Chapter 19
A fireplace with warm flames crackling.
Richter Bederman sat in a plush chair in front of it, generously tilting a large goblet filled with wine.
"Ah... as expected, the wine here is exquisite."
In a good mood, Richter looked out the window.
All there was to see was the desolate interior of the castle, mountains entirely covered in snow, and a plain.
But Richter, looking at it now, felt very satisfied.
"To think they'd fall for that. Heh heh heh. Blake, you fool."
The reward Richter had offered.
Restoring the cut support funds and the extraordinary condition of never interfering with Kain again in the future.
While offering that, Richter simultaneously forced an absurd risk: 'to go to the snowy mountains alone.'
'Of course, that's ridiculous.'
He couldn't even remember how he had managed to suppress his laughter at that time.
'I was a bit surprised when that Kain fellow suddenly said he'd go, though.'
He hadn't known the kid was so lacking in judgment. Well, that's probably why he dared to hit Hayden without knowing his place.
'Anyway.'
The reward Richter offered was so attractive that Blake couldn't possibly refuse it.
But if Richter hadn't offered a corresponding risk, the other party would have surely thought he was hiding something and refused.
So, Richter offered an absurd reward with an absurd risk, making the other party think, 'Well, that figures.'
Then, by subtly easing the conditions at that point, he guided them to focus on, 'Maybe this is doable...?'
'And once it gets to this point, pressure from the surroundings will naturally start to come in.'
Sure enough, Cristan Siers stepped forward and started talking about sending him, and once that happened, Richter could step back and wash his hands of it.
'But Blake, that bastard is stubborn too.'
Saying he wouldn't send him if there were no volunteers.
A plan that was almost completely successful had nearly fallen apart.
"Well, it doesn't matter now that he's gone after all."
Glug glug glug!
Richter seemed to find the wine particularly good today, gulping it down.
Now that Kain had left for the snowy mountains, he wouldn't have to see Kain's face again.
'And the guys who went with him are nobodies.'
The idiot Wayne Siers' sons, and a nameless initiated disciple.
It was a hopeless combination for surviving in the snowy mountains.
'Ah, if it were the usual snowy mountains, they might have survived.'
But in the snowy mountains where Ice Trolls roamed, they would never return.
'Actually, they wouldn't even have to encounter an Ice Troll.'
Four mere 2nd Circle mages would be terrified by even a large group of Snow Rabbits, let alone an Ice Troll, and would undoubtedly freeze up and allow them to approach.
For a lower-circle mage to allow an enemy to approach was practically the same as dying.
It wasn't like knights who could instantly flood their bodies with mana to respond, nor could they, like higher-circle mages, calculate shifting coordinates and fix their activation points in an instant while moving.
Even against a monster that could be taken down with a single direct hit from a Fire Ball, the moment they allowed it to approach, its sharp claws would dig into their fragile flesh and muscles, tearing them to shreds.
'Excellent.'
Glug glug glug!
Richter emptied an entire bottle of wine in an instant.
'Well, some might think it's a cruel measure.'
All Kain had done wrong was punch Hayden once.
He wasn't going this far because he held a deep grudge against Kain, nor was Kain's wrongdoing a deep enough sin to warrant death.
Richter sat back in the armchair in front of the fireplace and opened another bottle of wine.
"A dog that bites its owner must die."
***
The small rain of fire that Kain had scattered subsided.
The Fire Needles accurately pierced the crowns of dozens of Snow Rabbits.
The hill where sharp screams had echoed was instantly enveloped in silence.
Only after a while did the sound of the biting wind hitting his eardrums and the pounding of his own heart begin to be heard again.
"Squeak...!"
"Fire Needle."
Thwac! Thwack!
The few remaining Snow Rabbits near Bolio, Edward, and Fohn met a sudden death at Kain's additional incantation.
"...Crazy."
That was the word that came out of Bolio's mouth after a long silence.
'Is, is that even possible?'
He couldn't believe what he had just seen with his own eyes.
After his duel with Kain, Bolio had honestly admitted that his skills were still inferior to Kain's.
And at the same time, he had thought that although he was lacking now, if he trained hard, he could one day surpass Kain or at least catch up to him.
'Because I thought we were both just 2nd Circle mages.'
In fact, just by compensating for his weaknesses that Kain had pointed out, Bolio had felt a clear and noticeable improvement in his skills.
Having improved this much from his previous level, he had thought that he might be able to hold his own against Kain to some extent.
If he gained enlightenment or made significant progress during this mission, he was even planning to ask Kain for another mock duel when they returned.
But.
'...This is just a whole different level.'
To be able to accurately lodge that many Fire Needles into Snow Rabbits and kill them in one shot.
No matter how different everyone's strengths were, and even if Kain was particularly skilled in delicate control, this was just unbelievable.
"Wow..."
"Th-that was so cool just now, Kain."
Edward and Fohn were also staring at Kain with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
They only closed their mouths after about six or seven snowflakes had fallen inside.
"How did you do that? Was it even possible to summon that many Fire Needles?"
Edward and Fohn, who mainly used Needles rather than Fire Balls or Arrows, knew very well how difficult that was.
In the first place, Fire Needles were a spell that traded firepower for quantity compared to Fire Arrows, but even so, they had to go through the process of compressing them into a sharp point, so handling more of them than Fire Balls was theoretically impossible.
"I didn't summon that many Fire Needles. I used each summoned Fire Needle by splitting it into several."
"Split...?"
"Yeah. The Fire Needles I initially summoned were only fifteen. I used them by dividing each one into four. Do you understand now?"
However, Edward's mouth just opened even wider.
"I've never even thought of using them like that... And even if you did, you'd still have to simultaneously grab and control sixty small Fire Needles with your mental power."
"That's right."
"That's not 'that's right'!"
A dumbfounded laugh involuntarily escaped Edward's lips.
"It's not that difficult. If I had to control each one separately, I wouldn't say it was easy, but all I did was calculate the coordinates in advance and drop them simultaneously."
"......"
Edward was speechless for a moment.
"Okay. I won't ask how you calculated that. But let me ask you just one thing. If you divided the Fire Needles, the power would have decreased that much, so how did you kill them in one shot with that?"
They knew Kain's Fire Needles were strong.
Even if Ed poured all his mental power into creating one, it would probably lose out in firepower to a Fire Needle Kain created as easily as snapping his fingers.
But even though he had split each of those into four, it was hard to understand how the Snow Rabbits had just collapsed in one shot without doing anything.
Kain briefly explained the Snow Rabbit's skull structure.
"O-oh, there was something like that..."
"I had no idea. How do you know things like that?"
"It's information you can find if you just read the books in the East Wing's archive and the records room in detail. It's good to train your magic usually, but if you don't know information about monsters in real combat, it's difficult to deal with sudden situations like this."
"Ah, the records room!"
Edward slapped his forehead with a look of utter disbelief.
"So that was the reason you said you were going to the records room right after the lesson ended. You really are something, Kain."
"H-he even listened so intently during the lessons... A-and he went to study even after it ended..."
"......"
...That's not it.
Kain subtly turned his gaze towards the Snow Rabbits.
'Well, does it matter?'
He had gone to the records room to look at the Bederman Clan's support records, but there was no need to correct them.
"I should study monsters a bit when we get back."
"I-I thought I was doing a pretty good job, but I guess I need to reflect..."
Fohn muttered, slightly dejected.
Kain casually changed the subject.
"Still, compared to when I first saw you, your skill in handling Fire Needles has improved quite a bit. Adding rotation to pierce the Snow Rabbits and taking down multiple at once was a good strategy."
"R-really?"
Edward and Fohn's expressions brightened at Kain's compliment.
"Yeah, right after you taught us that, we practiced a lot right away! Once we got the hang of it, it was fun to see it improve every time we practiced."
"Y-yeah, thanks, Kain. Hehe."
Edward and Fohn seemed genuinely happy.
'...They remind me of my old disciples.'
-Master! I finally did it! I finally understand what you meant!
-Well done. You can write it down in the codex as I taught you.
-Ah, about that...
-What's wrong?
-N-nothing! I think I'll just write down my interpretation of it and pass it on! Anyway, thank you so much! No one would have taught me this kind of approach if it wasn't for you, Master.
Although it took time, his disciples showed joyful expressions and expressed their gratitude every time they applied a new realization to their magic.
'They were slow but diligent and good kids.'
Those disciples, what on earth happened to them in the past that the clan...?
'No. Now is the time to focus on what I need to do.'
Kain shook his head, brushing away the chain of thoughts.
Then he briefly checked the condition of Edward, Fohn, and Bolio for the last time.
They didn't have any injuries, and they seemed to have enough stamina left to keep moving.
He nodded slightly and was about to turn his head back when Bolio called out to Kain.
"Hey, Kain."
"What is it?"
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
Bolio was looking at Kain with a slightly sulky expression.
"What is there to say?"
"Y'know, that thing you did with Edward and Fohn... that feedback stuff."
At those words, Edward, who was next to him, burst into laughter first.
"Pwahaha! Kain, Bolio wants you to praise him too!"
"Hey, it's not like that! I just mean, tell me honestly!"
"Was that it? Hmm, you've compensated well for the weaknesses I pointed out. If you continue like that, the number of spells you can handle at once will increase faster. However, once you go beyond ten Fire Balls, it would be better to focus on training Fire Arrows rather than just increasing the number."
Bolio's expression subtly changed at Kain's answer.
"...Thanks."
"Whoa, Bolio. Are you blushing right now?"
"You wanna die?"
"If you're done, come over here and help cut off the Snow Rabbits' ears. We still have a long way to go."
Kain said, taking out the dagger at his waist.
