7
My Villains Chapter 7
3. Elemental Mage (2)
As we approached the dock with her leaning on me for support, the girl opened her mouth while shedding tears.
"Those bastards - I'll get revenge."
I looked down at the sniffling girl with complicated eyes.
Her brown robe had footprints all over it, and blood was trickling from her knees.
Even while groaning in pain, the girl didn't stop muttering.
"I'll find them somehow later and kill them. No, I'll make them beg me to kill them. I'll cut off all their fingers and toes, and then-"
Thwack!
"Ow!"
Letting out a yelp of pain from my flick to her forehead, the girl raised her tear and snot-stained face to glare at me.
"What are you doing, you idiot!"
"Idiot? Stop acting like an idiot yourself."
The Elemental Mage was a typical blonde-haired, blue-eyed white girl.
Having lived my whole life as Kim Seung-soo, a Korean, I couldn't gauge it precisely, but no matter how I looked at her, there was no way to mistake her for an adult.
So if this had been a normal modern kingdom, the Elemental Mage would have been someone thoroughly protected by the law.
However, my brief experience and the atmosphere of the world I felt while playing Dark World made me realize this wasn't a place where such common sense applied.
Even I, only on my second day as a part of this world, had realized what a crappy place this was.
But for someone who had lived in this world her whole life, even if young, to act so stupidly.
The girl bit her lower lip hard, then widened her eyes and raised her voice.
"Acting like an idiot? I'm talking about the right I deserve to exercise. The right to revenge!"
"Sure, get revenge. Who said they're stopping you?"
I spoke in a lecturing tone to the girl glaring at me while sniffling.
"Saying you'll kill someone, get revenge, save that kind of talk for when you're alone. Say it under your blanket."
"...I wasn't saying it for you to hear."
"Right, I'm sure. But think about it carefully."
"What if I take everything you have, hand you over to the soldiers, and say this girl is a runaway mage without even a magic license, and she was grinding her teeth saying she'd get revenge and kill people someday. I was briefly enchanted by magic and talked nonsense, but she's not my companion or anything?"
"...What? How could you, no."
The girl stuttered with a greatly flustered expression.
Then she closed her mouth, stopped sniffling, and looked up at me.
Ah, being a fugitive chased out of La-Palaise Palace must be a secret.
Seeing questions and wariness arise in her eyes, I spoke with a nonchalant face.
"I'm just giving an example. But what if I hear you muttering to yourself and think, oh, this one's going to cause trouble if I keep her around. I'd better cut my losses quickly?"
"Cut losses?"
"Yeah, cut losses. You don't know what cutting losses means? Loss cut?"
"What's that?"
"Uh- that's not the important part. Just be careful. With your actions and words."
At my advice, she quietly pouted her lips. Her foolish behavior and sulky expression were just like a child her age.
Phew, she looks like some princess, but why does she seem so pitiful?
As we were about to leave the docks cluttered with scattered ropes, piled leather sacks, leaking wooden barrels, roughly stacked crates, and all sorts of cargo and crowded with people, entering a street lined with taverns and street stalls, the girl pointed to a large tree shadow with a pale face and said, "Can we stop to treat my wounds before we go?"
"Huh? Sure."
I nodded readily but suddenly fell into contemplation.
What should I do with her? The Elemental Mage is a character from Dark World, so she must have some important role to play...
This brief pondering led to another worry.
Important role? For what? Am I going to try to save the world with this kid or something?
Cooperate like in party play, farm items, and defeat bosses or something? Me? A thirty-year-old office worker?
Even as I supported her to sit on a flat rock in the shade, my worries continued.
How do I get back to Earth?
The Trickster guy mentioned hidden quests and invitations or something. Surely the hidden quest isn't to clear the campaign in real life?
What exactly is this Trickster guy? Some kind of god or transcendent being?
Is the Elemental Mage the end? There's the Blood Knight. What about the Berserker? Holy knight, Summoner Shaman, Arcane Hunter, Necromancer, Martial Artist, Swordsman...
While I was thinking about all this, she took out a potion and took a sip. Then she started grunting as if trying to treat her knee, tugging at her pants.
I stopped my contemplation, took out the dagger from my waist, and crouched in front of her.
"Let me see."
"..."
I cut off the part of the pants above the knee stained with blood. Unlike my leather pants, these were made of thin cloth and easy to cut.
"Ugh, that must hurt."
It looked like the spear had gone through her popliteal fossa and pierced below her knee.
As I wiped away the blood with the cloth I had cut, she gritted her teeth as if the wound was touched.
"Nngh..."
Then she grimaced and started crying again.
Well, though I wasn't sure, it was understandable since her bones, tendons, and ligaments must have all been damaged.
I snatched the potion she was holding and sprinkled a little on the wound. The sight of the wound bubbling and the flesh squirming was disgustingly creepy, but I didn't particularly show it.
"Are you hurt anywhere else? Any fractures?"
"...My hands and arms hurt a bit. And my ankle."
"Which side?"
Every part she showed me was either swollen or bruised dark blue. I applied a little potion to each of those wounds.
The effect of the potion was truly remarkable, as you could see the wounds improving at a glance. It was like watching a treatment process video sped up 5,000 times.
"You have one more bottle, right?"
To my question, she rubbed her face with her sleeve and answered.
"I think it's fine now."
"Just give it to me without arguing."
She seemed to have developed quite some trust in me, as she lifted her robe and took out a potion from a small bag that looked somewhat like a sling bag and handed it to me.
"Ah, just in case you didn't know..."
Taking the potion, I shook it in front of her nose and said, "This is mine now."
"...What?"
"I saved your life, didn't I? One bottle isn't a losing deal, is it?"
"You-"
As I mimicked what she had said earlier in a teasing manner, her large eyes filled with anger and moisture. I grinned as I opened the lid.
"Why are you making such an aggrieved face? People usually get as much as they give."
"You dog-"
The girl, who was about to spit out a curse with an indignant face, suddenly opened her eyes wide. That's because I poured the potion on her knee.
"So this means you owe me now?"
At my quip, she pressed her lips tightly.
I seriously considered using it myself, but thanks to the effect of the passive skill 'Flowing Blood', a scab had already formed on the wound.
I did want to tease her a bit, but seeing her in such a mess made me lose the will to do so.
And although the potion was precious, the Elemental Mage was clearly an important figure given the circumstances. It seemed foolish to antagonize her over a potion.
Watching new flesh grow on her knee, I asked, "By the way, what's your name?"
"...Ellen."
"Ellen?"
Somehow, it's a familiar name.
Ellen. Ellen? Ah, the default name for the Elemental Mage was Elenar something.
Ellen seems to be a nickname or alias.
"And you?"
"Me? I'm..."
What should I say? This character's name is 'Nukjaengi Saeki-ya', but... I can't use that as a name.
Then Kim Seung-soo? No, that doesn't seem right either.
I came up with a plausible name without much difficulty. The Blood Knight also has a default name.
"Phoenix."
"Phoenix..."
Ellen seemed to mull over my name for a moment. Now that I've said it, it doesn't sound that good.
"Just call me mister. It's easier."
"Mister?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Ellen looked me up and down, then furrowed her brow.
"How old are you?"
"Huh?"
Ah, right.
The male Blood Knight character appeared to be a handsome man in his mid-twenties with a cold impression.
Right. 'Mister' is a term suitable for a prematurely aged thirty-year-old office worker!
Having realized this in an instant, I brushed back my hair and gave a charming smile.
"Then how about-"
"Well, fine. I'll call you mister."
"What did you say?"
"...Nothing, never mind."
Magicians are beings who draw and use energy from another dimension.
Because of this, there was a widespread notion, almost like common sense, that the more magic was used, the closer Dark World and Middle World - that is, the other world and this world - became.
Although it was an unproven theory, many people actually viewed magicians negatively. They were treated as selfish beings who hastened the world's destruction for their own greed.
So it was common for magicians to hide their identity and live in secrecy.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Those who worked for people in power, or belonged to powerful organizations or schools with deep traditions, often openly revealed themselves as magicians.
The Elemental School, based in La-Palais Palace, was one of them.
The Elemental School was the most famous magic school in Middle World, and as the name suggests, the Elemental Mage also belonged to this school.
As far as I knew, most of the spells in the Elemental Mage's skill tree, except for the ultimate skills, were magics belonging to the Elemental School.
The spell Ellen had demonstrated on the ship, Wind Blade, was also a type of elemental magic.
In the game, it was a skill that could be learned from level 15, so I thought Ellen's level must be at least above 15.
Well, it was a bit puzzling that someone at level 15 got beaten by ordinary soldiers... But considering she was ambushed unexpectedly, it wasn't incomprehensible. The Elemental Mage class itself was a typical glass cannon after all.
So I thought meeting Ellen was lucky. Until I heard the details from her.
"So..."
I let out a heavy sigh as I looked at Ellen sitting across the shabby wooden table.
"In short, you're now... A useless person, right?"
"How dare you call me useless."
"Ah, shut up. I'm troubled right now, so be quiet for a moment."
Ellen frowned her delicate eyebrows, but I ignored her and picked up the wooden cup to gulp down the beer.
With no carbonation and lukewarm, it was something I, as a beer maniac, didn't even want to touch, but I had no choice as my insides were burning.
Even if I wanted to drink water, I was wary of something floating around and cloudy in it.
"So, that broken wand from earlier was inherited from your master."
Nod.
"And the magic you used was the power residing in that wand?"
...Nod.
She's shutting up well when told to shut up.
"You can't use any magic without the wand?"
...Nod.
"What kind of magician is that?"
You're just a wand stand, you idiot!