A Hero's Welcome in Widia
Two weeks had passed since Rowen returned to Widia. After escaping the Ancient Mage's Lair that day, the survivors who had reached the surface were protected by Rowen's master before boarding a newly arrived sky galleon that carried them back to the city.
Rowen had begged her master, Meln. There was a boy who never made it out of the lair, she said. Please, she had pleaded, go save him. He had drawn the monsters' attention all by himself and vanished so the rest of them could escape. Meln had simply nodded and relayed the information through a communication orb to the rest of the group still inside the ruins. After that, there was nothing more Rowen could do. And that fact gnawed at her bitterly. All she had been able to manage was to ask her master to rescue a comrade. Nothing more.
From a young age, Rowen had known she possessed a natural talent for magic. It was only natural that she was stronger than her peers. It was only natural that those around her praised and elevated her. So when Lia appeared and stole that attention away, Rowen had hated her for it. What mattered wasn't strength itself, but the admiration and status that strength brought.
But now Rowen understood why power truly mattered. It wasn't about followers, worship, or standing above others. It was the means to protect the people you wanted to keep safe. The tool that let you shoulder danger in their place. That was what strength meant.
The personal disciples and academy apprentice mages who had returned to Widia immediately honored the words they had spoken. They used their connections to petition for a memorial to honor the person who had sacrificed himself for them. The response to their petition had been... ambiguous. Not dismissive, exactly. But far more urgent matters had taken precedence.
In Widia, the first priority was cleaning up the mess left by Berford's unilateral decision to violate the kingdom's magic tower treaty and lead an expedition into the ruins. According to the agreement for this exchange event, first place had gone to the Protal School, which meant they should have held exclusive priority rights to explore the Ancient Mage's Lair. Other schools weren't supposed to participate until fifteen days later. Widia had broken that promise, offering up some half-baked justification. As a result, the entire exploration had descended into chaos. Other schools began charging into the ruins at will, using Widia as their shield.
It was only natural that Widia fell into turmoil. The chaos was severe enough to drag Raidra out of his seclusion. There was bound to be resentment toward the Tower Master who had only appeared after everything went wrong, but at the time, no one in Widia dared voice such criticism to his face.
The frantic atmosphere had only begun to settle when news arrived that Berford and his group had been driven out of the lair. Every magic tower had been expelled, the report said. Only the Destruction Witch remained inside. It was an empty, hollow ending, but some voices claimed it was for the best. At least it hadn't escalated into a major clash between the towers. Still, there would certainly be a price to pay for breaking the agreement.
It was only then that the petition from the personal disciples and academy students was finally accepted.
"A statue?"
Gail made a troubled face at his disciple Felix's suggestion. Before him stood not only Felix but several other personal disciples as well. Their masters were only now returning to Widia, so the two high-ranking mages listening to their petition were Gail and Meln. Meln nodded from the side.
"Let's do it."
"But..."
"Imagine if your own disciple had died in that lair."
"Hmm..."
Gail recalled the moment he had first discovered that brilliant jewel. The hesitation in his heart finally tipped.
"We should speak with Lord Raidra about it."
"Ugh..."
Leon, who had just been teleported to the entrance of Herb Mountain, bit his lip at the pain radiating from his left arm. The skin was violently reddened, covered in blisters and patches where entire layers had peeled away. Even without applying any force, the muscles kept contracting and hardening. He poured the basic healing spell—a common magic—into the arm. It improved slightly, but the damage refused to recover beyond a certain point. It seemed he would need either a long period of natural healing or high-level healing magic. Since high-level healing belonged to the light attribute, he couldn't exactly count on it.
Still, it's bearable now.
Leon clutched his arm and headed deeper into Herb Mountain. Guards stood watch near the entrance. He would have to hide from them and slip out when their attention lapsed. No one knew the timing of those lapses better than Leon, who had once worked here.
Claiming I got teleported somewhere far from Widia and made my way back should sound more believable...
Even if he had been caught in a teleportation array, claiming he had landed directly on Widia's Herb Mountain would invite suspicion. Still, since the lair itself is close to Widia, maybe a week will be enough.
With the nutrition fruits, he could stay hidden that long. Since the area was managed with mana stones, it would actually be a good place to train as long as he avoided the patrols.
Leon settled into a deep part of the mountain and slipped inside the orb. Within the bead, the giant golem lay collapsed on the ground. Leon pulled the wooden sword from the giant's leg, climbed onto its back, and spent time carefully extracting only the core. The golem's outer shell was already too damaged to regenerate.
I won't be able to use it like this...
It would have been a massive asset if he could use it, but it didn't seem possible right now. Leon recalled the golem blueprints. They had been blank, but there must have been some kind of magical measures taken. I wonder if the Gigantes blueprints are there too.
Since he planned to stay shut inside the training room for the next three months anyway, he could examine them slowly. However, golem creation techniques weren't based solely on magical talent like herb-gathering was, so it would take time.
Now that I think about it, how long is Kito going to keep exploring?
She had never come out of the orb, so five years must have already passed for her inside. Just how vast is this orb?
Leon looked around, then grabbed only the wooden sword, stored it in his subspace, and exited the bead.
After spending a week hiding in the mountain to stabilize his realm, Leon slipped out in the dead of night. He took a long detour and approached Widia's main gate. He made no effort to hide his ragged appearance. Using Bima's bracelet, he adjusted his displayed realm to Apprentice 1st Class.
The guard on night duty at the gate spotted him and his eyes widened.
"Huh?"
He stared at Leon for a long moment before speaking in a bewildered voice.
"Leon?"
It wasn't strange that he recognized him. They had been fellow general disciples, and after completing his one-year intensive training period, this guard had taken on night duty as well.
Leon clutched his burned arm and limped closer.
"You were alive?"
"I was lucky enough not to die. I even ran into Lord Berford..."
"Lord Berford still hasn't returned yet... uh..."
The guard looked utterly confused, as if he had never imagined Leon would come back alive. Leon found it odd. He hadn't expected Berford to still be missing.
Tilting his head, Leon spoke.
"I've used up all my strength getting here. Could I rest?"
"Ah, yes... go on in."
As Leon limped inside, the guard suddenly shouted as if remembering something.
"Th-thank you! Thanks to you, I survived. I'll tell everyone. If they hear you're alive, they'll all be thrilled!"
"Ah... yes."
Leon gave an awkward reply and returned to his personal quarters.
It wasn't that Leon hadn't anticipated this kind of reaction. After all, he had driven the golem away alone, so he had expected at least some gratitude. That was why he had even resolved to reveal that he had awakened his mana. Considering Forn, who had tried to turn him into an experimental subject to uncover the secret of solo mana awakening, that resolution had been reached after considerable deliberation.
I felt like my training time was insufficient.
Considering the cold nature of mages, he had thought that level of reaction was appropriate. Yet the response seemed far more intense than expected. Maybe being fellow general disciples makes it feel more personal.
The next morning, Leon woke to find himself in a difficult situation. He had planned to go see Lia and Rowen, but his path was blocked. Leon stared in bewilderment at the crowd of people gathered in front of his room.
Mabel, standing at the front, extended a hand for a handshake.
"Thank you, truly. Your courage saved countless lives."
"..."
A boy who appeared to be around Leon's age approached as well. He fidgeted with his fingers.
"We thought you were dead for sure... I mean, not that we wanted you to die or anything... We were even preparing a memorial... I'm so glad you're alive."
"Who... are you..."
"Ah, I'm Felix, disciple of Lord Gail..."
Then someone pushed through the group. A woman with red hair—Rowen.
"Hey!"
The moment she saw him, Rowen moved to embrace him but froze when she noticed the severe burn marks covering one of his arms. Leon felt relieved that the hug had been averted.
"...This happened in the lair?"
"Yeah."
She bit her lip.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"I twisted my leg a bit while running..."
"I see... Well, you're alive. That's what matters. I'll take care of the burns somehow. And..."
Rowen hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a look of firm resolve.
"Thank you... Really."
Leon accepted her gratitude awkwardly. Both her words of thanks and his reception of them felt equally uncomfortable. An awkward silence settled between them.
Feeling the uncomfortable atmosphere, Leon asked.
"What about Lia?"
"She's... with her master in another city. She only just heard the news and is on her way back."
"Does she think I'm dead?"
"The tower sent the message, but I doubt they told her that much."
Leon let out a silent sigh of relief. If Lia had been carrying that misunderstanding, it felt like something difficult to handle would have happened.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
Rowen asked carefully. Just then, someone cut between them.
"Um, the Tower Master says he would like to see you..."