“One hour.”
As soon as I contacted them, I received an ambiguous answer.
The state of the shelter cave was quite bright.
Thanks to the remaining members of the raid team who held out well when Juan attacked, there wasn’t much damage.
Moreover, the raid team that had been underground was almost at full strength.
“What’s the situation outside the castle wall?”
“The fire has gone out, and the monsters are starting to gather again.”
It seemed that the movement of the monsters was continuous.
I took a moment to check the changes in my body after a brief rest.
The gem obtained underground was consistently sending power to me.
That power was taking shape like another heart next to my real heart.
For now, it was very small, about the size of a finger segment.
“Tenji?”
“I have something to talk about for a moment.”
“Can’t it be here?”
“No.”
As I stood up and followed Tenji, Aila naturally followed behind.
“Hey, you’ll stay here, right?”
“Why? I’m their protector.”
“I just want to have a little conversation with you two.”
At Tenji’s words, Aila frowned slightly but soon let me go.
She trusted that I would tell her everything when I returned anyway.
Following Tenji, we moved outside the cave to an open space behind the lodging.
“Is this enough?”
“Yes.”
“Then talk. What is it you want to say?”
After hesitating for a moment, Tenji slowly opened her mouth.
“After the raid, can I follow you?”
“Me? Why?”
“I want to leave the village and see the world.”
I was curious as to why Tenji was staying in this village.
If she had crossed the gate, she should have the strength to go elsewhere.
“My power diminished by about half when I crossed the gate.”
“You were stronger than this.”
“I heard that my abilities wouldn’t be of much help there anyway.”
Even now, with half her power lost, Tenji was fighting exceptionally well against the monsters.
I didn’t know how extraordinary the powers of the ability users were, but Tenji’s strength was certainly not something that could be easily ignored.
“What’s so great about them?”
She had lived as an incapable person for a century.
Each time, she wondered.
What was so special about an ability user who risks their life?
Victorious ability users received cheers and gratitude from people.
In contrast, those who lost received nothing but scorn and curses.
The support and cheers from the crowd must have been a burden for the ability users.
“That’s unusual. Not many people think that way about ability users.”
“Well, it’s just that. One day they suddenly gain powers; some have good abilities, some have bad. It doesn’t sit well with me. If you work hard and hone your skills, couldn’t you use them excellently? Just like you.”
“Then I will follow you.”
“Won’t that make the village uncomfortable?”
“I don’t mind. There are many other excellent archers besides me.”
Tenji seemed to show a bit of a lack of confidence.
On our way back to the shelter, I heard her urgency.
“Something is coming from the back!”
Tenji hurriedly drew her sword, but a dark figure clung to my back.
“Wow, you’ve grown a lot since we last met.”
“Oh.”
As Tenji tried to remove the Demon King from my back, I told her it was alright.
“Don’t worry. It’s someone I know.”
“It doesn’t look like a person…”
The Demon King was not hiding its wings or tail at all.
“Have you never seen a demon?”
“No, but I haven’t seen a young demon like this before.”
“Thanks for saying I look young~”
The Demon King had lived much longer than the combined ages of Tenji and me.
Even adding my past life’s age of 110 years wouldn’t make up half.
“So, why did you call me?”
“I need support. Monsters are invading the village, and we’re short on people.”
“Oh?”
I returned inside the shelter cave while carrying the Demon King on my back.
The Demon King, who was slowly inspecting the cave, naturally approached Aila.
Even though she had shrunk, it was easy to find her due to her unchanged appearance.
“You used magic, huh?”
“Oh, Niv is here?”
“I see why Ririan called.”
The Demon King quickly grasped the situation and took out a large cloth from the air to cover Aila.
Afterward, when the cloth was removed, Aila was dressed in casual clothes.
“Wait, give me my sword.”
“You can’t even hold it now.”
“Give it to me. I can carry it.”
When the Demon King placed Aila’s sword on the ground, she struggled to take it into her arms.
“See? It’s hard just to lift it; how are you going to swing it?”
“Okay, I’ll hold it.”
The sword Aila used was made from the claws of a demon, weighing about three times that of an ordinary sword.
With her body in a youthful state due to magical side effects, it was understandably too much weight to lift.
“The fact you tried to use magic means you were thinking of dying?”
“Just in case…”
“Then you should’ve called me.”
“Just…”
It was a unique situation where Aila was getting scolded by the Demon King unlike usual.
After a long sermon from the Demon King had finished.
“Monsters are attacking!”
Finally, it had come.
The remaining members of the raid team were divided into two groups, mixing them up in halves.
Thus, Group 1 and Group 2 were formed, and Tenji and I were included in Group 2.
Jere, the only magician aside from the mercenaries and me, was forcibly included in Group 1.
This decision was made based on Isaac’s judgment that there had to be at least one magician.
Group 1 would go out to first fend off the monsters, while Group 2 would stay in the cave to protect the residents.
In the end, even after the battle, we couldn’t just relax.
We subdivided again into groups for resting and guarding, but it didn’t have much significance.
“So, you learned those magic spells from a book?”
“Yes.”
“If you roam the bookstores in Latnia, you’ll find a ton of ancient magic?”
Unlike Roran, Latnia had many instances of magic being recorded and passed down in books.
Some spells were even organized under the name of textbooks.
In contrast, I was curious as to why there were no magic textbooks in Roran.
“Why are there no magic textbooks in Roran?”
“Why would you teach someone else what you painstakingly learned?”
Demons find enlightenment of mana relatively easy, making it easier for them to start practicing magic.
Because of this reason, developed magic was not easily taught to others.
The expensive tuition of the Academy stemmed from this reason.
“That’s an interesting idea. A sword of wind.”
“You can cut your enemies with wind if you swing it.”
“I think I get the feeling.”
The Demon King created the sword of wind and held it after just listening to the explanation.
“Is it really that simple?”
“Others probably wouldn’t be able to do it right away. They would need some practice.”
Because the Demon King was well-versed in magic, such things were possible with just a simple explanation.
When it became midnight, we switched with Group 1.
This time, the leader of my team was Isaac.
During the time I had teamed up with Isaac, I hardly spent any time with him.
Isaac didn’t particularly ask about the suddenly appearing Demon King.
There were two people missing, Aila, who could not fight at the moment, and Isabel, who was resting due to injuries.
Since both of them were unavailable, it seemed that anyone who could help would do.
“Should I try the sword?”
In contrast, the Demon King was excited about the long-awaited battle.
She was choosing which weapon to use, like a girl preparing for a date.
After some thought, the Demon King chose a sword.
As we stepped outside the castle wall, monsters were roaming around in various places.
If it were not for the situation where a leader was commanding them as before, the difficulty of the raid would be very easy.
Everyone decided to tidy up the surroundings for about an hour and return.
In the meantime, some stayed behind to guard the gate.
Even the scarce troops were split by Isaac, assigning roles to each.
“Is there really a need to split up?”
“Dividing roles is important.”
As I casually complained, the Demon King actually praised Isaac for doing well.
“This isn’t just a game.”
“Exactly. It’s important. If each person has a role, they will work diligently on that task.”
If someone simply ordered someone else to guard this place, they would likely just dawdle away the time, but if they were given the task of guarding now, their mindset would change.
I didn’t feel that way at all.
The task given to the Demon King and me was to search.
It was a role to find monsters and eliminate them upon discovery, yet I had no particular grave intention toward it.
“Because you’re a soldier, you might feel a heavy responsibility toward your mission.”
“That could be true.”
The Ratnia Knights were soldiers who never showed any signs of fatigue or struggle.
Since the forest had been completely burned down, the monsters were wandering the open plains.
The Demon King and I easily sliced through every monster we found.
“You handle the sword better than I expected.”
“I’ve learned the basics.”
It was a result of practicing slashes, stabs, and swings countless times.
“Then do you want to try this as well?”
The Demon King created an arrow using magic and shot it towards a monster.
“Is that a real arrow?”
“It’s made with magic.”
When I saw the Demon King making it, it didn’t seem difficult at all.
After roughly mimicking the shape, an arrow made of mana was created.
“It’s different, but seeing as I made it, shoot it.”
An arrow made of mana could be shot as I pleased.
The target was a small monster quite far away.
As I aimed and shot the arrow, it sliced through the air and grazed the small monster’s head.
“Bring the arrow back.”
For arrows made with magic, it didn’t matter if they didn’t hit the target.
I could simply recall them.
However, I had a problem now; the distance was too far.
“It’s too far to pull back.”
“No, you can do it. It’s not beyond your sight, right?”
The Demon King’s words contained a subtle hint.
If it were within sight, it should be recoverable.
Furrowing my brow as I peered at the arrow lodged in the ground far away, it began to draw closer.
The arrow that flew back to me hovered in the air.
Once again, I aimed at the target and fired the arrow.
The arrow, shot fiercely, struck the small monster’s back.
The arrow that pierced the target automatically pulled itself out of the monster’s body and returned to me.
“What’s the name of this magic?”
At my question, the Demon King paused for a moment before slowly speaking.
“Magic Arrow.”
