The City of Adventurers
"I have something I need to do."
Arpina didn't seem particularly heartbroken by Leon's refusal. She already knew the reason.
She glanced briefly at the human form of the demonic bird that lay asleep. "Is it because you have to find that thing within a month?"
She had overheard the conversation between Kito and Leon. Leon nodded and took Kito from her, placing the bird on top of his head. With her core missing, Kito had pushed herself too hard with magic. He had to find her core within a month. Naturally, he couldn't store her inside the orb.
Arpina clicked her tongue in clear disappointment. "A Mystery-rank dark mage will be after me, so splitting up might be one way to handle it."
"Just a moment."
Leon cast a detection spell.
"That bastard must be dead by now..."
Arpina had assumed he was searching for any surviving dark mages, but that wasn't it. When Leon suddenly soared upward toward a crater-like pit in the ground, she stopped speaking and simply watched.
After scanning the dirt floor for a while, Leon halted at one spot.
"Black Orb."
The earth-attribute summon Leon called forth began digging into the ground. Soon, a faded broom emerged. Seeing it, Leon's face filled with regret.
"That vicious bastard... If I take it to an arcanotech engineer, it should still be usable."
As expected of an A-rank artifact that even Insight-rank mages found useful, it hadn't shattered under the impact of a grand spell. It was damaged, though.
Leon glanced cautiously at Arpina. Noticing the meaning behind his look, she let out a small chuckle.
"Take it."
"Thank you."
"...And this as well."
Arpina pulled out a book and handed it to Leon.
Advanced magic encompassing the four primary elements.
Covers six attributes: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Wood, and Lightning.
Enables wide-ranging control and harmonious coordination of multiple elements.
It was advanced magic derived from the four-element basic spells. It covered a broad range of spells for six attributes—fire, water, wind, earth, wood, and lightning—and allowed them to be harmonized together.
Leon had already given up on the system ever rewarding him with multi-attribute magic, so he had been planning to create new spells by linking various elements himself. This grimoire on harmony would undoubtedly be a tremendous help.
Since it allowed the summoning of powerful entities tied to all six attributes, the book itself had to be worth at least C-rank or higher.
"Think of it as a parting gift."
"...Are you sure it's alright for me to accept this?"
"You've already learned my magic, haven't you? And from what I can see, you've been using it quite effectively."
Watching Leon carefully accept the book, Arpina hid her satisfied expression.
If he learns this too, I can no longer be called anything but his master.
Hiding her true intentions, Arpina turned to look at Lia with a bittersweet smile.
"I'm already worried about how much she'll glare at me once she wakes up."
"Please explain it to her properly. I'll come visit."
"I will."
The golden wings on Leon's back fluttered gently.
"Once you've taken care of your business, come to the Empire. And seek out the Astelia School."
Leon had said he was heading to the Western Demonic Beast Forest from here. She didn't know his plans after that, but he couldn't keep evading Tenenron's pursuit in this place forever. He might be able to wait until Tenenron slipped back into the shadows, but since the Tower Master of Tenenron had reached Intermediate Insight, he wouldn't back down easily.
Besides, with talent like Leon's, it would be far too wasteful for him to spend his time merely hiding.
"...You're confident you can avoid their pursuit, right?"
"Yes."
Arpina stared at Leon with a touch of lingering reluctance.
"Will you come find me?"
"I will."
The eight dark mages, led by Hayden, were chasing after the Secret Magic Beginner-rank boy who fled with golden wings flapping behind him.
Among the eight dark mages, Hayden stood at Secret Magic High rank. The remaining seven were all at Secret Magic Beginner. Even if the Mystery-rank mages had split off to capture Arpina, this was more than enough manpower to catch a single Secret Magic Beginner mage and strap him to an experiment table.
"Can a mage really be this underhanded?"
"I've never seen anyone more underhanded than us dark mages until today."
They had discovered the black-haired boy while pursuing him. At first, seeing him floating in the air as if waiting for them, they had laughed. But then he suddenly unleashed nine spells in rapid succession without any regard for his mana, flapping his golden wings and vanishing in an instant.
Whenever they caught up to his trail again, the boy—who seemed to have fully replenished his mana—would spam another nine spells. In the chaotic exchange of magic, one of their comrades had died with a wooden sword lodged in his throat. The boy fled right after that.
Sometimes his trail would vanish completely, only to suddenly reappear in a place they had already passed. It seemed he also possessed a concealment artifact.
After repeating this over ten times, their frustration had gone beyond anger and turned into utter exhaustion. Their original group of twelve dark mages had already been reduced to eight.
"Fuck, this is so goddamn annoying I can't even."
"Do we really have to chase just this one bastard?"
"They said even Arpina couldn't be caught. What do you think will happen if we fail too?"
"But a civilian city is coming up soon."
"We have to catch him before he reaches it. If that kid hides inside a civilian city, it'll be a real pain in the ass."
The civilian city of Silin, where ordinary people lived, was right in front of them. In civilian cities, no one was allowed to use magic openly. Even Tenenron, who had boldly attacked Widia, had no reason to turn the entire kingdom into his enemy. Of course, if one didn't use magic 'openly,' lower-ranked individuals were just as likely to die at the hands of hidden dark mages. In fact, the odds of dying without even being able to respond were higher.
However, that didn't apply to a Secret Magic-rank boy.
"Huh? Look, that bastard is waiting for us."
He stood with his palm raised upward, waiting for them. They already knew what that gesture meant.
Rumble—
Nine bolts of lightning crashed down. The mages, who had grown used to blocking his lightning, immediately noticed that one of the bolts carried an unusual amount of power.
It was the strength of Mystery Beginner.
Only then did they notice the scroll held in the boy's other hand.
Hayden was struck by the lightning infused with Mystery Beginner power and plummeted to the ground.
Thud—
Hayden's body fell from the air and died on impact. One of the dark mages stared at the falling Hayden with disbelief before shouting.
"H-hey... everyone run! It's a monster!"
"He was hiding his power?"
"It's the scroll, you idiot!"
"Where the hell would he get a scroll like that?!"
"How should I know!"
This time, the boy chased after the fleeing mages. The situation had completely reversed in an instant.
"Get to the ground!"
To use their specialty—Shadow Assimilation—they descended to the earth and scattered in a hurry. As the seven Secret Magic Beginner mages split up and began to flee, Leon, who had landed with them, smirked.
It was a shame to use his only B-rank magic amplification scroll, but since a perfect opportunity to completely uproot their pursuit had arrived, he couldn't afford to hold back.
Leon first searched the body of the Secret Magic High mage and took his spatial pouch. His movements were noticeably relaxed.
Hunting down the remaining Secret Magic Beginner mages one by one was easier than anything for Leon. Although he was only at Secret Magic Beginner, he had already far surpassed the level of mages in the same rank. His original magic ability was superior, and the artifacts he possessed were on a completely different level.
I've been facing only high-ranking enemies for too long.
Of course, simply surviving against them had been lucky in itself.
I shouldn't let my guard down.
Having regained some breathing room after so long, he must have gotten a bit excited without realizing it. Leon wiped the smile from his face and immediately slipped into the shadows using Shadow Assimilation.
He hunted down the dark mages one by one, collecting their pouches from the corpses.
"Y-you devil bastard..."
Hearing those words from the last remaining dark mage gave Leon a strange feeling.
"Becoming a devil to you people... I suppose that's a compliment?"
"Our boss won't let you get away with this."
"Do you really think an Insight mage would care about your deaths?"
"..."
It had just been a throwaway comment, but there was no response. It seemed they truly didn't care. Well, even Raidra had been completely absorbed in his own training.
Leon drove his wooden sword into the dark mage's chest.
After pretending to head toward the civilian city, Leon immediately turned and flew straight toward the Western Demonic Beast Forest. The flight alone took a full week. And that was even after continuously replenishing his mana inside the orb.
The free city of Crest stood at the closest point to the Western Demonic Beast Forest. Leon changed into a different robe inside the orb before entering the city.
Unlike other civilian cities, the guards at Crest didn't scrutinize the appearances of those coming and going. It was, after all, a free city in the truest sense.
Adventurers of all kinds roamed the streets. Mercenaries and knights armed with weapons were a common sight, and lower-ranked mages appeared occasionally as well. They were wandering mages who had left their towers.
They gathered at nearby taverns to drink or loiter in front of weapon shops and armories on the lower floors. The atmosphere felt far more lively and free than the quiet magic city.
Walking a bit further toward the center, a massive adventurers' guild headquarters came into view. In the courtyard in front of the guild building, adventurers displayed their hunted prey for trade or gathered in what appeared to be parties to chat.
At a glance, it was clear that the adventurer system was deeply rooted in this city.
After thoroughly observing the city, Leon pulled his hood down lower and stood before a receptionist inside the adventurers' guild.
The female receptionist sitting at the desk shot to her feet.
"What? Apprentice 3rd Class?"
Her voice had been quite loud, so the gazes of the adventurers inside all turned toward them. Leon pulled his robe even lower over his head.
To find Kito's core, he would need to venture quite deep into the Western Demonic Beast Forest. Before that, he had chosen to become an adventurer to gather information about the forest.
The receptionist had said that as long as he proved his ability, he could quickly obtain a bronze adventurer's badge. That would allow him to naturally come and go around the entrance to the demonic beast forest.
Leon had concealed his rank as Apprentice 3rd Class. In truth, he no longer felt the need to hide his power. Since he had already far surpassed the level of those in the same rank, openly displaying Secret Magic Beginner would essentially be the same as hiding his true strength.
However, if a Secret Magic Beginner boy suddenly appeared in a free city, Tenenron might notice. Although this city was quite far from Widia and Meira, there was no harm in being cautious.
The gap between Apprentice and Secret Magic is huge, so... 3rd Class should be fine, right?
That was what he had thought, but he hadn't expected this kind of reaction. Were the skills of wandering mages really that poor?
"Please wait just a moment!"
The receptionist looked Leon up and down, then stepped out from behind the desk and headed up the stairs to the second floor. She soon returned with a man whose face was covered in a thick beard.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Maxius, the guild master."
He bowed politely.
"So you're a mage at Apprentice 3rd Class?"
Having grown accustomed to the magic world's practice of immediately casting detection spells to gauge an opponent's rank, Leon couldn't help but be taken aback by such courteous behavior.