Volume 1 - CH 2

Chapter 2 – Departure to the Gathering Mission

The following day, the cold air of the morning was still misty.

Two carriages were brought in front of the Coralde company, surrounded by several silhouettes.

Out of concern that the adventurers’ guild tried to pull some trick, Nostalgia and Coralde decided to leave before the guild opened. Except in case of emergency, carriages belonging to the guild required paperwork to be used, so they could only leave after normal office hours started.

Even if the guild was plotting something, they wouldn’t go as far as breaking their own rules to do so, or so Coralde and the party assumed.

Luckily, the town’s gates were opened at dawn. Though impossible to depart in the dark of night, they could still do so very early in the morning, when few people were out and about.

“Good morning!”

“Morning!!”

Roa approached the carriages and found that Nostalgia’s members had already arrived. Different from the day before, they were fully equipped now.

The party’s shield, Cornelia, was wearing a hulking full body armor despite her short stature, which made her look very unbalanced.

“I’m sorry for making you wait.”

“You didn’t, we just came early to load up our luggage. We finally finished just now. Sir Ro…Roa, that’s all you’ll bring with you?”

Roa noticed that, since the day before, Dietrich always started addressing him with “sir”, then corrected himself.

It was probably easier for him to address Roa with “sir”, so Roa’s request of not using titles was probably putting him on the spot…even so, it would be too weird to say that using “sir” was okay now.

Roa felt apologetic, but could do nothing to change the situation. The other Nostalgia members noticed too, but chose not to say anything. It was just a habit for Dietrich.

In the past, Dietrich’s speech was much rougher than now: he could barely use polite speech.

The person who educated him was extremely strict and hammered into his head that people he met for the first time, his superiors, and bosses should always be addressed politely, mixing preaching and “physical” teaching, so it had become a habit.

Usually, he would revert to a more familiar tone after some time, but when told to “address me without titles”, he always ended up talking in an unnatural way, like now.

“Most of the things I needed were prepared by sir Coralde, so this is all I need.”

Roa showed the two bags he carried. One was a common magic bag, the likes of which Nostalgia knew well too. The cloth had a curious luster, which seemed kind of metallic.

The other was an old, stained cloth shoulder bag which Roa had carried to the meeting too.

He pointed out to the newer bag.

“This is a magic bag sir Coralde lent me, where I put the magic potions I made. This old one is…a magic bag too, but I use it to carry my own things.”

“Eh? You have your own magic bag? That shape is pretty strange though.”

The voice belonged to the scout and swordsman Kristoff.

“Yes, it’s pretty worn out and would be thrown away, so Mr. Coralde sold it to me for cheap some time ago. Though, it can only fit pretty much what you could carry with both hands. I would have gotten in trouble if they found out I had it, so I disguised it by stitching a leather bag over it.”

“…are you sure it was okay to tell us all that?”

“Yes, no problem.”

If Roa said it wasn’t a problem, Kristoff couldn’t say anything else. Very few people possessed magic bags for personal use. Because of this, disguising their appearance to prevent theft was a rather common practice.

“…you said that you made those magic potions by yourself?”

“Yes.”

Roa honestly answered the question asked by Cornelia, the party’s shield.

“Wasn’t that supposed to be a secret?”

“No, not really. I asked Mr. Coralde to keep it a secret that I sold my magic potions to make some money, but I didn’t hide the fact that I made them.”

Cornelia looked at Roa as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

Nostalgia’s members knew of the rumors circulating about Roa in the guild. One of them concerned his supposed ability to make magic potions, but as far as they knew no one could say for sure.

They all thought that it was because it was a secret, so she was mildly shocked to learn that it was just a coincidence.

Magic potions weren’t something you could easily make, as long as you weren’t an alchemist by trade. In her homeland, the basics of alchemy were taught at school, but only one out of one hundred students managed to create even the simplest potions.

Alchemy required the use of magic tools, so an aptitude in magic was necessary too. It also required a large amount of knowledge, so many students gave up on it during theory.

It was hard for her to imagine that someone in Roa’s position could have had the chance to study it, so his mystery deepened even more.

I’ll ask him how he studied it in the cart…was the course of action Cornelia decided to take.

“Okay everyone, we’re leaving.”

One of the coachmen called to the party. Despite the title, the man looked just like a middle-aged adventurer: he wasn’t wearing armor, but his body was clearly trained. He was also carrying a sword at his waist and, to Roa, he looked stronger than the average adventurer.

“How should we split our group in the carts?”

Roa’s question prompted Nostalgia’s members to look at each other and grin. 

There were 2 carts: with just one, there wouldn’t be room for all their luggage and the gathered materials they would have to bring back, so they decided to use two.

Such a luxury wouldn’t have been possible with the adventurers’ guild’s carts. These carts were property of Coralde’s trading company; he thought that putting them to use would definitely be better than just letting them stay idle, so they accepted his offer.

“EVERYONE TOGETHER!!”

Dietrich shouted all of a sudden, his fist in the air. He was really loud.

After his voice resounded in the early morning air, quiet returned to the town.

“…so, all the luggage goes to the second cart. We’re riding in the front one.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long trip, so let’s enjoy it.”

“……”

Cornelia and Kristoff led Roa to the cart, as if pushing him on. The mage Bernhart also followed them, silent.

“…guys, I’d appreciate a reaction here.”

Dietrich mumbled to himself, his fist still in the air.

“Hey! After I shouted, shouldn’t you all say “yeah!” or something in reply!?”

His face was getting redder.

“Alright, let’s forget the silly adults raising their voices at dawn and go!”

“Really?”

Roa was perplexed by Cornelia’s words, but he could only walk in the direction he was pushed to.

“Whenever our leader does anything dumb, remember, it’s okay to ignore him. That’s the one thing he can’t stand, he’s a lonely guy after all. He looks like a proper guy most of the time, but he’s a big dumb goof at heart, so forgive him if you can.”

“But…”

Kristoff pushed Roa forward too.

“You guys know that I can hear you, right!? Wait, I’m getting on too! Don’t leave me behind!”

“Leader…please. You’ll wake up the whole neighborhood.”

“SORRY!”

Dietrich apologized earnestly after Cornelia’s rebuke.

“…you’re still loud…”

“…sorry…”

The party’s early morning departure was somewhat awkward.

?

“Mithril boy, I don’t appreciate all this racket in the morning…”

When Roa and the others boarded the cart, its coachman called out to them. He was clearly older than the one they talked to before, with numerous white streaks in his hair.

“…sorry. But don’t call me boy anymore, I’m almost 30…”

“You make a racket with no care for other people…you’re a brat.”

“…sorry.”

Quickly silenced by the man’s words, Dietrich sat down on one of the cart’s seats and grumbled an apology. Roa was starting to understand why the other members called him a “dumb adult” during their first meeting.

After making sure that everyone was sitting, the coachman spurred the cart forward, which started transmitting its vibrations to the passengers as the horses moved.

The other cart followed in tow. The party’s luggage and the other coachman were supposed to be on it.

“Do you know each other?”

When the cart’s pace stabilized, Roa asked a question to the coachman.

“Well, yeah. These guys helped me when I was attacked by bandits.”

The coachman answered, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

The roads used for transport rarely saw the appearance of magic beasts; one reason was that plants that magic beasts disliked grew along these roads, but magic beasts tended to dwell in forests and other locations where magic essence was found in abundance, and rarely left them.

This was different for normal beasts and people, however.

Normal beasts, different than the magic ones, normally appeared on the roads too, but never attacked people, barring cases of extreme hunger. 

What travelers using common roads needed to be wary of the most were other people…bandits who attacked travelers and convoys.

“It happened when I was returning from Adad, the next country over, with Mr. Coralde. We were attacked despite the fact that we didn’t have any luggage and had a good number of guards with us…I ditched the cart and ran away with Mr. Coralde, protecting him as we did, but they kept chasing us. When I thought it was all over, they saved us. …that time, I wasn’t a coachman yet, I was still a guard. But that time I hurt my leg, so I became a coachman.”

The coachman then placed a hand on his leg.

“We ditched the cart, so we didn’t have any healing potions either. Thanks to the Mithril boy and his comrades the wound somehow closed, but I can barely walk now.”

“We were in the middle of our journey and had used up all of our healing potions too. There wasn’t anyone around capable of using healing magic either. I felt bad for the old man, but all we could do was close the wound…”

Roa looked towards the direction of the voice and noticed that Cornelia was standing beside him all of a sudden. Judging from the fact that she managed to stand up straight despite the cart’s vibrations, without any support, she had to have an excellent sense of balance.

Healing potions can’t fully heal a partially recovered wound. The partially healed part is considered cured, so no more recovery is attempted. The only exceptions were magic potions of the highest rank, but even nobles would have a very difficult time obtaining one.

If you wanted to fully heal such a wound no matter what, you’d have to carve out the partially healed flesh and drink a high-level healing potion. The coachman’s wound, however, was probably so deep that such a method wasn’t feasible.

“What are you saying? I’m nothing but thankful to you people! I’m already pretty old too, it was a good chance to retire from the escorting business. You’ve shown me something rare too.”

“Something rare?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Cornelia answered Roa’s question. Unfazed by the vibrations, she walked to the back of the cart towards Dietrich, his head still drooping.

“Hey leader, give me your sword for a minute.”

“Huh? Why?”

Cornelia swiped the sword from the still musing Dietrich and returned to Roa’s side.

She extracted the blade from its sheath just a little and showed it to Roa.

“Our leader’s sword is made of mithril.”

Despite being classified as silver, that metal had a transparent brilliance to it that silver could never achieve. It felt as if it was wet to the touch.

It was the first time for Roa to lay eyes on mithril.

“This is mithril…”

Roa’s eyes changed color before the metal he had never seen before. Mithril, also called Magic Silver, was a magic metal, just as the name suggests. It was said to form when a large quantity of magic essence…of magic power poured into silver. It was actually found in silver mines near locations where magic essence was abundant.

“Amazing, it’s my first time seeing it…that’s why he was called “mithril boy” then.”

Roa spoke while gazing at the sword.

Mithril was a metal slightly more valuable than gold. Adventurers who made a decent profit would not struggle too much to acquire some. Few could use it fully in sword form, and it was not really necessary to do so, so few people had blades made of mithril. It was more common to see it used in swords made for rituals or decoration purposes.

“He whacked me with that and my wound closed up.”

“Old man, I doubt “whack” is the proper term here…you know that pouring magic power into mithril generates holy light, right? Four of us poured our magic power to generate holy light and heal the wound.”

Pouring magic power in a mithril sword caused it to glow faintly, making it possible to damage even opponents that normal attacks left unfazed, like ghosts or undead. It was also said that using even more magic power made it possible to produce the same effects as healing magic.

It was only said to be so: even mages with high magic power could only produce a faint glow on their own. There were very few examples of successful manifestations of healing magic.

“…healing via mithril. That’s rare indeed.”

“It was an emergency last resort, really. Good thing it worked.”

“That last resort saved me, so I’ve got nothing but gratitude.”

“It was just luck, old man.”

Cornelia laughed, slightly embarrassed.

The cart quietly proceeded through the city and finally reached the gates. The gate guards strictly inspected any incoming visitors, but were quite lax when people left. The coachman just needed to show his Coralde trading company badge and they let him through.

While the cart continued on its way, Roa was thinking. Lost in thought, he stared off into space.

“What’s wrong?”

Intrigued by his serious look, the finally recovered Dietrich called to him.

“Nothing, just…I was wondering, what is the reason why mithril is mithril?”

“Wha?”

Dietrich’s reply was a surprised yelp, but Roa’s serious expression made him start thinking about the meaning of his words.

“Silver absorbs magic power and becomes mithril, correct? Then it can also emit holy light. But even if you pour magic power into silver, no holy light comes out, right? Or does it? Maybe human magic power just isn’t enough to do that?”

“…..”

This is the face of a researcher that got his switch flipped on…

So thought Dietrich as he looked at Roa and decided to leave him alone.

Several hours later.

The Hero Party Crack of Dawn departed for their Silver Golem extermination expedition.

The moment their servant beasts were released from their hut, they moved around wildly for a few seconds, glad to finally be free. After looking towards the party’s mansion, however, the gryphon emitted a cry and stopped.

The gryphon’s cry served the purpose of scanning its surroundings, but no one in Crack of Dawn realized it.

<Nnh…he’s not in the mansion either…maybe something happened to his family and he left on a trip…? I cannot act if I don’t know what happened, can I…>

<He’s not around…>

The twin wolves hung their heads low.

Left with no other choice, the servant beasts followed behind the Crack of Dawn members. The party then borrowed a cart at the Adventurers’ guild and rode it through the town.

As regulated by the guild, there were two coachmen on the cart. They were retired middle-aged adventurers, with particularly rough looks on their faces. One of them was driving the cart, while the other stood guard in the back. He was looking at the guardian beasts running behind the cart.

He noticed that one of the magic wolves disappeared, but the next instant it returned, holding a rabbit in its mouth. The sight of the two magic wolves fighting over it was almost adorable, but when the rabbit’s legs were ripped apart and the scene turned feral, the coachman’s brow furrowed.

“Your servant beasts sure are in high spirits.”

The coachman in the back talked to the Tamer Eric, who was next to him.

It might seem like he was implying that Eric wasn’t controlling them properly. Unaware of such hidden meanings, Eric raised his head from the book he was reading.

“Yeah, I guess…”

“I’ve never seen a gryphon as a servant beast before. They’re really powerful, it must be amazing to have one. They’re also very difficult to control, right?”

“Not really.”

Eric wasn’t too keen to chat, but he properly replied to the coachman.

The title of “Hero” had been awarded thanks to the ranking the guild managed. It was supposed to be a comprehensive evaluation, but there were unclear sides to it.

There was nothing to be gained from acting rudely to guild workers. The coachmen were employed by the guild, so Eric had to humor the conversation.

“How did you manage to tame it?”

“….I found it all charred black at the foot of the “Mount of Fire” and caught it. It was wounded and weak at the time, so I thought I could use it as a shield, but after the taming it recovered, so I just kept it.”

“Oh…I see…what amazing luck you have.”

What Eric meant by “taming” was probably placing a subjugation collar on the gryphon. 

The coachman had its doubts that such a thing could really happen, but he didn’t let it show.

Gryphons were magic beasts of a very high level. It could be possible to place a subjugation collar on them when they are weakened, but after they recover the collar wouldn’t be enough to keep them under control. The coachman would have never believed such a story if he didn’t see the gryphon obediently follow the cart.

It was apparently possible to subjugate magic beasts without a collar, if they were physically weak or were weak-willed. Some farmers actually used magic cows and other beasts without collars and used them for farmwork. The coachman had also heard that in countries by the sea they used dolphin magic beasts for fishing.

Gryphons, however, were magic beasts well known for their harsh temperament, so it was hard to believe that there were ways to subjugate them outside brute strength.

…there must be something secret here after all?

The coachman recalled the reason why he was chosen for this job.

Thanks to many years of experience as a thief, he was confident in his judgment. That was the reason why this job was assigned to him. The guild’s ambiguous order of “find out if there’s anything problematic” stimulated his curiosity.

A “Hero Party” was one of the country’s top parties. To investigate such a party at this point meant that there was a strong reason to do so. It was either connected to the church, or maybe they were suspected of unfair play?

The coachman glanced at the female cleric Bonne, cozily sitting on a very comfy cushion in the best seat of the cart. 

Crack of Dawn was too close to the church.

Bonne’s father was part of the brass in the Supreme God Church; Bonne herself was a candidate for the role of “Holy Woman”.

“Close” wasn’t enough to describe their connections.

For the Adventurers’ guild, which did not enjoy the best of relationships with the church, it wasn’t a pleasant affair.

Regardless of the fact whether the party engaged in unfair play or not…it was an undeniable fact that other adventurers looked at Crack of Dawn with suspicion.

The coachman himself had witnessed these party members fighting several times. They were certainly not weak, but individually there were plenty of stronger adventurers. For example, there were better thieves and clerics working for the guild.

The three servant beasts, however, had elevated the party’s status to be worthy of the title of “Hero Party”. Their presence was much too powerful.

Knowing that their tamer was a former archer, anyone would suspect that there was something hidden. Many had already tried to uncover the secret behind Crack of Dawn’s servant beasts, but no one ever reported discovering anything suspicious.

During battle the servant beasts fought in total cooperation with the party. Their movements, flowing like water, even made the party members look awkward at times.

Servant beasts were, obviously, magic beasts. Barring a small number of species with high intellect, magic beasts normally possessed the same level of intellect as normal animals.

Some species with high longevity eventually acquired intellect on par or superior to humans, but it was hard to think that such magic beasts would ever become servant beasts.

Three servant beasts with an intellect equal to normal animals, trained to be capable of fighting alongside humans…their tamer had to definitely be skilled.

The adventurers’ suspicions met the conclusion that the tamer Eric, a former archer, had to be a genius.

“Could you tell me the name again?”

“…I’m Eric.”

“No, not your name, I meant the servant beasts’ names.”

The coachman smiled a bit, thinking that his conservation partner made a joke.

“They don’t have one!!”

Maybe embarrassed by the misunderstanding, Eric spat back and returned to his book.

The coachman looked at him, his shoulders dropping.

…they don’t even have a name? Or maybe he was embarrassed and couldn’t say it?

The coachman looked away from Eric and reflected.

Servant beasts were beings full of mysteries. Battle-oriented servant beasts could rarely be tamed before the invention of subjugation collars. One of the reasons was that no principle had been found as to how magic beasts could be tamed.

After all, the reasons explained by tamers were many and sometimes even conflicting. Some said that defeating magic beasts and showing them superior power allowed them to be tamed, while others said that once their hearts connected they would understand each other. Others even said that giving a name to the magic beasts bound them, thus turning them into servant beasts.

There were rumors of a powerful magic spell, the basis upon which subjugation collars were made, and magic drugs that could manipulate their minds. There were even stories of tamers who listened to the magic beasts’ words and made them into servant beasts, which sounded like a fairy tale.

Because of this, most tamers were people who changed jobs halfway and were outside the usual master-disciple system.

Based on this knowledge, the coachman first tried to ask about the servant beasts’ names, but that proved to be ineffective.

Well, if this party really has any problems, I bet the cleric acting as a holy woman is in the center…

The coachman then gave up on finding the servant beasts’ secret for the time being and switched stance.

He only tried talking to Eric because he was close and would be easy to talk to: he wasn’t the one the coachman suspected the most.

The coachman and Crack of Dawn would be together the whole day. There would be plenty of chances to know more about the female cleric.

Thanks to the servant beasts, it wasn’t really necessary to keep watch. But when the coachman looked again towards the back of the cart, he found the twin wolves playing with the rabbit they caught, tossing it back and forth. The gryphon had caught a deer, who knows when, and was half dragging it along.

Where did it even catch it?

Surprised by the speedy hunt -the deer hadn’t even made a sound- the coachman realized again how powerful a beast the gryphon was.

?

The cart Roa and Nostalgia’s members were riding was far ahead of Crack of Dawn’s cart. When they reached the halfway point to their destination, they decided to take a rest.

Rest stops were placed at fixed intervals along the roads. They were managed by villages or towns nearby, so their appearance and structure were varied; some were just pillars and a roof, others even had tea shops and snack stalls.

The rest stop Roa’s group stopped in was a fairly famous one in the area, which also had a tea shop inside. While rough, it was a building made of stone. There were even tables and chairs set on the grass all around it. It was bustling with a crowd of travelers.

“Okay, I will leave for a little while then.”

“What!?”

As soon as the cart reached the rest stop, Roa was about to go off somewhere.

“Wait a minute! We’re supposed to be your escort! Don’t go off on your own! Hey!!”

Dietrich shouted at Roa, then Kristoff quickly caught him. Because of the sudden “escape” Kristoff took the relatively rough course of action of putting Roa in a joint lock.

“Ouch!! It hurts!!”

“Where do you think you’re going!?”

Caught in Kristoff’s joint lock, Roa was returned to the other Nostalgia members.

With no idea why he was treated like that, Roa looked at them, utterly confused.

“Where…? I was just thinking of gathering materials while you ate…there’s a small river behind this rest stop, where a lot of Whiteroot Grass grows. The rest stop manager already authorized me to gather things there, so there’s nothing to worry about that.”

“What…?”

Whiteroot Grass, a kind of medicinal herb, grew close to small bodies of water. It couldn’t be used to make magic potions, but it could be used to make normal medicine to bring down fevers or cure infections and was also edible.

“…Roa, man, are you really aware of your position? You aren’t, are you? We were hired to escort you. What happens if the person we have to escort takes off on their own?”

Roa tilted his head to the side at Dietrich’s words.

“But around this rest stop it’s pretty safe, you know?”

“That’s not the problem! What about your food, anyway?”

“…I was thinking of nibbling on some dry meat while gathering…”

“C’mon, you have to eat something properly at least!”

“But if I don’t pick up the Whiteroot Grass…”

Dietrich and the other Nostalgia members held their head with their hands. The conversation wasn’t leading anywhere. Behind them, the coachmen laughed wryly.

“Hey, mithril boy, listen here.”

“Eh? Yes?”

Dietrich raised his head and looked at the coachman.

“Being from another country, I guess you didn’t know yet, but in this country All-Rounders don’t eat with other party members. In rest stops, while the others eat, they have to check the supplies, fill in anything missing or do any chores that they can’t do while the cart is moving. For Mr. Roa too it must be something like a habit.”

“A habit…?”

Dietrich looked at Roa, who nodded in agreement.

“I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have acted on my own.”

Listening to the coachman’s words, Roa realized that he had acted on his All-Rounder instincts. When he visited this rest stop with the Crack of Dawn party, he went to pick up Whiteroot Grass every time. While it could be found near any small river, as far as Roa knew the Whiteroot Grass near this rest stop was the most effective as a medicinal herb. 

He didn’t often have the chance to visit this rest stop, so for Roa gathering Whiteroot Grass was the highest priority.

“Er, if you apologize you put us on the spot even more…”

Cornelia understood the situation, but was not sure about how to deal with it.

For Nostalgia, Roa was the person they had to protect; even though they were paid by Coralde, he was also their employer. One of their duties was to respect their employer’s wishes as much as possible, but they would have never expected their employer to act like an All-Rounder.

Roa understood what he did and felt really terrible about it, his countenance turning pale too. This probably happened because of his experience of being scolded when he was in Crack of Dawn.

Even if I told Roa that “you’re the employer, you should take charge and give us orders” right now, I’d just confuse him even more…

Cornelia was reflecting on the issue, but it was a rather tricky one. Kristoff and Bernhart shared her sentiment.

Kristoff, despite having put Roa in a joint lock, did not know what to say either. Bernhart, who was expressionless, talked very little, had not much of a presence and was shy to boot, looked the same as before, but he was concerned too…probably.

“…okay. So it’s important to go gather that Whiteroot Grass, right?”

The question came from Dietrich.

“Yes. The quality here is very good, so…”

Roa whispered in response, weakly.

“…I see. Let’s go get it all together, after the meal.”

“Yes.”

“One more thing! Don’t make us worry again! If you have to act on your own, tell us first!”

“Yes!!”

“Good!”

Roa’s answer was full of energy.

Dietrich flashed a big smile and nodded.

“Eh!?”

Except Roa and Dietrich, everyone was stupefied by the sudden development.

“You wrapped it up by treating your employer like a kid?” was what pretty much everyone wanted to say, but Roa seemed convinced, so they decided not to. More than anything, they did not want to risk endangering the situation after it was apparently solved. Everyone thought the same and swallowed their words.

If someone talked, Roa would probably be confused the most. No one wanted to do that to the most important person in the current situation.

“Anyway, to make Roa work without food is pretty horrible.”

Dietrich was more angry with Roa’s past working environment than his decision to go off on his own.

“….well, but that’s normal.”

“What?”

Kristoff interjected in the conversation.

“That was his role, so it couldn’t be helped. Leader, when you’re having a good time, eating or napping, I go out to gather information sometimes.”

“…..”

“You’re not going to say that you never noticed, are you?”

Kristoff’s cold gaze stabbed Dietrich.

“No, I mean, of course I did! Every time!”

“…mithril boy…us coachmen take care of the horses or check if the carts aren’t damaged while you eat…”

“I noticed, I really did! Why is everyone accusing me anyway!?”

After Dietrich’s lame complaint, Kristoff and the coachman looked at each other and smiled wryly.

Kristoff jokingly pointed out Dietrich’s poor choice of words because he wanted to prevent Roa, after being scolded like a child, regarding Dietrich as above him in rank. The coachman probably understood his intentions and joined in.

Coralde had told them not to act as if Roa was inferior to them and Nostalgia’s members did not think of him as being below them from the beginning. Because of his habits, however, Roa himself acted as if he was below them, which made things difficult.

If, on the other hand, they treated him as superior excessively, he might end up feeling outside their circle.

The ideal relationship was that of a spunky brat and his serious friend: a relationship between equals, in which Roa could easily discuss with Dietrich what he wanted to do, and in the end, Dietrich would make the final decision. At least that’s what they all thought…

…except Roa and Dietrich.

“Okay, got it! Let’s all eat together. After the meal, we’ll split and go gather Whiteroot Grass, take care of the horses and check if the carts are damaged. How does that sound?”

Unexpectedly, as Kristoff and the coachman thought, Dietrich’s conclusion included Roa’s wishes and treated everyone as equal.

“Well then Roa, after the meal tell us where the Whiteroot Grass grows.” 

“Yes!”

Roa nodded vigorously.

He finally got used to addressing me without “Mr.”….

Unaware of everyone’s thoughts, Roa was simply happy that Dietrich called him without titles, naturally.

After that, Roa’s group ate their meal at one of the tables laid in the grass near the rest stop. Roa and Nostalgia’s members sat at one table, the coachmen at the one next to it.

Someone had to stay near the carts to keep watch, so the coachmen took their meal in turns.

“We won’t be able to eat warm food for a while after we leave, so eat up!!”

Dietrich continued piling food on Roa’s plate. To save time, this rest stop served food on large plates placed on the center of the table: guests would then take what they wanted to eat freely. Drinks would also be served in large jugs or teapots.

At first Roa just picked a little bit of everything, out of restraint, but Dietrich noticed and started putting the most delicious bits of food on Roa’s plate, ultimately looking like he was forcing him to eat more.

The leader’s going overboard…

Nostalgia’s members were wary of the situation, but Roa seemed somewhat happy, so they didn’t stop Dietrich. If he really went overboard they would have stopped him, by force if needed, but for now the leader and Roa had created a “balanced” relationship of a spunky kid and his timid cohort.

“Okay, stop! He can’t eat that much. Think about Roa’s pace too!”

Cornelia stopped Dietrich when the food on Roa’s plate had become mountain-like in size.

“Sorry…”

“And Roa! Don’t just do everything you’re told, if you don’t like something or are troubled you must refuse, even if the other person does it out of kindness! If you use too much restraint this dumb leader will grow an ego!”

“…yes, I’m sorry…”

“Good!”

After thinking about it a lot, Cornelia decided to treat both Roa and Dietrich like children…though her attitude towards Dietrich was the same before too.

The two men sulking together looked just like brothers.

“Anyway, is the Whiteroot Grass far from here? …ah, you can finish eating first.”

“No, it’s very close…just behind that building.”

Roa pointed to a building in a corner of the grassy plain. It was a small hut, apparently the rest stop’s stockroom.

“I guess it won’t take much time to gather the Whiteroot Grass. So, if that’s okay with you, Roa, after the gathering can I check your actual ability?”

“Eh?”

The “ability” mentioned here obviously referred to ability in battle. Adventurers wouldn’t be interested in any other kind of abilities.

Roa, who couldn’t find any talents in his seven years of All-Rounder work, didn’t know what to answer, precisely because he knew well how much ability he had.

“I just want to know in case of emergency, no one is forcing you. I have no intention of making you fight in our battles. In case we have to escape, I need to know more or less how you can move…no good?”

“…well…if that’s the reason…”

“Good, thank you.”

Roa gave an uncertain reply and returned to stuffing his mouth with food, more restless than before.

The reason why Cornelia wanted to know Roa’s actual ability was as she explained, but she had another one too. The previous night, Nostalgia’s members had a meeting before the mission: one of the topics that came up during the meeting prompted her request to Roa.

That was “Does Roa really lack the ability to work as an adventurer?”

In Nostalgia’s homeland, after years of education, even a person with extremely poor physical skills would acquire the minimum amount of ability to work as an adventurer. And that was while training in other professions too.

Roa had survived for seven years on actual battlefields as an All-Rounder, so they doubted that he really lacked the necessary ability. 

Just by looking at Roa walk, board the cart and other small movements, they could tell that his motor skills weren’t bad. Cornelia found it hard to believe that he wasn’t fit for adventuring in any way.

Well, there is the possibility that he lacks something else, something vital…

Cornelia looked at the nervously eating Roa and, to his side, Dietrich wolfing down food with a carnivore’s appetite, as she was lost in thought.

?

After the meal, Roa, Cornelia, and Bernhart went to gather the Whiteroot Grass, while the other members went to watch the horses and check the carts.

Whiteroot Grass grew close to small rivers. Its roots had the greatest medicinal properties, so it was harvested from the roots up, but it had to be harvested in a way that it could grow easily in the future too. Because of this, the members with the highest dexterity were assigned to the gathering party.

“Pick up only the bigger ones. Don’t just rip it out, but put one hand inside the mud, unwrap it from the other roots nearby and pick it up. If you just rip it out you’ll take the neighboring roots with it, so be gentle, in order not to damage the other plants’ roots. If there are many big plants clumped together, don’t just take them all, try to leave at least half.”

The group reached the small river and started harvesting as Roa instructed, but as the plants grew on soft mud, they were surprisingly easy to pull out. The cold river also felt pleasant to their bare feet.

Once they filled Roa’s basket, their work would be done. They had an agreement with the manager of the rest stop, so they couldn’t take more than that. It didn’t take much time for the three members to finish their task.

“Okay, let’s have a little sparring match then.” 

Cornelia wiped her feet with a cloth, put on her shoes and called to Roa.

His expression stiffened instantly, but she knew it was going to happen, so she continued without paying too much attention to it.

“I’m going to strike a few times, you just need to defend yourself.”

“Okay.”

Roa was only equipped with the knife he used for gathering and self-defense.

He didn’t even have a practice wooden sword and Cornelia knew well that he wasn’t skilled enough to do proper sparring, so she just picked up a tree branch and gave it to Roa.

Cornelia also picked up a tree branch and swung it to test it. She had taken off her armor before the meal, so her equipment was lighter now too.

“Okay, here I go.”

Cornelia then swung the branch several times, targeting Roa. They were just practice swings, so they weren’t very fast, and Roa could parry them all with his branch.

Oh? I thought he’d be much worse than that…

Roa’s movements were clearly a beginner’s, but even so, Cornelia’s assessment was not negative.

“Thank you, I know now.”

She thought that if he trained he could become fairly skilled, but it would be pointless to say that now, so she kept the evaluation to herself.

“Can I try too?”

Bernhart spoke of his own will!?

Cornelia was shocked that the always silent Bernhart spoke, but he paid her no mind.

“Can you create fire magic, about as big as a palm?”

“Yes. Fire.”

Roa did as he was told and created a fireball from his palm. He used it every day for his alchemy work and as a light, so he could do it without problems. If they had talent for magic, even little children could do it: it was an extremely basic spell.

Bernhart looked at it and tilted his head.

“Thank you.”

“It’s…nothing…”

Roa watched Bernhart go, wondering what his motive could be.

?

Roa’s group then left the rest stop and proceeded on the latter half of their journey, eventually reaching the outer edges of the Aldon forest.

The Aldon forest was home to magic beasts. In the center of the forest there were pools of magic essence or exit points of underground veins of magic power. Thanks to the magic essence released by such spots, plants grew in an unnatural manner, also giving birth to flora species unique to places where magic essence was abundant. 

It was an ideal environment for magic beasts, where great numbers of them dwelt. The quantity of overflowing magic essence influenced the flora and strength of the magic beasts, so such locations were ranked and managed as to only let adventurers with sufficient rank inside.

The Aldon forest was ranked by the Adventurers’ guild as a rank B forest. It was the most dangerous forest rank B adventurers could access however: it was also said that it would soon be changed to rank A.

The Aldon forest was located next to the Norfar valley, where the magic essence from the forest flowed to. Because of this, despite lacking any sources of magic essence, magic beasts roamed the valley too.

Magic beast forests were ideal habitats for magic beasts, so they rarely appeared anywhere else. Thanks to the presence of such forests, damage and casualties caused by magic beasts could be kept to a minimum. 

Furthermore, the flora grown in magic beast forests, because of the unique environment, had very high medicinal capabilities: many of them could be used to make potions impossible to replicate with normal plants, so despite how dangerous such areas were, they were vital for human life.

Roa and the party started setting up camp in the designated area at the edge of the Aldon forest. They would spend the night there and enter the forest the next morning.

The “designated area”, despite the official-sounding name, was just a wide clearing where carts could be stopped and it was easy to keep watch of the surroundings. There were poles to tie horses to and stones forming fireplaces, but it was just a square in the end.

Roa and the party set up two tents: one for Roa and Nostalgia, the other for the coachmen. It was too small for all of them to fit in, but someone always had to be out to keep watch, so there was no problem.

“Hm? I smell something good?”

Cornelia mumbled to herself. She had removed her full body armor to prepare to camp. She couldn’t lie down and get up in her heavy gear, so she removed it whenever she could.

“What? We haven’t started cooking yet. Are you hungry or something?”

“You idiot, I’m not like our leader, you know! Can’t you feel a…kind of sweet scent?”

“Listen now…”

Kristoff replied to Cornelia’s mumble, and Dietrich then protested for being insulted all of a sudden.

Kristoff concentrated on the surrounding scents and felt a faint sweet scent, just like Cornelia said: something he had never smelled before.

“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s me.”

“Eh?”

They looked at Roa and saw that he had a small pouch in his hand.

“This scented pouch keeps magic beasts away. I was thinking of putting some around the camp.”

“Oh, it sure smells good. Very different from Mente.”

Mente was a kind of medicinal herb, a plant with a very strong smell and a main ingredient in monster repellents.

Monsters also hated citrus smells, but the smell Cornelia felt now was completely different than the ones she knew: it was a sweet, spice-like scent.

“I made this myself, I guarantee that it works well. Weak magic beasts will definitely stay away.”

“That’s impressive.”

Normal monster repellents managed at most to keep away small, weak magic beasts and magic beasts with a very sharp sense of smell. They couldn’t definitely keep magic beasts away.

Repellents that definitely kept magic beasts away emanated smells that people couldn’t stand either. Roa’s scented pouch was different however.

“That’s a really nice smell though. Couldn’t you make it into a perfume? If it works as monster repellent and smells this nice, I bet you could sell it not only to adventurers, but to nobles too. Honestly, I’d like to have some.”

“Ehm…”

Roa fretted a little, looking troubled.

“Er, miss Cornelia.”

“What? Aah, this smells really good…”

When Roa replied, Cornelia took the pouch in her hands.

“Er, that…”

“Ah, Roa, you should call us without titles or anything too. Don’t only make us call you like that, that’s cheating, okay?”

“Eh? O, okay, Cornelia.”

Roa didn’t know why that would be cheating, but he simply did what he was told. Cornelia was savoring the scent of the pouch, almost rubbing against her cheeks.

“So, Cornelia, about that scented pouch…”

“What about it?”

Roa wasn’t sure how to explain.

“Well, magic beasts have territories, right? In a strong magic beast’s territory, weak ones would never get close.”

“?”

Cornelia was confused as to why the topic suddenly shifted to magic beast territories. The other Nostalgia members and coachmen, who were listening too, failed to understand in the same way.

“In towns, dogs and cats have their own territories, right? Have you ever seen how they mark their territories?”

“?”

Cornelia tilted her head even more.

“They piss on trees or walls, or rub their butts against them.”

One of the coachmen replied instead. Even so, no one managed to understand what Roa was getting at.

“Well, in the party I was in before there were three servant beasts, a gryphon and two magic wolves.”

“?”

No one had any idea why Roa was talking about something like that.

“The magic wolves…well, they’re big dogs, pretty much. The gryphon too, it has a bird’s had but most of its body is of a lion’s…a big cat.”

“Ah….!”

At this point, one of the coachmen realized, then started grinning.

“So, if you have something that expresses a strong magic beast’s territory…other magic beasts will think there’s a strong magic beast nearby and won’t get closer…or so I thought.”

“Ah!! So the monster repellent in that pouch is magic beast piss!!”

The loud comment of realization came from Kristoff.

“No, it’s not!! It’s not!! It’s not piss, it’s liquid that comes out from a certain spot on their butt!! Something used to mark their territory! It’s a totally different thing!!”

Roa denied with all his strength, but since he seemed concerned when Cornelia took the pouch and put it near her nose, it was clear that this “something” did not come from a very clean place.

“I…think I’ll go wash my hands.”

Cornelia quickly let go of the pouch, then dashed off towards the carts, where the party’s water supply was. She wouldn’t falter even when sprayed with magic beast blood when fighting, but things like “that” concerned her, apparently.

Actually, Cornelia and Roa were both unaware that perfumed oils with animal origins already circulated among nobles; even ones like Roa’s scent pouch, which came from preferably unspecified places, were sold at quite high prices.

The quality of the scent won against its source. These scented oils came from normal animals though.

After Cornelia left, the atmosphere was rather awkward. Everyone had wry smiles on their faces, but in front of the apologetic Roa they couldn’t laugh openly as they wanted.

“So, Roa, do you have any more of that monster repellent? More than the wolves, the gryphon’s would be very effective, I think, so if you have any left I’d like some…”

Dietrich tried to change the awkward mood.

“I have some left, yes. I couldn’t take the base liquid with me when I left Crack of Dawn, so I only have some in small bottles, thinned with alcohol. If it’s thinned the smell is only effective for a few days though.”

Roa took out small bottles of monster repellent, thinned with alcohol. It was a very small quantity, left by accident in the bag he brought: he didn’t take it from Crack of Dawn on purpose.

“Do you have to thin it before using it? The stronger the smell, the more effective it is, no?”

It was a normal question to ask: the more effective a monster repellent was, the better. Meeting an unexpected magic beast could very well prove fatal, after all. The smell wasn’t something people would dislike either.

Roa probably expected such a question, because he replied right away.

“If the smell is strong, the opposite effect occurs. What do you think would happen if, inside the territory of a certain beast, the strong smell of another magic beast suddenly appears?”

“….the owner of the original territory, furious, comes to attack the intruder?”

Dietrich imagined two rabid dogs fighting over territory. Roa nodded happily as he obtained the reply he expected.

“That’s right. So it’s better to thin the smell, so it doesn’t travel too far.”

“I see…”

Magic beasts and animals were pretty similar in that regard…

Dietrich nodded, convinced. Just then Cornelia came back, still a bit embarrassed.

?

The sun was beginning to set.

Crack of Dawn’s cart also reached its destination, a camp close to the entrance of Norfar valley.

In the distant past, a river flowed through Norfar valley, but it was now completely dry. In the past it was used as a stone quarry, so even now it was filled with rocks and boulders.

The camp was the former quarry’s rest stop. It was pretty crude, but in true quarry style it housed buildings made of stone, including huts and horse stables as well. It was strange to call it an outdoor camp even if it had huts, but it was the common name for such locations.

The leader Stefan and Bonne quickly entered the huts to secure a place for themselves.

The coachmen, Serge, Eric, and Olun pulled down the luggage from the carts.

“Tch, they could at least help with the luggage…”

They voiced their frustration with Stefan and Bonne, who went straight to relax.

When Roa was still around, all luggage duties were left to him; they didn’t lift a finger to help him, though it seemed like they had forgotten about it now.

There was no need to pitch tents this time, but that too was a task Roa did by himself: he had even customized the tents to be able to set them up by himself. Thanks to the party’s many magic bags, though, it wasn’t such a tough job.

“We don’t need to light up a fire, do we?”

“Yeah, the magic beasts around here are all stone types, so they don’t fear fire. It would be pointless to light one. Set up the monster repellents instead.”

In the rocky Norfar valley, most magic beasts were of a certain type. Most monsters had adopted rocks or minerals in their carapace, like Rock Lizards for example, and did not fear fire. Lighting one would instead attract their attention.

The targets of their extermination expedition were Silver Golems, creatures created by alchemists which had lost their master and turned feral.

They never feared fire and their bodies were mostly of silver, so fire would not damage them.

Golems created via alchemy were said to be based on slimes: just like slimes, as long as the core inside their body wasn’t destroyed they would continue regenerating, making them quite a difficult opponent. Maybe thanks to their slime origins, though, they were affected by monster repellents like other magic beasts.

“Let’s see here…”

Serge rummaged through the magic bag and took out a small bottle.

“Guess I should spread it in a wide arc…”

He walked off while talking to himself. Serge then dropped a few drops of the bottle’s contents, forming a large circle with the huts in the center. Had he used a Mente & citrus-based repellent, this would be the correct usage.

The label on the bottle, however, read “Monster Repellent – Base Liquid”.

Crack of Dawn’s members were used to the smell, so they didn’t notice, but that was Roa’s special gryphon “liquid” repellent.

They had clearly forgotten about thinning it before using it, as they said before leaving.

The servant beasts glanced towards them as soon as the liquid was scattered, but did nothing more. The gryphon knew the smell, of course, as did the twin wolves: it would not affect them at all, but they were concerned that it was a little too strong, at least for a second.

The beasts then took a spot near the huts and enjoyed the cool feeling of the stones. They were feasting on the rabbits and deer they hunted on the way there.

Serge and the others, noticing the prey, thought they wouldn’t need to give them food for dinner, just as the servant beasts hoped. They did their best to show off their prey, so that they wouldn’t have to see “those” Crispies anymore.

The scent of the monster repellent wafted throughout the surroundings, led by a warm breeze towards the valley.

Deep in the valley, the scent had no way to escape anywhere, nor could it be absorbed by the rocks. It kept flowing towards the depths of the valley…triggering something that no one present expected.

?

A few hours later…

The smell of monster repellent reached the farthest depths of the valley. Because of its geography, things easily pooled in the valley: the same had happened to the magic essence flowing in from the forest. There weren’t any underground veins of magic nearby, but there was enough magic essence to call it a magic essence pool.

Crack of Dawn’s target, the Silver Golems, were “there” too.

The smell of monster repellent carried by the breeze…the intense smell, which marked the gryphon’s territory, had instilled fear in the two Silver Golems. Unlike logical fear, it was instinctual and primordial. It wasn’t something that could be easily suppressed.

Silver Golems, from a human standpoint, were very powerful magic beasts. Though, that only applied to humans. For a gryphon, they were opponents easily defeated one on one. Even if a gryphon had to face two at the same time, they just risked a few scratches.

Faced with the smell of a strong opponent, the golems reacted by instinct. Either we flee…or we fight to protect our territory. Based on their strength, the golems’ only option was to flee: they had no chance of winning.

They did not want to flee, though. That was the two golems’ final decision.

The valley had a rich silver mine and overflowed with magic essence: for the Silver Golems, it was the perfect homeground. Paradise, even. They wanted to avoid having to leave it, no matter what.

What else could they do, then?

The golems’ thinking was, in comparison with humans, rather childish.

If we can’t win by fighting normally, we have to create a situation in which we can win. That was their conclusion.

For the golems, increasing their battle power meant to increase their numbers.

This would be difficult to do in a normal location, but the current environment was more than ideal.

The silver necessary to create their bodies, the magic needed to animate them…both were abundantly available.

Until now, only two golems had been created, because there was no need for more.

The moment had finally come, though. The Silver Golem absorbed the magic essence in the atmosphere and split its core.

Golems increased their numbers by division: the split core absorbed silver and other materials and rebuilt its body. This ability was the reason why golems were said to be alchemy creatures based on slimes.

The two golems first became four…

Those four would then soon turn into eight…

How much will they able to reproduce before the gryphon’s attack…?

Will they have enough power to stand against the gryphon…?

The Silver Golems concentrated all their strength in increasing their numbers.

?

It was late night in the campsite near Aldon forest. Nostalgia’s members were sitting around the fire.

“He’s finally asleep.”

After a simple meal based on bread, dried meat and vegetables, they planned to turn in early to be ready for the next day.

They lit a fire to also serve as magic beast repellent. While they also boiled water, they wouldn’t prepare hot meals near a forest infested by magic beasts. If they cooked meat or prepared soup, the smell would surely attract them.

Roa’s gryphon-made monster repellent was probably effective, but it wasn’t worth taking risks just for the sake of a meal.

“How many times did he ask if it was really okay for him not to stand guard?”

“Like we’re going to have our employer stand guard for us!”

“Right!”

It was Roa, of course, who asked such a question so many times. While camping they would take turns standing guard, but their employer was not included in this shift, naturally. That too was a part of the escort mission, after all.

Because of his habits, however, Roa felt that it was his responsibility to do it. He felt vaguely guilty to go to sleep while others would stand guard for him: he was so persistent in asking about it that a bizarre situation ended up happening: adventurers on an escorting mission trying to convince their employer to go to sleep and let them work.

Nostalgia’s members couldn’t know, but while Roa was in Crack of Dawn night guard duty was always performed by him and the three servant beasts.

The servant beasts could stay awake for several days without trouble, and even if asleep they possessed enemy detection abilities far higher than human beings. Roa joined them to go wake up the other party members in case anything happened.

Roa didn’t stay up all night to stand guard, of course: after checking on the party’s items, he slept outside until it was time to prepare breakfast, wrapped in the servant beasts’ fur, so he could wake up as soon as they moved.

Sometimes he also asked the gryphon if there were any presences of magic beasts nearby: in case there weren’t, he took one of the magic wolves and went to gather herbs and materials to make some pocket money.

Even if accompanied by a servant beast, normally walking around in a forest at night was an insane idea, but Roa had absolute trust in the gryphon’s ability.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Dietrich asked.

It was supposed to be Cornelia and Bernhart’s turn to stand guard, but they said they had something to talk about, so all Nostalgia members were awake and gathered, for a sort of meeting.

Until they were sure Roa was asleep, they held the meeting originally planned for the following day.

“….it’s about Roa….”

Cornelia started talking.

His movements weren’t bad, but as a swordsman he was a complete beginner. It didn’t look like he could only move like a beginner despite having received training, but that he was never taught anything. If he trained, maybe he wouldn’t be able to become a first-rate swordsman, but he could surely become a decent adventurer.

“There’s no point in saying that now, though. …I thought that you guys would probably notice when you’ll see how he moves in the forest, so I wanted to make sure you didn’t start telling him things or giving him training tips lightly. Roa just gave up on becoming an adventurer, so you’d just give him needless concerns”

Thus concluded Cornelia.

“….The same can be said for his magic. I think he’s rather talented, to be honest…his magic flow and structure were both smooth. With some training, he’d be able to use effective offensive spells…I can only think that no one in that could give proper magic teachings.”

Bernhart too gave his opinion, in a strained tone.

Roa was skilled enough in alchemy to create magic potions, so it was impossible for him not to have any talent for magic. He was focused on production, which only required low magic power, but alchemists were also magic specialists.

“The hero party’s magic user…is that fallen holy woman, the cleric, huh. I heard she was reinstated as holy woman candidate after they received the title of hero party, but she’s just horrible. Holy women also have to act as instructors in the church, right? If someone who can’t even teach a bit of magic gets that position, it’ll be a fine mess.”

Dietrich spoke unusually quietly, making sure Roa didn’t hear anything. His normal cheerful expression was also gone, as his brow was deeply wrinkled.

“She might have become a candidate again, but if she was discarded once I doubt she’ll really become a Holy Woman. Rumors say that she did something really bad and was thrown out of the church, with the pretext of “training”…”

Kristoff was the party’s intel specialist, so he actually knew what that “really bad” thing was, but chose not to say it. It would have just made the other members feel sick to their stomach.

“Looks like money and power are more important than talent or humane qualities in this country…I don’t think that’s impossible…”

“Rotten to the core.”

It might be another country for them, but such a corruption of authority was nevertheless unpleasant. The expressions of Nostalgia’s members were painfully dejected.

“This country looks down on people too much. Money and power are more important…Roa’s case is the same. Because of the master and disciple system, if you end up with someone who can’t teach your life is over? It’s just ridiculous. The disciple isn’t at fault at all!”

Dietrich did his utmost not to speak any louder.

In the kingdom of Perdu and throughout the continent, belonging to a guild was proof of being trustworthy, no matter the profession. Depending on the country, however, guild regulations varied wildly.

In this country, the master and disciple system was an absolute staple. There were rare exceptions, but it was a universal rule.

The Adventurers’ guild, differently from the Merchant or the Creator guilds, allowed anyone to become an adventurer, as long as they registered. 

It was however necessary to join a party as an “All-Rounder”, become the disciple of one of the party members and to be recognized by them, otherwise you couldn’t form a party and take requests.

Exceptions were only adventurers who came from abroad, like Nostalgia, but they weren’t trusted very much because of the Adventurers’ guild’s closed mentality, so they had a rather difficult time in finding work.

One might think that if an All-Rounder ended with a master incapable of teaching, they could just become someone else’s disciple, but this was very difficult to do so in this country.

A disciple that left a master before being recognized as full-fledged was labeled as “discarded because of having no talent”, “spineless”, “ungrateful” and would not be accepted by any other masters, in most cases.

Even if they were accepted by someone, that master also risked damaging their reputation, as they had picked someone ungrateful.

This was the same for All-Rounders like Roa, who could not become anyone’s disciple and were discarded from their party…or rather, were treated even worse.

Furthermore, in this country if someone failed at their first job and tried switching to another they would be labeled in the same way, as “discarded because of having no talent”, “spineless” and “ungrateful”, which would make it very difficult to find another job.

People like Roa, who smoothly found another profession, were very rare. Or maybe Coralde was rare, since he hired Roa without any qualms. While he never gave them the favorable treatment Roa receives, Coralde had hired people in similar situations before, as long as they were talented.

“This country has been at peace for a long time, its population just continuing to increase. I guess they can afford to waste people.”

“Grrt”

Cornelia was surprised by the sound that followed her comment, the sound of Dietrich’s teeth grinding.

Wow, he’s really angry…our boss really hates that kind of stuff after all…

Cornelia and Dietrich had known each other for a long time, so she knew his personality well. It didn’t match this country’s spirit at all.

They had come to this country, rich in magic beast forests, just to practice fighting against land-dwelling magic beasts. Now that they had learned enough, there was no point in continuing to bear such an unpleasant environment.

I guess it’s about time to go…

Cornelia thought this while reminiscing about their nostalgic homeland, where the sea breeze always blows.

?

<Looks like things are getting interesting.>

The gryphon noticed the unusual happening in Norfar valley and whispered. 

Dawn was approaching, so the surroundings had started getting brighter, but the valley’s cold air had formed thick layers of fog. There was barely any visibility, just as if they were inside a cloud.

Since the twin magic wolves were playing around, excited by the fact that they could barely see their front paws, the gryphon sent them to practice inspecting the surroundings while they played.

Magic beasts had several tools at their disposal to learn about their surroundings.

In addition to sight, smell, hearing and the other senses humans and animals also had, they could let their magic power expand to inspect the surroundings.

The twin magic wolves tended to rely on their five senses, so the thick fog was the ideal situation to have them train their ability to inspect surroundings through magic power.

While instructing them in this activity the gryphon too expanded its detection field to the maximum, thus noticing the unusual situation.

<What’s wrong, gramps?>

The twin wolves got so close that their snouts were about to touch the gryphon’s face. They had to, or they couldn’t see it in the thick fog.

The gryphon deftly moved away its eagle-like face and grinned.

“Hehehe…rejoice, twins! You’ll be able to go all out for the first time in a long while. It will take these useless dolts another full day, but there is plenty of small fry awaiting!”

“So many?”

The gryphon started counting the number of presences it detected.

“…..56, 57, 58, fift….what!! They increased again! I was almost done counting and they increased again! They’re over 100 now…more than double than before!? This manner of increasing, this magic power…are they superior versions of slimes? No, maybe golems?”

To reach such a conclusion with so little information available was not possible for any monster.

<Silver Golems, right?>

The gryphon could only tell they were golems, but the twin wolves went as far as stating the magic beast’s name.

<Ngh!? How can you tell?>

<They said so!>

The twin wolves had been paying attention to Crack of Dawn’s conversations, so they knew that the expedition’s goal was to take down Silver Golems.

The gryphon had not the slightest intention to listen, so it didn’t know. A request undertaken by human adventurers would just involve magic beasts too weak to stimulate its interest, or so the gryphon thought. It always thought any enemy magic beasts could just provide good fodder for the twins.

The gryphon looked away from the twins, awkwardly.

<Silver Golems, I see….interesting. I do not know since when they have been multiplying, but as long as they can feed on magic power, they can continue forever. They already number more than 100, so with the right conditions they might even exceed one thousand!>

The gryphon tried to quickly change the topic, but its prediction was correct.

The Silver Golems, fearing the gryphon’s smell, continued doubling their numbers as quickly as possible. They had just reached 128 units.

If they kept increasing at this pace, the following day -when Crack of Dawn was expected to reach its destination- they would reach over 1000. As long as the silver needed to build their bodies was available.

<It’s about time for you twins to practice magic attacks, right? We have the right targets here. You can fight at full power!>

<Full power!!>

The twins ran around in the fog, as happy as could be.

The thick fog made it impossible to see anything, but they had started getting used at perceiving the surroundings via magic power, so they didn’t bump into anything.

The joy of being allowed to use magic attacks made them unable to stay still.

The twins were high-rank elemental magic wolves, “Fire Magic Wolf” Skoll and “Ice Magic Wolf” Hati. They were unique species, twins born from the same parent, “Great Magic Wolf” Fenrir. 

They were still young and had not yet had a chance to fight against magic beasts that could let them unleash their full power, so the members of Crack of Dawn and the Adventurers’ Guild only considered them to be magic wolf pups with an unusual fur color. Their actual power, however, was quite terrifying.

Unlike normal magic wolves, they could use elemental magic. The ability to use magic was very rare among magic wolves; their parent, Fenrir, had learned to use wind magic over time: in its younger days, it was an average magic wolf. Its children were supposed to be normal magic wolves too.

The twins could use magic mostly because they were unique magic wolf units, but even so their learning speed was incredibly fast, thanks to the gryphon, which had taught them as a way to kill time.

The gryphon also taught them to fight cooperating with each other, so even without using magic they boasted very high skill in battle.

<Hehehehe…if they grow over one thousand, they’ll be enough to train the twins and also let me play for a while! Hehehe…the brat isn’t around this time, so I can enjoy myself without worrying about anyone! Hehehe…..>

<So happy!>

The recent events had caused stress to both the gryphon and the twins: thanks to this very convenient chance to release their stress, they were all in very high spirits.

The twins were running around in a frenzy, while the gryphon muttered to himself in words incomprehensible to humans, his expression stuck in a grin. Though they expressed themselves differently, their joy was the same.