Once Gladeborah had finished dressing again, she spoke.
“It’s called a magic strap.
It’s a device that allows gemstones to be fixed onto cloth or leather in advance.
The reason we use straps is that, to activate the magic stored in spell-gems, the gem must be in contact with the mage’s skin.
So in principle, they are meant to be held in the hand.
However, with a magic strap, the spell can be activated as long as the strap itself is in contact with the body, even if the gem is not.
That makes it far more practical.
If you keep them in a pocket or a bag, they’re difficult to draw quickly in an emergency.
And if you wear them like this, your opponent cannot tell how many gems you carry, which gives you an advantage in combat.
And as you saw earlier when I showed Ledgetak, it is best to wear magic straps across various parts of the body whenever possible.”
“Is that related to what Sir Ledgetak said earlier—about not trying to assume a mage is out of options.”?”
“As expected.
Yes.
That saying comes from the fact that you can never know how many gems a mage carries, or what spells they contain.
That white killer likely withdrew with that in mind.”
“Then what about the custom regarding protégés?
You mentioned that as well.”
“Anyone whose talent has just been discovered, regardless of which of the three MOW classes they belong to, is called a protégé.
And there is a custom that protégés are not to be harmed—even by hostile MOW.
For example, if Sir Ledgetak and I were sworn enemies and fought, he could kill mr—but he could not kill you.
Among these, the principle protecting a mage’s protégé is the strongest.
If someone were to kill you in your current state—even a dragonlord—they would be as good as dead.
The Magic Society would track down the culprit and punish them without fail.”
“Are the protégés of clerics or warriors treated less strictly?”
“For clerics, it depends on the order.
It varies according to doctrine and which order discovered them.
But even orders that emphasize mercy and forgiveness will punish anyone who harms their protégé.
Even if direct revenge is forbidden, if they promise divine blessing to whoever kills the offender, there will be no shortage of volunteers.”
“What about warrior protégés?”
“Weaker than that—but people say it’s like killing a friend’s child.
They might not hunt you down as if it were their own child, but no warrior would let someone who killed their friend’s son or daughter walk free if they encountered them.
Warriors are the most numerous among the MOW, and they tend to act as one in matters like this.
So in that case too, the culprit is as good as dead.”
“I see.
By the way… that magic strap—is it expensive?”
“You could say that.
There are four types of equipment that make using spell-gems easier.
You’ll learn about them in time.”
“But… couldn’t you wear it somewhere other than your waist?
The way you wear it now makes you look… well…”
“Fat?”
“Y-yes.
I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.
I’m not exactly slim.”
“Can a gem be reused once it’s been used?”
“Impossible.
Once it’s been turned into a “bauble,” it’s damaged from the inside and loses its value as a gemstone.
An alchemist will still buy it as material, but for a pittance.
Still, you sell it—better than getting nothing.
If you want to save money on gems, the best thing is to improve your enchanting skill so you can store multiple spells in a single gem.”
“You can put multiple spells in one gem?”
“Only multiple instances of the same spell.
It’s believed that combining different spells in one gem is impossible.
Or perhaps no one has figured it out yet.”
After that, as Gladeborah continued on, steering her horse while making conversation on various topics, she brought it to a halt.
Rimgaile could immediately see why.
Seven enormous rats were blocking the middle of the road.
They were devouring a centipede that, if fully stretched out, would easily exceed three meters in length.
“I was hoping we’d just repair the milestone and be done with it… but I suppose that was too much to expect.
Seven grasshopper-rats…”
Even in their crouched, feeding posture, the rats measured over a meter in height.
From head to the base of the tail they appeared to exceed two meters, with the tails themselves adding another two meters.
Unlike ordinary rats, the tip of each tail bore a sharp, blade-like structure—making the middle section a whip, but the end essentially a spear.
“Looks like a polypede was chased down by grasshopper-rats and got caught and killed right on the road.
“You don’t have any spell points left—will you be all right?
The milestone still works where we are, so couldn’t we just wait here until they finish eating and leave?”
“I’ve recovered one point.
It’s been over five minutes.
But I need to save it to repair the milestone near them.”
“But using a gem feels like such a waste… even if they’re not mine, each one seems worth more than my parents’ annual income.”
“Annual income, huh?
You really have studied a lot.
Not exactly a phrase kids your age use.
Anyway—I don’t intend to use a gem, and I’m not going to wait either.
And while we’re at it, don’t rely too much on milestones.
Monsters don’t stay out because they can’t enter their range—they stay out because they don’t want to.
Depending on the situation, they can still come in.”
“What kind of situation?”
“It’s not a pleasant analogy, but it’s the simplest way to explain.
Don’t take it literally.”
“Okay… so what is it?”
“To monsters, the influence of a milestone is like… a field covered entirely in filth.
If a place is completely smeared with excrement, most people wouldn’t go near it, let alone step into it.”
“Ugh, that’s awful just to imagine.”
“Exactly.
Sorry.
But even then, if someone really wanted to, they could still go in.
It’s the same for monsters.
They don’t refuse entry within fifty meters—they simply avoid it.
So if you trust milestones too much, you could still end up in danger.”
“So what will you do?”
“I’ll show you how a mage fights without magic.”
Gladeborah dismounted and said to the pixie, “Stay here and protect Rimgaile.
You—come with me.”
She was addressing the harpy.
With her staff in hand, she approached the grasshopper rats, while the harpy hovered above them.
Rimgaile recalled how Gladeborah had leapt onto Rimas’s wagon earlier and imagined her beating the rats down with incredible martial skill.
The result matched her imagination—but the method did not.
Gladeborah drew a wand from her belt and aimed it.
A beam of light shot out, striking a rat and paralyzing it instantly.
She fired again and again—two or three shots per second if she wished.
Within three seconds, all seven rats were immobilized.
Then she walked forward leisurely, raised her staff high, and brought it down onto a rat’s head.
Crack.
The skull caved in.
She repeated the motion until all the rats were dead, then had the harpy carry the bodies off the road.
While the harpy dragged away both the rats and the half-eaten centipede, Gladeborah approached the inactive milestone and repaired it with a spell.
She gestured to Rimgaile, and her horse began moving toward her on its own.
Once everything was cleared, she mounted again.
“I thought you’d fight them with your staff.”
“I’m a mage, not a warrior.
That’s their way.
But at magic academy, you’ll undergo physical training comparable to students in martial academies—especially if you have talent for combat.
In fact, during the first year, a magic student can match a martial student in unarmed combat.”
“Why?
Aren’t they physically stronger?”
“At martial academies, first-years only learn striking techniques—not grappling.
But magic schools teach both.
So while martial students have better physical ability, the gap isn’t huge yet.
A magic student who trains hard in grappling can gain the upper hand—for a while.”
“What are striking and grappling?”
“Striking refers to techniques that use fists or feet to hit an opponent.
Grappling involves joint locks or throwing techniques.
Now you’re wondering why martial academies don’t teach grappling at first, right?”
“Yes”
“Because they focus on martial arts in depth.
Only after mastering striking to a certain level do they teach grappling—and even then, only to those who want it.
That’s because for most monsters, strikes are far more effective than joint techniques.
So in lower years, they build the body and teach striking first.
Grappling comes later and is optional.
In short, grappling is mainly for duels against other MOW—it has limited use. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
magic academy, on the other hand, teach it only to a basic level for self-defense.
You learn a little of everything rather than specializing.
The main reason to learn physical combat is to subdue non-MOW individuals.
It’s rare, but if a drunken hoodlum picks a fight, it’s better to restrain them without magic to avoid trouble.
And for that, grappling is safer—if you injure someone badly with strikes, it becomes a legal issue.
That’s why magic schools teach broadly but shallowly.
Just enough to handle ordinary people.
There’s no reason to compete with warrior-types in combat.”
“I see.”
“Now that the road is clear and we’re close to Tofsloin, we’ll inform the village when we arrive and ask them to collect the rat and centipede corpses.
They’ll be worth money, so they’ll appreciate it.
After that, we should head home.”
<<Interlude: goddess Rena>>
Imperial Year 1215, September 9
About ten minutes after Gladeborah and Rimgaile had departed, and Ledgetak had left with Rimas—once no one remained to witness what would follow—a figure appeared, as abruptly as a light flaring to life.
To any onlooker, she would have seemed a woman of breathtaking, almost divine beauty.
In truth, she was a goddess.
She glanced around and spoke.
“I came in answer to a most fervent prayer, and yet it seems all has already come to an end.”
As she said this, black smoke curled up from the place where her gaze had fallen, and a voice rose from within the darkness.
“So even a goddess newly counted among the High gods is still a god, after all.”
“I may be but a novice, only lately come into godhood,” she replied.
“You, Lord Neun, are one of the Seven Divine Generals, born a god from the very beginning by the will of the Prime Creator Gods.
What moves you to take an interest here?”
“I am interested, but I scheme nothing.
I merely watch.
A cannibalistic creature going about such killings is… unusual.”
“Then may I answer the prayers of those who cried out my name?”
“No.”
“You say you have no plans, yet you interfere?”
“Not quite.”
“Then what do you mean, my lord?”
“Let us put it thus.
You wish to answer the prayer Rimas’s father offered in his heart as he spoke with his son in the moments before his death.
Is that not so?”
“It is as you say.
“And you understand that the boy Rimas is not fated to lead the course of this age’s history, do you not?”
“I may not know the designs of the gods above me, but that much I do understand.”
“Then let us do this.
How many times did his father call your name?”
“He spoke my name, Rena, four times.
And he cried out simply as ‘goddess’ twice more, without naming me—six in all.”
“Hmph.
Trying to be clever.
And here I thought you were a goddess?”
“You meant to grant me that many chances to intervene in his life, did you not, my lord?”
“Of course.
We both know it.
Very well—after his father died, how many times did Rimas call upon you, murmuring in a voice no one else could hear?”
“Eight times, counting the prayers he offered in silence.
And twenty-four times more without using my name.”
“Heh.
How greedy.
Still… I will indulge you.
You may intervene in Rimas’s life thirty-eight times: twelve direct interventions, for when your name was clearly spoken, and twenty-six indirect ones.”
“Thank you for your generosity.”
“For me, it merely makes things more entertaining.
With you and your Chosen One stepping into the life of that White-Clad, matters grow far more interesting.
I look forward to our next meeting.”
With that, Neun—one of the Seven Divine Generals who guard the world—vanished.
The goddess Rena also disappeared; yet as she faded, she murmured words Neun could no longer hear.
“So turning Gladeborah back does not count, then.
A small gain from the very start, perhaps.
Still… had I known beforehand, I might have adjusted the time of departure from the village.
Was the viscount’s appearance Neun’s doing—or another’s?
How troublesome…”