* * * * *
“Not even a little scream from you, huh? It’s quite the feat to be able to ignore that certain amount of pain at your age.”
A thin man wearing glasses and a sadistic smile declared just so as he wrapped a bandage around my left arm.
I chose to accept Fiole’s offer, and came to a certain place with Fiole riding the monster she named, Pii-chan.
It was a place with a large underground passageway.
She then led me at the end of the passage, and I found a few people gathered upon arriving there.
One of them was the healer that tended my broken arm, which turned out to be a terrible experience— Abald.
“My magical ability is in the healing category, but it’s more of a restoring magic than a curing one.”
…What he said.
His magic was, to say the least, the magic to undo things to restore.
If a bone was broken, it will be unbroken.
If you’ve been injured, he’ll put you back in your non-injured state.
That was Abald’s ability, the man who referred to himself as Fiole’s follower.
…At first glance, it seemed to be a very convenient ability, but in actuality, his magic was quite harsh on the intended target.
“The pain from healing your broken bone should’ve been unimaginable, was it? Your right arm was fractured, too, to say the least.”
A healing magic that forces back the injury done to the person.
If a bone was broken, he’d simply and forcefully put it back together— however, the drawback of using such magic was that it causes tremendous pain in proportion to the severity of the injury to the person.
On the opposite side, its advantage was that it heals very quickly, but it’d hurt to the point where I think that if performed poorly, the target may die of shock from the pain.
“Well, there is no need to thank me. Rather, I should be the one thanking you for accepting Milady’s request.”
“…I see.”
I replied to Abald’s words in a rather displeased tone, the reason being that he seemed to be enjoying watching me trying to endure the pain under his healing magic.
I was convinced that this guy probably had a rotten personality, but after having my injuries treated by him, I really couldn’t be rude.
So for a variety of reasons, I settled on a response, albeit grumpy.
“Yes. If things were the same as the previous years, there wouldn’t be any problem, but this year, there is just not enough manpower available.”
I guess that was how troublesome the head of the monsters they are dealing with was.
“But are you sure about your decision?”
“What do you mean?”
“This subjugation thing. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that even Minaura’s bad reputation is known throughout the kingdom, but there’s a high chance that you’ll die, you know?”
“…I already arrived here, so that question is already too late.”
Those who set foot in Minaura when it’s overflowed with monsters would normally be either irredeemable fighting idiots, crazy people with a demented sense of justice, or even knights of the kingdom who had no choice but to come under orders.
As for me, I was no knight, let alone having the slightest sense of justice.
I had never had such a noble idea in my mind, such as saving people who were suffering from the monsters.
And in that case, my answer was obvious.
“I’m pretty sure that no one came to Minaura, thought that they might die, and just returned home in the first place.”
“Hahahaha— That’s certainly true. I will take your word for it, then.”
Saying so, Abald spread his hands in an exaggerated manner.
“This is the town of Minaura, a place that utilizes anyone that can be of help whatever their social status. We welcome you, once again. I am Abald, and I look forward to working with you.”
Immediately after, he held out his left hand, probably meaning that he wanted to shake hands.
He even deliberately chose the hand that had just been healed, more proof of how evil his nature was.
With that in mind, I gripped his left hand tightly with the hand he just healed.
“OUCH—?!”
Sure, I owed him the gratitude for healing me, but this much payback was only appropriate for his rotten personality.
After all, I had been wielding the sword for years, and my body might be that of a child, but I took pride in my strong grip.
I turned my back to him, satisfied after making him taste his own bitter medicine.
***
Reaper Scans
***
“How is your arm?”
“It’s doing just fine, as you can see.”
I rotated my left arm in a circle.
It didn’t hurt even a little bit, so I guessed it was safe to assume that it was completely healed now.
“I see, I see. Well, Abald is twisted to the core, but I can vouch for his magic skills.”
…Don’t sully my reputation like that, milady, Abald said.
Upon hearing his voice from behind us, Fiole then yelped out in surprise and gave him an affirmative reply.
“And also have a look at this. This has our information of who can use what kind of magic and such. We can’t be effective if we don’t know what kind of people we have, right?”
There laid bullet points of detailed information on a total of more than a dozen people currently present in this place.
Viera Islebark, the only one who wasn’t here, was also listed.
I only read through her particular part first.
She has the magic to create and manipulate ice at will.
And, as a matter of course, her abilities as a magician were also written down.
“I’ve also written down some information about you, Julius, so take a look at that as well. If I was wrong about certain information, tell someone here by the day after tomorrow, okay?”
As if to say that she already told me the things that she wanted to tell, Fiole turned her back on me and waved her hand in the air.
Perhaps she had some business to attend to.
She also mentioned that she was the lord of this town, so no wonder why she was busy.
“…Information about me, huh?”
I looked at the paper that was handed to me and saw that my name was properly written there, just as I’d been told.
As it was written, my ability was said to create swords, and that I was a one-hit-kill type person.
The details about me were simple, but they were right on the mark.
While I was reading through the other people’s information, I suddenly wondered.
Why the day after tomorrow…?
“…Because Viera-sama will be back here in Minaura the day after tomorrow.”
Maybe he saw through my inner thoughts.
Abald said, lightly waving his left hand, which I had clasped tightly with a powerful grip.
“As for the schedule, we will be joined by Viera-sama and commence defeating the Jabberwock, the head of the monsters here in this town. And since my ability can only do so much, I’m just going to stay in the rear of the pack.”
“The day after tomorrow…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No… there isn’t. It’s not a problem per se…”
What came to my mind were the words that Viera Islebark said to me outside the village.
—Before the full moon.
The day after tomorrow was far from a full moon, though not by a long shot.
I wondered what was going on, but unfortunately, there’s no one here who could clear that up for me.
…I should put that thought in the back of my mind for now, then.
“Oh. I forgot to mention that you are basically free to step outside, but please note to not go north from here.”
“…?”
North. The direction was too pinpointed, and I wondered why.
“Quite simply, we do not want to provoke the Jabberwock as much as possible until the day after tomorrow. Such monsters are very sensitive, so it would be unwise to anger them in the absence of Viera-sama.”
Abald laid out the perfectly reasonable logic, and with those words, I knew better to follow.
Perhaps Fiole was on patrol to keep people out of the Jabberwock’s area, which was the reason why she happened to run into me.
In particular, I was a reckless brat who battles mutant monsters singlehandedly.
If left on my own, there was a possibility that I might really head for the Jabberwock, and that was maybe the reason why she watched my situation from a distance until the very last minute, trying to determine the course of events.
When I thought about it that way, it made sense in many ways.
“I understand.”
I had a good conscience, and nine lives in stock for me to live.
I didn’t have a penchant for ingratitude, so I’d just comply obediently here.
With that in mind, I nodded my head in agreement with Abald’s words.
“It’s a relief that you are so understanding. Well then, we don’t have much time left until the day after tomorrow, so let’s wrap this up here—”
Just when Abald was about to say something…
“—T-Terrible news!!!”
A loud voice filled with impatience suddenly roared through the air.
The suddenness of the event caused all eyes in the place to turn to the source of the voice at once.
They must have rushed in through the underground passage.
Near the doorway, an unrecognizable man was breathing on his shoulders and shouted across the room.
“A stray magician went to the Jabberwock, screaming that he was going to kill it, and then went off on his own against our orders!!! The three of us, including me, the one on the watch, tried to stop him… but that bastard…”
When only one of the people who attempted to stop the offender was here, it went without saying.
“—Hey, could you describe him?”
Fiole, who was just about to leave somewhere, stopped and asked the panicked man a question.
“…He’s a magician with red hair…”
When I heard those words, an image of a man flashed through my mind.
—『 The Gladiator 』
Just like another red-head magician I knew— Siva.
——
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