Chapter 117

The next day, I visited the mansion of Gerario and the others, who had finished repairing the offshore mine, and once again explained the results Falone and the others had found.

On top of that, I told them that Jirenu Territory had decided to carefully pursue this mystery.

Under the command of Lord Iiria, a budget would be allocated to investigate it.

And Gerario and the others immediately noticed both the good and bad sides of that decision.

There would be a budget, but for that reason, solo action would not be allowed.

Gerario and the others weighed the gains and losses, then accepted the conditions.

I had been worried about the one-in-ten-thousand, no, one-in-a-million possibility that they might leave the island, saying that they would do it by themselves, so I felt relieved.

Then, out of idle curiosity after the tension left me, I asked Gerario and the others.

“Is there any kind of magic you want to pursue?”

Gerario looked a little displeased, perhaps because in this world’s common sense, legendary magic was the sort of dream apprentice child magicians had.

But perhaps he thought hiding it would be uncool in its own way, so he said bluntly,

“Resurrection of the dead.”

Just as I was thinking that sounded like a mercenary who had lived through life-and-death struggles, Balan, who was taciturn and as expressionless as a golem, gave a rare small laugh.

“What’re you laughing at?”

As Gerario immediately snapped at him, Tsatsaru said,

“You could just honestly say you want to heal my injuries.”

When Tsatsaru said that, Gerario opened his eyes wide, pressed his lips together, and looked away.

While I was unable to understand what that meant, Tsatsaru, who must have sensed it from my presence, turned his gaze toward me from beyond the bandages wrapped around his eyes.

“If it is enough to bring back the dead, then it should heal every injury. That is what people say.”

“I see.”

Gerario cared for his comrades.

I thought that was a very wonderful thing, but perhaps for a battle-hardened, stern-faced mercenary, it was far too embarrassing.

“I’m just thinking that if he dies once first, maybe that stupidity of his will be cured too!”

Tsatsaru laughed at Gerario’s abuse, and Balan patted Gerario on the shoulder, only to be treated as annoying.

The three of them were close, and I thought a little that I would have liked to see them fight back when they were still actively standing on the front lines.

Thinking that, I remembered that I had one more matter to attend to.

“Ah, and I would like to ask the three of you for another new job…”

My ending trailed off a little because I had already asked them for all sorts of things.

Gerario and Balan had been working for the offshore mine, and Tsatsaru had also been giving various opinions during the creation of laws based on his experience traveling from place to place as a beastman.

In particular, Roran had no decent laws regarding beastfolk, only laws concerning ownership rights between humans who owned beastfolk, or punitive laws treating them as lower-class people.

That was why the people of Roran did not look very pleased when they heard that we wanted laws to clarify the rights and positions of the beastfolk and secure those rights.

However, since Iiria fully supported this point, the people of Roran had set it aside as a matter concerning a small island across the sea and were cooperating for the time being.

What I wanted to ask Gerario and the others for next was not unrelated to that.

“A job? As long as we get what we’re owed, I’ll consider it.”

Gerario said it like a greedy dog of war, but for his work at the offshore mine, he had only demanded a daily wage not much different from that of the beastfolk doing the mining.

As Balan and Tsatsaru smiled in exasperation, Gerario growled back at them like a child.

“I want you to train Kururu-san, Cole-san, and the beastfolk with aptitude as adventurers.”

Gerario’s face, which had been frolicking with his companions, swiftly became that of a magician.

“As adventurers, you say?”

He seemed to want to say, Are we not enough? But unfortunately, they were not enough.

Not in ability, but in quantity.

“From now on, I think there will be more chances for you to go outside for mine surveys. During those times when our defenses are thin, some force may happen to come barging in. In preparation for those situations, I think people other than Gerario-san and the others should also properly learn things like the standard tactics for fighting with magic.”

“…”

Gerario scratched his head in dissatisfaction and crossed his arms.

“I believe any ability only has value when one knows how to use it.”

Gerario sighed.

“It’s true that Kururu feels like she can only fire magic right now… But…”

“You do not want to expose your cute beloved disciple to danger?”

As though he had predicted Tsatsaru’s teasing, Gerario drooped his shoulders in exhaustion.

“That’s right. Adventurers are garbage. She can go her whole life without ever learning anything about the battlefield.”

I did not know the reality of war, so I could not give an easy answer, but as an example of war’s brutality, the real case named Tsatsaru was right in front of me.

But even so, I said this.

“If you train her, the number of people Kururu-san can protect will increase.”

Gerario glared at me.

That displeased face was almost the same as giving up.

“Damn it… This is why I didn’t want to take a disciple.”

“But that young lady would likely prefer an honorable death to a life spent powerless.”

“…”

Surely Gerario had taught many young people to fight until now, and had watched the deaths of no small number of them.

And unlike simply teaching magic, teaching the techniques of battle was nothing other than personally sending them into such places of death.

Gerario, a good-natured man who became depressed when Kururu called him vulgar, had resistance to that.

But as Gerario, he also acknowledged that Kururu was not merely a cute girl.

“Fine, fine. I just have to teach them, right? Teach them.”

Gerario said that, then looked at me.

“My pension’s going up, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It cannot be unlimited, but we will accommodate your wishes as much as possible.”

“Heh, you think we won’t charge much out of kindness?”

“You won’t, will you?”

Tsatsaru said that and struggled to sit up.

Balan tried to support him, but perhaps sensing it from his presence, Tsatsaru stopped him with his hand.

“Power is necessary even to protect honor. And that young lady has nobility, and you should know that she needs power suited to it.”

I could tell that both Gerario and Balan held Tsatsaru in more than a little respect.

Rather than because he, as the vanguard, had suffered terrible injuries in their place, I felt it was because of Tsatsaru’s own character to begin with.

“And warriors who have many people to protect become strong.”

When he smiled fearlessly with his gap-toothed mouth, I caught a glimpse of something like Tsatsaru’s former intensity.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s easy for you. You just have to sit there and do nothing.”

Gerario’s risky remark was like children joking around with one another.

Tsatsaru laughed heartily and looked at me through his bandages.

“I will handle the selection and training of the beastfolk who will serve as the vanguard. I can tell whether someone is a warrior by smell, and whether they are excellent by their footsteps.”

“Thank you very much.”

When I lowered my head, Tsatsaru shook his head.

“We are the ones who should thank you. We left the battlefield thinking we would only quietly decay away like this. Isn’t that right, Gerario?”

“…”

Gerario looked away, but let out a large sigh.

“How grateful I am to be able to spend my remaining years leisurely training the next generation!”

After saying that in an exaggerated way, Gerario looked at me as though glaring.

“Our reward is pursuing the mystery of the large-scale magic circles.”

“I understand.”

We had learned too much to ignore the mystery of magic and put a lid on it.

If we could not stop, then we had to move forward ourselves and control it.

Training Kururu and Cole, as well as giving the beastfolk adventurer training, was also meant to show that in this Jirenu Territory, everyone could seize their own fate with their own hands.

“Large-scale magic circles, huh…”

Tsatsaru murmured and raised his face as though looking somewhere far away.

What exactly were they?

And what would happen when we obtained them was something no one yet knew.