Soaring Wolves (6)
"The reason we have gathered like this today," the baron declared, "is to subjugate an ogre!"
"An ogre?"
"Whew~"
"An ogre has appeared in the territory?"
"No wonder I've been sleeping so poorly these past few days."
The baron watched their reactions for a moment, then pressed on.
"It was sighted in the Wolf Forest. As you all well know, a great many mercenaries have already advanced into that place. They call themselves the Karl Mercenary Group, and they are skilled enough that the name is no idle boast—but we cannot leave everything in the hands of outsiders. Therefore, from this moment on, we of the Soaring Wolves will commence operations to hunt the ogre down!"
"Oooh!"
A dozen voices roared the cheer as one, the sound rolling out across the clearing as if deliberately for Roy to hear.
"Are we holding the departure ceremony here?"
"No. We leave in three days."
"Then why drag us out here?"
"You—keep that mouth shut. I was about to explain."
Fabre finally clamped his lips together.
As the baron's explanation continued, the wolves reacted in every shade of disbelief. Most wore faces of pure incredulity; a few even smirked with open mockery.
"Captain. Are you joking right now?"
"Quiet! Megan and Shepard will take him on."
The two named as Roy's opponents gaped like goldfish, too stunned to form words.
The baron's piercing gaze swung straight to Roy.
"Roy! These two handle magic for our group. If you can defeat them, I will take you on this expedition, just as you wish."
"Uh… are you saying I have to face both of them at once? Well, it's not like I couldn't manage it, but…"
"Pwahahaha!"
Several people burst into open laughter at Roy's remark—not mocking the boy, but rather jeering at Megan and Shepard for the situation and the words that had just been spoken. In short, the ridicule was aimed at the pair, not at Roy.
The only ones treating the moment with any seriousness were the baron, Roy, and the boy's master, Geren.
Hmm… even if I am only seven, this is starting to get under my skin.
The baron answered Roy's question a beat late.
"No. I am giving you two chances. I will set a task for you now. If you win the first, there will be no need for a second."
"Understood."
The baron was not finished.
"Roy. You won't start whining afterward that I deliberately gave you something too hard, will you? Those two may not look like much, but they were once proud to call themselves the finest mages in the territory. That is why I am offering you a second chance. I ask you again: do you accept?"
"Yes!"
"For the record, neither of your opponents is a noble. You understand what that means, don't you?"
"Of course. I'll settle it on the first challenge."
Laughter exploded again.
The ones most offended by the whole affair were Shepard and Megan.
"Captain! You're telling me to fight that little child? I never agreed to this!"
"Exactly. At Lady Anna's birthday last year I overheard the household servants gossiping about young master Roy's innate talent for magic, but isn't this going too far? I have my position to consider…"
Megan served as vice-captain of Parolas's security garrison and as the instructor who taught magic to new recruits. For someone in her position, being ordered to face a child would have been a grave insult if the words had not come from the lord himself.
The baron spoke to both of them with complete seriousness.
"That boy is determined to force his way onto this expedition no matter what tricks he has to pull, so I intend to teach him a lesson. You two will face him with everything you have. If you lose… well, I won't even need to punish you. Word will spread through the whole district that there's a mutt hiding among the pack, pretending to be a wolf."
"Who said anything about losing?!"
"You still don't seem to understand—that boy carries my blood. Get careless and you'll pay for it."
The baron himself never once believed his old comrades would actually lose to his son. He was merely goading them a little so they would not go easy on the boy simply because he was family.
No matter how gifted a child might be, at seven years old the mana within the body was still far from mature. Most people only began to display their true innate ability around the age of twelve or thirteen. That was precisely why the kingdom's Knight Academy restricted admission to those twelve and older.
"Then I will set the first task. Fabre. Go cut down two trees and bring them here. Don't trim the branches—bring them whole."
"What? Me? Those two are the ones fighting him."
"When I give an order, shut your mouth and do it! Aren't you embarrassed? At this rate my son and his master will think our chain of command is a complete mess."
"Yes, sir… Hey, you lot—stop standing around staring and give me a hand!"
Before long Fabre and several others returned, dragging the massive trunks of two freshly felled trees. It was only the beginning of September; the leaves were still a vivid green. What would normally have required several horses to haul, the hulking Fabre carried over one shoulder as if the weight were nothing. The man was a monster of strength.
Then the baron's first spell began.
He used earth magic to dig two shallow pits, then planted one of the brought trees in each. Two rootless trees now stood in the center of the clearing. Driven deep enough, there was no fear they would topple.
"What in the world is he doing?"
"How should I know?"
While everyone wondered what he intended, the baron's second spell activated—water this time. Two enormous masses of water flew out and drenched each tree in turn until the foliage hung dripping, water beads falling like rain.
"Geren. Come here and give me a hand."
"Yes!"
The thoroughly soaked trees soon began to freeze solid under Geren's ice magic. The baron layered on more water, Geren froze it again, and the process repeated until two trees stood locked in ice as if they had been transplanted from the far northern reaches of the continent.
When the work was finished, the baron spoke.
"This is my first challenge. Using only magic, burn these trees to ash. Megan—you face Roy first."
Like most people from this region, Megan specialized in fierce flame magic.
At the signal, both Megan and Roy began chanting.
Megan's magic activated first. Whether the baron's provocation had struck home or not, she wore an expression of absolute seriousness; the watching wolves looked on with faces that said, Why is she taking this so seriously?
A few others, however, were eager to see what the young Roy would show them.
"With a body that small, can he even manage it?"
"We'll see. You never know."
Megan's reasoning ran as follows. Among the flame magics she excelled at, two or three were suitable for the present situation. One was the Curtain of Fire that scorched the ground and kept enemies at bay; another was the somewhat broader Burning Earth. Both, however, had short durations. There was also the risk that water melting from the trees would hit the ground and cancel the spells entirely.
That left only one option.
"Honestly, I hate using this spell more than anything."
Deciding that sustained flame would serve better than a single burst of power, she stepped close to the tree and began breathing fire from her mouth. The magic was called Burning Breath. By blowing through a circle formed of thumb and forefinger, a mage could spew flame like a dragon. She had to pause now and then to draw deep breaths, but every time she exhaled—whoosh, whoosh—raging fire enveloped the entire tree.
It was not the thick ice walls of the northern continent; the coating around the wood was barely a finger or two thick. After three or four breaths the ice melted away in a rush, water cascading down and white steam billowing upward in thick clouds.
"Well, that much is nothing for Megan."
"Hey—looks like the other one's starting."
Only then did Roy's first spell complete.
The two trees stood a good twenty paces apart, so most of the spectators had been watching Megan. Now every head turned toward Roy—and immediately filled with disappointment. A few even clicked their tongues.
"What? He needs to melt the ice first, and he's using wind?"
"They say a hot wind can sometimes melt ice faster than fire, but…"
"His mana reserve looks generous enough, given the captain's bloodline, but his casting speed is nothing special, and the spell he chose doesn't even fit the situation. He'd have been better off summoning a basic flame."
Harsh criticism followed at once. Far from silencing it, the baron nodded along, actively fanning the flames. He had clearly made up his mind.
The magic Roy had cast was Spiral Wind. Unlike Megan, he had positioned himself more than ten meters from the tree so that a whirling cyclone of air could completely encircle it.
Don't start judging yet. This is only the beginning.
The sounds of disappointment still echoed in his ears—but this was merely the opening move.
Roy immediately began chanting a second spell while maintaining the first. That fact alone made eyes go wide throughout the crowd.
"He's already casting two spells at once at that age?"
"Just holding a Spiral Wind demands enormous mana and concentration. And he's casting something else on top of it?"
"Wait a second—what he's chanting now isn't wind."
The new incantation carried all the hallmarks of flame magic. Using two elemental attributes simultaneously was a high-level technique that even adults struggled with. The baron and Geren already knew Roy could do it, but for the majority who were seeing his magic for the first time today, the shock was complete. Even the baron was startled. He had known his son could cast dual spells, yet he had never dreamed the boy could maintain a massive cyclone that enveloped an entire tree while simultaneously weaving another magic.
At last the second spell was complete.
The fireball that left Roy's fingertips shot straight into the heart of the whirlwind and settled there.
In the same instant—!
A pillar of fire like a storm roared skyward. Its reach was more than enough to swallow the whole tree, and the heat struck every onlooker full in the face. The flames of the second spell, Flame Surge, had fused with the waiting Spiral Wind and evolved into a higher-order attack magic.
Its name: Ignis Tornado.
In Roy's previous life it had been the signature spell of a certain flame mage who had once belonged to the hero's party.
Sorry about that. Borrowing it without asking.