By Zephyria 
Several days passed.
We had captured over forty Minotaurs and even more Trolls while wandering near the canyon for ten days. Despite traveling a considerable distance, we couldn’t find the contaminated medium, so we couldn’t help but let our guard down.
It was right after we had just cut down five Trolls and, too lazy to even start a fire, rolled them down into the canyon. Hugh Benson, walking with his long, thin arms stretched above his head like willow branches, swaying back and forth, grumbled.
“Has the Black magician already clocked out? They must have run out of materials.”
“I told you, no.”
“No, what do you mean no? Come to think of it, the places you said were tainted weren’t even that far. Does it really take this long? You’ve only covered half the distance in three years? Even if Elvin and I walked in a three-legged race, we could cover the canyon from end to end in four months.”
“There’s a limit to how much Contaminated Mana can be drawn into one location. Well, they might have come and gone a few times…”
“So, you’re saying it could be in the east?”
“Shh!”
“…Shh, what? Ah, seriously.”
It was natural to be bored, wandering around empty land searching for traces of Black Magic that didn’t exist when we should have been resting after hunting monster hordes. Only Marianne could read the traces of Black Magic, so everyone else just followed Marianne’s footsteps, walking back and forth.
Marianne, who had been nagging Hugh Benson, suddenly lifted her head with an “Ah!”
“Ah, this time it’s real. I think it’s real this time.”
“What will you do if you’re wrong again?”
“Shall I take over dinner duty tonight?”
“…No. You’ll just boil salty stew again.”
“Ah, but it’s delicious when it’s a little salty!”
“I said no!”
We followed the others walking ahead as if on a leisurely stroll, bickering.
However, today was truly different from usual. As we walked a little further following Marianne’s lead, the air grew slightly heavy. My eyes snapped open.
As if sensing the same thing, the surroundings instantly fell silent. The tense party exchanged glances, and Hugh Benson took out an Artifact whose edges were already worn.
Click.
“…46 mp.”
The clear blue sky and the sweet scent of Mana fueled my unease.
Marianne pointed the direction with her fingertip. Hugh Benson walked ahead in that direction.
Lately, our party always moved in a similar formation. Hugh Benson stood at the very front, with Marianne and Benjamin behind him. Ruben and I followed, and Elvin trailed behind, guarding the rear. This was to detect danger first and evacuate safely.
Hugh Benson raised one hand to shoulder height. I felt a tingling sensation brush against my nose. We all stopped walking.
On the ground surface, which I glimpsed over his shoulder, there was a black stain. One corner of the unnatural circle, as if a piece of shadow had been dropped, was even dented as if scraped by a stone.
It was a hole no bigger than my palm. If I hadn’t looked closely, I would have passed by without noticing. Seeing it, Marianne whispered,
“We won’t have to dig today.”
“…Is there a reason you’re speaking in such a small voice?”
“No, just the atmosphere.”
Hearing that, Hugh Benson relaxed his shoulders and chuckled.
“Hey, so what are you going to do now?”
“Just a moment. If it’s this small, it seems like we can do something.”
“Do what?”
“I want to see if it can be dispelled. We can’t just wait until it explodes again.”
“Does a dispelling magic work on an incomplete spell?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried.”
What do I know about magic? I just stepped back as I was told.
Marianne gauged the distance for a while, then stood at a suitable distance, gripping her staff with both hands and holding it in front of her.
Among the magic words she chanted with her eyes wide open, many were familiar. I-Covilla for peace and tranquility, Judia Pan-Gem for memory and repetition, reversing the established Formula…
A purplish-pink spell formula drew a circle over the black spot, covering it layer by layer. It was the first time Marianne had displayed such a meticulously crafted spell. Most offensive spells were fired like projectiles as soon as their formulas were drawn. It was fascinating to see the formulas descend like falling snow.
The geometric formulas, which had been settling down softly, stirred with a papap tearing sound.
Marianne’s usually calm brow furrowed, and the speed of her chanting increased. Everyone held their breath as the circular part of the Black Magic at the center of the formulas began to distort as if burning.
A kwajik crunching sound was heard.
“…Hah.”
Marianne lowered her staff irritably. The well-crafted spell was being nibbled away by the black stain from the edges. My heart chilled at the dark hole that devoured the magic circle with a wasak-wasak sound, like a worm eating leaves.
“What is that?”
“Ah… It seems a lot of resentment was put into the medium. Since the explosion formula isn’t complete, it’s preventing me from intervening.”
“Then what? Should we wait from a distance until that one explodes too?”
“We found it this quickly? It’s such a shame!”
Marianne’s head turned towards me. Sweat beaded on her smooth forehead from the effort. She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled sheepishly. Why was she smiling so suspiciously? I blinked in confusion.
“Michael. Lend me some of your internal energy.”
“…Huh?”
“You’ve done a lot of purifying Contaminated Mana. Since internal energy is similar to Divine Power, using that…”
“No.”
Before Marianne could finish, Rubel stepped in to stop her. I looked back in surprise, and the child urgently grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. His expression was so earnest and pleading that my heart sank, and I was speechless.
“No, Mika. Say you can’t do it.”
“…No, but…”
“You saw what just exploded. Even Marianne’s Magic Formula, which she learned about Black Magic, was torn to shreds and absorbed like that. And you’re going to take that into your body? Even if it looks this small, we don’t know how big the part buried underground is.”
“…Ruben.”
“This isn’t about protecting me. There’s no need for you to do something dangerous.”
“…”
“Especially, not in front of my eyes.”
I was too flustered to say anything.
Is that so? No, but Marianne wouldn’t ask me to do something so dangerous. …She must have thought I could handle it. Even if not this time, I had absorbed contaminated mana into my body dozens of times before.
Also, since I could sense a pleasant energy from that contaminated mana, I felt greedy, thinking I might even be able to increase my internal energy. With that thought, I gently stroked Ruben’s hand and acted kindly.
“What are you so worried about? It won’t be a big deal.”
“Still, I don’t like it. I already left you behind once. Knowing you were in danger, I… I couldn’t do anything…”
When? I was momentarily puzzled, but then I remembered when the child pressed his lips together with a sorrowful look.
He was talking about going into the Chilopoda-Worm’s cave that I had offered for him during the Hunting Festival. Had he been holding onto something that happened so long ago? I let out a wry laugh at the poor, cute child.
“Ruben.”
“…I don’t want to…”
A white hand suddenly intervened in front of the child’s tearful face. Marianne waved her small hand, blocking us from looking at each other.
“Excuse me. I know this is awkward and sorry to interrupt your passionate love, but…”
“…”
“Instead of detoxifying with Breathing and regulating energy… um, Mikael, you use the Finger Projectile Skill too, right? The one you taught me. Clumping up internal energy like this and shooting it out.”
“…”
“I’ll deploy a shield here, so can you just shoot it once?”
…
As if the sun were setting, Rubel’s face flushed.
His face, starting from his cheeks, turned a deep crimson, covering his high nose, straight forehead, sharp jaw, round ears, and long neck without exception. Seeing the child speechless and stiff, I bit my lip.
I must not laugh now.
I knew it instinctively. If anyone were to laugh, it absolutely couldn’t be me right now.
While Rubel’s shoulders trembled slightly, Hugh Benson’s laughter, sobbing with his face buried in Elvin’s back, could be heard hiccuping from behind. Benjamin, who kept coughing, had never caught a cold in his life. I felt Elvin turn around, carrying Hugh Benson on his back, without even seeing him.
Marianne opened her mouth again. Her voice trembled like a goat’s.
“Kuhup, um. Ahem. To see if it’s effective or not, khuhup, um. Then, what to do next… I’ll think about it. Senior Rubel, you’ll lend Mikael to me, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Thank you so much. I won’t forget Senior Rubel’s sacrifice. I didn’t realize you would be so distressed… khuhup.”
“…”
Ruben gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He trembled with them.
No matter how embarrassed or resentful he was, he couldn’t run far given the location, and he looked utterly pathetic. I reached out and pulled Ruben’s shoulder into an embrace. Ruben leaned into me obediently. He was warm, as if he had a fever.
What should I do with this cute and pitiful child? I gently stroked his broad back and comforted him.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“…Mm.”
I wanted to hold Ruben until he felt a little less embarrassed, but Ruben pushed me away and turned his head sideways. I couldn’t hold on any longer, so I let go obediently.
My chest kept tickling, and I found myself stopping even when trying to draw up internal energy, let alone the Finger Projectile Skill.
It was an uncharacteristic mistake for me, who used internal energy as naturally as breathing. But what could I do? Was this the only time I’d be unable to focus properly because I found Rubel so endearing? It was I who needed to get used to it.
I suppressed the laughter that kept bursting forth.