C-rank adventurer Shoken, the leader of the adventurers escorting the delegation, was worried. He was the oldest among them at thirty-three years old, and he had been personally appointed to this role by the Grand Master due to his rich experience. The adventurers, consisting of four parties totaling twenty people, weren’t causing any problems. There was no hostility or unwillingness to cooperate whatsoever. In fact, they were working well with the Royal Knights, a group they normally had little contact with, to carry out their escort duties. So what was troubling Shoken? The adventurers inside the carriage...
One such adventurer was an A-rank named Abel. Of course, there were no issues with his personality, abilities, or communication style. As expected of an A-rank adventurer, he possessed deep insight, charisma that drew everyone in, and unrivaled swordsmanship. Watching him practice alone or spar with knights in the courtyards of the inns they stayed at, Shoken was in awe.
The other was a C-rank named Ryo. Despite his rank, he had been chosen as Abel’s partner. There were no issues with him as a person either. He appeared sixteen or seventeen years old, likely due to his eastern features. At the banquet in the inn at Acray, the women in their entourage had kept calling him “cute” and fawning over him. Shoken had been a tad jealous.
He wasn’t worried about their experience and skills as adventurers or them as people. He was concerned about their role. He knew they weren’t involved in escort duties on this mission. After all, they were heading to Twilightland as guests, hence why they were riding in their own carriage. Shoken knew all this.
But if he wanted their advice about something, especially Abel, could he just go up to him and ask? Monsters had been attacking almost daily after they’d passed through Bardon Blaine, the town after Acray. He wanted to hear their thoughts on this.
Shoken obviously had his own theory on the matter, but there might’ve been something that he and the others hadn’t noticed or considered. He wouldn’t have bothered with it if there hadn’t been anyone else to ask, but they were right there, sitting in the carriage. They were no longer strangers after their night of drinking and revelry at the inn in Acray, so he desperately wanted to ask...
After repelling the monster attack on the sixth morning following their departure from Bardon Blaine, the delegation took its usual lunch break. They’d spent the past nights in villages and small towns, but a few folks had occasionally needed to camp outside when there weren’t enough lodgings to host all of them.
At least they’d had no problems procuring food. The squires, some civil servants, and adventurers had cooked along the way, and everyone had eaten well on the journey.
After another satisfying lunch, Shoken approached Abel and Ryo.
“Excuse me, Abel, do you have a moment?” he asked.
Abel and Ryo had just finished eating and were admiring the scenery along with everyone else.
“Good timing, Shoken,” Abel said. “Have a seat.” He patted the ground next to him.
Across from him, Ryo began grinding beans in an ice grinder for his coffee.
“I actually wanted to ask for your advice about the daily monster attacks.”
“Sure, happy to help.”
Though Shoken was older than him, Abel was, after all, an A-rank adventurer. It was only natural to be polite.
Shoken gave them a summary of what he and the other adventurers had already discussed. Since the attacks were occurring at regular intervals, they’d wondered if someone was controlling the monsters to target the delegation. Still, they didn’t know what their ultimate goal could be.
“Yeah, I had the same thought. I’ve never heard of devices that control monsters, but...maybe it’s possible with alchemical tools? What do you think, Ryo?” Abel asked, turning in his direction.
Ryo created a small table made of ice, put the loaded French press on it to brew, and set an hourglass made of ice beside it.
“I asked Kenneth a similar question before,” Ryo said, watching sand flow to the lower bulb. “He said it wasn’t possible with the Kingdom’s alchemy because the magic used to control monsters is too unique.”
“So there is a way to use magic to control monsters,” Shoken blurted.
“Yeah. A type of dark magic,” Abel added. “It interferes with its target’s mind. Scholars think it should only work on people, but apparently, some dark magicians can use it on monsters too. I read about it in a book a long time ago. That’s probably what Kenneth was talking about.”
“I see...” Shoken remarked thoughtfully.
“Right now, there are supposedly no magicians in existence who can use dark magic,” Abel continued. “For an alchemical tool like that to exist, someone with deep knowledge of the magic in question would’ve needed to help create it. That explains why it’s impossible to make.”
You’re right about the “supposedly,” because we know they do, in fact, exist, Ryo thought, remembering the dark priest they’d met in the hidden temple, the man who had ultimately been taken by the akuma, Leonore.
“That said, we could just be facing a magician who knows how to use that kind of dark magic. Someone capable of setting monsters on others.”
“True enough...” Shoken nodded vigorously at Abel’s words.
“Coffee’s ready,” Ryo said. “Here, Shoken, have some.”
He poured coffee into a cup made of room-temperature ice and handed it to Shoken.
“Thank you. What a beautiful cup. And this coffee smells delectable... I never thought I’d get to drink coffee like this on the job.” He took a sip, and his eyes widened with delight. “It’s incredible! This must be a top-quality product!”
“I’m glad you like it. It was a gift from the marquess in Acray.”
Ryo took a sip from his own cup.
Abel did the same, nodding contentedly as he listened to their conversation.
A good brew could lift anybody’s mood.
“Ahhh. That was delicious. Thank you so much.” Shoken handed the cup back to Ryo.
“Okay, let’s talk about what’s probably gonna happen next,” Abel began.
“I was just about to bring that up. What do you think, Abel? The other adventurers and I believe the enemy will wait until we’re exhausted before attacking in earnest.”
“I agree. Right now, they’re ambushing us at a steady rhythm, getting us used to it. Then just when we let our guard down, thinking, ‘Damn it, here we go again,’ they’ll go big. Or maybe that’s what they want us to think. Maybe they’re keeping us on edge, so they can stay in control of the timing. Either way, we’re only gonna get more tired, which is a huge pain in the ass.”
“A serious problem indeed...”
Then Abel and Shoken fell silent, both ruminating over the situation.
Ryo had tried not to butt in because the problem was out of his jurisdiction, but seeing their deeply troubled expressions made him feel bad. He decided to speak up.
“Um...I may have the perfect water magic spell to help.”
Shoken and Abel both jerked their heads up and looked at him.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Drizzle...is likely overkill, so Passive Sonar should work just fine. With it, I can detect any monsters or groups of people within a four-hundred-meter radius. If I do detect any anomalies, I’ll let everyone know. Would that help?”
“Brilliant idea! If you don’t mention anything, we’ll just treat it like one of the usual monster attacks. But if you sense something different, let us know beforehand. I’m in your debt, Ryo!”
Passive Sonar was business as usual for Ryo. It would’ve been an entirely different story had he opted to go with Drizzle instead, but...it would’ve been too tricky to use in this particular situation, so he’d decided against it.
After Shoken returned to his party, Abel asked Ryo, “Hey, how does Drizzle work?”
His intuition had apparently told him there was something ominous about this spell.
“Weeeell... It automatically freezes anyone or anything that enters an up to four-hundred-meter radius. I was afraid our allies would get caught in it too, though, so I went with Passive Sonar instead. Drizzle is a good spell, but it’s not long-lasting. Unfortunate, really. It would be so much more useful if it lasted longer... Being able to set it up in advance, like a mine, would be great too! I guess I have my work cut out for me, huh?!”
“Okay, so I was right to think this Drizzle nonsense would be dangerous. Do not, under any circumstances, use that spell. I repeat: Do not. Got it?”
“Don’t use it? Under any circumstances? Wait, I know! Is that code for ‘Do it!’?”
“The hell it is!”
As always, Ryo’s levity made Abel uneasy.