episode_0003

“W-Wizard-nim!!”

The already steep slope was slippery like an oiled slide, covered with rotting leaves and pebbles.

I hastily started moving my feet, chasing after the Wizard-nim who couldn’t stop herself from tumbling down.

“Ugh!”

The tumbling Wizard-nim was lucky enough to finally stop rolling after hitting her back against a large tree trunk.

“Are you alright?!”

Carefully descending the slippery slope covered in fallen leaves and slime mucus, I approached the groaning Wizard-nim, who was rubbing her back against the tree trunk she’d hit.

“Ow ow ow… that really hurts…”

After approaching her, who had fallen, I first checked her for external injuries.

Fortunately, the sturdy cloak she wore had protected her body from sharp rocks and branches.

However, even her thick and sturdy cloak seemed unable to completely shield her from the physical impacts of rolling and hitting her entire body.

“Can you get up?”

At my question, the Wizard-nim clung to the tree trunk she had hit and slowly, unsteadily, got to her feet.

But the moment she put weight on her right leg, her body swayed violently with a short yelp.

“Yelp!”

“Wizard-nim!!”

I grabbed her hand, which was frantically flailing in the air due to the sudden pain in her foot.

“It looks like your ankle is injured…”

Perhaps it had been hit hard or twisted somewhere while she was tumbling. Her right ankle was slightly swollen.

“Can you walk?”

“I’ll just hop on my left leg.”

The Wizard-nim shook off my hand as if she didn’t need my insignificant support or help.

“Are you serious?”

At her suggestion to hop on one leg, I looked at the slope we had to descend.

The uneven slope was full of slippery pebbles and even slipperier fallen leaves. On top of that, there were pockets of slime mucus hidden like traps.

Going down such a slope by hopping on one leg seemed like nothing but an invitation to spectacularly break the other ankle too.

“You never know until you try!”

The Wizard-nim, seemingly oblivious to how dangerous and foolish her plan was, confidently prepared to hop on one leg.

“Let me carry…”

“No.”

For the Wizard-nim, I tried to offer my back.

But the moment I suggested she climb on my back, as if she’d expected it, the Wizard-nim flat-out rejected my consideration before I could even finish speaking.

“We don’t have time to argue.”

Without asking for her understanding, I forcibly grabbed her arm and almost semi-forcibly made her assume a position to be carried on my back.

“Ah, I… I said no!!”

She flailed her arms, trying to resist, but the Wizard-nim, having lost all her magic, was nothing more than an ordinary, frail girl.

Her resistance, though desperate, was surprisingly insignificant, and I easily ignored it. With her on my back, I powerfully straightened the knees I had bent slightly to lift her.

“Ugh…”

Finally, forcibly carried on my back, with her feet off the ground, the Wizard-nim let out a short, low groan and quietly settled onto my back, placing her hands on my shoulders to prevent excessive contact.

“We need to get out of this forest quickly. There’s no time to waste.”

This was a forest where slimes spawned in abnormally large numbers, so much so that not even the chirping of insects could be heard.

If the slimes noticed our sudden presence, they would undoubtedly emerge to hunt us without hesitation.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t accompany me?”

The Wizard-nim said she hadn’t expected it, but it seemed there was still a grudge about me refusing to accompany her.

“I said it would be difficult to accompany you on something as dangerous as a suicidal act.”

Carrying the Wizard-nim, who was lighter than I expected, on my back, I carefully picked my way down the slippery slope.

Fortunately, there seemed to be a village nearby, as I could see white smoke, as if from cooking, rising not far away.

“Live quietly on the outskirts of the continent. Even though your power is gone, Wizard-nim, your knowledge and wisdom are still valuable.”

Avoiding fallen leaves and pebbles to keep from slipping on the slope, I tried to persuade the Wizard-nim once more.

“No. That’s an insignificant proposal not even worth considering.”

But the Wizard-nim still expressed a firm refusal in a short, strong voice.

Realizing instinctively that her stubbornness could never be broken, I let out a small sigh.

“Then I will only accompany you as far as a village where you can receive treatment. I apologize, but I am merely an ordinary person with no courage or ability to act alongside the Wizard-nim.”

“Hmph.”

At my still cowardly and insignificant reply, the Wizard-nim merely let out a cold snort, as if my answer wasn’t even worth a response.

From the start, the chances of the powerless Wizard-nim and utterly ordinary me joining forces to win against the Demon King, the strongest of the demon race, and the Empress, who had unified all the kingdoms of the continent into a single empire, were close to zero.

“……”

As I quietly walked, I cast a sidelong glance at the Wizard-nim’s face on my back.

With a sulky expression, lips pouting, she was silently expressing her displeasure at my refusal to accompany her.

The White Wizard.

With her absolute power, she had subjugated the Demon King, the strongest of the demon race and the head of all demons, through sheer force.

Her unfathomable wisdom had made the Empress, who had unified five kingdoms into a single empire, bow her head.

It was unbelievable that such a Wizard-nim, now on my back, stubbornly insisting on a wish that was absolutely impossible to achieve with her current power, was the same person as this girl.

“What? Am I heavy?”

Feeling my gaze fixed on her, the Wizard-nim narrowed her eyes and glared at me, as if asking why I was staring.

And as if to say, ‘Think very carefully and answer cleverly,’ she overtly ground her teeth in front of me.

“Ah… no. You’re as light as a feather.”

Even after losing all her power, her still spirited and prickly personality proved that she was the exact same person as before.

My answer that she was as light as a feather didn’t seem to satisfy her. The Wizard-nim’s fierce gaze, as if she was about to pick even a small flaw, was burdensome, so I carefully tried to change the subject.

“Wizard-nim. Did you not know that pendant was a powerful sealing artifact?”

Every time I moved, the hollow pendant hanging between her breasts swayed gently.

“Oh… this? I recognized it at a glance. It’s an artifact that sealed an ancient god of destruction, but with immense modifications, isn’t it?”

As expected, the Wizard-nim, who possessed all the knowledge of the world, had discerned the pendant’s true nature at a glance.

Even thinking about it now, the Wizard-nim seemed dumbfounded, letting out a small, wry chuckle as she lifted the pendant hanging from her neck.

“Wasn’t the God of Destruction’s sealing stone held half by humans and half by demons?”

The sealing stone that had bound the ancient God of Destruction held immense power in itself.

Humans and demons, who hated each other enough to kill, realized the danger of this sealing stone and seemed to have divided it in half, each holding a portion, as if to keep each other in check.

“They cooperated temporarily just to catch me. What *amazing* unity.”

The pendant that sealed her magic was the result of humans and demons temporarily setting aside centuries of accumulated resentment and hatred in front of a common goal, offering up their respective treasures as a display of unity.

The Wizard-nim recalled how that astonishing unity had crumbled like a sandcastle and vanished as soon as their goal was achieved, and she smiled with a hint of mockery.

If they had remained united like a ragtag army, targeting only the Wizard-nim without checking each other, the Wizard-nim would have already been placed on a pyre and burned.

“It was quite a sight, the Demon Queen trying every trick in the book, all her coquetry and charms, just to get this pendant around my neck. If there had been video recording devices, I could have ridiculed that disgrace forever…”

But ultimately, the Wizard-nim had safely escaped their clutches, and now, belatedly, she was uttering unheard mockery from my back.

Listening to the Wizard-nim’s laughter-filled mockery directed at the Demon Queen and the Empress, I naturally had to ask another question.

“But… why did you put such a sealing artifact around your own neck?”

“I just fell for her charm~ Not only did humans and demons, who are sworn enemies, cooperate to defeat me, but the Demon Queen herself, a being of such renown, performed tricks in front of me… Shouldn’t I grant at least one wish?”

“Just… for that reason?”

“Yes~ Just for that reason! Ahahaha~”

Even though she was now being carried on my back due to a sprained ankle, the Wizard-nim concluded the conversation with a small laugh, as if she had no regrets or lingering attachments to her actions.

Her actions, which were no different from willingly stepping into a death trap, were utterly incomprehensible to me, so I could only tilt my head in confusion.

“Ah~ That looks like the village over there!”

Carried on my back, with a slightly higher vantage point, the Wizard-nim spotted a faint light flickering through the dense trees.

Just as I was about to quicken my pace in the direction her outstretched finger pointed…

“Grrr…”

“Huh?!”

A low, ominous growl, like cold, frozen metal chains, began to coil around my knees and spine.

“W-Wolves?”

Along with the ominous growl, two wolves emerged from among the slime-covered trees.

Perhaps they had wandered for a long time through the desolate forest, filled only with disgusting slime byproducts and gaunt trees, as both wolves were so emaciated that their bones were clearly visible beneath their thin hides.

However, after their long wandering, having finally found meat they could consume, their eyes glowed with an eerie red light, as if burning their remaining life force.

“Wizard-nim. I think you need to get down.”

“U-Understood.”

Though these wolves had been starved for so long their emaciated bones were clearly visible, their desperate will to survive seemed to momentarily make them forget the lethargy of hunger.

As if staking everything on this moment, which could be their last hunt, they openly displayed their wicked teeth and burned with clear murderous intent toward us.

“Hoo…”

Kill or be killed.

To calm my trembling breath, I took a deep inhale and drew the longsword I wore at my hip for self-defense.

Then the two wolves slowly began to split, circling us from left and right.

The strong, large male moved towards my right side…

…while the relatively young and swift female slowly circled towards the Wizard-nim’s left side.

“They’re going to attack simultaneously.”

The Wizard-nim, gripping my clothes tightly, analyzed the wolves’ movements and informed me in a voice trembling too much to hide her unease.

“What should we do?”

I was not a skilled swordsman, agile, swift, and capable of wielding beautiful sword techniques like her escort knight.

Nor was I someone with genius magical talent or astute mana manipulation abilities, like the intelligent disciple she favored.

I was merely an ordinary person with just enough strength to somehow handle one wolf charging at me, using the power of the sharp longsword in my hand.

“Wizard-nim?!”

Protect the Wizard-nim? If I did, my back would surely be torn by the strong male’s claws, and the back of my neck crushed by its teeth and jaw.

Protect myself? I could certainly secure my own safety somehow, but it was uncertain whether the Wizard-nim, having lost all her power, could defend herself from the female wolf until I dealt with the wolf attacking me.

“I’ll take care of myself, so don’t worry about me!”

The Wizard-nim gripped a handful of the accumulated slime liquid and pebbles from the ground in both hands.

I didn’t know how that would help, but the Wizard-nim must have a plan of her own.

And I, in a situation where I couldn’t even guarantee my own safety, didn’t have the luxury of worrying about her plan.

“Grrr…”

In the meantime, the wolves took their positions for a simultaneous attack from left and right. Then, as if exchanging signals with each other, they let out small growls before taking a deep breath.

“They’re coming!!”

Simultaneously with my warning, the two wolves exhaled the breath they had taken in a mighty howl and charged at us in unison.

“Haa!”

The wolf, pushed to its limits by hunger, charged directly at me in a straight line, without any complex technique.

There was no need to swing the sword; I simply aimed the sharply pointed tip at the charging wolf. Then, I thrust the sword into the gaping maw of the beast.

“Gah!”

The sharp steel sword tip tore through the wolf’s dry, cracked mouth, shattered its skull, and killed it instantly, giving it no time to feel pain.

Unlike its fierce and murderous momentum, the wolf’s life was extinguished so fleetingly. I kicked it to try and pull my sword out from its embedded maw.

But the moment the sword tip pierced its maw, the beast’s jaws, reflexively clenching tightly, did not easily release my sword.

“Agh!”

“W-Wizard-nim?!”

But then, a sharp scream from the Wizard-nim came from behind me.

Unable to pull out the sword deeply embedded in the wolf’s jaw, I urgently turned to look at the Wizard-nim.

She had tried throwing pebbles and slime liquid to deter the charging wolf, but such things could not possibly stop the assault of a truly starved wolf.

The wolf, ignoring everything thrown at it and taking all hits head-on, charged with all its might at the Wizard-nim. It successfully knocked her down by crushing her with its body, then bit her shoulder hard.

“Let go!!!”

Fortunately, the tough cloak she wore prevented the wolf’s sharp claws and teeth from brutally tearing her delicate flesh.

The Wizard-nim screamed, desperately scratching at the wolf’s snout, which was firmly clamped on her shoulder, or pounding it with her small fists.

But the wolf’s tenacity wasn’t so weak that it would easily abandon prey it had bitten once.

It snorted roughly, gnashing its deeply embedded teeth as it struggled with all its might to tear through the tough cloak.

“Magic Bullet!!”

Unable to pull out the sword stuck in the wolf’s jaw, I abandoned the sword and activated the most basic magic I had learned from the Wizard-nim, targeting the wolf.

-Magic Bullet.

It was a simple yet swift attack, merely condensing the mana flowing through my body into a single point and shooting it towards the target.

But perhaps it was the karma of me, a non-combatant, having neglected my mana and magic training in the past.

The bluish mana bullet I shot meaninglessly struck an innocent tree nearby, instead of the wolf biting the Wizard-nim’s shoulder.

“Damn it…”

As its attack on the wolf failed, the beast let out a rough breath of excitement and glared at me, who had easily killed its companion.

The wolf, having confirmed its companion’s death, seemed to be thinking of getting out of this spot, and slightly rose.

“Grrk!!”

The moment I felt a slight sense of relief, thinking the wolf would retreat after confirming its companion’s death…

…the beast used all its strength, recoil, and elasticity, as if squeezing out the last bit of life from its body, to throw the Wizard-nim’s body, which it was biting on the shoulder, towards the steep slope.

“U-Uwaaaah?!”

Thrown with monstrous strength, as if the wolf had squeezed out its very life force, causing her body to float in the air, the Wizard-nim flailed her arms and legs uselessly in mid-air.

She fell straight down the steep slope, unable to overcome the force of inertia, and began tumbling down, scattering blood everywhere.

“Grrr!”

The wolf, scoffing lightly as if mocking my surprise at the sudden change in situation, began to run, chasing after the Wizard-nim whom it had thrown, now sliding and tumbling down the slope.

“Damn it!!”

The wolf, born and raised in the forest, quickly chased after the Wizard-nim tumbling down the slope with its strong, swift four legs.

I, too, scrambled down the slope after the Wizard-nim, but while I struggled to maintain my balance on the extremely steep incline, the wolf had already vanished from my sight.