Preparation
"Is this actually real...?"
Joseph could only stare at the white smoke curling up from the Mana Orb, at a loss for anything more to say.
What he'd entertained had been nothing more than a possibility. The blackened stretch of the staff had looked uncomfortably similar to the shaman's body, stained dark by corruption — so he'd wondered, idly, whether the staff itself had been tainted with Demonic Energy.
And if that were true... just as Divinity seeped into Joseph's magic through the Holy Relic, perhaps the Demonic Energy clinging to the staff would infuse his spells with magi. A passing thought. Nothing he'd taken seriously.
And yet, absurdly, it had actually worked.
I've never heard of a mage who uses Demonic Energy...
The question crossed his mind, but after a moment's thought it made perfect sense. A mage had no reason to go near the stuff. Master even a single decent spell and you would never starve — so why take the risk of touching magi? Either your life had already gone to hell, or you were simply insane.
I only tried it out of curiosity myself...
Even if a mage who wielded Demonic Energy existed somewhere in the world, they would never admit it. Ordinary people would shun them, and the Church certainly wouldn't sit idle. The costs outweighed the benefits.
Well... knowing is enough.
Having confirmed that much, Joseph jammed the staff into his pile of belongings without a second thought. He'd take it, since it had been given to him — but he felt no urge to study the thing in earnest. The memory of the shaman, eaten away by Demonic Energy, was enough to kill any appetite for that. Still, it was a mage's staff. If the chance arose, he intended to sell it for a handsome price.
With the staff inspected, Joseph took Auk and Jiren back into the forest. When he said he was heading into the woods, they simply nodded, without a hint of a question. The change in their attitude was unmistakable, so as they walked he asked them.
"What do you two want to do?"
"Sir?"
"As private soldiers. Do you want to keep going?"
At that, Auk looked down at his own hands. He was better off than Derik, who'd collapsed — but his hands weren't in good shape either. He could feel the strength refusing to gather in his fingers.
"If it's your hands, I can treat them later."
He meant it. These were men who had staked their lives on his orders. In Joseph's mind, treating loyal subordinates was only natural. That said, this subjugation had been far more dangerous than he'd anticipated. If they valued their lives and wanted to go home, he wouldn't stop them. Besides, unlike Derik, these two still had families waiting intact in Doran Village. If they quit, he'd press some pay into their hands and ask Auger to look after them.
"I want to continue, sir."
"Traveling with me, this kind of thing might happen again. Not often — but it could."
"Even so, I want to continue."
"..."
Joseph naturally looked to Jiren. Unlike before, when he'd simply followed whoever stood next to him, he seemed to be turning it over quite seriously. Then, at last, he nodded as well.
"I'll stay too. ...And I'm not just saying that because I'm reading the room."
Auk and Joseph both looked faintly startled. It was an admission that Jiren himself had been going along with everyone else's wishes, without any conviction of his own.
"Alright. That's settled, then."
Joseph didn't press him for reasons. Whether it was money or some other goal that had taken root, it didn't much matter. Joseph himself was wandering because he wanted a peaceful, unhurried life.
"You're not going to ask Derik, sir?"
"Hmm... I'll ask him once he's recovered."
In truth, he had a fairly good idea of Derik's answer. The man had no intention of quitting as a private soldier.
Even if he did quit, he probably wouldn't go back to Doran Village anyway.
Their circumstances were similar enough that Joseph understood. No matter how dog-cheap and life-threatening the work, freedom still beat slavery.
"Until Derik recovers, we'll need to train for a while."
Joseph said this as they arrived deeper in the forest. There was time before Derik recovered, and there were things he wanted to test in the meantime. At his words, the two of them naturally took up positions as if standing watch.
Whish—
Joseph swung his staff and drew out two Mana Orbs. Then he slowly began to chant.
⟨ Storm Wall ⟩
One Mana Orb unfurled into a ring and spread wide. Unlike before, however, its form didn't scatter — it held, locked in place. Then the mana of the ring transformed into wind, forming a stable vortex.
Whoooosh—
It was a powerful wind, but it didn't burst apart and dissipate the way it had before.
⟨ Flame Road ⟩
Joseph recited the next incantation. The Mana Orb became flame and spread rapidly, naturally drawn into the vortex. Being only a single Mana Orb's worth, it didn't burn with the ferocity it had against the Troll. But the gale of Storm Wall carried more than enough searing heat.
"..."
Even so, Joseph stared at it for a long while, speechless.
A combination of two spells. It had been a desperate improvisation during the fight with the Troll — a last-ditch effort to squeeze out more firepower. And the effect had exceeded anything he'd imagined.
Why didn't I think of this sooner?
One incantation, one spell. That was how he'd always thought of it. He'd taken it as given and never even questioned the assumption.
If it works like this... the more magic I learn, the more I'll be able to do.
Versatility. That was Joseph's short-term goal as he wandered from place to place. If he researched combinations like this in various ways, he felt he could close a great deal of distance toward that goal.
Learning new magic is never easy, of course.
To do this, he'd need to learn far more spells than he currently knew. There was a reason most mages specialized in a single element. Spread yourself across multiple attributes and you might end up mastering none of them. You'd have to grind your life away to learn a variety of magic.
Is it worth that much?
He couldn't be certain yet. What he was certain of was that this was a sufficiently revolutionary method of application. The magics he could currently use were fire, ice, and wind. Considering the firepower of a Wind Runner and Flame Road combination, most opponents wouldn't even be a match.
Joseph floated more Mana Orbs and launched into a series of experiments. He didn't notice that his private soldiers were staring at him with faintly horrified expressions.
Time flowed on.
The winter cold vanished completely, and flower buds were beginning to push through the earth. Around that time, a group of traveling merchants came down from the north.
"Halt!"
The soldiers were strongly on guard at first. They remembered being told that bandits might target Malešov, and unlike when they'd been in Doran Village, they were far more tightly disciplined.
Fortunately, the visitors weren't bandits. There were even a few priests mixed in among them. The priests had been issued identity tokens by the Church, but the soldiers — having already been fooled once by identity tokens from Manir's party — naturally didn't believe them. As a result, they had no choice but to demonstrate several holy magics.
"Priests?"
The moment he heard that priests had come to the village, Joseph hurried toward the entrance. Auger was already there, speaking with the merchants.
"What? You're saying demonic beasts appeared here?"
An older merchant whose beard didn't quite suit his age widened his eyes. Apparently he'd been visiting Malešov around this time every year.
"Th-then the survivors..."
"A few remain in Doran Village, but that's all."
"How could this..."
He stared blankly around the village, looking lost. Connections were the most important asset a merchant could have, and even in a village like this there had been people he was close to. No matter how cheap life was in this era, to have everyone suddenly die... it was bound to feel hollow.
Meanwhile, Joseph went straight to find the priest.
"Good day to you."
"And to you, Brother Joseph."
"You know me?"
Joseph's eyes went round when the priest suddenly addressed him by name. The priest nodded and answered.
"I heard about you from Priest Rekor."
"Ah..."
Rekor. A priest of the Silimaf Church who had hunted northern demonic beasts alongside Joseph at Valois Castle. The priest said Rekor had told him about Joseph — the helper sent by God.
"He was a little disappointed you left without saying goodbye."
"Ah... there were circumstances at the time..."
Thinking back, right after Zalier's assassination incident, Joseph had spoken with Folmers and immediately left the castle. There hadn't been time for leisurely farewells.
"Might I ask what you wished to see me about?"
"Ah, right."
Joseph finally got to the point.
"Are you able to perform healing magic?"
"The Baron has already spoken to me about that. Of course — it's what we ought to do. However, I cannot treat everyone here all at once."
Joseph nodded. He already knew that a priest needed to accumulate Divinity to use healing magic, so he'd accounted for that. What mattered was the complete recovery of Derik and Auk.
"What if we treated your private soldiers first?"
"Pardon?"
Auger cut in from the side. He smiled awkwardly.
"Didn't you agree to leave the territory once Malešov's troubles were settled? It looks to me as though you mean to move the moment your soldiers recover."
"...Would that be alright?"
"Alright? Of course it would. Didn't I tell you to speak up if you needed anything? This much is no trouble at all."
Auger intended to stay here anyway, and the critically wounded soldiers had already drawn their last breaths. The remaining men were ones for whom a slight delay in treatment wouldn't be a serious problem.
"Hah..."
Joseph studied Auger as he said this. The man himself had no grave wounds, true — but he was still a patient, cloth wrapped around him here and there. Joseph was reminded anew of just how much goodwill this man was showing him.
"Thank you."
"Think nothing of it."
Auger nodded and disappeared to resume talking with the merchant.
"He's a good man."
"Yes. A truly rare sort of person."
Joseph smiled faintly and led the priest straight to his soldiers.
"You've come, sir!"
"Oh — you've come, sir."
Auk and Derik greeted him loudly when Joseph arrived. Derik's voice, however, still trailed off; he hadn't fully recovered yet. When Joseph explained the situation to them, their eyes went wide.
"Uh..."
They were so overwhelmed they couldn't find words — and they themselves weren't sure whether it was because Joseph had brought a priest just for them, or because a nobleman had postponed his own treatment for Joseph's sake.
The priest immediately offered a prayer and began treating Derik.
A faint light bloomed from Derik's chest. The wounds closed without leaving so much as a scar.
He drew a deep breath and checked his condition.
"Whoa..."
Seeing a mystery entirely different from magic, he marveled with genuine wonder. He looked back and forth between the other soldiers, the priest, and Joseph several times, then rose from the bed.
"Thank you so much!"
Honestly, he'd thought he might die here. And even if he luckily survived, as a wounded man the odds of being dismissed had been high. He'd never imagined they would go this far for him.
This was no longer a matter of pay or how they were treated.
At this point, they too were beginning to feel it in earnest — that the employer standing before them was no ordinary man.