Having gained new companions, Damon continued traveling quietly(?) for a while.
It seemed Yuliana and Mitchell had decided to simply ignore Damon. They treated him as if he were a cow staring at a chicken, hardly even acknowledging him as a person. But Damon did not care in the slightest.
For Damon, it was satisfaction enough simply to gaze at a face so very like Daphne’s. What they thought of him was of no consequence at all.
Even now, he was stealing glances at Yuliana’s face. Rather, the ones eager to get closer to him were the mercenaries.
“Is riding a horse not difficult for you?”
The fellow who approached with an obviously forced smile was a mercenary named Patterson.
It seemed to be an attempt to strike up a conversation somehow, and judging that Kasim, as their leader, could not step forward for the sake of appearances, Patterson appeared to have drawn the short straw. Damon, who had been staring intently at Yuliana’s back, answered halfheartedly.
“It’s fine. I rode quite a lot in my day.”
“Even so, it is impressive. Most mages cannot ride horses…”
“When you live long enough, you come across oddball mages like me.”
After gazing at Yuliana to his heart’s content, Damon turned his head toward Patterson. No matter how poor their skills were, it would have been a lie to say he had no interest at all in the fellows who had become his new companions…
“By the way, you people are quite an unusual mercenary band.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Damon glanced over the faces of the mercenaries, who were letting their bodies sway with their horses, then continued.
“Your captain’s skills are decent… and aside from those two brats, the rest of you seem to have eaten your share of mercenary bread. Yet your numbers are unexpectedly few. Do you not think so as well?”
“Ah, that?”
Patterson gave a bitter smile and explained the circumstances. He briefly told Damon that they had originally belonged to a fairly large mercenary band, but when Captain Kasim declared his intention to become independent, they had gladly followed him out.
“Heinrich and Gerald are fellows we took in as mercenaries after going independent. Right now, they cannot pull their own weight, but in time, that will change.”
Patterson’s words left Damon rather deeply impressed.
“Remarkable. If you had remained in the mercenary band, you could have lived well enough, and yet you cast all that aside to follow your captain…”
“We have always had a bit of loyalty in us. Besides, all of them…”
Patterson looked over the mercenaries and continued.
“Each of them owes the captain their life at least once. I am in the same position as well.”
“I see. So that is why you shook everything off and followed your captain.”
Damon nodded as if he understood. In any case, thinking of them as men bound together by loyalty alone made it hard to dislike them. Even if their overall fighting strength was truly miserable.
When Damon showed interest, Patterson began chattering excitedly.
“But truly, you are incredible. To create a Dullahan that powerful…”
Patterson’s gaze slipped toward Mitchell. Of course, the feelings he held toward Mitchell could hardly be favorable. He lowered his voice and whispered into Damon’s ear.
“I was quite surprised when I learned that brat was a Paladin. But to defeat a Paladin with a Dullahan… I cannot understand it. As far as I know, I have never heard of such a thing.”
“Well. As you live in this world, there are always exceptions.”
Damon shrugged. He deliberately answered in a loud voice so that Mitchell could hear.
“Even among mercenaries, differences in skill certainly exist. For instance, suppose your captain were to fight one of those two children. What result would you expect?”
Patterson glanced cautiously at Mitchell and answered carefully.
“Even if they fought a hundred times, the captain would win. Well.”
“It is the same. Whatever their skill, the two of them are both undoubtedly mercenaries, are they not? Though it is true that a Dullahan is weak against a Paladin, if you think of it this way, does it not make sense? A seasoned Dullahan who has fought many battles against a brat of a Paladin who has only just stepped into the world. Well? Can you not easily imagine the result?”
After finishing, Damon slightly turned his head and looked at Mitchell. Naturally, his actions were filled with the intent to tease Mitchell.
As expected, Mitchell looked as though his rage had surged to the very top of his head. No one would feel good about being labeled a brat. If his opponent had not been an unimaginably powerful black mage, he would surely have exploded. Damon leisurely brushed off Mitchell’s glare, which shot at him with open disgust.
‘Insolent brat.’
In truth, Damon bore considerable ill will toward Mitchell. He had been greatly offended by Mitchell’s attitude of refusing to associate with him, and had firmly resolved to give him a stinging lesson sooner or later.
‘When the mudskipper jumps, the baby squid jumps after it.’
In truth, Yuliana’s cold treatment was something he could endure to some extent. In plain words, he was letting it slide because she was pretty. For the sole reason that her appearance resembled Daphne’s, Damon was showing Yuliana alone the utmost patience he could muster.
But Mitchell was different. There was not a single pretty thing about him, and in particular, his career-oriented personality did not suit Damon’s taste at all. Even if he had stayed still, he would have been an eyesore, but since he was following Yuliana’s lead and ignoring him, there was no way Damon would look upon him kindly.
For that reason, Damon had settled on finding some slight pretext to give Mitchell a proper lesson. And since Patterson was opening the starting point for him, Damon could not help but welcome it.
“Um, Mage-nim. Perhaps you should lower your voice a little…”
Patterson, who had been stealing glances at Mitchell, wore a worried expression, but Damon paid him no mind.
“Do you know why I lived in seclusion in Sebain for so long?”
“I-I am not sure.”
“What displeases me most is precisely this. Why must mages be said to be weak against the likes of Paladins or Sword Masters?”
“Th-that is…”
For a moment, Patterson was at a loss for words and stammered. Of course, on the battlefield, it was mages who displayed truly tremendous might, and Patterson too had experienced the power of mages several times until now.
Though they had only been low-level trainee mages affiliated with mercenary bands, around the Third or Fourth Circle, their power had been truly terrifying. Enough to completely overturn the tide of battle.
But if it was a fight between a mage and a knight, the result was entirely different. Against a Paladin or Sword Master clad in anti-magic armor, a mage could only be the absolute underdog.
While a mage required a certain amount of time to cast magic, knights were not like that at all. They only had to rush in and swing their swords, and the higher their mastery, the faster that speed became.
In that case, a mage’s head was likely to fall before the spell was even completed.
Moreover, if the opponent wore anti-magic armor, it was fair to judge that there was no chance of victory whatsoever. Since that fact had been accepted as a truth throughout all ages, Patterson could not understand at all why the black mage had suddenly brought up the subject.
“I have not really thought about that matter, so…”
“Of course, if one is an archmage of the Seventh Circle or higher, one is not easily defeated by a Sword Master. Since casting is instantaneous, and a Seventh Circle attack spell cannot be blocked unless the Sword Master is quite powerful. But how long must one wait until reaching the Seventh Circle? That is why I have long continued researching in order to solve that problem… For that purpose, I also collected several of the mana cultivation techniques learned by the Paladins here.”
“And did you reach a conclusion?”
In Patterson’s eyes as he leaned closer, deep curiosity had settled. And it was not limited only to Patterson. All the mercenaries, including Kasim, were listening intently to Damon’s words.
Even Yuliana and Mitchell had their nerves on edge as they watched Damon’s mouth. The issue was a matter of common interest to them all. Damon smiled faintly and continued.
“There is only one method. If mages train their bodies as much as knights do, the problem can be solved. Think about it. If a mage moves at the same speed as a knight while casting magic, there is no reason a mage cannot deal with a knight.”
At Damon’s answer, the listeners felt their strength drain away. They had thought he had researched some groundbreaking method, so their disappointment was great. Patterson asked back with an incredulous expression.
“But I understand that mental concentration is more important than anything for a mage. Then how can one cast magic while moving?”
“How foolish… Depending on effort, even an ordinary person can become a Sword Master, can they not? There is only one answer: endless training. Through training so harsh it carves away at the bone, I believe it can certainly be achieved. Though the process is somewhat difficult, of course.”
However, it was hard to find much agreement on the mercenaries’ faces. They agreed that they should avoid provoking the black mage’s temper as much as possible, but his claim was far too unrealistic. In particular, a certain contempt even appeared on Yuliana’s face. As if she had known it would be so, she snorted and coldly turned her head away.
“It was my mistake to pay attention. He’s a complete lying old man, isn’t he?”
Mitchell nodded and replied.
“You’re right. How does any of that make sense? It is nothing but utter nonsense.”
But given the circumstances, the mercenaries could not react like Yuliana and Mitchell. Kasim hesitantly approached and opened his mouth.
“Of course, Mage-nim, your words do make some sense to a degree, but the possibility seems extremely low. Swordsmanship is certainly not easy, but I have heard that magic is especially difficult to learn. As far as I know, if one moves one’s body, the mana simply scatters…”
Damon widened his eyes and glared at Kasim.
“Do you also think I am a liar?”
At those words, Kasim hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, of course not. How could I…”
“Of course, using a sword makes no sense. One cannot wield a sword and cast magic at the same time. But if one uses this, it is easily solved. Would you like to see?”
With a leisurely expression, Damon looked at Kasim and slipped a hand into his bosom. When he took something out and unfolded it, a pair of faint green gauntlets appeared. Damon picked up the gauntlets and looked at the mercenaries with a triumphant gaze.
“These are gauntlets I made with all my heart and soul. As you can see, there are crystal spheres attached to the backs of the hands, making it possible to cast magic even while moving. Of course, I can easily defeat the likes of most Paladins without using magic, but in cases where I have no choice but to fight, these come in handy.”
After speaking, Damon glanced at Mitchell and continued.
“For a brat like that, these are enough. In other words, it means there is no need to use magic at all.”
If he heard those words and remained still, he would not be a man. Enraged to the very top of his head, Mitchell turned toward Damon like a thunderbolt. The way he tightly gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist made it seem as though he would draw it at any moment.
“Eek.”
Kasim naturally moved to a position where he could protect Damon. A position from which he could immediately block with his shield if Mitchell swung his sword. Since Damon had become a member of the mercenary band, Kasim was in a position where he had to protect the black mage no matter what. Mitchell approached Damon and growled with a murderous edge.
“Old man. Truly, the more I listen, the more you say whatever you please.”
“Why? Do you think my words are wrong?”
“I do. To be honest, if magic is excluded, you are nothing. I mean that even a child could easily twist that decrepit old neck of yours.”
It was an insult difficult even to put into words, but Damon instead smiled faintly.
“How sorry I am. Though I am someone who would even lose to a child, for some reason I feel confident against you. Ah! Of course, under the assumption that we fight without using magic.”
Mitchell’s face flushed bright red in an instant. Killing intent surged up so strongly that his eyes seemed to blaze.
“Can you prove those words?”
“Of course.”
It was the reaction he had been waiting for, so Damon nodded at once. For Damon, it was truly something he would not have dared ask for, but had dearly wished. Damon slipped a hand into his bosom and took out two bracelets.
“You have probably seen these before. As you can see, they are bracelets that interfere with the condensation of mana. If we each wear one and hold a duel, would that not make it a fair match? Well? Are you willing to fight me? You will not use mana, and I likewise will not use magic.”
Without another word, Mitchell snatched the bracelet.