Chapter 30

"This... damn it!"

Laokles suddenly turned pale and then immediately kicked one of the people lying on the store floor.

The person groaned and rolled on the floor. ...In their hand was a black stone.

That means, this black ghost must be some kind of summoned creature.

"Still hanging around, huh!"

Laokles shouted, brandishing a ham and lunged at the black ghost. I wonder if they know each other.

...But that's all. The ham was buried at the feet of the black ghost and then... it seemed to be swallowed by the black darkness and disappeared.

It disappeared. The ham disappeared.

Just a moment ago, the ham was as sturdy as the club used by the mythological Heracles, and it had been knocking people in the store around. But it vanished so easily. It seemed to have melted away from the middle.

As I was shocked by this scene... the ghost moved.

The ghost slowly lifted something like a hand... and then slowly brought it down.

At that moment, the place where Laokles had been standing just a moment ago... disappeared.

It disappeared. The ceiling debris that should have been there, the scattered goods, the floor. Everything vanished, leaving only a hole gouged out of the ground.

...What is this thing?

While I was chilled by the scene before my eyes, Laokles immediately moved on to the next attack.

He picked up an axe that one of the customers had been holding and swung it at the black ghost.

...For a moment, the axe seemed to shine. But that was all... the black ghost only got a slight cut, which quickly closed up. It was like cutting soft mochi; it would stick back together no matter how many times you cut it.

"Damn, this doesn't work either...!"

Laokles clicked his tongue, held the axe, and started to concentrate on something.

But while he was doing this, the ghost reached out its hand again. This time, it would surely come down on Laokles.

I hastily threw things around at the ghost.

Pottery shards, something like a knife blade, pebbles, an indistinct wooden statue... I threw these things, but the ghost didn't react at all. And the things I threw all disappeared as soon as they hit the ghost's body, as if they were being absorbed. Just like the ham earlier.

Still, I kept throwing things. There was nothing else I could do. Even if I immediately took out my drawing materials and tried to create a wall, it seemed that the ghost would just erase everything, so it wouldn't be very effective. If I could at least make the ghost's hand come towards me instead of Laokles...

...At that moment.

A light suddenly appeared.

The light was leaking from my hand. What I had been about to throw... seemed to be something similar to the wax imitation that Fey had lent me for magic practice.

A "pu-gyu" sound was heard. It seemed to have come from the black ghost.

Before I could think, "Huh?", the ghost seemed to try to put some distance between us, slithering away...

"There!"

Laokles' axe roared.

This time, the axe shone brightly. A sound like something exploding and the axe tore through the ghost's body with great force.

Blood splattered.

"...Damn it."

The ghost, which had been struck, seemed to have aimed for Laokles' legs. A part of Laokles' thigh was missing, and blood was gushing out.

Laokles probably couldn't walk anymore. It would be difficult for him to launch an attack.

Moreover, the ghost, which Laokles had cut, seemed to have stuck back together.

It was chilling.

...I had healed Fey's injuries before, but this was the first time I had seen someone get injured. It was a much more gruesome scene than I had imagined. While watching such a gruesome scene, I thought, "So, this is how people bleed," in a daze.

"Hey, you, run away!"

Laokles said, protecting his wound.

Since he said so, I should probably run. The store was already full of holes. The door Laokles had kicked open, the holes in the walls that the black ghost had erased. I could escape from anywhere.

...But.

I think if I run, I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life.

"...I'll make sure not to be a bother."

The ghost, this time, was raising its hand towards me, not Laokles. I looked up at it... and gripped the "wax imitation" in my hand more firmly.

When I consciously channeled magic into the wax imitation, it shone brightly.

...When the light shone, the black ghost shrank back in surprise and pulled back its raised hand.

When I extinguished the light, it started to stretch out its hand again, but when I turned the light back on, it pulled back.

...Yeah.

This thing is afraid of light.

Because it's afraid of light, I think the attack was effective when Laokles' axe shone. And because it's afraid of light, the ghost was afraid of the glowing wax imitation.

...Then it's simple. I know how to shoot a beam from this wax imitation.

It will probably be a very effective attack against the black ghost.

I took off the seal on my wrist and put it in my pocket.

Then the light from the wax imitation became noticeably stronger. When I directed the light at the ghost, it shrank back even more, crouched down, and became docile.

The rest is... endurance. Endure the magic. And... endure the approaching ghost.

I held down my left wrist, which was gripping the wax imitation, with my right hand.

And, like Fey did to me, I held back the magic there.

"...Ugh."

This sensation is still unfamiliar. It's restless, itchy, and I can't settle down at all.

But I have to endure. I have to hold it back, hold it back, and release it all at once. I endured as much as I could.

The black ghost made an angry "pu-gyu" sound and stretched out its body. The light is not shining now because I'm enduring. It's the perfect opportunity to target me.

"Hey! Run away!"

I heard Laokles' voice, but I still had to endure.

I endured, I endured, and even when the black ghost's hand was raised in front of me, I endured. Even when the restlessness swelled inside me, I endured. Even when the restlessness started to buzz, I endured... and when the black ghost's hand approached me, at that moment.

I fired a beam from the wax imitation.

The sky was suddenly visible.

The beam pierced the black ghost's torso, opening a large hole in an instant. Through the hole, I could see the sky at dusk.

...The ghost looked down at its body, where the hole had been opened by the beam, and then started to scream "pu-gyu, pu-gyu."

The hole in the ghost's body didn't seem to close. Instead, it was slowly melting the ghost, expanding!

Light. If there's light, I can defeat this ghost!

Even a ghost that can swallow and erase everything is not invincible!

The black ghost writhed in anger and glared at me.

I stood with Laokles behind me, holding the wax imitation.

"Try to eat me if you can!"

The ghost seemed to understand my words, glaring angrily but not attacking.

The ghost glared at us for a moment... and then stretched out towards the outside of the store, trying to escape.

Just as I thought, "If this ghost gets out into the town, it will be bad,"

Cheers came from outside the store. Then a roar, the sound of wings, and the roar of flames. ...And.

Looking up, beyond the collapsed ceiling, I saw a red dragon flying in the sky and Fey riding the red dragon.

"Hey! I got lost, but a big guy came out, so it was a good landmark!"

Fey's casual words were, at that moment, just encouraging.

"Fey! This ghost is afraid of light!"

"Light? Sorry, I can't use a single bit of light magic!"

Fey laughed and then showed a reassuring smile.

"But light is like a servant of fire, right!"

With this unreasonable argument, the red dragon breathed fire.

The flames shone brightly, redder and stronger than the sunset, illuminating the surroundings.

"How about that! It's bright, right!"

The flames from the red dragon were indeed effective. The black ghost was melting away from the flames.

The ghost tried to escape, heading towards the town.

...But then, a fire wolf howled, and a fire bird took flight.

The black ghost was completely surrounded by Fey's summoned creatures and couldn't escape.

"Alright! Let's finish it!"

And just before the red dragon breathed fire... the beam I had prepared melted and erased the black ghost completely.

"Well, I finally made a grand entrance, but I missed the finishing blow."

Fey said this as he landed, where he found me and... the severely injured Laokles.

"Whoa... Is he going to be okay?"

"I've stopped the bleeding, but..."

There were no bandages to be found, so I used Laokles' shirt as a bandage.

But blood was still gushing from the gouged part of his thigh, not stopping.

"This... Hey, Togo. I'll hold it down. You start drawing."

"Okay."

Fey was quick to understand. I was relieved. I immediately took out my drawing materials and started drawing Laokles' thigh.

"Hey, what are you...?"

"Laokles, just watch. Your master is like this."

I immediately started sketching on the drawing paper.

I took the outline of Laokles' entire body with a pencil, drew the shape of his body, added rough shading, and then immediately started coloring. I was already familiar with mixing the color of Laokles' skin, as I had drawn him many times with watercolor.

...I didn't look at the actual color much. Because Laokles was losing blood, and his complexion was getting worse. So, I used the color I remembered from him.

This time, I paid particular attention to the thigh.

The tension of the thigh muscles, the skin pulled by the bones, the way the shadows fell on the bulging flesh.

I focused on these things and drew tirelessly.

The actual thigh of Laokles was covered with a bandage, or rather, a shirt pressed against it to stop the bleeding. So, I used the other leg as a reference and drew tirelessly.

...I mentally flipped the leg in front of me and inferred the shadow and muscle structure, drawing it. This was surprisingly difficult. Not being able to draw what you see is very challenging.

"Hey... Are you trying to heal it?"

"Yeah. You figured it out. That's right. Just stay still."

Laokles watched me, looking a bit troubled and confused.

"You can leave me alone. If you're a slave, you can buy another one."

"No."

I declined the incomprehensible words and continued to move my brush.

...It's quite a rough drawing. It's more like a rough sketch than a watercolor pencil drawing. The details are completely lacking. I was very worried if this rough drawing would work... but I focused on pouring magic into it.

I've practiced a bit of magic control. I hope it works well. I hope it works well. No, it has to work well.

The horse worked well with this level of detail. So, it should work with Laokles too.

...And finally, I completed the drawing.

I was very tired. So tired that I wanted to fall asleep right away.

But... well, it's fine. I healed Laokles' wound.

Laokles' wound was healed. I drew it hastily, but at least I stopped the bleeding and saved Laokles' life.

"How do you feel? Any strange sensations?"

"...I can't put much strength in my leg, but... it's enough."

Ah, it seems the function hasn't fully returned. This is a point to reflect on. What's the reason? Probably because the details weren't drawn well enough.

"Alright, good job, Togo. You can go to sleep now."

Fey, concerned, gently patted my back. I wish he wouldn't do that. It makes me even sleepier.

"No, I still have to... a bit more..."

I moved away from Fey and... walked through the remains of the store.

The store was completely devastated, almost like rubble... but I was still curious.

The sword.

...It must be buried somewhere.

I told them what I was looking for and asked Fey to help me search. Then I asked Laokles if it was okay to look for "that sword."

...And Laokles started searching with us. So, we all started searching through the rubble together.

It was found surprisingly quickly. The sword was buried in a relatively easy-to-find place near the storefront.

I picked up the sword and brought it to Laokles.

"Is this your sword?"

When I asked... Laokles nodded with a grim expression.

"Yes."

I have some fragmented information about this sword.

"This sword is the sword of those who have killed people."

...But that's not the point. What I need to ask is not that.

"Do you want it?"

Laokles seemed to be thinking for a while.

But after a while... he took the sword and smiled.

"Yes. I gratefully accept it."

Laokles smiled.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and one side of his mouth lifted a little. But he was definitely smiling. ...Just a slight movement of facial features can change the impression so much, I thought.

As I was surprised, Laokles quickly returned to his usual statue-like expression. ...No, it was a slightly bitter expression, like a statue.

"...Because of this sword and me, you've suffered a lot. The sword, and more than anything, me. You can hate us."

And because he said such things, I was dissatisfied.

I think this time... it was my method that was wrong. Yes. I should have confirmed properly. It was a problem that could have been avoided with just that, so I have no intention of hating the sword or Laokles.

...But I also know that it's pointless to keep giving in to each other at such times.

Yes. My teacher once said, "Don't keep pushing, hitting, or giving in. And especially, limit the return of favors to one round."

This was said by a teacher who received a gift of instant coffee with a very bitter face after giving jelly as a thank-you for soba noodles. By the way, the teacher doesn't like soba noodles much, and coffee is in the realm of dislike.

"Besides, it wasn't all bad."

So, I want