Episode 278: Tell Me (8)
I made a decision in the face of increasingly tight siege. If things continue like this, I have no choice but to turn off the camouflage skill until the end or go back.
“It’s a big deal…”
Of course, when I asked if the tight siege was a threat to me, of course it wasn’t.
After all, if a group of people gather together, they’re just a group of people. If I fire a horizontal slash, they will all be annihilated along with the forest. It can never be considered a threat.
“Ha…”
But… But yeah. The story becomes completely different if you add one prerequisite to the goal of passing through the forest and reaching Münmund, ‘not to be detected by the demonic spirit’.
In order not to let the people of Munmund discover my demonic energy, I had to do my best to avoid being discovered that I was the owner of that magical energy. At least the camouflage skill had to be activated when the distance from the city was less than 30 minutes.
But turning on the camouflage skill in this siege? At that time, it won’t be only Richa’s life that will be in danger.
It’s not a threat in normal times, but when I turned on the camouflage skill, I was at a difficult level.
“…Really, what should I do?”
So do you want to go back here? The city is now visible? Is it okay to go just 1 hour or 30 minutes more?
I bit my lip and then carefully looked back at Mr. Richa. He passed out during my rough driving… driving… delivery and still shows no sign of waking up.
No, on the contrary, it seems like he has become paler. It had to be draped around someone’s shoulder and was left in that state for an hour, so who would be exhausted without getting worse?
‘Phew.’
In that respect, going back doesn’t seem to be a good choice. To get from here to that village, you would have to run for half a day, and I have no idea that Richa will be able to endure that.
The same goes for sudden thirst or magical energy erosion. I don’t know the cause, but if I keep neglecting it, I don’t think anything good will ever happen.
‘How does it feel to have something you ignore coming back to you twice?’
Also, besides Mr. Richa, there is one more reason why I cannot go. My gaze returned to the demonic energy I felt on the other side of the demon station.
‘How does it feel when the thing you want to protect the most is in danger of being destroyed?’
Will Munmund be able to survive in front of that Magi? Will what I wanted to achieve remain in Munmund after the disaster?
If you think like that, in the end there is only one option left. I stroked my cheek as my body burned.
‘The time has come to make a choice that can no longer be avoided.’
Fighting. Physiological cold sweat dripped down the bridge of my nose.
“ah.”
no. It was a nosebleed.
I quickly took out a handkerchief and covered my nose. Huh. My whole body throbbed and my eyes became watery for no reason. I felt as if I had entered the body of a crying person.
“Ugh.”
“…Are you awake?”
Meanwhile, Richa finally came to her senses. The writhing body lifted its eyelids with a faint sound.
The sound of his breathing becoming weaker upon awakening shows the depth of training he has received throughout his life.
“…Where are we?”
A question was asked that barely made a sound, and if I had to be specific, it was just a bit of a question. So I just nodded slightly. I thought that if I just looked around without answering, they would notice the answer.
“…Did you fail?”
As expected, Richa quickly grasped the situation. I arched my eyebrows vaguely.
“The castle is now visible to the naked eye… but there are too many demons. “I didn’t think I could get through that, so I stopped for a moment.”
“I see…”
Mr. Richa also made a mysterious expression. I felt sad that I had not arrived in Munmund, but felt relieved that it seemed to be safe. Those things crossed in his eyes.
“…Are you still thirsty?”
“…yes. Unfortunately, it still seems like that. “Are you hurt?”
Then his eyes moved down to my nose. Nosebleed. I missed it.
“…ah. “I wasn’t attacked by the devil.”
Umm. How should I explain the sudden nosebleed? Are you just weak? Is it because you’re tired? They are too obvious, meaningless and meaningless excuses.
“It’s just a side effect of using magic beyond my level.”
After some quick thinking, I found a more effective answer. Rather than trying to put any particular emotional burden on Mr. Richa, it was more like a warning in advance that he might be asked to ‘show me that magic again’ later.
“that…!”
If you’ve done this, try again. At least you won’t hear any noise. Even if I hear it, Richa will defend me or something.
I smiled faintly, dreaming of such a future. Cold sweat ran down my entire body.
“Mr. Richa.”
Even at that moment, the nosebleed stopped. I felt it and took off the handkerchief. In a moment, the half-wet handkerchief was crushed in my hand.
“You can move, right?”
“sure.”
“I guess you can go alone?”
“…Yes.”
“great.”
I can’t use this anymore. I raised the corners of my mouth a little more, thinking about throwing away the handkerchief without any hesitation.
Mr. Richa’s eyes shook.
“From now on, I will perform a magic trick.”
“…yes.”
“But this magic is a bit… recoily. “After I write this, I won’t be able to move from this place.”
“Wait a minute… Wizard, you mean…”
“So, in the meantime, Mr. Richa, please run to Münmund.”
“Wizard…!”
“are you okay.”
Umm. It’s a bit funny and sad because I think I know what the misunderstanding is about. I am absolutely not trying to measure the sacrifice angle. I’m just trying not to show myself summoning dozens of magical spears to kill demons.
“The devils will never harm you.”
“That’s the problem…”
“Oh, well. If you’re worried about me… I’ll follow you once the recoil is over and your magic power is restored. are you okay. Just look ahead. Do your duty with it.”
However, if you don’t know that, your conscience will hurt a lot. I understand. I lowered my eyebrows at Richa’s face, which looked like she was about to cry.
“I will prepare from now on.”
“…I will definitely report the wizard’s dedication to the castle lord.”
“Ahaha… there’s no need to do that. Then it gets even more difficult…”
What? Report to the Lord of Seong? That’s a bit…
I don’t know if there’s something I need to hear from the Lord of the castle, but if not, it’s actually poisonous. Because the attention of higher-ups always has repercussions.
“…I somehow got out of the house, but it’s a bit weird to be dragged back in.”
But normal people like to be seen well by Seongju, right? Considering that, I decided to take another pill.
I was a little worried about the future because I felt like the lies were increasing, but my life was already pushed to the edge. So it was okay. I laughed like a nobody.
“Wait a minute…”
“Then let’s do it now.”
“Wait a minute, wizard—”
I grabbed Richa’s hand and helped him stand up, then tapped him on the back. Even though he had just woken up and had just woken up, his body only slightly shook and did not collapse. At this level, you should be able to run well.
“Don’t worry about the back.”
If so, what we need to do now is provide cover so that this person can make it to Munmund alive.
I smiled as brightly as I could to make him feel relieved. The person who hesitated finally seemed to have made up his mind and turned his body slightly.
“Instead… please keep this. “It’s just a superstition, but it will bring you good luck.”
“…yes.”
However, even before he left, he handed me something. A small lucky bag necklace. I put it in my inventory as I watched him walk away.
“Ha…”
Then he leaned against the tree with a groaning sound. This is because it was very difficult to constantly apply strength to the leg that was sore as if it had been trampled by a horse.
Still, it’s much easier to hold on because you have support. I closed my eyelids and took a deep breath to concentrate. As the information value of the visual field disappeared, other senses gradually began to become more sensitive.
Sigh.
Rustle.
Srurr.
The smell of grass and dirt in the forest that has just begun to dawn, the feel of rustling clothes, the sound of the wind gnawing on the blades of grass in place of the missing bugs.
sound.
My entire attention was focused on the last one. The reverberations coming from all directions disturbed me, but I somehow managed to ignore them.
There is only one direction I need to focus my attention on now.
Where Richa went. I focused my senses and gathered my magic power towards that place. thud. One of the demons that had turned around upon spotting Mr. Richa fell silent. Cooung. Now two. dump. No, there were three.
Of course, I don’t dream that this alone will be enough to lead me to the end. Anyway, even if I had more sensitive senses than the average person, I couldn’t cover the entire route, which was only 5km in a straight line.
The distance I could hear and understand the situation was at most 50m, and that was only possible when I concentrated this hard.
“ha.”
Despite all this, I was actually feeling like a gambler when I assured Richa that everything would be okay.
“It would be nice…”
More accurately, it would be like a gamble with safety measures in place.
My magical power began to swell like a lizard wearing a scarf. It was more of a show off than an attempt to do anything in particular. An act of trying to let people know that ‘I am here’, like what someone over there is doing.
‘…Is this what they are doing in the meantime?’
In that state, they all exploded with magic power. It was not in the form of an explosion, but was spread gently into the air, like spraying gas.
‘I thought he was quite talented, but…’
But here’s the problem. I moved my finger, feeling the demons in my sensory radius startle. Knock knock. My fingertips tapped the surface of the tree I was leaning against.
What should I do to turn this into a threat? What should I do to get the demons to leave this area?
What would be good to make them notice my feelings?
‘It’s amazing how much you can learn from something you’ve seen once.’
…Can’t we do something more with the magic we’ve spread?
I put my will into the magic power spread towards the front.
『When expressing magical power externally, it is important to concentrate the magical power. Because magic has the property of being dissipated into the atmosphere.』
Some advice I heard once helped me. The magical power that had just been spread into the air should not just be scattered. They had to put pressure on the world with more sharp and murderous intent.
“Please pay attention. “I heard that high-ranking demons have a habit of running away when they try to hunt them…”
I smoothed out my hot hair as I was trying to adjust the magical power that had spread everywhere. Did this work? I wish it worked.
“…At least the ones nearby are leaving.”
But it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work perfectly. Knowing this would happen, I made a preliminary plan. My hand pushed away the tree that had been supporting me.
Stumbling.
My body stumbled a bit during the process, but I endured it. The combination of a body that seemed to be in severe muscle pain and a brain that was dazed from working too hard was enough to keep me strong just by not falling.
“after.”
The problem is that I need to add camouflage skills here.
I scratched my head as I looked at the full HP. It looks like it’s going to collapse, but it’ll be okay since it’s fully bloomed. That’s something you say to comfort yourself even though you know it won’t be okay. It was also a rationalization that could be done because there was no other option.
Anyway, are you just sending Richa away because I’m sick? I don’t even know if what I just did really worked or not?
That can’t be possible. Ah, that can’t be true. Even if I couldn’t do it, I had to follow them at a distance of 30 to 40 meters and even provide covering fire to feel at ease. Mr. Richa was a talented person who should not die if possible.
Tap, tap!
“…?”
But just when I activated the camouflage skill and was about to follow Richa. The sound of footsteps, reduced as much as possible, returned to me. It was the sound of Richa’s footsteps, who should have been about 30 meters ahead.
Why is that person…? There may or may not be a devil in front, so why?
I wondered, then frowned slightly. The sunlight coming through the trees stung my eyeballs.
That’s right, eyebrows.
At the same time, I also remembered something I had forgotten. Until now, it was night so I didn’t have to worry about the color of my eyebrows, but from now on it’s different.
Through the subspace bracelet, the hair dye and brush were quickly placed in my hands, and I recalled my old days, quickly painting only my eyebrows and eyelashes and putting them back in. I couldn’t tell if it was drawn well or not.
“Wizard.”
Instead, Richa stood in front of me by a narrow margin.
“I will carry you. “Let’s just go together.”
My expression became subtle.
I…it must be heavy?