The journey to the royal capital would take about a day and a half by carriage. We’d left early in the morning, so even if we got delayed, we should be able to make it to the capital with only stopping for one night. “Hey, what kind of place is this royal capital we’re going to, anyway?” We had been traveling by carriage for a quite a while now, leaving Poda village behind. Initially, I had found the changing scenery interesting, but after a few hours, it all started to look the same, and I got bored. Figuring it was a good way to pass the time, I decided to ask Cystie some questions. “Hmm? You don’t even know that? Where have you been living all this time, out in the boonies or something? Well, whatever. I will enlighten you a bit.” Cystie must have been bored, too. She turned her gaze away from the scenery and back to me. Sorry for beeing a country bumpkin. “Our destination is the royal capital of the Eldonia kingdom. It’s a large country with vast lands and abundant natural resources. It’s said to produce more food than any other country, and there’s a wide variety of dishes, and well established distribution networks. Most importantly, the food is delicious.” Heh, I’d never heard the name of the country before. Of course, I didn’t know anything about any of the other countries, either. So, it’s a country known for delicious food, huh? Well, that doesn’t mean much to me. I can't taste anything anyways. I wonder if there are any other Dhullahans living alongside humans in this country? “…Other features include the fact that the Erial Church is the state religion, and there are a lot of devout followers. There’s a beautiful temple saintess who wields holy magic. She’s held in high regard by the citizens. They’ve even built a large temple for her.” Oh, a temple and a saintess, huh? “Hmm, a saintess, huh? Is she really that amazing?” Cystie had mentioned a temple saintess when she’d used her healing magic on me, but I had no idea what kind of person she was. “Of course. After all, she’s one of the few people in the world who can use holy magic.” “Is that different from your healing magic, Cystie?” “Us mages can heal small wounds, but that’s about it. Holy magic is different. If your arm gets ripped off, she can reattach it as long as you still have the arm, and she can cure even the deadliest of poisons. It’s truly miraculous. There are rumors that she is a personification of the goddess.” “H-huh, that sounds pretty amazing all right.” In other words, if I, who already takes damage from simple healing spells, were to receive the holy magic of this saintess, I would be in big trouble. I mean, I'm an undead. I'm weak to holy attributes. I had to make sure I didn’t go anywhere near a place where this saintess could show up. Absolutely no visiting any temples. As I was thinking that, a scream rang out from one of the carriages in front of us. “M-monsters!” Cystie and I snapped to attention at the sound. It seemed that one of the merchants who had been keeping watch had spotted the monsters. As combatants, Cystie and I were expected to take the lead here. “Everyone, arm yourselves! Don’t panic! What kind of monster is it?” The leader of the merchants, the one who had been talking to the old man, calmly issued orders. At his direction, everyone except the coachmen and the lookouts drew swords, bows, and crossbows. But I didn’t think the merchants would be able to win on their own. “Black wolves!” “Black wolves are bad news. You two adventurers! Black wolves have appeared, so we’re counting on you!” Responding to the merchant leader, Cystie and I assessed the situation around us. The carriages were traveling at a steady pace down the road, and four shadows were running alongside them. They were wolf-type monsters, their entire bodies covered in jet-black fur. Their snouts had horns sticking out of them, and their red eyes were shining with excitement as they growled. These must be the black wolves. I had a dislike for wolf-type monsters ever since getting attacked by them in the Demon Forest. If I hadn’t been a Dullahan, I probably would have been eaten by wolves. The other side of the road was a tall cliff, so I couldn’t see what was over there. Just to be safe, I kept an eye out in that direction, too. “Hey, Cystie. Since we’re here, why don’t you try firing off a spell or two? They’re all bunched together, so even a "Crap-Control magician" like you should be able to hit them.” “Would you please stop calling me a "Crap-Control magician"?! It actually pisses me off!” “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? You hit me in the side just the other day, remember? If it’s not true, prove it by hitting one of those wolves.” “Don’t tempt me!” When I goaded her, Cystie energetically waved her staff and climbed onto the roof of the carriage. I was surprised by how agile she was. She must have good reflexes.

By the way, I wasn’t going to join her on the roof. If I stood next to Cystie, I had a feeling I might get caught in the crossfire. Cystie’s blue ponytail fluttered in the wind as the carriage raced down the road. Then Cystie began chanting a spell and pointing her staff at the black wolves that were running alongside us. Oh, so she’s going to use her staff this time, huh? A fireball appeared at the tip of her staff. It was her famous "aim for one out of five" gamble spell. This one was even larger than the last one. Didn’t that make it harder to control? I was getting nervous just watching her. “Fireball!” Cystie cried out in a solemn tone, and the fireball flew... directly behind us. “...Uh-oh.” “What’s up with your spells?!” I shouted in exasperation as the fireball hit the cliff behind us. It seemed to be packed with even more magical energy than the ones from yesterday, causing a large explosion and crumbling the cliff behind us. If it had hit the cliff just a little farther ahead, it would have blocked our path. “Gweeeeh?!” I heard a pained wail from within the flames. Through the crumbling rocks, I could see a black wolf falling, engulfed in red flames. “As expected of a mage. You noticed that the other black wolves were on the cliff above us, didn’t you?! We were only looking straight ahead, so we would have been easy prey for the wolves that came down from above!” “...Huh? Oh no, not at all! This is nothing, really!” Cystie responded to the merchant leader’s words long after he had finished speaking. “…It was just a coincidence.” As I climbed up onto the roof and said that, Cystie immediately denied it. “No, I hit it on purpose.” “Don’t lie to me.” While we were having that exchange, the other merchants let out a cheerful cry as they were firing arrows at the black wolves that were closing in on them. It was difficult to hit the wolves that were running alongside the swaying wagon, and a lot of the arrows missed or were avoided. Atleast one of the wolves got hit a few times in the legs and tumbled to the ground. The remaining two wolves were approaching the wagon in front of us, so I moved from one roof to the next. It seemed the black wolves were targeting the defenseless coachman. Noticing this, one of the crossbow-wielding merchants desperately fired arrows at them. One hit the forehead of one of the wolves, taking it down, but the other was unharmed. “Ah, ahhhhh!” The black wolve leaped, trying to sink its fangs into the coachman. I thrust out my left arm without much thought. The black wolf sank its fangs into my arm without hesitation. Of course, the black wolf’s fangs couldn’t penetrate a dullahan’s gauntlet. The beast let out a ferocious roar, desperately trying to sink its fangs deeper into my arm, but I hit it with a straight right. I could feel its ribs break as it was sent flying away like a piece of trash. “…Th-thank you! Is your arm all right?!” “Yes, I have a sturdy gauntlet, so it's no problem.” I waved my uninjured arm around to show that I was okay, and the coachman breathed a sigh of relief. After defeating the black wolves, we stopped the wagon. The merchants, wary of any other monsters in the area, picked up their arrows and began stripping the black wolves of their furs and fangs. They said that since they’d used up so many arrows, they might as well get something out of it. Merchants are scary people. “You really saved us there, Duke-san and Cystie-san. If you hadn’t been here, we would have lost some people for sure. Cystie, your magic was amazing. You saw the black wolves hiding up on the cliff, and boom!” “N-no, it was not a big deal,” Cystie said, her cheeks flushing a little. She seemed happy to be complimented about her magic. I wished he wouldn’t praise my clumsy mage like that.

She was liable to get carried away and start flinging spells left and right. “You really put your life on the line to save my companions, Duke-san. We’re all very grateful,” the merchant continued. “It was nothing, really.” It wasn’t bad to be appreciated once in a while. In fact, the more appreciation I got, the harder I wanted to work… Oh, I see what this merchant is up to! Expressing gratitude costs nothing. The boss at my old job used to say that appreciation was all you needed to get people to work for free. This merchant was not to be underestimated. “Ah, ahhhhh!” Just as I was thinking that, I heard a man scream. It was probably the guy who was picking up arrows. When I looked in the direction of the voice, I saw one of the men being chased by a black wolf. One of the arrows must have hit the wolf in the leg, because it was limping and leaving a trail of blood behind it. To be able to pursue its prey even while injured like that, the wolf was more tenacious than I’d realized. I started running to help, but they were too far away, and I wouldn’t make it in time. “Rick! Throw the arrows away!” the merchant leader shouted. Confused, the man hurled the arrows in the direction of the black wolf. One of the points happened to hit the wolf by chance, and it let out a pained howl. The man took the opportunity to make a break for it. Will I make it in time? I wondered, but then I heard a voice from behind me. A crackling sound emanated from the outstretched staff, and a single purple bolt of lightning roared through the air. The lightning moved like a ferocious serpent, twisting this way and that, and… “…Ah, shit.” …passed right by my helmet. What the hell? That was almost enough to knock my helmet off! And did I just hear her say “…Ah, shit”?! Is she going to hit the guy?! As if sensing my thoughts, the twisting purple lightning veered away from the man and struck the black wolf directly. The lightning hit the wolf directly, charring it black and sending it crashing to the ground. ...Sometimes, I wondered if Cystie wasn’t actually an incredibly powerful mage in disguise. When I turned to look at her, she seemed surprised herself, like she hadn’t expected the spell to hit. Two seconds later, the men’s cheers broke the silence. “That mage was able to curve the Lightning spell and hit the black wolf, even though she didn’t have a clear line of sight!” “She’s one crazy mage. If she’d missed by even an inch, she would have hit Rick… She must have a lot of confidence in her control.” To me, their voices of sincere admiration just sounded like noise. Cystie, on the other hand, looked pleased, her cheeks flushing. Ugh. I could already tell she was going to get carried away. On todays magic forecast: willy-nilly spells from all directions. She’d missed by only a few centimeters this time, but if she hadn’t, I would have been charred to a crisp. I didn’t count the first fireball, since she hadn’t been aiming for me, but the next time she used a Lightning spell, there was a high probability it would go wild. Cystie was like someone who’d just won the lottery. She’d used up all her luck in one go. That meant the next time she hit someone with a spell, it was probably going to be me. “But Lightning spells travel in straight lines, don’t they…?” someone wondered. “But it curved and hit the wolf right on the nose, didn’t it? Wouldn’t a skilled mage be able to do that? It even hissed like a snake, too.” Cystie's special magic had truly reached peak performance. It could even change the natural order of spells and warp a straight line into curves. Truly terrifying. It was practically a new type of magic.