Youngest 068

Episode 68

“You little brat—! Come here, now—!”

The moment the men instinctively sensed something amiss and lunged for me, a sigil, scrawled with complex equations, floated into the air.

“Ma-ma-magician—!”

“Oh, right. This isn’t me, it’s my friend over there doing it.”

At my words, Asha, who’d been standing dumbfounded, hurriedly placed her hand on the ground.

“That’s correct~”

Well, at this point, the world’s spinning around so much I can’t even tell what’s what!

The mana scattered through the air gathered. With a great heave, the earth shuddered, and in an instant, tough tree roots burst up through the ground.

“What, what the hell?!”

“Aaagh! T-the roots just—!”

“Run, run!”

The men fled in abject terror, but they were already too late.

Thud. Boom!

Their bulky bodies crashed to the ground, and now coarse grass and roots surged forth.

I swept them up and rolled them around like hot dogs on a stick.

Tightly bound in the thick vines, the men became something between a silkworm cocoon and a mummy, then were hung upside down from a massive zelkova tree.

“H-help, save… ngh.”

Their mouths muffled to perfection for a neat finish!

“I’ll leave your noses clear so you can breathe.”

“R-rainwater—!”

Too spicy!

Rain streamed steadily into their flaring nostrils as they dangled upside down. They squirmed, bodies straining in pain, but there was nothing they could do.

I was a truly cruel magician…

“I think that makes up for the carriage sickness and more.”

With a laugh, I puffed out my chest.

That’s what you get for poking a sleeping lion—or rather, a sleeping magician’s downy fur!

“Wow!”

Asha, watching nearby, delightedly punched at the dangling men like sandbags.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that, but you’re as amazing as ever! I can’t do magic like that!”

“Is… is the sky actually yellow right now?”

“Oh—running out of mana.”

Suddenly my legs gave out and I staggered. Asha hurried over, supporting me as she fanned my face.

‘I thought I’d cast it in energy-saving mode…’

But the low density of mana really drained me fast.

“Tsk.”

I kicked the weapons the men had been holding far off into the distance. I’d wanted to conserve my strength, but with armed attackers all at once, that was the best I could do.

Asha wasn’t the type of magician specialized in this kind of offensive spell, so she’d have struggled to handle them attacking en masse.

“I wish… I could see my sword…”

Sniffling, I touched my earlobe. I’d been trying to make a connection for a while, but there was only static, not a single sound.

“Shall we get out of the mountains now?”

Asha clapped the dirt from her hands and straightened up.

I too staggered to my feet, glancing bleakly at the carriage.

‘But the rain’s coming down even harder.’

The sheets of rain that obscured my view were now unmistakably heavier.

The ground was deeply softened and uneven, and the surroundings were bleak and dim.

What should we do?

As I hesitated, Asha, walking a little ahead, suddenly stiffened.

“Wait, hold on.”

“What is it?”

“This smell…”

Asha crouched low, pressing her nose right to the wet earth.

“Somewhere a little ways off… there might be a sealed magical beast. It feels like one that’s been asleep for a really long time…”

My eyes widened. If a magical beast had slept deep in these mountains for such ages, it would surely be at least high rank or greater.

‘You’d need a whole squad to deal with that.’

Asha was only a low-ranked magician, and the rest were just three helpless civilians.

‘We mustn’t encounter it.’

Anyone not familiar with these parts might, in a rash descent, either awaken the beast or become stranded—those seemed to be the only likely outcomes.

Moreover, I had no idea what kind of effects our earlier spellcasting might have had. On top of that, the sky was so thick with storm clouds that it was difficult to tell direction.

‘Maybe I could do it alone, but there’s no way I can get these four out of here safely.’

A choice had to be made. Fortunately, I’d been stranded like this before, so the answer came easily.

“Asha, let’s find somewhere safe and wait until the rain lets up, at least.”

“If we wait, will someone come for us?”

“The prince and noble ladies have gone missing—they’ll definitely come.”

“Hm. That does make it easier.”

Asha smoothly scanned the surroundings.

“Rubian, there’s a cave over there!”

Cautiously, we led the carriage over.

We barely managed to get the three others into the cave, and then Asha canceled her sleep spell to conserve mana.

After brief groans, the three awoke soon after.

“Huh? Where are we…?”

They looked around, bewildered, slowly coming to realize the situation they were in.

“Wh-what is this… oh, no…”

Olivia and Titi’s faces quickly turned to terror. I quietly took my place in front of them.

My first priority was to calm them down, to avoid outright panic.

“My ladies, don’t be alarmed. First off, we’ve been kidnapped but—”

“K-kidnapped?!”

“Yes, well, we were kidnapped, but now we’re safe, except—it’s possible a magical beast could appear…”

“A ma-m-magical beast?! What?!”

Where did I go wrong…

Instead of calming them, I felt like I’d just poured oil on the fire.

“Rubian, are you alright?”

Licht, looking flustered, asked, his eyes full of concern as he watched me.

“To have been caught off guard by such an attack…”

The prince’s face was clouded with anger. He grabbed his sword from the haphazard pile of belongings and squeezed it tightly.

“I’m fine. But you’re bleeding from your arm.”

“Oh.”

Licht belatedly glanced at his forearm. Through a tear in his sleeve, a thin line of blood was trickling down.

“That happened while covering you… Really, I told you to fetch someone, so why did you follow me?”

“…I couldn’t help it. Besides, how could I just stand by and watch you run ahead?”

When the ambush began in that alley, Licht had instinctively shielded me.

‘I thought he was always the careful type.’

Who’d have guessed he’d throw himself in front like that…

“Huuwaaaah.”

In the end, Titi burst into tears.

The small girl’s crying echoed through the dark cave.

“D-don’t cry, Titi. Rubian just told us—all the scary men are silkworm cocoons now, and as long as we stay still here, the rescue team will come…”

“Caves are scary… waaah. And cold.”

“Oh dear, don’t cry, either of you.”

As Titi and Olivia began to cry, Asha covered her ears and, with a flash, conjured a magical campfire. In an instant, warmth filled the cave.

“A—a magician…”

“Yep! Asha Drukan, at your service.”

“…Asha? Are you, by any chance, the magician from the eastern outpost?”

“You know me?”

Licht ran a wet hand through his blonde hair.

“I’ve heard your name.”

“I see.”

“Did you handle all the kidnappers?”

I took off my wet clothes and set them near the fire to dry.

As I pretended to fuss with the clothes, I glanced at Asha, who nodded nonchalantly.

“Yep!”

“…More than I expected from the reports.”

Leaving the skeptical Licht behind, I stepped over to Titi and Olivia. Titi was still sniffling.

“Titi, you’re hurt too.”

Her pale ankle was quite swollen. She must have hit it somewhere while unconscious.

“That looks painful… but crying makes it hurt more.”

“Sniff, sorry… sniff. I’m sorry. You all are in this because I insisted we go out…”

“Aww, what’s wrong with wanting to have fun? The only ones at fault are out there, not you. Don’t blame yourself.”

Looking around, I gathered some herbs and moss that grew by the cave entrance.

“Miss Magician, could you infuse a little mana into this?”

Asha extended her hand, imparting mana into the herbs.

Bathed in blue mana, the melted herb spread gently over Titi’s ankle.

“Oh?”

As the pain noticeably faded, Titi’s tears stopped of their own accord.

“Once we get down from the mountain, you should have a doctor look at it. But for now, it doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“Y-yes.”

Titi blinked her round eyes. Beside her, Olivia’s face was full of disbelief.

“Where did you learn that…? Rubian, haven’t you not even enrolled at the academy yet?”

“Hehe, I’m taking herbalism classes these days.”

“…Can you do that just by taking a class?”

I take classes too, you know?

Ignoring her quizzical muttering, I approached Licht next.

“I’ll put some on you, too. Roll up your sleeve, Licht.”

“….”

Licht eyed me with a curiously complex gaze. When I tilted my head at the suspicion in his eyes, he quietly spoke.

“Rubian… you seem awfully… accustomed to this.”

“Huh?”

“To situations like this.”

“Oh. Well, I adapt pretty fast!”

“….”

I brushed it off and treated Licht’s wound. I had no desire to provoke the curious prince with unnecessary explanations.

“All done…”

Clap, clap. Just as I started to stand—

Bzzzzzzzt!

A fingernails-on-chalkboard sound rang out without warning.

“Ugh.”

The jarring noise burrowed into my skull, making me sway a little.

“Rubian?”

Licht hurriedly grabbed my shoulder.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

Amid the muffled voices, the buzzing grew even louder.

‘Forced opening?’

It was the sense of my circuit being pried open by an extremely powerful force. There was only one person who would do such a thing.