"I will be watching."
Sarah then shouted to the other squad members.
"If you're ready, it's time for patrol. Follow me."
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
It seemed Sarah was the squad leader here. I too followed quietly behind her. 'So, what are we going to do?'
I wanted to ask the purpose, but I held back. Because when you first join a lab, you're supposed to first figure out if it's the right atmosphere to ask questions before you start asking.
Trudging.
We pressed forward through the snow, our feet sinking with each step. 'The north is certainly cold.' It was so cold my snot was freezing.
I walked, sticking close to the group of combat mages. Ten combat mages moved as one squad, escorted by a dozen or so regular soldiers. After walking for about an hour.
Rumble-!
The ground beneath our feet rumbled violently without any warning. The squad members, unfazed, immediately prepared for battle.
"It's a wyrm! Everyone, formation three!"
At Sarah's shout, the squad members moved swiftly. For now, I decided to hang back and observe their methods. Four mages preparing attack spells were in the center, and four mages using detection spells were on the outside.
The remaining soldiers formed a protective circle on the very outside, shields raised to protect the mages. It was an efficient, tight formation.
CRASH-!
The snow-covered field erupted as if exploding, and a massive Giant Ice Wyrm revealed itself. It was shaped like a giant grub, with an exoskeleton at each segment.
"M!"
With the command, projectiles were fired.
Shwoosh-! Bang!
Rock shots and fireballs cut through the air. Two of them exploded, striking the wyrm's hard carapace. Considering the close distance... it was a somewhat disappointing result.
A rebound struck the two mages who had missed their spells.
"Gah..."
"Ugh!"
The wyrm twisted its body as if annoyed and then disappeared back into the ground. One of those using detection spells shouted.
"To the right!"
The formation immediately shifted to the right. And from where they had just been standing, the Giant Wyrm shot up once again.
"Fire!"
Just then, as if waiting for this moment, fireballs detonated. 'So this is how they do it.'
I understood.
A method of pinpointing the enemy's underground location with detection spells, preparing incantations in advance, and concentrating firepower when needed. All the while moving together as a squad to minimize casualties, it was the best tactic possible. But it was still lacking.
Not the tactic itself, but the efficiency of the magic. Hunting like this would take too long. I took out dozens of iron balls from my pocket-space pouch. p=m*v R = (v_2 *sin(20))/g F= 1/2*p*w*r*V*A*I And then I squeezed my eyes shut.
The regular soldiers were tasked with processing the Giant Ice Wyrm. The soldiers swarmed the wyrm's carcass, from which a hazy steam was rising, and began to harvest alchemy materials.
"Hey! Hold that side tight! On three. One, two, three!"
"Three!"
"Ah, dammit! The timing is off."
"... Are we supposed to pull on three, or after three?"
It seems even on this extreme frontline, there's always a troublemaker. I watched the scene with my eyes barely open. Even though the processing was half done, my stomach was still churning.
A moment later, the combat mages, including Sarah, hesitantly approached me. Their attitude was clearly different from before. For some reason, I felt my shoulders straighten.
I know it's not cool to show off about things like this... Sarah's words kept coming to mind. -'I will be watching.' What if I were to say something like, 'So, did you watch well?' here?
Hmm...
That would sound stupid. I'll just keep my mouth shut. Sarah said to me.
"Regarding the byproducts of magical beasts encountered during patrol... the rule is to divide them according to contribution."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. This hunt was as good as done by you alone, so all of that belongs to you, Howard."
"No, no." I waved my hand and continued, "I'm fine, so how about you all share it among yourselves?"
"... What?"
The combat mages' eyes widened. The soldiers who were working also stopped in their tracks.
Murmur, murmur.
The soldiers whispered among themselves.
"Did you hear that?"
"Shh! Quiet...! He might take it back if we're too loud."
Sarah asked again, as if in disbelief.
"All of this? Even if you sell it to a caravan instead of in the capital, it would easily be worth over a thousand gold."
"It's because I receive a salary from the Magic Tower."
"The Magic Tower's salary isn't even that much..."
It was a well-known fact that the Magic Tower's pay was low. That was why talented commoner mages were reluctant to join the Magic Tower. Even if glory was promised in the future, they couldn't endure the process itself.
"I'm fine because I receive compensation for assisting Lady Everglow."
"I have always been deeply grateful to all of you for fulfilling your duty to national defense. Please accept it."
Sarah muttered.
"I... must have had a big misunderstanding until now."
Okay. Almost there.
I said to the combat mages.
"In return. Please give me all the information you have about the Guides of the Lantern."
My tone was earnest, as if I just wanted to get this job over with.
After finishing the patrol, we gathered together and ate dinner.
Crunch, crunch.
I chewed on something similar to pemmican. It tasted awful. 'Still, if we're eating together, does that mean we've gotten a bit closer?'
I hope so. I asked Sarah.
"By the way, do you normally encounter large monsters like the Giant Wyrm often?"
Sarah nodded.
"Yes. While on this mission, we see one every few weeks."
Squad Leader Sarah's tone had returned to the friendly feeling I had gotten when we first met.
"When you encounter one, about how many people die?"
"There are times when no one dies... but if anyone makes a single mistake, two or three will die."
Every few weeks. Two or three. I mulled over those words.
'This is a bit strange.' It was true that being a combat mage was a dangerous profession, but not to this extent. Compared to the average casualty rate statistics for combat mages that I had read at the Magic Tower, the difference was stark.
The mission difficulty was 'statistically significantly' high. As if noticing my doubt, Sarah let out a small laugh.
"The Guides of the Lantern have their base beyond the magical beast front, where people cannot live. In the process, we are also exposed to danger."
"That must be tough."
"It is. It sucks."
Chomp, chomp.
Sarah chewed on her pemmican.
"Is there no separate manual for a special search party like this?"
"A manual?"
Sarah's expression twisted. I asked her.
"... Don't tell me there's no manual at all?"
"There is one... but the manuals for search parties are of very low quality, unlike the ones for fortress defense."
"Hmm..."
'Even if I can't create a whole new manual from scratch, I think I could improve the magic efficiency...' During the last thesis defense, the school heads had gathered and were 'dividing the labor' for defense magic. If I combine that with the 'Memorizer' pendant and the tips I heard in Valerius's special lecture...
I felt like I could create some interesting results. Of course, how to transfer all that knowledge to these people, who are barely at the master's graduate level, is up to me. I'll have to take a close look at the magic circles.
I should try it later. For now, the 'Guides of the Lantern' matter comes first. I asked Sarah again.
"If this place is so dangerous, how on earth are those cultists living here?"
"That's the problem. It's not certain, but those bastards..."
Sarah's voice grew cold.
"I think they're surviving by offering their followers as sacrifices."
"My goodness..."
"That's why we have to resolve this problem as quickly as possible."
Sarah pointed to a soldier sitting across from me and said.
"That friend's wife also fell for those Guides of the Lantern bastards and disappeared."
Is it okay to say something like that so easily? I glanced at the soldier. But the soldier didn't show any signs of discomfort.
He was silently chewing his pemmican.
Sarah continued.
"It's the same for the others."
"I also lost my twin sibling to the 'Guides of the Lantern.'"
So there was a reason they'd thrown themselves into such a dangerous mission. I looked around at the squad members and said.
"... So you were all volunteers."
Nod, nod.
Everyone nodded their heads without a word. The expressions of the members sitting around us visibly darkened. 'So many victims...'
It's understandable.
The environment here in the north makes it easy to fall for cults. The Empire forces people to station here for military needs. Because an army can't be maintained with just soldiers alone.
Since not everything can be solved with supplies, they've attached a self-sustaining village next to the army. Naturally, there's no such thing as freedom of residence. In a situation like that, even I might easily fall for a cult if one approached me.
Because the human heart is weaker than one might think. Sarah gave a bitter smile and asked me.
"... Howard, is there a special reason you volunteered for this mission too?"
Looking around, I saw that the squad members' gazes were now all focused on me. Their gazes were heavy. 'Do they think I have some kind of sob story too?' ...
Unfortunately, I couldn't share their pain. Strictly speaking, it's because I haven't suffered any harm from those bastards yet. So, instead of empathizing, I decided to offer a solution.
That suits me better right now. I looked around at the faces of the squad members. I think I can track the missing people using their blood.
Fortunately, thanks to my experience dealing with Malakai, I know quite a bit about blood magic. I asked Sarah.
"Sarah. By any chance, do you and your twin sibling look exactly alike?"
"... Yes. But why do you ask?"
Identical twins.
That makes things much easier. Because their genetic information will be nearly identical. I said to Sarah.
"If you could give me a little bit of your blood, I think I can find your twin sibling."
"What?"
My remark caused a stir among the group.
"Is that possible...?"
"That guy. Does he know blood magic too?"
Flash.
Sarah made a fist towards her comrades. It was a hand signal meaning 'stop.' At this, everyone fell silent.
Sarah said.
"If you are joking, you are making a big mistake."
"I am serious. With just one drop of blood, I can find your sibling."
"... Is that so?"
Sarah took out a dagger and sliced her own palm.
Drip. Drip, drip.
Blood dripped to the ground.
"Please do it. If you can succeed... you can take as much as you need."
I carefully placed my hand over hers, where the blood was pooling. Since my understanding of life sciences was lacking, I needed the help of a magic circle this time. I recalled the pattern of the blood magic Malakai had used.
I didn't know the exact meaning of each symbol, but in the end, I should be able to find the location. ... Other mages probably use magic like this on a daily basis. It feels like continuously adjusting the input values for a function whose meaning you don't understand.
Flash!
A red light flared up between our clasped hands. Sarah broke the silence and asked.
"... Is it done?"
"Yes."
I pointed to the snowy mountains to the northeast and said.
"Yes. It's that way."