Episode 66: Mission Start!
“Now, channel your magic into those crystal orbs. You don’t need to put your full reserves in. Keep back whatever you’ll need for combat.”
Following Edgar’s instructions, she channelled magic into the crystal orb.
(If I put in too little it’ll cause trouble, but if I use too much here, I’ll be in trouble if it comes to a fight…)
Looking around, no one else seemed to be agonising over it the way Fiine was.
Unlike her, they clearly had a firm grasp of their own limits and how much magic they had.
(I need to be careful too. Just a bit more, just a little bit more…)
Carefully, little by little, she kept channelling magic into the orb.
“Ah, th-that’s, um, that’s enough, that’s plenty already…!”
Startled by Noel’s panicked voice, she looked up.
She’d been concentrating so hard she’d lost track of everyone else, and it seemed the other three had already finished.
“If you keep putting magic in past that point, the crystal will break, so…”
“Eh!? I-I’m sorry, such an important implement…”
“…No, that part’s fine, but, um… do you still have magic left, properly?”
“Eh? Ah, yes, that’s… plenty, actually…”
She’d been deliberately holding back so as not to be a burden in the fight to come, so she still had plenty to spare.
“…You’re using a magic doll on top of that, and your reserves are still like that?”
“Like what, well, I mean, nothing in particular…”
Not knowing how she was meant to react, she found herself looking to Yuria for help.
“This one’s always had amazing magic reserves. Isn’t that right, Teacher!”
“That’s right.”
“Incredible. I’ve seen all kinds of people, but you might be the first with reserves this large.”
“…Ah, th-thank you very much.”
Once Noel had collected the crystal orbs from everyone, he set them down on top of the magic mirror.
The mirror rippled and warped, and the orbs were drawn into it.
After a while, the mirror began showing the landscape around Mond, as if viewing the region from high above.
“…Could these red dots be the monsters?”
It was Edgar who answered Fiine’s question.
Noel had once again taken cover behind him.
“Yeah. The size of the dot is proportional to the monster’s strength. For instance…”
Edgar touched a red dot in the lower left of the mirror with his finger.
The mirror then showed the inside of a forest. At its centre was a thunder wolf, baring sharp fangs.
“Like this, you can check on the monsters visually.”
“Amazing…”
This made it easy to confirm where any given monster was. (Magical implements are this incredible…!!) Fiine’s eyes shone, but Edgar’s expression had turned grim.
“…There are more monsters than I expected.”
“Ah… y-you’re right, there really are…”
The mirror switched back to showing the whole area. Sure enough, red dots were scattered everywhere.
In particular, a dense cluster of large dots had gathered around a cave to the north.
When Edgar pressed the largest dot, the mirror displayed a black dragon.
(No way… there’s a black dragon…!?)
Dragons reigned at the very top of the monster hierarchy in terms of strength.
Among them, black dragons were a particularly troublesome presence.
Not only did a black dragon possess formidable combat power in its own right, it could also summon other monsters to it.
The sheer number of monsters in the area was likely its doing.
“This cave’s surface is covered in black magic stone. That’s exactly the kind of place a black dragon would favour.”
Burkhardt said this, glaring at the mirror.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Leave it be, and other individuals might take up residence too. A pack of them would be a real problem.”
“A pack of black dragons…”
Just imagining it was terrifying. If it came to clearing out a pack, four people would never be enough. If that happened, this entire region could turn into a battlefield.
(Which means we have to take down this one, right now, ourselves.)
Without a word exchanged, it was clear everyone had reached the same conclusion.
“How about this: today we clear out the monsters outside the northern cave, and tomorrow we take on the black dragon in the cave itself?”
It was Burkhardt who proposed this. As the eldest, he likely felt it fell to him to take the lead.
“I agree. If other monsters came swarming in while we’re fighting the black dragon, they’d only get in the way.”
She glanced briefly at the two from Lyon.
She’d worried it would be a difficult discussion if they objected to the plan, but both of them nodded along.
“No need for all four of us to move together against small fry. Shall we split up and assign areas?”
Following Edgar’s suggestion, each of them was assigned an area of responsibility.
Fiine’s was the forest to the south. It was also agreed that if anyone finished their work early, they’d help out whoever was nearest.