Chapter 26

Thank you very much for the 7th place in the daily high fantasy ranking!

"Wow, that was more powerful than I expected."

As the trees fell with a loud noise, Reta covered her ears and commented as if it were someone else's business.

"Reta... that's amazing!"

"Hey, hey, hey, buddy! I told you to do it, but I didn't say to go this far!"

"We're going to lose our jobs!"

"Hey, why don't you become a lumberjack!"

"No, we still have the job of transporting the wood to town!"

Seeing roughly thirty large trees lying on the ground, the lumberjacks began to murmur. Mina, in particular, was looking at Reta's back with sparkling eyes.

"Hey, buddy! What did you do?"

"Well, there's this wind magic called Wind Blade, right? It's usually cast in a vertical line, but I tried casting it horizontally, and this happened."

"Are you kidding me, this is a Wind Blade!? Wind Blade is just a basic wind magic! What you did is way beyond a Wind Blade!"

Tex's shock as he confronted Reta was not without reason. Normally, the "Wind Blade" spell is not powerful enough to cut down dozens of trees at once. At most, it can only slice through a single monster. However, this was due to Reta's immense magical power.

Reta herself was completely unaware, but just as her "Heal" spell had the effect of a "Great Heal," her "Wind Blade" was also displaying unexpected power.

"No, seriously, can't the Adventurer's Guild send you as a lumberjack? With you around, we could cut down trees without fearing monster attacks in an instant."

"Tex, any mage could do this."

"That's exactly the problem! There are no mages willing to do this kind of work!"

Mages are not exactly rare, but they are not abundant either. Moreover, there are no mages willing to do the work of a lumberjack.

"Damn, I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault, but it's just so unfair. By the way, you can use both healing and attack magic, so why are you in this remote town?"

"Actually, I was kicked out of my party."

"Huh!? You're kidding! Just being able to use healing magic is usually enough to keep someone around! What were your companions thinking!?"

"My adventurer rank is F. So, they said I was a liability."

"My head hurts. Are the guilds in the capital all idiots? Got it. Leave it to me. Even if it's not my place to say, I know the guild master in Amrus, so I'll talk to him about your rank."

"Really?"

"Of course. Your performance yesterday alone is enough for a rank-up. It seems you didn't get a proper evaluation in the capital, but here, you'll get the recognition you deserve. With a young lady around, you'd want to stand tall as a guardian, right?"

Reta was taken aback by Tex's words. That's right. Until now, she had thought it was fine even if others had a low opinion of her. She was doing her best in her own way. If she wasn't recognized, there was nothing she could do. She had always believed that someday, she would be acknowledged.

However, it wasn't just about her anymore. Reta's evaluation would also affect Mina. For Mina's sake, Reta wanted to be recognized.

"I agree."

"That's the spirit. Well, leave it to me. The guild must be expecting a lot from you, so they won't keep you at the bottom forever."

(I hope Tex's words come true.)

"Anyway, let's stop talking... The problem is what to do with this wood. Hey!"

"Sure! We can process the wood right here, but we're afraid of monsters, so we're transporting it to town after cutting it down."

When they asked a nearby lumberjack, the young man responded cheerfully.

"Do you want to ride in the cart? Well, if you think about the time saved on cutting, we can make multiple trips."

"Tex, if you don't mind, I can transport the wood."

"What are you talking about, buddy?"

"I actually have an Item Box. So, -- wood, store."

Just by touching the wood and saying "store," all the fallen trees disappeared.

"Wh-what!?"

"Hey? Did Reta just do that? Amazing! Reta is amazing!"

To be precise, the trees didn't disappear; they were stored in the Item Box, a subspace skill. Mina clapped her hands in joy, but Tex, who clearly hadn't expected this, could only manage a troubled smile.

"Seems like you can do anything, buddy."