Chapter 43
The ground was dyed red, and every living thing fell silent—then, abruptly, the dance of battle came to an end.
It had taken five minutes.
After shaking the goblin blood from the Deathbone Sword, now stained bright red, Rinka sheathed it and turned toward me.
When our eyes met, she smiled with the satisfaction of a job well done.
It was hard to believe she was the same person who had been radiating murderous bloodlust like a demon moments ago.
Surely, this was Rinka’s true self.
I’d heard she would collapse once 【First Blade】 wore off, but Rinka was full of energy.
She looked even more energetic than before the fight.
The reason was my 【Auto Charge】.
I’d set it to lend her magic as soon as even a little of hers was depleted.
That meant her magic was always full.
Just like when I spammed Fireballs, if her magic didn’t decrease, she wouldn’t suffer the usual recovery lag after using her Skill.
“It’s over. This sword is amazing. And I don’t feel tired like I usually do. 【Magic Lending】... it’s amazing.”
“The amazing one here is your Gift, Rinka.”
Rinka was still buzzing with excitement.
The sword and my Skill certainly helped a lot, but her Skill, 【First Blade】, was also ridiculously powerful.
There were several kinds of buffs that enhanced one’s abilities, but this was on a whole different level from any I knew.
“Hehe, it’s been a long time since anyone praised my Gift.”
“Even so, you haven’t shown its true potential yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what it can really do.”
The longer the fight went on, the more Rinka would be able to show her true strength.
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
“All right, let’s head to a slightly larger colony next.”
“Yes!”
After that, we kept taking on larger colonies, and Rinka wiped them out without any trouble.
By the end of the day, Rinka could wipe out a large colony of 130 goblins in twelve minutes――.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
In the end, we wiped out eighteen colonies in a single day and killed nearly a thousand goblins.
Though her results fell a little short of mine from the other day, Rinka couldn’t believe what she’d accomplished.
Today, she’d kept 【First Blade】 active for nearly seven hours.
It was nothing like before, when she’d run out of magic in just two minutes.
As a result――Rinka’s maximum MP had increased by four, from ten to fourteen.
In the three years she’d been an adventurer, her maximum MP had only increased by two, so Rinka was stunned by this incredible growth.
“How was it?”
“I still can’t believe I really did all that.”
“You absolutely did it with your own strength. You should be proud.”
“No, no, it’s all thanks to you, Rento-san.”
“I lent you magic, and you fought. We each just did our part. Besides, I’m making a profit from the interest, too, so don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you. I’ll get stronger and pay you back as soon as I can.”
I was lending Rinka magic at ten percent interest, with no repayment deadline.
I wasn’t charging her the outrageous interest rates I’d imposed on the Sky-Cleaving Sword guys.
Today’s total lending came to a little over 600 MP.
I’d arranged for her to repay me with any surplus magic at night or on days off, but with her current natural recovery, even if she put it all toward repayment, she’d only pay back a little over thirty a day.
Still, repayment wasn’t all that urgent.
Once she got stronger and her maximum MP increased, she’d be able to pay it back with ease.
And according to the repayment plan MP had worked out based on information from Yggdrasil, the Central Information Organization, she’d be able to pay it all back in less than a month.
Apparently, if we raised her properly, Rinka’s magic capacity would increase rapidly.
I’d raise Rinka while keeping things balanced so she never ended up unable to repay me.
I left that balance entirely to MP.
She’d calculated everything perfectly, so I had no worries.
When my eyes met MP’s, she seemed to read my thoughts and winked at me.
Her adorable charm nearly made me cave, but I still had one thing left to do.
I snapped my fingers――.
“Huh!?”
Rinka cried out in surprise as MP suddenly appeared right in front of her.
I’d heard that Gift Fairies could only be seen by the person who possessed the Gift.
But by collecting and managing magic, MP had leveled up.
Thanks to that, she could now show herself to party members she’d lent magic to.
Apparently, if she leveled up further, she’d be able to show herself to other people too.
I didn’t know whether this was true of Gift Fairies in general or if MP was special.
Either way, Rinka really could see her.
MP bowed to Rinka, who still hadn’t quite grasped the situation.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you~ I’m MP, a Gift Fairy and magical planner in charge of managing all of my Master’s magic~”
“Huh!? Huh!?”
“Rinka-san, let’s keep supporting the Master together from now on!”
“Y-yes!”
Having heard Rinka’s answer, MP flew into her arms.
Rinka had been bewildered at first, but seemed to accept her right away.
“So this is a Gift Fairy... I’ve never seen one before...”
Rinka began gently stroking MP’s head.
MP was delighted too, saying, “Hehe~”
It looked like the two of them would get along just fine――.