"Have you heard that famous rumor going around these days?"
"Rumor?"
"Yeah. About some crazy wizard."
The man burst into hearty laughter at the sight of his companion leaning in as if he were sharing some great secret.
"A wizard? There are still con artists like that these days!"
"They say he wears a strange hat, holds a staff even bigger than I am, and wanders around dressed up like a wizard straight out of a fairy tale."
"Haw haw haw! He sure committed to the concept, didn't he?"
Perhaps finding the reaction amusing, he took a long gulp of beer and continued the tale.
"And that's not even the end, I tell you. He goes on about how great magic is at the drop of a hat, but the way he acts... it's like...."
"Like...?"
"It's like he's asking people to badmouth him."
At that, the man burst into laughter once more.
"Hahaha! So he dresses up like a wizard just to get himself cursed out? Where in the world would you find such a lunatic! Hahaha!"
"Huh? Are you saying I'm lying right now? I'm telling you, I heard this from Hans just a few days ago."
"Hahaha... The world truly is full of madmen."
"But they say the guy can actually use something like magic, you know?"
"Something like magic... You mean a Skill user?"
"Must be. But they say he pulls it off so convincingly that it's a sight to behold, which is why the rumor's spread so far."
"Tsk. Even so, he's just a crazy pervert who likes getting cursed at."
"Hahaha! You've got that right!"
Irina, who had been perking up her ears at the two men's conversation, hastily rose from her seat as it seemed to be ending.
And sure enough.
"Hey! Get lost!"
"Y-Yes!"
Startled by the man's thunderous voice, Irina scurried away.
She was not a customer of the tavern, but merely an orphan wandering nearby.
Irina looked much younger than her peers, thanks to her gaunt, malnourished frame.
Even so, this story was incredibly fascinating to her.
'A wizard...!'
Wasn't that the kind of being who only appeared in fairy tales?
A being who wielded a large staff in one hand, wore a big witch's hat on their head, and commanded magic at will.
'If only one would come here too.'
She indulged in that fantasy for a brief moment, only to be blocked by cold reality.
"Irina! Did you get something to eat?"
Tom—the leader and eldest of the gang.
He was the reason these abandoned children had survived several winters, which was why so many kids followed him.
"Huh? No... I'm sorry..."
But even Tom had changed.
As he grew, he gained height and muscle, and gradually became involved in illegal activities.
For children raised on the streets and in back alleys, it was perhaps only natural.
"Sigh... Irina. I let you off the hook from stuff like pickpocketing because you said you didn't want to do it."
"Yeah... I'm sorry."
"Anyway, there's no share for you today. You'll have to earn your own keep from now on."
"Okay."
"And from now on, if anyone gives food to Irina, they're out of the gang! Understand?"
Among the children, Tom's word was law.
He was a head taller than his peers, and he was always the one to talk to the scary adults.
Once Tom had issued such an order, none of the children would dare help Irina.
Being kicked out of the gang was tantamount to starving to death.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
Irina flashed a bright smile and excused herself, but it took only a few minutes for her steps to grow heavy.
She had nowhere to go.
Because she had nothing to eat.
When she was a bit younger, there had still been people who pitied Irina and occasionally brought her food.
But... ever since the gang became involved in illegal activities.
Ever since Tom started running with bad adults, visible at a glance as trouble, such sympathy had vanished completely.
- Ugh! Those good-for-nothings.
- They'll just grow up to be more trash, mark my words.
- Filthy, stinking little pests!
That was why Tom's gang had become rather notorious in the city.
Of course, Irina had always tried to dissuade Tom from such behavior, but all she ever met was the wall of reality.
How could they survive?
What could they survive on?
How could they feed everyone?
These were all difficult questions for a group of young teenagers.
'Even so... I don't want to go there.'
The place the bad adults who hung around Tom had suggested.
For the past few days, they had been subtly informing her of it.
That she would soon be sent to the red-light district.
'It's scary...'
She didn't know exactly what went on there, but the streets she had glimpsed in passing somehow frightened her.
'But I have nowhere else to go.'
With her frail, emaciated body, there was no work she could do and nowhere she could go.
Just like right now.
Her aimless steps wandered through the city's back alleys until finally stopping at some nameless wall.
Before she knew it, the day had darkened, and the sky was studded with soft starlight instead of the bright sun.
At least it was fortunate that the weather had grown warmer.
Had this happened in winter, she wouldn't have lasted a single day in this state.
She leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky.
Could something out of a story ever happen to her someday?
Could she experience a heart-pounding adventure instead of this suffocating, frustrating reality?
It was while she was lost in such thoughts.
"R-Run! Quick!"
"What about that crazy wizard?"
"Who cares! We were going to ditch him anyway!"
Secret shouts carried over from beyond the wall.
* * *
Hio's magic could largely be divided into three categories.
First, basic elemental magic like Fire and Aqua.
Second, summoning magic learned at the Magic Tower.
Of course, its power wasn't particularly outstanding, fitting for a 1st-Circle spell.
Third, support magic.
This included things like Haste, which he had learned from Verga.
Of course, if he looked at the Point Shop, there were many other types such as black magic and spirit magic, but for now, this was all he had.
'The problem is Endurance...'
This was always the problem.
It was time to harvest his fairly ripened Endurance, but it wasn't rising as well as he had hoped.
'Maybe not everyone looks down on you just for being a wizard?'
An outfit that looked unusual at a glance.
A hat and staff that symbolized a wizard.
Paired with a baggy robe, he looked exactly like a wizard who had just crawled out of a fairy tale.
However, if there was a problem, it was that people didn't openly mock Hio despite his appearance.
'Hmm... Is it only natural?'
Come to think of it, someone who would despise and ridicule another just for dressing like a wizard would be the real lunatic.
"Tsk, well, I still have plenty of time."
His goal was to max out his Endurance before reaching the capital, so he still had plenty of time.
"Hm? Did you say something?"
The one who reacted to Hio's muttering was another mercenary beside him.
"Huh? I didn't say anything?"
"Didn't you? Anyway, we're almost there, so stay focused."
Hio and his group were crossing the alleys of the city of Sauer.
Hio had arrived in Sauer two days ago.
Fortunately, he had been able to join a merchant caravan heading in the same direction, and through the mercenaries he had grown fairly close to, he had been put on this job as well.
'It's not that I'm short on money... but they said they'd introduce me to a caravan heading to Bayer once this job is done.'
He had quite enough money.
The Magic Tower held many precious gems and items, and even aside from those, he had quite a few things that could serve as money.
But wasn't safety more important than money?
Above all, joining a large procession and traveling while avoiding combat as much as possible was the best course of action for Hio.
He couldn't afford to lose the Endurance he had gotten so close to his target through pointless skirmishes.
"Here we are."
A group of just over ten, including Hio, stopped in front of a large mansion.
"Our request is to supplement the mansion's security personnel. Nothing too difficult, so I'll explain slowly."
It really was a trivial request.
A cushy job obtained through the Adventurer's Guild.
There wouldn't be anything particularly dangerous; just keeping watch for about two days with room and board provided would settle it.
He had heard the mansion lord had urgently marched his troops off somewhere...
Regardless, Hio's goal was to finish this request, get introduced to a caravan, and head toward the capital once more.
"You, self-proclaimed wizard, stay here and keep watch. We'll go in, speak with the security captain, and look around."
"Yes, well, go ahead."
This was a request Hio had squeezed into with a mercenary group that had worked as a team for a long time.
He didn't feel slighted at all, so Hio obediently decided to wait in front of the mansion's main gate.
"We'll be back. Wait here quietly."
The captain took the lead and went inside, and before the mansion's large gate, Hio was left all alone.
'They're requesting mansion security through the Adventurer's Guild... The Guild's image really has improved.'
Adventurer's Guild.
A very desirable organization that connected clients and mercenaries, vouching for the mercenaries' identities and guaranteeing the clients' anonymity.
Originally, it hadn't wielded such influence, but it was said to be rapidly expanding ever since the Guild Master was recently replaced.
'If it's the Guild Master, it must be him, as expected.'
And the newly appointed Guild Master was undoubtedly a top-ranked individual Hio knew well.
'He's amazing. Dealing with these damned mercenaries must be no easy feat.'
The very reason the Adventurer's Guild couldn't grow into an authoritative organization was because of mercenaries, in whom there was not a shred of trust.
Yet the current Guild Master controlled such mercenaries and was even gradually improving their image... truly, he was a man in a league of his own.
'By the way, they should be coming out soon.'
They should go inside to speak with the security officer and work out the details, shouldn't they?
Had something gone wrong...? Not a single person had told Hio to come in.
'Hmm... Should I go in?'
As he was hesitating over whether to enter.
"Excuse me..."
A cautious voice called out.
"A-Are you a wizard?"
Hio lowered his head at the voice that came from quite far below, and soon met eyes with its owner.
A girl who looked perhaps thirteen or fourteen.
Her clothes were no different from rags, her face was gaunt, and the arms briefly visible beneath were skin and bones.
"Indeed? I am the last wizard left in this world, you know?"
Hio bent down with a grin.
It wasn't something he said to protect the girl's childlike innocence, but the plain truth, so he showed no hesitation.
"W-Wow! I've never seen a wizard before!"
Hio gently patted the head of the girl, whose eyes sparkled as she spoke.
"Shall I show you some magic, little one?"
"Yes!"
The girl nodded brightly, beaming from ear to ear.
Hmm.
What magic would be good to show her?
He had never met someone who longed for wizards this much; if possible, he'd like to show her something spectacular... The problem was that Hio's Skills had no middle ground.
While he was pondering.
"Um... Wizard!"
"Yes?"
"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but... I heard people talking about you."
"Ahh... calling me a fraud or something? It's fine. Don't worry about it."
He tried to pass it off lightly, but the girl in front of him shook her head as if that wasn't it.
"No. That's not it... It's inside there."
And the girl pointed beyond the wall.
"They said they're going to ditch you, grab the goods, and run...?"
"...Huh?"
At the edge of the wall the girl was pointing to.
In that perfect blind spot, a familiar mercenary silhouette was visible climbing over the wall.
"Sigh..."
With a sigh, Hio straightened up.
"This is why you can never trust mercenaries."
Insufficient mansion security.
An absent noble.
The mercenaries, confident in their superior numbers, had decided to quickly loot the place and escape.
If successful, all blame and punishment would fall on Hio.
Were they truly stupid? Or simply foolish?
"Thank you, little one."
"I'm Irina!"
"Yes. Thank you, Irina."
He patted Irina's head once more and looked straight ahead.
"It may be too much to call this a reward... but I shall show you something fun."
Adjusting his hat and gripping his staff.
Elemental Skills would be too conspicuous, so something more covert instead.
Yet with enough splendor to terrify all dozen-plus mercenaries.
He raised his will.
"Summon."
「Skill – 'Crow Summon' activates.」
It happened to be a dark night.
There couldn't be a more fitting Skill.
Originally, a very basic spell that summoned a single illusory crow rather than a real one.
A low-level spell used to deliver messages to those not too far away... but the magic that became a Skill upon meeting Hio's trait was different.
-Caw!
A single crow appeared from beneath Hio's hat and flew in the direction his staff pointed.
-Caw!
-Caw!
Followed by a flock of hundreds of crows.
As if the entire night sky itself were moving—a majestic spectacle.
"...Uwah!"
"W-What the hell! What's with this murder of crows!"
Hio slowly approached them.