Spider Hunting (2)
But that quickly turned to disappointment.
It had seemed to burn unnaturally fast, yet Fire was scorching only the slime, not the Forest Spider’s carapace.
The webbing alone was what burned so easily.
What emerged beneath it was nothing but a carapace marked with soot.
For no good reason, he felt as if he were being ignored.
Magic wasn’t weak.
He cast Fire once more.
This time, he drove it straight into the carapace.
Even so, the result didn’t change.
All this experiment told him was that the Forest Spider was indeed afraid of fire, but not especially vulnerable to it.
He touched the blackened carapace.
Had he been disappointed too soon?
The moment his hand met it, the carapace crumbled without resistance.
“……”
The information about its weakness to fire had not been wrong.
The carapace that had come into contact with Fire had been completely melted from the inside.
Lawrence fell into thought.
Fire wasn’t ineffective.
But if someone asked whether it was usable in real combat, the answer had to be no.
For one thing, using Fire required getting uncomfortably close.
The range of the flame was, at most, about the reach of a spear.
It couldn’t go any farther, and even within that range it tended to lash about wildly like a dog that had slipped its leash.
A weapon you couldn’t control was dangerous.
Unless it could produce overwhelming destructive power, of course.
But at this level of firepower, it probably wouldn’t even be able to stop a Forest Spider in its tracks.
Against this sort of force, every single one of them would just charge straight through, ignoring any injuries.
They were not goblins.
Forest Spiders were larger, and they supported their bodies with eight legs besides.
To put it bluntly, even if one lost a leg, it would not stop.
At most, it would startle them.
And if he was lucky, they’d do nothing more than rush him in a rage afterward.
He reached a cold conclusion.
Fire could not be his main spell against a Forest Spider.
The same was true of Shadow.
A magic that merely changed the shape of shadows couldn’t be used to attack.
That left only Fire Tail, taught by the fire salamanders, and Shadow Spear, taught by the red-eyed being.
The latter was currently Lawrence’s strongest spell.
From everything he had felt on this journey, he was certain it would work.
So this time, he would test Fire Tail.
There was no need to conserve his focus.
More importantly, the surroundings had finally gone quiet, making it an ideal environment for spellcasting.
“Fire Tail.”
A trail of fire ran out.
It looked like the procession of fire lizards he had seen climbing the mountain.
The whip of flame waited for its beloved master’s command.
He put some distance between himself and the Forest Spider corpse.
Once he’d confirmed the range, Lawrence swung the fiery whip with all his strength.
Crack!
The corpse struck by the whip split apart in a pathetic mess.
A harsh smell of burning flesh rose into the air.
Wherever the whip had passed, the melted carapace was clearly visible.
No matter how many times he swung it, the result was the same.
Each lash broke the carapace into pieces.
After he had swung Fire Tail about five or six times, a faint pain rose in his chest.
Wherever the whip had moved, the shattered corpse of the Forest Spider lay in pieces.
The result was satisfying.
Still, it didn’t seem like he’d be able to use it very often.
Even if it wasn’t as taxing as Shadow Spear, Fire Tail was still a burden compared to his other spells.
With continued use, that might improve, but in his current state it seemed like ten casts would be the limit before it brought on a headache.
Fire Tail had far greater range than a spear.
At this distance, he could target a Forest Spider from relatively safely.
However, even this wasn’t perfect.
Fire Tail still had no answer if a Forest Spider chose to rush him first, considering how fast they moved.
That was how quick they were.
Especially when they leapt from the trees, they moved so fast they were almost impossible to see.
He let out a dry laugh that never quite formed.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine how dangerous they would be on their webbing.
There was a reason the mercenaries were burning the trees and gradually expanding the hunting grounds.
Going into the forest was clearly an act of suicide.
After calmly sorting through his thoughts, Lawrence checked the pain in his chest first.
The faint ache told him he didn’t need to worry yet.
He slipped out of the mercenaries’ line of sight.
Once he had put as much distance between himself and them as possible, he opened his mouth.
“Shadow Spear.”
The final spell was the boy’s specialty.
It was the very magic he had obsessively practiced back in Redantus.
It still bore little resemblance to the spell the red-eyed one had used, but the Shadow Spear he could now shape exuded a terrifying aura all the same.
He extended one hand and measured the distance.
He had only just cast Shadow Spear, yet the pain in his chest deepened.
He finished taking aim.
He couldn’t afford to drag this out any longer.
Before the headache could grow worse, he hurled the Shadow Spear.
“Wh-What the hell!?”
“Hu—”
Crash!
A heavy boom rang out.
The Forest Spider corpse, hard as stone, was shattered in a single blow.
Shadow Spear did not merely destroy the corpse; it left a deep, violent scar in the ground as well.
The mercenaries who had been watching from nearby were stunned.
But Lawrence, the one who had cast the spell, was even more shocked.
It was far stronger than he had expected.
Even when he had used it on the goblins they’d encountered along the way, it hadn’t hit with this kind of force.
He didn’t know why, but Shadow Spear had grown far stronger than before.
Why?
Was it because he had learned new magic?
Or had his experiences in the Spirit World contributed to his growth?
He didn’t know.
No answer came.
What mattered was that Shadow Spear worked.
Sensing more and more eyes turning toward him, Lawrence left the spot without a shred of regret.
* * *
Back at the inn, Lawrence went straight to his room without even eating dinner.
He lay on the bed, which sank under his weight, and stared at the ceiling.
Because he had used every spell except Shadow, his head felt as if it were spinning.
Thinking about it calmly on the way back, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d never be able to handle a Forest Spider alone.
Setting aside every other issue, they were simply too fast.
He couldn’t think of a way to land a spell on something that charged in with almost invisible speed, or how he was supposed to dodge it afterward.
And even if he wore armor, its protection would mean little before those fangs and legs.
He had seen with his own eyes how armor reinforced with steel plates had been sliced apart like flesh.
On top of that, the moment he focused on magic, he could no longer afford to pay attention to his surroundings.
In that state, there was every chance he would become the Forest Spider’s prey without ever noticing it.
But if he wasn’t alone, there was a way.
Lawrence thought of the mercenaries gathered at the hunting grounds.
There had been an enormous number of them who had come to the Spider Forest to hunt.
There were so many that they had formed separate groups and staked out their own places.
There was no need for him to step forward recklessly.
After all, the Forest Spider’s first priority wasn’t people, but the pile of corpses set out in front of the forest.
As long as it wasn’t attacking the moment it appeared, there was no reason to think the monsters would target Lawrence first by some tiny chance.
The only thing that bothered him was time.
Once the forest was set alight and the Forest Spiders were driven back, the real spider hunt would begin.
Could he kill a Forest Spider before the mercenaries rushed in?
And if one survived Fire Tail and charged anyway, would he have enough time to cast his spell without hesitation?
Even if he did cast it, that wouldn’t solve everything.
There was no doubt that not only the Forest Spider would die.
Whether it was Fire Tail or Shadow Spear, any mercenary who charged in after the Forest Spider and got caught in the spell would lose his life too.
An accident still killed people.
Before right or wrong even entered the picture, it was not something that could simply be brushed aside.
It was clearly against the doctrine of the Holy Cross Order.
Lawrence remembered the prayers he had heard drifting out of the chapel.
To kill another person was the greatest sin of all.
Because it was the same as stealing the burden of the fate they had been made to bear.
No. Before that…
Can I really kill someone?
That was what Lawrence feared most.
Yet his worries didn’t last long.
All at once, a cynical pilgrim rose up in the corner of his mind.
With a cigarette between his lips, he scoffed at why in the world anyone would agonize over something like that.
Lawrence found himself laughing under his breath.
Right.
If Lenard had been here, he would have said exactly that.
Just do it first and think about it later.
Don’t worry about someone else’s life when your own is about to end.
He knew it wasn’t normal.
He knew a follower of the Holy Cross Order shouldn’t think that way.
But he also knew that he was no ordinary believer anymore.
Then I should just do what I think is right.
The moment he settled on that, his mind cleared.
Lawrence got out of bed.
Perhaps because he had finally sorted out his thoughts, he suddenly felt hungry.
For tomorrow’s showdown, he might as well eat as much as he wanted today.
If everything went as planned, he’d be able to bring back plenty of the Forest Spider’s byproducts, so the money he spent today would soon come back to him anyway.
Enough for two servings.
No. Maybe three.
Eating was always enjoyable.
And meat dishes were the best of all.
The boy left the room with a noticeably lighter step.
* * *
The repaired robe was exactly to Lawrence’s liking.
The newly attached hood showed almost no signs of mismatch.
It was obvious the proprietor had taken special care with it.
It was a secret, though not much of one, that he had paid two more coppers in gratitude.
Before heading out for the spider hunt, he left the crossbow and spear behind at the inn.
He didn’t need a torch.
He judged it would only get in the way.
If he needed fire, it would be a hundred times better to cast magic instead.
His hands would also be much faster if they were empty.
He pulled the hood low to hide his face.
He probably would have been fine even if he hadn’t, but if he showed his face there was always a chance someone would recognize Lawrence from yesterday’s practice with magic.
There was no need to bring unnecessary trouble with him.
His youthful appearance also made it likely that the mercenaries would look down on him.
Perhaps because he was tense, he arrived at the clearing even earlier than the day before.
Or maybe because he had come so early, the mercenaries waiting for the hunt felt somehow different.
In particular, the red-haired mercenary stationed near the place where the monster corpses had been gathered was watching the surroundings with a tense expression, yet his manner carried a confidence that stood in stark contrast to that tension.
At a pinch, he looked like he might even be able to stop a Forest Spider charging in from the front.
Of course, he shouldn’t be trusted.
Mercenaries always put their own lives first, above everything else.
Once they died, that was the end of it.
No one pitied a fallen comrade.
That had been true even yesterday.
Only minutes after a companion who had been fighting shoulder to shoulder with them became a corpse, they had gathered up all his belongings and even pocketed the money, laughing all the while.
If Lawrence died here, he would end up the same way.
The dead told no tales.
At the very least, they had to become useful to those who survived.
That was what everyone would be thinking.
“The first spider hunt of the morning is starting!”
The last monster corpse was moved away.
The voice calling out was not the same one as yesterday’s.
“The first spider hunt of the morning!”
“If you’re not confident, get the hell out of the way!”
They shifted into combat readiness.
Taking one step back, Lawrence’s gaze suddenly settled on the mercenaries keeping watch.
That was exactly it.
There was no need to target the Forest Spider only after it rushed the monster corpses.
Just yesterday, there had been plenty of spiders that targeted the people setting fire to the forest.
If he could reverse the hunt and hunt the hunters instead…
And if that could be done from a safe distance with magic, the situation would be perfect.
The stench he remembered grew stronger.
The moment the viscous slime spilled out, the forest reacted.
Black shadows flew down from the trees.
The monsters that had greedily rushed toward the corpses were still enormous.
After watching them for a moment, Lawrence reluctantly looked away.
The mercenaries observing the situation started moving to set the forest on fire.
This was the chance.
Since there was no telling when the spiders would appear, he needed to prepare his spell in advance.
Fire Tail was too far away to be useful.
If he was going to use anything, it had to be Shadow Spear. He would stake everything on a single strike.
“Shadow Spear.”
The spell took shape later than usual.
Even so, the time he spent on it made the result satisfying.
The Forest Spider corpse he had confirmed yesterday had already given Lawrence a great deal of information. If the living ones were no different, then its power had already been proven.
Surprisingly few eyes were on him.
Most were focused on the spiders in front rather than the rear.
The moment they looked away, they died.
There was no mercenary who let his guard down in the middle of a fight.
That worked to Lawrence’s advantage.
Not yet?
The work of setting the fire was proceeding smoothly.
There was still no sign of the Forest Spider.
As if begging to be released, Shadow Spear hummed faintly in his hand.
By the time the pain in his chest had grown sharper, the forest’s shadow finally moved.
Above the trees.
It leaped down from over the mercenary setting the fire.
Now.
Because the time of patience had been so long, the moment of release was sweet.
His target was the space above the mercenary’s head.
He imagined Shadow Spear tracing a parabola through the air.
He was sure of it.
Just like a key sliding into a lock, the image clicked into place.
Shadow Spear left Lawrence’s hand.
Shraaaak!
The black shadow shot toward the mercenary.
At the same time, the shadow spear pierced straight through the spider’s head.
No scream rang out.
The Forest Spider’s head was smashed in a single strike.
The body, now headless, dropped uselessly from the tree.
The whole area went silent.
Blue blood and the web-slimy fluid that spilled with it covered the mercenary. He looked around as if he couldn’t understand what had just happened.
“A mage!”
The shout, close to a scream, pounded against Lawrence’s chest.
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