Determination After Defeat
I led our battered party toward Kidichi Hill. As we walked, the scars of battle were evident everywhere we looked. Scattered corpses, the wreckage of shattered carriages. We'd anticipated the ambush and tried to stop Margaret multiple times, but it seemed it was impossible for the merchant caravan to pass through completely unscathed.
"Master, my mana has returned."
"That's a relief."
"That crazy bitch... She was far more of a monster than I imagined."
From what Eos and Syucali told me, Margaret's abilities couldn't simply be summed up by calling her a mage.
"We did succeed in breaking her mana shield..."
Margaret had been maintaining what seemed like an almost infinite mana shield. Its resistance to physical attacks was so strong that Syucali's daggers couldn't pierce it at all. Still, it looked like we'd eventually managed to crack that shield.
"Then Syucali's attack must have landed as a solid hit."
"I thought so too. But that human mage's mana shield... it seems it was actually being used to seal her own power."
"What do you mean?"
"Think of it like how I can't use magic. No... it looks like she deliberately bound her own strength with that mana shield of her own free will."
Eos's words finally made sense. The mana shield wasn't a barrier to block external attacks. It was a 'sealing device' she used to imprison herself.
"Once that mage's mana shield was stripped away, the mana she possessed was greater than any of the heroes I've ever encountered."
For a blue demon like Eos to say that, just how threatening must her mana have been? I couldn't even begin to imagine it.
"Eos."
"Yes, Master."
"You met a mage like that. So why are you smiling?"
"Ah... I'm sorry."
"I'm not scolding you. I'm just curious what you're feeling right now."
"I... well..."
Eos seemed to be recalling Margaret, because she kept grinning and struggling to hold back her laughter as she looked at me.
"I enjoy magical battles. No, demons are naturally delighted when they encounter strong opponents. Since I am a demon too... when I see a mage that powerful, I can't help but smile."
It was the expression of a battle maniac who felt more joy at meeting a strong opponent than despair at having been defeated. I'd sensed it before when her eyes sparkled while she meticulously explained the iron demon who used the magic sword. Eos had an unusual passion for combat.
She likes fighting strong opponents enough to smile about it...
I rather liked that attitude of hers. What had seemed like her usual quiet nature was probably just because she preferred speaking with her fists and magic rather than words. Getting to know her like this, one piece at a time, wasn't bad at all.
"Of course, serving Master is far more enjoyable."
"Don't lie."
She had looked happy when we ate and when we shared a bed, but the Eos who had just faced Margaret had mana flowing through her that was practically vibrating with excitement.
"I'm sorry."
"So, if you meet her again next time, can you win?"
"In my current state, it's impossible... but if I could release even one or two of my mana seals, it would be a good match."
"Mana seals..."
The mana seal placed on her by a hero when she became a slave. That was what was suppressing most of Eos's combat ability. Right now, all she could use was 1-Circle water magic. Seeing her fight on the battlefield even in that condition, I could imagine that if even a portion of her seal was released, she would go completely wild.
"We'll have to break your mana seal."
"It will be difficult. Finding an artifact that can release the seal is hard enough, and seeking out the hero who sealed my mana flow to negotiate with them would be even harder."
"I don't know about artifacts, but negotiating with a hero... so that was an option."
It wasn't completely impossible. Even if it wasn't a formal transaction, I could obtain the mana seal ability from a hero through sex.
"I'll have to find the hero who sealed you as soon as possible."
"I doubt they're in this area."
"They might have sold you off and be living comfortably in some noble's territory. Or we could try going to the front lines where you were captured."
"That seems far too reckless."
"No. I'll do whatever it takes to get stronger."
This request had made me realize just how lacking I was. It was important for me to grow stronger, but I couldn't let my party members' growth stagnate either. For Eos, that meant breaking her mana seal. For Syucali...
"Yes?"
When I stared at her intently, Syucali flinched as if she'd been caught.
"I can't let you sleep anymore."
"Ah... um... suddenly?"
"Prepare yourself. I'll make sure you never end up helpless again."
"M-Master, your eyes are scary..."
There was only one method that came to mind right now. Spending every night with her, turning Syucali's stats into something monstrous. It would be nice if she could acquire new abilities like I could, but that was impossible.
Or is it...? Maybe there's another method I don't know about yet.
The Lv. 2 indicator that had appeared after the battle with the salamander was deeply etched in my mind. I might still not be utilizing the abilities of this world to their full potential. And this battle had taught me many things. I couldn't survive by relying solely on noble swordsmanship. I needed more techniques that could create variables in combat and tilt situations in my favor, like physical durability, Deflection, and the blue demon race's water magic.
Hand-to-hand combat techniques for when I lost my sword. Items like potions and quick thinking for desperate situations. Long-range suppression capabilities to create distance during prolonged fights and search for the opponent's weaknesses. Right now, the only thing I could really boast about was my tough body. And even that was only useful against physical attacks... against attribute monsters like the salamander, I was nothing more than a punching bag.
The thing that helped most in this battle was probably the unyielding warrior's tenacity instead. Without her will, I might have given up several times midway. But thanks to that tenacity, I endured until the end and ultimately dealt a significant blow to the salamander.
"I want to get stronger and challenge Margaret again."
"I want that too."
"You two are both weird..."
Syucali stepped slightly away from between us. Perhaps I was feeling something similar to Eos. The desire to grow stronger and prove myself. But since Syucali was a thief who originally lived by erasing her presence and hiding, she was probably clumsy with that sort of thing.
That didn't mean there was no way for Syucali to build her confidence. If she became stronger than anyone else, widened the gap with her opponents, and looked down on them, she would gain much more composure.
"That's why you need to stay up all night with me every single day."
"I'll die!"
Syucali reflexively refused, but it meant nothing to me. If you don't like it, you should have become the master instead.
Chatting about this and that, we continued walking toward Kidichi Hill. Ironically, because we'd failed, it felt like we'd talked more than ever. I'd seen Eos's greed, and my direction and the team's goals had been somewhat established. Syucali still seemed to be wavering and struggling, but I believed she would soon find her place.
"The carriage... isn't visible."
"That's fortunate."
The fact that the carriage and the other merchants weren't visible meant they had already left for Kidichi Territory.
"So does that mean that crazy mage failed?"
"Probably."
"Whew... she really went all out like she was going to die. At least that's a relief."
We had lost, but Isabella's request was a success. Margaret's behavior had felt somewhat off, but we'd completed the request anyway. And it wasn't as if I hadn't gained anything personally.
"Let's head to Kidichi Territory too."
"That might be difficult."
"Huh?"
Just as Syucali tried to step forward, someone moved ahead to block her. A person covered head to toe in steel armor. That hair color was...
"Blue hair."
"It's been a while, Black Hair."
So it was the blue-haired female knight I'd met during the goblin subjugation.
I see...
From the moment she'd shown me the family pocket watch back in Cashu Village, it was clear she was connected to the nobility. Isabella, who was going to meet with nobles, would have had regular dealings with Kidichi Territory. The blue-haired knight must have tagged along to Isabella's village and joined the goblin subjugation to test her swordsmanship.
"The rumors say you're quite the incubus."
"I didn't know you were connected to the nobility either."
The blue-haired knight grinned.
"So what exactly is so difficult?"
When I asked, she shrugged.
"You can't go to Kidichi Territory."
"Why not?"
"Because you're Black Hair, obviously."
I held Syucali back with my hand as she tried to step forward again.
"I see... so territories with nobles won't accept the cursed black-haired."
"Well, there are various other reasons too~ but let's go with that."
Other reasons... I couldn't even guess what they might be, but in this world, black hair was treated as a cursed existence, making it difficult to get involved in matters related to nobility and the royal family. I'd only gained a bit of notoriety in Cashu Village and its surroundings. I was reminded once again that elsewhere, I was treated like a crow. Especially in castles or territories with royalty and nobility, these taboos seemed far stricter than in other places.
With my robe completely burned away, I couldn't even sneak in secretly now.
"So we have no choice but to turn back."
"If you pass Kidichi Territory, there's one more village ahead."
"Turning back is the right choice."
Seeing that my luggage was here, it seemed Isabella wanted me to return as well.
"What happened to the merchant caravan?"
"It looks like about twenty percent of the supplies were burned. If they succeeded in delivering supplies despite that much loss, the lord should be satisfied. By the way, you stopped the Poila family's mage?"
"I only bought time."
"Buying time is stopping her. The Poila magical family is quite famous, you know."
"Does the Kidichi family not have mages?"
"No, they don't. Kidichi is a traditional knight family."
They had mentioned it was during a territorial war. So a knight family and a mage family were at war with each other.
"If my sister hadn't come, we might not have been able to stop that flame mage."
"A knight... I see."
To think a knight had stopped Margaret. Of course Margaret had consumed mana and looked slightly tired at the end, but to my eyes she had seemed like an overwhelming wall. It was surprising that a single knight had held her off. The scorched marks and deep sword scars visible around us were clearly traces left by knights and mages.
So this is noble swordsmanship.
Perhaps because I'd reached level 2 in noble swordsmanship, just looking at these sword marks let me feel how exceptional the knight who faced Margaret had been.
There really are nothing but monsters here.
I cleanly abandoned any thoughts of sneaking into Kidichi Territory. I had no desire to face a knight on Margaret's level. If I wanted to enter the territory... even as the cursed black-haired, I'd need to build enough fame as an adventurer to be acknowledged.
"Here, the request payment. Lady Isabella told me to give it to you."
The blue-haired knight held out a money pouch.
"Thank you, Blue Hair."
"Can you please stop calling me Blue Hair? My name is Vera."
"I'm Kang Seo-ja."
I took the money pouch from her. Then my companions and I turned around. It was time to head back.