Chapter 88
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Realizing Growth (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Aaaah~ Really! Where the hell is Kalt?!"
Mabel was messing up her hair in frustration at an inn.
They'd waited while handling a dungeon outbreak, figuring he'd know about their issue and come to them.
But the news that reached their ears was from a village where they thought he'd already left: the Nellis Party had taken down the Kobold King, convinced Kalt had tricked them into it.
The moment Mabel heard, she rushed to the village where the Kobold King had appeared.
Conveniently, the outbreak had just wrapped up, so she went with the local adventurers who usually operated there.
The village welcomed back its adventurers and, to prevent future incidents, used the money from selling byproducts of the slaughtered kobolds to hire some on a regular basis.
Of course, none of that mattered to Mabel's party.
"Hey, was Kalt here by any chance?"
The villagers naturally nodded at Mabel's question.
They gushed about how much help Kalt had been, how kind he was, and all his exploits.
Even hearing about Kalt's feats left Mabel unmoved.
'That's just par for the course with Kalt.'
So Mabel asked about his whereabouts.
"Do you know where Kalt went?"
She directed the question to the innkeepers where Kalt and the Nellis Party had stayed: Nadia and her daughter Lunia.
And Nadia and Lunia...
"Hmm? No idea."
"He just said he'd decided on a destination and left~."
...refused to tell Mabel's party where he'd gone.
Because they knew exactly who these women were.
Nadia and Lunia had overheard Kalt's story when he confided in the Nellis Party.
So there was no way they'd have a good impression of the Mabel Party, who had banished him.
'These are the Mabel Party who exiled Kalt...'
'No way we're letting them meet him again and hurt him more! Whatever they want with him!'
With no leads once more, Mabel, Ianna, and Marti could only scratch their heads.
"Where the hell is Kalt?!"
"Mabel, quit fuming and let's look at a map first."
"We need to think about where he'd go next."
"From what the villagers said, the Nellis Party stuck around here mainly hunting kobolds. Their skills probably aren't that high."
"Kalt's the type to consider his opponents... so he'd match them with monsters on their level."
"D-rank monsters like that are everywhere."
Marti raised her hand.
"What about the commercial city of Tridia? We've been there before."
"Yeah, they could get good gear fitted there."
Ianna agreed with Marti.
But...
"Nah, not Tridia."
Mabel shook her head.
"Kids who can only handle D-rank stuff gearing up? Kalt's picky about that. He'd say handing them top-tier weapons stalls their growth. Like this sword."
She patted the one at her hip.
"I only got this after proving my skills a bit... and paid for it with a month of morning training."
"Kalt's smile was scarier than usual back then."
"Tridia's got D-rank monsters too, right, Mabel?"
"Even so, with newbie parties around, Kalt might block fancy gear to keep their eyes from wandering."
"Hmmm..."
"Yeah, that tracks."
Ianna and Marti found Mabel's reasoning sound.
In the end, Mabel's party decided to head not for the commercial city of Tridia, but the village to its right.
And so, Mabel's party set off once again in the opposite direction from Kalt.
"You can adapt Mana Blade like that too!?"
On the way back, Nellis marveled as Kalt explained the principle behind his elongated variant.
"This is my first time trying it for real too."
"First try and you nail it... incredible!"
"Wasn't easy. I've been drilling mana control nonstop till now. You could do it too with effort, Nellis."
"Looks like it'd need a massive jump in control skills... Think I can?"
"I'll watch and make sure you can. Oh, heads up—it guzzles mana more than you'd think."
"Got it! Um, Kalt... after we report the quest, could you check out my sword?"
"Sure thing."
"Yesss!"
Back at the village, the Nellis Party wrapped up their report in no time.
"Yes, confirmed the magic stone from the Huge Fog. Good work, everyone."
Post-report, it was still too early for lunch.
Nellis's heart raced at the thought of showing Kalt her sword as promised.
'Probably near the inn again, like last time?'
She turned to head straight there.
But...
"Guild's got a training ground, right?"
"Yep."
"Perfect. Nellis, let's hit the training ground."
"Oh, a training ground—nice."
The training ground.
It was a facility at larger adventurer guilds.
Back when Nellis was a total newbie, she'd learned sword basics there from a senior adventurer.
The village with Nadia and Lunia had too small a guild for one, and Tridia's inn had a backyard for adventurers anyway, so no need.
"Hey, what about Scarlet and Aria? Coming to watch?"
"I'll head back and read my grimoire."
"I've got church business."
"Gotcha! Lunch it is then! Meet at the guild when it's time!"
"Have fun."
"Do your best, Nellis."
"You bet!"
Parting from the group, Aria headed alone to the church.
"What brings you here, sister?"
The priest in charge greeted her upon entry.
"Hello, priest. I need some advice."
"Advice on what?"
Aria confided her desire to learn more varied or stronger holy attacks.
"I see. What holy attacks can you use, sister?"
"Holy Sword."
"Holy Sword—a fine holy attack. One moment, please."
The priest fetched a book from a back room.
"Like blessings, holy attacks depend on talent. But even with talent, if you don't know what blessings, attacks, or defenses exist, you can't learn them. This book details holy attack types."
"Reading it lets me learn them?"
"Reading alone isn't enough. Pray, visualize, strive—and results follow. But since you know Holy Sword, this should help."
"Thank you so much."
Aria reached for the book gratefully.
"...Priest?"
She grabbed it, but he didn't let go.
"The price of this book..."
He'd seemed ready to give it away, but nope—paid item.
After parting, Scarlet returned alone to the inn and read her grimoire in her room.
'If I'd used Grease on the Kobold King, I could've tripped it for more time. And this Dig spell—earth-based—could block monster paths too... Ice magic next time? Mix with fire for steam to blind foes...'
Scarlet simulated patterns she could use, brainstorming applications in her head while reading.
No more worries about panicking in chaos and flubbing spells like before.
Now she was eager to explore magic applications she'd shied from due to insecurity.
Especially...
'Gotta make the most of what he bought me.'
She wanted to master more spells from the grimoire Kalt got her.
'Though... not sure if he'll ever need my magic.'
Today's Mana Blade variant.
Even Scarlet had to call it masterful technique.
She could elongate mana from her fingers too.
But it wasn't Mana Blade—purely cosmetic, no cutting power.
Mana Blade was a vanguard's pinnacle art, beyond mere mana shaping.
Adapting such a high-difficulty skill like Kalt did? No easy feat.
As a mana manipulation expert, Scarlet felt its impressiveness more than anyone in the party.
Thus...
'No way I'm falling behind.'
Her pride as a specialist mage was stung.
At the same time, she yearned to grow strong enough to aid a man wielding such skill.
'Just watch, Kalt. I'll shock you someday.'
She pictured Kalt gaping: "Amazing, Scarlet!"
"..."
Scarlet silently buried her face in the book for a moment.