Chapter 15: A Hasty Victory and a Misunderstood Mage

Rui ate the meat sandwich (no peppers) the hero made and watched Lux frolic in the grasslands. Suddenly, she remembered something she had overlooked.

‘…This changes things, doesn’t it?’

The magic watermill village wasn’t mentioned in the original novel. But now, the hero had brought her the request personally. That meant the time it took to repair the magic watermill would delay their arrival at the Twilight Fortress.

‘That could be dangerous.’

During the Twilight Fortress episode, a soldier had a passing line:

“[If the hero had been even two days late, we would have all died…]”

Two days. That soldier’s grim prediction could become reality.

‘And if we factor in the time to arrive early and assess the situation…’

This wouldn’t do. She might have to cancel the watermill request. Or at least shorten the time spent on the other two requests.

‘The two combat requests don’t have a major impact on the party anyway.’

They were just monster subjugations. Adjusting the time spent on them wouldn’t change much.

‘That means…’

She would participate in these combat requests. She would participate and shorten the time spent on fighting and traveling as much as possible.

A few days later, in the middle of a vast forest.

“Everyone, battle positions!”

The hero’s sudden shout echoed, and the hero’s party quickly formed their ranks. Rui summoned her pen and stood beside Raphilia.

“Aswell, what are we up against?”

“Jackals and wolves. About two hundred. This is the first request.”

“Did they encounter each other while migrating? Unexpected, but not bad.”

Serin and Aswell quickly assessed the battlefield. The area that had been their resting place moments ago was now ready for bloodshed.

“Lux.”

Nicker.

As if sensing the situation, Lux approached her along with the other horses. Jackals and wolves preyed on animals like horses. These canine-like monsters enjoyed hunting in packs, using both quadrupedal and bipedal locomotion according to their individual characteristics.

“Lux. Do you need to stay behind me with these guys?”

The five horses were prime targets for the jackals and wolves. So, as a non-combatant, she had a duty to protect them.

“Don’t push yourself, the two of them can handle it.”

Raphilia said, and Rui nodded silently. Yes, they could. They were the hero and the future Sword Master. And they had the saintess backing them up.

Even if one or two monsters slipped through, the elf archer was stationed here. They hadn’t sought a mage because they were weak in large-scale battles. They needed a companion who could make large-scale battles easier and more efficient.

The four of them had a good track record, regardless of the scale of the battle. Large-scale battles simply took more time. And that wouldn’t change, even with her presence.

‘It’ll probably take about two hours.’

That’s how long it would take to eliminate nearly two hundred monsters with a holy sword, a regular sword, and a bow. She just had to make sure the five horses didn’t get spooked and run away.

…That’s what she would normally do.

But this time, she would participate in the battle. She couldn’t use direct attack magic, so she would provide support.

She raised her hand holding the pen.

“Raphilia.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll support you. Shoot when I give you the signal.”

“…Okay.”

Golden letters started appearing in the air, and Raphilia quietly drew her bowstring. The temporary formula she would inscribe on Raphilia’s arrow was Chain Reaction.

A golden inscription was absorbed into Raphilia’s arrow. The next inscription was for Serin’s sword. Her formulas couldn’t be inscribed on the hero’s holy sword, so she used Serin’s sword instead. The temporary formula she would imbue was Ripple.

The formula was inscribed on Serin’s sword, temporarily dyeing it gold.

“The jackal right in front of Serin. Now.”

“Okay.”

Whoosh!

As soon as she gave the signal, Raphilia’s arrow shot out. The arrow flew at terrifying speed and pierced the neck of the jackal about to engage Serin.

—-!

Before the jackal’s death throes even began, Serin’s sword cleaved it in two.

And then.

Ping.

Raphilia’s arrow and Serin’s sword. The two temporary formulas reacted.

A ripple erupted from the jackal’s corpse, engulfing the surrounding monsters. Not all the monsters died from the ripple. But a few did.

And then, another ripple erupted from those corpses. Like ripples spreading across a puddle on a rainy day.

One, several, dozens of ripples erupted in succession, sweeping the area. The hero and Serin, who were at the front, flinched and retreated but remained unharmed by the ripples.

‘It’s my magic, wouldn’t I know how to protect my allies?’

An attack that also hit allies would do more harm than good. So, she had included the necessary formulas from the start.

As a result, the battle that should have taken two hours ended in less than five minutes.

“Oh…”

The hero’s voice was filled with disbelief. It seemed to represent the feelings of the other party members as well.

“R-Rui…? What was that…?”

Phew…

She had poured a bit too much mana into the two temporary formulas, and she was slightly out of breath.

‘It would be nice if I had a naturally large mana pool.’

She had a way to receive mana externally, but it was too far away right now. She had started moving it closer, but it was still traveling.

“Rui, did you do that?”

The hero, noticing that there were no more living monsters, approached and asked. She nodded silently.

“Uh… but you didn’t have to participate in the battle.”

To be precise, she had said she wouldn’t participate. That she would focus on supporting them with equipment and tools as a non-combat mage. That’s why the four of them looked so bewildered.

‘Hmm.’

She couldn’t answer the hero’s question. She couldn’t say, “To keep the story on track.”

She fidgeted, searching for an excuse, and then remembered the cause of this whole situation: the magic watermill.

“…I wanted to see the watermill.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to see the amazing magic watermill, and I wanted to get the meteorite fragment as soon as possible.”

“Aha…”

Fortunately, the reaction wasn’t bad. It would have been strange if it was bad. She had helped them finish the battle quickly.

“As expected of a mage, hee hee.”

Raphilia chuckled, lightening the mood. She was glad she had befriended her first.

“Thanks to Rui, we’ll arrive at that village early.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Haha, then let’s finish up here and depart.”

“Yes, yes. The mage wants to see the watermill as soon as possible.”

Hmm?

Serin’s words were technically correct, but something felt off. She did want to see the watermill, but…

“Rui, you’re so skilled in magic, but you still enjoy looking at watermills?”

“Yes. …Huh?”

“Well, I guess that’s fine.”

“Huh? Wait.”

“It’s okay, Rui! I also enjoyed watching ants march in a line when I was little! A-and I still do sometimes…!”

“That’s not what I…”

She wanted to see the magic of the watermill, not the watermill itself. She wanted to clarify, but Serin, the source of the misunderstanding, had gone to collect the monster corpses, and the other two heroines looked at her with understanding expressions.

The hero… he was just smiling gently in the distance.

“Hero?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t laugh.”

“…Pwahaha! Sorry!”

“…”

“No, but Rui, you have a way of making yourself easily misunderstood…”

Ugh.

When did she ever? He was a hero, yet he spread rumors and misinformation so casually.

She balled her fists and punched the hero. They didn’t do any real damage, but she continued hitting him playfully.

“Ahaha! Sorry, sorry!!”

“Hmph, I’m never helping you again.”

“I’m sorry…!”

Just try and reach the Twilight Fortress safely without her help. Mr. Nice Guy. Without her equipment, he’d be clinging to her robe and begging for help.

‘…I’ll give him the shoes, though.’

They would probably be finished by the time they reached the watermill village. She would give him those and nothing more.

After the commotion, or rather, the first request, was swiftly completed, the hero’s party rested and resumed their journey.

“Let’s hurry.”

“Serin.”

“Pfft, sorry.”

She furrowed her brows and glared at Serin. Serin quickly slapped her own mouth and apologized. Rui sighed and looked up at the sky.

The sun was setting, and the night sky was beginning to unfold. And there, to the right of the crescent moon in the eastern sky, she saw a small, blinking light.

‘It’s almost here.’

If it had arrived a little sooner, she wouldn’t have been so winded after using those two temporary formulas. But it was her fault for being overconfident with only the mana stored in her subspace.

She could recharge once it arrived, so she just had to wait a little longer.

“We should be arriving at the village soon.”

At the hero’s words, she opened the map. Indeed, the marker for the village that requested the magic watermill repair was nearby.

She wondered what the magic watermill looked like. And what kind of majesty the meteorite fragment would possess. She felt a flutter of excitement.