Chapter 18: The Weight of Choices

The adventurers who had fled did not return even after morning had broken.

They probably thought the hunting party had been annihilated by the ogre.

Lycan did not blame the fleeing adventurers; he merely frowned and sighed deeply.

After taking care of breakfast, Lycan began to dismember the ogre’s corpse with the other adventurers.

Skillfully, he peeled off the skin and separated the flesh, tearing out the tendons.

As promised, Lycan handed me half of the ogre’s hide and half of the tendons.

Given the size of the giant’s body, the amount was substantial; even though my bag was bulging, it wasn’t enough to hold everything.

Lycan resolved this issue by calling over a few soldiers under his command to help carry my load.

The soldiers accepted my burden without any complaint.

It was an unusual display of kindness, and I could sense that this behavior stemmed from a thorough calculation of benefits.

How impressive must a mage belonging to the Magic Tower be for a knight to treat me with such kindness?

“Is it okay if I walk beside you?”

“Uh, um… Yes.”

Unlike before, Lycan frequently approached me and filled the silence with various stories.

The topics ranged from his own experiences to the port city of Harfen and the mayor who governed it.

No one would introduce themselves by sharing negative stories, but his bias was clear; he aimed to instill a favorable image of himself.

As the mountains grew steeper, the frequency of monster appearances increased.

From common goblins to the ice horn creatures I had dealt with alongside Rain, these monsters were at a level that could be handled by adventurers alone, unlike the ogre.

I engaged in the activities of the hunting party while occasionally posing questions to Lycan.

My inquiries revolved around swordsmanship and his physique.

He subtly tried to shift the topic away, but I refused to back down, leading him to ultimately answer my questions.

“Why is Lycan’s body so strong?”

“My body? It may look fine on the outside, but inside it’s a complete mess.”

Lycan replied, letting out a small cough.

Each time he coughed, dark blood trickled down, which he explained were injuries sustained from the ogre.

“Yet, other adventurers burst apart from a single blow from the ogre, while you seemed unscathed.

It must be thanks to your armor, but isn’t it also because your body is sturdier than the average person’s?”

I asked while observing Lycan’s dented full plate mail.

In response to my question, Lycan chuckled awkwardly.

“It’s the result of years of training.

You know the saying, ‘iron gets stronger the more you hammer it’? The same applies to humans.”

I tilted my head at Lycan’s words.

While I couldn’t deny that the human body grows stronger through repeated training, there is a limit to how much strength one can gain.

“Are you perhaps using mana?”

“Knights are not magicians.”

Lycan laughed in response to my question, but I couldn’t quite believe him.

The ogre’s immense strength was enough to cause small earthquakes in the area.

Surviving after being struck by such fists could only be explained by physical enhancement through mana.

“Lycan, could you lend me your hand for a moment?”

“My hand?”

“Yes.”

After a brief hesitation, Lycan removed his gauntlet and extended his hand to me.

It was a rough, large hand with calluses.

I carefully took his hand and closed my eyes.

Mana of different properties has a repelling force against each other.

If Lycan were indeed manipulating real mana, my mana would elicit some sort of reaction when I infused it into him.

I released a thin thread of mana, just as Rain had done, and poured it into his body.

The starlight mana, which had been rotating in my heart, began to rush quickly and flow through my fingertips into Lycan’s body.

At that moment, Lycan seemed to sense something, his body twitching, but he did not pull his hand away.

In that instant, I was able to confront a massive wolf.

The wolf, revealed by the faint starlight, disappeared in an instant.

This was because Lycan’s mana naturally repelled my mana.

If I poured more mana into him, I could have observed the wolf in more detail, but I saw no need to do so.

“How is it? Does this mana actually exist?”

I nodded at Lycan’s question.

He probably wouldn’t realize it himself—that the mana within his body was enhancing his physique.

Lycan looked surprised at my answer and asked, “So, does that mean I could also become a magician?”

This time, I shook my head.

That would be impossible. His mana was imbued with a powerful will, endlessly moving toward a singular purpose.

If he attempted to control that mana now, it would scatter, and his body would undoubtedly weaken.

“Hmph, that’s a disappointing story.”

About a week had passed since the hunting party had been summoned.

Lycan decided it was time to return.

The adventurers rejoiced. While they were initially excited about the prospect of earning a lot of money, they were now extremely exhausted from the prolonged mountain trek.

I welcomed Lycan’s decision as well.

I was a sight to behold, covered in blood, dirt, and snow, and an odd smell was emanating from my body.

The return journey was swift. There was no need to rummage around; we headed directly down the mountain to the city.

Leading the adventurers, Lycan headed toward the mayor’s mansion to calculate the rewards.

The mayor kept his promise. Moreover, he even granted additional rewards to the adventurers who hadn’t fled.

I also received the promised reward.

53 gold.

That was the amount I received.

As Lycan handed me a large purse of gold, he said, “Make sure to visit the mayor when you have the time. He wants to express his gratitude to you personally.”

Lycan’s misunderstanding was still unresolved.

He must have told the mayor about me—how a magician from the mage tower helped with their quest.

“Yes, I will when I can…”

I nodded and turned away.

The weight of the purse in my hand and the ogre leather I was carrying was enormous, but my steps felt incredibly light.

“Oh, Lycan. So, did you convey my message?”

“Yes.”

“How did it go? What was the magician’s reaction?”

The mayor of the port city of Harpen, Pin Liazere, awaited the knight’s words.

If he could maintain a close relationship with a magician from the mage tower, he was prepared to do anything.

“It didn’t seem like a welcoming meeting. However, since he didn’t refuse, I think he will come to see you soon.”

“Oh, oh… Is that so?”

Liazere nodded at Lycan’s words.

Meeting with a magician was his wish. He wanted to learn magic. He aspired to become a magician.

However, magicians had refused to meet with him. The position of being the mayor of a city had caused misunderstandings regarding the purpose of that meeting. But this time would be different. Liazere began to send people out to investigate the name “Cerise” to avoid making mistakes in his meeting with the girl magician.

Two days passed.

Liazere nodded as he reviewed the reports that had come before him.

Report: Cerise

Overview
This report deals with information about an individual named Cerise, analyzing her identity and purpose. Cerise claims to be 13 years old, but her actual age is presumed to be older, and she holds a Bronze rank badge from the Swordsman Guild, despite being a magician.

Whereabouts and Identity
Cerise’s previous whereabouts are untraceable, and it seems she is currently active as a swordsman rather than a magician. It is assumed that she is operating under a concealed identity.

Meeting with Rain
Cerise met with Rain, a magician from the mage tower, through a request in the port city of Lupin.

The unusual thing was that, unlike other adventurers whom Rain had previously rejected, he easily accepted the companionship of Cerise.

Request and Equipment Production in the Karam Mountains
At Rain’s request, Cerise headed to the Karam Mountains. After completing the request, she crafted equipment in the form of a sword and cloak using monster materials obtained from the Karam Mountains.

This was also speculated to be an action to conceal her identity as a magician.

Another Magician from the Mage Tower
About a week after Rain left the city, another magician from the mage tower arrived in the city with Cerise. At that time, Cerise was participating in a monster hunting party, which was headed to the Karam Mountains, coincidentally the same place as the previous request.

Conclusion
It is highly likely that Cerise is a magician from the mage tower, and she seems to have visited the Karam Mountains to investigate the recent occurrence of large monster migrations.

“That’s good…”
Liazere awaited Cerise.

However, a week passed, and Cerise still did not come to see Liazere.

As I visited the leather workshop to process the ogre leather, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

“What? You can’t handle ogre leather?”

“Right… To properly handle this stuff, you need a special agent called a leather softener, but the import of that agent has been cut off.”

“That can’t be… So what should I do?”

“You need to go to where the agent is available, to the Karma Empire.”

“Where is the Karma Empire?”

“It’s across the sea. It takes about a month by boat to get there.”

As I left the leather workshop, I sighed.

I had been filled with anticipation about being able to create proper armor from the ogre leather, but it turned out that I couldn’t make it here.

I didn’t give up hope and went to ask other leather workshops if they could handle ogre leather.

But the answers I received were the same. They all expressed difficulty, stating they couldn’t handle it due to the lack of the necessary agent.

“Isn’t there any agent left in the capital?”

“It’s been over a year since the imports were cut off; I doubt there’s anything left… You’d be better off going to the empire than wasting your time.”

I hesitated at the leatherworker’s words.

But what could I do? This country couldn’t handle ogre leather.

After a long period of contemplation, I ultimately headed to the port.