I gathered the seven of them together and created a dome about five meters in diameter beside my own. I left an entrance just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
“Whoa, that’s amazing.”
“Hey, bro, this isn’t ice magic, right?”
“Never seen anything like it before… and it’s chantless?”
“It’s Wind Magic,” I explained. “I’m using a shortened incantation under my breath. If you place sharpened stakes at the entrance, they should keep wild beasts out.”
“Ah, sorry to trouble you. Here’s some payment.”
He handed me a silver coin, which I gladly accepted. It was early winter—November—and they were drenched to the bone, their lips purple from the cold. Paying for shelter was probably cheaper than returning to town.
“How long will this last?”
“Roughly twenty-four hours before it disappears. Don’t forget that.”
“You’ve saved us. If we went back to town now, the guild or any cheap inn would just glare at us for being soaked.”
“Yeah, you’d better change before you catch cold.”
“Still can’t believe this is wind magic…”
I wasn’t interested in watching half-naked guys strip to dry their clothes, so I sealed the entrance to my own dome and stayed inside.
“Hey, someone’s coming!”
“Looks like adventurers… and townsfolk? Don’t let your guard down.”
“Brother, you know them?”
I turned toward their voices and saw two adventurers approaching, supporting a man who could barely walk.
What’s with all the guests tonight? This isn’t exactly an inn.
They looked between me and the half-naked men wringing out their clothes, then the unsteady man stumbled toward my dome. The rainwater ran down the dome’s surface, so he could see inside, but there was no visible entrance, leaving him confused.
“Do you need something?”
“I serve a noble from the city of Huberry in Roxanne territory. We’re returning to the royal capital, Luclair, and are in a hurry, but one of the carriage wheels is badly damaged. If we push it any farther, it may break. Since you’ve made camp here, I came to ask whether you might let us share your shelter for the night.”
Oh, great. This man belonged to the world of nobles. They must have chosen my “campsite” because the downpour had stranded them.
“I’m just an adventurer, as you can see. I can provide a dome, but that’s all I can offer. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, thank you very much. I’ll inform my master at once.”
The guards who accompanied him didn’t look too friendly. Not that I could blame them. They were on duty, after all.
Before long, their carriage appeared, escorted by mounted adventurers. It crept slowly over the grass, the front wheel wobbling so badly it was obvious they couldn’t go any farther.
“Hey, that guy said ‘his master’. Looks like a pretty big shot.”
“Look at that carriage! Four horses! It’s a noble’s coach for sure.”
“And there’s another wagon with them.”
“With all those guards and adventurers, how many people are there?”
More than the guards themselves, the injured adventurer caught my attention. They had clearly run into trouble on the way.
Before long, the man returned with another adventurer who carried himself like the group’s leader.
“Sorry to trouble you, brother. There are seventeen adventurers, six knights, four passengers in the carriage, and five attendants—thirty-two people in all. How large a shelter can you make?”
“I can make one slightly larger than the neighboring dome. Just tell me where you want it.”
“This… doesn’t look like ice magic.”
“It’s wind magic. It should hold up fine against something like a wolf attack.”
Thirty-two people, plus the horses. No, I wasn’t sheltering the horses too.
I put my robe and hood back on and stepped outside. The rain was still pounding down.
I made two domes for the adventurers and another one for the knights and attendants, positioned opposite each other.
But no one seemed to be getting out of the carriage.
“What about your employer?”
“My employer and the other passengers will remain in the carriage. They can’t lie down comfortably, but they prefer to stay there.”
“Alright. Then please gather the horses together. I’ll make a barrier fence to keep beasts away, though I can’t make a dome for them.”
Once the horses were gathered, I formed a large circular barrier to keep wild animals at bay.
“Impressive work. You don’t seem to be one of their group, though.”
“I was just sightseeing around the capital when this rain hit. I was taking shelter here when they showed up and asked me to make one for them too.”
“The capital, huh? I’m Ethan, leader of Fang, an adventurer party based in the royal capital. I’m in charge of this group. If you come to the guild sometime, let me buy you a drink.”
“Name’s Leon.”
“You’re not going to ask any questions?”
No. From the wounded adventurer, the injured horses, and the damage to the coach, I could already tell that they had been ambushed.
Since they didn’t volunteer an explanation, I merely shrugged. Staying out of it was safest.
Even after I built their domes, some of the guards stood watch in the rain.
As it grew dark, there wasn’t much else to do. I decided to eat an early dinner and get some sleep.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
I woke to an eerie silence. The rain had stopped, and everything was unnaturally still.
With so many people nearby, Detection was of little use, but Presence Sense warned me of someone approaching from a direction the guards weren’t watching.
When I looked toward the neighboring dome, I saw men sitting by a small campfire, the flickering light reflecting off their faces.
While I was still deciding what to do, I felt the presence creeping closer toward the carriage.
Guards were posted near the carriage, so the intruders were obviously after whoever was inside.
Even with my senses enhanced by mana, I could barely see my own feet in the darkness, yet these people moved almost silently. Impressive—but I couldn’t simply ignore them.
Praying they couldn’t see me, I drew a short bow from my magic pouch and nocked an arrow.
Through a small hole I’d opened in my dome, I watched the shadow sneaking toward the carriage.
A break in the clouds let in faint moonlight, revealing the outline of a man.
Killing him outright would be bad, so I aimed for the leg and drew the string tight.
Thwip! The bowstring sang, and the man froze in the middle of his crawl.
Quickly, I nocked a second arrow and loosed it toward another dim shape.
A muffled grunt followed, and another body collapsed.
“Who’s there!?”
“We’re under attack!”
“They’re coming from the grasslands!”
I had only recently begun formal combat training. Joining the melee now would probably get in the guards’ way.
They had been alerted, so my part was done. I could watch from the sidelines.
Under the pale light of lanterns and simple magic lamps, the skirmish ended quickly.
We were beyond the midpoint between Colfutz and Randall, close to Count Arkwright’s territory—the last place I wanted to become involved in trouble.
I decided to play dead—or rather, play possum—and pretend that I had slept through everything.
Apparently, my feigned sleep became real sleep. By the time I woke, daylight was streaming in.
The adventurers from the neighboring dome were gone, probably having returned to town, while the guards looked exhausted after remaining tense all night.
After a light breakfast, I packed up my camping gear into the magic pouch and dispelled the dome.
I asked one of the guards to call Ethan and told him I’d also dispel the barrier surrounding the horses.
“Hey, Leon. Thanks for last night!”
“Not at all. Is it alright if I dissolve the dome now?”
“How long will it hold, anyway?”
“It should last another ten to twelve hours before disappearing.”
“We’ve sent someone to fetch help for the carriage repairs. Mind if we use it till then? It’s safer inside than standing out here exposed.”
Since it didn’t matter to me, I agreed. He told me to wait a bit, then went off toward the carriage.
When he came back, he brought along the man from last night.
“Master Leon, my lord wishes to thank you for your assistance. It’s not much, but please accept this token of gratitude.”
He handed me a small leather pouch, which I accepted gratefully.
After exchanging hopes that we might meet again in the royal capital, I parted ways with Ethan.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Young, but quite the skilled mage, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. Seems to be a solo type, but that ability was something else.”
“Huh… ability?”
“You remember the attack last night? Leon must’ve noticed before any of our guards and fired the first arrows.”
“He’s a good mage, but aren’t you giving him too much credit?”
“Then who else could it have been? None of us fired first. The guys next to his dome were just as panicked, and he was the only one who stayed calm, pretending to sleep, even. Nobody else claimed to have shot an arrow during the chaos.”
“Now that you mention it… yeah. Without those arrows, it would’ve been a clean ambush. I saw the attackers pulling back once the alarm was raised. So, who were they?”
“The employer won’t say a word. Even if we asked, he’d dodge the question. Still, if Leon settles down in the capital, I’d like to recruit him.”
“Same here. He said he was a wind mage, but I’ve never seen wind magic like that before. If he can make those domes, that alone makes for perfect defense.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
What began as simple shelter from the rain had turned into a small demonstration of my Wind Magic.
Fortunately, since none of it was offensive magic, no one seemed overly interested.
I planned to leave immediately. I wanted to reach Werner, beyond Randall, before the end of the day.
After stopping at the Werner Adventurers’ Guild, I ate dinner and asked for directions to a clean inn.
Then I visited an adventurer-supply shop to restock my arrows.
Only one large knife at my waist apparently made me conspicuous. Three shady men had followed me from the guild, pretending to browse nearby weapons.
I bought arrows and supplies, then followed crowded streets to the recommended inn.
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