While eating the meat sandwich (no bell peppers) that the hero gave me, I watched as Lux ran around the meadow.
Then, suddenly, I remembered something I had overlooked.

‘… That’s right, a variable has come up.’

The magical watermill village was a place that hadn’t been mentioned in the story at all.
But now, it was a request that the hero had brought directly for me.

In other words, that meant the time needed to repair the magical watermill would delay our arrival at the Shadow Citadel.

‘This could be a bit dangerous.’

During the episode at the Shadow Citadel, a soldier had once said something while passing by.

“If the hero had been even two days late, we would all have died…”

Yes, two days.
If we weren’t careful, that uneasy future imagined by the soldier could very well become a reality.

‘And if we also factor in the time to arrive and assess the situation…’
No, I might have to cancel the watermill request.
Or, at the very least, I had to expedite the time taken for the other two requests.

‘After all, these two combat requests won’t greatly impact the party.’
They mostly involved dealing with a group of monsters.
So even if I adjusted the time, there wouldn’t be much difference.

‘In that case…’
I would need to participate in this combat request.
By joining in, I could help minimize the time spent on both the battle and travel.

Days later, in the middle of a vast forest.

"Everyone, battle formation!"

The hero’s shout echoed, and in an instant, the hero's party took their positions.
I summoned my pen and stood beside Raphaelia.

"Aswell, what are we facing?"

"Jackals and trolls. About two hundred of them. This is the first request."

"So they ran into us while moving around. I didn’t expect it, but it’s not bad."

Serline and Aswell quickly assessed the battlefield.
The place that had just been our resting spot was now preparing for a bloodbath.

"Lux."

Snort.
Noticing our situation, Lux approached me alongside the other horses.

Jackals and trolls are monsters that prey on animals like horses.
They enjoy hunting in a manner befitting their respective traits, resembling beasts and monsters.

"Lux. You need to stay close to me and these guys, okay?"
The five horses were prime targets for the jackals and trolls.
So as a non-combatant, it was my duty to protect them.

"Don’t overdo it; usually, it ends up being two against one," Raphaelia said, and I nodded quietly.

Yes, that would be the case. Those two are the hero and the future Swordmaster.
Moreover, the saint was there to watch their backs.

Even if one or two strayed behind, we had the elf archer covering us.
The fact that they had only just found a mage was not because they couldn’t handle a multi-enemy scenario.
They needed a companion to help them win more smoothly and efficiently against a larger number.

From the beginning, the four of them had resounded with victory in both small and large battles; it was just that the multi-enemy battles took longer.
And this situation wouldn’t change now that I was here.

‘I estimate it will take about two hours.’
It would take that long to eliminate nearly two hundred foes with swords, a sacred sword, and arrows.

Here, my job was simply to ensure that the five horses wouldn’t panic and run away.

… Ideally, that is.
But this time, I would also participate in the battle.
Of course, I would be unable to use direct offensive magic, so I would support instead.

I raised my hand holding the pen into the air.

"Raphaelia."

"Yes?"

"I’ll be supporting you, so could you shoot your bow when I signal?"

"…Got it."

As golden words began to be etched in the air, Raphaelia quietly drew her bowstring.
The temporary spell to inscribe on her arrow was a chain reaction.

One golden inscription absorbed into Raphaelia’s arrow.
Then the next one was inscribed onto Serline’s sword.

Since the sacred sword of the hero wouldn’t have my spell inscribed on it, I used her sword instead.
The temporary spell to be inscribed was a wave.

As the spell was inscribed on Serline’s sword, it temporarily glowed golden.

"The jackal directly in front of Serline. Now!"

"Okay."

Whoosh—!
As soon as my command ended, Raphaelia’s arrow was shot from her bow.

The arrow flew at tremendous speed and struck the nape of a jackal trying to clash with Serline's sword.

—!!
The creature’s death cry barely escaped as Serline’s sword cleaved through it.

In that moment.

Vwoom.
The two temporary spells stored in Raphaelia’s arrow and Serline’s sword reacted.

A wave erupted from the jackal’s corpse, sweeping over the surrounding monsters.
Not all of the monsters were killed by the wave, but a few were claimed by the shock of it.

Then, from the bodies of the slain monsters, a wave erupted once more.
It resembled a multitude of ripples forming in a puddle on a rainy day.

One, then several, then dozens of waves erupted in succession, sweeping through the area.
The hero and Serline in front flinched back at the sight, but they were unaffected by the waves.

‘It’s my magic; surely the hero can’t fail to recognize it.’
If an attack hit our own side, the losses would outweigh the gains.

That’s why I had thrown in related formulas when inscribing the spells from the start.

As a result, a battle that should have taken two hours ended in just five minutes.

"Uh…."
The hero's voice was drained of strength. It seemed to represent the feelings of the other party members as well.

"Lu, Louis…? What the heck was that…?"

Huff…
Having poured a bit too much mana into the two temporary spells, I felt slightly out of breath.

‘If only I had a naturally larger mana pool…’
For now, I had means to gain external mana, but it was far too distant.
So I had started moving towards it, but it was quite the distance away, and I was still quite a bit away from reaching it.

"We should arrive at the village soon."

The hero commented, opening the map. Indeed, the village where the request for the magical watermill was placed was nearby.

What would that magical watermill look like?
And what kind of awe would the remnants of the meteorite display?

My heart began to pound in excitement.