Water Magician

When Ryo and Abel arrived at Bemberton Village, it was utter confusion.

It stands to reason that even in the frontier, encounters with wyverns were something that doesn’t happen even once in a lifetime.

If such a beast was seen right next to the village where they live, it would naturally cause a clamor.

Nonetheless, there was no way they could hear decent information from the villagers who had lost their composure, but thankfully when the two of them reached their destination, a man who appeared to be a soldier came running over.

“You’re from the Adventurer’s Guild in Rune, aren’t you? A swordsman and a magician.”

The soldier-like man came up to them and asked with conviction.

Two adventurer-like men who he had never seen before appeared at this timing and with advanced notice from the guild that two adventurers would be coming, anyone would be confident to claim so.

“Yes, we are.”

Abel answered as the representative.

“Thank god, we’ve been waiting for you. I’m a subordinate of Baron Plage and I’m appointed as the garrison commander of this manor. My name is Lines.”

“Well met. This time, it’s a classified request, so we can’t tell you our name.”

“I understand. I’m sorry to jump straight to business, but regarding the wyvern …”

The place where it was seen was about 500 meters south of the village.

Only one grazing cow was killed and no one had been injured yet.

“Okay. Then the two of us will head there. Please let the guild carriage rest. The coachman will take care of the horses and maintenance, so just help to find a place.”

“Understood.”

Is that really enough? Garrison Commander Lines’ eyes spoke volumes of his thoughts.

However, both Abel and Ryo deliberately ignored his gaze.

Then they started walking south.

“The garrison captain a while ago was young, wasn’t he? Probably in his twenties?”

“Yeah, I suspect the garrison consists of just two people, or he might even be the only person in it.”

“A one-man garrison…”

It sounded like it could be the title for something, but when he thought about it, it was somewhat sad…

That said, even on modern Earth, police officers and doctors on remote islands were often posted alone… so it’s not strange.

Ryo forcibly decided to think about it that way.

“The Rogue Wyvern and the Rogue Garrison.”

“What’s going through your mind again? You think you’re writing a story?”

When Ryo said something that sounded like the title of a novel that somehow came to mind, Abel sharply retorted.

Abel is a capable man.

They didn’t have to walk far before they caught a glimpse of the wyvern in flight.

“It’s flying without any care in the world.”

“Well, of course. It would have been a huge hassle if we didn’t see it from here, so it’s great news that we spotted it.”

“How big do you think it is?”

“Surprisingly, this stray wyvern is as good as an adult. Usually, most stray wyverns are juveniles. I heard that the one Niels and his party defeated was also a juvenile.”

“I see.”

It looked about the same size as the wyverns that Ryo and Abel overhunted in Rondo Forest.

Adult wyverns must have nested in that mountain.

“So, are there any conditions imposed on this subjugation?”

“Conditions?”

“Like how to defeat it, submission of evidence, and such.”

“No. It seems that the magic stone will belong to the two of us. As for the proof of subjugation… normally, a wyvern’s right eye is cut out as proof, but… whether it’s the garrison captain or the people of the village, I don’t think they can identify a wyvern’s eye…”

“Hmm……”

Ryo was thinking about something, but then he nodded once.

“Well, let’s drop it to the ground for now.”

“O-oh.”

“<Icicle Lance 2>”

When Ryo chanted, two extremely thick ice spears formed in the sky, piercing the wyvern’s wings and crucifying its body to the ground.

“Okay!”

“As always, you make it seem so easy… it makes me think that the Wyvern’s ‘Wind Protection Membrane’ is a lie.”

“It’s more normal than a swordsman flying in the sky.”

“Yeah, that’s certainly absurd too. In the first place, people aren’t meant to fly. Not just swordsmen.”

When Abel said that, Ryo glanced sideways at him.

It looked like … there was a sparkle in his eyes.

“Abel, that’s too ignorant. There is a technique called Breakdown Rush in the world.”

“Ooh, that’s nostalgic. Breakdown rush, is that, isn’t it? That delusional tactic Ryo used to speak of.”

“Delusional tactic… what a way to put it.”

Ryo knew the pain of not being understood.

The world is cold, the world is harsh.

But he won’t lose to it!

“Okay! That ignorance, I shall enlighten you! Take a good look.”

Saying so, Ryo took out Murasame from the scabbard and created the blade.

And announced.

“<Avatar 2>”

Then, to the left and right of Ryo, two more Ryo appeared. Clones.

“Impossible…”

Abel was at a loss for words.

However, that was not the end.

“<Icicle Lance Shower> <Water Jet Thruster>”

Including Ryo’s true body, the three Ryos fired countless ice spears at the wyvern that had fallen to the ground. At the same time, water gushed out from the backs of all three Ryos and they rushed forward at the same speed as the ice spears.

The impact of the ice spears and the slashing attacks from the three Ryos, it all happened in an instant and converged all at once.

What remained was the corpse of a wyvern riddled with countless ice spears with its head and legs removed.

“Body double avatars, an icicle lance shower, and a rush with water jets …a Water-Attribute Magician’s version of a breakdown rush.”

Ryo explained with a proud look.

However, Abel remained frozen even after the explanation was over.

“Um? Abel?”

What the heck was that?! Ryo, expecting a reaction along those lines, asked once more, perturbed by the lack of reaction.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I must have been dreaming…”

“No, this is reality~”

(No, no matter how abnormal Ryo is as a magician, from creating clones to charging as though instantaneous teleportation… No, no, no, I must have been seeing things. Yup, let’s pretend I didn’t see it.)

Abel made a secret pact with his heart.

That said, he had no choice but to acknowledge the wreckage of the Wyvern in front of him.

He decided to just say something about that.

“Ryo’s Icicle Lances really does ignore the Wyvern’s ‘Wind Protection Membrane’.”

He was repeating himself but he glossed it over.

The wyvern in front of them still had its wind protection membrane even after it was grounded. And yet, countless spears of ice pierced the wyvern’s body.

“Ah… I think that’s probably because my Icicle Lances use constant acceleration compared to the magic that other magicians use.”

“Accele… what?”

“I guess you won’t understand even if I explain it as the difference between a bullet and a missile. How do I put it … right, the Wind Protection Membrane is maintained by the Wyvern constantly blowing wind out from its body surface, right?”

“Yeah, that’s apparently the case.”

Abel also had knowledge of Wind Protection Membrane.

“So, attack magic from chanting is probably given the power to move forward only at the moment it is released. It’s like a bow and arrow. It’s given the force to travel forward, and after that it’s just inertia, that is, it continues to fly forward with the remainder of the initial force, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“But in that case, the wind that keeps blowing from the Wyvern’s body, in other words, the headwind, will continue to resist, until the strike eventually loses the force to travel forward. But my magic continues to accelerate even after it’s released. It’s like holding a spear in your hand and running toward your opponent. Even if there’s a little wind, you’ll keep going forward, right? That’s probably the difference.”

“I see. I somewhat understand.”

Ryo remembered the constant acceleration he learned in science class in elementary school. Luckily he listened to the lesson properly.

As for magic cast through chanting, he just arbitrarily thought it was probably something like that.

If he had the chance someday, he would love to meet the ‘True Ancestor’ who created the chanting magic of the Central Nations and try to challenge his current hypothesis.

(That said, to have created all the chants, the True Ancestor is amazing.)

The countless icicle lances were calculated precisely, so the wyvern’s magic stone was completely intact.

Moreover, its body was cut open with a spear and the magic stone was easily taken out.

Putting the magic stone in his bag, Ryo declared.

“Subjugation complete!”

“Ohh…”

“……Oops.”

“What’s wrong?”

Ryo involuntarily muttered, and Abel asked if anything was wrong.

“This subjugation, Abel did not do any work…”

“Ah……”

Previously, Abel was the one who finished off the wyverns during their wyvern hunt, but this time the wyvern fell victim to Ryo’s ‘Breakdown Rush’, so Abel…

“An A-rank swordsman leeching a C-rank magician…”

Ryou mumbled vaguely.

“Hey, it’s not my fault!”

Abel claimed that it was not in his control.

“Abel, it can’t be helped. Let’s bring the wyvern’s head as evidence of the subjugation. I’ll have Abel carry it.”

“Th-this…?”

It easily weighed over 100 kg.

“Am I seriously going to carry this…”

An air called despair covered Abel.

Abel was pulling the Wyvern’s head with one hand.

Obviously, Ryo wasn’t a demon, so he laid an Ice Bahn under the wyvern’s head.

That made it easier to drag.

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