The days of Leo hunting goblins in the Great Forest and Dex devoting himself to studying magic continued.
Working alone and bringing back two sacks filled to the brim with goblin ears once every three days, Leo earned the nickname Goblin Slayer.
Meanwhile, Dex absorbed Louise's teachings at a terrifying pace.
"I'm sorry. Anything beyond this is too much for me."
Around the twentieth day since they had begun staying at the inn.
Louise spoke on the verge of tears.
She had taught him all the magic she knew.
As a mage, she was merely at the 2nd Circle, a novice level, yet even that was a place she had reached through several years of effort.
And yet Dex had caught up to that in less than a month.
Now, Louise's distress only grew every time she faced Dex.
"Thank you for everything up until now."
Understanding the heart of an ordinary person looking at someone talented, Leo did not ask any more of her either.
"Thank you. You were a good teacher."
Having surpassed his teacher all too quickly, Dex also comforted Louise.
"A teacher... When I am so lacking."
"You are, though. You're the one who taught me my first steps. I'll study hard with this book."
It was a heartwarming conversation between the two who had formed a bond as teacher and student for a short period.
Leo chimed in.
"By the way, can I ask one thing? Did the two of you only study magic? Didn't you do any other studying?"
"Pardon? What do you mean by other studying...."
"Well, when a man and a woman are in the same space, they want to do other kinds of studying too, you know how it is. You must've had the chance to teach that bastard another kind of first time, too."
"...We did not!"
"You crazy bastard!"
Their faces flushed bright red, Louise and Dex shouted at the top of their lungs at the same time.
If you didn't, you didn't—why make such a fuss shouting like that?
***
Leo and Dex returned to Ronmar once again.
Unlike when they had left the village briefly to earn some money, they now had to prepare for admission into the Imperial Academy.
Dex's parents, who had asked what kind of nonsense he was suddenly spouting about the Imperial Academy, gaped with their jaws dropped and nodded once he demonstrated some simple magic.
They had lived their whole lives as farmers in a small village. When their son had found a talent for magic and said he wanted to become a bigger person, there was no reason to stand in his way.
It was the same for Leo.
"I'm thinking of going to the Imperial Academy...."
"Go ahead."
His mother, Frill, agreed right away, to the point where his worrying over how to persuade her felt foolish.
"Huh? Really?"
"I don't intend to tie you down to this village. Do whatever you want to your heart's content. Just make sure you always take care of yourself."
"...Thanks, Mom."
"Wait a moment."
Frill took out a small box.
It was a box containing her few pieces of jewelry.
Having a past record of robbing that box before his regression, Leo shifted his eyes around in needless embarrassment.
"I'm really fine on money. I have plenty for travel expenses."
"Then take this with you, at least."
A pendant attached to a thin necklace chain.
It was the very one Leo had worn around his neck until his final moment before his regression.
"It's a keepsake of the former Baron."
"Ah...."
The former Baron referred to his mother's grandfather's grandfather, who was said to have possessed special eyes.
Leo put the pendant around his neck right then and there.
'Was it always this color?'
The color of the pendant felt much more faded than he remembered.
"What kind of person was he?"
"Do you mean the Baron?"
"Yeah, since I don't think I've ever heard the detailed story."
"Alright, I'll tell you everything. But keep this in mind. What I'm about to tell you is something you must keep to yourself."
Leo nodded with a serious face.
Until now, his mother had avoided telling the detailed story.
She had undoubtedly been afraid that bringing up the story of a ruined family might inadvertently put her young son in danger.
"They said the former Baron was a man of mysterious appearance. He had pitch-black hair and eyes."
"Black hair, huh.... It definitely isn't common, but is it enough to call mysterious?"
"There are plenty of people with black hair on the continent, of course. However, they say both his features and the aura he gave off were a little different."
"Hmm...."
"His name was Maynard Weisman. He was the first person to use the surname Weisman. They say he ruled a territory somewhere in the current Empire. He became a lord at a young age and took a commoner from his territory as his wife."
At that part, Leo was a little surprised. For a noble who owned a territory to take a commoner as his wife.
Generally, to a noble, marriage was nothing more than a powerful means to protect their family and further its growth.
"Why, are you surprised?"
"He definitely gives the impression of being a rather eccentric person. But how did someone like that suddenly...."
"He was swept up in a political struggle. He was framed for treason."
"Treason...!"
"It seems there were many who sought to keep the Baron in check. While every bloodline of the family was captured and taken in, only the youngest son survived. That person was Mom's great-great-grandfather. That's all Mom knows."
In terms of history, it was a mere 120 years ago.
Even so, he felt no particular emotion about it.
Above all, hadn't the kingdom that annihilated the Weisman family back then—the very target for revenge—already vanished from history?
"The former Baron—so you said he would be my maternal great-great-great-grandfather, right?"
"Yes, and unfortunately, that pendant is all that remains related to him."
"Yeah, thanks."
"Leo, come here."
Frill tightly hugged her son, who had grown so tall before she knew it.
Even though he was this reliable, worrying about him was unavoidable.
Leo also wrapped his arms around his mother's shoulders in return.
"Take care of yourself."
"You too, Mother."
"Me too! Me too!"
Lily squeezed in between the two of them.
The three of them held each other and shared their warmth for a while.
***
Stopping by Shur, they first finished their full-scale preparations for the journey.
They had 150 silvers for travel expenses.
The money he had earned previously was about double that, but they had split the rest in half and contributed it to each of their homes.
"Let's pack some jerky too. And bandages and hemostatics here."
Leo was already equipped with basic armaments from hunting goblins.
Even though it was a journey to take an exam, there was no telling what might happen along the way. Since basic armament for one's own safety was only natural, he bought leather armor for Dex to wear as well.
"Hey, get yourself a staff here."
He also picked out a staff embedded with a basic Magic Stone.
"Oho... How is it, do I look a bit like a mage?"
Having activated his magic power through the staff, Dex let out an exclamation of admiration.
Although it was a low-grade Magic Stone, it had a slight effect in allowing him to use his existing flow of magic power without leakage.
"Hey."
"What?"
"...Do you really know how to use Aura?"
Dex asked cautiously.
When fighting the wanted criminals, Leo's blade had definitely shone blue.
He had been out of his mind back then and too busy learning magic afterward, yet he had been curious the entire time.
No matter how much of a rural backwater he lived in, he at least knew that not just anyone could use Aura. Wasn't that why that wanted criminal bastard had trembled and surrendered?
"Yeah, it just happened somehow."
"Wait, since when?"
"Since I beat the crap out of that bastard Oz?"
"...Come to think of it, I did think it was a bit strange back then too. Is that why you said you'd enroll in the Imperial Academy?"
"Yeah, turns out I seem to be a bit of a genius."
"Then why did you tell me to learn magic?"
"Because you looked like you'd learn it well?"
"Hmm...."
Forcing a smile as he answered, Leo broke into a cold sweat.
It was a ridiculous, half-baked answer, but there was no other way to explain it otherwise.
Fortunately, Dex didn't press him any further either.
They stopped by the guild.
They tried to find an escort mission heading from Shur toward the capital, Mephram, but the schedules didn't line up at all.
From Shur to Mephram was roughly two weeks by carriage.
Since there were several villages in between and there would be more freight wagons traveling to and from the capital the further they went, they decided to set out on foot for now.
After all, there was still a whole month left until the entrance exam.
"Hey, hold still for a second."
Dex, who had been fiddling with his staff and grinning the entire walk, stopped Leo right in the middle of a quiet road.
The eyes looking at him were full of mischief.
"What is it?"
"Grease."
WHAM—!
The ground beneath his feet suddenly turned slippery, and Leo's vision spun in a flash.
The back of his head throbbed. The smell of dry dirt wafted sharply into his nose.
When he came to his senses, he was lying sprawled out flat on the road.
"Ow, my head! This bastard is using magic on me?"
"Kyahahaha! I'll repay your kindness with vengeance!"
Bouncing away as he fled, Dex rapid-fired the spell.
"Grease, Grease, Grease!"
"Yeah, all I have to do is dodge. You're dead when I catch you."
Leo activated his Aura Eye.
He could see the flow of magic power concentrating in the staff before shooting toward the ground beneath his feet.
Since he could see it in plain sight, failing to time it and dodge was actually harder.
"Huh...?"
"'Huh,' my ass!"
Grabbed by the scruff of his neck in an instant, Dex spun a full circle through the air and crashed down.
It was a clean shoulder throw.
"For a mage, it's all over once you let someone close the distance like this. Got that?"
"Wow, what on earth are you looking at to dodge that?"
Lying sprawled out flat on the road, Dex shook his head from side to side.
It seemed he would have to be satisfied with knocking Leo down once.
"As if I'd get hit by something that dead slow. Even my grandma could probably dodge it."
"Aw, shit...."
Ah.
Grabbing Dex's hand and pulling him up, Leo came up with a good idea.
"Do you know any offensive magic?"
"Just Fire Arrow. I had a hard time learning that."
He had asked just in case, and Dex said he could use a 2nd Circle offensive spell.
Right up until they parted ways with Louise, he had definitely only been capable of basic elemental magic.
'Is it normal to learn this fast?'
Leo struggled to keep a straight face.
"Try shooting that at me."
"Hey, it's dangerous. I'm still practicing it too."
"It's fine, so just try it."
Dex made an incredulous face before letting out a deep sigh.
Leo must be telling him to try it because he had something up his sleeve.
His control over speed and direction wasn't perfect yet, but he intended to send one flying slowly.
In the meantime, Leo put roughly thirty paces of distance between them.
He intended to test out dismantling magic with his Aura Eye.
Because since his regression, he still hadn't practiced that yet.
"Here it comes, Fire Arrow."
A single arrow of flame rose above Dex's staff and shot straight forward.
'Good. I see it.'
It couldn't end with simply seeing it.
He had to find the connecting link. And reacting to it, he had to swing his sword with precision to sever the link and shatter the spell.
He had to pull that off in a split second.
SLASH—!
Leo's sword drew a line toward the slowly flying flame arrow.
The flames quietly died out as if evaporating.
"Huh?"
At a sight he had never seen in his life, Dex froze right in his stance with his staff raised.
Was magic originally something so easily dismantled like that? Louise hadn't told him anything like that, though? Aren't mages way weaker than I thought?
His competitive spirit flared up.
"One more time."
"...Faster than before, coming in a row."
"Sounds good."
BANG— BANG— BAAANG—!
All three flame arrows fired in succession vanished before Leo's sword.
"Ah, what the hell! I'm not doing this. I quit."
Dex waved his staff in the air and threw a fit of annoyance.
He had felt like he had become someone amazing, but it seemed to have been an illusion after all.
Didn't they say being a mage was super amazing? No matter how much the 2nd Circle was a novice level, if it got blocked by a neighborhood friend wielding a sword, wasn't there a problem?
'Louise must've just been encouraging me to work harder.'
Dex had no choice but to genuinely think that way.
If Louise herself had heard him, she would have beaten her chest and lamented in grief.
***
After walking for about half a day, the forest ended and a wasteland appeared.
A place commonly called the Wilderness.
They had to cross it for about two days on foot before the next village would appear.
While crossing the deserted wasteland, Leo and Dex continued sparring several times.
Dex utilized every spell he could use.
Once, he succeeded in casting Light right in front of Leo's eyes to rob him of his vision and knocking him down with Grease, but the next time, however Leo read the pattern, he closed his eyes like a ghost and dodged out of the way.
"Hey, stop. I'm completely out of tricks."
"Mages aren't anything special, huh."
One person staring up at the sky marked the end of the match.
Early on, Dex had managed to snag two or three victories, but after losing ten matches in a row, he finally gave up on competing any further.
"Wait, didn't they say it's an age-old question who wins when a warrior and a mage fight? That's not true at all? The mage would get completely pushed around?"
"Don't pin your own lack of skill on all mages, hehehe."
"Argh, this pisses me off."
Watching Dex fume with frustration, Leo smiled quietly.
'This bastard was the real genius.'
Rather, he was amazed by Dex's rate of growth.
In a mere half a day, the activation speed and precision of his magic had changed.
Seeing the flow of magic power directly with his eyes, he could tell even more clearly.
As Dex was right now, most novice adventurer parties would be fighting over each other to recruit him.
"Were mages always this weak? The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off!"
Of course, he had no intention of telling him the truth easily.
Hehehe.