The sun rose in no time as the conversation withDuke Alway continued.
Spending a long time with the Duke, Jared realized that he was quite the doting father. However, knowing that his daughters did not think favorably of him, Jared felt a bit sorry for him.
He couldn’t bring himself to ask Olivier and Hannelore about them staying in a separate residence, but he had a hunch that many of his questions would be answered if they lived together.
He stepped outside the tent with the Duke, who said they had a fun conversation for the first time in a while. Already, residents could be seen mingling with the soldiers preparing the communal meal. When the residents noticed Jared, they thanked him and expressed their concern one after another.
As he responded to the residents, Jared felt glad that he could fight for them.
“Jared, are you feeling better?”
“—Laurentz, how about you?”
Jared was called out to by Laurentz, whom he hadn’t seen in two days, as he was watching the residents’ unfading energy.
“I’ve completely recovered. I was mostly asleep, so it might be more accurate to say I woke up recovered.”
“That’s good to hear if you’ve recovered. I still have a slight numbness in my arm, but I’ve regained my stamina.”
After confirming each other’s safety, they bumped fists and then sat down on the ground, laughing.
Though they weren’t wearing their jackets, they were in their combat uniforms. Their bloodshot eyes, a result of sleeping too much, and their messy bedheads were identical.
“The dragon species’ scales must be incredibly tough. I saw the doctor checking where you treated me yesterday, and he said it would be impossible to stitch that up in such a short time unless one was exceptionally strong. How much strength do you have?”
Jared gave a wry smile at Laurentz’s astonished expression.
“I don’t have *that* much strength. I’ve been using a sword since I was young, so I suppose I have some, but not enough to brag about. Honestly, I was completely absorbed in it, and I think I was able to do it because magic helped me.”
“Magic helped you?”
“Yeah. Apparently, there used to be convenient things like Body Reinforcement Magic, but there isn’t now, right? However, for a while, I thought it would be useful if magic could strengthen my body, so I experimented with it. But I failed. Still, it seems that sometimes adding magic to a spell can strengthen the spell itself. The day before yesterday, I continuously flowed a small amount of magic into the obsidian spear.”
He couldn’t quite determine if it had been effective.
If his own strength was insufficient, he tried to enhance other things. In the end, he might have succeeded since he was able to stitch the dragon’s scales, but he was so engrossed at the time that he didn’t remember clearly himself.
All he could think was that he was glad the dragon was safely saved. He might be disqualified as a magician, but as long as he was not wrong as a person, that was enough.
“To be so haphazardly…”
“As long as the result is good, right?”
They had prepared to defeat the dragon, but not to treat it, so it couldn’t be helped. Jared and Laurentz looked at each other and laughed.
While they were having some lighthearted conversation, residents and soldiers began to gather in the plaza one after another. As they seemed to be short-handed for the communal meal preparations, the two of them helped out, and breakfast was distributed in no time. Jared and Laurentz also had a light meal and began to prepare to leave.
The town mayor, Zimon, and a representative of the young people came to greet them, thanking them repeatedly.
Jared heard that the dragon, to whom he hadn’t given a name precisely because he wanted to avoid forming attachments in case of the worst, would now be formally named. He had laughed, saying it was too late to form attachments now, but since they had been recognized as residents by the Lord, they would be properly named and accepted as residents. They were also apparently going to be provided with sleeping quarters within the town, which delighted the residents.
The dragon species would become a good guardian of this town. Though still young, it was evident that as it grew, it would eventually possess a strength that even a horde of adventurers like the one they fought the other day couldn’t match. With such a dragon species protecting the residents it recognized as kin, it would undoubtedly be safe under normal circumstances.
Jared promised to visit the recovering town again and shook hands.
After going to check on the dragon species and seeing it happily eating grass, he felt reassured once more and spoke to it. The dragon species seemed to recognize Jared well; it looked at him with affectionate eyes and chirped. After bidding farewell to the dragon species and intending to greet Duke Alway, that’s when it happened—
“—!”
He was suddenly assaulted by a murderous intent.
Reacting instinctively, he grabbed the incoming blade.
“Impressive, Jared Murphy.”
“Who the hell are you guys?”
There were two assailants. They were clad in black from head to toe, except for their eyes. They were clearly not magicians or adventurers—they were assassins.
He poured strength into the assailant’s arm, which he had miraculously grabbed, but there was no sign of pain, and it didn’t budge. Judging them to be exceptionally well-trained, he kicked one in the abdomen to create distance.
The two attackers each wielded a knife. In contrast, Jared was unarmed. It was a disadvantage, no matter how he thought about it.
“I’ll ask again, who are you?”
He channeled magic, his voice deepening menacingly, but instead of a reply, the assailants split up and lunged at him.
The magic he channeled into the ground was absorbed by earth spirits, creating multiple stone spears that attacked the assailants. However, their movements were light, and stepping onto the tip of an attacking spear, they leaped even higher.
Clicking his tongue, Jared channeled more magic, creating obsidian spears. He grasped one as a weapon and fired the rest in succession.
The assailants, perhaps accustomed to fighting magicians, used their knives to deflect the spears, changing their trajectory as they rained down from above.
Several spears grazed the assailants’ bodies, but they showed no signs of concern for their wounds, their demeanor that of those who had resigned themselves to death.
He caught the first attack with his palm. The knife penetrated, and intense pain shot through him, but he gritted his teeth and endured it. Grasping and restraining the arm holding the knife, he used it as a shield against the second assailant’s attack. However, the assailant, unconcerned that their comrade had become a shield, thrust their knife forward.
Jared instantly loosened his grip and took a step back.
“You… even using your comrade as a shield…”
Not only the knife but also the arm had pierced through the chest of the one used as a shield. If he hadn’t retreated, the blade would undoubtedly have reached Jared.
He threw the man, whose chest was pierced and had met his demise, to the ground, pulled the knife from his palm, and took a stance.
“Identify yourselves, attackers.”
“Individual names are unnecessary. We are Waalthe. That is all.”
“…Waalthe—the infamous assassination organization on the continent, what business do you have with me?”
“We have come this time merely to warn you.”
The assailant said so and lowered their guard.
“That you do not become a threat to us, by approaching Hannelore Alway and Olivier Alway.”
“Do you think I’ll just listen and say ‘yes’ when you tell me that? If you dare to harm those two even a little, I’ll find you wherever you hide and kill you.”
“That’s potent killing intent. But what can you do, being in a place like this? Waalthe is not just us.”
“—! Don’t tell me, you!”
As if to say it was already too late, he fired an obsidian spear conjured with his refined magic, but Jared’s unfocused attack was easily evaded.
“We have issued a warning, Jared Murphy. Do not get involved with that mother and daughter if you wish to avoid being killed by us.”
With those words, the assailant turned and fled.
“Wait!”
Jared tried to pursue, but—
“Jared! What happened!?”
“What is going on!?”
Laurentz and Duke Alway appeared, drawing his attention for a fleeting moment. In that instant, the assailants vanished.
“You’re injured! Who did this to you? Was it this fallen individual?”
Duke Alway, taking Jared’s arm and looking at him with concern, hesitated on whether to mention that the assailants’ target was Olivier and the others.
He knew it was not something to say lightly without firm confirmation, but Jared could not remain silent.
“Duke Alway.”
“What is it?”
“I have something to tell you.”
Feeling that he had gotten a little closer to understanding what Olivier was dealing with, Jared began to explain the situation to the Duke.
