Chapter 8

The so-called training ground was nothing more than a vast, empty lot.

There were a few sorry-looking dummies placed around, just enough to allow one to strike a wooden sword into them.

"Is it okay, 'Eternal Rookie'? If you can only use 1st Tier magic, your friends will find out, you know?"

The training ground was crowded with many adventurers.

In the center, Emiri faced a male adventurer.

A guild staff member was present as a referee, but he seemed at a loss as to what to do, muttering, "Why does this always happen when the Guild Master is away?" with a face on the verge of tears.

"...I'll finish this quickly."

"No, let's set some conditions first. If you lose to me, you'll join my party and absolutely obey me. Got it?"

"Wait, wait a minute! Why is this turning into a duel!?"

Nina hurriedly spoke up, but in a one-on-one battle between a mage and a swordsman, the mage was at a clear disadvantage.

This was because mages needed to chant, and if the distance was closed before the spell was cast, they would lose immediately.

Knowing this, the male adventurer was being aggressive.

"Oh? You could fight monsters, but you can't handle an adventurer like me? That means I'm stronger than the Feral Garuda you claim to have defeated, so I should get the bounty, right?"

The adventurers watching were frowning at his unreasonable demands, but the man seemed oblivious.

"...Do you think it's fine? Rather, pray to the gods. That big bird burned to ashes, so if you use it on me, there won't be any bones left."

"Wh-What! You... You bastard..."

The man's cheek twitched.

Perhaps he was starting to doubt whether Emiri really had defeated the Feral Garuda.

Moreover, given that a mage had no chance of winning if the distance was closed, her calm demeanor suggested that she might have learned shortened chanting, which was a technique to shorten the incantation but consumed a large amount of magic power.

"...Tch"

The two faced each other at a distance, and the guild staff member said,

"Um... We will now begin the... magic experiment to verify whether adventurer Emiri actually defeated the Feral Garuda..."

"Hey!"

The male adventurer immediately started running.

Even with shortened chanting, some time was needed.

Moreover, it was much more difficult than normal chanting, so if the concentration was disrupted, the spell wouldn't activate.

However, strangely, Emiri just stood there.

She didn't even start chanting.

Before anyone could think about why, it happened.

"Whoa!?"

The ground beneath the man's feet rose, and he was launched into the air.

No one present could understand what had happened.

"Did you think I was going to use shortened chanting? Silly."

Emiri sighed and looked up at the sky, raising her staff.

"Without chanting."

A violent wind burst from the tip of her staff, lifting the man even higher.

He was already about 50 meters in the air.

His screams were intermittent.

If he fell, it would certainly be a fatal height.

"—Hey, where are you going to land!?"

"—If you come this way, you'll be caught in the blast!"

The spectators fled in all directions.

The guild staff member had already run away.

"Emiri...!"

As Nina ran over,

"—I won't kill him. Besides, I don't want to get dirty from his blood."

Emiri responded while raising her staff.

The man had already started falling.

"O Spirit of the Wind. Show an upward current in the direction my staff points."

An upward current appeared at the man's landing point, and his falling speed quickly slowed down—finally, he landed on his back with a "thud."

His face was covered in tears, snot, and drool, and he had passed out. His pants were wet, indicating he had lost control of his bladder, but neither Emiri nor Nina paid it any mind.

"...No-chanting is really tough. It consumes a lot of magic power."

"Emiri..."

Nina supported Emiri, who was leaning on her staff.

While she didn't fully understand mages, Nina could tell that Emiri had done something incredible.

"I might have gotten a bit carried away."

"...But, Emiri, you looked really cool standing up for me."

The two walked back into the guild, leaning on each other.

"Here is 5 million gold. It has been registered on your guild card."

The magical document, said to be impossible to forge, now bore the name of adventurer Emiri and the content that 5 million gold had been credited to her.

With this paper, Emiri could withdraw money from any adventurer guild.

The bounty for the Feral Garuda was now entirely hers.

Emiri wanted to say that this was not just her own doing but also Nina's, but since Nina was not registered with the guild, she had no right to claim the reward.

(I'll use this money to treat us both to a luxurious time.)

Emiri smiled to herself.

She had also completed the paperwork for leaving the country, and Nina was holding her shiny new guild card—a metal plate.

"Alright, let's go—"

As Emiri turned around,

"Emiri, join our party! We're a safe and reliable party that can earn a good income—"

"Absolutely join our party! We're planning to move our base to the capital and take down a lot of monsters. For that, we need 5th Tier magic—"

"Emiri! Don't join their party. Our party has 10 members, and 3 of them are women. You'd be the fourth—"

"No, join mine!"

"No, no, join ours!"

The adventurers who had witnessed the earlier events in the training ground swarmed Emiri, trying to recruit her.

(Ah... So Emiri has found a place where she belongs.)

Nina was surprised but happy for Emiri, who was now in a popular phase.

While the adventurer business seemed interesting and full of things she didn't know, it was a different world from hers.

So, she decided to part ways with Emiri—

"Huh? What are you all saying? There's no way I'd join any of your parties now."

Emiri said nonchalantly.

"Besides, did any of you even try to help me when I was being harassed? Nina is different. She helped me... even though she's so small."

One of the adventurers said,

"But, Emiri, if you're going to be a full-time adventurer, it's safer to join a larger party, right?"

"I'm leaving this town with Nina."

A loud gasp echoed through the room.

"Since that's the case, move out of the way—"

"—What's going on here!!"

A large, imposing man entered the guild.

The guild staff member shouted, "Master!" The man seemed to be the Guild Master.

"Huh? You... You're the adventurer who claims to be a mage but can't use magic, right?"

The Guild Master, noticing Emiri at the center of the commotion, said. The staff member, from behind the counter, added,

"Um, she suddenly awakened to magic and can use up to 5th Tier spells..."

"5th Tier? Don't be ridiculous. It's true that some people suddenly awaken to magic, but—hey, you. I'll verify if that's true. Show me a spell."

The Guild Master, who had suddenly appeared and was trying to boss people around, was met with a calm but venomous response from Emiri.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm no longer an adventurer of this Full Moon, so I have no reason to follow your orders. Besides, you don't even know how to ask for help properly. Learn some basic manners before you come back."

Despite her smile, her words were poisonous.

The Guild Master, taken aback, retorted,

"Hey, you! I'm the Guild Master of Full Moon! The second-largest city in the kingdom! The guilds of this kingdom are all connected—"

"That's even more convenient for us. We're crossing the border."

"What!?"

"Come on, Nina. Staying here is a waste of time."

"Y-Yes..."

The Guild Master, whose authority and the pressure of the guild network across the kingdom had no effect on Emiri, was left speechless.

Ignoring him completely, Emiri took Nina's hand and walked out of the guild.