Chapter 26

The next day, when I visited the guild to deal with the issue of the bandit extermination, I saw a receptionist beckoning me. Today, it's a girl. She's cute.

"Please show me your guild card."

"It's Kaede, right? You have a named request, and here is the reward for completing the request."

When I showed my guild card, I was given three gold coins and a request board that was folded in the middle, with the writing side facing out.

The visible side read, "Confirm that there is no one around before opening due to confidentiality."

It's loudly declaring, "I'm carrying a secret," but it should be fine, right?

"Thank you."

I put the board in my item box, thanked her, and left the guild. I'll open it at the inn.

When I opened it in my room at the inn, the request details were written there.

Rank: E

Request: Bandit Extermination

Reward: 50,000 tel to be split among the participants, and an additional 500 tel per bandit killed

Quantity: All members of the bandit gang

Notes: Gather at the guild one hour after the morning bell on the 15th, and show the request at the reception. The strategy will be decided based on the number of people gathered.

The 15th is tomorrow.

I can't go around asking, "Are you going to participate in the bandit extermination tomorrow?" so I'll probably go with those who decide to participate.

What if the necessary number of people doesn't gather?

They will probably change the date.

I wonder if the three gold coins are just for the information. I checked my guild card, but there was no record of bandit extermination.

It must be some guild's method of concealment.

If it's not written, it probably means the reward has already been paid.

There's no way to confirm if the information fee is included, but the fact that a party has been formed seems to confirm it.

This is just a guess, though.

There's still a long time until tomorrow—actually, a whole day—so I went to the workshop, but the mana extraction won't be ready until the day after tomorrow.

Next, I went to the charcoal maker.

"Hello, how's the coke?"

"Coke, you mean the coal that can be used for refining? I tried making a small setup as you suggested, but the edges of the coal just became full of holes."

Oh, full of holes means it's probably complete.

The edges only... maybe if I make the place where I put the coal thinner, it will work.

"The holes are the coke. When you light it, it should burn at a higher temperature than charcoal."

"Hmm... can I try burning it?"

"Of course, go ahead."

The charcoal maker scraped off the part that had turned into coke and started a fire.

Even though he's a charcoal maker, he doesn't use it himself; he mainly sells it.

With nothing to do, I looked around and saw a coke manufacturing device.

It even had a mechanism to move gas, which was quite advanced. It must have been made by a dwarf.

It seemed ready. It felt quite fast, but in this world, there must be some magical element.

"Hmm... indeed, the heat output is quite high for the amount. This could be a great fuel. However, it's not enough for refining yet."

It seems to be working. To ensure the quantity...

"Making a few more of the same device should ensure the quantity. The problem is the cost, though..."

"It's a good fuel for heating, but it's too expensive for refining. It might be useful for blacksmiths, but charcoal is better. If you can turn all the coal into coke and use it for refining, it might be comparable to charcoal. But the coal you're using is sold in small quantities for household use, so it would be much cheaper to buy directly from the coal mine."

"I think making the place where I put the coal thinner will work. I'll alternate thin coal layers with the heating flames."

"That sounds good. I'll try making one first, and if it works, I'll make more."

"Okay, thank you. How much money do we have left?"

"We haven't used a single gold coin yet. We have plenty."

"Okay. Let me know if we need more."

"Sure, but we should be fine for a while."

I left the shop. At this rate, practical use might not be too difficult.

I have nowhere to go, so I decided to have lunch and then go on an adventure.

Today, as usual, I'll be killing red wolves.

By the time I had killed about 30 of them by evening, my level had gone up.

My sword and magic levels didn't increase.

Come to think of it, I've been enhancing my magic to cast faster, but I haven't really strengthened the magic itself.

So far, it has been enough, and considering the MP consumption, it seems difficult to create a simple, powerful spell.

However, it wouldn't be strange to have a user-friendly spell.

Tomorrow is bandit hunting, so I'll prepare some human-targeted spells and try the rest the day after tomorrow.

In online games, there were skills suitable for PvP, but in this world, they are inefficient.

They are flashy and attack everything in the area, which is not ideal.

So, what kind of spell is suitable for human targets?

First, the power. It's not that necessary. Humans, unlike other animals, don't have thick fur.

Some may have sturdy equipment, but for now, I'll assume lightly armored opponents.

Next, the speed. The faster, the better. For that, I need a new staff.

I could buy a temporary staff, but it wouldn't be as good. There's nothing I can do about this.

Now, what should I aim for by sacrificing power? A barrage of small rock spears flying at the enemy, that's it.

The hideout seemed to be a cave, so using fire is scary, and water lacks penetration power.

There was a wind attribute, but it doesn't seem suitable for attack. It might be a good target for ranged attackers.

Hmm? What if I make the wind circle around my body at high speed? Could that block ranged attacks and make me strong?

I tried using magic with that image.

I felt a very strong wind around me. An umbrella would probably be blown away. This seems to consume 10 MP per second.

The grass around me was swaying like in a typhoon.

I picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it up.

The stone flew straight up and then fell back on my head.

Thinking about it, if the wind isn't strong enough to blow away the stone, it probably can't block even a pebble. The distance is also insufficient to alter the trajectory.

Instead of that, wouldn't it be better to create a magical barrier on the surface of my body? The mages in the game used to do something like that.

I was a physical damage dealer, so I had no such auxiliary skills, only a few that enhanced my personal attack power.

I tried to create an armor-like barrier around my body and then poked it with a stone, but the magic pushed the stone away, and I couldn't touch it.

It would be convenient if it automatically blocked anything harmful, but it doesn't seem to do that.

So, I decided to use the magic only on my face and poked it with a stone I picked up.

The stone was blocked by the magic and didn't reach my face. It seems to be fine even if I poke it strongly.

However, each time I was poked, a small amount of MP was consumed, according to my status.

I think this is because the magic used to create the barrier is neutralizing the attack and replenishing the consumed MP. This seems to be the most natural explanation.

After trying various things, I found that I could pre-charge more magic into this spell, like other spells.

Clothes seem to be considered part of my body and are not excluded, but weapons are. The criteria are unclear.

I decided to use this magic on all parts of my body except my hands. Once deployed, it doesn't consume MP until it takes a hit, so I can sit on a chair and eat.

I tried eating a non-toxic leaf I found on the ground to test this.

To be safe, I always protect my eyes. Even with the touch plate, getting something in my eyes would be problematic.

This should be good for defense. Next is the attack. I originally intended to develop attack spells.

I don't want to enhance my body with magic like in a game. I might end up exploding. Scary!

Wind magic doesn't seem very useful. It doesn't have an aggressive image.

Water magic, I'm not going to suppress a mob, I'm going to kill bandits. Rejected.

Fire magic, I don't want to use it in a cave. I might end up choking myself.

So, earth magic. If I make the rock spears small, they'll be like bullets and should be sufficient for human targets.

Unlike animals, humans will easily flinch if hit in the limbs, and I can kill them during that time.

In exchange for making them smaller, I need a large number.

The speed won't be very fast until I get a new staff, but if I create a barrage, it will be impossible to dodge.

Assuming a human is 40 cm wide, if I line up spears 30 cm apart, it will be impossible to dodge.

However, I can't extend the magic in a long, narrow line. The starting point would be too far from my body.

So, it will be like a shotgun. Not like a real shotgun, but like the shotgun in M○H, where the bullets spread out widely.

To increase the suppression power, I made the spears 1/50th the normal size, so 7 × 50 = 350 thin spears would fly out like a shotgun.

I thought 1/50th might not be powerful enough, but the spears were embedding themselves 2 cm into the wood.

This should be enough to buy time. Plus, 0.5 seconds later, the next batch of spears will fly out. With so many flying, even if some are deflected, the impact will be significant. For human-targeted magic, I'll go with the magic armor and the rapid-fire shotgun.