Chapter 13
Though I'd said that, there was far less for me to do than I'd expected.
Most of the monsters were weak, while every adventurer traveling in the carriage as our escort was a veteran, so nothing was likely to happen. Whenever a monster appeared, they killed it one by one with practiced movements and moved on, leaving no opportunity for a mage like me to step in.
Was it just my imagination, or were more and more people starting to look my way?
I couldn't help thinking they were dissatisfied because I called myself a mage yet did nothing. If that really was the reason, I had plenty to say for myself. What kind of nerve did they have, rushing ahead and smashing everything to pieces before I could step in, then complaining that I wasn't stepping in?
Fortunately, no one came directly to me to say anything, but it was true that I felt uncomfortable. I already had to spend all day in a carriage with nothing to do; having to endure those looks and even see the monsters' corpses was enough to turn my stomach.
Break time,
Though, strictly speaking, it would be more accurate to call it lunchtime combined with a break.
I did wonder what would happen if we took a break in a forest like this and something dangerous happened, but given my condition, I was extremely glad for the break. While everyone was eating, I quietly slipped behind the trees and sat with my back against one, letting out a sigh.
I thought I'd throw up, but nothing came up.
I simply didn't feel like eating much right now.
How could I eat with my stomach in this state?
But I had to eat. What choice did I have..?
In case anyone happened to follow me, I let out a sigh without dispelling the magic.
Naturally, I currently had magic cast over my mouth, so all that came out was the sound of my breathing; no voice was mixed into my sigh. Even I found it absurd, but apparently they interpreted even the sound of my sighing as speech.
Still, once I escaped the gazes directed at me, I felt much better than before. It was definitely those looks aimed at me that had made me feel sick. Would my stomach start acting up again when I went back there?
I didn't want to go back..
As I felt my stomach settling down again, I looked down at the soup in my hand.
At least, since we were traveling for three days, we weren't eating preserved rations or anything like that. If this had been a journey lasting several weeks, we would have had to eat preserved food instead.
Of course, I was only glad it wasn't preserved food; the food we were eating still wasn't particularly tasty compared to something served fresh at a restaurant, so I had no choice but to force it down while my modern palate protested.
Soup with vegetables and meat, and dry bread.
Besides, this wasn't an ordinary job: it offered an incredibly generous reward and even provided all our meals during the three-day escort. It was the kind of quest that made me wonder whether they were luring adventurers in with such lavish terms to involve them in something illegal.
We were simply lucky, though.
Thinking that, I carefully scooped up some of the soup with my spoon and put it in my mouth.
Hmm.. It didn't taste like the soup I was familiar with.
How should I put it..? Maybe it was a little saltier?
To begin with, there had been all sorts of seasonings where I'd lived, and I used to add plenty of them even when eating food like this, so expecting it to taste the same as food I'd eaten in the modern world was a luxury in itself.
I wanted to indulge in that luxury, but I couldn't afford to do so in a situation like this.
Still, well.. It wasn't inedible.
I thought that as I put the soup in my mouth.
Drip, drip.
“..?”
Why was it raining all of a sudden?
To begin with, wasn't the Black Night Forest called that because its countless densely packed trees made it always feel as though it were night? Naturally, even if it rained, the trees should have blocked it from falling through.
Which meant this wasn't rain..
Grrr..
“..!”
A predator was staring down at me, red light shining in its eyes.
I went rigid where I stood.
I didn't have time to think.
Just,
“Duck!”
I reflexively ducked at the sound of the familiar voice.
The Hero leaped in front of me and swung the sword horizontally. The monster stopped its attack on me and darted away. As I trembled at the blade skimming over my head, the Hero caught my arm, hauled me up behind the Hero, and stepped forward.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?!”
At the Hero's shout, I nodded with a dazed expression.
What on earth had happened?
As I looked around in confusion, the adventurers who had come after me moved in perfect formation and surrounded the monster.
“A Maredictus Anaconda..?! Why would one appear in a place like this?!”
“Isn't this still near the entrance? Why is it showing up here?!”
They were plainly flustered.
Could this be a monster that wasn't supposed to appear here?
I raised my head and faced the monster properly.
It was hard to see in the dark forest, so I used a Light spell to illuminate it. When I shone a powerful light at it, the monster recoiled, hunching its body and backing away as though the light hurt its eyes. The veteran adventurers didn't miss that brief opening.
The warriors charged first, aiming to cut through its hide, while the archers in the rear fired as well, but piercing skin as hard as iron was beyond them. The arrows didn't even lodge; they simply bounced off.
A giant worm monster with a tough body..?”
A Maredictus Anaconda..?
Ah..
No, that couldn't be.
It was certainly a monster native to the Black Night Forest, but it normally holed up deep inside it and did nothing but sleep, so it wasn't the sort of creature that would appear near the entrance. In the game, however, it appeared during the escort quest if you tried to stray too far from the designated area—in other words, if you tried to run away.
I supposed it was the original creators' way of saying that, since this was a tutorial, I should just take this and go.
In short, this was a monster that wouldn't appear if we followed the normal route.
Was it because of me?
No, that couldn't be it.
I hadn't even gone that far; I'd only sat a little way from our resting place to eat some soup. What kind of absurd disaster was this?
“Damn it, my weapon won't pierce it!”
“This is getting dangerous..”
Kyaaaaaaaah!
The anaconda roared and shot toward us like a projectile.
Its massive body and tough hide, combined with dark scales that were difficult to see in the Black Night Forest, should normally have made it impossible to respond properly. But thanks to the Light spell I'd cast earlier, we were barely holding it off.
“Hey, mage! Do something!”
A man who had taken the lead with his shield raised and was blocking the anaconda's attacks shouted at me.
“What the hell are you doing, just standing behind a man?!”
A female adventurer joined in, shouting at me in a voice full of frustration.
“...”
Ah..
Am I really the only one who can do anything here..?
I looked around.
Everyone was shouting at me in desperation, demanding that I do something.
The reason was simple.
Even according to the game's settings, anacondas had extremely low magic resistance.
To begin with, in this game, strong physical resistance meant weak magical resistance, while strong magical resistance meant weak physical resistance. If both were strong, it would create an enemy with no answer, so this was one of the rules the developers had established for balance.
In other words, unless I, the mage, did something, it would be difficult to drive off the anaconda.
“...”
I bit my lip.
I had no choice.
What was the anaconda's weakness again?
Taking the anaconda's weakness and our current location into account, the spell I needed to use was obvious.
I thought to myself.
Freeze.
It was at that moment.
Crackle..!
“?!”
“What..?!”
“The forest.. Is it frozen?!”
Everything around us began to freeze.
Realizing that its body was slowly freezing, the anaconda let out a scream as though crying out for its life.
But it had let its guard down, and by the time its body began freezing, it was as good as dead.
Just freeze to death.
I tightened my magic's hold around the anaconda as it tried to resist by drawing up its mana.
Crrrkkk...
Watching the anaconda turn into a complete ice statue, I sharply clenched the hand I'd been holding out.
Crack!
“Whoa..”
“So this is what a mage can do..?”
The anaconda died on the spot.
Thank goodness.
With that thought, I sank to the ground.