[Interlude] From the Imperial Capital to Akau Village

I accepted a request from Mr. Graham and set out for a village where a mysterious illness is spreading.

My primary mission is to eliminate wild Beasts, and if necessary, magical Beasts as well.

They seem to want my help in resolving the chronic mana stone shortage that plagues the guild branch. This kind of situation has happened before, so it's business as usual—except this time, there's something different.

To be honest, I've been given a request that requires wisdom. Frankly, I'm not quick-witted, and I'm not suited for tasks like this.

Whether they knew it or not, I've been told that an adventurer skilled in intellectual work will be accompanying me this time.

The illusionist who's been causing a stir in the adventurer community recently will be joining this mission.

To be honest, I'm not sure how capable they are, so I'm a bit anxious, but it seems they can hold their own in long-range combat.

In the end, there's nothing to do but judge them in person.

I met a man named Sato Taro. He appears to be an average adult male—neither particularly thin nor stout....He doesn’t seem suited for close combat.

He’s carrying an odd staff. What on earth is it for?

Is his attack method the crossbow? It’s well known for lacking significant power... Or perhaps it’s some kind of cloth? The more I look at him, the stranger he becomes. No surprise—he’s a magician, after all.

After a brief self-introduction, they checked their supplies. Graham had instructed them to start the task as soon as possible, so they had prepared everything in advance.

"This time, there are many unclear elements, so we need to be thoroughly prepared. I’ve made a list. Items marked with a check have already been gathered."

"Alek, I’d like to add a few more things to bring along—clean water."

"Bringing too much will make moving around difficult due to the weight."

"I know that, but I've heard there's an outbreak of illness, so we should at least keep the water clean and improve hygiene. Otherwise, if we get sick ourselves, it'll be pointless."

"I understand. Let's do that."

It seems Taro wants to bring extra water, mindful of hygiene.

At first, it didn't seem like much, but he's actually thinking things through carefully.

Several days passed as we made our way toward Akau Village, during which we had many conversations.

He was surprisingly easy to talk to once we started chatting.

Right now, Taro is holding the reins.

Since I'm not good at controlling the carriage, I've left everything to Taro.

I looked at the device Taro was cradling under his arm—the one he calls a survey lantern. It looks like a strange magic stone lamp.

Apparently, it can indicate the direction from which magical beasts or sub-beasts might attack.

If something like this is actually usable, it would be revolutionary. When adventurers fight magical beasts, we're often caught off guard and injured by hidden opponents—this happens more often than you'd think.

But if this lamp works, we could plan our strategies in advance, set traps, and dramatically increase our chances of victory in battle.

Though I'm highly skeptical, I'm still curious, so I had the exploration lamp tested.

The lamp glows in two colors. Two colors?

Look in the direction where it's glowing red.

Above me are several enormous birds. But they're too large—those are monsters!

I didn't know there were flying monsters. I was about to marvel at the sight when Taro scolded me.

The carriage speeds forward at full throttle.

I climb onto the roof of the carriage and ready my weapon.

It's been a while since my last battle—facing an unknown enemy, curiosity surges within me.

A bird-like monster charges at me with its massive claws, but if it's just coming straight at me, that's no problem.

I time my strike perfectly and sweep aside my familiar axe.

Hmm, I intended to deflect it sideways, but the blade snapped. Surprisingly fragile for a monster, isn't it?

Taro, startled, opened his mouth and stared at me. Please pay attention to the road ahead—this isn't the time to be distracted.

The bird-like monster attacked us, even though its companion had just been killed right in front of it. But unlike before, it now charged at us with significantly increased speed.

I thought it might have a bird's head, but it seems to possess a thinking mind.

I slashed it down the same way as before, cleaving the monster in two. As expected, it was fragile—its durability is more akin to that of a sub-beast than a true monster.

Seeing that two of its kind had been defeated, the bird-like monster ceased its attack.

It followed us while watching our movements. It seems it has no intention of letting us go.

Just as we were thinking this, we emerged into a wide open area.

Taro and I got down from the carriage and moved apart.

At that exact moment, the bird-like monster breathed out flames. It was quite powerful.

We couldn't afford to take even a single hit.

The flames that fell to the ground spread out and continued burning for some time. It seems we'll need to eliminate this thing quickly somehow—otherwise, the forest will turn into a sea of fire.

Taro seemed to have the same idea. He fired an iron arrow skyward.

But the bird-like monster was moving around constantly. The heavy iron arrow couldn't gain speed. There was no way it would hit anything if launched from the ground.

"Don't waste arrows. It's too far to hit anything from here."

"I know. The aim is from here."

Taro seems to have a plan. Let's see what he does. Taro ties a rope made of hemp to the arrow and launches it upward, just like before. However, this won't fly as far as earlier.

As expected, the arrow doesn't reach the sky. But Taro presses a light magic stone onto the hemp rope.

In an instant, a pale blue streak of light shot across the sky—like a spiderweb forged from lightning. I couldn't help but feel it was breathtakingly beautiful.

After a few seconds of glowing brilliance, the bird-like monsters fell to the ground. It seemed this single strike had eliminated them all. What devastating power and range—almost as if I were witnessing a master-level mage... Then it struck me—Taro was a mage, after all.

I forgot about it since it wasn't particularly impressive or boastful when it came up earlier.

We'll deal with the demon beast that fell from the sky. There was something off about this beast—I need to verify my suspicions. Its durability is unusually low for a demon beast, and it forms groups.

The magical stone attached to its body wasn't dull at all—it looked quite clean. It was definitely a sub-beast.

I rushed over to Taro and discussed the matter with him. Taro deduced that this sub-beast had recently undergone sub-beast transformation. He's quite sharp. I hadn't thought of that at all.

After our discussion, we decided to continue toward our destination village.

The last time we visited, it was a bustling, lively place, so I'm looking forward to it.