Chiiik—

When I infused starlight into the sword, the magical beast's blood and bodily fluids on the blade evaporated. The starlight went very well with the silver sword. When the sparkling starlight was overlaid on the pure white silver sword... it looked like a holy sword that emitted a sacred light on its own.

A sacred light that pushes back the darkness.

Was I a knight of light?

I aimed the holy sword at the darkness and muttered piously.

"The light will guide the way."

[You're being ridiculous.]

The Heavenly Demon broke the mood.

I examined the silver sword, which had been cleanly disinfected with starlight, and then put it back in its scabbard.

"So, how was it? Your impression of facing your first magical beast in Maia."

The Heavenly Demon, who was staring blankly at the fallen magical beast, expressed his impression.

[...It's trivial.]

"Hmm."

[It's just big, but its actions are those of a fool. Who would get hit by such a crude attack? I wouldn't say anything if it was at least powerful.]

I couldn't really raise any objections. As the Heavenly Demon said, this guy wasn't worth its size. It was just a little big, but it wasn't that smart. It was probably around C-rank.

It's a guy I could have dealt with on my own even before I fell from the cliff. The only difference is that back then, I would have had to make all sorts of preparations and be prepared to die, but now I don't.

I realized once again how much stronger I had become.

I suddenly got excited and was about to draw my sword again and dance around, but I held back because the Heavenly Demon didn't seem to be in a good mood.

I kicked the magical beast's corpse and comforted the disappointed Heavenly Demon.

"Master. It's too early to be disappointed. A guy like this popped out as soon as we entered Maia, so what do you think it will be like when we go deeper?"

But the Heavenly Demon already seemed to have lost a little interest.

[Tsk... that sphinx guy from back then was better. Let's go beat that guy up later.]

"There are many more cunning and stronger guys, so don't be disappointed already."

I rolled up one sleeve, approached the fallen magical beast's corpse, and thrust my hand into the area around its heart.

Stab!

The Heavenly Demon frowned.

[What are you doing?]

"Wait. It should be around here... Ah, I found it."

In the hand I pulled out again, there was a magic stone that shone like a jewel.

[What is that?]

"This is a magic stone."

I went to a nearby stream and explained while washing my arm and the magic stone.

"When a magical beast dies, the remaining mana in its body gathers and the heart hardens like a jewel. I took that out."

[Hmm. A kind of inner core.]

I held the roughly washed magic stone up to the moonlight and muttered.

"Hmm... the color is dull, and it's not that shiny."

[Is it a good one?]

"It's not bad. It's about C-rank."

The grading of magic stones is the same as the grading of magical beasts. It's only natural that the purity of the magic stone is determined by the grade of the magical beast.

I held the magic stone and walked leisurely to the carriage.

Normally, I could have collected the guy's teeth, claws, leather, etc., and sold them. But it was troublesome and I didn't have the time, so I just took out the magic stone. Because the magic stone is the most expensive.

When I returned to the carriage, Shushruta perked up her ears and looked this way.

"Is it over?"

"It's over."

Shushruta would have heard everything from a distance, so there was no need to explain.

I threw the magic stone to her and said.

"Take care of this when we go to the village later."

Shushruta caught it, examined it, and then put it in the carriage and came back.

In the meantime, I broke a branch and threw it into the campfire.

Crackle— Crackle—

Sparks flew and embers scattered.

I stared blankly at the flickering flames for a moment. It was as if I could see a shape in them.

Then, suddenly, I felt a gaze and turned my head. Shushruta was sitting next to the campfire, staring at me with wide eyes.

"What. You have something to say?"

"Ashuban."

"What."

"What is the Sherwood Mercenary Corps to you?"

I shifted my gaze back to the campfire. I watched the flickering shape in it and opened my mouth.

"...Family?"

"Family?"

Shushruta tilted her head.

"Is that different from a comrade?"

"I don't know. I think it's similar."

Shushruta fidgeted with her hands and asked cautiously.

"Then... can I also join the Sherwood Mercenary Corps?"

I looked at Shushruta with a dumbfounded expression.

"A thief wants to join a mercenary corps?"

"Can't I?"

"Well..."

Come to think of it, that guy Dofang was also a retired assassin. His hobby was thievery. To think that there are two thieves in the mercenary corps. But it didn't seem to matter much whether there was one or two, so I let it go.

"...I guess it doesn't matter."

Shushruta's face brightened.

"Are you happy?"

"I am."

"What's so good about it? What's a thief going to do in a mercenary corps?"

Shushruta said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I'll have other comrades besides you, so how can it not be a good thing?"

"Good grief."

She was a Shadow Phantom who, not content with me, was planning on joining the mercenary corps and stealing the hearts of the other members as well. There was no other thief as fearsome. This girl is also a consistent one. She's been going on about comrades since before and now.

But since it's good to be picky about friends, I gave her a warning.

"There are only weirdos with a screw loose there. Don't give your heart away carelessly."

Shushruta looked at me.

"There's no way there's anyone weirder than you."

"What, you brat?"

"Your comrades must be as weird as you. I'd be disappointed if they were normal."

"...."

"And, since they're your comrades, they may be weird, but they won't be bad. I'm not worried."

To trust people so easily without even seeing them. I sighed.

"I'm the one who's worried, you brat."

Shushruta chuckled, as if she were happy.

"What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing."

I looked at the chuckling Shushruta for a moment, then lay down.

"Go to sleep."

"Okay. You sleep well too."

Crackle— Crackle—

I lay down and looked up at the sky. The moonlight was a little faint because of the clouds.

I said to Shushruta, who was chuckling softly next to me for some reason.

"Go to sleep. We're leaving at dawn."

"Okay. I get it."

I closed my eyes, using the sound of the crackling campfire as a lullaby.

***

It was the third day since we had entered the Maia Kingdom. The journey to Schirnberg by carriage takes about a week, so we were about halfway there.

I spent the whole day on the roof of the carriage, practicing energy circulation... and sometimes, when a magical beast appeared, I would deal with it like a gale and come back.

"Nice to meet you, magical beast. Let's just say 'nice to meet you'."

—Kieek!

Most of the magical beasts I encountered were E or F rank. F-rank are guys who pose no particular threat to people. For example, small rabbit magical beasts or rat-like magical beasts. E-rank refers to guys who are bigger than that but can be dealt with by an ordinary adult man alone. I think I saw deer-like or raccoon-like magical beasts among them.

But just because they're not a threat doesn't mean they don't cause harm, so I killed the F-ranks and the E-ranks. I just killed them all when I saw them. Because if you leave them alone, they sometimes rise to D or C rank. In fact, there was a case where a small lizard grew to B-rank, and there was also a case where a large mantis suddenly appeared. So it's better in many ways to kill them on sight.

In Maia, there has been a lot of research on magical beasts because they roam around so much... There are several hypotheses about the cause of the occurrence of magical beasts. The most plausible hypothesis is that an animal stained with contaminated mana becomes a magical beast. Since magical beasts basically have the form of an animal, I also thought this was the most plausible.

I don't know what contaminated mana is, or why it gets contaminated, but anyway, that's what they say. One day, contaminated mana sticks to an animal. It immediately dominates the brain and makes it violent, and furthermore, it contaminates the heart and mixes contaminated mana into the bloodstream sent throughout the body, causing physical transformation.

Of course, I didn't look up any papers or anything, my sister told me. My sister knows everything, is what I'm saying.

Of course, the bandits didn't leave us alone either. A carriage. They must be drooling. At those times, I would hold up the torch again, or Shushruta would go for a while.

And so, while occasionally killing magical beasts, killing bandits, talking nonsense, and having some useless thoughts, the carriage moved on. Of course, the rest of the time was all spent on energy circulation. A man who enters a state of energy circulation whenever he has a chance. An energy circulation addict. That's me.

As usual, I was concentrating fiercely on my energy circulation, not caring about the shaking carriage... when I heard Shushruta's voice from next to me.

"Ashuban."

I slowly opened my eyes and asked.

"What."

Shushruta looked up at the sky and said.

"It's a big bird. I think it's flying this way."

I blinked and followed Shushruta's gaze. A black dot in the distance was rapidly getting bigger. Soon, I heard a cry that was presumed to be the bird's.

—Kieek!

A shriek echoed, and then a huge monstrous bird appeared in the sky. The guy flew in from the front in an instant. It was a guy big enough to easily snatch a person with its claws.

In an instant, it blocked the sun and a black shadow covered the carriage.

The Heavenly Demon muttered, as if he were intrigued.

[There are flying beasts too.]

I nodded.

"They're rare."

Linda also called me in an excited voice.

"Devil, it's a huge bird!"

Shushruta said in a casual tone, pulling out her dagger.

"I'll take care of it."

This girl. At first, she was quite surprised to see the real magical beasts from Maia, but now she was acting as if she had no emotion.

"No, I'll do it."

In the meantime, the monstrous bird was descending at a tremendous speed. It seemed to be planning on snatching me and Shushruta, one in each foot. This greedy bird.

—Kieeeek!

I heard its cry from a close distance.

I closed my eyes gently and muttered, grabbing the hilt of my sword at my waist.

"Old man, I'm sorry. I promised not to draw it again..."

I felt Shushruta's pathetic gaze. But I didn't care and continued.

"Cry, Hell Zanmato...!"

Just as I was about to draw my sword, shouting that.

Swoosh

Something flew like a ray of light and pierced the monstrous bird's head.

—Keeek!

The monstrous bird's descending trajectory was twisted. Originally, it should have grazed the top of the carriage and snatched me and Shushruta. But the guy fell to the side of the carriage at the speed it was flying and crashed into the ground.

"You bastard!"

Soon, a thunderous shout was heard, and a man quickly rushed at the monstrous bird that was crashing into the ground and thrashing about.

"Linda. Stop."

I gave Linda an order and then jumped off the carriage.

The man approached the thrashing monstrous bird and immediately struck its neck without delay.

Thwack!

But it wasn't cut in one go, so after striking it several more times, the neck was completely severed, and the monstrous bird with its neck severed could no longer struggle.

"Hmm."

The process was quite clean and skillful.

As I clapped and approached the man, he wiped his forehead and turned to me. One of his eyes was covered with a black eyepatch.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

I stared at him blankly and then answered.

"Thanks to you."

The man let out a long sigh, and then suddenly got angry.

"Are you crazy? Traveling around in a carriage without a single guard. Are you really out of your mind? I've never seen such a thoughtless guy. You almost got into big trouble. Got it?"

"...."

They were harsh words, but in reality, they were words of concern. I thought he was a rather kind man on the inside, despite his impression.

I quickly observed the man. He was a man who looked to be in his mid to late thirties. Perhaps he looked older because of his bushy beard. He was carrying a large bow on his back, and a quiver and a scabbard were hanging on each side of his waist.

The eyepatch covering one eye and the bushy beard, plus the rugged face, gave an impression that was by no means gentle. In a word, he looked like a hunter.

The hunter put down the sword that had cut the monstrous bird's neck to one side, and then held out his hand first.

"My name is Camus. I'm a mercenary."

"Kami?"

"Not Kami, Camus."

"Kamui?"

"I said Camus. Camus."

"Camus."

"Yes, Camus. That's right."

"That's a hard name to pronounce."

I grumbled and shook his hand. Why does he remind me of Fluffy?

"...."

Was my reaction strange? Camus looked at me with a strange expression for a moment, then asked.

"And you?"

"Ashuban."

And I pointed at Shushruta, who had jumped off the carriage after me, and Linda, who had stopped the carriage and was peeking out.

"Those are my younger sisters."

Camus looked at Shushruta and nodded, then looked at Linda and tilted his head.

"That one's hair is green."

"We picked that one up."

"Ah."

Camus, who was quickly convinced, asked me.

"Where are you going?"

I answered obediently.

"To Schirnberg."

"That's good. If you transport that magical beast, I'll protect you. For free."

And then he took out a silver tag from his pocket.

"It seems you're new to Maia. You should have hired at least three or four mercenaries. It's too dangerous. You almost got into big trouble just now. Got it?"

"Hmm."

"Seeing that you're carrying a sword, you seem to be a swordsman too, but if you're with your younger sister, you should be on your guard. No matter how rare flying magical beasts are, is it okay to just sit there without any preparation? Huh? The magical beast was right in front of you, and you didn't even notice and just sat there, what's with that? Are you really crazy?"

I stared blankly at Camus, who had suddenly started to get angry again. He was a man who poured out all his worries into anger.

The man, who had been pouring out his anger, stopped talking for a moment and looked at me, then clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. I can't. Just do that. You'll die on the way. What am I even saying to a guy who's out of his mind?"

"...."

Camus took out a huge sack, folded the magical beast's wings, and then stuffed it inside. It was amazing to see that huge magical beast fold up and go into the sack.

Camus slung the sack over his shoulder, then walked over and loaded it onto the carriage. Then he naturally got on the carriage himself and shouted at me.

"What are you doing? Get on."

"...."

An unexpected companion had appeared.

(End of Chapter)