CH 189

Chapter 189 : Rock Climbing

「So, you’re going to make a lot of walls like this, right? Won’t you run out of mana?」(Ester)

I’m glad that she is concerned about me, but making hundreds of this kind of wall is nothing compared to using the Resonance Stone to speak with Delica for ten minutes.

「Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.」(Mark)

「Really? But are you sure you want to make this kind of wall around your house? You won’t be able to see your surroundings.」(Ester)

「Hmm… Now that you mentioned it…」(Mark)

I would be like living in a prison if I put walls surrounding my house…

「Alright. Instead of walls, I will make two meter stakes with a gap of about thirty centimeters from each other.」(Mark)

After I decided what to make, I stretched my hands forward and began to produce earth-attributed mana.

――――――

About an hour later, the open area was now surrounded by earthen stakes.

Nicola, whose the ability to detect enemies is better than me, will definitely chose to stay in Celine’s house, so I’ll be living here alone. Therefore, this kind of protection is necessary.

Even though it took me quite some time to make all these stakes, Ester was still around for some reason.

She is following me while I’m walking around the area, checking the stakes.

「You have been watching me work for an hour. Aren’t you bored?」(Mark)

「Not at all. I’m not that good at using magic but I like watching people use it, especially someone who is very skillful like you. When I was little, I always watched Celine practice magic near the river. Her Fire Arrow spell was awesome! I remember when she killed monsters that appeared suddenly while she was practicing. Her Fire Arrows pierced through their bodies, burned them, and turned them into charcoal in an instant!」(Ester)

「I know, right? She’s really good at fire magic. I’ve seen her do that many times.」(Mark)

「Really? Aa-ahh… I wish I could go on an adventure with her like you. Well, for now, all I can do is to keep practicing. You know what, a long time ago, when I was struggling practicing magic, Celine told me that even though I’m not good at using magic, I might be good at fighting with a weapon. From then on, I started practicing swordsmanship as well.」(Ester)

「Hee… So that’s why you use a dagger?」(Mark)

「Yup~」(Ester)

Ester turned her face to me and smiled.

From the way she was talking about Celine, I could tell that she really likes her.

After talking about Celine for a while, Ester looked around the open area.

「Mark, I think this place is larger than Tori-sensei’s front yard. It makes me want to move my body!」(Ester)

Saying that, Ester stretched her body and started running in place.

She really likes training her body. If she were a middle-schooler, she would definitely join an athletic club.

「If you want to train your body, I know a game that you may like.」(Mark)

「Oh? A game?」(Ester)

「Yup. It’s called rock climbing.」(Mark)

After saying that, I made a large, rugged wall that resembles the surface of a cliff about ten meters high and made a staircase on the side for climbing up and down the wall.

I also turned the surrounding ground into soft sand so that Ester won’t get hurt when she falls.

「There you go. The challenge is you need to climb to the top as fast as possible.」(Mark)

「Hooo~! It looks fun! Alright, here I go~!」(Ester)

Ester dashed toward the wall and jumped about two meters high in the air. As soon as her feet touched the wall, she started ‘running’ to the top.

Yes, she RAN to the top of the wall like a freaking ninja!

「Mark~ I did it! Was I fast enough?」(Ester)

「Y, Yeah… You were so fast that it blew my mind… Your technique was awesome but that’s not how you play this game.」(Mark)

「Eh? So I did it wrong?」(Ester)

「Umm… Not actually wrong, but… Anyway, can you get down? I’ll teach you how to do it properly.」(Mark)

「Okay~」(Ester)

Ester jumped down the ten meters staircase with only two wide steps and landed brilliantly on the ground.

She surely is agile like a ninja.

「You don’t climb it with only your feet but you also need to use your hands as well. Watch. Hnngghh!!」(Mark)

Saying that, I grabbed a bulge on the wall with my right hand, grabbed another one with my other hand, put my right foot on another bulge, and then started climbing.

After climbing the wall for about a meter high, I jumped off and turned to Ester while breathing heavily.

「Hahh… Hahh… Like that… Hahh…」(Mark)

Looks like I really need to train my body…

「Oohh~! I understand now! I can train my arm muscles as well. This is awesome! Alright, I’ll try it again! …Hngh! Hngh! Hnghh!」(Ester)

Ester started climbing the wall. She is using both of her hands this time, and she climbs really fast.

After watching Ester climbing up and down the wall for a while, I decided to go back for now.

It’s almost noon before I realize it, so I think Celine must be awake by now.

「Ester, I’m going back to Celine’s house for now. You have fun with that. I’ll see you again later.」(Mark)

「Okay~ See you later~」(Ester)

When I was about to turn around, I remembered there was something bugging my mind.

「Oh, right. There’s something I want to ask you before I leave.」(Mark)

「What is it?」(Ester)

「When you came here, I didn’t notice your presence until you called out to me. Were you practicing hiding your presence in the woods at that time?」(Mark)

「Aahh… I wasn’t. The thing is… I unconsciously hide my presence sometimes because I practiced doing that too often… I’m sorry if I scared you. Haha~」(Ester)

「I, I see…」(Mark)

Oi, oi… Seriously…?

She really has the talent to become a ninja! ーNo, a kunoichi!

*/female ninja