"We can indeed offer you better treatment. However, since you seem quite young... may I ask which organization you belong to?"

"I don’t belong to any organization. I’m a wandering magician."

"I see."

Whether he was skillfully hiding his true feelings or genuinely unbothered, Sengor's expression didn’t change much.

"In that case..."

"It’s fine."

"..."

Leon interrupted and declined Sengor's offer before he could finish speaking.

Daif, who had been watching with a worried expression, visibly relaxed, relief washing over his face. Despite the almost pitiable way Daif looked at Leon, like a puppy grateful for being saved, that wasn’t the reason Leon declined.

Leon had already planned to explore the second zone tomorrow and then proceed deeper into the forest. At this point, there was no need to switch parties. It didn’t matter who he went with for the first or second zones.

Moreover, the fact that Sengor had made such a proposal while they were already sitting and eating together as a party showed a lack of respect, which didn’t sit well with Leon.

As soon as Leon refused, Karin slammed the table and stood up.

"You heard him, now scram."

"Do we have to be like this with each other?"

"Who says we're 'each other' anything!"

"We did have drinks together."

"Yeah, and that’s because you dragged me out while pretending to be troubled when you were just a newbie. Why don’t you mention how you tried to pull some nonsense and got slapped for it!"

Karin’s face twisted with anger as the memory clearly irritated her.

Sengor shrugged his shoulders at her fury, and as he pretended to look away, his eyes roved over her body, until they met Leon’s.

‘Blond hair, tanned skin... hmm...’

While it's not good to judge by appearances, something about him seemed off.

‘Well, it’s not like I’ll have to deal with him again anyway.’

Leon looked away, ignoring Sengor, who then nonchalantly spoke.

"Since you've declined, it would be rude to press further. We’ll take our leave now."

Sengor patted Daif on the shoulder as he passed by.

"See you tomorrow, maybe."

Despite Sengor’s unpleasant gesture, Daif smiled contentedly.

"Yeah, go on~"

"..."

Sengor walked away with a sullen expression, while Daif clasped his hands together as if overwhelmed with gratitude. His large figure seemed to almost quiver with relief.

"Thank you so much. You kept your loyalty... You could have listened to a better offer, since we don’t have a formal contract..."

"We’ve already built some teamwork."

"And it’s not just because we’re rivals, but Sengor really is a bad guy."

Leon found it hard to keep watching Daif's foolishly grinning face, so he ended the conversation rather quickly. He didn’t bother asking for more details about Sengor. He wasn’t particularly interested, to begin with.

"Let’s meet tomorrow morning."

"Yes! We’ll make sure everything is ready."

After finishing his meal, Leon stood up.

"If you get bored, feel free to drop by our inn!"

Karin called out playfully as they left. Daif was overly polite, while Karin was overly friendly. Leon found Linne, who kept mostly to herself, to be the most comfortable to be around.

After parting ways, Leon found another inn to stay at. He paid with the money he had saved from his time living at the entrance. It wasn’t much, but enough to cover his needs.

Waking early in the morning, Leon went to the market to stock up on food, mostly dried meat that would be easy to carry and consume.

"Do you accept mana stones?"

"...Of course, we do."

Since magicians also operated in the area, it seemed mana stones had significant value as currency.

‘It makes sense, since mana stones are a higher-grade version of these magic stones.’

After packing the food into a preservation jar, Leon headed to the guild headquarters, where they had agreed to meet.

When he arrived, he found that Daif and the others were already there, having prepared everything from early morning. Daif was sitting on a bench while Karin was energetically waving her arms as she talked, and Linne was smiling faintly as she watched Karin.

It was a peaceful scene of a well-knit party.

"Ah! You’re here."

"You’re out early."

After joining the group, Leon filled out the mission log, and they set off for the Forest of Beasts.

They picked up the pace to reach the second zone quickly, but it wasn’t easy to make swift progress through the first zone.

The time it took to walk through the forest was considerable, and they encountered goblin groups more frequently than expected.

Daif tilted his head in confusion.

"Something’s not right."

"We are encountering monsters quite often."

Daif seemed to notice something was off too. The previous day, they had spent the entire day in the first zone and only encountered seven or eight monster groups. But today, despite moving faster, they had already encountered five groups.

"It seems that a higher-level monster deeper in the forest is stirring things up."

Leon recalled what Kito had told him about the Forest of Beasts. The deeper into the forest, the stronger the monsters. And these stronger monsters ruled over their territories like kings.

"When a powerful monster moves, it can affect even the monsters near the entrance."

When high-level beasts fight for territory or prepare for such battles, the chaos can trickle down and affect the lesser monsters near the entrance.

"This isn’t unusual, but..."

Daif, looking concerned, asked Leon.

"What do you want to do?"

"What does it mean when you say the monsters are affected?"

"They roam around more erratically, so you run into them more often, or you might encounter groups of monsters wandering together... that sort of thing."

"If that’s all, it’s no problem."

For Leon, who planned to go deeper into the forest today, such issues were minor and wouldn’t pose any significant obstacles.

"Do you have a plan if the monsters break away from the fight while you're preparing a spell?"

"I do."

Leon also had a way to kill them before they could even break away.

"In that case, I think we’ll be fine. After all, we’re only checking the entrance to the second zone today."

Since it was a one-day mission, Daif seemed to have concluded that it wouldn’t be a problem.

As they ventured deeper than they had the previous day, the forest's incline began to increase. Other than the denser vegetation, there wasn’t much difference.

"Once you climb a bit further, the terrain levels out—that’s where the second zone begins."

"I see."

By the time they reached the second zone, the sun was already beginning to set on the opposite side of the sky. But since Daif's party only intended to scout the entrance to the second zone, it wasn’t a significant issue.

‘If I fly, I can reach the third zone in less than a day.’

Daif had mentioned that no flying monsters appeared until the fourth zone, where some adventurers reported seeing griffons.

The area where Kito had hidden her core was on the border between the western part and the central area of the Forest of Beasts. The central part was said to harbor unimaginably powerful monsters, so Leon knew he needed to be cautious. The area where Kito originally resided might now be occupied by another high-level monster.

As soon as they entered the second zone, they heard movement nearby.

Two lizardmen emerged from the underbrush. Their skin was covered in rough green scales.

Daif immediately took up the front line. The formation was the same as when they had faced the goblins.

While Daif distracted them, Leon finished his incantation.

"Fire Arrow."

The fire arrow struck the two lizardmen, killing them without much resistance. Leon carefully controlled the flames to prevent the fire from spreading in the forest.

The lizardmen appeared to have strong defenses, but not enough to repel magic. However, with their large size and strength, they could be a tough challenge in close combat.

"Let’s move quickly."

"Yes, sir."

•  

Daif struggled to keep the smile off his face.

They had killed one lizardman when another appeared, followed by two more. They kept coming.

The lizardmen's skin gradually turned brown, their scales becoming tougher.

Daif knew they were moving deeper into the forest, but he was still grinning.

They hadn’t exerted much energy. As long as they drew the monsters’ attention, the magician took care of the rest. Fire arrows skewered them, wind blades sliced them to pieces, and waves of water swept them away. The colorful display of magic was almost dazzling.

‘This is why people say magicians are invaluable...’

No matter how difficult their personalities, the demand for magicians never waned.

The lizardman corpses piled up. The time spent on actual combat was far less than the time it took to harvest the bodies.

"Hmm, I think we should wrap this up before it gets dark."

Daif reluctantly spoke. Since it was a one-day mission, they needed to leave the forest before nightfall. They had already gone deeper than planned. Daif’s judgment as a party leader had been clouded by excitement.

Clang—

Suddenly, the sound of clashing weapons came from not far away. Daif turned his attention in that direction.

Although he couldn’t see through the trees, the sounds of the hurried battle indicated someone was struggling.

‘It must be another adventurer party.’

They could help, but Daif knew his limits.

This party’s strength came solely from the young magician. If they were to assist, they would need his permission.

‘Let’s stick to protocol.’

There was no guarantee that aiding others would result in mutual goodwill. On the contrary, disputes often arose over the corpses. That’s why the rule was to let each party handle their own business.

Moreover, Daif felt he had already made a mistake by leading the party deeper than planned, so he hesitated to suggest helping.

"We should make it back on time if we leave now."

Just as Daif said that and turned to go, he froze in place.

"Shhh."

A group of lizardmen emerged from the trees.

But this time, it wasn’t just one or two.

Dozens of lizardmen were blocking their retreat. Even at a glance, there were over thirty of them.

"Did they draw us in...?"

Daif instinctively began to step back. The sheer presence of thirty monsters was suffocating.

Just then, someone placed a hand on Daif’s back and pushed him forward.

It was the young magician.

His face, partially visible under the robe, was so calm that it made Daif feel calmer as well.

"Don’t back down from the front."

"My apologies."

As Daif regained his composure and gripped his greatsword tightly, a group burst out from the side, joining them. It was the party that had been fighting nearby.

Daif recognized all five of their faces.

"Sengor...?"

"Please help us!"

Sengor’s eyes lit up as he looked at the magician, and he quickly merged with Daif's group.

This, however, brought the attention of the lizardmen chasing Sengor’s group to Daif’s party as well.

Now, over fifty lizardmen surrounded them.

"Haa..."

Leon sighed deeply.

Then he raised his palm.

"Fall."

Boom—

With a flash of light, a thunderous roar echoed through the forest. Suddenly, a blinding bolt of lightning struck from the sky.

The lizardmen were instantly enveloped in blue electricity.

"Kieeek—"

The lizardmen shrieked in pain. Sparks flew from their scales, their muscles spasmed violently, and their eyes rolled back as they collapsed to the ground.

Smoke rose from their bodies.

In an instant, nine lizardmen lay dead.

But it wasn’t over.

"Fall again."

The young magician murmured once more.

Boom—

In another flash, nine more lizardmen perished.

The lightning kept striking.

Each time the magician spoke, lizardmen died. With a single word, monsters fell in droves.

‘So this is the true power of a magician...’

As the lizardmen began to charge in desperation, half of them were already dead. Before they knew it, all fifty lizardmen had become corpses.

So many that they wouldn’t need to hunt for a month.

"Hoo..."

The magician let out a shallow breath, apparently tired from casting so many spells in succession.

At that moment, Sengor’s eyes gleamed. He exchanged glances with his party members.

Daif noticed this too late.

‘Oh no!’

When is a magician at their weakest?

Right after casting a powerful spell, of course. And this young magician had just overexerted himself to fend off the lizardmen.

‘But would they really... No, maybe because he’s a wandering magician?’

As the realization struck, Sengor and his five party members were already charging at the magician from behind.

"Master Theo!"

Daif shouted urgently, his voice echoing through the forest.

But his desperate cry was rendered moot as Sengor’s sword was effortlessly deflected.

A barrier had formed around the magician at some point, repelling the attack.

"...?"

The magician looked at Sengor in surprise. His expression was more one of bewilderment than alarm.