◈ 213. [Side Story] Wizards (2)
After the convened meeting.
When heroes are scattered in twos and threes.
Junior was about to leave the manor house and head for his hotel room, but Raina blocked his way.
“Hey Jupiter daughter.”
Even though the old man who blocked the road leaning against the door looked like a third-rate scoundrel, the old wizard exuded a strange elegance.
Junior frowned at that, and Reina smiled.
“I’ve been waiting since then, why didn’t you come? I’m sorry Don’t you want to prolong your life?”
“I am well aware of my illness, Sir Reina.”
Junior replied bluntly and passed Reina like that.
“I know very well that it is impossible to increase lifespan. Do you think I went to one or two temples to be cured of this disease?”
“Huh. It is a temple.”
“I don’t know what the ulterior motive is, but I’m not so stupid as to be fooled by such false advertisements and fall into the plot of others.”
Reina hurriedly followed Junior as he walked down the street with quick steps. Junior responded coldly.
“How about preparing for the next defense? The Serpent of the World, Jormungandra. It seems that the commander of the Magic Troops is also the first enemy to deal with.”
I tried to shake it off somehow, but Reina suddenly started making different noises.
“You know what, Jupiter’s daughter? A normal mage can only deal with one attribute.”
“… ?”
“But occasionally, on rare occasions, wizards who can handle multiple attributes appear. And those multi-attribute mages have something in common. Do you know what?”
Rayna made a pistol-shaped sound with her hands.
“I had an experience of being attacked by magic when I was a baby.”
“… .”
“The element of the magical attribute that you received as a child dwells in your heart, which is a magical path, and you are forced to awaken the ability to respond to that attribute element.”
Junior frowned and glared at Reina. Reina smiled and wrinkled the corners of her mouth.
“The magic attacks you were swept up in as a child were Jupiter’s thunderbolt and my wind. That’s why you can handle lightning and wind. You became a triple-attribute mage, including the innate water attribute.”
“… What do you want to say?”
“Like Jupiter, I am one of the sources of your magic. your magical parents… … Shall I say?”
slap!
Junior pointed his staff at Reina and growled ferociously.
“If you say something disgusting like that one more time, I will kill you.”
“Whoah, calm down and listen more.”
Reina spoke calmly.
“The reason why you vomit blood and put strain on your body every time you use magic is because of the magical scars in your heart. To be precise, it’s because of the ‘other people’s magic elements’ that remain in the heart. This continues to carve scars and put pressure on your magic furnace.”
“… .”
“By the way, I am the master of the wind element left in your heart. Besides, ‘Knives of Wind’ is capable of the most detailed mana control on the continent. If it were me, I could clean up the dregs.”
Reina extended her index finger and pointed at Junior’s left chest.
“Then, naturally, the burden on your magic power will be reduced, your heart will become stronger, and your lifespan will increase. How did you understand?”
“… I did understand.”
Yes, I understand the principle. but.
“But why are you trying to help me like this? Like you said, because you’re in a position to engage in magic? Or a sense of guilt? A good conscience? for what reason?”
I couldn’t understand why Rayna would do this.
So, what good did this woman do? why are you trying to help?
Reina shrugged.
“Does it matter? On the subject of today and tomorrow? Having this procedure from me will certainly do you good for your health, at least more than chewing spinach and tomatoes.”
“… .”
“Okay, just answer Yes or No. I’m not the kind of girl who holds onto people she doesn’t like either.”
Junior bit his lower lip and pondered.
Raina snorted at Junior like that.
“Aren’t you taking advantage of opportunities because of your petty pride?”
“… !”
“I understand that I don’t like it, but if I put up with humiliation for a while, my life could be extended. Wouldn’t it be more stupid to throw away an opportunity like this to take care of one’s pride?”
Raina tapped Junior’s forehead with her index finger.
“Act like a wizard, kid. Like a wizard!”
“… .”
“If I can live just one more day to improve my magical achievement, I should sell my soul to the devil. that’s a wizard is not it?”
Junior kept his mouth shut and looked up at Reina dissatisfiedly.
And-
***
… Eventually, I came to Rayna’s room.
Officer quarters on the third floor of the barracks. Reina, who occupied two rooms by herself, took off her officer’s cap as soon as she entered the room, swung it around and threw it at random.
“It won’t take long. Let’s start right away.”
Reina’s room had no sense of life like Jupiter’s. All that was in the room were a few clothes and a pack of cigarettes.
‘Are all wandering soldiers like this?’
Junior hesitated at the awkwardness and discomfort peculiar to someone else’s room. Reina grinned at Junior and nodded.
“Sit comfortably there, whether it’s a chair, a sofa, or a bed. Oh, take off all the tops.”
“yes?”
“Then, from now on, I’m going to use my magic power to infiltrate inside, so you have to wear clothes? Will they all become rags?”
“Kuu… .”
Even if they were of the same sex, they were reluctant to show their naked bodies to others, but it was a matter of prolonging their lives.
Junior reluctantly turned around and took off his top.
Burns were left on Junior’s exposed left half.
It was a scar left from the bombardment of Jupiter and Raina that day 15 years ago.
“… .”
Reina looked down expressionlessly at the scars on the young wizard’s skinny back.
Junior, who also took off his cone hat, looked back and rolled his eyes.
“So what am I supposed to do during that ‘procedure’?”
“Just do one.”
With a grin, Reina placed her hand on Junior’s left shoulder blade.
“Don’t black out.”
For a moment before she flinched at the cold touch, magic like a sharp blade leaked into Junior’s body from Reina’s fingertips.
“Hey… .”
The pain was great. Blood formed on Junior’s bitten lower lip.
“Haha… Aww… … !”
It was like thousands of needles poking around the heart. Junior shuddered and endured the pain.
Reina broke out in a cold sweat like rain as she closed her eyes tightly and continued the procedure by moving her mana in detail.
“Hold on, Jupiter daughter. little bit more… !”
***
The procedure was completed in 15 minutes, but both Junior and Raina exhausted themselves, so they each sat on either side of the sofa.
“main… I almost died… … .”
At the end of the procedure, Junior’s mouth was red from nosebleeds and hemoptysis.
Reina was also in a state of nosebleeds due to overdoing it with extremely detailed mana management. Covering her nose with a cloth, Reina said.
“In the meantime, you also scraped off Jupiter’s thunderbolt magic element that remained inside with your magical power. Of course, I couldn’t do everything… … I think the procedure will be over after about three more times.”
“Let’s do this three more times… ? Are you serious?”
“joy. If you feel the effect, you will be begging for more first.”
At Reina’s scolding, Junior lightly gathered mana into his fingertips.
‘what?’
The left side of her chest, which always felt sore every time she used magic, felt light.
The feeling of a foreign body that had been squeezing my chest was also greatly reduced. Junior opened his mouth slightly as he moved the magical energy that formed on his fingertips.
‘Was it so easy to use magical power?’
The burden on the body was significantly reduced. Reina’s treatment really worked.
“Can you believe me now?”
Seeing Raina smiling triumphantly, Junior hesitantly lowered his head.
“really… It works. Thank you.”
“Should I repay the favor now?”
“yes?”
“So you were going to get this grueling procedure for free? Isn’t that too careless?”
Reina’s cheeky smile deepened. Junior’s belly was twisted.
No, it’s definitely effective and I’m grateful, but one of the reasons why my body became like this in the first place was Raina.
After that, Reina, who pushes her back like a strong seller and gets the procedure and immediately mentions the price, didn’t look nice.
However, the ‘price’ was lighter than expected.
Cheek-
Reina spit out as she put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it with a match.
“Tell me a story.”
“yes? story?”
“How did you live after that? How did Jupiter come to this place?”
Whoa –
The old wizard’s profile, emitting long smoke, was locked in deep remorse.
“Tell me about 15 years of you and your mother that I don’t know about.”
“… .”
Junior, who was at a loss for words for a moment, asked cautiously.
“Is that really enough?”
“That’s fine.”
“… I can’t understand you very well.”
“You don’t have to understand.”
Reina smiled bitterly as she crushed the end of her cigarette with her lips.
“I don’t know either. Why are you doing this now… … Is it because you get old enough to become emotional?”
“… .”
“You can think of it as an old lady’s book… … how is it?”
Chiik-
Junior took out a smoke pipe, put it in his mouth and lit it. The scent of herbs rose from the end of the pipe.
“great. Please tell me instead.”
“what?”
“About my mother’s younger days.”
Junior was a little embarrassed and spat out.
“The story of the young Jupiter you went through.”
“… .”
Reina smiled and nodded.
“I’m willing to do that. Jupiter Jr.”
***
same time. 1st floor barracks.
The quarters where the penal unit stays.
“But do such giant snakes really exist?”
“You were swallowed by a very large slime last time! Remember that sticky stomach? There is also a jelly that big, but there is no such thing as a snake?”
“To climb on top of such a snake and fight for three days… Can we really?”
“But they say that if we can’t do it, our hometown will be in danger… .”
The 5 members of Quylan’s party are sitting around and talking about this defense.
bang-!
Suddenly, with a loud noise, the door to the inn opened violently.
When the frightened Quylan and his bandits saw that direction, they said,
“Come out.”
Lucas stood there with an expressionless face.
Behind it, Evangeline is looking over here with her eyes twinkling as if expecting something with several wooden swords in her arms.
The perplexed Quylan asked.
“Are you coming? Where are you going to come, sir?”
“If you come this way, there is a gymnasium. Come over there.”
“No, why is the gymnasium all of a sudden… … .”
Before Quylan could say anything,
Boom!
Lucas struck down the wooden sword in his hand.
“Wow?! What are you doing, knight?!”
Tuhak!
Terrified, Quylan managed to swing his fist and remove the wooden sword.
Evangeline each threw a wooden sword at the confused Quylan party.
Lucas growled at the bandits who were bewildered and wielded wooden swords.
“If you’re not going to come to the gymnasium, we have no choice but to do it here.”
“Ha, what the hell… … .”
Boooooong!
No questions and answers.
Instead of explaining, Lucas swung his wooden sword roughly, and the bandits screamed and barely avoided the attack.
“aha! i get it!”
Quilan shouted as he hurriedly put on his gauntlet and grabbed Lucas’s wooden sword.
“You’re trying to train us for an impending defense battle!”
“… .”
“Because we are weak against the monster, they purposely attack us as ferociously as beasts! yes?!”
“… .”
“I never thought they would worry about us and take care of us so meticulously! People are better than they look, driver!”
Lucas responded immediately.
“It’s not?”
“Eh… ?”
“I just don’t like you. I’m just doing this because I want to beat you up a little.”
The overly candid Lucas’ blue eyes shimmered like lanterns.
“You guys must have caused a lot of trouble in the last defense battle? not this time Rather than letting them do that, it would be better to break their arms and legs here so that they can’t come out on the front line at all. And I will.”
The five members of the punishment unit swallowed dry saliva at the same time.
Even though they hadn’t been able to deal with monsters, the imperial army was a Quylan party that had been able to deal with them to the point of being exhausted. They had a feeling.
The article in front of you is sincere.
They’re really trying to beat them to death… … !
“Stay upright, you ragtag bandits.”
Lucas growled ferociously as he pointed his wooden sword forward.
“I’ll show you the magic that makes you soldiers, not bandits.”
