“Shield.”
It was a defensive spell that used the power of mana itself to block an enemy’s attacks.
Saul formed a hemispherical barrier that covered his entire body so that even a stray arrow or thrown spear would pose no threat.
The spear that arrived a moment later failed to penetrate Saul’s barrier and fell to the ground.
Saul immediately followed with another spell.
Mana Ball, a spell that condensed mana into a sphere and launched it at the enemy.
It was such a simple, basic spell that Saul could cast it with nothing more than a gesture, without even reciting an incantation or activation word. Against a weak goblin, however, it was more than sufficient.
The blue sphere of mana shot toward the goblin at high speed.
The goblin tried to dodge, but Saul’s magic was faster.
The Mana Ball pierced straight through the body of the goblin that had been about to throw its spear at Saul.
At the same moment, an activation word left Saul’s lips.
“Fireball!”
The gemstone on the hilt of the Magic Sword he held upside down began to glow, and a ball of fire the size of a human head formed above it.
Saul swung his Magic Sword, sending the fireball hurtling toward a cluster of goblins.
BOOM!
The fireball struck one goblin directly and exploded.
The blast and scorching heat sent not only the goblin that had taken the direct hit, but several others nearby to their deaths as well.
“Your Highness!”
Aina, who had been keeping an eye on Saul even while fighting, shouted urgently.
Several goblins appeared to have realized that Saul was the leader and were rushing toward him.
Kastel was standing behind Saul, but Aina instinctively threw herself in his direction.
If Saul were injured, even by the slightest chance, the responsibility would fall entirely upon House Hopkins.
She absolutely could not allow her house to suffer because of the unreasonable demands of a prince who had come without even being invited.
Fortunately, there was no need for Aina to worry.
“Water Spear.”
Saul swung his Magic Sword as he spoke the activation word.
Several spearheads of ice formed along the path traced by the inverted sword.
The crude but razor-sharp ice spears flew in different directions.
The goblins never even reached Saul, much less touched the barrier surrounding him, before the ice spears struck them down.
‘Impressive.’
Just as Saul had been impressed by Aina, Aina now found herself impressed by Saul.
She had dismissed Prince Saul as an inexperienced novice, never imagining that he would be capable of this much.
Then Aina’s eyes met Saul’s.
At that exact moment, Saul cast a spell in her direction.
A beat later, Aina noticed the danger approaching her as well.
A goblin had secretly tried to attack her from behind.
“SQUEAL!”
The goblin collapsed with a death cry after Saul’s Mana Ball struck it.
Coming back to her senses, Aina resumed hunting the goblins while remaining vigilant of her surroundings.
In practice, Saul and Aina handled almost all of the goblins themselves.
Saul eliminated them with various spells before they could even approach him, while Aina cut down every goblin that came within reach of her shield and axe.
WHEEE!
Nearly ten goblins had died in only a short time when a whistle rang out from among the survivors.
Saul had a rough idea of what that whistle meant.
They were preparing the ‘big ones.’
His guess was correct.
“Grrrr....”
The Hogs confined inside crude cages were released.
There were three of them, glaring at Saul and Aina with bloodshot eyes as though they wanted to tear them apart and devour them.
Like goblins, Hogs were not considered particularly powerful among monsters.
But they were still threatening creatures that an ordinary person would not dare confront even with a spear or sword in hand.
They said a lion used all its strength even when hunting a rabbit.
Saul did not lower his guard and focused even more sharply.
Three Hogs.
And a little over ten goblins still alive.
If possible, Saul and Aina needed to handle all of them by themselves.
After thinking quickly, Saul gave Aina an order.
“I’ll handle the three Hogs. You take care of the rest.”
“Your Highness, that is dangerous.”
“It’s fine. If I truly end up in danger, Teacher will intervene.”
“Ah....”
Had Saul and Aina been alone, Aina would have taken the dangerous role herself even if she had to force the issue.
It would be a hundred times preferable for her to be injured than for a prince to suffer harm.
But behind Saul stood the ‘Black Witch,’ Kastel.
There was no possibility of the prince coming to serious harm while Kastel was watching.
“Yes, Your Highness. Then....”
Reassured, Aina left the Hogs to Saul and focused on the remaining enemies.
The encirclement had already been completed, so even if Saul and Aina failed to eliminate them personally, the monsters would not be able to escape.
Still, it would be more efficient to finish everything here.
While Aina swung her axe against the goblins, Saul confronted the three Hogs.
First, he struck each of them with a weak spell to draw their attention.
“Grrrr....”
The Hogs growled low in their throats as they glared at Saul with bloodshot eyes.
Judging from their gazes, they did not appear to be in a normal state.
Goblins sometimes used drugs when taming Hogs.
The creatures before him were probably drugged as well.
A drugged Hog was more difficult to deal with than an ordinary one.
Saul first decided which spell to use.
“Earthquake.”
A spell that created an artificial earthquake through magic.
According to historical records, an Archmage had once destroyed an entire city with an artificially created earthquake.
Saul possessed nothing remotely approaching that level of power, but what he could do was more than enough to tip this battle in his favor.
CRACK—
The ground around the Hogs buckled violently beneath the tremors created by the spell.
Their feet sank into the ruined terrain, causing some to stumble and others to fall outright.
Having immobilized the Hogs, Saul launched another spell at the closest one.
“Fireball.”
Once again, Fireball did not disappoint him.
The enormous ball of flame struck the trapped Hog directly and roasted it where it stood.
Now only two remained.
In the meantime, the remaining Hogs recovered their footing on the ruined ground and glared at Saul.
They looked ready to charge at any moment.
Saul quickly organized his thoughts.
For a mage, this was one of the most dangerous moments in combat.
The moment after casting a spell, when a slight opening remained and an enemy launched its attack.
If his opponents were human, Saul could perhaps respond with his sword.
But with his current swordsmanship, confronting massive monsters like these in close combat would be difficult.
It would be better to cover the opening with another spell.
“Blizzard!”
The spell Saul had prepared alongside Fireball activated.
Two streams of white energy burst from the gemstone of his Magic Sword and engulfed the two Hogs charging toward him.
“SKREEE!”
The Hogs screamed.
The freezing, violent snowstorm conjured by magic had frozen their faces.
The hellish cold encased their faces entirely in ice and even robbed them of sensation.
As though they had forgotten Saul was standing before them, the two Hogs began rampaging wildly.
Monsters driven into a frenzy like this could actually become even more dangerous, but fortunately, no one else was near them.
For now, Saul decided to stop the two monsters from rampaging.
“Lightning Bolt.”
Lightning Bolt, an electrical spell belonging to the wind element.
It electrocuted enemies with lightning created through magic.
The Hogs, their faces frozen as they thrashed about, immediately reacted when the lightning struck them.
“SQUEAL!”
Even as they screamed in pain, their bodies trembled violently and their movements slowed considerably.
The electricity had paralyzed them.
The spell had not killed them, but this was more than sufficient.
With even the two Hogs’ rampage brought under control, only the final step remained.
Saul had already seized victory, but one could never afford to become careless when fighting monsters.
He had to finish perfectly.
Saul calmly cast another spell.
“Air Blade.”
A blade of wind formed from condensed mana swept toward the Hogs.
It was not a particularly spectacular spell, but it was extremely effective at cutting through large, sturdy opponents.
The throats of the barely moving Hogs were deeply slashed.
Their bodies were too large and tough for the attack to completely sever their heads, but cutting through more than half of their necks was enough.
“…….”
One Hog died first without even managing a proper scream.
The other did not last much longer before collapsing as well.
“Whew.”
After eliminating all three Hogs, Saul breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.
Just then, he saw Aina fighting the final remaining goblin.
“SKRAA!”
In one last desperate act, the goblin attempted to throw a spear.
Aina responded by hurling her axe.
The axe left Aina’s hand and buried itself in the goblin’s head before the spear could even leave its grasp.
“…….”
The last goblin collapsed without so much as a scream.
Aina extended her hand.
The axe she had thrown moved on its own and flew back into her grasp.
It looked like magic.
No—it was magic.
Saul had already suspected that Aina could manipulate mana, and apparently this was one of the ways she used it.
“Well done.”
When Saul offered his praise first, Aina bowed her head.
“You worked hard as well, Your Highness. Your ability was truly impressive.”
“Yours was impressive too.”
As the two exchanged compliments, Kastel approached.
“Well done.”
“…….”
Saul would have been willing to wager money on one thing.
Kastel did not mean those words as praise.
“R-Right. I’m a little tired, so I’ll head back first.”
“Yes, Your Highness. We will handle the rest here.”
Saul left the cleanup to Aina and returned to the tent.
Kastel followed him inside and spoke almost the moment Saul sat down.
“I will give Your Highness an opportunity.”
“An opportunity...?”
“Yes. An opportunity to identify for yourself what was lacking in your first real battle.”
Saul had not expected warm praise, but neither had he expected this.
Had he not done extremely well for his first real battle?
He had made no obvious mistakes, and not only had there been no deaths among their allies, there had not even been any serious injuries.
Objectively speaking, it had been a successful subjugation and an excellent performance for his first battle.
Apparently, Kastel did not see it that way.
Saul had no choice but to identify his own shortcomings.
If he claimed not to know, his subsequent training would only become more brutal.
“So... I think there were some problems with the accuracy and efficiency of my spells.”
Fortunately, that was the correct answer.
Kastel gave a small nod.
“If I had been Your Highness, I would have ended the battle much faster.”
“Your ability is vastly superior to mine, Teacher....”
“This is not a matter of ability. Even after accounting for Your Highness’s capabilities, mana, and skill, you made several mistakes. When you cast Earthquake, you poured in far too much mana. Conversely, when you cast Lightning Bolt, you conserved more mana than necessary. If you had merely restrained the Hogs’ movement with Earthquake and then committed more power when weakening them with lightning, the battle would have proceeded more easily. You did not fail, but there were many areas that were insufficient.”
“...So?”
“When we return, I will conduct lessons designed to correct Your Highness’s deficiencies.”
Suppressing the sigh that threatened to escape him, Saul asked another question.
“What did you think of the lord’s daughter?”
“Like Your Highness, she had many shortcomings.”
“From your perspective, Teacher, everyone in the world probably looks that way. Wasn’t there anything worth praising?”
“Considering her age and experience, her skill was respectable.”
“That’s what I thought. At around my age, reaching that level should be quite impressive.”
Kastel considered Saul’s words for a moment before answering.
“She certainly appeared to possess considerable ability as a warrior. Her skill itself was noteworthy, but I was particularly impressed by how calmly she moved.”
“I agree.”
“Your Highness was also remarkably calm for your first real battle. That deserves praise.”
It would have been much nicer if she had started with that.
Saul gave a wry smile inwardly while pretending not to think anything of it.
“Maybe it was because the monsters were weak, but I wasn’t particularly afraid. Besides, you were beside me, Teacher.”
“No. Your Highness’s composure was remarkable. This was certainly your first real battle, and yet you behaved almost as though you had experienced real combat before....”
“…….”
Could being too competent in his first battle have been the real mistake?
Had that slip caused Kastel to become suspicious of him?