Ksaam’s eyes shone with a blue light.
Manaan is the magic that can be seen when mana is detected.
“It doesn’t seem like a special magic technique.”
“That’s because it’s not a technique.”
What was passed down to Isabel isn’t a mana technique.
It’s just the breathing technique I used when I first handled mana.
It’s not some profound technique like a mana technique.
Ksaam looked back and forth between Isabel and me, then headed back to his place.
“How do you survive inside the gate?”
“There’s a barrier protecting the city inside the gate.”
It’s the barrier set by the deity we serve inside the gate to protect humans from demons.
The power of the barrier grows stronger over time and is said to hold off demon invasions unless it weakens every few years.
Still, we occasionally assemble an army to eliminate threats through warfare against the demons.
“Why don’t you return inside the gate?”
“We’ve tried several times, but we can’t get past the barrier.”
Currently, the area inside the gate that has been explored is called outside the barrier by Ksaam and his group.
To go beyond the boundary, they will have to continue their exploration.
“Then how can we help your world?”
“You just need to catch Olog.”
“Do we have to cross the boundary to catch it?”
“I’ve heard that it has already crossed over into this world long ago.”
If that thing had stayed on the continent inside the gate, Ksaam’s group would not have been able to cross over here now.
The exploration of the gate is still ongoing.
Moreover, each country manages it thoroughly, so not just anyone can enter.
“What is it like inside the gate?”
“Well, it’s a tolerable place to live. You call it the inside, but for us, that’s the outside, and we think of this as the inside.”
From each perspective, both are considered the inside.
By my standards, both are the inside.
There was still plenty of time left until Jere and Isabel finished digesting their potion.
In the meantime, I wanted to ask Ksaam for a lesson.
“My swordsmanship?”
“I thought I saw a demon using sword techniques last time. I wondered if it might be the swordsmanship you use.”
“Hm. That makes sense.”
It may have been due to the sturdy armor, but the considerable level of swordsmanship also played a part.
“But I’m already quite old, and my skills have dulled a lot.”
“I’m still just a kid. My swordsmanship is at a beginner level.”
“That’s good. Follow me.”
I followed Ksaam through another door in the room.
As I went down a staircase, a wide space appeared.
I could already see people training there.
“Preparing for war?”
“Not really, but training is ongoing.”
I felt it would be good to accept them as allies.
“By any chance…”
“If it’s such a proposal, I would refuse.”
“I haven’t even brought it up yet?”
“You’re either wanting to hire us or asking us to join your country, aren’t you?”
Reading my thoughts, Ksaam quietly donned his helmet.
“Others have come to make such proposals a few times too. Most were rejected, but one was slightly tempting.”
“What was the proposal?”
“They asked us to join a team investigating inside the gate. It was quite an appealing proposal from our side.”
I could vaguely guess that Ksaam’s group had accepted that proposal.
Judging from the mention of the inability to cross the boundary when we just spoke, it must have been when they investigated and learned about it.
“Can everyone clear the area?”
When Ksaam spoke, everyone training stopped their movements and scattered.
“Let’s start lightly.”
“Alright.”
Ksaam had no helmet on and drew his sword.
I also took out my dagger and held it out in front.
“Wait, wait. Are you really planning to fight me with that piece of metal?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Let’s see if you can withstand my attacks ten times. Then I’ll properly engage with you.”
It seemed Ksaam was skeptical of my abilities.
It would be hard to believe that a mere child was asking to fight with two daggers.
“Alright, here comes the first attack!”
Ksaam’s movement was clearly visible.
He’s surely capable of moving faster, but he was likely attacking slowly on purpose, considering me.
Bam!
The moment I crossed my daggers to block Ksaam’s strike, I couldn’t withstand the tremendous force and was sent flying.
I narrowly missed hitting the training hall wall.
“Since you’ve flown off like that, you’re clearly too light.”
“Now there are nine attacks left, right?”
“You can’t endure with just tenacity. Give up.”
I didn’t have any particular injuries.
I could have avoided the attack, but I intentionally tried to block it.
Indeed, it seemed wise to exclude strategies that relied solely on brute force with my current body.
“Alright. Then it’s the second attack.”
This time, Ksaam came down with a vertical strike from above.
Habitually raising my dagger, I recalled the previous situation and instead threw my body to the ground and rolled.
“I’ll continue!”
After that, I didn’t block the remaining attacks, only dodging.
“Did you avoid because you couldn’t match my power, or did you grasp my swordsmanship and decide to dodge?”
“The first one.”
It was a contest between an adult and a child.
Why would I have the power to face him head-on?
“That makes sense. When you grow a bit more, I’d like to pass down my swordsmanship to you.”
“Swordsmanship?”
“You’ll understand once you can take my sword directly ten times.”
In other words, it was a way of saying it would be impossible for me now.
Once the effect of the transformation potion wears off, I might be able to challenge him.
Aila surely wouldn’t allow that, though.
Moreover, if I said I wanted to learn swordsmanship, there would be those eagerly waiting to teach me.
Isaac probably thought we hadn’t shown ourselves enough and came looking for us.
In that process, Isaac encouraged Ksaam’s group to participate in the Monster Takedown Operation.
“Wouldn’t it be better than just training among yourselves?”
“That’s true. We’ll also send some people.”
New forces were added to the Monster Takedown Operation.
The large demon called Tunnek was said to be completely non-aggressive.
It was a creature modified to serve as a perfect mount and a moving city, researched for a long time.
When in its natural form, it displayed decent mobility, but when developed into the form of a city, it completely ceased its movements.
Ksaam’s group sent support forces for the takedown the very next day.
The members drafted were about a dozen.
They all had combat abilities outstanding enough to have fought and survived against demons.
Three days passed like that.
“Ririan’s transformation has worn off, huh?”
When I woke up, the effect of the transformation potion had ended.
“Here, take this.”
Without fail, Aila handed me a potion.
“Do we not need to drink this anymore?”
The Kanto region being a common area, it didn’t seem necessary to hide our identities.
“You and Jema are wanted in Latnia.”
“Does it really matter?”
That was all because of Juan.
The bounty he placed on me and Jema for no reason still held.
In fact, apart from the battle during our escape, we didn’t commit any crimes.
“Drink it.”
“I guess I have no choice.”
There was a possibility that the knights of Latnia could recognize my face.
Reluctantly, I drank the transformation potion once more and returned to my child-like appearance.
“What shall we do today?”
“We won’t be able to go outside the village for a while.”
“Why?”
Aila said she would show me directly and took me to the castle wall.
Looking down from the castle wall, I saw monsters scattered here and there.
“There are a lot more monsters now, huh?”
“It’ll start soon.”
Monsters were gathering in the forest. Some were even charging at the castle wall.
The villagers took turns going outside the castle to battle the monsters.
It became much easier to fight, with Ksaam’s allies joining the fray.
By the time of the shift change, approximately twenty battles had taken place near the castle wall.
“They’re coming, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Without Ksaam’s support, the village would have been in chaos preparing for war by now.
Though the number of personnel increased by only about ten, the takedown forces could be significantly divided into three groups.
All had excellent skills, defeating a large number of monsters every time they went out.
Nevertheless, the number of monsters showed no signs of decreasing at all.
“By the way, I have something for you.”
Following Aila, we went to a small shop within the village.
“Go inside, change, and come out.”
Upon entering the changing room, a set of leather armor and chainmail armor were laid out.
“Do I have to wear both of these?”
“Every single one.”
Wearing both types of armor made movement extremely uncomfortable.
After putting on the leather armor and then draping the chainmail over it, my whole body felt weighed down.
“I’ve put it on, but it’s too heavy.”
“I know. I made it heavy on purpose.”
“Then how do we fight?”
“If needed, you can use magic.”
When we first conducted the Monster Takedown Operation, Aila told me to focus on using the sword rather than magic.
Yet now, she says I can use magic if necessary, which felt a bit strange.
“Why the change of mind?”
“I think there are a lot more monsters than I expected. We may need to use magic if things go south.”
“That aside, why is this armor so heavy?”
“It’s sturdy despite being heavy. It should block attacks from small monsters.”
Even without armor, I had never been injured by monster attacks.
I wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but she prepared it with my best interests in mind, so I decided to wear it.
Returning to our lodging, I found Isabel dressed almost identically to me.
“No matter how I think about it, this is a bit excessive, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. We’re not kids anymore.”
“You both are still kids.”
While I was grateful for the armor she prepared, wearing two layers felt a bit over the top.
“Wear it. One day, you’ll be thankful.”
“Why isn’t Aila wearing it?”
“It’s bothersome.”
The knights of Latnia and Ksaam’s allies wore thick iron armor.
Mercenaries wore leather armor to minimize weight.
However, Aila always went into battle dressed in casual clothes, not even wearing leather armor.
She had a specialized armor but wasn’t wearing it for some reason.
“Don’t you have armor?”
“Wouldn’t it be a hassle to parade around as the knight captain?”
Aila’s armor bore the seal of the Imperial Court of the Roran Empire.
A symbol that showed she was the captain of the knight order.
