George turned away and continued plucking at the grass.
“… Why, is that?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t feel like it.”
I don’t feel like it.
If you don’t want to go to a dangerous place, I won’t force you, but it’s a matter of mood.
“… Are you scared?”
“Huh? No! I just don’t think he needs our help! I don’t know how bad that monster is, but if he can’t do it, it doesn’t matter how many of us are there. There’s no way we can compete with Hayato.”
I see. So that’s the reason? I don’t think that’s true, but it seems that he won’t budge no matter what I say.
“George, it’s not like that.”
“What?”
“I’m not asking you to defeat any monster. I’m asking you to help me track down my fiancé, who left me in an unsatisfactory way. I can’t go outside the town by myself.
I know it’s selfish of me, but please… just until I found him! can you accompany me? Of course, I will pay the compensation properly.”
George continued to pluck at the grass in silence.
Because of his way of communicating, he would reject my request right away if he really doesn’t like it… I think he is considering it. One more push……!
As I was about to open my mouth, a boy with dark hair and glasses interrupted me from the side.
“Brother George, you should go. Brother Ted always says you should listen to a girl’s request.”
Oh, nice words, kid!
Thank you very much for the rescue! I want to know the progress of your relationship with that girl who started the exchange diary with you, but we’re running out of time.
George stopped and stared at the boy’s face, then turned to look at me. All right.
“………it cannot be helped then, I understand.”
“Thank you very much.”
“But how will you do this? I don’t think we could find him by blindly go and looking around aimlessly.”
“My father said he must have headed south.”
“South. Isn’t that the direction of the Alice family’s territory?”
“Eh… You’re right…”
That’s actually right; our territory is adjacent to the south of the royal capital. I unconsciously imagined a more distant place because my father said that [the child had to go far away].
“Oi, don’t tell me you just realized it? Are you okay? If so, doesn’t that mean that the master monster is in Alice’s territory?”
“Oh, my father didn’t say anything about that.”
“Seriously? But we don’t know if that was the case. It also possible that it was right before your territory. But, it’s not like he will be headed to the other side of the world if we look at the effect the monster has on Capital city. Anyway, it’s not far enough to take months.”
“That’s right.”
As expected from Georgie, the sheep, he catches on quickly.
I don’t know how to explain how I feel right now, but I’m certainly in a good mood.
When my father said “far away,” he was probably using the word to limit my movement; at least, I suspect that he does it deliberately.
“Well, I’ve left my stuff inside. I’ll go get it.”
“Okay! I’m going to have a little talk with the sister.”
“Oh. I think she’s in the chapel.”
“Understood!”
I get up, dust off the dirt, and go inside the building. While on it, I will give the donation for this month.
As I entered the chapel, the soft, colorful light shining through the stained glass illuminated the statue of Lady Minerva, and the sister knelt before it in prayer.
“Sister.”
“… Oh, Alisha! Welcome to our home.”
“It’s my pleasure, but I don’t have much time today, so I’ll be quick. Here is this month’s donation. Please accept it.”
“This…? are you sure? Hayato already came this morning and left a huge amount of money for us.”
“What? Is that true?”
“Yes. He said it was the money from selling a dragon. …Not only that, but he also left the house certificate of the home where he and Lav once lived. He said he was not going to use it anymore.
Even though he joined Alisha’s family, there’s no need for him to give up his property at all… but he seems determined, so I keep it for now.”
The money, the house, everything …….
Don’t do this. Stop it. It was almost like he planned to go without leaving anything behind.
Sister then continued.
“I’ve been praying for him because I feel like the darkening of the sky and his behavior that suddenly gives up his fortune is related somehow. Why don’t you join us, Alisha?”
“Okay…”
I knelt down alongside the sisters and prayed to the statue.
Please protect him.
Please guide us.
I heard a thump behind me and turned to see George standing there with his luggage in his hand.
“Let’s go. You’re in a hurry.”
“Yes.”
I bowed to the sisters and left the chapel.
Now that I’ve gathered my party, we can go outside the city.
When I arrived at the guild, Ted and Betty were already waiting for me.
They had been gathering information about Hayato’s sighting while waiting, and they’ve heard that he had headed to the southern part of the city.
Since he was on foot, it would be easy to catch up with him as long as we went in the right direction.
However, if I can’t prove that I can help him when I did catch up, he might not allow me to follow him.
–I think it’s better to turn some things into magic tools while I’m here.
After confirming that there were no strangers nearby, I spoke to everyone in a hushed voice.
“Hey, guys. I’d like to prepare something before we leave, so could you lend me your weapons?”
“… What are you planning?”
“I’m going to make a magic weapon.”
I felt the tension rises.
“I thought you said you couldn’t make weapons.”
“I can now. — and not just weapons, but armor as well. So, if there is anything you can give to me now, please give it. It can be anything. Shoes, trinkets, cloaks…”
“…wow. That’s an unexpected reward.”
“unexpected, indeed.”
George and Betty muttered while Ted put his hand on his chin and pondered for a moment.
“…We don’t know that was even possible, but we’ll let Alice handle it for now. I just need to hand over the weapon, right?”
“Yes. I’ll take care of it. George and Betty, please lend them to me. And Betty, please lend me the robe we just bought earlier.”
“Uh-huh.”
Betty took off her robe and handed it to me along with her staff. George also handed his knuckle duster and some throwing knives.
“I’ll take it from here. Please wait a moment.”
“… Oh, okay. We’ll be waiting for you at the coffee stand.”
“Yes.”
I took their equipment and headed for Pete’s location.
“Excuse me, Pete. I was wondering if you could give me a room, anywhere.”
“A room? Then you can use my office.”
“Oh, it’s okay?”
“Yes, Please use it. no one is using it anyway.”
“Thank you very much.”
He took me to his office, I put the things they had given me on the sofa, and opened the notebook my father had given me.
From the looks of it, it seems that simple functions can be done with simple words.
But if you want to specify a certain power or amplify the magic power to draw out the power of the material, the number and the formula are essential.
Also, if you want to mix multiple spells, it’s better to use a formula to save the number of characters.
First, I added a Holy Ward to Betty’s robe. I enhance it to the limit of the material.
Then I put the same thing on Ted’s big sword. This is something that Hayato always did.
The holy attributes should protect the weapon while also added their cutting power against the dark attribute monsters.
As for George’s knuckle duster, after a bit of thinking, I decided to give it a (2x)physical enhancement. I also added a healing effect to it since body strengthening is tiring.
For the throwing knives, I added fire to half and ice to the other half.
For Betty’s wand, I added a formula that doubled the power of her magic.
Then I took out three rings from the accessories I had brought from home. In each of the three, I put a function that speeds up the regeneration of magic power. I fine-tuned the formula To the utmost limit of the material.
I’m going to put these on all of your adventurer tags.
After transforming everyone’s items into magical tools, I finally started working on my own.
The first thing I did was write a few words on the glasses to observe the flow of magic power. The observer glasses are now complete.
Although I was not sure if I would actually use it or not, I put a holy ward on the revealing black outfit I had just purchased, just in case.
I added a pair of body enhancements to the earrings and put them on, then – I took out the amber and gold feloniere that the Grand Mistress had given me. { feloniere – headband with a jewel on it.}
“It’s the same color as the viscount’s eyes.”
Remembering that one line, I decided to use this accessory to decorate my forehead.
I hope to become a bit like him, even if only a little.
Hoping so, I put in body enhancement into this as well.
However, I realized that wearing it on my head would restraining my movement, so I used a leather strap to attach it to my sword belt.
As for now, I have three body enhancements.
I’m not sure if my brain can keep up with my body movement, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
Next, to combat fatigue, I took out a gold bangle from my personal accessories and added a recovery effect.
Finally, I took the black sword that Hayato had given me.
But this, I have no idea what it’s made of.
I don’t know if it’s metal or clay. Could this be something that is beyond our scientific capabilities–no, no, this is not the time to fantasize.
But I really don’t know.
I wonder where he got this thing…
I wrote the holy ward formula and cast a fixation spell on it, but unexpectedly…
–Click! The word popped off along with a tiny spark.
“What?”
Literally, the magic formula that I had written was blown away. The word has disappeared without leaving a trace.
I tried to write the formula once again, but I will use an ice attribute this time.
The result is the same; it was blown away when I tried to case fixation on it. It’s the same with fire and sleep magic.
–This… must be a material that nullifies magic.
I’ve never heard of such material…, but I don’t have the time to examine this, so I’ve decided to accept it just like that. And Because it doesn’t seem to interfere with any magic tools I wear, I don’t think this would cause a problem.
After finishing the transformation, I left the office and returned to the others.
When I returned their belongings, everyone put them on with a look of elation on their faces.
We were now ready.
I led everyone to the magic car that we had come in.
“Let’s go in this. Please get in.”
George stared at the passenger seat and reacted strangely.
“Oh! So this is the [Alice]!”
“What Alice?”
“What Alice, you say? You don’t know?”
I nodded with a question mark on my face and looked at the other two for an explanation. Ted chuckled, and Betty answer with a warm smile on her face.
“He told us that the name of this vehicle is [Alice].”
What’s that? I’ve never heard of it before.
“Oh…, really? ….Why did I not know that when everyone else did?”
“He must be embarrassed.”
“Who was?”
“Hayato.”
A mysterious silence fell.
I’ve uncovered someone else’s black history …….
I’m sorry.
“… let’s just go… We’ll drive slowly in the city, but once we get to the outskirts, I’ll go as fast as I can.”
“Ooooh. This [Alice], is it difficult to operate?”
“It’s easy when you’re not in the city.”
“I want to try it.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Okay. We’ll take turns when we get to the city’s outskirts.”
We drove slowly through the city and eventually reached the outskirts. We pulled over the car in the middle of a rice field.
“Which of you would like to drive first?”
“ME!”
George raised his hand vigorously. Ted nodded and gave up the wheel, so I got out and left the driver’s seat door.
I’m not going to go sideways inside the car again. At least I learned my lesson.
“There are monsters out there, aren’t there? We have to be careful…”
“I think so. We’ll run away from the ones whose appearance is B rank or higher just to be safe. If it’s black, it’s probably S rank now.”
“Yes.”
“But I can’t wait to try this out. I want to try it as soon as possible.”
Then Ted leaned over and interjected from inside the car.
“I know, but why risk it?”
“Well, yeah. You said he was heading south – are you sure you can go straight south? I need a few more clues.”
“I’ve got an idea about that, though.”
I took out the goggles that I just turned into a magic tool as I said that.
“Isn’t that dustproof goggles?”
“It is, but I’ve added a function to reveal the magic power flow to these. Originally, I came up with the idea to see where the monsters’ magic stones are.
If such a monster is capable of causing that kind of power mutation, the magical power it releases must be quite strong and wide. So I thought that I could at least tell the direction where the mastermind is by looking at it with this. Hayato should be heading there.”
“Wow. That’s amazing. Try it”
“Yeah.”
I put on the goggles and let the magic flow. Just as I had hoped, a faint white light was superimposed on the scenery in front of me.
This light is the magical power in the air.
Strong light and weak light, light flowing to the right and light are flowing to the left. They vary in size and movement.
If they were colored, I would be able to see their attributes, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do that with these goggles.
When the lights with different characteristics collided, space became slightly distorted.
–I believe the monster is born in a place where the distortion is strong.
A little impressed by the flow of magic power that I caught visually for the first time, I looked up and looked into the distance.
At that moment, in the southeast direction, I saw a large, strong mass of light rising white into the sky, so large that I almost thought there was a castle there where the gods lived.
“……!”
“…… Hey. What’s up?”
I couldn’t help but back away. It was amazing.
Clearly different.
This… it looks white because it’s not colored, but I’m sure its attribute is dark.
It’s scary.
“… I think it’s probably in that direction.”
When I pointed to the southeast direction, George held out his hand to me.
“Give me that,” he said.
As soon as he did, he put it on, looked up at the southeastern sky, and then turned his head.
“Whoa! What the hell is that? But sure! It can’t be anywhere but there!”
“What? George, give me that.”
“I want to see it too!”
Betty and Ted rushing in, looked up at the sky with their goggles, and had the same reaction as George.
“so………….. we’re going there?”
“It’s just up ahead.”
“I see.”
No one said anything about going back, even though they looked a little scared.
George muttered to himself.
“Hayato is going to take on something like that all by himself, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
Ted agreed and handed the goggles back to me.
“Let’s go.”
I felt that somehow everyone’s face had changed.
