Chapter 11: Looking Back on First Times with the Exiled Marquise, Part 1
About two hours had passed since Erika Solntsalri recovered, and I nearly fainted after being told she’d taken a liking to me.
During that time, Erika Solntsalri would occasionally have fits where she remembered the mastermind behind this ridiculous situation and nearly turned into a curse-spewing machine.
And I, too, nearly fainted several times recalling the moment I was told she liked me.
But Merseja called out from the coachman’s seat, telling us we seemed to have safely completed the first day’s journey.
“Boss, the city we’ll be staying in tonight has come into view.”
I wasn’t particularly interested, but since she’d gone to the trouble of calling out, I opened the window on the door that hadn’t been blown off and checked ahead.
Though still small, I could see a city in the middle of the plains.
Its name was Sudvaldo, I believe.
I have memories of coming here several times for adventurer work, but it didn’t leave much of an impression.
Because of that, my interest shifted elsewhere.
“Still, Merseja.”
“What is it, Boss?”
Merseja replied in a voice so relaxed it made me question her suitability as a coachman who also served as a guard.
“There really weren’t any more attacks. An excellent assessment, Senpai-dono.”
Merseja let out a strange ‘Eheheh’ laugh and said boastfully.
“There aren’t any organizations out there that can just casually deploy assassins equivalent to Rank 6, you know. From their perspective, their prized asset got crushed.”
And easily, at that.
I glanced over at the face of the person who had crushed them so easily.
The person in question seemed unaware, simply enjoying the view from the window.
“Even if additional attacks were planned, we’re unharmed and on alert. They’ll likely regroup for now. If possible, they’d probably prefer we just quickly leave their territory before they have to make excuses to their client, I’d wager.”
While resolving not to let my guard down, I found myself agreeing with Merseja’s words.
Adventurers are human too; they can fall from grace for various reasons.
But still, the higher the Rank, the rarer they become.
Even if they’ve fallen somewhat, someone with the skills of a high-Rank adventurer will have many offers.
Simply put, few fall so far as to be picked up by criminal organizations.
That magic-using Assailant certainly had skills comparable to a high-Rank adventurer.
Whether they were a former adventurer or some oddity who gained such power outside the system, that fact remains unchanged.
Indeed, as Merseja said, that combatant was likely a prized asset to the organization.
Losing them would be a significant blow to the organization.
But still, I thought.
The enemy, though their methods are unknown, are the sort who can transform humans into Majin.
It would be overly optimistic to assume they are an organization that thinks rationally.
Perhaps that thought showed on my face, as Merseja gave a wry smile.
“You can rest easy inside the city, at least.”
If a human turned into a Majin in the middle of the city, it’d cause a huge uproar.
Merseja laughed as she said this.
＊
The City of Sudvaldo is what you’d call a city possessing a Water Generation Magic Tool and a Barrier Generator.
In other words, it creates all its water, from drinking to daily use, with the Water Generation Magic Tool, and protects itself not with walls against Monsters and external enemies, but by creating a massive Barrier with the Barrier Generator.
Of course, both of these require an enormous amount of Magicka.
It’s simply not feasible to continuously supply that much Magicka using Magic Stones or the like.
Therefore, Sudvaldo employs the same method adopted by other similar cities.
Meaning—
I felt something like a slight chill as I sensed Magicka being drawn from me.
Merseja and the carriage horses also seemed to feel a similar chill, shivering slightly.
The only one who didn’t react at all was Erika Solntsalri.
After completing the procedures to enter the city and passing inside the Barrier, a tiny amount of Magicka is drawn from you.
It draws Magicka little by little from the city’s inhabitants to create water and maintain the Barrier.
That is the method employed by cities like Sudvaldo.
To me, who can see Magicka, flows of it rising towards the heavens from all over the city were visible.
Countless streams of Magicka; some might call it beautiful.
But my eyes couldn’t help but follow just one particular stream.
The golden Magicka of Erika Solntsalri.