She was entirely acting the part of a girl in love, and it was irresistibly adorable.
Louis cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, confused by her flight. “Is something the matter, Mina?”
Aki elbowed him in the side for his oblivious question.
Did he really not notice the change in her behavior despite flirting so hard with her from day one? Louis was surprisingly dense for a flirt.
It’s so frustrating to watch!
Mina turned an obvious shade of crimson and poked her head out from behind Aki’s back, tears misting her eyes. She spoke without looking at him. “N-Nothing’s the matter. Anyway, what do you want from us?”
Aki had to stop herself from laughing at Mina’s unnaturally standoffish reaction.
Louis, on the other hand, looked more perplexed by the second. “Right. Some of the Adventurers are forming teams to patrol the Field,” he answered. “I was appointed leader of a team and wanted you two to join me. Are you both free?”
According to Louis, the barrier breakdown fiasco caused an abnormal number of monsters to flock to the city, and their raid had wiped out several dozen waves, so now they had to prepare for the possibility that there might be irregular monster spawning or powerful boss monsters drawn to the area. Therefore, Adventurers were going to patrol the vicinity to be sure they weren’t caught off guard.
“We just finished giving our report to the guild, so we’re free to help. Is anyone else from the Hero Party coming?” Mina asked.
Louis shook his head. “No, the plan is just for you, me, and Aki to go on patrol. The others can’t do it.”
“Oh, really?” Mina asked, seeming surprised they wouldn’t prioritize monster extermination.
“Well, in Elias’s case, just walking the Field will draw monsters to him, so the Adventurers rejected his help,” Louis said with a laugh. “Sutcliff is hanging out at the inn with Elias because we thought it would be better for him to not linger around humans.”
Huh. So Elias is monster bait.
Aki easily imagined Elias eagerly offering to help and getting depressed when every Adventurer shot him down. Who knew even the beloved, all-powerful Hero faced rejection too.
“I just ran into Leo on the way here, but he looked pretty sick. So I told him to rest at the inn too. I’m surprised he’s even able to walk around after pentacasting without preparation like that. Especially after still being fatigued from the ruins…” Louis said pensively and then fell quiet.
So pentacasting is draining even for a Mage at Leo’s level?
“Say, Louis, is pentacasting all that amazing?” Aki asked without much thought. “Even from your perspective as a magic user?”
It was a type of Lunar Magic capable of instantly annihilating monsters in the sky and on the ground. Aki was deeply impressed by it as a non-magic user, but she wasn’t sure how impressive or rare that was in this world.
Louis shared a look with Mina and carefully picked his words. “…Honestly speaking, amazing can’t even begin to sum up what he did. Perhaps saying his ability is out of this world? God-class? No, neither of those fit either.” He shook his head and looked into her eyes with grave seriousness. “…Aki, I’ll be frank, that was inhuman.”
“Inhuman…?” She shuddered from his choice of words. She sensed he wasn’t complimenting Leo, but speaking in fear of him.
Mina seemed to be of the same opinion as she said nothing, her cheeks taut.
Louis quietly went on to explain, “Pentacasting light magic falls under the forbidden arts for Lunar Magic users.”
Forbidden arts: they weren’t forbidden in the sense of being banned, but rather activating such a spell cost a dangerous amount of magic power from the caster that risked death, so several Mages were required to work together as a group to use them.
For Lunar Magic users, the greater the magic power they expended for a spell, the more lethal its damage output, and the larger burden it put on their health. Any spells considered dangerous to the caster were labeled forbidden arts, and such arts were avoided unless the situation was dire.
“…They can’t ban the forbidden arts because there aren’t even that many people capable of using them. There are plenty of Mages who believed the forbidden arts are just something you learn about in textbooks and don’t really exist. Leo activated one such legendary art alone, and with practiced ease… Frankly, his power is beyond human understanding.” Louis paused and narrowed his eyes on Aki. “Who is Leo, really? Is he truly…human?”
“Excuse me?” she asked back, not expecting that question.
What else could he be?
“We know that he is a descendant of Lenard Gaines, one of the revolutionaries of the Creation Era. Going by the ancient texts I have read, Lenard laid the foundation for the Lunar Magic used today. It makes sense that his descendant would be blessed with a greater talent for magic than a normal person. However, Lenard should have been human, so his relation to Leo doesn’t explain why Leo possesses a magic supply far beyond human understanding. My guess is that there is more to Leo than his lineage.” Louis stopped speaking there, letting his words sink in.
Aki vaguely nodded along and dropped her gaze to the cobblestone.
She knew nothing about Leo’s background beyond him being chosen as the Hero Party’s Mage because he graduated at the top of his class. It made her wonder where and how he had lived as a child before entering the Academy. Leo didn’t seem to know he was Lenard Gaines’s descendant. Not even Johann knew.
The only person with that knowledge was Sutcliff who had entrusted Leo with the Holy Dagger. In other words, Sutcliff might be the one with all the answers.
Mina clapped her hands together, breaking the somber mood. “Well, it’s not like ruminating about it here will get us anywhere, right? He might not know the answers himself, but I say ask Leo. Or maybe you’ll have better luck asking the Dark Lord directly when we visit his castle. For now, our time is better spent patrolling the area around Port City and letting the boys recover before heading out.”
“True enough. I’m sorry for bringing up a serious topic in the middle of town,” Louis said with a small smile.
“You always end up so stuck in your head you fail to move forward,” Mina said, clapping him on the back.
The assertive Mina and the thoughtful Louis actually made a surprisingly good combination.
“I agree with Mina,” Aki said, brushing her hair behind her ear. “We might find the answers faster if we ask the Dark Lord rather than making rash assumptions about Leo.”
“Speaking of the boys,” Mina started to change the topic, “if the other three are resting at the inn, where is Johann at?”
“He will likely be embroiled in questioning at the church until nightfall,” Louis answered, giving his head a sympathetic shake. “Managing the Goddess Barriers falls under Sanctuary’s duties, so the local division probably has a lot to discuss and plan for future failures. Worst-case scenario, he won’t be back until after we are all long asleep.”
“I see… No one has any time to rest, do they?”
Johann had to be tired after repairing the city-wide barrier but likely didn’t have room to complain. In the same sense, Louis also had to be exhausted after assisting him, but he was charged with taking a team out to patrol for monsters. Every member of the Hero Party was in such high demand, they rarely had a moment to themselves.
“That makes sense. Then we’d better do twice as good at our job to make up for their absence!” Mina spun around and winked.
Nodding, Aki placed her hand on her chin and became lost in thought.
Since none of the boys are participating in Field Patrol, won’t it give Mina some good alone time with Louis if I don’t go with them either? I don’t know how many people are supposed to be on a team, but this will give them time together.
She was also worried about Leo’s condition after hearing about the forbidden arts. That was a good enough reason for her to bow out. Now was the time for her to help Mina’s romance as a friend.
“OH NO!” Aki cried out as if she had just remembered something important. She smacked her hands together and put a hand to her head.
Startled, Mina and Louis turned toward her. “Whoa, Aki, what’s wrong?”
“U-Um, you see, I just remembered that Elias asked me to go shopping…!” she answered with a little too much gusto.
“Shopping?” Louis puzzled his brow and looked at Mina. “Oh, maybe he wanted you to buy Leo a magic recovery potion? That potion is quick-acting, so it may be able to alleviate the peculiar malaise that occurs when magic is exhausted.”
He seemed convinced by his complex reasoning, so Aki nodded and said, “Yep, yep! That’s the one!”
It’s time for the third-wheel to roll off and leave the lovebirds alone!
“I’m off to the item shop to buy the potion, then I’ll head back to the inn to give it to him! Have a good time on patrol, you two!” Aki circled behind Mina and gave her back a shove. She lurched forward and fell into Louis’s chest.
“Whoa! Hey, Aki! Where’d this sudden burst of energy come from?!” Mina glared over her shoulder, her cheeks bright red.
Aki cupped her hand over her mouth and flashed a suggestive smile. “May you have luck on various battlefields! You have my full support!” she teased.
That was enough for Mina to guess Aki was trying to come up with a random reason to leave her alone with Louis. Her red-faced glared only sharpened. From Aki’s point of view, that expression was the height of adorable.
Before Mina could get a word in edgewise, Aki quickly said, “Sorry, Louis! Look after her for me” and dashed from the square.