Chapter 65: Nickname "Sei-san, good morning!"
"Ah, Airchan. Morning."
We"re finally leaving to the slime forest today.
When I headed to the plaza like normal, Airchan greeted me halfway there.
When I turned towards the voice, I saw her rushing towards me.
I stopped and waited for Airchan to catch up to me before walking again.
"We"re in the same group today."
"Yeah, we sure are."
Airchan and I smiled happily.
I"ve been on subjugation missions many times before, but this was the first time I was going on one with Airchan, causing me to be excited.
This time, all the mages from the Court Mage Division who were going to the slime forest were those who could use offensive magic.
Apart from holy magic, Airchan can also use water and wind magic, so she was put in the same group as me.
"Are you also going to attack today?" (Sei)
"Yes. I"ll attack while observing the situation." (Aira)
"Observing the situation?" (Sei)
"We"re the only two who could use holy magic, so I was put in charge of healing." (Aira)
"Ooh? Head Magician-sama can also use holy magic, can"t he?" (Sei)
"My seniors told me that the head magician would probably not be healing anyone-……" (Aira)
"Ah……" (Sei)
I accepted Airchan"s answer as she smiled wryly.
Head Magician-sama mostly attacked when we went to the West Forest.
I can be in charge of healing by myself if I use AOE magic, but then MP consumption would be a problem.
It"s probably better for both Airchan and I to be in charge of healing.
I thought while walking, and we reached the plaza.
The people who were going to the other places were also here, so it was bustling even though it was morning.
I looked for where our group was because it seemed like everyone was gathered in their groups.
When I looked around, I found a group of people wearing robes in the bustling crowd.
It was the Court Mages.
Those people are probably a.s.signed to the slime forest.
"Airchan, we"re with them, aren"t we?"
"Ah, you"re right."
When I called out to Airchan and walked towards the group, I saw that Leo-san was amongst the knights.
Looking closely, I saw that there were a few mercenaries too.
Huh? Why?
When I approached them while tilting my head in curiosity, Leo-san found me and raised his hand.
The people near him also noticed me when he did this.
"""Good morning, Sei-sama!"""
"Oh, good morning……"
Amazing.
Their voices overlapped each other"s perfectly.
I was a little surprised when I added in the volume of their voices.
I wasn"t the only one who was surprised.
Leo-san and the mercenaries, who were next to them, were also surprised. Even Airchan looked as if she was shocked.
It was the knights from the 2nd Knight Order who greeted me with a dazzling smile and a loud voice.
I feel like I"ve seen all these people before.
But, I was more curious about Leo-san and his crew.
I thought that the knights and the mercenaries would be working separately……
"Good morning, Leo-san."
"Go…… Good morning." Leo-san tried to greet me like he usually does, but he noticed everyone"s gaze and corrected himself.
"You can talk to me normally. It"s better that way."
The people in the 2nd Knight Order sharpened their gaze, but when I went closer to them, their eyes softened.
"So why are you here?"
"We"re joining you today."
"You are?"
I asked him about it because I was curious, and found out that they would be accompanying us on the request of Feudal Lord-sama.
Rare herbs grew in the slime forest, and it was the largest harvest spot in Klaussner.
Feudal Lord-sama heard that the forest had been devastated by the slimes and decided to dispatch Leo-san and his crew.
It was an important place, so he wanted to send someone, who knew the previous state of the forest, to be his eyes and confirm the current situation.
Apparently, this had only been decided last night since the knights and mercenaries had troubles working with each other.
Leo wanted to have a few mercenaries with him since it was decided that he would partic.i.p.ate in the subjugation, but they couldn"t agree on things, so the decision was made at the last minute.
The knights couldn"t even agree amongst themselves about who would be going to the slime forest.
So it was easy to imagine that this problem would get even worse with new people joining in.
Thanks for all your hard work, Captain-san.
"Morning, Sei."
"Sei-sama, good morning."
Captain-san and Head Magician-sama joined the group while I was talking to Leo-san.
It was twice as dazzling when they stood next to each other causing me to squint a little.
Airchan and I greeted them. Then, Head Magician-sama looked at Leo-san and tilted his head in curiosity.
"This is?"
"This is Leonhardt, the person in charge of the mercenaries at Klaussner."
"It"s nice to meet you. My name is Leonhardt."
"The mercenaries will be joining us today."
When I introduced Leo-san to Head Magician-sama, Captain-san told him what was happening today.
Head Magician-sama accepted the reason for why there were unfamiliar faces here. He smiled gently and nodded gracefully.
"Nice to meet you. I"m Yuuri Dreves, the Head Magician of the Court Mage Division."
"Ah! I look forward to working with you today!"
"You too."
Leo-san widened his eyes when he heard Head Magician-sama"s introduction.
The mercenaries also looked as if they were fl.u.s.tered.
All of them fixed their postures and stood upright.
Are they doing this because Head Magician-sama has a high position in the Royal Palace?
Huh? But then Captain-san also has a high position, doesn"t he?
Were they also like this when they first met him?
I thought questioningly, but those questions were answered straight away.
When Captain-san and Head Magician-sama left, the mercenaries started muttering to themselves.
"So that"s the Destruction Devil?"
"Yea."
"Devil?"
"Ah, please keep it a secret."
"What do you mean?"
Devil, what a dangerous name.
I asked Leo-san in curiosity. He lowered his voice so that no one could hear him and told me.
He stated that the Destruction Devil was Head Magician-sama.
This nickname was attached to him because he had burnt a whole area while subjugating a large demon before.
Some mercenary teams had been there at the scene, and so Head Magician-sama became a hot topic between them, and they were struck with awe.
Head Magician-sama had cast an AOE fire attack in front of them, and he was smiling as the flames illuminated his face.
The only thing that was left behind was a grey world.
"It describes him perfectly."
"Doesn"t it?"
I could understand why he was called a devil after hearing the story.
He had said a lot of ghastly things at the West Forest, but since he didn"t stay true to his words, he had probably held back.
The West Forest was safe.
"What"s wrong? You look weird."
"Nothing. I just think it"ll be nice if he held back."
"Held back?"
"I hope the forest will be in one piece……"
"Re-enacting the nightmare? Stop it."
Leo-san"s expression turned bitter at my remark.
But, you know, I"m a little worried.
Even though the black swamp had appeared at the West Forest, there wasn"t much damage to the forest because there were only a lot of demons.
Therefore, Head Magician-sama might have chosen magic that wouldn"t damage the forest.
On the other hand, the outskirts of the slime forest was fine, but the inner part was filled with dead trees because of the slimes, so the forest was already damaged.
I was worried that if Head Magician-sama saw this and concluded that the forest was already done for, then he won"t hold back.
I also agreed with Leo-san and didn"t want a re-enactment of the nightmare.
Even if the forest had already suffered a lot from the slimes, I didn"t want it to be damaged any further.
This was also because of the medicinal herbs, even if only a little were left, they were still important to the fief.
It was decided that I would be travelling in the same carriage as Head Magician-sama.
So I"ll tell him to restrain himself on the way there.
Yes, I"ll do that.
I, who had heard a disturbing story from Leo-san, headed towards the carriage with a new resolution.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam