The Rat Slayers Return
"Yoo-hoo! How've you been, you pervert Raikkang?"
Cesset called out a cheerful greeting, but Rai, sitting in the grass, only looked up at her with a look of complete disinterest.
"What's with that face? You knocked our innocent Philia off her feet — you ought to take responsibility. Our girl doesn't come cheap, you know."
She sidled up with a mischievous grin and jabbed her elbow into his ribs. The whole performance — like a matchmaker haggling over a bride-price — made Rin, standing behind her, duck her head in embarrassment. Cesset, of course, showed no sign of stopping.
"I'm the one who got a raw deal here. All I did was put a drunk kid to bed, and I still got punched for it."
"Yes, the defense rests."
Rai pointed to his jaw — now back to normal, after some time had passed — the same jaw Philia had clocked after he'd made the mistake of giving her a lap pillow.
Cesset had already heard the whole story from Philia and talked it over at length, but she was having far too much fun to stop. Needling Rai, who was usually the one dishing it out, was a delight in itself. And watching Philia — a girl who had never so much as entertained a romantic feeling in her life — go red-faced and flustered was even better. Whenever the girls got to talking about romance, Philia was always the unflappable one. Seeing her squirm with embarrassment was so cute Cesset could hardly stand it.
"Hey, she hasn't gone home yet, right? Go grab her. So she fell asleep on someone's thigh — big deal. That's no reason to skip training."
"Grab her? What exactly are you planning to do once you've dragged an innocent girl over here? You're going too far."
Cesset narrowed her eyes, putting on that infuriating face of hers, and a vein popped on Rai's forehead. Sensing she'd pushed it a little too far, she straightened up and spoke in a more measured tone.
"I think she's still too embarrassed. But she… Selma? She still seems to be going to see her."
"Yeah, I already heard from Selma. Got smacked on the back for not understanding a young girl's heart, too."
"Oho — I don't know who she is, but she sounds like a woman of excellent judgment."
Impressed by the news that someone had actually smacked Rai across the back, Cesset nodded in approval.
Quite some time had passed since they'd brought the villa over. The academy had already been on break for a week, and students were starting to leave one by one. Rai had drawn up a whole plan of spell formulas to teach Philia for Selma's sword techniques, but she hadn't shown her face since that day. He'd even gone all the way to Clay's Blacksmith Shop just to see her, only for Philia to hide in the back while Selma chased him off without so much as a glimpse. He hadn't even done anything wrong, and yet he was the only one getting chewed out. Rai's expression was not a happy one.
"She's still training hard on her own, though, so don't be too hard on Philia."
"Hey, at least pass this along to her."
"What's this?"
"I wrote down the spell formulas she needs to learn, and how to practice them."
Cesset took the folded paper, narrowed her eyes again, and asked if it was a love letter — which earned her a flick to the forehead from Rai. She made a pouting face.
"Anyway, why are you here?"
Cesset, who'd been clutching her forehead with tears welling up, instantly brightened as if nothing had happened.
"Raikkang, want to come visit my house this time?"
"Your house — you mean the capital?"
"Yes. I want to introduce you to my grandfather."
Cesset thought highly of Rai's magical ability and wanted to introduce him to her grandfather. The old man threw punches more often than spells, but when it came to his passion for magic, he was second to none. She figured it would be interesting to put him in a room with Rai and his unusual spell formulas. Rai's face, however, said otherwise.
"Why would I want to meet that old geezer?"
Cesset stared at him — he looked thoroughly disgusted — and tilted her head.
"Have you met my grandfather before?"
"No. Never."
"Really? Because everyone who's ever met him makes the exact same face you just did."
"Hey, is your grandfather all right? Shouldn't he have learned some manners before he learned magic?"
Just what did the man do to make everyone who met him look so appalled? A grandfather worth worrying about, that one. Then Rai recalled Cesset's grandfather on the battlefield — a hot-tempered old man who'd fly into a rage and hurl every curse in the book — and thought, Ah. If it's that guy, it tracks.
Clyde Eliza. The Empire's Court Archmage — a man whose fists were faster than his magic, and whose kicks came before his words. He wasn't a bad person at heart, but his hair-trigger temper and the fact that he couldn't go a sentence without swearing meant everyone around him was perpetually exhausted. Rai grimaced, remembering Clyde charging at him with a fireball the size of a man's torso jammed onto his fist, screaming that he was going to kill him.
"He's a bit too old to start learning manners now."
Cesset didn't argue — apparently she agreed that her grandfather's character was a lost cause. He'd give his granddaughter the world if she asked, but when he lost his temper, he was genuinely terrifying.
"Anyway, I've got no intention of meeting him. If he wants to see me, tell him to come himself."
"All right, I'll pass that along."
"No. Don't."
If she told him, the old man would come running in a single bound, ranting about some insolent brat he'd never even met. Clyde's short fuse hadn't mellowed with age. The moment he and Rai crossed paths, the academy would go up in flames.
"So you have met him. You know Grandfather quite well."
"Is there anyone in the Empire who doesn't know that cantankerous personality of his?"
Rai kept denying it to the end, but Cesset — who'd clearly already made up her mind — gave him a suspicious look before turning her attention to the garden.
The other three were training, Philia aside, but from Cesset's perspective it was hard to tell whether this was training or playtime. Someone had used magic to dig out the ground and fill it with a shallow layer of water, and the three of them had their feet in it. More precisely, they kept dipping their feet in and pulling them out again. What they were actually doing was anyone's guess.
"Isn't it a bit cold for a splash in the water?"
"It's training."
"Does this actually work?! I can't do it at all!"
Aslan, who'd been vigorously stomping his feet into the ankle-deep water, shouted in frustration. Rai answered with complete unconcern.
"In theory, it works."
"…If it's 'in theory,' that means you've never actually done it yourself?"
Aslan stared at him, incredulous. Abigail and Zeroa, who'd overheard, both turned to look at Rai as well. Under the combined weight of their skeptical stares, Rai let out a long sigh, stood up, and walked over.
He strolled across as if he were out for a walk, set his foot on the water — and then, as easily as if it were solid earth, walked across the surface.
"Satisfied?"
Everyone stared, mouths hanging open, at the miracle unfolding before them. Even Rin, standing guard over Cesset, had her eyes wide.
"Walking on it's going to take a loooooong time, so don't even think about copying that. For now, just run across."
"Whoa-oh-wow — how did you just do that? Teach me too!"
Cesset, who'd sensed the magic at the tips of his feet, came rushing over with shining eyes. Rin stared hard at Rai, who was casually revealing the spell formula and teaching it to Cesset as if it were nothing.
Gyeonghwa…
People called it by different names, but the most common was Gyeonghwa — Hardening. It was a technique that warriors who'd reached a certain level — whose power had grown beyond what the ground itself could bear — picked up naturally. Nobody bothered to teach it. Honestly, if someone asked Rin to explain the theory behind how it worked, she couldn't. You just circulated mana through your body, and it happened on its own.
But Rai had theorized it and turned it into a proper, reliable magic. Whether picking it up naturally or using it consciously was more useful was a question worth pondering — but this wasn't the time for that. What mattered was Rai's skill in turning Gyeonghwa into a magic anyone could use.
She'd already thought he was impressive, but his ability far exceeded even that. Rin found herself admiring him — and even felt a competitive spark, a desire to test herself against him if the chance ever came. She was the finest among the retainers serving the Eliza family, entrusted with guarding their most cherished granddaughter. A sensation she'd forgotten long ago stirred within her.
Rai, who'd picked up on the subtle shift in the air, looked up from teaching the spell formula and met Rin's eyes. He was smiling, but the aura coiled beneath that smile was terrifyingly savage. It was the same kind of overwhelming presence she'd felt from the Empire's greatest powerhouses — Clyde, Edelian, and their like.
Rin dipped her head slightly, a gesture of respect. Rai scolded Cesset that that wasn't how you did it, and looked away.
Where had a man like this even come from?
The more she learned about this unidentified instructor, the more of a mystery he became. Rin found herself wondering whether she ought to report him to Clyde.
Cesset, who believed it was simply a spell for walking on water, eventually backed off. When training wrapped up, Aslan collapsed onto the garden lawn, exhausted. Even if it was a spell that used very little mana, repeating an unfamiliar formula thousands of times still piled on the fatigue.
On a day like this, a cold beer with some spicy snacks would have hit the spot — but Aslan, who'd left home, had no money for such luxuries. Rai, whose tastes ran cheap in everything except his mouth, only kept high-proof liquor in the house. That was fine most of the time, but when you were craving something specific, it was a letdown. He was living there rent-free. He could hardly ask for money just because he wanted a beer. Aslan sat there mulling it over, until a brilliant idea struck him.
If I don't have money, I'll just go earn some.
Having arrived at a thought anyone could have had, Aslan ran over to Rai and asked for three days off.
"Why? You worn out?"
"I want to make some money."
"Good heavens…"
Rai covered his mouth in mock astonishment.
"You're finally thinking about paying rent. I'm so moved. To think you were a man of common sense all along."
"Ah… rent… I have to pay that?"
The way Aslan hesitated, as if the thought had never even occurred to him, made Rai's eyes go ice-cold.
"Ah, I'll pay it. I will. I just have to pay it, right?!"
Unable to bear that look of utter disdain, Aslan agreed to pay — with no plan whatsoever.
The next morning, Aslan found Zeroa first thing and dragged him off to the Adventurer Guild. Last time, following Rai around hunting lid-poppers, he'd learned it paid pretty well. The monsters weren't even that strong — you just had to harvest the materials properly and sell them. One day's work and he'd have the rent covered, with enough left over to drink cold beer to his heart's content.
That was the plan, anyway. Zeroa shook his head.
"We can't enter the dungeon at our current rank."
"What? We went in last time."
"Well… from November until the new year, the monsters in Legandia's dungeon get vicious. Anyone below C-rank is banned from entering."
Dungeons managed by the guild sometimes restricted access when special conditions applied. They'd earned the title of Rat Slayer and jumped ranks, but Aslan had never taken the promotion exam, so he was still E1. Zeroa, who'd likewise never taken the exam despite his accomplishments, was D1. In short, the dungeon was out of the question.
Aslan stood there looking blank, his plan dead on arrival. Zeroa gave a wry smile and suggested they take a commission instead, since those were still available. With no other way to make money besides adventuring, Aslan agreed and headed inside the guild.
Leaving Zeroa to chat amiably with Craosa, who was spouting his usual nonsense, Aslan went to look over the commission board. When party members were of different ranks, they could only take commissions one rank below the party's average. Following Zeroa's advice, Aslan looked only at D3 commissions.
But D3 commissions — the kind that barely put you past beginner — weren't going to have much money attached. The highest payout was fifty silver. Aslan was crushed. Worse, the fifty-silver job was a three-day escort mission. It would take them as far as the Xylen region, but once you factored in the travel costs of getting back, they'd actually lose money. There were commissions at D1 — no, even D2 — that paid decently, but they might as well have been painted cakes. Out of reach.
Zeroa finished talking with Craosa and came over to console the dejected Aslan. Knowing his situation, Zeroa glanced at the commission board, then looked around and spoke.
"Then how about we team up with some other people?"
Aslan looked up from his despair, and Zeroa smiled.
"If we party with higher-ranked adventurers, we can take higher-ranked commissions."
"Oh — you're a genius."
It was something adventurers did all the time, but being called a genius for suggesting it made Zeroa scratch the back of his head, embarrassed.
"Are there any A Rank adventurers around here?"
"No. People like that would never party with us."
An A Rank adventurer wasn't going to party with D-Rank and E-Rank people. Besides, higher-ranked commissions tended to eat up a lot of time, which didn't suit their current situation. They needed something moderately high-ranked, which meant finding adventurers of a similar level.
After talking with Craosa, Zeroa came back to Aslan with a group of people in tow.
"This is Lydia, Drex, and Pia."
"Ugh, he looks scary."
The short woman called Pia took one look at Aslan, blurted out that he looked scary, and shrank back. Most people thought that kind of thing and kept it to themselves. Hearing it said out loud made Aslan scowl, and Drex laughed and apologized.
"Sorry, sorry. Pia's a bit lacking in tact — cut her some slack. Nice to meet you. Name's Drex."
Drex had scars on his face and a solid, manly presence that Aslan liked. He shook his hand.
"I'm Lydia. As you can see, I use a bow."
She didn't offer a handshake, but she showed them her weapon as she introduced herself. Aslan and Zeroa took turns introducing themselves in return.
"We've been short-handed with some of our people still recovering, so this works out. Looking forward to working with you for a while."
"Drex, are you sure about this? One of them's a former porter and the other's E-Rank."
Pia let her dissatisfaction show, looking down on the two of them, but Drex waved her off, saying it was fine.
"Craosa recommended them, so they're trustworthy. And you two — don't take this one too seriously. She's got a rough mouth, but she's a good kid once you get to know her. Just bear with her a little."
Aslan didn't like Pia, but for the sake of Drex, who was mediating with that easygoing smile, he nodded.
Pia still complaining, Aslan holding his tongue, Drex trying to keep the peace — it wasn't the smoothest start to a party. Watching from a distance, Craosa smiled with satisfaction. The Rat Slayers had stirred up the Adventurer Guild from day one. He couldn't wait to see what kind of entertaining story they'd bring back this time.