Ch.27Go back one space

“OK, let’s run away then.”

“Huh?”

“GRRRAAAAA-!!”

‘CRASH!’

As Seti jumped backward to avoid the diagonal strike, the club smashed into the building wall. I had thought that even a giant with monstrous strength couldn’t destroy a stone wall in one blow, but seeing the large crack where the club hit, I had to reconsider that assumption.

“There’s no point in continuing to fight an opponent we can’t defeat. Besides, it could damage the ruins like that. Let’s retreat for now, come up with a plan, and then return.”

“…Alright. Is Seti ready too?”

“You go first. I can run twice as fast as Will, so I’ll buy some more time and catch up.”

“You absolutely can’t get hurt, okay?”

“If all it has are attacks like that, I can hold out for hours. Now go!”

“Got it!”

Leaving Seti behind didn’t sit well with me, but since we’d already decided to retreat, dragging things out unnecessarily would only put the whole team at risk. Reassuring myself that Seti would never allow even a single hit from that slow giant, I started running at full speed with Jessica.

I was anxious that a large boulder thrown by the troll might come flying at our backs at any moment, but I trusted that Seti would shout a warning if that happened and focused solely on escaping. The large backpack I was carrying slowed me down, but the important thing was just to be faster than the troll’s pursuit.

Surely that huge creature couldn’t run faster than us… right?

While fleeing, there was no opportunity to exchange words with Jessica. Partly because we were putting all our energy into running, but mostly because we were too out of breath to possibly talk to the person next to us.

How far had we run? Had Seti started running away too by now? Was the troll chasing us, or had we successfully shaken it off?

Just as these various questions filled my mind, a clear answer to all of them came from behind.

“You can stop running now. The giant isn’t following us—it went back inside the ruins.”

“Huff… huff… that’s… huff… a relief…”

“Haa, haa…”

Jessica and I simultaneously threw off our bags and collapsed spread-eagle on the ground, trying to catch our breath.

Seti, who had stayed behind to face the troll and started running later, must have caught up to us at an incomparable speed. She showed no sign of labored breathing as she kept watch over our surroundings, waiting for Jessica and me to recover.

“Phew… somehow we made it through the crisis… Is anyone hurt?”

“I didn’t get hit even once. Or rather, if I had been hit even once, I’d be dead.”

Indeed, considering the huge club the troll was swinging, even a glancing blow would have prevented us from escaping with our limbs intact. In the end, we had successfully fled the ruins inhabited by the troll without anyone getting hurt.

“Anyway, it’s good that we escaped safely, but what do we do now…”

“We have about two options. Either retreat to Ambers Ranch before sunset, or take a detour to Zemest, the second western city. With the former, we could get back before dark, but with the latter, we’d need to camp for several days.”

“If we can find a way to defeat the troll, the former would be better; if not, the latter seems preferable.”

“…About that, I actually have something to apologize to both of you for.”

Jessica bowed her head deeply as she addressed Seti and me sitting across from her.

“Our inability to defeat the troll today was entirely my fault. I knew about mountain trolls as monsters and that they appear in rocky mountains and valleys, but I didn’t prepare any countermeasures.”

“How is that your fault, Jessica? If it can only be defeated with fire attributes, it’s the natural enemy of most adventurers.”

“That’s right. If you hadn’t told us quickly, we might have been in more danger trying to fight it recklessly.”

“…Normally, mages who work as adventurers prepare attack methods of all four elements for situations like today. But I abandoned that for my own survival and convenience. Even though I’m not a staff wizard who can change spell formulas when needed…”

Jessica’s eyes were filled with tears as she spoke in a trembling voice, clutching her skirt. Seti and I placed our hands on her shoulders to calm her down, and she wiped her tears with her sleeve before continuing.

“When traveling alone… you often encounter multiple monsters at once. Even if I took one down with Stone Bullet, other monsters would approach, and eventually, I’d get rammed or bitten.”

“……”

“After surviving several near-death experiences, I developed Diamond Dust. I’d attack with Stone Bullet, then use Diamond Dust to hinder their movement when they got close, and escape… After perfecting Sound Burst to respond to surprise attacks or being surrounded, I stopped creating any more attack spells. If I encountered an enemy I couldn’t defeat with this strategy, I could just freeze the ground beneath them and run away.”

A strategy of restricting enemy movement with wide-area magic while continuously fleeing, then finishing them off with high-powered Stone Bullets. It was certainly an ideal setup for solo activities to overcome one-against-many situations.

As a Codex Mage, she probably had no other choice, unable to find trustworthy companions.

“After deciding to form a party, I should have reorganized my spellbook before leaving Oxville. But I was afraid to change the nature of the magic I’d entrusted my life to for so long, and I also wanted to emphasize my unique value of wide-area attacks that you two couldn’t perform. Deep down… I hadn’t truly become your comrade in the real sense.”

“Jessica…”

“Please, Will, Seti… give me one more chance. I want to defeat the troll and resume exploring the ruins together with you two.”

“Defeating the troll sounds good, but what exactly do you have in mind?”

“I’ll go back to Ambers Ranch and create a new spell. While I’d need the facilities at the Pioneer Branch for a full spellbook edit, I can still prepare enough magic to defeat the troll with the tools I have now.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to Zemest or Oxville and use those facilities to make thorough preparations before coming back?”

“W-well, that’s true, but…”

Jessica fell silent, unable to counter my point.

Rationally speaking, there was no reason to accept Jessica’s proposal at face value. It was easy to infer from her words that any magic she could create at Ambers Ranch would be a kind of stopgap measure, and using the facilities in western cities like Zemest or Oxville would allow her to create more proper spells.

Despite this, I quickly realized why she insisted on preparing new magic at Ambers Ranch. Jessica was likely concerned about the “lack of adaptability,” a weakness of Codex Mages.

If she were a Staff Wizard who could modify spell compositions on the spot according to the situation, she could have immediately created a “Fire Bullet” to defeat the troll. But as a Codex Mage, that was impossible for her, forcing us to retreat.

To make matters worse, having to abandon our immediate goal and make a major retreat to a western city we’d previously visited would likely trigger a sense of deprivation—perhaps even trauma—for someone who had been constantly compared to and oppressed by the versatility of Staff Wizards.

Suggesting “let’s go to Oxville or Zemest and make thorough preparations before returning” might be a rational choice, but it also implied that I couldn’t trust Jessica as she was now. It was a choice between trusting the Jessica before me now or only trusting a Jessica who had abandoned everything she’d built up until now.

“Jessica.”

“Yes…”

“Are you sure you can create it? A spell that can defeat the troll?”

Jessica nodded silently, the gloom from earlier gone from her face. Instead, I could sense a clear determination—that her current self could do it, that she would put an end to her long solitary journey.

“OK, then let’s hurry back to Ambers Ranch. Is that alright with you, Seti?”

“Yes. Next time, we won’t lose.”

“Thank you both… for believing in someone like me…”

Wordlessly, I pulled Jessica into an embrace and pressed my lips against her trembling ones.

By the end of our tender kiss—just lips meeting lips, without exploring each other’s tongues—the tears in Jessica’s eyes had disappeared.

“Should I set up the tent if you want to continue?”

“N-no, that’s not it!”

Jessica blushed and quickly pulled away at Seti’s teasing remark. I stroked Seti’s head and gently pulled her cheek toward me, but she shyly turned her head away and started walking ahead.

“…I can’t control myself after kissing, so it’s impossible.”

Watching Seti’s retreating figure with her tail swishing, Jessica and I shrugged at each other before following her toward Ambers Ranch.