CH 63

“What do you want to talk about?”

It’s night, and I called Leila here after getting her permission to use the orcs’ magic stones.

“I wanted to give this to you.”

Hn? Her cheeks are a bit red. Did she catch a cold?

I should probably wrap up this matter quickly.

“Here.”

I take out a transparent magic stone. Just an ordinary magic stone.

“What is this?”

Her voice is suddenly an octave lower. What happened?

“It’s a magic stone to practice controlling the flow of magic energy. It’s transparent now, but you can infuse it with magic energy.”

I grip the magic stone and make magic energy flow into it, turning it white.

“It changes color like this. This is a magic item that will turn transparent again if you leave it be for a while.”

I give it to Leila and have her try it.

She groans as she tries to make her magic energy flow into it, but it doesn’t go too well. But we can see it did change color a bit. Hers is red.

“It’s no good. It only changed a tiny bit.”

“It’s proof that it’s not flowing smoothly. Maybe you’re using too much strength, and putting too much power into it. Maybe you should relax a little more.”

“Relax?”

“Try different things as you practice. But if I’m letting you have this, I want you to promise me something.”

“Promise?”

“Yes. Even if you learn how to control magic energy through this, don’t overdo it. You saw how great a magic energy infused mithril sword is, didn’t you?”

“I understand. With that, I can damage monsters who were previously impervious to my attacks.”

Those are strong words, but that’s precisely why it’s dangerous.

“Leila, that’s a dangerous way of thinking. You might be able to defeat monsters you couldn’t before, after learning how to control magic energy, but that could also turn into you having a weapon that’s more than you can handle. That overconfidence could cost you your life.”

I hesitate to say this, but figure I should.

“I’d like what I’m about to say to stay a secret. Can you promise me that?”

“V-very well.”

Leila’s tone changes. It seems she understands this is serious.

“What did you feel when we encountered that orclord?”

“I-I felt my life was in danger. I honestly didn’t believe we would make it out alive.”

Her voice gets progressively quieter.

“And what about after you handled the magic energy infused mithril sword?”

“Like I could probably defeat it, I guess.”

After thinking about it, she gives an honest answer.

“That way of thinking is scary. I want you to make sure you don’t forget that feeling of danger that you first had, even after you’re able to control magic energy. When you’re fighting monsters, it’s good to have at least a basic sense of cowardice.”

As for me, I’d rather shoot my gun safely from the back. I don’t know why I never seem to get my way.

Leila listens to me, and looks like she’s thinking. I hope she really does think about that and talks about it with her party.

“But what did you feel when you faced the orclord, Sora? It was your first time seeing one, but did you not feel that overwhelming sense of fear? It was even a named one that could speak and think.”

I heard after we fought the orclord that those are called named monsters, and they are on a different level than even monsters of the same species in terms of strength.

Leila also told me that the one they encountered before was a regular one, not a named monster.

“Ah… I didn’t feel particularly scared.”

“H-how come?”

“Because I’ve seen something more dangerous.”

“More than that thing?”

“Yes. This is what I want to keep a secret. I’ve actually met a demon.”

“D-demon? A real demon? An underling of the demon king?”

“That’s right. I don’t think you could take down a demon even with that mithril sword, so don’t let yourself get carried away, even if you can control the flow of magic energy.”

“Understood. I will be careful not to let this strength get the better of me.”

“That’s good to hear. You’re the big sister, so you need to take good care of your little sisters too.”

Hearing me call her a big sister makes Leila a little embarrassed.

“Also, I’ll have to collect that magic item later. And don’t use it in front of other people.”

“…It’s not going to be easy to convince Yor.”

“All I can say is good luck.”

“…What are you planning to do after this?”

“I’m going to visit the slavers in the holy city.”

“A-are you going to buy slaves?”

Did I say something weird? Is she one of the people who oppose the idea of buying slaves?

“Why are you planning to buy slaves?”

Her voice sounds kind of threatening. Is she angry?

“If possible, to help us in battle. We might get roped into trouble again on our travels, and it’s kind of tough with just me and Hikari.”

Her quizzical expression doesn’t change. She’s looking at me like she doesn’t really believe me.

“Fine. It’s true, if you are going to continue traveling, it could be dangerous if you two are alone.”

I think she’s sort of convinced. Unfortunately, at this point I don’t understand that she’s talking about danger in more ways than one.