༺ The Wizard Who Has Ventured Out Of His Backyard ༻
Senior Scarface briefly explained our route.
“It’s a five-day journey, including travel time. We’ve heard of a dungeon that has never been explored before in the vicinity. We’ll cross the forest, camp at the dungeon entrance, explore the dungeon, and then return.”
“Are there any changes to our target?”
“No. The goal is to gain experience for Illusion Magic. You just need to take care of any monsters we encounter along the way. As per the contract, there will be additional incentives based on the number of battles……”
Beauty Mark Gay meticulously checked the contract terms. Seeing the archer and rogue lazing in the back, it seemed like Beauty Mark Gay handled all the troublesome and complicated tasks.
Just when the discussion seemed to be wrapping up, he started grumbling about ‘How much will you pay us for emotional damages in case of personal insults during the explanation?’. It seemed like this wasn’t going to be something that would be concluded in 10 minutes, so I emptied my head.
The archer had long ears with various ornaments, indicating she was an elf. Seeing as the rogue had a long tail sticking out of her hotpants, wrapped around her thigh, she was a beastkin.
A mixed-race party, was it………..
As I was born in a rural village that only farmed potatoes before canning myself in the Purple Magic Tower, this was my first real-life encounter with different races. I had heard about them and learned about their ecology and habits from encyclopedias, but seeing them in person was a whole new experience.
Was it really true that elves’ ears are their erogenous zones? I wanted to ask, but I was afraid of getting an arrow impaled in my forehead, so I refrained.
While I was observing them for modeling purposes, the beastkin rogue’s eyes met mine. After drowsily opening her eyes, she sent me a simple hand signal.
Pointing to herself.
=> I am.
Pointing at Beauty Mark Gay.
=> His.
Making a hand gesture that needed to be censored.
=> Girlfriend. (Just for reference, this is a really toned down version)
It was a warning to not flirt with her since she already had a man. I nodded to show that I understood and then used hand signals to ask the elf archer if she was in a similar situation.
She signaled back that she was. Unexpectedly, this party was a harem party.
I looked at Beauty Mark Gay………No, Beauty Mark Guy, seeing him in a new light. He looked good enough to attract one woman, but I didn’t expect him to be the fucking GOAT and have two in his arms. Weren’t there any love quarrels?
I asked through hand signals whether their relationships were harmonious.
They replied that there was an order in this tribe, with mutual respect and strict scheduling, preventing any disputes.
This got a helluva lot more interesting.
I was about to ask if, instead of two, all three did it together when Senior Scarface whacked me on the back of the head. The beastkin rogue, too, was being reprimanded and restrained by Beauty Mark Guy.
The beastkin rogue seemed eager to boast about her male partner and I was very interested in collecting this data. Although I was stopped by Senior Scarface, I knew we would have a chance to discuss this again when the time was right…….
===============================================================
Adventuring turned out to be more boring and tiring than I expected.
We walked through the forest, and then rested. Walked, then rested. Walked, then rested…….
The journey just consisted of the elf archer leading the way as the rest of us trailed behind. It would have been great to collect data from monster encounters, but even monsters were no idiots.
They knew it was hard to attack a group of about five people.
Observing the scenery of the mountain was interesting and all at first, but obviously, it quickly became monotonous; it was always the same trees, the same rocks, and a butterfly that, strangely, often flew around me.
As such, most of the adventure was spent walking……While talking about meaningless bullshit. Senior Scarface had instructed me, ‘Esteemed Junior must keep your mouth shut.’, so I couldn’t join in the conversation.
But it was quite fun to secretly exchange hand signals with the beastkin rogue while watching Beauty Mark Guy and Senior Scarface have some kind of veteran-like conversations.
By the time I found out the panty colors of Beauty Mark Guy(I didn’t want to know) and the elf archer(This, I did want to know), we had arrived at the dungeon entrance.
And there was an ogre pacing at that very entrance.
A huge 3-meter body and muscular build, wielding a club roughly made from tree trunks pulled out nearby. In many fantasy novels, ogres were kind of like gatekeepers for newbies. A first hurdle, if you will. Apparently, it was the same here.
In small villages without any deployment of knights, they were no different from natural disasters. A single ogre could easily destroy an entire village. In my childhood, the adults used to tell us, ‘If you don’t work hard, the ogre will come get you!’, all the time while growing up.
But to a Second-Class Adventurer from the Imperial Capital, it seemed like an easy opponent.
“It seems I’ll get a light warm up. Please just stay watching. I shall finish this within 10 minutes.”
“UUUUUUUUU──AHHHHHHH!!”
Beauty Mark Guy, equipped with a shield and longsword, stepped forward. The ogre roared while charging at him. I began collecting data after casting Motion Tracker Magic on Beauty Mark Guy.
“Come to think of it, Senior Scarface.”
“Yes, Esteemed Junior?”
“How strong is a Second-Grade Adventurer?”
“They are on the verge of Metamorphosis. After all, succeeding in Metamorphosis earns them the title of First-Class.”
At the emergence of these sudden proper nouns, I calmly maintained a ‘I don’t know what in the world that means’ expression. I expected Senior Scarface to explain ever so kindly.
“Has the Tower Master not explained this yet…….? Well, I guess it is true that it’s better that you don’t know.”
“There are two ways to anger someone, you see, the first being…….”
“There are realms that can be reached for all living beings with souls. By going through Metamorphosis and then Sublimation. I heard the First Princess has undergone Metamorphosis and the Tower Master has completed Sublimation.”
I decided to interpret it in the context of martial arts novels. From what I understood, it seemed Metamorphosis was akin to reaching the Peak Realm and Sublimation was akin to reaching the Transcendent Realm. But honestly, it was hard to fully grasp.
Though I was aware of the Tower Master’s extraordinary abilities when it came to carving modelings, I didn’t know the extent of destructive power those with the title of Archwizard could wield.
Even during the confrontation with that……..boy knight at the Purple Magic Tower…
To me, the boy knight seemed to be slashing at nothing. Under the circumstances, it appeared that the Tower Master did something, but I couldn’t comprehend what it was. Was this how a Third-Rate Martial Artist saw the far away world of the Transcendent Realm…….?
As I listened to the story, Beauty Mark Guy was almost done cooking the ogre. He methodically disabled it, cutting its leg tendons first to lower its mobility and then causing it to bleed, weakening it.
With just a bit of support, wouldn’t he be able to swiftly cut its head off?
I raised my hand to cast Illusion Magic on the ogre, thinking it would be good to make it flail aimlessly. I gathered my mana and twisted it twice like a Mobius Strip, before shooting it at the ogre.
Sparks flew in the ogre’s head. The magic I cast was 『Blinding Hallucination』. It was an Illusion Magic that showed miscellaneous fantasies to obscure one’s entire vision.
“U, UAAAAAA────AGH!”
“Why is its movement suddenly……?!”
The ogre began to flail wildly and Beauty Mark Guy, who had been fighting by reading the ogre’s movements, was, due to the sudden, random pattern………
Bang!
Struck by the club and hurled about 5 meters away.
“Ro, ROWILLE──N!!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
The elf archer rushed to help the flung Beauty Mark Guy and the beastkin rogue leaped towards the ogre. Senior Scarface also started covering fire with the crossbow that was attached to her waist.
The battle, which had been going so well, suddenly fell into utter disarray.
I watched this scene discreetly, before quietly kneeling down and raising my hands guiltily.
===============================================================
Crackle, crackle.
As the campfire burned, it emitted a sound that somehow soothed the body and soul. The flickering flames pushed back the darkness of the night, dyeing part of the world in a scarlet hue. How beautiful it was. The rabbit meat roasting over the fire also contributed to the atmosphere. There was a certain romance in camping. And…
I had been kneeling with my hands raised for three hours.
My arms…..felt heavy.
Was this how Atlas felt, who was said to hold up the sky? The weight of the world was so very heavy. Sweat was pouring like rain, so I was also a bit cold.
Beauty Mark Guy had broken his arm from the ogre’s blow, so he now had a splint on. Fortunately, he had poured a potion on it, so he should recover after a good night’s sleep.
Though he was injured due to a certain naughty Illusion Wizard, Beauty Mark Guy’s expression was bright. It was because I had given him a few jewels left over from the First Princess as a form of compensation for the unfortunate industrial accident.
Senior Scarface smiled bitterly.
“Do you now get why Illusion Magic isn’t exactly mainstream, Esteemed Junior?”
“Yes.”
Unless Illusion Magic completely shattered the opponent’s mind with one shot, it had many side effects in party play. After all, I blinded the ogre with a hallucination, yet as a result, Beauty Mark Guy got injured instead.
If it must be used, one would have to carefully consider its application.
For instance, let’s say all party members had ranged attacks. Then, we could tie up the ogre with Illusion Magic and chip away at its health from afar.
“That doesn’t work well either. Large and fierce bastards tend to charge towards the direction of the attack.”
Then wouldn’t we be able to use Illusion Magic on small and weak creatures for a one-sided beatdown?
“If they’re small, weak, and delicate, a single arrow would suffice. And if they’re small but strong, Illusion Magic wouldn’t work well on them, would they?”
…..What about casting something like 『Wrath of a Nutcase』 over a wide area in a goblin colony?
“That would be useful when there are no kidnapped people in the goblin colony.”
Then what exactly could Illusion Magic even do?
Even after considering various applications, when I asked myself, ‘So is it better than a flame arrow?’, I found myself hard-pressed in answering yes.
What to do with this sensation….This sensation that was like picking a shitty character in a RPG game and being unable to do anything about it……..To stylishly sweep away enemies with Illusion Magic, did I truly have to reach the position of an Archwizard?
“It’s impressive that you could penetrate the ogre’s mental barrier and cast Illusion Magic, but……Esteemed Junior, this is how you actually use Illusion Magic.”
To elevate the reputation of the Purple Magic Tower that was tarnished by yours truly, Senior Scarface stepped up.
She made a solemn expression and spoke while pointing to the hard jerky, dry biscuits, and canteens filled with water that the party had.
“Please tell me what menu you want.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
The adventurer party, unable to grasp Senior Scarface’s words at first, chewed over them and then shuddered with thrill as they realized its meaning.
To carry cost-effective and space-efficient food, one inevitably had to choose dry rations that taste like absolute dog water. Bringing kitchen tools for delicious cooking would just become a burden, after all.
However, if there was an Illusion Wizard present…..!!
“The jerky……tastes like steak…….”
“Rowillen! This biscuit tastes like cake! Just like the ones we ate at that dessert cafe in Crownhall……!”
“…….The taste of home.”
An Illusion Wizard could significantly enhance the comfort of the adventurer party!
That night, Senior Scarface received cheers and applause from everyone for demonstrating 『Magic To Not Feel Itchy Even When Bitten By Mosquitos』 and 『Magic To Make Lying On Gravel As Comfortable As A Bed』.
