Chapter 43

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

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In the wind, cherry blossoms danced as Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

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If I could just fire two shots, it would be simple, but there isn't enough space. Even if I fire one and then prepare the next, the enemy's second shot will reach me.

If I try to avoid it, making the range any narrower would result in being hit. I need to fire almost immediately after the first shot, like a tandem warhead, or at least faster than the enemy's rapid fire.

Ah, the front explosive in a tandem warhead is smaller, right? That's because it only needs enough power to detonate the explosive reactive armor.

So, how much power is needed to detonate magic? I've never seen magic that didn't materialize when something hit it.

I don't know what the "something" is, but when magic collides with magic, it detonates. Even the tiniest bit of magic, different from air, can potentially detonate the enemy's magic.

I'll try it. First, I need to make the magic small. I'll imagine something the size of a grain of sand and prepare a rock spear—more like a rock grain—and fire it at the bird in the sky.

Immediately, about 30 meters above my head, it exploded. It seems it was close enough, and it worked.

With this, I can fire even while preparing a large scatter shot. To defend, I can fire grains of sand, but it doesn't seem to slow down the scatter shot generation.

This might be a pretty dangerous spell. Basically, all projectile magic is ineffective.

With the scatter shot ready, I fired it. Watching the spear fly—

Ah, it self-destructed. It seems the sand grains caused an explosion in front of it, and it was hit right in front of its mouth. Then, the scatter shot followed up.

...Did it work!?

I set up a flag for no reason, but the bird fell straight to the ground. "Straight" means it looks like it's falling straight down from my perspective, but it's probably falling at an angle.

"Wow! You really made the Iksplondor self-destruct while running!"

"It seems to work out somehow."

I answered while catching and storing the bird. Honestly, it was easy. I could have flown close or used other methods. I didn't because it would have been troublesome for the guards if the target suddenly took off.

As a result, I developed this spell, so it's all good.

"A magic user with warrior-level stamina who can move and perform anti-air magic! I want one in my party! Why don't you join us?"

Maybe they were originally a party. They do seem to coordinate well.

"No, I prefer solo."

But I declined. Why would I have to fight in such a rough party? I'm strong enough on my own, and no one seems faster than me. There's no reason to join a party permanently, even if it's temporary.

"By the way, I felt the Iksplondor self-destruct just now. Did you do something?"

Did it get noticed?

But I can't reveal this. This spell is a major weakness for magic users. Even I would suffer a power drop if used against me. I won't disclose it until I find a countermeasure. I'll give it a name: 'Magic Misfire.' It doesn't match the reality, but that's better. If I accidentally say it, it will be hard to guess the principle.

"Well, it was probably just a coincidence."

I managed to bluff it off. No one pursued it, so it seems to have worked.

After that, we continued running without any notable incidents and arrived at what seemed to be Desibator.

"We've arrived."

This seems to be Desibator. It doesn't look like a city at all, unlike the previous ones. The previous cities had grand walls, but there's nothing here. There are three concentric circles of what look like wall remnants, with ditches in between. The ditches are impressive, about 5 meters wide and 3 meters deep, though they don't have water.

Beyond the ditches, there's something that looks like a wall. It's completely different from the walls of previous cities, made of compacted earth about 3 meters high, with parts of monster shells or something sticking out. It's like they used monster shells instead of rebar in concrete.

When we reached the wall, the leader jumped onto it as if it were natural. There's no gate, so they must not want to lower the defense.

The inside of the city is also different. There are no buildings over two stories, and they are sparse. Most are wooden, with many doors and windows. It's as if they put doors in every room.

In the distance, I saw a commotion where a monster and a human were fighting. The doors seem to be for sudden monster attacks. There's no peace in Desibator.

While observing, we reached the guild, which seems to be in the city center. The center has a higher density of buildings and some shops, but even here, the guild has many doors, indicating it's not safe.

The city seems to have a diameter of about 1 kilometer, so if a monster isn't killed on the way, it can reach the center quickly.

"I'm here to report on the transport request."

I showed my guild card and transporter card.

"Ah, the party we heard about yesterday. The items are in the item box, right?"

"Yes, where should I put them?"

"I'll show you. The guards can complete the request here, so please handle the procedures."

The guild member led me to a storage area dug into the ground, like a food storage. It's a small, sturdy warehouse.

"Put as much as you can in here."

I did, but there was still a lot left in the item box.

"Next, this way."

The guild member led me outside the guild, perhaps to distribute the items. The next stop was a food store next to the guild.

"Put as much as you can in here."

They showed me a slightly larger storage area. I put the items in and continued to a few more places until the items were all gone.

"Great capacity. The request is complete. The reward will be on your card."

I handed over the card I got in Photren, and the guild member put it in a box-like device, fiddled with it, and returned it to me. The card now read "18,950,000." Nearly 20 million.

"Thanks. Transport has been a strain on our forces, so this will help us focus on battles."

"Yes, it's beneficial for me too."

This is profitable. Maybe I should start a transport company independent of the guild. Even if they take 10%, it's cheaper than setting up a sales base here. Hiring staff would be expensive, so I'll just bring the items back.

For now, I'll check the requests. It seems wasteful to just do trade and leave.

The requests are different from other cities, mostly monster hunts, regardless of rank. Among them, I found a strange request.

Hunt Request

Rank: Any

Content: Cutting trees around Desibator

Reward: 50,000 tel per tree

Quantity: As many as possible

Note: Be careful, as they are hard. Use special material weapons or axes.

Trees...? Cutting trees is a hunt?

Why 50,000 tel per tree?

What will they do with the wood? Use it for firewood?

If so, it would be a request for wood, not a hunt. I'll ask the guild member.

"Excuse me, is this tree cutting just cutting normal trees?"

"Yes, that's right. The expansion of monster territory is due to the delay in cutting, so if we can cut effectively, we might be able to push back... though it's a dream now."

"I see. I'll go cut some trees."

Tree cutting seems very important. In Japan, humans and forests were said to coexist, but here, trees are the enemy. It might be specific to the front lines, given that the forests in Ein and Eleera weren't monster territories.

"Wait a moment. There are many monsters, and it's not something to do alone."

"Well, I can fly, so I can escape if needed. I'll run if it gets dangerous."

That sounds like a death flag.

But if there's a monster that can kill me even by surprise, I'd be in a battle regardless of cutting trees.

"I see. I can't force you, but please be careful. Your transport ability is at a level that can push back or at least maintain the front line. It would be a great loss to lose you."

"I understand. I have enough magic power to defend, so the enemy's attacks won't reach me."

I left the guild and flew up. There were no trees on the Photren side, and there seemed to be about five times more monsters on the opposite side.

Indeed, cutting would be difficult. I descended near the forest and tried cutting a tree with a magic sword as I passed by. It cut easily. I accidentally cut two.

Feeling confident, I held a blade cane in my left hand and a magic sword in my right, spreading my arms to cut multiple trees. I cut three with the magic sword and then saw a tree on the left and cut it.

Crack.

It hurt. My hand might have a crack. It didn't cut, and the cane was stuck in the tree. The blade was about 10 cm in, but the trunk was 30 cm thick.

This is impossible. The blade cane is strong for a normal sword but far from a magic sword.

Still, the magic sword can cut, and it's 50,000 tel per tree. It's profitable, though not as much as transport. Transport is a one-time job, but cutting can be done indefinitely.

So, I held the magic sword in my right hand, spread my arms, and flew, cutting trees. 50,000 tel per tree. I accidentally hit some monsters, but I didn't care. This isn't a battle; it's a harvest. The monsters and trees are just crops to be harvested.

After about three hours of flying and cutting, I decided to return to the guild. I had forgotten I had been running for eight hours to get here.

By the way, I cut an uncountable number of trees in three hours. Normally, this shouldn't be possible. Earning millions in a day seems suspicious.

What will they say when I report?

Well, it's Desibator. It's wrong to expect common sense here. Don't stand out, okay?