episode_0014

When I was trying hard to ignore Killua, who was chatting idly with Rai, and focusing on packing my backpack.

“Heeeelllooo!!” A large figure could be seen rushing down the mountain path with a boisterous greeting.

The chubby man, carrying a large leather backpack on his shoulder, sported a ridiculously wide grin that made him seem foolish. He was energetically waving his left hand, which was wrapped tightly in bandages, towards Rai.

“You arrived much earlier than usual.”

Rai also waved back at him as if welcoming him.

Then the chubby man waddled and hurried down the slope, clutching the waistband of his ill-fitting pants with one hand, as if trying to meet Rai as quickly as possible.

“Uh-heh… heh-heh-het. Nice to meet you.”

He had rushed so quickly that he was panting roughly, drenched in thick sweat that soaked his clothes.

At the chubby man’s foolish behavior and dim-witted appearance, Killua unconsciously furrowed her brow slightly and took half a step back.

Looking at Killua, the chubby man introduced himself confidently with a bright, foolish smile.

“I am the Hero who will save the world!”

“A Hero?”

Killua’s brow furrowed even more deeply at the absurd self-introduction of the chubby man who called himself a Hero.

Then she slowly turned her head, as if demanding an explanation, and looked at Rai standing beside her.

Rai then raised her hand at an angle invisible to the man who introduced himself as a Hero, and tapped her temple a few times.

“Hoo-heh… hoo-heh-heh-heng. I was waiting for you to come!”

The chubby man, who called himself a Hero, clutched his jiggling belly with one hand as he breathed and laughed. He then looked at Killua, who was frowning, and spoke.

“Me?”

At his words that he had been waiting for her, Killua tilted her head.

“Kh-hng. You are indeed a splendid and magnificent White Mage, worthy of being a Hero’s companion!”

Taking a deep breath and swallowing the snot clumped in his nose, he accurately discerned Killua’s identity.

“What are you talking about?”

For Killua, who had lost all her power, there was not even a trace of magic, let alone the power that would prove she was a White Mage.

To anyone, she was merely a girl with peculiar and mysterious silver-white hair.

Killua, who knew that fact better than anyone, didn’t falter, but rather asked back as if dumbfounded.

“Heh-het… heh-heh-het. I heard there’s the strongest and greatest mage with silver-white hair!”

The man who called himself a Hero wiped his nose with his hand and explained the basis for his inference that Killua was a White Mage.

“If you’re talking about a White Mage, you must mean Lady Ariana.”

Rai, noticing the subtly awkward atmosphere, quickly interjected into the self-proclaimed Hero’s explanation.

“Well… following her, silver-white hair dye is quite the trend among young nobles these days, so it’s understandable to make that mistake.”

Rai, who had been subtly observing us, explained Killua’s silver-white hair to the chubby Hero on our behalf.

“Oh… is that so?”

At Rai’s calm explanation, the Hero seemed to realize his mistake and, with a flustered expression, accepted the explanation.

“Ariana, the White Mage with silver-white hair?”

Spotting the Hero’s arrival, I shouldered the prepared backpack and approached Killua, asking her in a low voice about this ‘White Mage Ariana’ whom I had never heard of before.

“I don’t know either. It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”

Killua also slightly furrowed her brow at the title and name, which she was hearing for the first time in her life, overtly revealing her discomfort.

After she disappeared, there was someone – some arrogant and foolish mage – who had taken away the epithet ‘White’, which was like Killua’s symbol.

“This… is more infuriating than I thought?”

Killua had remained calm and unagitated even when she lost her powers.

However, upon realizing that the epithet she alone used had been stolen, she was filled with such anger that a small tremor could be felt in her eyes, which had been as still as a calm lake.

“Heh-heng. My bad, my bad. But you’re also a wonderful person worthy of being a Hero’s companion!”

When Killua frowned, the Hero merely gave an obvious flattery, raising both thumbs as if trying to make up for his mistake of mistaking her for someone else.

“Huuuuuh…”

Killua exhaled a long sigh, expressing her frustration with the chubby man’s ignorantly simple and difficult-to-deal-with behavior, and her anger at having her epithet stolen by some unknown mage.

After taking two deep breaths to calm her raging emotions, she slightly narrowed her eyes and questioned Rai accusatorily.

“Is this person really trustworthy?”

“Don’t worry. Even though he looks like that, he’s better than me when it comes to forests and herbs. Plus, he knows how to deal with slimes very well.”

“Uh-heh-het. Slimes are nothing!”

At Rai’s words, the chubby man demonstratively set down the large leather backpack he had been carrying on his shoulder with a forceful thud.

And from inside the backpack, he proudly showed us a glass bottle containing a unique viscous fluid with white powders embedded in it, and a pouch filled with white powder.

“Huh? This is beeswax powder, isn’t it? And so much of it?”

Killua, who seemed to have considerable knowledge of herbs, recognized the identity of the item the Hero pulled out at a glance.

“Heh-het. With this, slimes won’t be able to do anything to us!”

Beeswax powder is a powder with excellent absorbency, usually used in small quantities as a desiccant.

This excellent absorbency could be usefully applied to subdue slimes, whose bodies are 98% water.

“Oh-ho… then what’s this?”

Killua’s caution and suspicion towards the chubby man, who spoke awkwardly and acted foolishly while calling himself a Hero, lasted only for a moment.

After confirming the items he took out, Killua’s eyes sparkled with interest as she picked up the glass bottle containing the viscous fluid.

“Heh-hing! That’s beeswax powder mixed with seed oil!”

The Hero proudly puffed out his chest, as if the viscous fluid in the bottle that had piqued Killua’s interest was his secret masterpiece, and explained it to her.

Listening to his explanation, Killua held the glass bottle containing the viscous fluid up to the morning sunlight and gently shook it.

Inside the shimmering seed oil, pure white powders, presumed to be beeswax powder, swirled around without mixing with the oil.

“Preserving highly absorbent beeswax powder in oil… that’s not a bad idea.”

“Heh-heh-het. As expected, a Hero is amazing, right?”

At Killua’s sincere praise, the chubby man, the self-proclaimed Hero, jiggled his belly and smiled brightly.

Killua had frowned at the chubby man’s appearance, which didn’t suit his self-proclaimed title of Hero, but after confirming the items he brought, she looked at him with eyes that held a hint of newfound trust.

“See? He’s a much more dependable friend than he looks. With him, slimes definitely won’t be a problem.”

Rai’s words, full of conviction, conveyed a strong belief in the abilities of the man who called himself a Hero.

Indeed, all the items he brought were effective against slimes, and the man, the Hero, was brimming with confidence and certainty about what he needed to do.

“And if there’s danger…”

Then Rai pointed to the whistle he had tied to Killua’s cloak string, just in case.

“If you blow that, no matter where you are, I’ll drop everything and come looking for you, so don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried at all, so don’t worry.”

Killua fiddled with the bone whistle he had given her and gave Rai a small smile.

At Killua’s smile, a faint blush began to spread across Rai’s cheeks.

“Nothing major will happen. So, travel safely!”

As if to hide his flushed face, Rai hastily grabbed his bow and arrows.

And finally, he touched the daggers strapped to his thigh once more before heading off towards the Lime Forest.

Killua, who had been watching Rai’s retreating figure with regretful eyes, let go of her lingering thoughts and turned to look at me and the Hero.

“Alright. Then let’s get going too.”

“Uh-heh-het. Leave it to me, the Hero!”

The Hero put the items he had brought back into his large leather backpack and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

And then, as if without an ounce of fear, he confidently strode down the forest path leading towards the Lime Forest.

“Can we trust him?”

He had certainly brought useful items for dealing with slimes, but the Hero’s behavior, which seemed like he had a few screws loose in his head, was worrying.

“He’s slightly mentally…”

And the gesture Rai made when the Hero appeared, tapping his temple.

That was clearly a gesture indicating a mental problem.

“The quality of the items he brought is certain. And even if something happens, you’re right next to me, so it’ll work out, won’t it?”

“Me? Why me?”

At Killua’s words, which sounded as if she trusted me, I looked at her with a surprised expression.

“Comparing you and the Hero, you’re closer to being a normal person, aren’t you?”

Killua shrugged once at my question, then followed behind the Hero, who was leading the way.