easily contained more than ten times the price of a horse, but she didn’t care. She had to get to the Razgor Valley as soon as possible. She still had the bad feeling from earlier.

“You better not be in the Razgor Valley, Noa!”

The worried sister rode her horse through the night.

Chapter 8: Battle in the Valley

“Tch! This rain is awful!” Rouga shouted.

“It’s no good. I can’t see in front of me!” Keina wailed.

Rain had started falling as thunder sounded and lightning flashed. It gradually got heavier until it became a waterfall over our heads. The wind blew it so that it was striking us directly, making it difficult to keep our eyes open.

“Can’t your huge shield block this rain, Rouga?” Raiza asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I may have a large shield, but this is beyond my expertise!”

“What about you, Sieg? Do you have any magic that can block this?” Kuruta asked.

“Um...”

I used Sanctuaire as a barrier a lot, but it was only for protection against impurities. It couldn’t be used to block rain. If I wanted to do something about that...I’d have to use wind magic!

“Gather around me, everyone! I’ll try to use a wind barrier!”

The others formed a ring around me, close enough for us to touch. The proximity made a barrier much more manageable. I quickly refined my energy and yelled the spell name.

“Rafale Mur!”

An invisible layer of wind covered the six of us. The raindrops were unable to pierce the barrier and dispersed without reaching us. Phew. This should do for now. All that was left was to move forward without leaving the barrier.

“Good grief,” Kuruta muttered. “But...”

“Yeah, it’s a little worrying,” Keina agreed. “If this rain continues, it’ll be bad.”

If the rain didn’t stop and the Razgor Valley flooded, the slime deep in the valley with horrific resistances would absorb water and reach a gigantic size, growing as large as a mountain. Just the thought sent a chill down my spine. At worst, flash floods could swallow the surrounding towns.

“At any rate, we need to hurry to the valley. It’s just a short run from here,” Kuruta said.

“Yeah. Let’s go!” Raiza started running at full speed. The sight of her back reminded me of something.

“Wait, sis! Hold on a minute!”

“What’s up?”

“Take this!”

I reached into my magic bag and took out the armor that had been fixed. It had been repaired at Ortho’s shop and newly enchanted by me.

Raiza took one look at it and brightened up. “Ooh! Did you get that armor fixed for me?”

“Yup! I got it fixed at a shop while you were away.”

“Are you sure? It might be melted by that slime again.”

“It’s okay. I set up a little trick to prevent that,” I said, giving her a thumbs-up.

Although it was yet to be tested, I had gone through a lot of effort thinking it out. I was sure it would activate properly. Above all, it was better than letting my sister charge in alone like this. She didn’t have a means of resisting the slime’s acid otherwise. I wanted to protect Raiza. Hopefully, these feelings of mine would be conveyed through this armor.

Raiza looked happy beyond words. How many years had it been since I’d seen her eyes sparkle like that?

“Thank you. That’s my little brother!”

“Aw, no need to praise me so much!”

My sister was praising me?! It was a little embarrassing, but I was happy to hear it. She’d really done nothing but scold me for the last few years.

“I’ll get changed right away. Don’t even think about peeking, Rouga.”

“Why me?! Say that to Sieg!”

“You’re the bigger uncertainty. I know Sieg wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Raiza moved behind a nearby boulder while the other girls moved to block our line of view. Kuruta and Raiza normally didn’t get along, but they were cooperative when it came to things like this.

“It’s perfect. It’s even more comfortable to wear than before,” Raiza said when she returned.

She took different sword stances to test the feel of the armor. I was worried the repairs would change the weight of the armor and throw her off-balance, but Ortho’s shop had done a perfect job and taken that into account.

“Okay, let’s move on! There’s something strange about this rain,” Raiza said.

Kuruta nodded. “I agree. Something about it feels unnatural.”

“Right! Get on my back, Keina!”

“Urk! Do I have to go through that again?” Keina had a blatant look of disgust on her face as Raiza crouched down before her. Come to think of it, she had arrived at Rajah on Raiza’s back as well—looking extremely motion sick, at that. It must have been an awful experience.

“You’re the slowest in the group. We won’t make it otherwise!” Raiza declared.

“Uuugh... You have a point.”

“Do you want to get on my back, Sieg? You’re still afraid of heights, right?” Kuruta offered.

“Kuruta! There’s no need for that! I can do it!” Nino said, turning to show me her back.

No way! I couldn’t ask a girl to carry me on her back. Nino was clearly smaller than me as well. Although I didn’t doubt her ability to carry people as a high-rank adventurer, it didn’t make for a nice picture!

“No thank you! I’ll be fine! It’s nighttime, so I won’t be able to see the bottom of the valley anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Kuruta asked.

“There’s no need to hold back,” Nino insisted. “I’m an adventurer; I have the stamina to carry someone.”

“It’s fine! Let’s just get moving!”

I wrapped up the conversation and urged the other five to start running. We spent an hour making our way up through the forest. The ground gradually grew redder, and more and more boulders came into view. The Razgor Valley would be right up ahead. We naturally moved faster as we got closer.

“Hey, hey... Are we too late?” Rouga asked.

“I can’t believe it’s visible from here,” Raiza muttered.

“You’re kidding me. What is that?!” Keina yelped.

The gluttony slime had expanded to an unbelievable size—large enough to stick out among the mountains!

“This isn’t a joke, is it?” Kuruta muttered.

The monster towered over the mountains. Just what had it done to grow this large? It was more of a natural disaster than a slime at this point.

We all stared in dumbfounded shock. Its presence was as great as a Demon King’s.

“Isn’t this growth rate way too fast?” I asked.

“The water in the valley isn’t even that high yet,” Kuruta replied.

It had only been an hour since the rain had started falling. Even if water had gathered in the valley, there shouldn’t have been enough for the slime to grow to that size. When we looked down with a light, we could see there was barely any water at the bottom. Could the slime have consumed it all already? Considering its size, that might not be impossible.

“Hurry over to the slime now! If it grows any bigger, we won’t be able to do anything!” Keina yelled.

“Right! Let’s go!” Raiza agreed.

“Okay!” I replied, somewhat nervous about the steep drop before me. But now wasn’t the time to be afraid of heights. I suppressed my fear and swiftly made my way down the rocky path.

The rain was still falling, turning the air barrier around us white where it made contact. The direction of the rainfall seemed to be sending water toward the slime.

“What’s that?” Nino asked. She had paused before me to point at the sky. I looked over to see something floating between the clouds.

Is that a bird?

It seemed oddly shaped for one. It was vertically long, almost like...

“That’s a person,” Raiza muttered, narrowing her eyes. As the Swordmaster, her vision was much better than ours. She could see the details we couldn’t.

“No way. Are you saying a person is flying?” Rouga asked.

“That’s what it looks like to me.”

“It might be a demon,” Kuruta muttered with a serious face.

It did seem plausible for a demon to fly in the air. The theory that a demon was behind this entire incident was suddenly much more likely. It’d be quite the pain to end up in a fight with another one. While we had Raiza on our side, the location was pretty disadvantageous for us.

“What’s that?” Rouga asked after we had progressed for a while.

He was pointing at...a large boulder? It had fallen into the valley and was blocking the flow of water. It fit perfectly into the valley like a natural dam. It seemed this was the reason the slime had become so enormous. The blocked side of the dam was being rapidly absorbed by the wriggling mass.

“Now that I think about it, that boulder looks familiar,” Nino said.

“Is it the boulder we took a break on?” Raiza asked.

“Yes, most likely.”

Last time we’d been there, there had been a large boulder sticking out of the cliff. It seemed the rain had caused a landslide that had freed it—unless it was actually the work of a demon. There was no way of knowing for sure, but either way, things had gotten troublesome.

“First, we have to break that and drain the water,” Raiza said.

“Yeah,” Keina agreed. “The slime’s growth should settle down once the water’s gone.”

“But what can we do about such a large boulder?” I asked.

“We can just cut it,” Raiza said bluntly.

Well, that was reassuring to hear. But was it really possible to cut a boulder so huge? It’d definitely be a challenge for me.

My sister seemed to sense my thoughts, as she smirked proudly. “Just leave it to me. Who do you think I am?”

“But if you cut that boulder, the slimes inside will come pouring out. Are you sure?” Kuruta asked.

“I’ll be fine. That’s why I have this armor, no?” Raiza slapped her chest plate. She was right. There was no point in enchanting the armor if she was going to avoid facing the slimes.

“Got it. But be careful,” I said.

“Of course. I won’t be bested by a slime twice.”

After saying that, she leaped down into the valley, using her skywalk to control her fall to the bottom. As soon as she left the wind barrier, the rain struck her mercilessly. The sight of her falling into the darkness was the spitting image of solitude. But at the same time, it was like I’d caught a glimpse of her pride and strength. This was the strength of the Swordmaster. In the right time and place, Raiza probably would have been a hero.

“Let’s leave that boulder to her. We have to stop the biggest slime!” I said.

“Right. This path goes right across the boulder, so let’s go ahead,” Keina said.

We let Raiza know the plan before crossing to the other side of the large boulder, gradually drawing closer to the gluttony slime. Seeing it up close made it seem even bigger. What were we meant to do about it? It was disheartening, but now wasn’t the time for that. If we didn’t hurry, it’d get even bigger.

“Use this. It’s gunpowder that works in the rain!” Nino said.

“Thank you!”

“I’ll contribute this. Mix it with the gunpowder!” Kuruta said. She reached into her breast pocket and took out dragonblood toxin.

I accepted it and added a drop onto the black, sand-like gunpowder Nino had handed me. The gunpowder changed in color, gaining a crimson sheen. Whoa! Judging from the color, it packed a serious punch.

“Adding just a little dragonblood toxin to gunpowder gives it a dramatic increase in power,” Kuruta explained.

“I think I’ve heard that before. Dragonblaze powder, right?” Rouga asked.

“Yup. It’s not too well known because dragonblood toxin is so rare in the first place, and it’s so high-powered, it’s hard to handle.”

“This’ll help a lot!” I said.

With it, my magic power should increase significantly. It might even be enough for me to burn the gluttony slime. The problem was how wide the slime had grown. It might be possible if we forced it into a corner and trapped it there, but just as I was thinking that, a familiar voice yelled from afar.

“Noa! Noa!”

The voice called repeatedly, piercing through the storm.

Wait, I know that voice!

I turned around in a hurry and saw my big sister Ciel. What was she doing there?! I’d known she was headed to Rajah, but I’d never thought I’d run into her in this valley. Why had she even come here in the first place? Had the Rajah guild summoned her? Many thoughts raced through my head at once, making me struggle for a reply.

“Oh. Um...”

“I knew it! I had a feeling you’d be here!” Ciel shouted, pointing a finger at my face.

How sharp! Her intuition had always been good, but it was pretty much perfect when it came to me. How had she known where I was right away?!

“Who’s that?” Kuruta asked.

“An acquaintance? You seem rather friendly,” Nino said.

“Isn’t that the sage I met in Dahm? Do you two know each other?” Keina chimed in.

Everyone else appeared unexpectedly, out of which Kuruta, Nino, and Keina all closed in on me. Keina in particular seemed to be aware of my sister’s title and looked extra surprised.

When Ciel saw the women gathering around me, her expression darkened. She glared at me. “Who are these three ladies, Noa?” she asked menacingly.

“They’re my comrades, though Keina is a special case.”

“Comrades?”

“Yes. I’m in a party with them.”

“You mean you’re an adventurer now?”

I immediately nodded in response to her question. Ciel turned to Kuruta and the others and gave them a long, appraising look. She had the eyes of a mother studying a girlfriend her son had brought home. Her merciless gaze left the other three even more confused.

“Um. Who is she, really?” Kuruta asked.

“My big sister. Everyone, this is Ciel.”

“I’m Ciel. Nice to meet you,” she said somewhat curtly.

That was weird. She wasn’t usually this rude to strangers. My sisters generally all gave friendly and sociable first impressions. If not, they wouldn’t have been so successful.

“Oh, you’re his older sister? I’m Kuruta; nice to meet you.”

“I’m Nino. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“And I’m Keina! Nice to see you again.”

The three greeted her with a look of understanding, especially Kuruta, whose confusion disappeared almost instantly. She placed a hand on her hip as though she was showing herself off. Things had taken a strange turn. I could almost see the sparks of hostility between them.

“Hey, leave it at that for now! We have to do something about the slime first!” Rouga shouted. He had been watching with a look of exasperation.

He was right. This wasn’t the time to be fighting about—well, whatever they were fighting about. We had to do something about the huge slime wriggling before us!

“He’s right. We need to stop that slime. Can you lend us your strength, Ciel?” I asked.

Now that it had come to this, it was best to get all the help we could. Ciel looked over at the slime sticking to the side of the mountain and frowned at its enormous presence.

“Of course I will. What is that thing?”

“It’s an ancient creature called a gluttony slime,” Keina replied. “A fearsome monster with a strong acid that can melt and absorb anything it touches. If left alone, it’ll grow even bigger, consuming all the towns and forests nearby!”

“I see. What’s its weakness?” Ciel asked.

“Fire. We were just in the middle of preparing dragonblaze powder.”

Ciel looked even more surprised at that. Dragonblaze powder was a rare material even for a sage like her.

“In that case, this may work out,” she said. “But it’s still too big. If only it could be cut to half its current size...”

“Haaah!”

In the middle of Ciel’s musings, a voice roared in the distance.

That’s Raiza! Her spirited roar echoed through the whole valley. It was so powerful, everyone flinched. The might of a Swordmaster was amazing. We could feel her aura from such a far distance.

“Oh no! Look out!” I shouted.

“Huh?”

“Hurry!”

It was faint, but I suddenly had a bad feeling. Everyone swiftly hid behind a nearby boulder. As soon as we did, something white shot across the side of the mountain with a thunderous roar.

What was that?!

Don’t tell me... Was that a sword slash? The blow had moved like a storm toward the giant slime, instantly slicing it into two.

“Still as powerful as ever,” Ciel remarked.

“Has she gotten stronger than before?” I muttered.

“She’s probably fired up from receiving her present. She’s also got a grudge against that slime in particular,” Kuruta explained as she stared at the mark left in the mountainside.

Oh, right. That made sense. Raiza was pretty mad at that slime. She must have converted her anger into strength.

“Hey! You guys okay?” Raiza called.

“Raiza! Watch where you’re attacking!”

“Ciel?! You’re here already?!”

As soon as Raiza ran back up from the valley, Ciel voiced her complaints to her loudly. If I hadn’t warned everyone to hide, it would’ve been pretty dangerous. Her complaints were definitely justified. Raiza, meanwhile, was more shaken by Ciel’s unexpected appearance.

“Why didn’t you report that you’d found Noa?!” Ciel demanded.

“I have my reasons! There were circumstances...” Raiza mumbled.

“What circumstances did you have to prioritize over reporting to us? Explain yourself.”

“Like I said, there were various reasons.”

“Save it for later, you two!” I said, pulling them apart before they could bicker more. Raiza and Ciel were always like this. It was hard to tell if they were close or not. But I couldn’t allow them to go through their usual routine this time. “We have to deal with the slime first! Now that it’s split in two, this is our chance!”

“You have a point,” Raiza agreed.

“Okay, Raiza, you cut that thing even smaller, and we’ll burn it little by little,” Ciel ordered.

Just then, Rouga yelled behind us. “Hey! It’s already recovered!”

No way! Already?! I quickly turned to look at the slime, but it had already returned to its original form. In fact...it looked a little larger than before.

“This is bad,” Keina yelled, her face ashen. “It’s got enough mass now to grow the more you cut it!”

I’d thought joining up with Ciel would make things easier, but the situation had only become more difficult.

“Gah! It spat something this way!” I shouted.

A shot of water from the slime came flying at us. It passed through my wind barrier easily, brushing against my clothes, which melted with a hiss, releasing white smoke as a hole opened in them.

Uh-oh! It’s acid!

“Everyone, get behind me!” Rouga yelled, moving forward with his shield.

The smoothly polished surface deflected the acid like bullets. It was well-crafted equipment, as one would expect from a B-rank adventurer. The shield resisted the acid, but smoke was beginning to rise from it.

“Guh! Can’t your wind block that, Sieg?!” he yelled.

“It’s impossible! It’d be more dangerous if the acid splattered everywhere!”

It was simple enough to increase the force of the spell, but doing so could cause the acid to spray everywhere. Breathing it in could burn our lungs.

“I’ll block it!” Raiza offered.

“Raiza!” I said.

“Sieg and Ciel, you two come up with a plan while I hold the line! Got it?”

“Okay! We’ll figure something out!”

“There’s no helping it. Make sure you do your part,” Ciel replied. Despite her reluctant look, she entrusted the defense to Raiza.

Raiza rushed out in front of us and moved her arms with fierce force. Several hundred blows were sent out in quick succession. Her refined movements were sharp and accurate, making her sword seem like it had duplicated infinitely.

The sound of raging wind being sliced whistled through the air. But that was the limit of what she could do. Acid splattered against her armor, and a white ice blossom bloomed. The enchantment I had applied to the armor had been activated. The ice blossom burst into shards and fell apart. It was a gorgeous sight in the middle of a battlefield.

“Huh. Did you enchant that armor, Noa? I didn’t set up any tricks like that,” Ciel said.

“Yup. It’s my best work!”

“Not bad. Freezing acid was a good idea.” Ciel brought a hand to her chin in thought.

Did she... Did she just compliment me? How many years had it been since I’d last heard any praise from her? I sure couldn’t recall any such moment in the last three years.

“What’s that look for?” she said grumpily.

“Nothing. I was just thinking about how rare it is to hear praise from you.”

“I’m not praising you! I’m just telling the truth! Still, you’ve really improved your skills, haven’t you?” Ciel suddenly narrowed her eyes and stared at me sharply. I could only nod slowly in response to her serious gaze.

That enchantment magic had been a good learning experience. My magic skill had improved a lot more than when I was at home. I think.

“Yes, I think so too. Just a little,” I said.

“Can you use superior fire magic too?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll use superior ice magic to freeze the slime, and you’ll use superior fire magic to burn it,” Ciel explained.

I see. The slime wouldn’t be able to move if we froze it first. If we burned it with superior fire magic afterward, that should be enough to defeat it.

Kuruta and the others listening in seemed to think the same. They nodded in awe.

“No wonder you’re Sieg’s big sister! It’s a great plan,” Kuruta said.

“I also think that plan sounds good. It may be the only chance we have against that slime,” Keina agreed, crossing her arms and nodding. She came up to us and gave us more advice. “The gluttony slime has almost no intelligence. If you attack it, it’ll just run in the opposite direction. So if you freeze it from the outside in, you’ll gather all the slime in one spot!”

She made a gesture with her hands, showing a circle shrinking in size. No wonder she was a researcher from the lab. Her advice was perfect for the situation. All that was left was...

“Casting superior fire magic, huh?” I said.

“Come to think of it, you said you couldn’t use it before, right?” Nino said.

“Yeah. My sister always said it was impossible for me...” I trailed off and glanced at Ciel’s expression. It was true that she had always said I had no talent in magic and couldn’t use superior magic. So why was she suggesting it now?

I watched as she gradually turned red and stumbled over her words.

“That was...in the past...”

“It was two months ago.”

“They say boys become men overnight and all that! Two months is the same as two years! That’s how lonely I was, you know?! I didn’t think you’d actually leave after what I said, so I’ve regretted being so harsh this whole time!”

Ciel’s confident attitude suddenly crumbled all at once, tears falling from her eyes. My sharp-tongued sister was almost unrecognizable. I reached out and softly patted her on the shoulder. But she brushed my hand off, wiped her tears, and declared in a firm voice, “I guarantee it. You’ll definitely be able to do it with your current abilities!”

“All right. I’ll try,” I agreed, albeit hesitantly.

And so, the battle against the slime began.

“I’ll cause a distraction first. Yaaah! Heaven Slash: Exorcising Blast!”

Raiza mustered all her strength and swung her blade down with vigor, splitting the air. The clouds parted as the white slash traveled along the mountainside. It was a single strike, but the humongous slime was cleanly split into two. The acid raining down on us immediately stopped.

“It’s my turn next. Stand back, everyone!” Ciel said.

“Got it!” Raiza stopped attacking and moved back from the slime.

The rest of us also followed her orders and moved back. Ciel stepped out of my wind barrier and was struck on the back by the rain. She frowned at the water but turned and grinned at us. It’ll work. That was what her expression was clearly saying. Her weakhearted attitude earlier had completely vanished, replaced by the face of a great sage.

“Winter-withered envoy of the heavenly shore, master weaver of aurora walls. Gather by me,” she said clearly and fluently, reciting the spell.

Ciel could cast almost all her spells silently, so this was proof of how serious she was. Dense magic energy was carried through the air by the wind.

“Wow! So this is the magic energy of a sage!” Kuruta whistled in awe.

“Sieg is amazing, but she’s even greater,” Nino said.

“Ugh, the cold is chilling me to the bone,” Keina whined.

As they spoke, the air around us dropped more and more in temperature, freezing the rain into hail. Our breath turned the air white, and a land of frost manifested. Ciel’s magic energy continued to swell until a blue aura rose from her.

The gluttony slime screeched, sensing the danger of her magic. It finished regenerating and tried to surge toward Ciel like a tidal wave.

“This is bad!” Raiza said.

“Hold on! It’s okay!” I quickly stopped her from rushing out. If she interrupted Ciel now, the spell would be ruined. I grabbed her hand and forced her to stay still.

Ciel was a sage—she wouldn’t mess up something like this. And in no time at all:

“Grand Joli Givre!”

Cold air exploded. The powerful ice spell became a white torrent that spread through our surroundings. It was so cold, the six of us huddled together for warmth.

The slime’s giant body gradually froze before our eyes, from the outside to the inside. Ciel’s magic energy swirled in a round spiral, demonstrating her perfect control. The monster struggled desperately to escape, but it only ended up in the shape of a giant pudding. It was exactly as Keina had said.

“Now’s your chance, Noa!” Ciel shouted.

“Okay!”

I can do it, I can do it!

I threw the dragonblaze powder at the slime and gathered my magic energy. I had to surpass my limits here. Where else would I get the chance? I encouraged myself in my heart and mustered all my energy. It felt like my blood was boiling, heating up my entire body. The fire magic energy I was gathering was being converted to literal heat.

“A crimson mirror rises in the azure sky, illuminating all life. Gather by me...”

I recited each phrase of the incantation quietly and carefully, gathering the refined energy in the palm of my hand. An energy orb as red as the sun began burning there.

All that was left was to slam this at the slime and shatter it! But the moment I took aim, thunder suddenly roared.

“Whoa!”

“What? Lightning just fell!”

“Watch out!”

A bolt of lightning struck the rock beside me. The boulder the size of an adult was blown into pieces. Another bolt followed it, this time falling near Kuruta and the others. Rouga immediately held up his shield, but he was blown away.

“Rouga!”

“Don’t mind me! I’m fine, this is nothing!” Rouga staggered to his feet with trembling legs. He claimed he was fine, but he had taken some real damage.

This was bad. At this rate, we’d be wiped out by the lightning! The disruption to my thoughts messed with my focus. I stopped reciting my spell, and the flow of energy stagnated.

“Oh no!” I yelled.

Now I couldn’t cast the superior magic! It’s true my comrades had been in a pinch, but that had been too careless of me. Damn it! At this rate...

I tried to gather my magic energy once more, but my panic was making it worse. How could I mess up at a time like this?! Despair suddenly filled my heart.

Just then, a hand touched my shoulder gently.

“Pull yourself together, Noa!”

“Ciel...”

“I’ll lend you a hand, but I’ve just used my own superior magic, so it won’t be much. You better get this right, or I won’t forgive you!”

Despite being in pain herself, she was willing to share her magic energy with me. It felt like we were casting a spell together—like a fusion of magic. I used my black blade as a catalyst and swirled our energies together.

This should work!

I looked at her face once more and nodded firmly. The next moment, it felt like the shackles on my magic had broken.

“Hiyaaah! Grand Volcan!”

A ball of fire flew at the slime and exploded violently. A pillar of flame rose to the heavens, piercing through the black clouds. Powerful heatwaves easily surpassed the water shield, tearing apart the land and looking like a scene from hell. There was probably enough force to burn a dragon. The ice shattered in the fierce flames, evaporating with a hiss.

Several minutes later, the magic energy faded.

“Phew! It’s gone!”

There was nothing left of the slime on the red-hot mountainside.

“Ooh! It’s gone!”

The gluttony slime that was large enough to cover an entire mountain had burned to a crisp, vanishing without a trace. Superior magic had that type of terrifying force.

Having expended all my magic energy, I wiped my brow with a sigh. At least the threat was gone now. The fatigue caught up to me in one go, though, nearly sending me to my knees.

“Whoa... You did it, Sieg! Ciel!” Kuruta cheered.

“It was impressive. I’m shocked,” Nino said.

“That was so cool!” Keina cried excitedly.

“You’re all amazing!” Rouga added with a hearty laugh.

Everyone was praising us so much, it was a little embarrassing. Ciel, who was standing beside me, stared at my reddening face.

Now, what will she say?

Unlike Kuruta and the others, she was a harsh critic when it came to this stuff. I’d already failed to cast the spell alone.

I gulped and waited for judgment to be passed.

“It wasn’t bad for a first attempt. But only a first attempt. I expect you to cast it without my help next time.”

“Ciel, thank you so much?!” I shouted, confused.

“Hey, what’s that dramatic reaction for?!” She averted her eyes, her ears reddening. Had I really said something that embarrassing?

I tilted my head as Raiza burst into laughter. “Ciel’s the shyest out of all of us. She tries to hide it by being snappy with others, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t acknowledge you, Noa,” she explained.

“Raiza! Who asked you to speak for me?!” said Ciel.

“Am I speaking for you?”

“No! I mean, yes, but no!” Ciel stuttered in confusion.

Um...so what did she actually mean?

My confusion mirrored hers. Eventually, Ciel clapped her hands together and changed the topic. “At any rate! You did well today. Good work!”

“Right!”

“Which brings me back to my first question: What are you doing here?”

“Defeating the slime, of course.”

Ciel raised an eyebrow at my answer. She came right up to me and pointed a finger at my face. “That’s not what I meant! I’m asking why you left home and ended up in a place like this!”

“Because...I wanted to become independent. I couldn’t rely on all of you forever. I decided it was the right time to do just that. I even said so, didn’t I?”

I recalled the day I’d left home. Ciel’s words had been pretty harsh as well. Just the memory of it made my tone toward my sister sharper.

Ciel looked somewhat uncomfortable. “I just wanted you to stay at home forever. I didn’t want you to endanger yourself out in the world. That’s why I put pressure on you to force you to stay...” She trailed off without finishing her words. What was she trying to say?

I quickly took a few steps back from her, feeling something bad was about to happen. She normally ended up snapping and attacking at times like this. As her little brother, I knew her well.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

My voice cracked in shock. “Huh?”

Out of nowhere, Ciel bowed her head to me. That was...completely unexpected. This prideful sister of mine lowering her head to me?

“I said I’m sorry! I apologize for pressuring you so much, Noa.”

“I get it, I get it! I forgive you, sis.”

“Thank you. So please come home. No more running away.”

Ah, so that’s how she’s gonna do it!

The heartwarming moment was immediately ruined by a cold dose of reality. But no matter what she said, I wasn’t going home after coming this far! Only a couple of months had passed since I’d arrived in Rajah. I shook my head firmly.

“Why? Do you hate home that much?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why not? You’ve adventured enough, haven’t you?”

“That’s not the problem. I want to live independently from here on out.”

“From here on out?!” Ciel screeched.

Ow! My ears! Her shrill voice rang in my head. There was no need to be that surprised!

“Absolutely not! Come home now. That’s an order!”

“I don’t want to follow that order!”

“When did you get so cocky, Noa?! Raiza, you say something to him too!”

“I...agree with him staying,” Raiza said. She gently wrapped an arm around my shoulder and smiled smugly.

Whoa, Raiza was on my side. Come to think of it, she’d already bought a house in Rajah. She probably intended to stay here with me. But I figured Ciel would feel betrayed by her response, and sure enough, she immediately turned red—this time with rage.

“Raiza! You’ve been using our absence to take advantage of Noa, haven’t you?! We won’t forgive you for acting in secret!”

“How rude! I haven’t done anything yet!”

“Yet?! That means you plan on doing something in the future!”

“I didn’t mean that!”

“That’s not helping your argument! Are you stupid?”

“Who are you calling stupid?!”

They bickered loudly and fiercely without end. Their fight eventually turned physical, magic clashing against sword. Hey! Give me a break! A battle between Swordmaster and sage is no joke!

The fight only escalated as I tried to come up with a way of stopping them. The entire mountain was shaking. How did they still have this much power after that ferocious battle with the slime?

“Enough! Enough, already! Stop fighting!” Kuruta interrupted them with a yell just as they were about to clash again. “I’ve got a good idea for you both, so calm down!”

The two came to a stop. What exactly was she going to suggest?

We all listened to her idea quietly.

Chapter 9: Challenging a Sage

“To think a storm would arrive now of all times. We were all caught completely off guard,” the guildmaster said.

It was the next day, and we were in a meeting room at the Adventurers Guild giving our report to the guildmaster. After hearing everything that had happened, he held a hand to his chin and sighed. Storms in this area really were unusual for this time of year. Kuruta and Rouga had both said they’d never seen such a thing either.

“It was clearly artificial,” Ciel commented.

“Oh? And who are you, by the way?” the guildmaster asked.

“Oh, right,” Ciel said. She bowed her head lightly at him. “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Ciel, and I’m a sage.”

“You’re a sage?”

“Yes. Does this prove it?”

She took a gold medal out of her breast pocket and showed it to the guildmaster. His attitude immediately changed.

“Oh my. I apologize for my rudeness! I am Abert, the guildmaster of this branch.” He bowed his head in reverence. There were only a few people with such a title on the continent, so his reaction was understandable. The chances of a sage visiting these remote lands was about as likely as...the Swordmaster’s arrival, I guess.

“There’s no need for any of that. It makes it harder to interact,” Ciel told him.

“Understood.”

“You can just say okay.”

“Okay.”

Ciel nodded smugly, then reached into her pocket and took out a burned piece of fabric. It was stained with a dull green body fluid.

“What is that?” the guildmaster asked.

“A piece of the clothes the culprit was wearing.”

“The culprit? Did you see them?”

“Just briefly. They were flying through the air but fled when they were hit by Noa’s fire magic.”

Apparently, Ciel had spotted a figure fleeing through the flames immediately after I’d released my superior magic. There appeared to be a horn on their forehead—a telling trait of a demon.

“This stain is probably demon blood. Isn’t that right, Keina?” Ciel asked.

“I can’t say for sure until I look at it in the laboratory, but it does seem most likely. It has that characteristic stench,” Keina said, bringing her nose close to the cloth and sniffing it. If someone from the research lab was saying it, then there was basically no mistake. Especially since it had also been the work of a demon last time.

“Hmm. This is an alarming situation. Do they plan on breaking the agreement?”

“I highly doubt that,” Raiza said with a furrowed brow. “So many would die if it turns into war.”

There was currently a non-aggression pact in place with demonkind. It had been created by an ancient hero and Demon King roughly five hundred years ago. Thanks to that, war between humans and demons had been avoided for a long time. But if the demons were to break the pact and invade...

Just the thought of it was terrifying. Rajah would be swallowed by a sea of flames, and half the continent would become a war zone. It could even become an extinction event for mankind. With the exception of Raiza and a select few others, most demons were stronger than humans.

“I may need to dispatch a messenger. We’ll consult the higher-ups and arrange things with the government,” the guildmaster said.

“Please do.”

“We might end up relying on your party for things again. Be prepared for anything.”

“Okay!”

“Raiza and Ciel too, if you don’t mind.”

The guildmaster bowed his head deeply.

My sisters nodded with relaxed smiles. The fact that they were here if anything happened was very reassuring.

“Now, the guild will pay the bounty for the slime. The only problem is how to prove the hunt with no corpse or remains.”

“In that case, I’ll write the necessary documents,” Keina offered. “A testimony from the monster research lab should be enough. I got a clear view of the monster species too.”

“That would be great. There shouldn’t be a problem if you write it.”

Keina gave a thumbs-up and grinned. That should resolve the problem of getting our reward. Kuruta and the others also looked relieved. I didn’t find out until later, but the dragonblood toxin was really, really expensive—enough to make an A-rank adventurer like Kuruta poor.

“Thank goodness! Now I can go out all I want!” Rouga cheered.

“Is that all you think about?” Kuruta asked.

“I’m not even surprised anymore. We just finished a battle, and he’s still behaving like this,” Nino said with a sigh.

“The whole point is to celebrate finishing the battle! Why don’t we all go out and party?” Rouga suggested, throwing an arm around my shoulder. But my sisters immediately shot him an ice-cold glare.

They were so intimidating, I froze alongside him. Rouga swiftly shrank back and stepped away from me.

“Aha ha ha... Let’s wrap it up here.”

With our report to the guildmaster complete, we left the office. The real problem began here as Ciel promptly looked at me.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s decide on a date for our magic duel,” she said, eyes narrowing with a suspicious grin.

Back when Kuruta had interrupted her fight with Raiza, the suggestion she had given was for me and Ciel to duel instead, just like I had done with Raiza to resolve things. And now it wasn’t a simple battle of strength—it was a contest of spellcasting. In short, it would be extremely difficult for me to win. That was why she had willingly accepted the challenge. A little recklessness had been needed to put a stop to their battle, so there’d been no other choice. If we had set conditions that were favorable to me, she might not have agreed.

Besides, I had an idea. I hadn’t told anyone about it yet, but the moment we’d cast the superior magic together had given me an epiphany.

“That’s fine, but who’s going to judge? The average mage won’t be able to handle such a thing,” Kuruta said.

“I have an idea. There’s an extremely skilled mage named Marlene who lives in town,” I said.

“Marlene?” Ciel repeated, tilting her head.

Judging from her reaction, she was familiar with the name. Marlene seemed like such an impressive mage, so I figured my sister would have heard of her.

“Let’s go to Marlene’s place first. We need to ask her before anything else,” Kuruta said.

“Right. She might not even be available,” Ciel agreed.

“I hope she’ll agree,” I said.

And so, we all headed for Marlene’s house.

“Here we are. This is my house,” Kuruta said.

“Wow. Not a bad place,” Ciel commented.

Roughly twenty minutes after leaving the guild, we arrived at Kuruta’s house. Of course, our business was actually with Marlene next door.

Kuruta rang the doorbell with a sense of familiarity. She had become good friends with Marlene while I was there working out my enchantment magic. They’d already been next-door neighbors anyway, so they got along well.

“Oh? Has something happened? You’ve got a lot of friends with you,” Marlene said after quickly answering the door. She took one look at us and chuckled in amusement.

We did have a pretty large group. In addition to Kuruta, Nino, and Rouga who’d been there the other day, Raiza and Ciel had joined us, making a grand total of six on Marlene’s doorstep. Her house was fairly large, but our group was large enough to make the entrance feel cramped. Maybe we should have asked Nino and Rouga to stay back.

“We’d like to ask you for a favor,” Kuruta said.

“Me? I’d be happy to help.”

“Really? That would be great.”

“Of course. But first...you over there. You look kind of familiar. Have we met before?” Marlene asked, staring at Ciel’s face. It seemed she recognized Ciel as well. Did they know each other after all?

“Hmm. This might be bad,” Kuruta whispered to me.

Huh? What was so bad about it? I leaned over to whisper back, “What’s wrong?”

“It might be a problem if they’re acquainted. Marlene’s normally a reasonable person, so I was hoping I could tell her your circumstances and convince her to side with us.”

“Ah...”

I understood what Kuruta was trying to say and smiled awkwardly. Marlene and Kuruta were friendly neighbors, and I was familiar with Marlene too. If we asked her to be a little more lenient toward us in the duel, she might listen, but only if she wasn’t already acquainted with Ciel.

Oh well. I wouldn’t have wanted to win unfairly anyway. I’d rather treat it as a proper challenge, fair and square.

“Are you perhaps a graduate of the Royal Magic Academy?” Marlene asked.

“Yes, I am. Are you the previous headmaster, Marlene?”

“That’s right! I remember now. You’re Ciel, aren’t you? I’ve seen you once before.”

“Yes! That’s me! We last met at an academic conference, didn’t we?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right! I still remember the question you asked me!”

While Kuruta and I were whispering to each other, Ciel and Marlene’s conversation was getting increasingly fired up. It seemed they knew each other through their magic academy. While they didn’t have a teacher-student dynamic, they had a pretty notable connection anyway. They also seemed to get along as fellow mages.

“If I’d known a student like you was coming to the academy, I would have delayed my retirement,” Marlene said.

“It’s an honor to have the great sorcerer think so highly of me,” Ciel replied.

“Oh, don’t be silly. You’ve got the higher title as sage, you know?”

“I still have a lot to learn.”

“Come to think of it, what business does a sage like you have with me? I should have asked that earlier.” Marlene turned to look at the rest of us.

There was no way we could ask her to help me out now. Kuruta’s forehead started sweating as she grasped for words.

Ciel eventually lost her patience and explained things herself. “Noa and I are having a magic duel. We’d like you to be the judge.”

“My, that sounds like fun! I’d love to see your magic too. But who’s Noa?”

“That would be me,” I said, slowly raising my hand. I’d introduced myself to Marlene as Sieg, so naturally, she looked at me curiously.

“Didn’t you say your name was Sieg before?”

“My real name is Noa. Sieg is more of a nickname.”

“He’s at the age where he wants to go by a uselessly cool nickname,” Raiza said, offering an explanation in support.

She had her arms crossed and was grinning ear-to-ear. But what was she even going on about? Now that I thought about it, there was a time when she had used ridiculously long move names. Was she lumping my decision in with her weird choices?

“Oh, is that so? I get it,” Marlene said with a giggle.

“Sure...” It was great she understood, but it felt like I had lost a piece of my dignity!

With that, the duel with Ciel was basically set in stone. Asking to cancel the match now would be truly embarrassing. I had no choice but to duel her fairly. But that was okay; I still had my plan.

“So, how will your duel work? A contest of pure might would be dull and boring,” Marlene said.

“That’s true. It’d be nice to evaluate us in all aspects,” Ciel replied.

“In that case, why don’t you each show off your best spell and compare that? Noa would have a better chance of winning that way,” Marlene said with a knowing smile.

It was a little embarrassing to be read so easily, but I was grateful for her suggestion. I nodded in agreement and looked back at Ciel. As an enemy, her presence was much more formidable. It was no easy task becoming a sage at such a young age.

“I’m fine with that. I’ll win no matter the rules.”

“Then let’s hold the duel in five days. Both of you do your best to prepare.”

Ciel smiled with confidence. “Sure. You can look forward to it.”

“I’ll do my best!” I said nervously.

Gah! She seemed so sure of her victory already. There were five days until the battle. I had to find a way to destroy that confidence of hers before then. Although I had an idea, there was no guarantee it would work within five days. In fact, it was more likely to go wrong than right.

“Then let’s call it a day here,” I said.

“Right. See you all in five days,” Marlene agreed.

Ciel chuckled. “Do your best, Noa. I can’t wait to see what kind of spell you’ll show me.” She walked off.

Now, what to do first? I brought a hand to my chin in thought as Raiza came up to me.

“You okay? You don’t look so good,” she said.

“I was just thinking about what to do from here.”

“Yeah, facing Ciel in a battle will be tough. How about you use the magic blade from last time?”

“Ooh! That’s a good idea. It also makes a strong impression,” Kuruta said, clapping her hands at Raiza’s suggestion.

The magic blade technique was rarely ever used. It was also fairly difficult, but it looked flashy, so it could make for a good show. Ciel probably couldn’t use it either, so it was the perfect magic to demonstrate for the duel.

“You should go for it. But a magic blade alone might be a bit dull for a magic duel,” Rouga noted.

“Rouga has a point. Ciel’s definitely going to prepare something big and flashy,” I said.

“Then how about you combine it with one of my hidden arts?” Raiza suggested.

“No, that’d make it more of a sword technique than a magic blade. Magic is the main focus of the duel.”

“Aw, and here I thought it’d be a good chance to teach you some bigger moves. You don’t give it your all in training unless you’re under pressure like this.”

“That’s because your idea of giving it my all comes with a high risk of death, sis.”

I recalled our past training sessions with a wry smile. Crossing a lake with a steel ball chained to my leg, swinging a sword for a full week without sleep... It was a miracle I’d survived them at all. Of course, Raiza had taken care not to actually let me die...but it was the bare minimum effort.

“You’ll need something flashy, though, won’t you? Ciel will definitely use some kind of large and fancy spell,” Kuruta said.

“I do have an idea,” I replied.

“Oh? What is it?”

“Fusion magic.”

Everyone gave me a confused look. Raiza was staring at me with a particularly intrigued gaze.

“I’ve never heard of it. What’s that?” she asked.

“As the name implies, I’ll fuse two spells together.”

“Huh? Is that possible?”

“Theoretically. I only thought of it because I used my superior magic spell with Ciel against that slime.”

I drew my black blade as I gave a simple explanation of the principles of fusion magic. Kuruta and most of the others were smart to begin with, so they understood without an issue. In contrast, Raiza had a completely baffled look on her face. Come to think of it, she was the type to learn through her body rather than her head...

“I see. I totally get it,” she said.

“I can tell you don’t get it at all, sis.”

“Pretending to understand? How embarrassing,” said Kuruta.

“Urk!” Raiza groaned as though her comment had caused her physical harm. She had a tendency to pretend she was smarter than she actually was, probably because of her Swordmaster title.

Kuruta and the others had already seen through her, though. I guess she was insistent on keeping up her image as an adult?

“You’ll need a backup plan if that fails,” Kuruta told me. “It’s a bit scary to put all your eggs into one basket.”

“In that case...hmm.”

Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything else I could do that could match up against Ciel. There were only a handful of mages in the land who had the title of sage, and Ciel was the youngest yet strongest of them all. She specialized in ice magic that was powerful enough to freeze a fire dragon. She had proven it right in front of us by freezing that giant slime, and there was no telling what her limits were.

“I guess there’s no helping it. I’ll just have to help you myself,” Kuruta said.

“Huh? What are you going to do?”

“Gather intel, of course. I’ll investigate Marlene and find out what kind of magic she likes best.”

“Ah... But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the battle?” I asked hesitantly.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” Kuruta said, wagging a finger at me. She gave a light shrug before gaining a threatening tone. “That’s too naive of you, Sieg! You have to win this battle to stay in town. You should be thinking of how to defeat her, no matter what it takes!”

“Yeah, but cheating is a bit...”

“Are you okay with leaving us? You won’t feel anything at all?” Kuruta asked, eyes watering as she closed the distance between us and stared at me. Nino and Rouga also pulled sad faces in agreement.

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered that losing to Ciel meant no longer seeing my friends. If she dragged me home, I wouldn’t be able to leave so easily again. That thought sent a chill down my spine.

Losing means going home forever.

The irresponsible sense of confidence within me was shattered into pieces.

“You’re right. I’ll win no matter what!”

“Yeah!”

Everyone raised their hands and cheered.

And so, the challenge against a sage began!

Chapter 10: Magic Duel

It was five days later, on the day of the magic duel.

“Wow. The arena is underground here?”

We had arrived outside the tavern with the underground arena. Ciel was looking around the place, frowning at the scent of cheap alcohol. A sage like her would normally never be found in a rowdy place like this.

“It certainly isn’t a very elegant establishment. You haven’t been frequenting places like this, have you?!” she continued.

“Of course not! It’s Rouga who’s the regular round here.”

“I see. The old guy...” Ciel muttered with a sullen look.

Rouga immediately protested against being called old, but Ciel just brushed him off with a smile. He was definitely pushing it too much in age to be called young anymore. Besides, was that really something worth getting angry about?

“You’re still plenty young in my eyes,” Marlene said with a soft chuckle.

“Really? Well, I guess that’s a given,” Rouga replied, laughing at the unexpected support before pushing open the tavern door.

We followed him past the counter and down the staircase. Before long, the arena came into view. Ciel and Marlene both looked shocked at the size.

“This is impressive. No wonder Noa and Raiza were able to fight here,” Ciel said.

Raiza nodded. “Yeah, it’s big enough for me to go all out.”

“It’s quite spacious. This place must have cost a pretty penny,” Marlene added.

“The owner originally imagined people fighting beasts here. He probably thought he’d make it all back with the flashy show,” Rouga explained.

Ciel snapped her fingers with a confident smile. “Okay. I should be able to put on a good show!”

What magic would a world-renowned sage like her demonstrate today? I gulped nervously.

“Okay. We’ll be watching from the stands,” Rouga said.

“Give it your all. I’m expecting the best from you!” Kuruta cheered.

“I’ll be watching from beside Kuruta,” Nino added.

After offering me their encouragement, they went to the stands with Raiza, and Marlene stepped before us instead. It was finally time.

Ciel and I faced each other as Marlene said gently, “The duel will now begin. Who wants to go first?”

“Allow me the honor. It’ll be more exciting that way,” Ciel said with a fearless grin, holding her staff up high. The ruby at the tip shone faintly as it reflected the light.

I nodded and moved to the wall of the arena. As soon as I was a safe distance away, Ciel swung her staff.

“Breath of the mountain, light of the heavens...”

The words she recited flowed smoothly. Ciel was serious—she was using greater magic right off the bat. On top of that, her chant was for ice magic, which was my specialty. Her staff, which was taller than her, danced around as though it were weightless. She moved it like a conductor’s baton, drawing in the air using light. The woven rays eventually connected together, and a piercing cold air blew through the arena.

“Is that...ice?” I muttered.

The moisture in the air was freezing into small, dancing beads. Light reflected off them at random, creating a fantastical scene that looked like it was scattered with stars. Then, a large tree began growing below the raining beads. It was made of sparkling ice as well, and its branches soon stretched across the entire arena. It eventually grew as tall as the ceiling, towering over us like an ancient tree that had sprouted hundreds of years ago.

The audience in the stands leaned forward in their seats.

“Wow, what was that?” Rouga asked.

“Ugh! It’s so cold!” Nino complained.

“That’s Ciel for you,” Raiza said proudly.

“What impressive magic energy! It’s rare to see ice alchemy magic with this kind of precision and scale!” Kuruta shouted in awe.

Indeed, it was no easy feat casting alchemy magic of this magnitude. Each branch of the giant tree was beautifully formed. It was truly a work of art.

But...the spell was lacking in impact for Ciel. It was a beautiful spell, but I knew my sister preferred to do things much more extravagantly.

“Bloom! Pario Glacies!”

No sooner had I thought that than Ciel raised her staff high into the air. The jewel on it glowed brightly, filling the area with crimson light. Blossoms of ice started blooming along the branches in response. They were small and delicate, and they looked similar to a flower that grew in the east.

If I recall correctly, I think they were called...cherry blossoms?

The audience was making a stir over the blooming flowers.

“That’s beautiful!” Rouga said in awe.

“It’s cherry blossoms!” Nino gasped.

“I’m shocked. She actually made flowers bloom,” Kuruta said.

“Grr... This isn’t looking good...” Raiza frowned, believing my victory was slipping away.

Just then, Ciel started firing off orbs of light. Delicate petals fluttered through the light, melting away. The cherry blossoms illuminated by countless light sources were breathtakingly beautiful.

As a finishing touch, Ciel began chanting another spell. “Those without form, unbound to the world. Traverse the void and show your might! Tourbillon!”

Her staff swung through the air rapidly. At the same time, a refreshing breeze blew through the arena. After a brief moment, a faint sound could be heard. It was more faint and delicate than any instrument I had ever heard before. It was the music of the wind, carrying a tune of the arriving spring.

I couldn’t believe it. She was playing music using wind magic! While it was theoretically possible, the precision required to perform such a thing was incredible. When had Ciel had the time to learn that? It was a magnificent show of precision from a sage who was known for her overwhelming power. Even I couldn’t help but be astonished.

Raiza and the others were shocked to the point of speechlessness.

“What do you think? Attack magic would’ve been dangerous, so I went for alchemy magic. Pretty, isn’t it?” Ciel said after the show was over, bowing elegantly.

Marlene applauded her with a big smile. “It was a wonderful spell formula, as always. I’ve never seen something calculated so meticulously. The design was perfect too.”

“I have Ecrecia to thank for that. She taught me a lot,” Ciel said proudly.

Ecrecia was an artist. She had the kind of talent that only appeared once a century. Right...so the flower designs had been her doing. I looked up at the ice tree still blooming and nodded in comprehension.

“Now it’s your turn, Noa,” Ciel said, jerking her chin at me in defiance. She gave me a look to scare me into surrendering. Such an impressive spell wouldn’t be easy to surpass.

But I had come with my own plan. “I won’t lose, sis,” I declared quietly, taking the black blade into my hand.

“It’s Sieg’s turn next. I’m looking forward to it,” Marlene said, turning to smile at me.

It was finally time! I sent my magic energy into my sword and held it high. A magic circle appeared in the air, glowing a bright scarlet.

“Not bad. You’ve improved in your energy refinement,” Ciel said smugly as she watched me. She seemed sure of her victory. But I was just getting started. She wouldn’t feel so relaxed in a moment!

“Haaah!”

“Oh, how rare,” Marlene noted.

Fire burst out of my sword, swirling in a tornado. I held the blade straight out before me and continued with my simple sword dance. The flames swayed, rumbling with the sound of slashes. Magic blade users were a rare sight. Marlene looked a little impressed.

All right, not a bad start. I continued by activating light magic. “Sentier!”

I used the black blade to slash the magic circle composed of geometric shapes and ancient runes before me. It shattered with a satisfying sound, sending condensed magic energy scattering as light. A second and third magic circle followed, blooming into flowers of light.

“Nice one, Sieg! You can do it!” Kuruta cheered.

“This should be...” Nino muttered.

“Yeah, it should be a good fight!” Rouga shouted.

“No, this isn’t enough. It’ll take more to win against Ciel,” Raiza said.

It seemed they were pretty excited about seeing my magic. Rouga had even stood up from his seat. But as expected, Raiza was still calm. Her judgment that this wasn’t enough was correct. It’d take at least one or two gambles to pull ahead!

“Next. Eau De Mer!”

“He mixed it? Using his sword?” Ciel muttered.

“I see. He’s blending two spells using his sword as a catalyst,” Marlene said to herself.

I had wrapped a current of water shaped like a snake around my burning sword. This was the special move I had prepared: fusion magic. It was normally extremely difficult to activate two opposing types of magic at once. In the case of fire and water, their ability to cancel each other out made for the worst possible combination—an explosion waiting to happen.

But I was able to make the two elements swirl around the black blade safely. It was a method I had come up with when Ciel had shared her magic energy with me and our magic energies had swirled around my sword to activate the superior magic spell safely.

“Hmm,” Ciel murmured.

Clear water swirled alongside burning fire, creating a beautiful growing radiance. The water illuminated by the flames reflected light in seven colors, and Ciel’s eyes narrowed unhappily at the sight. Her relaxed attitude from earlier was slowly fading away.

All right! Just like this!

With the fire and water swirling around my sword, I continued my dance. The water that sprayed through the air was illuminated by the flames, creating a fantastical space. Then, I swung my sword up and thrust it at the center of the arena.

“Raaagh!”

Fire and water combined in a fierce explosion, and the roaring boom created a blast of air, with white vapor forming a stream that filled our surroundings. Marlene and Ciel immediately cast barriers to protect themselves from the steam.

“Hey! What’s that?” Marlene asked.

“A projection using light magic and vapor?” Ciel guessed.

White vapor filled the underground arena. I projected the image of a certain adventurer and woman onto the screen.

Marlene’s eyes widened when she saw it. “Is that me and Arsem? It can’t be...”

The shadows of the adventurer and woman were projected against a simplified version of the town. They exchanged flowers with each other and disappeared into the mist. It was a short performance of less than a minute. When it finished, flowers were burned into the ground of the arena.

“Thus ends my spell,” I said, making an elegant bow just like Ciel.

Silence filled the arena for a brief moment.

“Wow! That was great, Sieg!” Rouga suddenly shouted.

“Not bad. I give it my approval,” Nino agreed.

“You sure know how to make a show. That should do it!” Kuruta said excitedly.

“Yeah, it should be enough!” Raiza agreed.

Their applause and cheers could be heard from the stands.

Phew! I pulled it off! I sighed in relief and waved at everyone.

“Not bad. But you couldn’t reach me,” Ciel said triumphantly, puffing out her chest. She approached me and pressed her index finger into my forehead, then shrugged and started pointing out the problems with my magic.

“Your performance was indeed better. I can acknowledge that. The idea of fusion magic and light magic to make a projection was also good. But spell-wise, too much of it was focused on intermediate magic, and your control was sloppier than mine. Above all...” Ciel’s hand shot out and grabbed the black blade hanging at my waist, stumbling at the weight. “How did you swing around something this heavy?!”

“Well, I’ve trained a lot.”

“I see Raiza hasn’t been teaching you nothing...” she muttered, standing firm despite her struggle with the sword’s weight. She spread her feet as far as her shoulders and muttered, “Vulcan! Eau De Mer!”

Two magic circles overlapped instantly. The fire and water that burst out of them wrapped around the sword neatly. That was Ciel for you... What a surprise. She’d learned the fusion magic I had demonstrated just by seeing it once. There was no beating her in pure magic talent!

“Your catalyst was good. Heh. It wasn’t perfect, but I was able to recreate it.”

“Grr!”

“That makes my victory set in stone. Isn’t that right, Marlene?” Ciel said, turning to her with a grin.

Marlene closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “No. It’s Sieg’s victory,” she declared in a gentle but firm voice.

“Why? What makes it Noa’s victory?” Ciel immediately objected to Marlene’s verdict. If it hadn’t been a great sorcerer she was talking to, she probably would have lunged at her.

But Marlene showed no hesitation. She cleared her throat and repeated herself. “There is no mistake. It’s Sieg’s victory.”

“Why? Explain your reasoning.”

“There are a few reasons, but first, Sieg researched me well. I can tell he prepared thoroughly in order to win this match.” Marlene tapped the ground with the cane in her hand.

Ciel looked down in confusion. “What about it? It’s a pretty pattern, but there’s nothing special—”

“This flower is very special to me. Sieg, you know that, don’t you?” Marlene smiled softly at me.

I nodded in response. I had picked the flower based on my research. “Yes. I chose a flower that had special meaning to Marlene and her son.”

“Her son?” Ciel repeated with a dubious look. It seemed she hadn’t tried to find out much about Marlene in advance. Well, that was a given; with her abilities, she didn’t need to use petty tricks to win.

“Yes. This wagtail lily stands for reunion. Marlene and her son exchange this flower every time they meet each other.”

“That’s right. My son is an adventurer, so I give it to him in hopes of seeing him again.”

Ciel gasped in realization. “Oh! That projection!”

As they had said, the projection of the adventurer and woman I had created was based on Marlene and her son. I had originally planned on something else, but Kuruta had found information that prompted me to change it.

“Yes. It reminded me of him immediately.”

“I see. That was considerate of him, then. But it’s still not enough to be called a victory. This is a magic duel, not a hospitality duel!” Ciel shouted, her hands clenched into fists.

Indeed, my sister had a point. None of this was enough to justify a victory in a magic duel. I quickly turned around and called out to Rouga. “Excuse me! Could you dim the lights?”

“Hm? Sure thing...but what for?”

“You’ll know in a second!”

Rouga pulled down the lever that was located beside the spectator stands. The magic stone lamps in the ceiling and walls dimmed. Once the surroundings turned dark, the glow of the flower patterns on the floor became more apparent. Yes, just like real wagtail lilies. The reason the flowers meant reunion was because they could glow in the dark. I’d wanted to recreate that characteristic no matter what.

“Oh! Did you weave light magic into your fire and water magic?!” Ciel asked.

“Just a little. It was impossible for me to stabilize three types of magic at the same time, but I think I did a good job recreating the pale glow of the wagtail lily.”

Marlene chuckled. “I knew it. It was faint, but I could feel the magic energy.”

“Grrr!” Ciel began to grind her teeth. It was a bad habit of hers that only showed up when she was really frustrated. I thought she had grown out of it, but that didn’t seem to be the case. “But it’s still not good enough! My magic was better in every way!”

“Yes, you were superior to Sieg in almost every respect.”

Huh? Marlene readily agreed with Ciel’s claim!

“But there’s one thing you couldn’t defeat him in, and that is imagination,” she continued calmly.

“Imagination?” Ciel repeated.

“Yes. The spells you demonstrated were all wonderful. But in terms of originality, they fell behind Sieg’s fusion magic. That’s why I gave Sieg the victory, not because of the consideration he showed me.”

Did this mean Marlene believed in my potential? It was kind of nice hearing unexpected words of praise from a great mage like her.

“Thank you very much, Marlene!” I said.

“Are you satisfied with that explanation, Ciel?” Marlene asked.

“Hmph! It doesn’t count!” she snapped.

“Huh?!” I yelped.

“The outcome of the match doesn’t matter anymore! I take back what I said. I’m bringing you home no matter what, Noa!”

Whaaat?!

What kind of reasoning was that?! After everything I’d gone through to win, she was going back on her word?! Even I didn’t have the patience to put up with that!

“That’s just unreasonable! We had an agreement, Ciel!” I said to her in a tone that was sharper than usual.

“Only because I knew I’d win a magic duel! Duh!”

“What kind of logic is that?! That means you had no intention of letting me stay in the first place!”

“Exactly! You’re coming home with me! I’ll use force if I have to!” She held up her staff and instantly drew three layered magic circles.

Oh no! That was her serious restraint magic! I immediately tried to cast defensive magic, but there was no way I would make it in time. Her activation speed was just too fast!

“Stop that! You’re being immature!” Marlene chided her.

“I’m too busy being an older sister to be mature, Marlene!” Ciel ignored the criticism and tried to activate her spell anyway.

Too busy to be mature? What was she even saying?! Just then, something shot past her by a hair’s breadth. A wind attack that sharp had to be Raiza’s air slash!

“Hey. That’s enough,” Raiza said.

“Raiza!” Ciel shouted indignantly.

“If you want to take Sieg home, you’ll have to defeat me first. If you can, that is.”

Raiza’s glare was so intimidating, even a dragon would flee. Ciel had no choice but to retreat. In terms of pure combat power, she was nowhere near Raiza. A mage was a terrible matchup against the Swordmaster’s overwhelmingly fast blade, and even a sage like Ciel was no exception.

“What will it be? A fight?” Raiza asked, closing the distance between them.

“Fine, I get it,” Ciel muttered quietly. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I’ll step down this time because of Raiza. And I’ll make a special exception and allow you to live in Rajah...for now!” She pointed at me and made her declaration on the verge of tears.

“Ooh!” Well, at least the immediate crisis was over! I wiped the sweat that had built up on my brow and exhaled in relief.

Rouga came over with the others. “Good grief! That had me on the edge of my seat!”

“Thank you, Raiza,” Kuruta said.

“I just did what I had to do to protect Sieg. Just to make it clear, it was not for your sake,” Raiza replied.

“I know. If Sieg remains here, our battle will resume as well!”

For some reason, sparks began flying between them. And things had just calmed down too...

As I was thinking that, Ciel suddenly approached me.

“All that aside, Noa, what happened earlier?” she asked.

“Huh? Did I do something?”

“You did! Why did you look so pleased when Marlene complimented you?”

I tilted my head in confusion. Wouldn’t anyone be pleased by a compliment from a powerful mage?

“Isn’t it natural to be happy to receive praise from a mage as strong as Marlene?”

“Why?! You always look grumpy when I compliment you!”

“What? The only time you complimented me was when we beat up that slime.”

Ciel’s face suddenly turned red. Uh-oh, this was bad! I didn’t know what had triggered it, but her rage mode had been activated.

“I compliment you sometimes! Like, ‘Not bad’ or ‘You did it’!”

“Do those count as compliments?!”

“They do! They do to me, at least!”

“Your mind is an enigma!” Not even a close sibling could figure that out! I wanted to yell, but I swallowed my words instead. It would just make things more chaotic.

In the meantime, Ciel suddenly quietened. “I can’t help it. I want to be more honest too,” she mumbled meekly.

“Huh? What was that just now?”

“I said nothing! Argh! I’m going home this time, but just you wait! I’ll be back again soon!”

“Okay.”

“And you, Raiza! I won’t forget this!” With those parting words, Ciel left the arena.

“At any rate, I’m glad it went well!”

Although the future was a little ominous, I celebrated overcoming another trial safely.

Chapter 11: The Calm Before the Storm

One week after the battle with Ciel, we were spending a mostly peaceful day in Rajah. I had been a little worried she wouldn’t go home without another fight, but thankfully, nothing had happened so far. Raiza’s threat had been effective.

Speaking of Raiza...

“You should be more grateful to me, Sieg. It’s thanks to me that you’re able to remain in Rajah,” Raiza declared proudly.

We were in the middle of a meal at the tavern inside the Adventurers Guild. Raiza had been acting like this ever since the magic duel. Of course I was grateful to her, but hearing her say that so many times was starting to get annoying.

As I was grimacing, Kuruta spoke up for me. “If you keep acting that condescending, Sieg might end up hating you.”

“What?! Sieg would never hate me!” Raiza snapped.

“But Sieg ran away from home—the home with you in it, no?” Kuruta glanced at me with a mischievous grin.

Gah! Don’t put the spotlight on me now!

The unreasonable conversation nearly made me spit out the juice I was drinking. I fearfully turned to Raiza, who was staring at me pleadingly. Urk... It was so hard to respond to that!

“Um! Like I said before, I didn’t leave home because I hated anyone. I just felt like I couldn’t grow up if I stayed there, so I removed myself—”

“Right! It wasn’t because you hated us!”

“But...it’s a little annoying when you brag so much.”

“Annoying?!” Raiza clutched her chest and collapsed forward onto the table.

Wait, was she okay?! “Raiza?! What’s wrong?!” I asked.

“It’s nothing... My heart just suffered a fatal wound.”

“Fatal?! I didn’t say anything that bad!”

“Sieg can be terrifyingly insensitive. An older sister’s heart is never understood,” Nino muttered, giving me an unimpressed look.

Were my words really bad enough to warrant such a response? I was looking around in confusion when Kuruta suddenly leaned into my space. She took my arm and laughed at Raiza’s motionless form.

“I guess I’ll just take Sieg while Raiza’s busy being depressed?” she said with a gleeful laugh.

“I won’t allow that!”

“Oh, she came back to life.”

“If you want to take Sieg, you have to defeat me first! I won’t accept anything less!”

“Hey! Don’t start something like that here, sis,” I said, interrupting Raiza as she reached for her sword. Kuruta had already taken her dagger out of her pocket, ready to fight. What were these two doing in the middle of the guild tavern?! Why were they even fighting over me?!

I looked to Rouga for help, but he was just grinning teasingly. “Ah, I’m so envious. Must be nice being popular!” he laughed.

“That’s not the point! Help me stop them!”

He let out a hearty laugh. “Enjoy your youth while you can!”

In this way, we created quite a ruckus in the tavern for a while.

Suddenly, the guildmaster’s voice could be heard from behind the counter. Oh no... Were we a little too loud? We exchanged nervous looks as he came over to our table with Keina. Come to think of it, we hadn’t seen her for the past two weeks. She’d been busy looking into the materials Ciel had given her. Had she finally finished her work?

“Oh! Long time no see!” I said.

“Hey! Have you all been well? How did that magic duel thingy go?” Keina asked.

“Ah, yeah. A lot happened, but it’s over now.” I looked around at the others and forced a smile. That week had really been an ordeal. The day of the duel had been the worst, but I’d also spent many sleepless nights leading up to it as I prepared.

“I see! Sounds like you went through a lot, but I’m glad it all worked out well in the end.”

“Thank you very much.”

“So where’s the sage? I don’t see her today.” Keina looked around with a slight frown. Did she have business with Ciel?

“Ciel’s already gone home.”

“Uh-oh. Guess there’s no helping it. It would’ve been nice to have her here, though.”

“Did you need to ask her something?”

“Yeah, this and that,” Keina grumbled. She glanced around the tavern, then lowered her voice when she noticed the other adventurers around us. “I’ve actually got something to ask the rest of you too. Can you come with us for a second?”

“What’s up?”

“I can’t say it here,” she said.

“Yeah, please come with us to the office,” the guildmaster added.

We couldn’t refuse that, so we all followed him to his office nervously.

Around the time Sieg’s party was being summoned by the guildmaster, Ciel had finally reached the Winster Kingdom. She’d taken a series of high-speed carriages and made her way there over the past seven days. Since she’d been camping the entire journey, she’d grown very fatigued and found herself sighing tiredly in short intervals.

“I’m finally here...”

She stepped off the carriage, wiped her brow, and began walking down the street. After some time, a large building came into view. The five-story structure was more like a castle, and there was a white lily emblem hanging on the eaves.

Here in the capital was the main branch of Fiore—the headquarters of the trading company that controlled the economy across the continent. Ciel climbed the familiar front steps and walked through the entrance.

“Oh! Welcome, Sage Ciel. It’s good to see you again,” an employee in a black uniform said as soon as he spotted her. Ciel didn’t visit often, but the employees made sure to remember her face.

“Is my sister here?” Ciel asked.

“Unfortunately, the president is attending a regular meeting right now.”

“Then tell her to come home as soon as she’s done. It’s urgent!”

“That might be difficult. She has to attend a social gathering with the Merchants Guild after the meeting, then the prince’s birthday party at the palace after that—”

“Cancel all of it! Tell her if she doesn’t move, Raiza will steal Noa!”

“Right... I’ll tell her that,” the employee said, faltering under Ciel’s pressure.

Ciel repeated herself to emphasize the point, then left the building. From the street, she gazed up at the western sky and shouted, “Just you wait, Noa! I’m definitely dragging you home!”

Her determination roared over the chatter of the town.

Interlude: A Steamy Battlefield

Several weeks ago...

“Is there really a secret hot spring here?”

On the way home after the battle in the Razgor Valley, we decided to make a detour to a rocky riverbank. According to Kuruta, there was a spot where water rushed up from the riverbed like a hot spring. Although it was important for us to give our report on the slime as soon as possible, we wanted to warm up our rain-chilled bodies first.

“Huh... Something smells,” Raiza said, stopping to sniff the air.

Roughly one hour had passed since we’d begun following Kuruta. Now that she mentioned it, there was the faint rotten egg scent of sulfur in the air. I looked over at the river to see that the rocks at the bottom had a red tinge to them.

“We’re almost there! You can look forward to the hot spring. It’ll help you recover from your fatigue and make your skin smooth and shiny!” Kuruta said excitedly.

“Hmm. I’m looking forward to it,” I said.

“Yeah. I can’t wait to warm up... Achoo!” Raiza’s rather adorable sneeze made the normally stern Ciel burst into laughter.

“Are you okay? Shall I warm you up with magic?” she said between giggles.

“I’m fine! This is nothing!”

“Well, if you’re sure. I guess you’re not the type to catch colds anyway.”

“Hey, what’s that meant to mean? Are you calling me stupid?”

“I said nothing of the sort,” Ciel replied with a pointed smile. When it came to verbal arguments, she had the advantage over Raiza.

Raiza continued complaining loudly, but Ciel brushed her off easily.

“As expected of a sage,” Rouga muttered in awe.

“And she’s not even the best,” I said.

Whenever arguments broke out back home, it was always Aeria who came out on top. As the president of a trading company, she was ridiculously good at negotiating and using her words. Ciel had a long way to go in comparison.

“I can see steam over there. Let’s hurry,” Nino suddenly said. It seemed she couldn’t wait any longer for the hot spring.

“Wait up! Don’t run off!” Keina yelled after her. In contrast to Nino, she looked utterly exhausted. This journey had been a physically demanding one for a civilian like her.

“Are you okay?” I asked, catching her as she staggered.

“Oh! Thank you.”

For some reason, my sisters’ gazes grew sharper when I took Keina’s hand.

Raiza looked away in a huff. “Hurry it up!” she snapped.

“Right!”

We resumed walking for a bit. Eventually, white steam could be seen rising from the dry riverbed here and there. It seemed there was a source of water beneath the rock. Kuruta descended down to the river and slowly touched the water’s surface.

“Yup, it’s the perfect temperature! Around here should do!”

“I see. But...” Raiza said hesitantly.

“There’s nothing to obstruct vision,” Ciel said, looking at me and Rouga.

The wide riverbank surrounded us. There were only a few boulders sticking out of the ground, so if the women bathed here, they’d be in plain view of us.

“Then let’s take turns. I can go in later,” I said.

“I’m fine with that too. Ladies first,” Rouga said with a cool smile, showing off in front of the women.

Sensing he was up to no good, Nino also offered to bathe later. Rouga ended up agreeing with a sullen face.

“If only Nino wasn’t here,” he muttered.

“I can hear you, Rouga,” she said sharply.

“Ow! I’m not doing anything wrong yet!”

I laughed awkwardly. “Let’s go over there for now.”

The three of us headed over to the forest on the riverbank. We found a place to sit down on the ground and leaned against some nearby trees.

“Good grief. Are we really just gonna wait like this?” he said unhappily.

“How unfortunate for you, Rouga.”

“I know you wanted to see too, Sieg.”

“What are you saying?! I would never!” I objected, turning red in spite of myself. I mean, if I had to choose between seeing or not, as a man, I’d want to see! But actually peeping was a different matter. If only Rouga actually acted his age...

“That’s why Rouga will never be popular,” Nino said.

“What?! I’ll have you know that in the past...”

Rouga began arguing with Nino. Meanwhile, the women had finished undressing and were getting into the hot spring. Their voices carried over to us with the sound of the river.

“Ugh! You’ve got an amazing figure, Raiza!” Keina whistled.

“Heh. It’s the result of my daily training,” Raiza replied.

“I have a pretty good figure for my stature too. What do you think?” Kuruta asked.

“Ooh, they’re perky and well shaped. But Raiza’s got the bigger size,” Keina said.

“Good grief. What are you all comparing?” Ciel asked.

“As for the sage...fourth place.”

“Can you not sound so disappointed?!”

Uh-oh... It didn’t sound like the kind of conversation I should be listening to. Apparently, the four of them thought we couldn’t hear them over the sound of the river. But their voices were pretty clear from here. The rocky riverbed was probably creating an echo effect.

“Hmm. Kuruta’s got a pretty good line, but Raiza comes out on top. Nothing unexpected there,” Rouga said.

“Please don’t offer commentary with such a serious face, Rouga,” I said.

Nino sighed. “I guess I’ll go let them know we can hear.”

“Oh? You joining the competition, Nino?”

“I am not!” Nino turned away and marched over to the river.

But that was when the mistake happened. As soon as Nino left us, we heard a loud splash and a scream.

“Nino!”

“Are you okay?!”

Rouga and I leaped out of the forest to rescue Nino.

“AH!”

Nino, who had slipped and fallen into the river, had already been safely saved by Raiza. In hindsight, that should have been a given. There was no way Raiza would react slower than us, and she was closer to begin with. Thus, we lost our justification for leaping out to save Nino and remained standing there...right before the group of naked women.

“I never thought you’d sink this low,” said Raiza.

“If you wanted to see, you could’ve asked... I wouldn’t have minded...” Kuruta mumbled.

“A bit too youthful, are we?” said Keina.

“I can’t believe you, Noa!” Ciel cried.

“No! It’s a misunderstanding! I can explain!”

“That’s right! We had no choice but to—” Rouga began.

“No excuses!” Raiza replied.

“Agh! Run away!” I yelled as Raiza came charging at us with a terrifying aura.

We had to keep running until the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Afterword

Hello, everyone. This is kimimaro. Thank you for picking up this book. The second volume of the Worthless at Home series has safely been released.

Thanks to everyone’s support, volume 1 was a great success. The planning for the series manga adaptation is also underway.

The state of emergency was very worrying as an author, but fortunately, the production of this book went off without a hitch. That was all thanks to the readers, so I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone once again.

Now, about volume 2:

Just like in volume 1, Sieg makes huge contributions to the border town Rajah and its surrounding areas. But his adventures are interrupted by the arrival of his fourth-oldest sister, Sage Ciel. Will Sieg be able to escape the evil clutches of this powerful witch? Find out by reading the story.

Once again, I’ve rewritten a lot of the web novel for this release, adding over 20,000 characters in extra scenes. There are even lewd scenes that weren’t seen in volume 1! They’re accompanied by Mokyu’s wonderful illustrations, so go take a look!

Ciel, who was the main focus of this volume, was drawn adorably, as were Raiza and Kuruta. All the illustrations packed a punch!

Finally, to all the parties involved in this book: Without my editor, Mokyu, and everyone else, I wouldn’t have been able to release this. I’d like to use this space to express my gratitude to all of you. Thank you.

kimimaro

May 2021