The Country Bumpkin Mage
"Monsters, you say?"
At the word monster, I glanced back over my shoulder without thinking.
In the direction where I'd roasted and eaten the Titan Bear.
Could it be that thing? After all, it counted as a monster too, so it was only natural that it came to mind.
But I couldn't imagine a detachment this size being dispatched to hunt down a single beast. By ordinary standards it might have been strong, but one mage would have been more than enough to deal with it.
"...By the way, might I ask what a Rift is?"
It wasn't the monsters that had snared my attention, though — it was the word Rift.
I'd been in this world for over twenty years now, and I'd never once heard that term.
"Huh? You don't know what a Rift is?"
"No, my apologies. I'm from the countryside."
Going by the soldiers' reactions, it seemed to be common knowledge here — the kind of thing everyone simply knew.
Was that a stupid question?
It was a little embarrassing, but I had no other choice. If I didn't pick up information piece by piece like this, I could end up getting played for a fool the moment I reached town.
And that would all be thanks to my master, who taught me nothing but magic.
"Haha, you're a funny one."
Fortunately, the soldier I'd asked managed a half-mocking laugh before launching into an explanation.
"A Rift, well — it's easiest to think of it as a 'crack' that opens up all over the world. From those places, powerful monsters and strange phenomena that don't fit this world's common sense tend to appear."
"That's fascinating."
"Fascinating, my foot. It's what makes every single day a slog. From what I hear, even the Central suffers for it day in and day out."
There was something refreshing about it all. Then again, spend twenty years buried in the mountains and pretty much anything would seem interesting.
"But you've truly never heard of it?"
"No, truly. I've stayed out in the country my whole life — this is my first time leaving."
"Hmm. Well, be careful out there. Don't go getting swindled."
"Thank you for your concern."
"Speaking of which — did you happen to see any traces of a monster on your way here? It's driving us mad right now."
The soldier let out a long, heavy sigh.
"...What sort of monster, exactly?"
I had a pretty good guess, naturally.
The Titan Bear. It was a monster too, after all.
"Ah, that's the thing..."
The soldier hesitated for a moment before speaking, looking troubled.
"It's a dragon."
"I'm sorry — a dragon?"
"That's right. The one that breathes fire and has scales harder than steel — we received word that an enormous beast like that had appeared in the area, and that's why we deployed."
A dragon.
At my current level, a being so powerful it wasn't even a dream — it was pure fantasy.
Master had told me: if I ever encountered an adult dragon, I would die the moment our eyes met.
That was the kind of creature a dragon was.
"And you all can hunt something like that?!"
"Haha, that'd be a bit of a stretch for just us. Our opponent is a dragon, after all."
Proving the point, barely a ripple of mana could be felt from any of the soldiers.
Then how exactly were they planning to kill a dragon?
My question was answered almost immediately.
"There's a mage dispatched from the Central with us. A young woman, but they say she's the genuine article."
"Ah, so there's a mage."
"That's right. And her stamina — you should see her. She's already pushed ahead of us. She seems to see things on a whole different level. We're just the entourage, really."
A young mage, dispatched to slay a dragon.
From that brief description alone, I could tell she had lived an entirely different life from mine. Surely she was a true mage — nothing like an ordinary hack like me.
"She sounds truly remarkable just from your description."
"Doesn't she just? Unlike us wage-earners, she's a noble who walked the elite track. Apparently the only reason she came out to a backwater like this is some kind of evaluation."
"Killing a dragon is just for an evaluation?"
"That's what I heard — she's still at the Academy. My guess is it's some kind of assessment related to that."
More than envy, what I felt was absurdity — I couldn't help but laugh.
Unlike me, crushed and ground down by the reality of my own lack of talent, she seemed to be playing an entirely different genre altogether.
"Incredible. A dragon, at her age."
"You're telling me. Haha."
At those words, I suddenly felt my sense snap back into place.
"But you look pretty young yourself, friend. Are you really traveling through this dangerous country alone? No companions?"
"No companions. Just me."
"Hmm. Are you heading to the village to do some trading?"
"I'm looking for family."
"Ah, I see."
I deliberately didn't mention being a mage.
If I had no real skill and went around calling myself a mage, and caused some needless misunderstanding — what then?
It was absolutely, definitely not that hearing about the genius mage who slays dragons had crushed my spirits and made me hide it.
"Oh — the road you mentioned earlier, is it this way?"
"That's right. Follow our footprints and you'll see the village."
"Thank you for the information. Safe travels to you all."
"Not at all — this made for a pleasant break on our end too."
Leaving the resting soldiers behind, I adjusted my backpack and set off.
A dragon.
Well, now I had a very good reason to get far away from this area, and quickly.
"How in the world would a wyvern become a dragon?"
"They're basically the same thing, wyvern or dragon. Didn't you see him fall for it earlier?"
The moment Elam was out of sight, the soldiers began snickering among themselves.
"Country bumpkins are the best. The guy doesn't even know what a dragon is, so he just believes whatever you tell him."
"And have you ever actually seen a dragon?"
"Saw one drawn in a picture book when I was a kid."
"Ugh, look at this guy, all puffed up with seniority, telling lies to civilians. Should I report you to the captain?"
"Oh come on, I told him the way to the village, didn't I? That makes us even."
Bored stiff by the downtime, they were passing the time trading jokes.
"Still, you've got to think even I could take down a dragon. Just dodge everything it throws at you and jam a blade into its neck. Easy."
"What do you think a dragon is, a wild boar? That hide's a hundred percent not getting pierced. You couldn't kill a wyvern, let alone a dragon."
"You think so? I suppose that's why they brought a mage all the way out to a dump like this."
The soldiers began gazing down the path where the mage had pushed ahead of them earlier.
"You know, this is my first time seeing a mage. Have you ever seen one?"
"Where would I? They're supposed to be rare as hen's teeth. Most country folk like that guy back there probably don't even know what magic is."
"Fair enough. I've never seen real magic even once myself."
"That's because you're a country bumpkin."
"Hey, same goes for you."
The two of them kept the conversation going, trading grins.
"But doesn't it strike you as amazing, though? They say mages can just conjure fire out of nothing. Real high-tier mages supposedly hunt monsters with fireballs the size of a house."
"Rumors are rumors for a reason — no point even listening. It's got to be exaggerated."
"I'm telling you it's true! That girl who came with us can do it too! We've just been stuck out in the sticks — the world's full of mages like that!"
"..."
"What, I'm serious, you bastard. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Just then, the superior officer commanding the soldiers called out from far ahead.
"Start getting ready to move out! The time the mage gave us for her return is almost here!"
The two men sighed and began packing up to march again.
"...Well, I suppose if that's actually possible, it makes sense they brought the mage along for the wyvern. From what I hear, wyverns are hard to bring down with steel alone."
"That's what I've been saying, idiot. If she couldn't make a house-sized fireball, there'd be no reason to haul a mage out here in the first place."
"Maybe you've got a point."
"Of course I do. The world is a big place, you hick! Go to the Central with a narrow mind like that and you'll end up just like that poor sap we were teasing earlier."
For two men who had spent their entire lives in the countryside, magic was endlessly fascinating.
Proving it, neither of their mouths showed the slightest sign of closing.
"Ah, I swear, if I could just see real magic once, I could die happy."
"Me too."
Somewhere deep in the forest.
"Is something the matter, Lady Rania? The hour we promised the soldiers is drawing near."
Even in response to the old knight's question, the robed woman could not bring herself to stop staring into the woods.
"Mana... I felt it brush past me."
It might have been simple misperception. It had been so faint that calling it detection at all would have been embarrassing.
She drew a quiet breath.
Then, as she pulled back the hood covering her head, waves of warm golden hair began to spill loose in the breeze.
Valedictorian of the Academy.
Rania Everdear.
The professors said she possessed an innate, prodigious gift for reading the flow of mana.
It had been an exam, true — but she had once unraveled the location-tracking magic of an Academy professor herself.
Yet now, barely a single day after entering this forest, Rania's senses were drowning in doubt.
Sssss—
The quiet murmur of the wind.
Rania had come to believe that something unpredictable to her might be lurking in this forest.
Something — something that transcended even her talent.