That Was Why I Wanted To Learn It.

And then, the next day.

Kikori parted ways with Aria, who said she would meet up later, and came to the Adventurers’ Guild with Kuon.

He went straight to the counter where Irene was, and she must have realized what it was about—she gave them a slightly troubled smile.

“Good morning, both of you.”

“Yes, good morning. From the sound of it… don’t tell me…”

“Yes. Unfortunately, the conclusion was: ‘It’s unclear whether it was truly defeated. However, we will recognize the achievement of discovery and transport.’”

“So that’s how it turned out… well, can’t be helped.”

When Kuon said that, Irene nodded. “Yes.”

“If we dig into this any further, it will definitely become a hassle.”

“So that really means—”

“Yeah, basically…”

They don’t want your thing on the record, Kuon whispered to Kikori.

That was probably it. Kikori’s “destruction spell, Break” had been judged as the kind of magic that could be used for assassination.

Of course, Irene—standing right there—could hear them and knew the situation, but she simply replied, “That’s largely correct.”

“I believe it will be formally relayed through Aria, but… Kikori-san’s ‘Break’ will be designated a forbidden spell. Please don’t teach it to others.”

A forbidden spell. Magic whose use was strictly restricted to the developer and those who had received permission.

Its existence would be recorded in a book that compiled only forbidden spells and stored in the restricted archive… in other words, it was a declaration that it would be treated that way.

“So, that being the case. The investigation request reward, plus the anomalously evolved specimen discovery and transport fee… comes to five hundred thousand yen in total.”

What was set down with a clink was four one-hundred-thousand-yen gold coins, and two fifty-thousand-yen gold coins.

“Thank you.”

They had agreed to split the reward evenly, so it was two hundred and fifty thousand yen each.

Enough to buy that armor at the Mirgu Weapon Shop.

“Well then… Kikori, you’re going with Aria-san after this, right?”

“Yeah. Sorry, Kuon.”

“It’s fine. I’m happy to see you get stronger.”

Saying he would go to the temple or something today, Kuon left—and Kikori and Irene watched him go.

“Oh, and Kikori-san.”

“Huh? Yes?”

“About those two axes you’re carrying on your back.”

“Is it… weird?”

“No. It just reminded me—Aria used to be like that when she was an adventurer.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. And I think I can even guess what you’ll be doing today. Aria’s ‘that’ was famous.”

I see—she had said it was flashy… and Kikori accepted that she must have used Mjolnir constantly, to the point of becoming well-known for it.

“If you can use it, this probably won’t happen again.”

“That’s why I want to learn it.”

With that, Kikori first headed out to buy armor at the Mirgu Weapon Shop.