Chapter 4

"――I'm going."

Saying this, Grace stepped forward. The ground exploded with just that single step.

She flew forward almost parallel to the road, swinging her axe with the force of a bullet. The ant's body split cleanly in two and soared high into the air.

Combined with Grace's slender figure, it was quite an otherworldly scene.

Grace's fighting style was simple and straightforward, relying on her overwhelming physical strength.

The trajectory of her weapon was straightforward and easy to predict, but the initial speed was far from ordinary. For example, whether it was a weapon or a shield, if it were hit directly, it would be crushed to pieces.

She crushed the ant's head and effortlessly tore off its neck with one hand. Swinging and throwing her axes with both hands, the ants were literally pulverized with each movement.

It was even more impressive that her strength was further enhanced at night or indoors. A simple brute force like this was a clear example of a terrifying threat.

Her crimson eyes narrowed.

A fang peeked out from the corner of Grace's mouth, and a smile even appeared. The Gartner family had been putting her through a lot of endurance training, and since the opponents were ants, today she could let loose as much as she wanted.

In fact, she didn't need to worry about the ants. They had agreed to cover each other's backs, but they weren't that formidable.

I, on the other hand, was participating in my first real combat, so I was cautious and kept an eye on the situation.

I held my magic staff, which was taller than I was, and swept up the approaching ants with it. At the same time, I cast a spell, launching fireballs at the ants in the air. They burst into flames instantly, leaving only ashes.

I wrapped a tornado spell around my staff and swept it across, cutting down the line of approaching ants by the same distance as my attack range.

With the distance opened up, I planted my staff in the ground. A magic circle spread from my feet, and a little further away, countless spears of earth shot out of the ground, skewering a group of ants.

"... Against ants, it's a bit overkill, isn't it?"

I was only using basic spells that didn't require preparation.

I drew my staff like a sword and cut through the swarm of ants with wind blades.

The selling point of a battle mage is to use staff and body techniques to cast spells in close combat.

The main benefits of the specialized skill 'Magic Circulation' are the enhancement of one's physical abilities and the amplification of spell power.

However, by using the magic power refined in the body through circulation to increase the power, the range is sacrificed. Therefore, it's necessary to train in martial techniques that are liberated by the enhancement of physical abilities and to refine close combat skills.

High power and paper-thin armor. It's indeed a peaky and player-skill-dependent setup.

While I can also serve as a bombardier like a regular magic user, in that case, I can't activate the circulation. In a proper firefight, other magic users with skills for long-range combat would have the upper hand.

Still... ants are just right for a warm-up.

They attack without fear and rely on numbers, but that's all they have. Since they don't coordinate, as long as you have the firepower to take them down as you touch them, the battle is actually easier.

"Monica! There's a gap over there!"

"I know!"

The Forest Birds were also using the defensive barrier effectively, picking off the ants that were trying to force their way through the barrier. At this rate, they would be able to repel the ants without much difficulty.

"Ah, it's over—"

The swarm of ants emerging from the forest became intermittent, sporadic, and finally, the last one.

I stopped its movement by thrusting my longsword into its head, and the Forest Birds sat down on the ground.

Grace and I still had some energy left.

I was enhanced by the circulation and had a way to convert magic power into stamina. As long as my magic power didn't run out, my stamina wouldn't either. The spells I used for attacks were not of a particularly high rank.

The strategy we set was simple. Grace and I would go to the front and crush the ants, while the Forest Birds would protect the horses by dealing with the ants that broke through the barrier.

If we could get through but the horses were eaten, it would be a problem. We wanted to avoid any hindrance to our future journey.

Therefore, we used the seventh-class light magic, Defense Field, which creates a hemispherical defensive barrier, to hinder the movement of the approaching ants while dividing the roles into attackers and defenders.

Seventh-class magic is roughly between intermediate and advanced. I used it to show my strength and to convince everyone that I would take the offensive role.

I decided to fight and push through rather than run away. There was no reason to turn my back on killer ants, even if they were a swarm.

"Today... I saw many unbelievable things..."

"Geniuses do exist..."

...I had to accept being looked at with such eyes.

"Sir Theodor"

Grace called my name, and I turned around.

"Please take care of me."

"Sure."

I took her hand and touched the ring to restore the restriction. Grace wobbled a bit, and I instinctively supported her.

"Are you okay?"

"---Yes. Since the opponents were ants, I didn't get too dizzy, so I didn't show an embarrassing appearance. I also don't feel hungry."

Grace nodded slightly, looking a bit embarrassed, and pressed her chest, taking a deep breath.

...When the restriction is lifted, Grace gets drunk from the smell of blood. She was smiling a bit during the battle, but that was probably because she was leaning slightly towards the vampire side.

Grace calls this "shameful" and doesn't seem to like it.

As a vampiress, her bloodlust can be suppressed with a cursed item, but tilting towards the human side means that the bloodlust is converted into a human sensation—hunger.

I carefully observed Grace. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but that was probably from the exertion. The axe she had been swinging effortlessly seemed heavy now.

...If there were no visible injuries and the hunger wasn't severe, then Grace should be fine. In that case, what we needed to do next was—

"Tonight—shall we camp out?"

I looked up at the sky. It was a relief that it wasn't raining.

"Huh? If we hurry, we can make it to the next town—"

There was a reason we couldn't do that. I told them.

"After a break—let's strip the bodies, shall we?"

Behind me, the ant corpses were piled up like a mountain.

Monsters store magic power in specific parts, which can be processed as materials and sold for money.

In other words—let's collect the jaws of the killer ants, shall we?

Don't worry, it's a shared effort. You can rest assured.

They nodded, looking somewhat pleased despite their strained smiles. Given that there were no objections, they were indeed adventurers.

We managed to collect the jaws before nightfall and burned the ant corpses to clean up.

Since the probability of encountering more malevolent monsters like wisps or ghosts increases at night, we decided to wait until morning after setting up a barrier.

We didn't want to camp out right where the battle took place, so we moved a bit further down the road to a more open area.

However, even with the barrier, it wouldn't protect against night thieves, so we couldn't do without a watch.

Since we had more stamina, we took the first watch, letting them rest.

Since we would be traveling comfortably in the carriage during the day, this wasn't a problem.

Besides, I wanted to thoroughly inspect my magic staff tonight. It made a strange sound during the battle...

"Hmm..."

Fine cracks were running through it. It seemed it couldn't withstand the overload of the circulated magic power.

...After just one real battle, this happened. It seems even a new one isn't good enough.

"Is there a problem?"

As I frowned under the light of the campfire, Grace tilted her head and asked.

"Look, this."

"...There are cracks. This was supposed to be new, right?"

"It seems the staff couldn't handle it."

Even so, it was one of the better ones available in the barony.

I would need to replace it, but if it were of the same quality, it might shatter with a single shot of intermediate or advanced magic while in circulation.

I can fight without a staff, but I had mainly focused on staff techniques... I really need a better staff.

"It's okay. We'll definitely get a good one in Termwill."

"Sure. I hope so."

"I'll be with you. Until then, please don't overexert yourself."

"...Grace, is it okay to frequently release the restriction? Don't hide any discomfort out of consideration?"

"There's no need to worry. The only burden I have is the backlash when I return to the restricted state, and even if it's severe, it's only temporary and doesn't last long."

Grace tilted her head slightly and said,

"Today... I felt a bit uneasy, that's all."

"Uneasy?"

"No, it's fine now. I didn't feel uncomfortable, so I think I'm okay. I've been dealing with this condition for a long time."

Hmm... I'll keep an eye on Grace's condition in the future.

As I looked at her well-defined profile illuminated by the flickering fire, she gave me a somewhat pleased smile.