Roil and Amain returned to Calea from the capital.
As per the snake’s request, they converted all the gold and treasures he had given them into cash. With that, they established a base in the capital and also purchased a warehouse here in Calea City.
Roil had been just an ordinary carriage merchant.
However, once he had wings to spread his ambitions, Roil showed extraordinary abilities.
His way of handling business was concise and swift.
He wasn’t just carelessly throwing money around.
By turning an idle plot in the center of Calea City into a warehouse and creating jobs by calling in idle hands, he won the favor of the Calea City mayor.
The pot-bellied man who had been in charge of trade with the dwarves became penniless after the Red Anvil Mine closed its doors, so Roil persuaded the Calea City mayor to take over that position himself.
He heard that the dwarves no longer accepted beer or sold ingots, but well.
Wasn’t that what happened after the snake went in?
He thought the snake would soon solve the problem.
Roil had made a rather large donation to become the person responsible for dwarf trade, so it was a bold investment.
Or it might have been a foolish choice.
At that time, Roil was looking at the collapsed mine entrance with Amain on his shoulders.
It was the very place where beer was once handed over to the dwarves.
The pot-bellied man who had looked down on Roil had now become a mere servant.
And behind them, he was secretly glaring at Roil and his son with eyes that seemed to want to kill them.
“When will Master come out?”
“Well… It seems to be taking longer than expected.”
“I want to see him soon.”
They say that the words of a mage are imbued with mysterious power.
If so, would there be a faint power in the words of Amain, who was at least an aspiring magician?
Boom!
Suddenly, the mountainside was shattered, and flames erupted.
What leaped out of the gaping hole was truly a bizarre creature.
A lizard with a body made of flames.
However, its head was like that of a dwarf.
It tried to run straight out.
Towards Calea City, where people were crowded.
But with chains caught on its horns, its head was suddenly jerked back, and it fell again.
What was holding the chains became visible.
A white snake, a giant white snake.
It was the form that had defeated those intruders on that night.
“Wow!”
Amain let out an exclamation.
“Aaaaagh!”
The pot-bellied man who had been glaring from behind screamed.
This was halfway up the mountain.
The fire lizard would be visible from Calea City, but only the three here would have seen the white snake’s appearance.
The pot-bellied man tried to flee in a panic at the appearance of the monsters.
Roil, for a moment, didn’t know what to do and looked back and forth between the snake and the pot-bellied man.
“Dad, that…!”
Amain pointed.
There, the fire lizard was spitting out fireballs.
Into the sky.
Those fireballs flew all the way to where Roil and Amain were.
Roil hugged Amain and threw himself down, almost rolling.
Fortunately, they avoided the fireballs, but the fleeing pot-bellied man couldn’t.
Bang!
One fireball crushed him.
It was instant death without even leaving a scream.
“Oh shit.”
“Dad, let’s go that way.”
“What?”
Though he was his own son, he was truly fearless.
Amain was actually suggesting they approach where the snake was.
“We have to help!”
“We’ll only get in the way!”
Roil ignored him and piggybacked Amain.
He was thinking of escaping on horseback, but Amain, seemingly angry, muttered something.
“…ria Aquamancy!”
It wasn’t grumbling, but casting a magic spell.
It was quite impressive to use magic while being carried.
A stream of water poured onto the fire lizard’s head.
Hiss!
While water is said to extinguish fire, the size and firepower were overwhelming.
It was no different from spitting on a bonfire.
But the fire lizard had eyes, and Amain’s water stream fell exactly on its eyelids.
“Gaaaah!”
The fire lizard roared in pain.
The eyes of the snake and Amain met.
The snake raised its tail.
For some reason, Amain felt like he knew that was a thumbs-up.
Once again, water poured onto the fire lizard’s head.
This time it was the snake’s magic.
Hiss!
Although it wasn’t much compared to Amain’s, it still seemed to have the effect of stinging the eyes.
“As expected of Master!”
“Amain, we should just run away…!”
Crack!
And this time, lightning struck.
What happens when lightning strikes fire?
In nature, it might actually grow, but not this time.
The fire lizard’s flames sharply diminished.
It was clearly an evil monster at a glance.
Amain, sensitive to magical power, could feel that the fire lizard was a product of that dark magical realm.
“Really, as expected of Master!”
Another admiration for the snake.
Amain had read magic books before.
The power of lightning has a special property.
Thunder and lightning have the power of purification, or so they say. He seemed to remember reading that the legendary sage of the empire, Heo something, chanted a spell called “Thunder Vibration Transformation” while hunting demons, or maybe not.
The snake not only called down lightning but also wielded a sword to hack away at the fire lizard.
There was certainly an impact, but somehow it didn’t feel good.
At some point, the snake could no longer call lightning again.
Amain shouted into his father’s ear.
“We have to help Master. Dad, we can’t just run away!”
“How can we possibly…!”
“We bought mana potions, didn’t we?”
The snake had ordered Roil to buy mana potions.
Price was not an issue, just get the highest quality possible.
Due to mana potions being inherently expensive, they couldn’t bring back a large quantity even from the capital.
If the snake needed mana potions, wouldn’t it mean he anticipated a situation where he’d need to replenish his mana?
This seemed to be exactly that situation.
Roil immediately understood what Amain meant.
The highest virtue required of a merchant is judgment.
If one can properly understand risks, they can become a decent merchant.
Given that his son was with him now, quickly running away would also be a reasonable choice.
And then, calculating the return that would come from taking on the risk and investing.
Moreover, if one doesn’t forget benevolence and righteousness, that’s the makings of a great merchant.
Roil hadn’t become a great merchant yet, but he made the choice of one.
“You run away right now. Go straight down!”
“But…”
“Now!”
He sternly sent Amain away.
Amain, being intelligent, followed that instruction.
Instead, Roil mounted the horse he had bought expensively in the capital.
“I must be crazy…”
It was the right choice to have forcibly bought a good horse.
The horse ran forward even in this terrifying situation.
Roil quickly grabbed the bag placed on the side table.
Inside were the mana potions.
As the snake and fire lizard fought, fireballs scattered everywhere.
Bang!
A fireball fell right in front of Roil and the horse.
The horse was startled, reared up on its hind legs, and neighed.
Roil fell off the horse at that spot.
The frightened horse began to flee, leaving its owner behind.
“How much gold did I pay for you!”
He was on the verge of burning to death.
“Aaaah, Master! Here are the mana potions!”
It was too late to follow the horse, so he had to at least give the mana potions to the snake.
The snake turned to look at Roil.
Roil, with all his might.
Threw the bag containing the mana potions into the sky with all the strength his shoulders could muster.
“Damn, I should have exercised more!”
But sadly, his strength fell short.
Just as those precious mana potions were about to crash to the ground.
Something transparent caught the bag in mid-air.
It was clearly the snake’s magic.
“Saaac!”
The snake roared and swallowed the bag in one gulp.
As soon as Roil saw that, he turned his back and ran away.
Crack!
Lightning flashed behind him.
