Large-Class Monster
"Hmm."
No trace of magic power at all. As expected from a stealth-type. The cleanly carved marks reminded me of a sandy beach dug up neatly with a shovel—except this was made of solid dirt and stone.
"Have you ever seen traces like this before?"
"N-no, sir! Never! I've been wandering around for ten years, but I've never seen anything like it!"
Hans swallowed hard as he answered. The way he kept glancing at me suggested he'd finally realized I wasn't an ordinary person. Well, if he still hadn't figured it out by now, that would've been strange in itself.
"Krrraaaagh!"
The seven-colored tiger's scream echoed through the area. It looked like it was trying to flee, but Chloe and Isabel handled it with practiced ease. They'd never fought together before, yet their coordination—knowing exactly when to press forward and when to pull back—showed they were both veterans of battle. I probably couldn't manage something like that. Not unless I just overpowered everything with raw force.
"But the traces themselves do seem to belong to that thing."
Time for a test. I pulled out the Magic Radar from my coat. Calling it a radar at this point felt a bit awkward, but since everyone around me had already started calling it that, I figured I'd just go along with it.
"This goes like…"
I fiddled with the device. It wasn't a simple magic-powered machine. Because it had been rushed into production and emitted highly sensitive magic waves, convenience features had been sacrificed. That meant a lot of manual adjustments were still required.
"I'll have to fix this soon."
I made a mental note. For now, finding the target quickly took priority, so I set the issue aside. Still, the radar had a recording function for nearby magic signatures. If I wanted adventurers to use it for data collection, that part definitely needed improvement.
"W-what is that thing?"
"Curious?"
"N-no, sir!"
The little brat. He was scared. Was he keeping quiet because he thought he shouldn't know?
"It's not particularly dangerous. Just a tool for scanning nearby magic power."
"O-oh, I see……Hik!"
Thud!
A loud noise from behind made me turn. Hans also whipped around in surprise. The massive seven-colored tiger lay collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.
"Oh, it's over."
"My apologies for the delay."
Chloe approached while wiping the blood from her sword.
"Good work, Isabel."
"Not at all. ……Is that the Magic Radar?"
Isabel walked over as well, tucking away a pair of daggers with small, sharp blades protruding from them. Unusual weapons. Well, once reinforced with magic, durability ceased to be an issue. A matter of preference, I suppose.
"Yeah. With this, we're done."
As Isabel had said, I showed them the Magic Radar. It was a small rod about a meter long, with a base that could be planted in the ground and a square box with a narrow slit. The slit recorded and output the wavelengths of detected magic power.
……I still had no idea how it actually worked.
"In this state, it scans a set radius around itself and measures the magic data of anything nearby."
"Whoa, that's impressive."
She said that, but her somewhat blank expression made it clear she didn't actually understand what was impressive about it. I gave her a wry smile. Truthfully, its accuracy still wasn't that high. We didn't even know what the recorded wavelengths meant yet. That's why we needed time to collect and organize the data.
……If only we had that kind of time.
"Starting it up."
I chuckled as I watched Hans's presence shrink to zero while he huddled in the corner observing, then activated the device. It emitted a blue light. Since we'd already given up on stealth, the flow of magic through the machine was obvious. Still, the amount of magic it consumed was small, so unless someone was right next to it, they probably wouldn't notice.
Blue magic slowly gathered around the device. To my eyes, it looked like droplets of magic clumping together. As the vibrations grew stronger, I could feel the pulsing magic waves trembling. And then—
Fwoooosh!
A wave of blue magic burst outward in the direction the device was pointing. The blue magic, visible only to me, spread through the air and shot off into the distance.
"Do you feel anything?"
"……Hmm. It feels like something lightly brushed past me."
"If I concentrate, I can definitely sense something. If it were farther away, it might've been hard to notice."
"Really?"
Chloe and Isabel tilted their heads as they spoke. Even at this close range, this level of detection wasn't bad. What about Hans?
"Huh? W-was there something there?"
He had no idea at all. Even after giving up stealth, this was still pretty good. Maybe it was harder to sense than I'd thought. Interesting.
Fwoooosh!
I changed directions and fired several more magic waves. The direction still had to be adjusted manually, and the spread of the waves wasn't consistent. Not all of the waves reflected back cleanly either. Well, they did return, but not in a measurable state. There were still plenty of things that needed fixing. I noted those issues down and looked at the paper output.
Malton had told me about several patterns that would appear if……
Zzt—zzt—zzt!
The pattern that appeared when observing magic of a certain rank or higher……
Zzt—zzt—zzt—zzt—zzt—zzt!
"Huh?"
The lines on the paper suddenly grew complicated. A long spike shot up between the smaller lines, repeating over and over. What the hell was this?
Don't tell me it was happening on the very first day? Lucky us. Let's finish this in one go.
* * *
The creature that had burrowed into the cliff suddenly lifted its head at the strange presence it felt. Choosing to descend from the mountains had been the right decision. Satisfied with its choice, it eyed the scattered prey throughout the area. There was plenty to eat. At the very least, nothing in the vicinity possessed power equal to its own.
But a hunter needed to be clever. Even as hunger gnawed at its body, it carefully surveyed the surroundings, confirmed there was no danger, and slowly began its hunt. The creatures here were weaker than those from its original territory, but the increase in prey numbers was a welcome development.
At first, it had hunted cautiously, one at a time. Now that it had grown accustomed to the area, it simply swallowed whatever it encountered. During one such hunt, it discovered another animal also preying on the local creatures. It hid within the familiar natural surroundings and observed.
Those animals didn't travel alone. They moved together, hunting prey in groups. They walked on two legs, swung strange objects in their hands, and used the power within their bodies just like the creatures from its homeland. It decided to stop hunting them—for now.
Were they worth hunting? Was the risk worth the reward? After careful observation, it eventually made its decision. Compared to itself, their power was infinitely weaker. They tired easily, and their hides weren't particularly thick. They didn't look particularly satisfying to chew, but the power within their bodies seemed worth taking. They always moved in groups, but those groups were small. When they encountered one another, they quickly parted ways. The timing to hunt such small groups would be easy to find.
Having made its decision, the creature was resting when it sensed a presence from outside. Its nose flared as it caught a scent. Its ears twitched as it listened. What its scales detected was the presence of animals and the fragrance of power. Unable to resist the hunger that was slowly returning, it opened its eyes and moved.
It had abandoned competition and descended. Now that it had reached the edge of this place, it hid within nature as usual and watched for prey. Perhaps it had overhunted the surrounding area. After tearing into a seven-colored tiger that had come down in search of food, it began heading toward a place where it sensed presences different from the animals it had eaten.
A small group visible in the distance. At its center was a strangely colored power. The creature didn't know it, but that color was called gold. When its eyes fell upon the prey possessing that golden power, its pupils dilated. The quality of the power it sensed instantly ignited a thirst that tormented it.
That power was rare even in the place it had originally come from. There wasn't much of it, but it looked incredibly appetizing. Thirst and hunger burned away its reason, and instinct seized control of its body. Following those emotions and desires, the creature burst from the darkness to swallow its prey in a single bite.
* * *
"Fucking hell."
A stealth type. Estimated to be a large-class monster. It had moved first. I hadn't been able to sense it until it got close, but now that it was within range, I could feel something stealthy. Even I, who was confident in my magic control, had to concentrate just to barely detect it. The presence began moving, heading in the opposite direction from where I was.
At first, I thought it had noticed my approach, but considering its movement direction and speed, that wasn't the case. That meant it was targeting something else. Since I'd already clearly identified its presence, there was no way I'd lose it now. I immediately drew up my magic to figure out where it was heading.
……Father?