Saintess
Saintess
The exhilaration brought by a new type of equipment far exceeded my expectations.
In a way, it might have been similar to the reward from a game I'd enjoyed in my past life. Because it felt close to the sensation of upgrading my stats with a weapon that could reliably perform in conjunction with my abilities.
If there was a difference, it was that this was real combat, not a game, and so the joy brought by good equipment that would protect my life was several times greater.
Maintaining my elated mood, I spent most of the time honing my skill with the 'dagger' that Balkun had made for me, as we left the capital and headed for the cultists' hideout. If there was one slight disappointment, it was that there didn't seem to be a chance to use it for practice before facing the cultists.
That was largely due to environmental factors rather than technical ones.
"It's damn strange that we can't run into any cockroach-like bandits at a time like this."
It was already the third day since we'd left the capital. We were enjoying a remarkably stable journey, which was rare.
Actually, when a group of ten armed people rode together in a mass, anyone would avoid them, so it was an entirely natural outcome. With Merdela and Seneran, who were clearly mages to anyone's eye, and Yekaterina, who carried a war hammer as large as herself on her back and rode a horse even bigger and sturdier than the rest, even just those three radiated such an aura that any ordinary bastard would voluntarily steer clear.
Even more, Asilie, as an elf, was an unquantifiable threat to anyone who wasn't a third-rate thief using their head only as a hat rack, so if we were attacked here, I'd have to applaud the attacker's guts.
"If meeting bandits was the goal, we should've cut the group by more than half."
I shot a displeased look at Seneran, who had picked up my idle mutter and thrown in a jab, but I didn't stop manipulating my Magic Power.
"What do you call that weapon?"
"The Twisted Nether Needle."
"...Seriously? That's its name?"
"It's a joke. He just made it to fit my spell, so I just call it a needle."
"...Calling something bigger than a knitting needle just a needle feels really strange."
Only Seneran was staring at the needle spinning freely in the air without me even touching it. That was thanks to her making a big deal about a 'contract' and framing it as some kind of secret mage lesson, taking precautions to keep others from approaching.
It wasn't entirely wrong. A secret was a secret, after all. Thanks to that, I had plenty of time to freely practice manipulating the needle with Magic Power for three days without worrying about prying eyes. With so many people, there was no worry about night watch, and since everyone was so competent, in that endlessly perfect party play, my skill with the needle improved by leaps and bounds.
"But why are you whistling?"
"Because if clueless bastards see it, they'll mistake it for a projectile magic tool controlled by whistling."
"Oh... outward appearance makes it seem like you solve everything with brute force, but you're quite the strategist?"
Seneran's blatantly surprised reaction made me really want to give her a knuckle sandwich, but I held back because of what she said next.
"If that's the case, why not just create a simple spell and use it?"
"Huh? Create what? A spell?"
"You heard me. If we tweaked the minstrels' chants a bit, it might be possible."
What? Was this woman a genius? Spells weren't something just anyone could whip up. Perhaps because my gaze was full of intense distrust, Seneran glared at me and added an explanation.
"I can see you're making the same mistake laypeople often do. The hard part of magic is the beginning and the advanced stages; the middle part is nothing much. It's the same with creating new magic. It's a headache if you start comparing it to existing spells and analyzing everything, but you're the only one who'll use it, right? Creating one or two simple spells like that is incredibly easy."
"That sounds exactly like something people with extraordinary talents say to deceive the talentless."
"I'm serious. Your Magic Power means you can half ignore the efficiency part, so it's even easier. Of course, I can't judge by seeing it myself, but I can at least provide the theory."
Seneran could only feel Magic Power. She couldn't manipulate even a tiny amount of Magic Power like Widra. That was why she delved into theory. They say theory and practice are different, but since the music box I bought was already a product of that theory, there was no reason to be suspicious.
"Honestly, since I can't use magic through Magic Power, I can't guarantee it'll work, but... my hypothesis is that if we just handle the difference between the raw material—Magic Power—and Mana properly, the spell formula will be similar."
It wasn't that Seneran lacked confidence; she'd only said it to draw a clear line. The moment I heard that, I thought of the red-haired Demonfolk bastard who used Mana. If I'd known this would happen, I should have asked him what kind of magic he used while he was being chatty.
"Whatever, let's do it."
Since there was nothing to lose, I decided to accept her proposal. If it failed, so be it; if it worked, great. That was exactly the mindset I made the decision with.
And exactly three more days later, around sunset, while we were setting up camp.
I realized that my complacent decision had been a fucking awesome one.
"The ground is shaking."
The first to notice the anomaly were Yekaterina and Asilie. Frankly, Asilie twitched her ears and reacted to the sound, and Yekaterina murmured almost simultaneously, so I couldn't help but admire her physical abilities once again. Were those really the senses of someone who hadn't awakened their aura?
"From the hoofbeats, it sounds like about ten people... and they're heading our way."
Understanding what Asilie's quiet murmur meant, Sen's party and I immediately rose to our feet and went on alert.
"How funny. Just a few days ago, I was praying they weren't, and now I'm praying they're pursuers."
Gaendal's party, who hadn't experienced the cultists' pursuit squads, only understood the situation after hearing Sen's joke and began preparing for contingencies. Amidst that, Seneran, who alone was draped in leisure and nonchalance and showed no sign of tension, spoke to me.
"I hope they're enemies. It'll be a good opportunity to test the magic before we get into serious fighting."
Whether I was a genius or, as Seneran said, creating new magic wasn't that difficult, I had managed to create a new spell in just three days, just as she said.
There were still many parts that needed improvement, but at least when shooting the needle in a straight line, it consumed Magic Power far more efficiently than my previous method, which was a sufficiently successful result.
"The problem is that I don't know how powerful it is."
"Even before creating the spell, you could use it to the point of embedding it in the forge's wooden board. It'll be enough."
The only downside was that because the area we'd been riding hard through for three days was a barren plain where it was hard to find even a single stone, I hadn't yet been able to do a proper performance test. Visually, it flew at a considerable speed and embedded itself fairly deep into the ground, but since it was only a test, I'd kept its power much lower.
So how effective it would be against armor or monsters in real combat was still unknown.
"Guys in matching white robes... wearing something you couldn't tell if it was a face covering or a mask. They look suspicious as hell at first glance."
"They are suspicious indeed. They're cultists."
Even without strengthening my eyesight, the sight of ten riders, all identical as if copy-pasted, stood out uniquely on the barren plain. They were quite far away, but if they kept running like that, they'd definitely encounter us in less than five minutes.
"So, shall we test it out?"
"So you're finally showing us the magic you've been secretly practicing?"
Rellie, who had shown immense interest in my and Seneran's secret lessons, especially sparkled with anticipation; I placated her with a laugh and lightly whistled.
In response, the needle at my waist popped out of the leather case that Balkun had specially made and fixed itself horizontally near my ear, drawing exclamations of admiration from those around me.
"Ooh...?"
The magic created with Seneran's help was actually so simple it was embarrassing to call it a spell. It consisted solely of targeting, rotation, launch, and retrieval—a thoroughly simple spell. But because it focused on simple functions without any complex features, its performance and safety were at least certain.
Targeting locked precisely onto wherever my eyes focused, rotation spun fast enough to be frightening when accelerated to the maximum, and launch and retrieval were as fast as a bolt fired from a crossbow.
In terms of speed alone, it seemed sufficient to exert as much power as a crossbow, but because throughout this process, the needle was spinning like a disposable chainsaw buzzing away, just as I infused my sword with Magic Power, its power was utterly unpredictable.
"Since there's some distance, it'd be better to start by increasing the output."
Agreeing with a nod to Seneran's casual suggestion, I focused on the chest of the lead rider captured in my enhanced vision. Actually, the hardest part was targeting. Because I had to concentrate my eyes, which kept wanting to dart everywhere, on a single spot. They said that once I got used to it and refined the spell, I could designate targets by intent instead of gaze, but unfortunately, that was beyond me for now.
"Hwiik!"
After that, I launched it without much thought. I just thought that since they were wearing armor under their clothes, at least half of it would penetrate and definitely kill them.
-THUNK!
"...!!"
Because of that complacent judgment, I couldn't help but stare blankly at the cultist who was sent flying like he'd been clubbed by a sledgehammer and tumbled across the ground.
"Huh...?"
Even though there was distance, my enhanced eyesight clearly caught the hole punched through the cultist's chest. Surprised by the unexpected result, I reflexively rolled my wide eyes to look at Seneran, and our eyes met, her wearing exactly the same expression as me.
"But, you told me to increase the output, teacher."
The words 'What am I supposed to do if you're the one surprised?' were about to come out of my throat when Seneran expressed her own thoughts first.
"I don't know... what the hell, that... why is the power turning out like that..."
Tsk tsk. The limits of a theoretical mage, I suppose.