XV: To the West
I decided to head west on a Wyvern. I had considered going from Eyland via the Gate, but I was wary of Maria spotting me. That would have been a problem.
So far, I had only told Gamarath about my planned trip. If I told anyone else, I knew they would blow things even more out of proportion than he had, and could very well have ended up starting an invasion of the western nations. Telling someone as ambitious as Maria was out of the question. Though Frau would find out about it on her own via the Contract Seal.
So, I mounted Aer the Wyvern and headed for a spot near the highway that linked Eyland with the west. From there, I would pretend to be an adventurer and travel west on foot. To be honest, I was incredibly excited. I had long aspired to be something other than a prince, to make my living with just my own strength like an adventurer or a mercenary.
Though, I get the feeling I haven’t quite lived the life of a typical royal, either…
Aer and I set down in an inconspicuous spot in a forest far from the highway.
“You can go,” I said to the Wyvern, and like usual, it left with incredible speed. This was going to be farewell for a while, so I wished it had acted a bit more reluctant to see me go.
And with that, I’m a free man. I can eat as much normal food as I want!
I put on my robe and grabbed my staff. Now, I looked like a wizard. Then I swapped my gravity armlet out for a new one. Frau had made it, and it multiplied my weight by ten. I wore it because if my body was heavier, it would slow down my movements, which might make me seem more like a wizard. The change of clothes was a real change of pace for me, and I headed to the highway with a spring in my step…actually, with heavy steps.
It was quite a distance to the highway; maybe I had been too cautious when deciding how far away to land. I could easily have run there if I went as fast as I could, but there was no way to tell if anyone was watching, so I held myself back. I was a wizard now, so I had to go slow. Using a flight spell would have been another option, but needless to say, I couldn’t cast such a high-level spell. I only knew basic magic. In any case, compared to the Forest of Beasts, this forest was no sweat. There were few monsters, and they all seemed weak. I was basically just going for a stroll.
Ahh, normal forests sure are a breeze, I thought. But then, as I walked, I started to hear noises coming from up ahead—a monster roaring and people shouting. They were probably in the middle of a fight.
I was a bit curious, so I tried going closer, and I saw a thin man with a sword and a large man with an axe locked in fierce combat with a Bloodbear. Behind the men, there was a woman who looked to be a priestess, feverishly chanting prayers.
To put it simply, Bloodbears were huge, savage bears. They weren’t that strong, but surprisingly enough, the three people were struggling against it.
Sheesh, they’re pathetic! It’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone this weak.
Come to think of it, there wasn’t much of a difference between them and the original members of the Hundred when I’d first met them, but nowadays someone like Ogma would be able to annihilate a Bloodbear in an instant.
As I wondered what to do, the man with the axe sustained a blow from the Bloodbear’s right claw and went down. The man with the sword stood up to the monster, protecting the priestess, but no matter how you looked at it, there was no way he was going to win.
Hmm, this might be a good chance for me to try out a spell for the first time in a while.
After all, I had more than a decade-long gap in my magic experience. I had been wanting to test magic out somewhere. Plus, the three fighters looked like adventurers—if they were in my debt, maybe they would act as references for me at the Adventurers’ Guild later.
I made a few calculations in my head, then recited a fire spell. It was nothing powerful, and in fact, I’d used it to light cooking fires as a child. All I needed was to divert the Bloodbear’s attention. It was a basic spell, so after a short incantation, I extended my right hand to the monster before decisively reciting the final line:
“O fire.”
When I finished, a massive flame sprang from my palm and swallowed up the Bloodbear. The monster’s scream resounded through the forest.
“Huh?!” I exclaimed. This wasn’t what I’d imagined. This was more like a mid-level spell. I hadn’t just distracted the monster; I had fatally burned it.
The man with the sword swiftly plunged his weapon deep into the Bloodbear’s chest, finishing it off. Then, finally noticing my presence, he turned to me and said, “Thanks! You really helped us out there!”
I hadn’t just helped them—I had basically defeated the Bloodbear myself. But my original plan had, in fact, been to merely help them, so I smiled kindly.
“Oh, I just happened to notice you guys fighting,” I said. “Am I butting in?” I had always wanted to say something humble like that.
“No, you seriously saved us. One of us got hit, and things were getting pretty dicey.” He pointed at the man with the axe, who was being healed by the priestess. He didn’t seem to be dead. “By the way, that was an awesome flame spell. At least mid-level. What’s a master wizard like you doing out here all alone?” the man asked curiously.
There was no way I could say that actually, it had been a low-level fire spell. My mana had probably greatly increased due to the effects of monster meat.
“I was in the Magedom of Kiel,” I said. “But then we were invaded by Farune. Right now I’m fleeing to the western countries.”
It was a backstory I’d rehearsed in advance. As a matter of fact, there were many wizards who had fled from Kiel. They probably had nothing but worries now that Frau was their leader. I deeply empathized with their desire to run. It was what I would have done in their place.
“That’s gotta be rough,” the man said, shrugging his shoulders. “Those Farunians are nuts—and Lightning Empress Frau’s the worst of the bunch. She’s completely heartless and a huge sadist, the kind who chops off people’s heads and reattaches them to other people’s bodies, like they’re nothing but toys. The king of Farune must be some sort of perverted bastard who can’t be satisfied with regular women to make that witch his queen. You made the right choice by running away.”
…Umm, that perverted bastard you’re talking about is me.
Predictably, this was the first time I’d ever been so insulted by anyone. What hurt most was that I couldn’t deny at least some of it. I almost buckled at the knees in spite of myself, but I managed to stay standing thanks to my staff.
“Y-Yeah, those people sure are kinda crazy,” I said.
Why should I have to agree with his insults? The depths of my sadness were unfathomable.
“But this makes things easy,” the man said. “How about it? Do you want to join our party? It may not look like it, but we’re C-rank adventurers. We might not be as strong as you, but we’ve got some experience. And traveling by yourself can be lonely, right? I don’t think it’s a bad deal.”
Adventurers were divided into ranks, with the highest being A and the lowest being E. There was also an S-rank above A, but that was basically a label for monsters who didn’t fit into the regular rankings, and it wasn’t an official rank. C-rank was right in the middle—normal, in other words.
Being mediocre sounds nice. It’s the perfect rank for disguising myself.
“Thanks for the offer. I was thinking about making a living as an adventurer. I’d like to join, if you’ll have me.” I extended my right hand, and the man took it in a firm handshake.
This C-class party was called “Daybreak.” They introduced themselves: the thin man with the sword was Kylan, the large man with the axe was Darion, and the priestess was Belinda.
Kylan, a blond-haired, blue-eyed swordsman, said that he had a reputation for speed. He was quite talkative, and when he spoke, he had the tendency to inflate his own importance.
Darion had brown hair and brown eyes. As the rest of his appearance suggested, he was a warrior, and physical strength was his forte. In sharp contrast with Kylan, Darion was a taciturn man. I got the impression that he was honest and straightforward.
Belinda was an unpretentious redhead with freckles and a gentle personality, very much like that of a stereotypical priestess.
I almost introduced myself as Mars, before correcting myself and saying that my name was Marcus—I figured it would be easier to respond to a similar name.
“By the way, why were you guys fighting Bloodbears here in a forest so far from the main road?” I asked. “Are you lost, like me? Or did you have a request to fulfill as adventurers?”
They exchanged looks.
“Actually, no, neither of those,” Kylan said, seeming faintly embarrassed. “To tell you the truth…we wanted monster meat.”
“Why would you want that?” I asked instantly. Typically, there was no demand for monster meat. It was poisonous, so it was inedible on its own, and it wasn’t an ingredient in anything else either. Farune wasn’t the norm; it was an aberration.
“To eat it, of course!” Kylan said with a thumbs up and a smile.
Excuse me?