Via Agra (1)
"Hey… once we get there, couldn't we just restock our supplies and leave right away?"
With the next city already in sight, Layla made the suggestion.
Emily looked at her, puzzled.
"Huh? Why?"
As a mage, Layla had the weakest stamina of anyone in the party. She was the one who suffered most from the hardships of camping out, so her sudden proposal to skip staying in the city made no sense at all.
"Well, that's…"
Whatever the reason, it was clearly awkward to say out loud. Layla trailed off without giving a proper answer.
I looked at her and spoke up.
"Not happening."
The city we were heading for was home to a pretty important story event. There were several related quests tied to it, and it also housed a magic workshop—something you almost never saw this early on. Every single one of those was something we couldn't afford to skip.
"If we want to process the magic stones we got, we need this city's magic workshop."
The magic stones we'd obtained from the last dungeon clear were useful in all kinds of ways. The most efficient method by far was to refine them into magic crystals at a proper workshop. Layla, being a mage herself, knew that perfectly well—so she scrambled for a flimsy excuse.
"Sure, the workshop's facilities are excellent, but I heard they have a huge backlog. You'd have to wait months just to use it. We can't afford that, can we? We'd be better off spending that time on other things…"
"We can just ask the lord. The lord of this region is… ah. I see."
The moment I caught on, Layla finally spilled her real reason.
"Yeah. That's right. That's what I don't want."
The reason Layla hated this so much came straight from the world's lore—the long-standing rivalry between the Mage Tower and the great magic houses.
This land had prestigious families whose lineages stretched back generations. Noble houses founded by ancient heroes. Among them, the great magic houses had produced exceptional mages for centuries, placing enormous value on history and bloodline.
The Mage Tower, by contrast, gathered the talented regardless of birth and taught them magic. It preached that magic should serve the people, and it contributed enormously to the creation and popularization of magic tools. What it lacked in tradition and depth, it made up for with the power of numbers. The Tower grew rapidly until it stood shoulder to shoulder with the great magic houses—and the finest masterpiece it had ever produced was Layla herself.
One side treated magic as a privilege. The other insisted it should be used for the good of all. Their conflict still burned hot, and it spilled over into personal friction between Layla—the next Mage Tower Master—and anyone born of a great magic house.
And the city we were walking toward just happened to be home to one of those houses: the Agra family.
"Honestly, I just don't want to go."
Even a casual visit would have been unpleasant enough. Having to ask them for use of their magic workshop would be a serious blow to Layla's pride. I understood how she felt—but her wish was shot down by more than just me.
"I'm sorry, Layla. But I absolutely have to go to this city."
Kyle's firm tone left Layla visibly flustered. As party leader, he usually did everything he could to respect each member's opinion and keep things balanced. Outside of situations that involved saving people—his core conviction—he rarely pushed his own views this hard. The fact that he'd gone so far as to say "absolutely" was enough to make Layla drop her stubbornness. She assumed he must have some noble reason for it.
Kyle, you bastard. I didn't realize you were this desperate…!
But I knew exactly what Kyle was after. It was the lead I'd told him about—the one that could solve his little problem. The salvation that would ensure no more fumbling tragedies ever happened again. Sure, personal desire was mixed in, but I couldn't exactly blame him. Helping a fellow man fix a small-pepper situation was something any guy would pitch in for.
Well—any guy who wasn't a piece of trash like the original Hex, anyway.
And so we kept walking toward the next city.
This event was supposed to begin with news of a noble attacked by a mysterious force. The city would be thrown into turmoil, and the hero's party would take a commission from the lord to investigate the culprit. Following the traces of the attack would trigger a chain of linked quests that gradually ballooned in scale until they reshaped the entire story.
Yeah. That was how it was supposed to go.
But unlike a game, where a trigger fires the moment the player enters a region, reality didn't work that way. Everything moved according to strict cause and effect, and any variable would shift the outcome accordingly.
Driven by Kyle's iron will, our party arrived earlier than scheduled. And because of that, we walked straight into the scene of a noble being attacked.
Even I didn't see this coming.
It was Kyle's desperate resolve to escape his small-pepper curse that had made this happen. I didn't want to twist the sequence of events I already knew—but there was no stopping him. The second he spotted someone being chased by monsters, he drew the Holy Sword and charged.
A screech like claws raking across glass tore through the air. A monster black as pitch lashed out with its talons, but Kyle's blade was faster. The Holy Sword carved a diagonal line through the creature's body—and the moment steel touched it, the monster shattered into dust.
"…?"
Kyle looked stunned. He'd never faced an enemy without a physical body before. Even so, he kept swinging, cutting down the monsters around him one after another.
The rest of us caught up. The moment Layla saw the person being chased, a smile spread across her face.
"Heh heh. Well, if it isn't a familiar face."
Magic bloomed around Layla's body. Plenty of monsters were still left. Kyle could have handled them without trouble, but magic was faster. She spoke a short incantation, and her power became a spear of light that streaked toward its targets.
A delayed peal of thunder rolled across the field. By the time it arrived, the lightning had already pierced every monster surrounding Kyle and the noble—leaving none standing.
Magic control refined to its absolute peak.
And yet the monsters stood there completely unharmed, without a single scratch on them.
"…!"
An enemy immune to magic. Layla wasn't the only one thrown by that realization—the whole party froze. A moment's thought made it obvious: the noble fleeing for her life could use magic too. The fact that she'd been running meant she had no real way to fight back.
Judging that only physical attacks would work, Kyle shouted toward us.
"Hex, Mela! Each of you take someone and protect them!"
Mela and I stepped forward to shield the others. But Layla didn't fall back. She'd already figured it out—magic simply didn't work on these things. That was all. And she knew exactly how to bring down a magic-immune enemy using magic.
The ground around Layla began to crack. As if a giant hand were tearing clay free, dozens of stone chunks ripped themselves from the earth and rose into the air. Then they launched like cannonballs, slamming into the monsters.
Shrieks split the air as creatures struck by the boulders burst apart. When the bombardment finally ended, not a single monster remained—only powder on the wind.
Layla brushed back hair mussed by the shockwaves and said coolly,
"They don't look it, but they're not very durable."
I could only stare at her in astonishment. Back when I'd played the game, Layla's attacks had never worked on these things. The system treated every one of her strikes as magic damage. But here, she'd used telekinetic magic to deliver pure physical force. Even if this world was influenced by game systems, she had just proven those systems weren't absolute.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Layla's mouth as she stepped forward. The girl who'd been knocked down by the magical shockwave looked up, saw Layla's face, and her eyes went wide.
"It can't be—you…!"
"No need to thank me too much, Via. Helping people in trouble is simply what we do… or so I believe, anyway?"
Layla's wicked little smile hit the girl called Via like a physical blow. I didn't know the details, but something had clearly happened between these two.
Via's voice turned sharp.
"We haven't seen each other in ages and you've already forgotten your manners? I'm fairly certain I taught them to you myself."
"Saying that while you're still sitting on the ground is adorable. That trailing tone of yours sounds just like a dog barking."
Via's face flushed crimson as she shoved herself to her feet. She looked like a mess—whatever she'd just been through had clearly been rough—but pride alone seemed to be holding her upright.
Layla took one look at her and laughed.
"More importantly, I think I missed hearing something I was absolutely owed."
"What?"
"Go on. Say it. Thank. You. For. Saving. Me."
"You…!"
"My, my. Surely a person of such noble birth isn't unfamiliar with the concept of gratitude?"
Layla's eyes curved into narrow crescents—the signature smile of someone who thoroughly enjoyed tormenting others. Via recognized it instantly.
"You…!"
Via trembled with rage, but in the end she bowed her head. She claimed the dignity of a great house, and that meant she knew how to separate public duty from private feeling. Tears welled in her eyes as she forced the words out through gritted teeth.
"Th… thank you…!"
"Aww, you really don't have to thank me that much."
"…"
Watching the whole exchange, I found myself a little afraid of Layla.
While Kyle and the others discussed the monsters, I approached the key figure of this event.
"Ugh…"
Via was off in a corner, secretly wiping away tears. Nearly dying in a sudden ambush was more than enough reason to be shaken. She was at that age when emotions ran especially high, wasn't she?
"Layla… I'm not letting this go…"
Ah. So the crying had a different cause entirely.
"Who are you…?"
Via sniffled and turned to look at me. For someone who'd just been through all that, the fire in her eyes was still very much alive.
"What? Did you come over here to laugh at me too?"
"No. I came to check if you were hurt."
"Huh…?"
Via stared at me in genuine surprise. This event had already left the sequence I knew behind. That meant I needed to anticipate the changes and prepare for them. This girl was the central figure of the whole arc, so keeping her close was the smartest move. Maybe I should start by asking about whatever had happened before we arrived?
"Uh, so…"
Whether she was touched by my clumsy concern or not, Via looked me over and said,
"You're clearly a commoner. Why are you talking down to me?"
"…"
"I'd prefer you use honorifics."
I was starting to understand exactly why Layla couldn't stand this girl.
Via seemed to have recovered a little. She wiped her tears and went on,
"Still, you're kinder than you look."
"And how do I look?"
"Like a menace to women."
"You've got a good eye."
Did every mage have a talent for reading people? Emily could stand to learn a thing or two.
The change of subject seemed to help. Via's self-assured expression returned as she addressed me again.
"So. You. What's your name?"
"Hex."
"Right, Hex. I'll remember that you were worried about me. People of the Agra family never forget a kindness. Still, next time we meet, I'd like you to use honorif—"
Via had been nodding along, but her face suddenly went rigid.
"Hex…"
She glanced at my face, and the color drained from her completely. Her eyes darted away.
"What? Something wrong?"
"N-no. It's nothing…"
"Huh? Why'd you suddenly switch to polite speech?"
"It's nothing, so please don't worry about it…"
"That so?"
Via was clutching her collar and trembling. I tilted my head, then said,
"Anyway, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Y-yes…"
And just like that, having saved Via, we walked straight through the gates of the Agra family estate as honored guests.