Now that it had become a reality, it was a god-like skill that always drew out magic completely based on the Empress’s will, optimized for dealing with enemies.
“Take it, Fireball!”
The name was absurdly modest compared to her grandiose posture and immense mana. Yet, the tip of her wand began to create small sparks resembling the sun.
Seeing this, Cadet Ian couldn’t understand why she had named the spell “Fireball.”
Whoa—!
The fireball on the tip of the wand vibrated violently before shooting off in the distance. The fireball, which seemed to be flying too far for a monster directly below it, landed several hundred meters away from the castle walls.
And at that moment, it was as if the sun rose in the horizon.
Whoo-woo-woo!
The intense flames engulfed every insect-type demon, and the heat didn’t stop there—it reached the top of the castle walls.
The summoners leading the summons on the walls stared blankly at the crater.
“What…the?”
“Who is…?”
Such a thing was impossible for a 2-star summon, and the blow seemed far too powerful, even for a 3-star summon.
Surprised by the performance that could only be shown by dukes with 4-star summons, the summoners looked around to find the source of the fireball.
“Hmmm, how is it summoner? I’ve been waiting to use it for a while.”
Whether or not she knew that others were looking for her, the Empress spoke confidently, her chest proudly out.
Ian applauded without a word.
At the sight of this, the Empress’s nose rose even further.
* * *
[Ian’s POV]
Shortly after the incident, I was called by the Earl.
Seeing me, he smiled warmly and waved his hand for a handshake.
“Good work!”
As if he had finally taken a bath, he appeared relaxed, holding my hand with a clean face.
Then, he began str0king the back of my hand, as if he was looking at something precious.
But since it wasn’t a woman but a man doing this, it gave me goosebumps, and I instinctively pulled my hand back.
“… What are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I got a little too excited.”
He sat down and drank his tea to calm himself. Drinking the hot tea as if it were cold water, he refilled his cup and drank again.
“Whoa—this tastes good.”
“… Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Actually, if I don’t drink like this, I won’t feel calm. Anyway, do you know why I called you?”
I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to let him know that I didn’t know. I just smiled and stayed silent, and he roughly guessed what I was thinking, then explained why he called me.
“It’s to say thank you.”
“… Thank you?”
“Yeah. I struggled for days with those damn worms. Didn’t you fix it all at once? It was awesome.”
After hearing that, I started to understand a bit.
After suffering for weeks without even being able to wash his hands because of the human-sized insects that entered his territory, the Earl was probably feeling a similar exhilaration as if a saviour had appeared and burned the insects to death at once.
“Well, you probably didn’t call me just to say that…”
“Of course not! Hey, have you ever heard of guerrillas?”
“… Is this a joke?”
I had listened, slept, and trained so much that I grew tired of it. Just hearing the word “guerrilla” made my teeth tremble.
When I showed that I knew what a guerrilla was, the Count gave me a bright smile and explained his intentions.
“This is the power of demons, as investigated by our reconnaissance team.”
“Hmm. It’s pretty close.”
“And this is the map I made a month ago.”
Saying so, the Count handed me two maps. I couldn’t help but exclaim at the clear difference between the two.
“… Only one month?”
“Yeah.”
“In a month, they’ve pushed so much, but you haven’t taken any action?”
“Did you think that I was just playing around for a month?”
His words reminded me of his mournful demeanor and disheveled state when I first arrived here. He looked so filthy that one might think he was a savage barbarian.
After thinking about it, I realized that it wasn’t that he hadn’t done anything for a month. It was that he had done everything he could, and reached the limit of his abilities.
“I’m ashamed to say this to a cadet, but right now, in our territory, there are no summoners who can inflict damage on demons.”
“…but now you have a way to stop it?”
“Yeah, now I can afford it. Enough to make things go from defense to offense.”
“The best defense is offense.”
“You sure do know your stuff.”
If you keep defending forever, you will eventually collapse. The way to defend the enemy’s attack was to attack them back and push them away.
“Will you not do it?”
He handed me a map, and appeared to be quite ashamed.
How shameful would it be for an adult to leave everything to a child, and how shameful for a noble to have to appoint a cadet to lead?
‘The reward is… probably not that big.’
The mission was dangerous, with fewer rewards.
It was dangerous mission to enter a place full of life-threatening enemies.
The only thing that could be achieved was peace and the future of mankind.
“I’ll do it.”
But perhaps, that would be enough.
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