Within lands decayed, rotted, and withered was a single man in a black hooded coat, sitting on a log in the middle of the desolation. It was Wil, the Phantom Alchemist.
✦ ✦ ✦
He sat there calm and collected, as if nothing had happened at all, staring into space with an empty vial in his hand. He hadn’t suffered a single attack from Mischel. But in reality, their skills had been quite evenly matched. Mischel’s talents simply hadn’t meshed well with Wil’s. By utilizing a multitude of potions, Wil could neutralize magical attacks. Meanwhile, Mischel could only attack with high-level magic by manipulating poison magic and creating mists.
Their compatibility was the best for Wil, and the worst for Mischel.
“But jeez, that’d have been a close one for anyone else. This forest’s looking pretty bare, huh?” There wasn’t a single speck of green for a few hundred meters. Just a moment ago, it had been a lush, verdant land filled with trees and flowers, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that now. “So, that’s the old Demon King’s right-hand man, the one who brought suffering to tens of thousands of humans and beastmen during our war against the Demon King...”
What would have happened had Wil never learned the trick to neutralizing magic, or hadn’t learned how to put it into action? That thought alone sent a shiver down his spine.
Mischel was no weak foe. He had a multitude of spells besides his miasmas, and they were all terribly strong. However, Wil held the means to counter them. Plus, he could use his potions to artificially cast magic as well. But despite his strength, a battle of attrition could be the end of him. It really just so happened that Mischel’s skills happened to mesh terribly against Wil’s. That was all.
Had a man like Mischel appeared in the middle of town, it could have easily led to thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of casualties.
“Letting him go free does inspire some fear, but there’s nothing else I can do. I need to stay out of the public eye, which means all I can do is watch from the sidelines.” Wil’s goal was strictly to aid in protecting Claira. He’d secretly lend a helping hand to Lloyd and get in the way of the demons’ plans. That alone was enough. “Anyway, I guess all that’s left is to report to Abel and have my first drink in a long while. We’ve got a lot to catch up on, after all.”
Wil jumped to his feet and once again disappeared into the forest.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Lloyd!!!” Someone had called my name from behind, and I turned around to find Yui and the others. I still couldn’t see Daggers and Claira yet, but they were likely just lagging behind.
“Yui, are you all right?”
“What d’ya mean? That’s my line! Are you all right?”
I wasn’t injured, but I checked up and down my body just in case. “Yup. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Really? Well, that’s good.”
As we chatted, Claira caught up to us. “Um, are you all right, Lloyd?”
“Yup. I’m all right.”
“I see. I’m incredibly sorry. I’ve caused so much trouble for you all, haven’t I?”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I said as Claira bowed at me. She had no reason to apologize, and she had even saved me back during the battle to defend Ishtar anyway.
“And what about Grist...?” she asked, glancing around.
“Sorry. He got away.”
“I-I see. Well, managing to simply fend him off is plenty enough. He’s one of the Four Fiends of the demon army, after all.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Luckily, none of us suffered any grave injuries—if you limited that to Claira, Therion, and our party, that is.
As we chatted, Therion approached.
That’s right. I better extend him some gratitude. “Thanks. We’d have been goners if not for you.”
“Hmph, don’t worry about it. Like I said, we just happened to have the same goals,” he said, still as unfriendly as can be.
“But I can’t believe you came to help, Therion! You’re always ignoring emergency requests. What brought you out here?” asked Claira.
“Huh? I was just passing by! That’s all! I don’t remember ever claiming I was a damn Hero anyway! You all decided that on your own!”
“I suppose you’re right. You don’t receive any governmental aid, after—” As she spoke, she ran around to Therion’s back. Something there had caught her eye.
“Wh-What the hell are you doing?!”
“My! This is the knapsack I made for you when I was seven, isn’t it?!”
“Huh?!” He immediately turned back toward Claira, which made it easier for the rest of us to see what they were talking about.
“Huh. You made this, Claira?” asked Yui.
“I did! It was a birthday present! I can’t believe he still carries it around with him!”
“Shut up! It’s just a coincidence. Buying a new one’s just too much of a damn pain!”
“Oh? Reeeally?” asked Yui. They had just met, but she was already teasing him.
Therion glared and shouted at her. “What?! You got a problem with that?!”
“N-No, not at all...”
“Well, it’s nothing to get so mad about, is it? It’s not a bad thing,” said Claira, a huge grin on her face.
“Tch! I’ll let you go this time, but just this once.”
“Eek!” A screech slipped from Yui’s throat as she hid behind Claira.
He treated Claira and Yui completely differently, and I wondered why. Did that mean...?
“Hey! White mage! What were you gonna say just now?”
“Oh, um, it’s nothing...” I immediately shut my mouth. I could tell that sharing my thoughts would get me killed. He really did treat Claira differently than the rest of us.
“Oh! Then did you focus on guarding just that half of your body during your fight because—”
“No, you’re wrong! Say anymore and I’ll damn kill you too, Claira!”
“That’s what you always say, but you always let me off the hook in the end!”
“Huh?!” He took a half step backward. Claira must have hit him where it hurt. And for some reason, it prompted him to turn his anger against me and Yui, who were just bystanders. “What the hell are you two lookin’ at?!”
“N-Nothing...” we said in unison. We needed to change the subject, and quickly. Therion seemed to have been begging us to silently shut up for a while now, after all.
“Anyway, what’s the deal with the town?” I asked. During the battle, we didn’t have the time to investigate the state of the village. Only Yui and the others knew what had been left once the fog had cleared.
“W-Well,” said Yui, struggling to get her words out.
The townspeople must have been massacred.
Just to check, I searched a wide area with my detection magic. Therion was here, and we weren’t too far from the capital, so there wasn’t much need to conserve MP. But after activating the spell, I noticed a large number of humanlike signals gathered in a single spot.
“What’s that...?”
“Huh? Something wrong?” asked Yui, tilting her head.
“There may have been some survivors,” I answered.