Chapter 22

At first glance, it could have been mistaken for a bear with an unusually large body, but the out-of-focus red eyes, strangely twisted arms, and long fangs made it obvious that it was much more dangerous than even an above-average predator.

“Is there only one of them?”

“For now, at least. I don’t feel any other presence.”

“We need to get rid of it before they begin to gather. We need to find the nucleus. Prepare your bow!” Niels skillfully ordered.

Each monster had a nucleus, which functioned as its heart. Unless it was destroyed, it would not die. Even if it lost parts of its body and couldn’t walk, it would regenerate slowly while it still had its nucleus.

So, in order to finish off monsters, the team first had to locate the nucleus, then focus on attacking that area. It was very weak to heat—it took a long time with ordinary flaming arrows, but the high-purity flames created by mages melted the hard nucleus instantly.

That was why Ferdinand always insisted on hiring flame-type wizards. The knights were capable of beating monsters, but having a mage around reduced the time needed to deal with them, thus reducing damages. In cases where there were many monsters, the presence of a wizard made a huge difference.

In order not to provoke a monster while it was still on its own, they needed to eliminate it with as few people as possible.

Graaaaah!

The two-legged monster’s mouth was wide open, black poison dripping from its fangs.

“Shoot!”

Arrows rained down on it. It swung a large arm to block them. Some stuck to it, but most were swatted away, unable to pierce its thick skin.

‘We’ve got a nuisance on our hands.’

Kaon rolled his eyes.

Monsters resembling small animals such as roe deer and raccoons were the easiest to defeat, followed by wolf packs, and then bears. The ones that looked like bears were strong and difficult to subdue.

However, there were no other monsters around the one they were facing now, and it was also fortunate that it was relatively small for a monster.

“Aim for the eyes!”

The knights of Ferdinand had been fighting against monsters for a long time. Hundreds of years of experience were left in records and passed on to future generations. They knew that the nucleus was most likely to be in the body part that had undergone the most transformation and that they should aim for the eyes of large monsters first.

As the slew of arrows continued, the monster struggled and fumbled around. At some point, its screams sounded different from before.

“We hit the eye!”

“Go on! Team One, prepare yourselves!”

“Yes!”

Kaon, keeping one eye on their surroundings, carefully placed a hand on Alessia’s shoulder. “Alessia.”

“…Huh? Yes, Kaon.”

“You have to calm down. I will need your help soon.”

Red eyes wavered. It wasn’t just her; all mages who learned in a classroom setting showed similar reactions. It was difficult to adapt to the environment of a battle and keep their cool. No matter how much training knights and mages had, putting it into practice was an entirely different experience.

“Listen, Alessia.” Kaon crouched and looked directly at her. He’d hoped that she wouldn’t go through such a thing this soon, but she needed to go through it eventually.

For her to remain in Ferdinand for a long time, she had to prove herself. Didn’t she say herself that she wanted to be recognized and do well in her role?

Kaon wanted her to do her best and achieve her goals. Well, and he also wanted her to stay.

“The knights will soon find the nucleus and focus on shooting that place. I’ll make sure no one touches you while you work.”

“…Okay, I get it.”

“You can fail. You can try again, so you don’t need to be afraid.”

Alessia’s eyes were wide.

“You can do it,” Kaon insisted. “You should be able to.”

Closing her eyes, she took a calming breath. When she opened her eyes, her gaze was steady.

“All firing stops after five seconds! Team One will enter immediately!”

“Ready to enter!”

“Ready!”

The baptism of fire stopped suddenly. Several elite knights rushed in and climbed up the monster’s body like they would a wall and swung their swords. Attacks were aimed simultaneously at its mouth and the concave area under its twisted arm. The thick, fur-covered skin was tough and hard to wound, but as they aimed at the same spot over and over, the monster twisted in pain.

“Take care of the wounded!”

A knight who had been slapped away was taken away by a person on standby. Another one went into the fray immediately. It was spectacular to see the team move in unison as if they were one body.

Gooooooo!

The writhing monster roared loud enough to shake the forest.

Kaon, deep in observation, noticed something near its shoulder, glistening under all the blood. “Everyone, back off! The nucleus is on the right shoulder!”

At his call, everyone’s eyes turned to the spot. Now, it was Alessia’s turn. When Kaon looked at her, she nodded in comprehension.

“Niels! If you see a gap, shout! Alessia will go for it!”

“Yes! Spread out and begin firing again!”

As he instructed, the knights in charge of close combat fell back and the archers began shooting again. The monster, who looked to be running away, stopped and slammed its huge paws to the ground in retaliation.

“Now!”

Alessia, who appeared to be muttering the words to a spell, reached for the monster.

The swirling fire shot out in a straight line and hit the monster’s shoulder, quickly penetrating the nucleus. Black smoke rose from it immediately.

Woooooooong!

The monster, who was constantly moving despite being hit by numerous arrows and swords, fell limply to the ground.

“It’s dead,” Niels confirmed.

Cheers burst out immediately.

“We did it!”

“Alessia, you were wonderful!”

“Beautiful workmanship!”

She stood there with an embarrassed expression, but she didn’t deny the praise heaped onto her.

Kaon stood on the sidelines, watching.

***

‘What was that?’

Standing in the cold water, Kaon thought about that last moment—while everyone was looking at the monster, he was looking at Alessia.

The role of elite knight escorts was to help the mage freely spread their magic without interference, so they were also the strongest and most skilled. As one such escort, Kaon focused his senses on her as was his duty.

‘I didn’t feel any mana.’

The first oddity that he noticed occurred while Alessia was muttering her spell. Mages usually cast magic by drawing magic circles or reciting spells. The methods were different, but the principles were the same. It was an artificial reaction, the mage stimulating the mana in the atmosphere with their own.

When spells were cast, the mana from the mage’s body temporarily leaked out, and Kaon could see it. In other words, he could distinguish the mana in nature from the unique energy possessed by the mage. That was why he knew that the mana surrounding the eastern wall and the magic that made up the first barrier belonged to one person.

‘Obviously nothing…’

With Alessia, she felt nothing. There was not a single bit of the energy that oscillated strangely around mages and made it look like time and space were being warped. At first, he’d thought that she was too nervous to do it properly, and so he began to plan accordingly.

‘Then suddenly, there was fire.’

As soon as Niels gave the signal, she cast the spell.

It was impossible.

Kaon had seen quite a few mages work in the past. No mage could use the atmospheric mana without their own magic. But still, the flames from Alessia’s fingertips were definitely magic.

‘How?’

His eyes darkened, lost in thought.