Episode 43. A Brief Farewell
Every time Sori’s short spear whistled through the air, another Nol corpse joined the pile.
Outnumbered, Sori had chosen guerrilla warfare as his breakthrough.
The Nols were cunning and possessed keen noses, but they lacked Sori’s agility.
Leaping between the trees, he picked off the ones that strayed from the pack one by one.
It was slow, but the safest method.
When their numbers dropped from around fifteen to single digits, the Nols began to adapt.
They stood back-to-back, guarding all directions.
The dense green scent of the forest hid Sori’s body odor.
But when the next attack came, the Nols weren’t foolish enough to be caught off guard again.
Another Nol grabbed the short spear that had pierced through its comrade’s chest.
When the spear embedded in the corpse wouldn’t come free, Sori’s balance crumbled.
The Nols didn’t miss that opening.
“Krwah!”
The Nols’ attacks poured down on Sori simultaneously.
Sori abandoned the spear and pulled himself away. But he couldn’t avoid sustaining minor wounds.
A red line was drawn along Sori’s forearm.
He hastily hid himself up in a tree, but the situation had changed.
The Nols’ sensitive noses could now clearly identify Sori’s position.
Nols were cunning monsters. They knew how to use tools.
Through the branches where Sori hid, they began throwing weapons.
A vine woven from tree bark caught Sori’s ankle.
The Nols combined their strength to pull him down.
The more he tried to pull free and flee, the tighter the vine constricted.
One Nol wearing a sinister grin pulled out Sori’s short spear and charged at him.
Sori’s pupils dilated.
In the fleeting moment when the creature tried to drive the spear, held in reverse grip, into Sori’s chest.
A clear girl’s voice echoed through the forest.
Wind began to blow.
From a gentle breeze to a mountain wind, gradually becoming a gale.
Sylvia focused her imagination on the short spear the Nol held.
“Hang on tight!”
A fierce wind strong enough to make it difficult to keep one’s eyes open blew in above Sori’s head.
The Nol couldn’t withstand the wind and tumbled backward.
Sylvia adjusted the wind’s trajectory and sent the spear to Sori’s feet.
“Human!”
“It’s Sylvia, Sylvia! I have a name too, you know?”
Though he pretended otherwise, Sori couldn’t hide his relief and joy.
“What are these scraps?”
The Nols glared at the intruder, drooling.
“Where do you get off drooling all over a lady? How filthy.”
Nols were monsters of similar threat level to the Dire Wolves they’d faced during the previous Elfenbein practical expedition.
A snickering smile spilled from the corner of Sylvia’s mouth.
It hadn’t been then, but now, facing a pack of Nols wasn’t all that difficult.
Moreover, Sori had already dealt with half the pack.
They were nothing if not appetizing prey.
“The weak to the apothecary, weapons to the smith, and monsters to the mage. Sori, just watch.”
Sylvia put on a smile as sinister as the Nols’.
She was finally on a battlefield where she could vent her stress to her heart’s content, after having her chance to shine stolen by Binaeril all this time.
The Nols trembled all over with an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
It took Sylvia less than twenty minutes to clean up the remaining Nols.
“Acting up when you’re nothing special.”
She clapped her palms together with a refreshed expression.
Sori was at a loss for words.
“Hey.”
“It’s Sylvia.”
“You’re that strong, so why ask me for teaching?”
Having watched Sylvia’s fight, Sori was puzzled.
As a mage, she seemed stronger than him.
Magic was powerful, and her attacks were sharp.
Then why try to learn the ways of the Myo tribe?
Sylvia wore an expression that said ‘what kind of question is that’ as she kicked a Nol corpse into a pile.
“To be honest, I can’t guarantee victory if I fight you. Yet would you have anything to learn from me?”
“Sylvia.”
“Could I have defeated these Nols without using magic?”
Sylvia’s physical abilities, which Sori had observed, weren’t at that level.
“Probably not.”
“But you did it. If Sori could use as much magic as I do, would you have lost to the Nols?”
“I would have won overwhelmingly.”
“Exactly. If you can move as fast and strongly as you do while also utilizing magic, you’ll become much stronger than you are now. That’s what I want.”
“What for? That boy called Binaeril must be a mage no less skilled than you. The girl calling herself a princess had considerable skill in healing magic. You have reliable comrades, so why go so far to become stronger?”
“Even with those strong comrades by my side, we were no match whatsoever for the Valley Spirit.”
“As if a mere human could stand against a spirit...”
“I am that princess’s guard. If the Valley Spirit had been an enemy. If it had tried by any means to harm her. I would have been unable to do anything and forced to watch my liege get hurt.”
Sori fell silent.
In Sylvia’s words, he felt a heavy sense of responsibility difficult for a girl her age to carry.
“You said you couldn’t put the Myo tribe’s safety to the test. I’m the same. I can’t test the princess’s safety with vague thoughts of ‘this should be fine enough’.”
Sori let out a soft groan.
Her resolve had something in common with his own heart.
“...Every Wednesday, there is training where I guide the Myo tribesmen.”
“Perfect, tomorrow is Wednesday. It should be fine if you’re just observing. I’ve never taught a human before. So bear all the disadvantages that come with it.”
It was a roundabout way of giving permission.
“Understood, Sylvia?”
It was the first time her own name had come from Sori’s mouth.
He silently approached and helped clear away the Nol corpses.
“...Yes, Master!”
“Don’t call me Master.”
On the third day of training, Binaeril revised his goal.
Not to listen to the voices of ‘spirits,’ but to lend his ear to the voice of ‘Eden.’
On the fourth day of training, perhaps from excessive sleep, he could no longer fall asleep even with his eyes closed, breathing steadily.
On the fifth day of training, Binaeril spent over twelve hours in a trance-like state, neither awake nor asleep.
It was a different feeling from when he’d fallen into a trance and killed someone back in Bruno City.
All stray thoughts had left his mind, and his breathing was peaceful.
At the same time, his five senses had dramatically developed, taking in everything around him.
“Binaeri-l....”
Shhh.
Rike, worried about Binaeril’s wounds, had come by several times, but was turned away by Jineulbaram, who watched over him.
Jineulbaram knew Binaeril had reached the state he desired.
Binaeril drew a spear in his mind while in a state of clear mirror.
Though his eyes were closed, he saw Eden’s figure through the spear.
He saw Jineulbaram’s figure too. She opened her mouth.
“The day I met you, this old woman was returning from Wind Valley.”
“I spoke with the spirit there. That one asked me to help you.”
Only then did Binaeril understand why Jineulbaram had tried to teach him spirit arts.
It had all been Jilpeu’s plan.
“The spirit said someone’s blocking the child’s eyes and ears. So the spirit asked this old woman to open those eyes.”
Binaeril realized he could see something even with his eyes closed.
He saw Eden’s lips moving beyond the spear.
A faint voice, but it wasn’t her voice.
[Shard-bearer.]
It was Jilpeu’s voice.
‘Jilpeu?’
[I have engraved my will upon the child of the spirit race.]
Jilpeu was speaking through Eden’s mouth.
Binaeril was slightly disappointed.
He’d thought he’d finally succeeded in communicating with Eden.
[I warn you.]
Of what?
[Do not trust the Pyeollin.]
Jilpeu had called Veritas the Pyeollin.
[You must be able to separate yourself from the Pyeollin. The child of the spirit race will help with that. Afterward, find me again.]
Come to think of it, he hadn’t heard Veritas’s voice in quite some time.
Since he’d fallen into this meditative state, he hadn’t heard that voice.
‘Is this how I separate from Veritas?’
Veritas had been parasitic upon Binaeril’s mind ever since they’d formed the contract at Elfenbein.
The infinite mana it provided was alluring.
But the spirit Jilpeu was now warning him to be wary of it.
‘Why?’
Jilpeu’s voice gradually faded. It seemed to be the final words.
[Find a mage who will help you. His name is.......]
Though they’d stayed in the village for only about a week, they’d already grown attached to the Myo tribe.
The Myo children clung to Rike’s pant legs, sniffling.
“Sorry. I’ll come again.”
Rike bade them farewell, stroking each of their heads in turn.
Guided by Sori and Simon, they descended Hohenberg.
“Magic brother, sisters! Thank you, goodbye!”
Simon waved both hands with a bright, smiling face, greeting them happily.
The broad-shouldered warrior Sori also saw off the three humans with a rare smile.
“Take this. This is my final gift.”
“What is this?”
Before parting, he handed Sylvia a final gift.
It was a rugged yet splendid necklace carved like ivory tusks.
“It’s a necklace the spirit priests make for warriors. It will make your movements even lighter.”
“It’s a mana-imbued necklace, Sylvia.”
In other words, an artifact refined through a method different from magic.
“Thank you, Master!”
During the five days under Sori’s tutelage, Sylvia had desperately learned the Myo tribe’s movements.
Whenever Binaeril took walks around the village, he could see Sylvia drenched in sweat.
“How is it? Any results?”
“Enough that I’m confident I won’t lose if we spar again?”
“Haha, such bluster.”
“It’s not bluster.”
Walking diligently, before they knew it the forest ended and a flat road came into view.
It was proof they’d crossed the entire Hohenberg mountain range.
“If we follow this road, Edenbere should appear.”
Sylvia unfolded a map as she spoke.
“From Edenbere onward is the true capital region. We’ll probably be able to find a carriage heading to the capital there.”
It meant the journey to the royal palace wasn’t long now.
Which also meant there wouldn’t be any significant threats on the remaining journey to the capital.
“Everyone.”
Binaeril stopped the two girls.
He had something to tell them.
“What is it, Binaeril?”
“I think I need to part ways with you for a while.”
The two were bewildered by the sudden announcement.
Binaeril had somewhere he needed to stop by.
[Find a mage who will help you. His name is Priya. Priya Mereujina. Find him in the northwest Thornwinter Marsh.]
Binaeril knew little about Veritas.
The companionship with the mysterious book continued due to the contract between them.
But he couldn’t trust Veritas indefinitely while so informationally unbalanced.
Binaeril wanted to verify.
“I have someone I need to meet in the northwest Thornwinter Marsh. Let’s exchange brief farewells here. I won’t keep you waiting long.”