Chapter 6 - A Mage’s Journey Starts From Admission (5)

Immediately after the first collision.

I instantly opened my Pact Seal and drew in mana.

But I couldn't fire a magic bullet yet.

Where is it?

The collision between Rei and the monster happened only once at first.

Naturally, with my vision sealed, all I could use to locate the creature were my hearing and touch.

I could roughly tell its position, but pinpointing an exact target was difficult.

In contrast, Leaf, who didn't need to rely on her own senses, moved to support Rei.

"Undine! Help Rei. Disrupt that monster's movements."

Appearing with a bubbling sound of boiling water, Undine followed Leaf's orders.

The sound of waves overlapped the wind sounds made by Rei and the monster.

Rei perfectly fulfilled her role as the vanguard.

Not as an orthodox tank blocking the enemy with defense from the front, but by using her swift movements to lure and evade.

Leaf was the same. While she was standing dumbfounded like me, her spirit, Undine, was faithfully supporting Rei.

The tank and supporter were doing their roles. Now, it was time for me, the damage dealer, to fulfill mine.

I condensed mana, ready to fire at any moment while quickly thinking.

How is Undine recognizing Rei and the monster?

Detecting heat like thermal imaging equipment?

But Undine was a water spirit, not a fire spirit?

At least, it was probably not sensing through the five senses of a physical body.

Then, how about mana?

If it's distinguishing objects through mana, I should be able to do it too.

Unlike other magicians who handle their own mana, I handle external mana.

I've done it countless times, recognizing mana existing outside.

Even without a connection point like the Pact Seal, my brain had learned of its existence.

I think I can see something.

Faint silhouettes appeared.

The optic nerve accounted for 70% of sensory information, and the eye was the sensory organ most directly connected to the brain.

My brain, having learned about mana, interpreted mana as another type of signal.

Mana Vision.

Even without the magical light emitted by externally manifested mana, my eyes began to capture mana.

I could see Rei's form wrapped in physical enhancement.

I could see Undine wandering beside Rei.

And the giant lizard fiercely chased after them, climbing the walls.

In my urgency, I spoke informally, "Leaf, can you ask Undine to stop that thing for a moment?"

Leaf seemed to understand the situation and quickly replied, "I'll try. Undine!"

At Leaf's call, Undine stopped abruptly and attempted to restrain the lizard by shooting water.

In the brief moment when the lizard's movement stopped, a magic bullet flew through the air.

Crack!

The sound of the impact, like hitting a rock, echoed through the cavern.

With my vision still blocked, I couldn't confirm the extent of the damage.

But I could guess from the lizard's mana that I hadn't dealt a fatal blow.

"Rei, aggro!"

"I know."

Before the lizard could recognize me, Rei rushed in and struck its lower jaw.

The chase began anew.

During the given time, I prepared for the next strike.

Compress... compress... Four fingers isn't enough firepower. I need to reduce it to three.

I press down on the mana, again and again.

This was different from the Illusionist before.

Unlike then, when it was just an illusion, this had substance.

They wouldn't have put a real monster here, so it must be artificially created or a high-level Illusionist's materialized illusion.

Then, that lizard must have a core that acts as the center of its form.

The place with the highest mana density.

My eyes naturally narrowed as I focused on the mana vision.

Like someone with poor eyesight squinting.

My narrowed vision follows the lizard.

The moment it stops once more—

"Roman!"

My thoughts were interrupted.

Leaf's scream coincided with the lizard's mana filling my vision.

The aggro slipped.

Dodge or confront.

At this fork in the road, I chose the latter.

The magic bullet, compressed to its limit, raced forward.

There was no need for aiming.

For something charging straight at me, I just needed to shoot straight back.

Whiiine-!!

The compressed magic bullet left my fingertips.

Craaack!

The two mana forces collided.

Upon impact, the light of mana visible from the giant lizard began to fade.

The collapsing form of mana signaled the end of the battle.

The magic bullet, fired using three fingers as the barrel, had succeeded in bursting the lizard's mana core.

As I felt a sense of exhaustion, my mana vision became blurry enough that Rei approaching only appeared as a silhouette.

It seemed my tired brain couldn't process all the information from the optic nerve.

"Not bad."

To Rei's words, I spoke despite the dizziness in my head from intense concentration, "Rei, you deliberately guided us here, didn't you?"

§

I was certain…

Rei knew what this place was and still brought us here.

Nevertheless, Rei played dumb, "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"No. You never stopped once. You didn't hesitate. Even at forks in the road, you made decisions immediately as if you had a map. It's impossible without knowing something."

"I just moved without thinking. And, it's exploration training, of course, there would be monsters."

So that's how you're going to play it...

Certainly, my argument was only circumstantial evidence.

If Rei kept denying it, I didn't have much else to say.

"Fine. Let's say that's true. Let's say it was a coincidence that we came to a place with monsters."

However, Rei made a clear mistake at the end.

"But just now, when you let the lizard go, weren't you neglecting your role as vanguard?"

"...It wasn't really a dangerous situation. It was just a dummy created by illusion magic anyway. The materialization would have dissolved right before impact."

Rei's excuse was essentially an admission.

While she claimed the danger wasn't high, she admitted to intentionally letting the lizard slip by.

"You deliberately tested us. To confirm our abilities. Isn't that right?"

"So what if I did?"

"You should have asked for our consent first. Saying you wanted to check the team's abilities. We would have agreed then. But I can't accept you acting on your own like this."

In response to my firm words, Leaf added her own, "That's right! Rei, you went too far this time. Especially since Roman has limitations on using mana..."

"...Fine. I went too far. Happy?"

With even Leaf joining in, Rei spoke as if reluctantly giving in.

We could just let it go if we ended it here.

But I decided not to.

I shouldn't.

Just covering it up and pretending it didn't happen would only lead to another conflict later.

"Is that how you're going to end this?"

"Huh? We had to do this at some point anyway. Isn't it good? We've used this opportunity to gauge each other's abilities."

"That would be true if it was done with mutual agreement."

As Rei said, the danger probably wasn't that high.

The instructors weren't fools.

They would have intervened if they thought things were getting too serious while watching us.

But this was a matter of trust.

"You betrayed the team's trust."

The trust in the leader to guide us on the right path.

The trust in the vanguard to protect us from the front.

"But, I'll admit it was a necessary process."

It was undeniably a path we had to experience at some point.

Seeing combat ability in a duel and conducting joint operations with assigned positions were separate areas.

We clearly needed to check our synergy with teammates while coordinating.

If there wasn't even that justification, this wouldn't end with just words.

"So, apologize. Sincerely. If you promise never to do this again, we'll end it there."

I waited for Rei's response.

If Rei acted selfishly here, too, I would have to draw a clear line then.

"So..."

Rei's voice came out very softly.

"So... sorry..."

It was such a docile voice that even I, who had demanded the apology, was momentarily at a loss for words.

It was such a gentle tone that it made me wonder if this was really the same Rei who had been speaking so coldly and gruffly until now.

It seems Leaf couldn't have imagined Rei would respond like this either.

Leaf's slightly dumbfounded exclamation of "Eh...?" perfectly expressed my own feelings.

"There, I did it! It's over! I apologized!"

"Ah, um, right. What do you think, Leaf?"

"Huh? Oh, ah, yes. I guess... it's fine..."

It felt like there had been some intense conflict, but now the atmosphere had dissolved to the point where it seemed like it had never happened.

"L-let's go! I'll lead properly this time."

"Rei."

"..."

"If you don't want to answer, just listen. I'm not trying to tease you."

I called out to Rei, who was trying to leave quickly, and continued speaking.

"We're going to establish some rules from now on."

"Rules?"

Yes. I'm so glad you're here, Lead. You’re very diligent.

"That's right. Rules as a team. Whether we like it or not, we're a team for now, and we have to work together for a while. But we can't keep clashing like this while acting on our own."

"That's... true, isn't it?"

"That's why we need rules."

I spoke about what I came up with on the spot.

One, team decisions were made by majority vote.

Two, absolutely no violent conflicts.

Three, no actions that harmed team members.

Simple contents, but necessary and reasonable items for being a team.

Leaf clapped her hands as if she was about to jump, agreeing enthusiastically, "That's great! Since there are exactly three of us, we don't have to worry about ties with majority votes!"

"Rei, what about you?"

"...Well, it's not bad."

With both Leaf and Rei agreeing, I added one last clause.

"And four. Always remember that we're a team."

So let's all work hard together.

Please.

§

"1 hour and 51 minutes. Lowest tier."

Roman's team was silent at the evaluation of Aaron, the instructor in charge of Exploration Skills.

"Aren't you too relaxed? We don't usually dismiss trainees after the aptitude test, but remember that you can still be forcibly dismissed if there are serious disqualifying reasons."

Roman nodded glumly.

Something felt off.

Roman's head was filled with confusion at the instructor's words, which were different from what he expected.

What's this? It ends just like this?

No mention of us taking down that giant rock lizard?

"And it's better to learn basic magic in advance. At least acquire the light emission spell. The Abyss has many dark places."

At those words, Leaf's hand twitched.

No one noticed because she was gripping her staff tightly.

"Lastly, have more trust in each other. Team changes are possible, but... I think you'll probably stay as you are. Don't forget that the midterm exam is performed as a team, even if the final exam might not be."

With those final words, Aaron waved his hand dismissively.

"You may go now. Today's training ends here, so do as you please with the remaining time. Dismissed."

After giving the dismissal order, Aaron immediately left.

Roman stood there blankly, staring at Aaron's back, then exchanged glances with Leaf beside him.

Is this really the end?

Are they really letting this slide?

I don't know.

It seemed like a pretty tough opponent, but maybe everyone can handle a creature at that level.

"Well, I'd like to go wash up now, but should we have some kind of after-party?"

"I think I need to wash up too. And today, I was thinking of practicing that basic magic a bit. Rei... oh, she's already gone."

Leaf spoke in a deflated voice, looking at Rei's back, already far away.

We're still a team... she could have at least said goodbye.

The dismissal took place in an atmosphere of regret.

While Roman and Leaf headed back to the dormitory to wash up, Rei's footsteps were directed towards the opposite side, where the free training building was located.

Rei's mind was in turmoil.

She initially approached Roman to learn about Devil Sorcerers through him.

Devil Sorcerers were one of the arch-enemies that Rei had to defeat.

She had intended to figure out their countermeasures and weaknesses through this seemingly clumsy Devil Sorcerer.

What happened in this training was along the same lines.

Rei had led them not to the destination, but to where the strongest enemy seemed to be.

To see how Roman would fight, to observe a Devil Sorcerer in combat.

She sought a strong opponent because he would reveal more of his hand against one.

But Roman was right.

I shouldn't have done that...

Gaining trust only to stab them in the back.

How was that any different from those people?

At the very least, she shouldn't have acted like that.

And it was none other than Roman, a Devil Sorcerer, who made her realize this.

Acting like him.

What confidence does he have, being so weak he can't even use physical enhancement?

Really, he's just like that person.

A person who, though physically weak, had an upright spirit.

A person who would scold Rei when she did wrong.

And in the end, a person who would face her squarely and say, We are family.

"Even though he's weak...!"

Is he… weak?

The Rock Basilisk was a monster Rei knew.

An enemy not particularly compatible with Rei herself.

The Rock Basilisk encountered in the underground floor was an alchemist's creation with illusion magic layered on top.

It couldn't help but be weaker than the real thing, but even Rei would have to get serious to break through it head-on.

Yet Roman took down such a Rock Basilisk with simple mana projection. He didn’t even use magic.

Could Rei herself have done it?

Excluding physical enhancement and magic, she would find herself in quite a predicament.

But why?

Even as she tried to recall the power Roman showed, her mind kept going back to the words he said.

"Ugh...!"

Why, why did I stupidly say something like sorry there...

"Forget it! Forget it! Erase it from your brain!"

Thud! Thud!

Anyone who saw Rei beating her own head would have thought she had completely lost it.

Perhaps realizing how foolish she was acting, Rei's fists loosened, and her arms drooped.

Thud.

Leaning her head against the wall, Rei murmured dejectedly, "Why do you speak like that person..."

The only person who used to scold her.

And now, a person she could no longer see.

Forcibly suppressing the rising nostalgia, Rei moved her feet again.

Rei's back, as she entered the training building, looked particularly small.