The First Quest
As I prepared to meet the black mage once more, I recalled the scene from before.
After finishing my morning meal, I discussed those suspicious monsters with Gerik. Then he headed straight to Palmon, the head of the merchant guild, to plead with him to change our route.
Usually, when it came to such matters, the guild master's word was final, and there was little chance the route would actually be altered.
But with the possibility that even the black mage might be something Lulu alone couldn't handle, the guild master spent the entire afternoon mulling it over. In the end, he decided to route us through one of the small villages nearby.
Sera was naturally overjoyed.
Forget about sleeping in a real bed instead of a carriage. The mere thought of bathing in warm water made her happy all day long.
I was looking forward to it as well.
With so many eyes watching, I would finally be able to take out the books I had been holding back.
Especially the one containing Aaron's insights and the text on the next rank, **Tuning**. I was dying to see what they said.
The prospect of brewing potions as a non-alchemist after analyzing them left me excited too.
In any case, I was going to make some delicious potions.
That was the only way to let distant Aaron know that I was doing well.
Of course, I had no idea how to announce it or sell them, but I would definitely make delicious potions.
And to do that, I had an obligation to experiment with and taste a variety of potions.
Naturally, I also wanted to study Sera's bow in earnest.
Right now, with so many eyes on us, I couldn't really enjoy it properly. But once it was just the two of us, I could tear into it and taste it to my heart's content.
What kind of bow is it? The one that hits even with a rough shot, that pulls back the string without its owner having to add strength, that comes back to its master when you lose it, and can even change its appearance in an instant.
Non-alchemists couldn't make something this wonderful. It had to be infused with the secret of alchemy.
"...Even if you look at it that way, I won't let it break."
"It's not breaking. It's disassembly. And I can reassemble it perfectly for you again."
"I-I don't want that. If it breaks, my soul might break too! That's why the Pantheon isn't killing me but just tracking me down..."
"It won't break. Alchemy doesn't harm people."
"You slaughtered monsters like that and now you're saying it doesn't harm anyone... Anyway, you said no. Not until I find a way to completely remove it."
"Okay. Then once I can remove it, I'll take it back."
"...I was trying to get rid of it because I don't want to be tracked. If you take it again, it loses all meaning."
"I'm fine with it."
Making delicious potions, disassembling this bow, reaching the next rank, creating a giant tyrannosaurus through transformation fusion... there were so many things I needed to do.
To do that, I obviously had to reach the next rank.
—Look at the wide world, experience many things, and always strive. You will naturally rise higher.
A cliché saying, but I didn't doubt it for a moment.
Following Aaron's words, I intended to look at the world, experience many things, and always strive.
All the things I never achieved in my previous life, I would achieve here.
So I had no intention of giving up on Sera, who was already at that stage.
"Sera, please watch my back."
"...W-What are you planning? Going to the bathroom?"
"No. Just in case."
"In case of what..."
"That I might run into a black mage."
"Do you really want to protect me?"
"Of course. We're friends."
"Hehe... friends... Yeah! Then I'll watch your back!"
While Sera went to scout ahead, I dumped out all the usable materials from my backpack.
'Black mage who modified monsters and trained them.'
After much consideration, I decided to make the thing I was most confident in.
*****
And the next day, we arrived at the village and encountered the monster army.
The village residents had long since been killed, and nearby medium-to-large beast-type monsters had been modified by someone's hands.
Even two Death Knights, estimated to have once been high-ranking knights, stood guard at the center.
If these had been such fearsome enemies, I should have simply bypassed the village and taken another path instead of entering.
But that was impossible.
I couldn't have known that a monster army had already occupied the village. I only learned of it when I walked straight into the village and saw it for myself.
Of course, Gerik had gone ahead to scout first.
He judged the quiet village safe, and the entire caravan followed. That was how this situation came about.
From the other side's perspective, the caravan's large size meant they couldn't have missed our movements.
If they had noticed us early, ambushing would have been far too easy.
They would have cleaned up the village and, the moment we entered the village, surrounded us with monsters.
And that's exactly what happened.
I looked around.
There were roughly two hundred medium-tier monsters.
And one Death Knight spewing thick black smoke.
Among the books I had taken from Aaron's library and read, there was also one on black mages.
Thanks to the constant repetition of every line I read, I still remembered the sentences from that book clearly.
[The Death Knights created using the target's soul do not know fear, unlike the living. Since their bodies have already died, they are not bound by the constraints of life and move with movements the living can never imitate. Their overwhelming power ignores the body's recoil and surpasses the limits of a knight who has trained for a lifetime.]
I had been told these were terrifying creatures, but neither the Death Knights nor the monsters showed any large movements for the time being.
There must be something they wanted.
I whispered to Sera, who was clinging to my side.
"Sera, I'm afraid this is as far as we go."
"You promised not to abandon me! You said we were friends! I believed you!"
"Take the bow with you. I'll research it next time. I have many days left to live."
"Do you have no days left?! I don't want that! Don't abandon me! Don't leave me!"
I shook off Sera, who was clinging desperately, and approached Gerik, whose expression was hard as stone.
"Master Gerik, what do you plan to do?"
"Pick this up first."
"It's your staff."
"It seemed important to you, so I brought it along separately."
"An important item?"
"Yeah. Isn't it?"
I stared at Gerik's dry smile for a long moment before lowering my head.
"Thank you. So what do you plan to do now?"
"Besides breakthrough, there's no other answer. From what I saw, they might just let us go, but just in case, we need to focus all our power into breakthrough."
"Breakthrough again, huh."
Behind Gerik, I could see the guild master and the guild employees trembling.
Next to them were the escorts, also trembling, and the escort captain, who had somehow managed to suppress his fear, preparing for battle.
From what I had already heard from Gerik, they were preparing to breakthrough with all their focus.
"What about the caravan's luggage?"
"It isn't as important as human lives."
"Maybe not."
*Bang bang.* The sound of fists colliding echoed.
"Nice magic user, Lulu."
It was Kairon.
It seemed he couldn't smile right now, either.
His face was stiff as he looked down at me.
"We won't die. Shoot your magic, trusting me. I will protect you, trusting you. That way, we can survive."
I looked back and forth between Kairon and Gerik.
Both had the same hard expressions.
Suddenly, I remembered what Gerik had said yesterday.
—Kairon's and my master fought that black mage and then died.
They were in the exact same situation, which was why I was so tense.
Seeing the two of them, who were always so relaxed, standing so rigidly, felt strangely unsettling.
"Understood."
After replying, I returned to my spot.
Sera immediately clung to my side again.
"What happened?"
"We decided to abandon the luggage and breakthrough with full focus. I'm giving you all this stuff, so please don't kill us."
"...Will that even work?"
"The monsters aren't attacking, are they? If they planned to kill us or had spotted Sera, they would have immediately attacked. The fact that they're just staring at us means they have some other purpose. That purpose has to be the caravan's luggage. Everyone seems to have realized that and decided to abandon the luggage for survival."
"Is that so...? Did the guild master agree to that?"
"If he didn't agree, the guild master would become luggage too. He had no choice but to agree."
Sera, whose body was trembling, whispered.
"...You don't think I'm luggage, do you?"
"Of course not."
Only then did Sera let out a sigh of relief and smile.
"Ahahaha! So it was all just a joke about abandoning me?"
"..."
"Why aren't you answering? Huh? Are you really planning to use me as bait if it gets dangerous?! We're friends!"
"Don't rub your chest like that. The non-alchemist's seduction doesn't work."
"Y-You rubbed my chest?! Anyway, it was just a joke about abandoning me, right? Answer!"
"Of course. I already knew we were going to breakthrough from the start."
My conversation with Sera couldn't continue any longer.
Gerik had already come over to join us.
"Have you finished preparing for the breakthrough?"
"Yes."
"There are no important items in the carriage?"
"Yes. Master Gerik took care of them."
"That's right. What about Sera?"
"I brought everything I could."
"Good."
Gerik glanced at the carriage and continued.
"When I give the signal, follow Kairon and run."
"And you?"
"I'll stay at the very back. The monsters might move at any moment."
Gerik's gaze shifted upward once more, toward the roof of the carriage.
Now I had no choice but to see it too.
Following his gaze, as expected, Gerik's greatsword was simply hanging on the carriage roof.
—The greatsword I use is the heirloom of our master.
The greatsword infused with the master's remains, the heirloom.
"Master Gerik."
Noticing my gaze, Gerik smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I'm fine. I can protect my own body."
"Did Master Kairon agree to that?"
"Stubborn. So... um, better not say that. You, as a magic user, should understand what I'm trying to say without me having to spell it out."
The magic user wasn't me. It was the girl next to me.
Sera tilted her head as if she didn't understand, but I alone understood Gerik's meaning.
In this way, I once again proved the difference between alchemists and non-alchemists.
"I'll cover for you."
"No, that would only draw more attention. It's better if I handle it alone and move freely."
"Luggage isn't as important as human lives."
"Sometimes it's even more important if it's not just ordinary luggage."
It seemed he wouldn't yield.
I had no choice but to nod.
"Understood. I won't cover for you."
"Thank you."
People began to move stealthily and form up.
Even as they did so, the monsters remained motionless, letting out rough breaths.
Finally, when the formation was perfectly set, Gerik stood at the very back and took a deep breath.
I glanced at Gerik's signal and pressed close to Sera, whispering.
"Sera."
"Yeah."
"How far do we need to walk to reach the nearest village from here?"
Thinking deeply, Sera answered.
"About two days, I think?"
"Close enough. Can you really identify people just by their names and appearances in this world?"
"If it's someone I don't know, maybe not. But for you, I should be able to find you for sure."
"Then I should be able to find Sera too."
Sera's face, looking down at her own chest, flushed bright red.
"T-That's why I wrapped it with pressure bandages, okay? You should wrap your face too if you're going around like that."
"You mean the bandages are wrapped tightly?"
"U-Um..."
"Wow."
That was a far more shocking and terrifying fact than when I faced the monster army.
"...So? Why are you asking that? Don't tell me you're actually going to use the things you prepared yesterday."
"I was planning to, but if I'm going to be targeted easily, I thought another method would be better."
"A-A different method?"
"Is there a spell among the ones you're using that can create a smoke screen?"
"...There is."
"Can it cover our vision enough?"
"It can cover, but you know I'm the one who can't be seen."
"I know. No one will suspect it. People don't know about magic users. I'll just say the black mage who controls monsters used it."
I gripped the staff Gerik had personally brought with both hands and said.
"So when I give the signal, use that spell for me."
"What are you planning...!"
Gerik had noticed that I wasn't a magic user. Yet he still carried the staff himself and pretended not to know.
"I'll retrieve the heirloom left by Master Gerik's master."
There were plenty of reasons to help Gerik.
--- **SYSTEM NOTIFICATION** **⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙** **Event: Party formation complete. Enemy forces detected. All members: ready for breakthrough.**
---
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**RESPONSE**
p>So when I give the signal, use that spell for me.
p>"What are you planning...!"
p>Gerik had noticed that I wasn't a magic user. Yet he still carried the staff himself and pretended not to know.
p>"I'll retrieve the heirloom left by Master Gerik's master."
p>There were plenty of reasons to help Gerik.