Chapter 08: Reunion in Rimulgard

"《Barrier》!"

With Clarice’s voice, a transparent pane of glass materialized around her.

I could see it clearly with my Magic Eye, but it was invisible to the naked eye.

"That’s amazing! You’ve completely mastered it now, haven’t you?"

"Yeah! Thanks! The only problems left are the cool-down time and the placement."

We had been testing her barrier magic ever since we left the city of Ganal. We confirmed that this spell, 《Barrier》, could deflect every spell I was capable of casting. However, the issue—as Clarice just mentioned—was the cool-down. It seemed she could only use it once every thirty minutes. Since that meant only one use per battle, she would have to be very careful about when she deployed it.

Additionally, she couldn’t cast 《Barrier》 very far away. Ten meters seemed to be the limit.

Well, since both the cool-down and the deployment range might be dependent on her Magic stat or the level of the Barrier Magic skill itself, we planned to continue our verification.

Just as I was thinking the next town should be coming into view soon, something else entered my field of vision.

A carriage. A carriage had stopped right in our path.

Did they break a wheel or something? I wondered, peering closer. Suddenly, two men stepped out to block our way.

"Hey! Lend us your faces for a sec!"

Barking the order in a gravelly voice was Oligo, the leader of 【Moonlit Darkness】, who had been hired by Hido. Standing next to him was the Sleep Magic user, Waltz. I never expected to run into them here...

I hopped down from the driver's seat and drew my Mithril Silver Sword. Sensing something was wrong, Clarice immediately came out as well, readying her Magic Arrow.

As I was calculating how we might escape, Waltz spoke up in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"Oligo! This is different from what you promised! Don't scare them! Sorry about that. Actually, we were watching your fight with 'Face Weapon' Cyrus. Though, since I was unconscious, I only saw the latter half. But Oligo saw the fight and got jealous of you. It’s pathetic to say this about a kid, but he started going on about how he’s stronger than you and all that. So, could you spar with him for a bit? If Oligo tries to go berserk, I’ll put him to sleep. How about it? Will you do this for us?"

Even if he asked in a gentle voice, I couldn't exactly say, "Yes, certainly."

"Tch! What a pain in the ass! If I attack, he'll fight back anyway! Let's go! You damn brat! Waltz, you take care of the... beautiful girl over there!"

Oligo had clearly racked his brain trying to find a derogatory term for Clarice, but failing to come up with one, he ended up calling her a beautiful girl. It wasn't that he lacked vocabulary; it was just that no other words fit.

Saying this, Oligo drew his sword and slowly closed the distance.

In that moment, I used Appraisal on him. His Strength, Agility, and Durability were slightly higher than mine, but looking at his stats, I felt that if I deployed 《Sylphid》, I could bridge the gap in our swordsmanship levels.

"Clarice! There’s a chance we might be attacked by someone other than Oligo! Keep an eye on the carriage too!"

"Got it!"

With Clarice’s reply, Oligo’s naked blade came swinging down.

(《Sylphid》!)

Unlike with Cyrus, this sword was filled with killing intent. I parried it with my Mithril Silver Sword.

"Why you—?! A mere brat!"

He must have been quite confident, because having his attack blocked made Oligo furious, and he began swinging his sword with brute force.

"Oligo! Sto—"

Waltz tried to stop him but swallowed his words halfway through. That was because I was completely handling Oligo’s sword.

And then, not even five minutes later, Oligo’s sword swings began to waver. It wasn't because I was using Vision. Oligo, having swung his sword with nothing but brute strength, had simply run out of stamina.

"《Sleep》!"

A spell was suddenly fired by Waltz right in the middle of our sword fight. For a split second, I thought I was in trouble, but his hand was clearly not aimed at me.

Hit by 《Sleep》, Oligo collapsed on the spot. Since he was still gripping his sword, he could have easily killed himself if he fell wrong, but Waltz didn't seem to care about that in the slightest.

"Sorry about this, but can we call it a draw?"

It seemed Waltz truly didn't intend to harm us.

"Yes. But I would appreciate it if you didn't get involved with us any further."

"Yeah. At the very least, I won't take hostile action against you two again."

If we could avoid fighting Waltz, that was huge. Having fought just now, I was certain I could beat Oligo, but Waltz was a different story. When I nodded, Waltz flashed his white teeth.

"Are you heading west? If so, we're returning to Ganal."

When I nodded at his question, he continued.

"I see. Sorry for everything. And thanks to you, I've made up my mind. Can I ask your name before we go?"

Seeing Waltz speak with a face that looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, I answered involuntarily.

"It's Mars. Can I ask one thing? What happened to you, Waltz-san? You were the one who put Misha to sleep and captured her, weren't you?"

"Mars, is it...? That's right. I was the one who put that child to sleep and captured her. But seeing you stand up to 'Face Weapon' Cyrus to protect Clarice and that child... I was moved. I didn't go through blood, sweat, and tears in my training just to kidnap people. I polished my skills to protect someone. I told Oligo and the other members that, but they wouldn't listen. So, I decided to leave 【Moonlit Darkness】."

Hearing Waltz’s words, Clarice and I couldn't help but look at each other.

With a refreshed expression, Waltz bade us farewell. He picked up the deeply sleeping Oligo, looking like he was carrying a heavy load, and roughly tossed him into their wagon. The carriage of 【Moonlit Darkness】 then made a wide U-turn and headed back toward the city of Ganal.

The carriage running straight without a hint of hesitation looked just like Waltz's heart itself.

We arrived at the next town a little past 18:00, just as it was getting dark.

"I'm sorry. We don't have two rooms free..."

After checking the horses, I tried to book two rooms as usual, but Clarice tugged on my sleeve.

"H-Hey... would it be okay if we just took one room today? Separate beds are fine..."

Her eyes, shining like jewels, gazed up at me.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine with it... Actually, I'd feel safer being together, so... are you sure?"

Of course, I had no reason to refuse. In fact, I wanted to stay in the same room too. Naturally, this wasn't out of any ulterior motive. It was because I had heard Misha was kidnapped while they were staying at an inn.

When Clarice looked down shyly and said, "Please," the innkeeper gave us a curious look.

We entered the room together. I thought we would take baths as usual, but then I realized: one room meant one bathroom.

If Clarice and I weren't reincarnated individuals, or perhaps if our mental ages matched our current physical ages, taking a bath together might have been considered normal for children.

But we retained the memories of our past lives, so that was definitely not happening.

"Clarice, you can take a bath first."

"Eh? It's okay. You go first, Mars. I take long baths."

We tried to yield to each other, but when I said, "I'm a gentleman, so ladies first," Clarice giggled, "People who call themselves gentlemen are usually suspicious, you know," and went into the bath first.

An hour had already passed since Clarice entered the bath. No sound was coming from the bathroom.

Long... too long. She said she takes long baths, but could she have fallen asleep from exhaustion? If so, I needed to go save her quickly... but if she was awake, it might seem like I was rushing her to get out.

Five more minutes. If she's not out in five minutes, I'll call out to her. Just as I thought that, I heard the sound of her exiting the bathroom. It was the right call not to say anything.

"Sorry. I intended to get out earlier than usual, but... did you wait long?"

Clarice returned, drying her wet hair with a towel, and apologized apologetically.

"Not at all. Was it a good bath?"

"Yeah. I had a little trouble adjusting the Heat Magic Stone, so it took some time."

A Heat Magic Stone is a magic stone used to warm up water in a bathtub. We usually buy one when staying at an inn, but I've never used one. I use Fire Magic to heat the water, after all.

Still, I always make sure to buy one for myself too, so Clarice doesn't worry. I don't want her to feel guilty thinking she's the only one using them.

After Clarice, I took a bath as well, then we ate in the dining hall and got ready for bed.

"Yesterday and today have been pretty intense days, haven't they?"

Clarice, wearing a thin hooded robe over short pants similar to what Sasha wore, sat on her bed and spoke to me. Naturally, Clarice’s legs were just as beautiful as Sasha’s.

"Yeah. We had a lot of good encounters, but one wrong step and we might have died. To live safely in this world, we need to become stronger."

I sat on the opposite bed facing Clarice and swore to become stronger.

"Yeah. I'll do my best too, so rely on me a little, okay?"

We chatted happily about our memories with Misha for a while before drifting off to sleep.

Our journey after leaving Ganal went smoothly.

There were many rough roads, but we advanced while I leveled the ground with Earth Magic. The fact that our horses could run longer than other horses thanks to 《Heal》 was also a factor in us making progress much faster than scheduled.

We were almost at the border with the Kingdom of Barcus.

"We're finally at the Kingdom of Barcus."

"We arrived here much earlier than planned."

"That's right. Now the question is whether we can cross safely."

We were less than ten kilometers from the border.

Currently, the war between the Kingdom of Barcus and the Kingdom of Zarcam seemed to be in a lull.

We planned to stay in East Rimulguard, a town on the front lines of the war, and leave early tomorrow morning to head to West Rimulguard, the easternmost town of the Kingdom of Barcus.

Originally, the central continent was apparently one single country.

It had split into the Lister Empire, the Kingdom of Barcus, and the Kingdom of Zarcam. Currently, Lister was no longer an empire but a federation governed by twelve dukes. Well, it felt more like an alliance of feudal lords than a country, but that was probably just a matter of appearances.

The capital of that single unified country—or rather, the Imperial Capital Rimulguard—was said to be in ruins now. That was because it had been the stage for the war between Barcus and Zarcam for many years.

Arriving at the inn in East Rimulguard, we had some time before evening, so we wandered around the town.

Perhaps because it was a frontline town, the number of adventurers was on a completely different level compared to other cities.

The main street was overflowing with adventurers. Fights broke out over bumped shoulders—or shoulders that hadn't even bumped—and despite it being just past noon, adventurers were already emptying mugs on the terrace seats of taverns, using the brawls as entertainment.

Stepping one street away from the main thoroughfare filled with the smell of alcohol and sweat, we found rows of weapon and armor shops.

Glittering weapons and armor were lined up in the shop windows, and children slightly older than us were staring at them intently. They probably wanted to become adventurers in the future, but they really ought to train their eye for appraising items first. The stuff in there was on the same level as the dull blade Hido had tried to sell me.

"It somehow doesn't feel like a town on the front lines of a war. I imagined rows of injured people lying in field hospitals."

"True. I thought they would be clashing more violently. A happy miscalculation, I suppose."

Holding hands with Clarice, we walked past the boys who were glued to Clarice rather than the shop windows, entered a shop, and immediately asked the owner.

"Excuse me. Do you have any grimoires?"

A grimoire in a weapon shop? you might think, but grimoires are sold in armor shops too, and sometimes even at the Adventurer's Guild. Adventurers can sell the grimoires they find wherever they like.

In the end, there were no Lightning Magic grimoires sold here either. Well, I figured the possibility of them being sold was infinitely low, so I wasn't too disappointed.

Just as we had visited most of the shops and were about to return to the inn, Clarice noticed something strange.

"Hey? Mars, your bag is glowing."

My bag is glowing? What is she talking about?

I took the bag off my back, and just as Clarice said, it was glowing faintly.

"What could it be?"

I peeked inside. It was the crystal I received from Ban, the leader of 【Blue Fang】, when we teleported from the Ilgusia Dungeon to Granzam! This crystal allows you to know the location of its counterpart when it gets close... which means 【Blue Fang】 is nearby!

"Clarice! An acquaintance of mine from the Kingdom of Barcus is heading this way!"

"Eh? How do you know?"

When I explained the crystal to Clarice, she understood.

"If we move around poorly, we might miss them, so let's wait in a conspicuous spot."

"Yeah, you're right."

Standing in front of the inn with Clarice, I stared at the crystal, waiting for 【Blue Fang】. They had already crossed the border. It would probably be another few dozen minutes until they arrived here.

Unable to suppress my eagerness, I was fidgeting, and my tension transmitted to Clarice. Clarice might have been nervous about meeting people for the first time on her end.

And finally, the moment arrived.

Two figures approached from the street corner. The ones who appeared before me were, to my surprise, Ike and Zeke.

""Mars!""

"Father! Ike-nii!"

The three of us ran to each other, our joy at the reunion exploding.

"We were worried! Are you okay?!"

"Yes. Father! First, there is someone I want to introduce to you both!"

Clarice, who had been expecting 【Blue Fang】, froze in nervousness because my family, Zeke and Ike, had suddenly arrived instead. Seeing this, Zeke spoke to her slowly to help ease her tension.

"You must be Miss Clarice. I know the gist of things from Count Beetle's letter. Anyway, it's late today, so why don't we stay at this inn and talk over a meal?"

"Y-Yes. My name is Clarice Lampard. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Despite her nervousness, Clarice lightly lifted the hem of her skirt, pulled her left leg diagonally back, bent her right knee slightly, tilted her head just a bit, formed an awkward smile, and greeted them.

Not only Zeke and Ike but even I was captivated by her splendid movement.

"A-Ah. Thank you for your politeness. I am Mars's father, Zeke Bryant."

"N-Nice to meet you. I am his brother, Ike Bryant."

Seeing the two of them completely charmed by Clarice and flustering through their self-introductions, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Ike and Zeke also booked a room, and we decided to gather in the dining hall after taking baths.

After waiting for Clarice's usual long bath, we headed to the dining hall, where Ike and Zeke were already eating dinner.

""Sorry to keep you waiting.""

We took our seats and immediately started eating as well.

"I was a bit surprised that the shy Mars is staying in the same room as Clarice-san. But even more than that, I'm surprised by the atmosphere between you two, which is incredibly unsuited to your age."

Zeke dropped a bomb right off the bat. At this age, being shy or not didn't really apply.

"Y-Yes... A lot happened on the way here..."

I told them about defeating the Hell Snake in the Forest of Magic. About Misha and Sasha. About the auction. About how the three of us were priced at ten platinum coins. They listened with their jaws hanging open.

"S-Such things happened... In that case, it's natural that you'd stay in the same room. Well done, Mars! As expected of one of my proud sons!"

"Mars has become tougher in the short time I haven't seen him. And to find such a fine lady... spare a thought for your older brother's position, will you?"

Ike spoke jokingly, and Clarice bowed her head, blushing.

"Come to think of it, Mars, Clarice-san... no, Clarice. Do you two know about the situation in Rimulguard?"

As we continued our chat, Zeke asked us with a slightly serious face.

"Yes. The Kingdom of Barcus and the Kingdom of Zarcam are fighting, right?"

Zeke shook his head at my answer.

"I thought so too, but apparently, two or three days ago, Rimulguard Castle suddenly turned into a dungeon, and even a Dungeon Saturation occurred. The adventurers of both countries are ostensibly fighting, but behind the scenes, they seem to be joining hands and sharing information. I want to get through Rimulguard while the adventurers of both countries are cooperating. So, I think we should leave as soon as tomorrow comes. Is that alright?"

Everyone nodded at Zeke's words, and we returned to our rooms.

—The next day.

We left East Rimulguard early in the morning and took a west-southwest course.

Naturally, heading straight west would be faster, but since Rimulguard Castle, which was undergoing a Dungeon Saturation, lay to the west, we seemed to be skirting past it.

"Mars, Clarice. Look outside. That is Rimulguard Castle."

Zeke, sitting in the driver's seat, called out to us in the wagon.

Looking northwest from inside the wagon, despite the clear weather, pitch-black clouds hung over Rimulguard Castle.

The fog surrounding the castle looked as if the masterless fortress was breathing it out in lamentation.

As we gradually got closer to Rimulguard Castle, the number of monsters increased.

"Father, may we go outside for a bit to cull the monsters?"

"I suppose so. Ike, Mars. Can I count on you?"

Clarice reacted to Zeke's words.

"Zeke-sama. I will go too!"

Zeke showed a troubled expression at this.

"Father. Could you watch Clarice fight too? I'm sure you'll be blown away."

At my words, Zeke reluctantly nodded. While Zeke remained on the driver's seat, the three of us—Ike, Clarice, and I—began culling the monsters.

"A-Amazing... She's not letting the monsters get close at all."

The monsters were being buried by Clarice's Magic Arrow, and Ike and I were simply burning the corpses. Watching this from the driver's seat, Zeke asked in surprise:

"Wait... can I just confirm something? I heard from Count Beetle that Clarice is a Holy Mage?"

"That's right. Clarice is a more amazing Holy Mage than I am. She can cast 《Heal》 without chanting, after all."

Praised about Clarice, I inadvertently felt happy and answered boastfully.

"—More than Mars?! Are recent Holy Mages all-rounders or something?"

Zeke tilted his head in confusion.

"Father, may we continue north a bit and keep culling?"

"Right. The Kingdom of Barcus is right in front of us, and we have two Holy Mages. Let's proceed with a solid margin of safety."

With Zeke's permission, we slowly moved north while culling. As we did, both the quality and quantity of the monsters increased, and Clarice's Magic Arrow alone was no longer enough to handle them.

Seeing this, Ike, who had been on corpse disposal duty, showed a lively expression with a Flame Lance in one hand.

"Finally, it's my turn."

His Flame Lance pierced right where Clarice had whittled the enemy down with her Magic Arrow.

Ideally, I wanted to show off my perfectly synchronized teamwork with Clarice, but well, I'd let Ike have this one.

Thinking that, I watched the two of them fight, but I felt a sense of doubt at Ike's movements. It was hard to believe he was entrusting his back to Clarice, whom he had met only yesterday.

Unless you trusted someone deeply, you would worry that an arrow meant for a monster might hit you, checking your surroundings every time a shot was fired, or hesitating to move freely. But Ike showed none of that.

Why? How? Just as I was feeling jealous of their splendid coordination, Clarice finished off a monster and praised Ike.

"Ike-san! I was moved by your splendid spear handling!"

At Clarice's shrill voice of admiration, Ike thrust his Flame Lance toward the heavens in satisfaction and walked over to me.

"Ike-nii. You've improved your skills again. But it looked like you completely trusted Clarice. Why is that?"

When I asked him straight, Ike's answer was unexpected.

"Isn't it obvious?! The person I trust most isn't anyone else but you, Mars. Clarice is the lady Mars acknowledged, right? There's no room for doubt."

I felt pathetic hearing Ike's words. That's right. Ike is just that kind of person.

Continuing slowly north while culling monsters, we ran into a group of adventurers. There might have been about thirty of them.

One party among them broke off from fighting and spoke to Zeke.

"It's dangerous here, you know? Though, having made it this far, I assume you've fought through plenty already."

"Yeah, we came north from a bit south of here, culling monsters as we went. We thought it might help everyone even a little."

"We appreciate it, but are you okay? We sometimes have our hands full just with ourselves, so we can't help you..."

"I understand. We were just thinking of withdrawing. But before that, could you confirm the situation for us? What's happening with Rimulguard Castle right now?"

At Zeke's words, the adventurer who spoke clouded his expression.

"...An A-Rank party went into Rimulguard Castle, but they haven't returned for a long time. They said they were just going to check the situation inside and come right back, but... Besides, the monsters in the castle town ahead are tough. It's way too much for us, so we're fighting here."

An A-Rank party hasn't returned? And these people can't even get to the castle town?

Judging by their fighting, I think they're C-Class adventurers...

"I see. Thanks for the information. Don't push yourselves too hard. I'll leave some Potions, so please use them if you like."

When Zeke handed all the Potions he had to the adventurers, they must have been extremely happy, because they bowed to Zeke again and again.

Well, with Clarice and me here, we don't need Potions.

If we were going to leave, the sooner the better. We hurried the carriage west, passed West Rimulguard—the closest Barcus territory to Rimulguard—and headed toward Bismarck.

I wanted to at least look for grimoires in West Rimulguard, but if monsters overflowed from Rimulguard Castle or the castle town, West Rimulguard would also be dangerous. So, we decided it was better to go further west and passed it by.

True to the fact that there had been a war, the road was bumpy and hardly in a state for a carriage to travel, but we managed to run the carriage while paving the road with Earth Magic. We arrived in Bismarck past evening.