How a Wizard Survives (48)
How a Wizard Survives (48)
The day after the royal banquet.
Reinhardt worked us harder than usual.
His reasoning was that since we'd eaten and drunk our fill the day before, we owed him that much sweat.
A small mercy: Katrina's unit and mine were designated the standby response squad, so we were spared the training.
We weren't scheduled as the standby squad today, but...
The squad that was on duty had been dispatched on a report, so we inherited their post.
"Called out the morning after a royal banquet... heretics are diligent, I'll give them that."
"We don't know yet if it's heresy."
The moment Katrina, who was tending her blade, replied, the original standby squad came clattering back.
From the look of them, they hadn't exactly exerted themselves.
"Was it a dud?"
"Yeah. Turned out to be an ordinary serial killer when we grabbed him."
"We just strung him up and came back."
Because standing orders required an immediate response to every report, wild-goose chases were common.
We could spot a heretic at a glance, but the informants couldn't.
By now, it had been so long since we'd caught a genuine heretic that I could barely remember it.
"Alright, Unit 2, return to training."
"Ah, and it was such a nice break..."
"Um, Jaeger... would you spar with me, by any chance?"
Unusually, Angelica approached me the moment training was mentioned.
The other Holy Knights exchanged uneasy looks.
I was already sparring not just with Katrina, but with Reinhardt himself.
I accepted Angelica's request without hesitation.
"Sure. But let's move somewhere else."
Sparring with Angelica meant using magic, and... doing that in front of everyone was awkward.
We relocated to the indoor training ground and faced each other cautiously.
Holding a live blade, she had shed her usual playfulness.
I, on the other hand, picked up a wooden sword and stripped off my Holy Relics.
Angelica's brow twitched, but she said nothing.
"Now, whenever you're ready..."
Fwoosh!
I'd barely settled into my stance when I threw myself sideways, evading Angelica's magic.
Gravity Reversal—my old favorite.
I'd anticipated she'd open with magic, since she couldn't match me physically.
That's a tricky technique, and she uses it well. Must be because she's a well-regarded bloodline descendant.
"H-How are you dodging that?"
Angelica wore a deeply aggrieved expression as she fired off one Gravity Reversal spell after another, but...
I hurled my whole body around and evaded every one.
I spotted Katrina smiling wryly from a distance.
Gravity Magic, like Rejection Magic or Destruction Magic, is normally invisible to the eye.
Maybe that's the baseline requirement for Tier-One Magic.
"Your eyes and posture give it all away anyway, so..."
"Eek!"
After pinning me to the floor with a resentful glare, she loosed a Gravity Reversal Arrow.
Gravity Magic has a far wider effective range than Rejection Magic, and its versatility is superior, so she was holding her own better than Katrina did.
I hurled my wooden sword to parry Angelica's attack off course.
"Ah..."
I leapt like a frog, broke out of the Gravity Trap, and charged at high speed.
Invisible magic flew at me several times, but every shot missed.
The closer I drew, the stronger her magic became—but my evasions grew more efficient at the same rate.
I mixed in a simple feint to bait Angelica into a wasted swing.
Shhwit!
A spell grazed my ear as I finally closed to striking range.
She set her stance and launched her blade at me.
A piercing strike, respectably sharp—as befitting the child of one of the Eight Swords.
Still, considering the weight difference between us, it might as well have been nothing.
Dodging every single one would make me too obnoxious. Maybe I should let one hit land? I'm in armor anyway... Huh?
I'd intended to simply take it on my breastplate and shove through, but the unexpected force caught me off guard.
Angelica had used Gravity Magic to increase her own weight dramatically.
It was an applied technique I'd tried myself a few times, but... her proficiency exceeded my expectations.
One wrong move with this technique, and something is liable to snap.
Wham!
My body was sent reeling by a remarkably intense impact.
Far from smirking smugly, Angelica came dashing toward me in a fluster.
The other members of the Einhold family looked visibly uneasy as well.
"Oh, uh... Jaeger! Are you okay?"
"Angelica! How far do you intend to go against someone who isn't even properly armed?!"
"Jaeger was pulling his strikes a long time ago, you know..."
They had good reason to be upset.
My breastplate, which had taken the thrust directly, was crumpled into a mess.
Still, what was underneath was perfectly intact, so I got right back up.
"I'm fine. It's just a dented breastplate... Are you alright, Lady Angelica?"
"Hm? Me? I'm..."
"You applied gravity to your own body at the end, didn't you? If you don't distribute the load properly, you could break a bone."
"I'm a graduate of the Einhold Training Center, remember? That much is easy."
Angelica grumbled as she helped me up.
Still, she knew this had essentially been me fighting her with both hands tied, so she didn't gloat.
Maybe once she'd cooled down later, she'd tease me about it.
But even without my adamantite sword or Holy Relics, a win was a win.
I felt renewed admiration for her skill.
It felt unkind to admit, but her magical talent was a full tier above Katrina's.
We decided to wrap up training at that point and take a break.
We settled into the archives as usual and were busy stealing snacks from the librarians.
A carriage with a familiar crest rolled into the Inquisition branch's parade ground.
"Huh, what's that now?"
"Everyone, come out! Gifts bestowed by Her Highness Princess Alina have arrived!"
"...Bestowed gifts?"
As the Inquisitors stirred and went outside, we found an array of modest but welcome presents—medicinal herbs good for wounds, snacks, and the like.
After checking the contents, Katrina and Angelica fixed their eyes on me as if they'd coordinated it ahead of time.
"What exactly did you talk about with Her Highness yesterday?"
"Just... life at the Inquisition branch."
I smiled faintly but clicked my tongue internally.
I'd clearly told her not to interfere, and yet she pulled this stunt.
The message behind this gift was unmistakable.
Princess Alina... she's realized that someone of her stature has no need to stoop that low.
No matter what my true identity might be, outwardly I'm just a squire.
As the royal heir apparent, she had no reason to be afraid of me.
She's reasoned that I, too, must have infiltrated Reshutal with some objective in mind... and that, as long as I don't cross the line, I won't make a move against her.
Her judgment was correct.
My teacher had also said I handled the previous day well, so I planned to maintain the status quo for now.
I was just about to pick out a few of the princess's gifts for myself.
The temple gatekeeper came sprinting over, gasping for breath, and spouted a very familiar refrain.
"Heresy report! Heresy report!"
"Damn it, I'm off duty in an hour..."
"Who's the bastard this time? I swear, I want to flip the whole thing over."
The Inquisitors prepared to deploy, radiating genuine murderous intent.
In practice, whenever we respond to a call at this hour, the suspect almost always gets burned at the stake.
The original standby squad was supposed to go, but...
Reinhardt specifically picked us instead.
"Unit 3 already went out and came back, so... Unit 2, move out."
"A deployment right before we go off duty? Damn it, I'm just overflowing with joy!"
"Lady Katrina. Let's just burn them at the stake. The stake."
"Don't you start too, Jaeger."
We scrambled to finish preparing, but the moment we saw the informant's state, we all tensed up.
Today's informant was one of the merchants from the Noble Quarter, and the terror on his face was genuine.
We've been doing this job long enough now to know the look.
One look at his face told me something was wrong.
I had a sparring session scheduled with my teacher this evening, a rare one... but it looked like getting off early was out of the question.
We hurried after him and asked what was going on.
"What happened?"
"W-Well, people on our street have heard strange noises underground for the past few days... A little while ago, we heard what sounded like a scream. We were too afraid to investigate ourselves."
"A scream?"
"Yes. A terrible, animal-like scream..."
Kieeek!
The moment we stepped into the Noble Quarter, a blood-curdling shriek rang out.
People were already gathered at the mouth of the alley in question.
We pushed past them without comment and discovered the entrance to a basement.
"Reshutal has way too many of these basements."
"What kind of shop is this?"
"It was originally a shop that sold exotic flora and fauna, or so I'm told..."
"Stand back. Jaeger and I will breach first!"
Katrina raised her holy-relic greatsword, the Silver Blade, and cut through the crowd.
I kicked the door open and charged in a split second before her.
The kick, backed by Gravity Magic, tore through the basement door like a sheet of paper.
Shrrrip!
"Inquisition! Nobody move!"
The dark basement reeked of blood.
Inside the thick iron bars were caged Demonic Beasts, unmistakably.
So this case was the real deal.
In the darkness, a familiar figure turned toward me.
"If people stopped when you told them to, they wouldn't be mages, now would they."
"Huh?"
The person planted in the center of the basement was none other than Ulysses.
My teacher's clothes were stained black, as if he'd bathed in Demonic Beast blood.
Katrina, who had followed me in, spotted him and recoiled in shock.
"U-Ulysses!"
Fwoosh!
At the sound of her voice, I launched myself forward as though lashed by a whip.
So this was what tonight's sparring session was meant to be.
We locked eyes and smirked at each other.
To Katrina's eyes, it would merely have looked like Ulysses was mocking me.
Clang! Clash, clatter...
In the instant of collision, a flurry of strikes and parries was exchanged.
Ulysses parried my blade with leisure and blew the basement ceiling wide open.
A perfectly clean circular hole, as if it had been open from the start.
I flung myself upward through the gap, and Katrina swiftly followed.
"You said this evening?"
"The plan went a bit sideways!"
Our blades still locked, we reached the roof, where Ulysses kicked me flying with a solid thump.
I even used Gravity Magic to resist, but his spell was one step faster.
Ulysses had chosen Immobility Magic.
My Magic Resistance made it impossible to freeze me directly, so he solidified the air around me to lock my movements.
"Gh..."
I recoiled and struck again.
Obviously, letting my teacher go free here was nonsense.
My role was to pursue him more fiercely and relentlessly than anyone.
Katrina had already followed onto the roof, and she clenched her teeth and joined in.
Today's lesson seemed to be Immobility Magic; invisible walls kept stopping my body cold.
Wow, facing this directly is maddening.
My body froze at every critical moment, making a two-on-one fight brutally hard.
And this was with my adamantite sword, which couldn't be locked in place—without it, I'd be even worse off.
Katrina fared a little better thanks to her Rejection Magic.
"Ulysses, surrender!"
"At this rate, you two might have to surrender to me, don't you think?"
While my teacher taunted Katrina with their blades locked, the silver greatsword flashed with brilliant light.
The next instant, Katrina's physical strength was explosively augmented by the Holy Relic's effect.
Ulysses tried to stop it by applying magic to his blade, but it didn't work.
She's cloaked her sword in Rejection Magic.
Unless precisely controlled, that would kill the Holy Relic's power, but...
Katrina's skill had grown by leaps and bounds in many ways.
Ulysses released his sword and kicked me away once more.
His longsword was cleaved in half in midair.
"Tch..."
"Ah, that's just cheating."
I was about to complain after watching another blade sprout from his hand.
Gravity Reversal shot me through the air.
Angelica had climbed up after us and provided exactly the right support at the right time.
Using the Spider Boots, I altered my trajectory midair and circled behind him.
"Ulysses!"
As he was fending us off with both hands, a voice surged up from below.
Reinhardt rushed in as soon as he received word, his expression terrifying.
His speed was truly absurd.
Clank, grind...
"Keep up the pressure!"
Reinhardt entered into Sword Wrestling with a horrible metallic screech.
Ulysses tried to blast him away, but it didn't work.
Apart from the adamantite blade, something else was propelling Reinhardt forward.
He'd already given orders to the Einhold family members on his way here, too.
My heart anxious, I kept the pressure on Ulysses.
I was starting to think this might truly be dangerous for him.
My teacher pulled a small piece of ore from his bosom.
"Deciding to use magic was a mistake."
"Ugh!"
Pakakakak!
The next instant.
The ore he produced became a storm of adamantite that swept over us.
Katrina, barely grasping what it was, gasped in a voice caught between a scream and awe.
"A-Adamantite?"
We were all three wearing armor, so none of us were cut, but our Gravity Magic was dispelled and the distance between us widened.
Ulysses transformed into an eagle on the spot and fled.
He was so composed that I felt foolish for ever worrying about him.
"Damn it! When a mage uses adamantite on top of everything else..."
Reinhardt, uncharacteristically, let slip a swear.
I'd been doing some method acting beside him and got cuffed for it.
"Lady Katrina. I'm pissed off, let's just grab one and roast him. Ow..."
"My apologies, Commander."
"...Forget it. You three stalled him long enough. This one's my fault."
We climbed down from the roof, dispirited, and decided to investigate the basement after the fact.
That day, three heretics were burned at the stake in Reshutal.