A quiet voice rose up. “So basically...”
What’s his name again? In the short time since I’d first learned the warrior’s name, it had already faded from my memory.
With a solemn expression, he covered his mouth with his hand as if he had just realized something important. Something profound. “From now on,” he said, “people are gonna start calling us the Three Sewer Adventurers or something like that, huh?”
Well... As far as titles go, that really does not sound cool.
“You might be right. Ugh, that’s awful.” Chikka clutched her head in both hands.
“The worst,” Sheya muttered bitterly under her breath.
The Three Sewer Adventurers. When you really thought about it, it sounded like a name that would make people instinctively sniff the air around them. That image suited the warrior well enough, but it was a bit unfortunate for the women.
“Nicknames and titles are usually something like So-and-So the Slayer or the Pathfinders of Some Ancient Ruins, right? Why do we have to get stuck with something weird when we didn’t even do anything bad?” the warrior griped.
“Old Badger called himself the Yellow-Bellied, though,” Kiri countered.
“The old man’s different. He chose to call himself that.”
It was the first time I had heard that name. “Yellow-Bellied” sounded outright terrible. And if that guy had willingly embraced such a title, he was clearly a weirdo and not someone worth inquiring about. I decided to put it out of my mind.
Honestly, this whole conversation was a waste of time. I spoke up again to move things along. “Anyway, that’s all there is to my situation. I don’t intend to do anything underhanded. In fact, as both a Magnan and a new adventurer, I’d like to build a good relationship with the people here. Of course, that includes all of you. I hope that’s clear.”
I did not obtain a detailed map of the new sewer area, and that was unfortunate. But if the reason was truly because these adventurers actually understood discretion, then perhaps they were more reliable business partners than I had initially assumed. For today, that would be enough.
If we continued to linger, the conversation would just keep revolving around me. Frankly, I wanted to avoid that. At the end of the day, Magnan-related matters were family business. Even though there was nothing particularly damaging about people knowing, being interrogated down to the last detail was not pleasant.
“I got a pretty good idea of where you stand. Sorry for grilling you like that. Oh, right. As an apology, why don’t I give our adorable little newbie adventurer a bit of advice?” Chikka flashed an amused smirk, as if indulging in one last bit of entertainment. “As you know, there are all sorts of adventurers out there. So, make sure you choose your party members wisely, rich girl.”
Ah. That. A valuable piece of advice, indeed. Mages and healers were rare, and those who became adventurers were even rarer. So I had assumed forming or joining a party would be easy. My plan had been to find any decent party, go on normal adventures together for a while, and gradually get to know how this adventurer’s guild worked. But I hadn’t realized I’d been treading on dangerous ground since my very first step.
“Thank you. I’ll do that.” I accepted the advice with gratitude and stood up. A glance out the window showed that the sun was beginning to set. It was still relatively early, but heading home now and making it back to the estate before dark would be best. “Kiri, thanks for introducing me to these people today. See you tomorrow.”
“Oh, and thank you all as well!” Yune said, bowing her head as she stood up. “Your advice was really helpful!”
I followed her lead and bowed too. Respect was important. It didn’t cost anything, so it was worth offering. These three seemed rather eccentric, but aside from Kiri, they were the only adventurers we knew. That made them valuable connections.
“Oh, so you two still live at home?” the warrior asked. “That Mag... Uh, whatever it is, the salt-making place, that’s by the sea, right? Bit of a trek. Better get back before dark.”
It was gentlemanly advice, which took me by surprise. But the fact that he didn’t even know Magnan was absolutely baffling.
“Be careful,” Sheya said. Since she had barely said anything throughout our meeting, I had thought she was creepy. But maybe she was just the quiet type.
“See you both tomorrow!” Kiri waved at us with a smile.
I wondered what he was thinking after hearing all of that. How did he feel about my background, now that he knew about it? The question lingered in my mind for a moment, but I reminded myself that I could ask him tomorrow. This wasn’t the time or place for that conversation.
I gave him a small wave in return and walked away with Yune. Since he had said “see you tomorrow,” I could wait until then.
“Oh. Kiri, here,” Sheya said.
As we were leaving, her voice made me glance back over my shoulder. I saw Kiri reach across the table to take a thick book from her. The cost of all that parchment alone would make it quite expensive.
I caught a glimpse of the cover and the large title written on it: A Beginner’s Guide to Magic.
“Wha...?!” I spun on my heel without thinking.
Yune gasped in surprise and said something, but her words didn’t register in my mind.
I rushed back to the table and pointed at the book in Kiri’s hands. “What is that supposed to be?!”
That quick glimpse had given me a bad feeling, but I wasn’t sure until I confirmed I hadn’t misread the cover of the book. I knew, without a doubt, that this was a textbook for learning magic. An emotion I couldn’t quite understand welled up in my chest and twisted into something close to panic.
“What do you mean?” Kiri asked, looking up at me from his seat. He was still holding the thick book in both hands. “That detection spell seemed really useful, so I thought I’d learn it.”
He said it so casually, without any hidden intentions. He wasn’t being defiant, nor did he seem to think he’d done anything wrong. All of that only made it harder for me to accept.
I slammed my hands on the table. “Th-That’s what I’m here for!”
But Kiri only tilted his head. “You and Yune are only in a temporary party with me, right? You’ll both be gone soon.”
I tried to say something, but the words caught in my throat. For the first time today, I found myself at a loss. He was right. We had only teamed up by chance because of that rude warrior and formed a temporary party with a set time limit. Both sides had agreed to it from the beginning. Of course, we would eventually leave. If Kiri needed detection, it made perfect sense for him to learn it himself.
But still... It’s just too...
I shook off those thoughts. “M-Magia requires deep knowledge and years of training! It’s not something you can just pick up overnight. And even with endless training, there are people who will never be able to use it!”
“Oh, really?” Kiri frowned.
So he doesn’t even know magia might be impossible for him, no matter how hard he tries?
Ah, there was that troubled expression. His eyebrows drooped, and he lowered his gaze to the thick book in his hands. I had just told him that the noble and profound art of magia might be beyond his reach. His only reaction was mild disappointment, as if he’d been told a convenient tool might not be available.
How perplexing. Does he even understand what magia is?
“Without talent and aptitude, one cannot use magic,” Sheya said. Her voice was quiet, yet strangely compelling. “But only those who study magic can use it.”
Of course. That was obvious. And yet, I couldn’t let it go. Magia was power. It was a high and noble discipline. Even as a Magnan, I had struggled just to earn the right to study it.
And now, some ordinary person, someone who had nothing, thought he could just learn it because he wanted to?
“Magia is dangerous!” I insisted.
“I will supervise,” Sheya replied.
“It costs money! That book isn’t cheap!”
“My old copy. Books exist for those who need them.”
“And you think he has the right to learn such a noble art?!”
“I have no interest in a mage’s nonsense.”
Despite being a mage herself, she had just dismissed all mages with that single, scathing remark. And as I looked at her again—truly looked—I finally noticed something that should have been obvious at a glance.
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
How had I not noticed until now? Her face was stunning—so much so that I was momentarily shocked by the realization. But that beauty was now laced with stern anger as she turned to face me for the first time today.
Ah, no. I was wrong. I hadn’t failed to see her. This woman had simply held no interest in me, not even enough to spare a glance, before this moment. She had never once looked at me until now.
“You annoy me,” she said.
A shiver ran down my spine. The pressure was immense. I was overwhelmed by the absolute force of it, and pure instinct made me take two steps back. It wasn’t just her gaze or her voice. If that were all, I would not have been shaken so easily.
What sent fear coursing through me was something only a mage could recognize. She was sitting perfectly still, yet she was gathering a huge amount of magical energy and directing it straight at me.
The sheer density and refinement of her magic, the speed at which it surged and flowed through her... Even though she wasn’t casting a spell, I could feel the difference in power between us in an instant. My body froze, and I could not speak. I knew, at the core of my being, that she was far, far beyond me.
“Sheya, stop that,” Chikka scolded.
Halflings had little magic power of their own, but apparently their heightened senses made them attuned to shifts in mana.
After just those few words, the pressure vanished as if it had never been there. The beautiful mage lowered her gaze as if nothing had happened at all.
As if it had been a cruel joke, I thought bitterly. The staggering pressure of what she just unleashed... Is that something she can summon on a whim?
“Um, is learning magic that big of a deal?” Kiri asked. There was some hesitation in his voice, but I knew he didn’t really understand what had just happened.
And... He didn’t ask me. He asked Sheya.
Her elegant features turned into a slight frown as she considered her response. “It is and it isn’t.” She paused for a few beats, then spoke again. “Mastering it is difficult. Beyond that, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”