To solve the incident of mana disappearing from the entire village, Ethan and I headed to the opposite side of the mountain.

…Including a somewhat noisy companion who wasn’t originally part of the investigation plan.

 

“I don’t think you needed to come along, Ms. Salamander.”

{No way! I feel like if I don’t follow, you’ll just run away!}

“……”

 

It seemed I had lost my credibility due to our conversation at the blacksmith’s shop earlier.

Fortunately, Ethan couldn’t understand what the salamander was saying, so it didn’t matter much.

 

“You seem to get along well with the elemental, Lilith.”

“Pardon?”

{Not at all!}

“Seeing how it’s been sticking with you since we met at the workshop, that fire spirit must like you, right?”

“No, not particularly…”

{That’s not it~!}

 

Judging by how casually he spoke, it was clear that Ethan couldn’t understand the salamander’s words.

Moreover, he couldn’t even see its form as a girl surrounded by flames like I could; to him, it probably just looked like a ball of fire. Most likely, he couldn’t read its emotions from expressions or actions either.

If anything, it was fortunate that I didn’t need to explain the salamander’s anger to Ethan bit by bit.

There was no need to be overly cautious since we probably wouldn’t see each other again after today anyway.

…And in the end, it was fortunate that we brought her along up the mountain. The salamander, who had lived in this area for a long time, was more capable than I was at finding the mountain path we were visiting for the first time.

 

“Are we still far, Ms. Salamander?”

{Just follow quietly! I’m following the path where mana is flowing!}

“I don’t feel much mana around here yet.”

{Hmph, of course, you don’t. You dull humans can’t detect such faint mana flow as sensitively as we can.}

 

Her way of speaking was rather irritating, but her small girl-like appearance made it somewhat tolerable.

It’s fortunate that the elementals in this world are cute. If they weren’t cute, they probably would have gone extinct long ago.  [Read this novel only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

With such thoughts, after about 30 minutes of hiking the mountain path with the salamander, even I started to feel a strong mana presence.

The salamander, seemingly excited about finding the strengthening source of the problem, began to fly rapidly toward the direction where the mana was getting stronger.

 

{It’s this way! This way!}

“W-wait! Don’t go ahead!”

 

The salamander flew away, easily overcoming the complex terrain of the mountainous area, leaving Ethan and me stranded on the mountain path.

If we continued like this, we would inevitably lose sight of her, so we hurriedly moved our feet to follow the flying fire spirit.

 

“Young Master Ethan, this way!”

“Ah, okay!”

 

Now that we were this close, even I could feel the strong sense of mana, so Ethan and I were able to follow the salamander without getting lost.

Expecting to encounter a high-ranking demon using mana-draining spells, Ethan and I cautiously approached, reducing our pace.

Contrary to my expectations, what we found at the scene wasn’t a high-ranking demon but a group of low-ranking demons.

 

“Boss, shouldn’t we move locations soon? It’s been three days, and we haven’t caught anything.”

“Shut up. I told you, I can still smell elementals around here.”

“If there were any, they would have come out by now. We’ve probably caught almost everything we can in this area, right? Before the ones we’ve caught start deteriorating, we should…”

{You bad guys~!!}

Grab!

“See? I told you there were some left.”

“Oh, as expected of you, Boss!”

“This one seems much bigger than the ones we’ve caught so far. We’re going to make some good money.”

{Let me go~!! You stupid low-ranking demons~!!!}

 

While we were hiding in the bushes, observing the situation that seemed ominous, the salamander, who had rushed out impatiently, was caught by the hand of one of the demons.

The low-ranking demon who grabbed the fire spirit put it into a glass cage and sealed it right away.

 

{Ah! No~! Open this up~!! Hey~!!}

“How much do you think this one will fetch?”

“Well, it’s a fire spirit, so it should sell for much more than the others. Fire spirits are in demand not only among mages but also among ordinary people as ornamental pets.”

{Open it~! Where are you planning to take me!!}

 

Elemental hunters.

Just from listening to their conversation, it was clear that they were this type of demon.

They were the kind of demons who roam around uninhabited forests or mountains where many elementals live, collecting them and selling them at high prices to demon mages and the like.

The reason they came all the way to this remote human village was probably because elementals don’t live in demon habitats.

Of course, it was only possible for those guys to physically grab the approaching salamander without hesitation and put it in a glass cage because they were demons.

Looking at the unidentified magical device that was spinning on one side, it was as if it was sucking in mana from the surroundings.

It seems they set a trap to remove all the surrounding mana and lure elementals with faint mana.

 

‘Anyway, those guys were the cause of the disappearing mana in this area…’

 

Regardless of whether they were elemental hunters or not, the fact that they were demons themselves was reason enough for extermination.

If left alone, they would eventually become a major threat to the empire, anyway. Luminor Academy didn’t have some half-baked ending where humans and demons made a treaty and lived happily ever after.

…And above all, I didn’t like the situation of that salamander being captured.

Without that creature, it would be impossible to operate the half-dwarf’s furnace in Grainstone Village or receive a blessing from that fire spirit.

It was important that the salamander was safe, especially because the spirit’s blessing was a characteristic I desperately needed right now, as it could affect my Luck stat depending on the situation.

I needed to somehow deal with all of them and retrieve the salamander.

 

“It seems we can’t avoid a violent confrontation if we want to restore the village to normal and rescue the salamander, Young Master Ethan.”

“They all look like low-ranking demons to me… what do you think, Lilith?”

“I think the same, Young Master Ethan. I thought they would surely be high-ranking demons, but it’s fortunate in many ways that they’re a group of low-ranking demons. Are you planning to start with a surprise attack?”

“Yes. That’s the most efficient way.”

 

As expected of Harold’s son, he doesn’t particularly discriminate in his means of winning.

I nodded at Ethan’s proposal, as it was a truly admirable mindset.

Before Ethan stepped in front of them with his swords, I created three Magic Arrows by triple casting.

 

“I’ll start.”

“…Will you be alright? Your Magic Arrows don’t usually hit, right?”

“…Today, I think quite a few will hit.”

“Alright. If you say so, I’ll believe you.”

 

…If you say you believe me, I might miss them because of the habit of getting nervous.

Still, I couldn’t cancel the Magic Arrows I had already loaded, so I aimed the three arrows at the neck of the one who seemed to be their leader.  [Read this novel only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The three arrows flew at once towards the demon, who seemed to have let his guard down, excited about catching the salamander as their last catch.

 

“We did it! Let’s withdraw now! We need to get away from this human-smelling place quickly…”

Stab! Stab!

“Uck, ugh?!”

“Boss!”

“Wh-what bastard?!”

 

Two out of three, huh? I can definitely feel that my accuracy has improved.

In the past, I would have been lucky if even one out of three hit.

While I was thinking that, Ethan jumped in among the demons with his dual swords, timed with my surprise attack.

He swept away the necks of two subordinates who were bewildered by their leader’s death with just two horizontal slashes.

 

Slash! Slice!

“Guh!”

“Ack…!”

 

About three demons remained.

If I took care of one and Ethan took care of the other two, this situation could be more or less resolved.

With that thought, just as I was about to rush at one demon with my dagger…

I heard a sharp sound cutting through the wind from somewhere.

 

“Protect!”

 

As soon as I instinctively sensed danger, I created an Arcane Barrier with double casting.

Fortunately, the Arcane Barrier, which activated in time, was enough to cover our faces and necks. Immediately, two arrows flew towards each of us from the other side of the Arcane Barrier.

 

Twang! Twang!

“……!”

“Young Master Ethan, there’s an archer!”

“I see it, too!”

 

Thanks to my reflexively creating the Arcane Barrier, neither Ethan nor I suffered the misfortune of having our necks pierced by arrows.

It was very fortunate that I had sparred with Luke before. If it hadn’t been for that duel with her, I wouldn’t have been able to reflexively create an Arcane Barrier in this situation.

After secretly sending a mental thank you to her, I rushed at the demon in front of me again.

I quickly exchanged swords with the demon using the heavy dagger in my right hand.

 

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Wh-who the hell are you, man?!”

“Not a ‘man’ but a ‘woman,’ you idiot!!”

“Who the hell are you, woman?!”

“Why do you need to know?!”

Slash!

 

As the dagger slashed across the demon’s neck, the somewhat noisy demon’s voice fell silent.

I could also confirm that the remaining demons who were facing Ethan 2-on-1 had their breath cut off at the same time.

 

“Lilith, let’s hide for now! There’s a possibility that there are more of them in the forest…”

“…No, there’s no need for that.”

“…Huh?”

 

I picked up the short dagger of the demon who had just fallen with its neck slashed in front of me and used Dagger Throw to throw it in the direction the arrows had come from.

 

Stab!

“Ugh, uck…!”

 

Soon after, the sound of a blade piercing flesh and a demon’s voice fading came from between the trees in the forest.

Since there was more than one arrow that flew from the forest, I naturally took another dagger from the hand of another demon and threw it into the opposite side of the forest.

This time, too, I heard what sounded like flesh being pierced and a scream, and the presence I had felt faded away.

As for remaining presences… there don’t seem to be any that I can feel.

 

“With that, it seems to be over for now.”

“…Y-yes…”

 

Demon corpses were scattered all around, and bluish bloodstains were everywhere.

Considering the cleanup of this chaotic scene, it seemed we wouldn’t be able to return to the estate today after all.