episode_0142

To resolve the incident of the disappearance of magic throughout the village, Ethan and I moved our steps to the opposite side of the mountain.

Including an unexpected companion who was a bit noisy, not originally part of the investigation plan.

“You didn’t have to follow me all the way, Salamander.”

“I had a feeling that if I didn’t, you’d just run away!”

It seemed like she had lost trust in me due to our conversation in the blacksmith’s shop just now.

Fortunately, Ethan couldn’t understand what Salamander was saying, so it didn’t matter much.

“It seems like you get along well with the spirit, Lillith.”

“What?”

“Not at all?!”

“Well, not exactly…”

“It’s not like that!”

From her casual way of speaking, it was clear that Ethan couldn’t understand Salamander’s words.

Not only did she appear to me as a girl surrounded by flames, but she also couldn’t read emotions through facial expressions or actions.

It was fortunate that I didn’t have to explain Salamander’s anger to Ethan.

Since we wouldn’t see each other again after today, there was no need to be overly cautious.

And ultimately, it was fortunate that I brought her up the mountain. Salamander, who had lived in this area for a long time, was more competent at finding the mountain path than I was.

“Are we still far, Salamander?”

“Just follow quietly! We’re following the path where magic flows!”

“Nearby, I don’t really feel any magic.”

“Of course not, you humans are clueless. You can’t detect delicate magic like us.”

Although her words were subtly irritating, her appearance as a small girl made it somewhat tolerable.

I’m glad the spirits in this world are cute. If they weren’t, they would have gone extinct long ago.

With those thoughts, after about 30 minutes of walking up the mountain path with Salamander, the strong aura of magic began to be felt, even by me.

Excitedly, Salamander flew in the direction where the magic was getting stronger, indicating that we were getting closer to the source of the problem.

“It’s here! This way!”

“Wait! Don’t go ahead!”

Due to Salamander flying effortlessly through the complex terrain of the mountain, Ethan and I were left behind on the path.

In order not to lose her, we hurriedly followed her flying figure.

“Ethan, this way!”

“Oh, okay!”

As we approached, the strong aura of magic became noticeable to me as well, allowing us to follow Salamander without hesitation.

Expecting to encounter high-ranking demons using mana drain, Ethan and I cautiously approached, but to our surprise, we found a group of lower-ranking demons instead.

“Brother, should we move to a different location soon? It’s been three days and we haven’t caught anything.”

“Quiet, kid. I told you, I can still smell lingering spirits nearby.”

“If there were any, they would have shown up by now. We’ve caught almost everything we can in this area. We should start moving before the ones we’ve caught deteriorate…”

“You bad demons!”

-Thud!

“Look at this. I clearly said I’m still here, didn’t I?”

“Oh, you’re definitely the boss!”

“This one seems much bigger than the ones we’ve caught so far, right? Oh, I’m going to make some money.”

“Let go of me~!! You stupid lower demon leader~!!!”

Feeling a tense atmosphere, Salamander, who rashly jumped out to observe the situation from the bushes, was caught by a demon’s hand.

The lower demon holding the fire spirit in his hand sealed it in a glass cage.

“No! Don’t do this~!! Open it~!! Hey~!!”

“How much do you think this one will go for?”

“Well, since it’s a fire spirit, it could probably sell for a lot more than the others. Fire spirits are in demand not only by mages but also by ordinary people for display purposes.”

“Let me go~! Where are you planning to take me!!”

Spirit hunters.

Just from listening to their conversation, it was clear that they belonged to that category of demons.

They roamed through uninhabited forests or mountains collecting spirits and selling them at high prices to demon mages and the like.

The reason they had come all the way to this remote village where humans lived was probably because spirits didn’t live in demon habitats.

Physically capturing Salamander and putting it in a glass cage was a story that was possible because they were demons.

In the mysterious magic tool that was rotating on one side, there was a sensation as if it was absorbing magic power from the surroundings.

It seemed to be a trap to eliminate all the magic power in the surroundings and gather the spirits with faint magic power.

“Anyway, those guys were the reason for eliminating the magic power in this area….”

Regardless of whether they were spirit hunters or not, demons needed to be exterminated just because they were demons.

If left alone, they would undoubtedly become a great threat to the empire in the future. The Luminoir Academy didn’t have a mediocre ending like humans and demons living in harmony.

And above all, the situation where Salamander was being captured didn’t sit well with me.

Without that creature, it would be impossible to operate the dwarf’s blast furnace in Grainstone Village or receive blessings from the fire spirit.

Especially, the blessing of the spirit was a much-needed trait for me, whose luck stat could be influenced by the situation.

I needed to somehow deal with all of them and retrieve Salamander.

“To return the village to its original state and rescue Salamander, it seems we can’t avoid a confrontation, Lord Edan.”

“They all look like lower demons to me… What do you think, Lillis?”

“I agree, Lord Edan. I thought they were high-ranking demons, but it’s fortunate that they’re a group of lower demons in many ways. Are you going to start with a surprise attack?”

“Yes. That’s the most efficient way.”

Perhaps because he was Harold’s son, he didn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to win.

It was truly a great mindset, so I nodded in agreement with Edan’s proposal.

Before Edan stepped forward with his swords, I cast a triple casting to create three magic arrows.

“I’ll start first.”

“Are you sure about this? Lillis, your magic arrows usually don’t hit well, right?”

“…Today, I think they’ll hit a little more than usual.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you since you said so.”

…Saying you trust someone makes them nervous, and they might end up missing their shot.

Still, once I had loaded the magic arrows, I couldn’t cancel them like a woman, so I aimed the three magic arrows at the neck of the one who seemed to be the leader of the group.

With the final achievement of catching the salamander and feeling triumphant, three magical arrows flew towards the guy who let his guard down.

“Alright! Time to retreat! We need to get out of this place reeking of human scent quickly…”

-Thunk! Whoosh!

“Wha-what?!”

“Hyungnim!”

“What the hell?!”

It seems like my accuracy has definitely improved. Back then, even hitting one out of three arrows was considered lucky.

While pondering over this, Dan swiftly leaped into the midst of the demons, wielding his twin swords in response to my surprise attack.

In the confusion caused by our leader’s death, he swiftly swept through two of the subordinates with just two horizontal slashes.

-Swish! Swoosh!

“Clang!”

“Get…!”

There were roughly three demons left. If I take care of one and Dan handles the other two, we should be able to resolve this situation.

With that thought in mind, I also charged towards one of the demons with my dagger.

Somewhere, a sharp sound cutting through the wind reached my ears.

“Protect them!”

Instinctively sensing danger, I quickly cast a double-layered vision shield.

Fortunately, the shield activated just in time to cover our faces and necks, as two arrows flew towards us from the other side of the shield.

-Thud! Whoosh!

“….!”

“Dan Doyeonim, it’s an archer!”

“I’ve noticed too!”

Thanks to reflexively creating the vision shield, neither Dan nor I suffered the fate of being pierced by the arrows.

It was fortunate that I had sparred with Luke before. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to reflexively create the shield in this situation.

After silently expressing my gratitude towards her in my mind, I once again charged towards the demon in front of me, swiftly exchanging blows with my hefty dagger.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Who the hell are you?!”

“I’m not a guy, you idiot!”

“What the hell are you?!”

“Mind your own business!”

With a swift horizontal strike of my dagger, the demon’s voice, which had been noisy until then, fell silent.

I could even witness the remaining demons who were facing Dan in a 2-on-1 situation losing their breath.

“Lilith, let’s hide for now! There might still be enemies lurking in the forest…”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

“…Huh?”

I picked up the short dagger of the demon whose head I had just severed in front of me and used ‘Dagger Throw’ in the direction where the arrow had come from.

-Whoosh!

“Argh, ugh…!”

Before long, the sound of an arrow piercing flesh through the trees in the forest and the abrupt scream of the demon echoed.

Since multiple arrows had flown from the forest, I naturally retrieved another dagger from the other demon’s hand and threw it towards the opposite side of the forest.

This time, almost no sound of agony or struggle could be heard, and the eerie feeling from within the forest faded away.

The remaining presence… seems to be nonexistent for now.

“It seems like it’s over for now.”

“Y-yeah…”

The lifeless bodies of the demons scattered around and the fresh bloodstains everywhere.

Considering the cleanup of this chaotic scene, it seemed unlikely that we could return to Blackwood today.