episode_0043

“I can really treat you better. However, since you seem young… …may I ask where you belong… … .”

“No affiliation, just a wandering wizard.”

“I see.”

Is he just hiding his expression well, or is he really okay?

The one called Senghor had no significant change in expression.

“Then… … .”

“It’s okay.”

“… .”

Leon declined the offer before Senghor could finish speaking.

Relief appeared on Dave’s face, who had been looking at me with an anxious expression.

It was sad to see the giant’s face turn into a puppy-like one and stare at me, but that wasn’t why I refused.

I was planning on checking out Area 2 tomorrow and then going straight into the area, but I didn’t feel the need to change parties now.

It didn’t matter who you went with to Zone 1 or Zone 2.

Above all, I was not impressed by the suggestion being made while already part of a party and having a meal together, as it seemed to lack the concept of respect.

When Leon refused, Karin slammed the table and stood up.

“Did you hear the answer? Then get out.”

“Is that what’s happening between us?”

“What is our relationship!”

“We even drank together.”

“You called me out because you had some worries when you were a rookie. Why didn’t you tell me that you got slapped while acting like a fool!”

Karin frowned as bad memories came back to her.

The blond man shrugged his shoulders at her anger.

And then he pretended to turn his gaze away, scanning Karin’s body, and his eyes met Leon’s.

‘Blonde with copper skin… hmm… .’

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I have a feeling that something is off.

‘Well, we won’t get involved anyway.’

As Leon turned his gaze away, pretending not to notice, Senghor opened his mouth calmly.

“Since you declined, it would be rude to ask any further questions. We will now take our leave.”

Sengor tapped Deif’s shoulder as he sat there.

“Maybe I can see you tomorrow.”

Despite Sengor’s unpleasant gestures, Dave had a satisfied smile on his lips.

“Okay, go~”

“… .”

Senghor left with a trembling expression, and Deif clasped his hands together as if he was touched.

The leather armor he wore writhed as if it was about to burst.

“Thank you so much. You are so loyal… … In fact, the party is not even signing a contract, so you should have heard better conditions… … .”

“… Because there is something that matches the sum.”

“And I’m not saying this because he’s my enemy, he’s a really bad guy.”

Leon couldn’t stand looking at the man’s flustered face any longer, so he ended the conversation appropriately.

I didn’t ask any further questions about Senghor.

Because I wasn’t very interested in the first place.

“Let’s see each other tomorrow morning.”

“Yes! We will take care of the preparations.”

After finishing my meal, I got up from my seat.

“If you’re bored, you can come and play at our inn!”

Karin laughed playfully as she walked away.

Dave is overly polite, and Karin is overly friendly.

It was better for Linne to just stay still.

Leon, who had parted ways with his group, found a different inn and stayed there for a day.

The money for the inn was paid with the money I had saved up while living there because I had nowhere to spend it.

There weren’t that many.

Leon woke up early in the morning and stopped by the market to stock up on food.

It was mainly dried meat that could be eaten conveniently.

“Do you also get mana stones?”

“… … Oh, of course.”

Since it was a place where wizards were active, it seemed that mana stones had sufficient value as currency.

‘Is it natural since the magic stone is a lower-level version of the mana stone?’

I packed my food in a preservation container and headed to the guild headquarters as scheduled.

They must have finished preparing early in the morning, because they were all already there and waiting.

Dave was sitting on the bench, and in front of him, Karin was waving her arms and saying something.

Linne had a small smile on her lips as she looked at Karin like that.

It looked like a peaceful party.

“Ah! You came.”

“You came out early.”

Leon, who joined the group, wrote a mission log and headed straight to the Demon Forest.

I increased my speed to head straight to Area 2, but I couldn’t get through Area 1 easily.

It took time just to walk, and I encountered goblin groups more often than I expected.

Dave tilted his head.

“Something is off.”

“I do meet monsters often.”

Dave also seemed to feel something strange.

Yesterday, I walked around Area 1 all day, but I only encountered groups of monsters 7 or 8 times at most.

But now, even though I increased my speed, I met five groups.

“It seems like the high-ranking monsters occupying the area deep inside have done something.”

A monster occupying an area.

Leon also knew roughly what he heard from Kito.

The closer you get to the center of the Demon Forest, the more powerful monsters appear.

And it was said that strong monsters each had their own territory in the Demon Forest and reigned over it like kings.

“The monsters at the entrance are also affected by the movements of the monsters that have taken up residence in the depths.”

High-ranking demons invade each other’s territory and fight, or prepare to do so.

The confusion even affects the monsters at the entrance.

“It happens often, but… … .”

I asked Leon if he was worried about Dave.

“What would you like to do?”

“What specifically does it mean to be affected?”

“You may encounter monsters more often than usual because they are moving around in a chaotic manner, or you may encounter monsters moving around together… … That’s about it.”

“That’s fine.”

For Leon, who was planning to go deeper into the area today, that level of problem was no obstacle at all.

“Do you have any tips for dealing with the monster’s aggro being released while you’re preparing a spell? … .”

“There is.”

There was also a way to kill him before the aggro was released.

“Then it should be okay. We won’t go any deeper than the entrance to Area 2 anyway.”

Since it was a one-day trip, they seemed to have decided that a date would be okay.

As we went much deeper than where we had entered yesterday, the forest began to steepen.

But other than that, I couldn’t really tell much of a difference, except that the forest was thicker.

“After going up for a while, there comes a flat section, and from there it is called Zone 2.”

“I see.”

It’s not that there was no fighting, but by the time we reached Area 2, the sun had already started to set in the opposite direction.

It wasn’t a big problem for the group that only looked at the entrance to Zone 2.

‘If I fly, it won’t even take a day to get to District 3.’

I heard from Dave that there are no flying monsters up to Area 2.

I heard a rumor that an adventurer saw a griffon around Area 4.

The place where Kito hid the core is the border just before the Demon Forest that extends from the west to the center.

The center was said to be filled with monsters that were truly unimaginable, so caution was required.

The area where Kito originally resides may also be occupied by other high-level monsters.

As soon as I entered Zone 2, I heard noises nearby.

The monsters that revealed their bodies were two lizardmen.

The skin was covered with rough scales, and the skin was green.

Dave went straight to the vanguard.

The formation was the same as when dealing with the goblins.

Leon’s chanting ended while Dave was distracted.

“Fire Arrow.”

When I shot a fire arrow at two lizardmen, they died without offering much resistance.

Leon controlled the fire so that it would not spread into the forest.

The lizardmen appeared to have strong defenses, but they were not good at repelling magic.

However, because each individual was large and strong, it might feel difficult to confront them directly.

“Move quickly.”

“Yes, yes.”

*

Dave had a hard time holding back the smile that formed at the corners of his mouth.

After killing one lizardman, another one appeared, and then two more appeared after that.

It kept appearing continuously.

The lizardman’s skin, which had suddenly appeared, also turned brown.

The brown lizardman’s scales were a bit harder.

Even though he knew that his body was being pushed and he was entering deeper into the forest, Dave was still smiling brightly.

It didn’t take much physical strength either.

If you just draw a little attention to one or two of them, the wizard will take care of them.

Stabbed by arrows of fire, torn to pieces by blades of wind, and swept away by waves of water.

The colorful magical feast was dazzling.

‘That’s why wizards, wizards… ‘

There was a reason why demand did not decrease no matter how eccentric the personality was.

In this way, the lizardmen’s corpses continued to pile up.

It took longer to dismantle and collect the corpses than to actually fight.

“Ahem, I think it would be better to wrap things up here since we have to go back before it gets dark.”

Dave opened his mouth, hiding his regret.

Since it was a one-day trip, we had to get out of the forest before it got dark.

We’re already deeper in than planned.

As the party leader, his judgment was clouded.

visor-

At that moment, the sound of a weapon clashing was heard not far away.

Dave turned his gaze in that direction.

They were blocked by trees and I couldn’t see them, but judging from the urgent sounds they made, they seemed to be struggling in battle.

‘It looks like another adventurer’s party.’

I could have helped, but Dave knew the subject.

The power of this party came solely from the boy wizard.

If you wanted to help, you had to ask permission.

‘I must do it the right way.’

There was no guarantee that the adventurers’ favor would be returned with another favor.

Rather, there have been many cases where people helped others but then ended up in conflict over the bodies.

That is why the principle was that the party should take care of its own affairs.

Above all, Dave, who was already so excited that he made the mistake of going in deeper than planned, had no shame in speaking.

“If we keep going like this, we’ll get there on time.”

Dave turned around as he said, and his body froze.

“Shh shh.”

A group of lizardmen that damage trees and reveal their bodies.

It wasn’t just one or two like before.

Dozens of lizardmen were blocking the path of Deif and his party.

Even just by eyeballing it, there were more than 30.

“Drew us in… … ?”

Dave instinctively took a step back.

I was breathless at the spirit of the 30 monsters.

At that moment, someone pushed his back with their palm.

He was a boy wizard.

The face that was slightly revealed from under the robe was so calm that even Dave felt calm.

“Don’t back down, Vanguard.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

As Dave came to his senses and gripped the hilt of his greatsword tightly.

There was a group of people jumping out from next to the Daph group.

It was a party fighting right next to me.

The five faces were familiar to Dave.

“Sengor… … ?”

“Haa, haa… … Help me!”

Sengor looked at the wizard with shining eyes and hurriedly joined Deif’s group.

Thanks to that, the lizardmen group that had been chasing Sengor’s party also turned their attention to Deif’s party.

More than 50 lizardmen spread out and began to surround Deif and his party.

“Haa… … .”

Suddenly Leon sighed.

And he raised his palm.

“Get away.”

Kurung-

A flash of lightning and a deafening roar of thunder.

A dazzling beam of light suddenly descended from the sky.

The lizardman’s body was instantly enveloped in blue electricity.

“Keeik-”

The lizardman screams in pain.

Sparks flew between his scales, the muscles in his entire body convulsed, his eyes turned white for a moment, and he fell to the ground.

Smoke rose from the lizardman’s mouth.

In that instant, nine lizardmen died.

It wasn’t the end.

“Fall again.”

The boy wizard muttered again.

Kurung-

In an instant, the nine lizardmen’s breaths were cut off.

The lightning continued to strike like that.

Every time the wizard’s mouth falls, a lizardman dies.

With just one word, monsters all die.

‘This is the true power of a wizard… … .’

I was just trying to block the lizardmen that started rushing at me when I was half dead, but before I knew it, all 50 lizardmen had become corpses.

The piled up corpses were enough to allow them to spend a month just eating and not hunting.

“Hoo… … .”

Even the wizard let out a shallow sigh, as if it was difficult to use magic continuously.

At that moment, Senghor’s eyes lit up.

He nodded to his fellow party members.

Dave discovered this too late.

‘Oops!’

When is a wizard at his weakest!

Wasn’t it right after you cast a big spell?

Even this boy wizard used his magic to overcome the lizardmen’s siege.

‘But you can’t believe he’s a wizard… … No, a wandering wizard?’

By the time he noticed, all five party members, including Sengor, were already running behind the wizard.

“Theo!”

Dave shouted urgently.

His voice echoed through the forest.

And that desperate cry bounced off Senghor’s sword in a pitiful, futile manner.

By the defensive barrier that had formed around the wizard.

“?”

The wizard looked at Senghor curiously.

The expression was closer to absurdity than confusion.