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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Treatment
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Please take good care of me.
If it were Earth's wild animals, a human riding a lizard—a creature far larger than itself—might have overwhelmed them with an attack. But the magic beasts of this world were different.
Unless thoroughly trained and raised from infancy, they never shed their hatred for humans.
With a growl, the Blade Leopard charged at the squires.
"Where do you think you're going!"
In stark contrast to its spirited leap, the leopard, lightly pierced by the squires' extended spears, hesitated and fell back.
At the very least, the Blade Leopard's hide wasn't tough enough to ignore the spears.
"I'll block it from the front!"
The moment the younger of the two boy squires stepped forward a few paces, the Blade Leopard swung its forepaw like a punch.
The blade on the back of its forepaw—about a handspan long—was the primary reason this magic beast was called a Blade Leopard.
The two spears caught on its blade claws were both sliced clean off.
"Boras! Sword!"
As the still-young boy squire recoiled in horror and tried to retreat, the female squire beside him shouted sharply and drew her sword.
Hearing her, the boy hurriedly tried to draw his own sword, but it was already too late.
Sensing the weak foe with ghostly precision, the Blade Leopard leaped at the boy.
Unable to properly draw his weapon, the boy was helplessly seized and thrown from the lizard.
"Uwaaaak!"
"No!"
The woman raced forward on her lizard, using the momentum to strike at the Blade Leopard's head.
It was a move that could have crushed the boy beneath it in one go if mistimed, but whether by luck or skill, the attack precisely gouged out both of the leopard's eyes.
The Blade Leopard, which had been about to finish off the pinned boy, let out a wretched scream and thrashed wildly on the ground.
"Ugh..."
"It's dead!"
Instead of helping the sprawled boy, the female squire bellowed and charged at the leopard.
That approach was perilously dangerous too.
Even blinded and berserk, the Blade Leopard reacted sharply to the stabbing attacks, swinging its forepaw.
One wrong move, and a slash to the head or neck would kill her in an instant.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"It is."
Arsen unwittingly voiced his concern, but Palato's response was utterly matter-of-fact.
As if it were the most natural thing.
"Knights grow by feasting on blood, after all. That's how knights are forged—in the brink of death."
Palato's words reminded Arsen of his own awakening.
The cold well, his chilled body—it fit the phrase "brink of death" perfectly.
"Do knights normally awaken that way?"
"Exactly. The proper path is to rigorously train the body until mana takes root, then awaken in the heat of extreme combat. Though, exceedingly rarely, there are those like you who awaken without such training. One of my estate's veteran knights did, back when I was a boy, or so I heard."
Only then did Arsen resolve one of the questions nagging at him.
Given the skill Palato had shown in spars, it had seemed odd that so many squires traveling with knights would die.
No matter how strong the knights, standing back with arms crossed and letting squires fight life-or-death battles naturally led to heavy casualties.
"It's surprising there are so many aspiring squires."
"Isn't it obvious? Becoming a knight means gaining everything—worth risking your life for."
After hearing Palato out, Arsen could somewhat grasp the knights' mindset.
They were like hardcore veterans of a game with sky-high entry barriers.
They felt kinship with those who'd endured the same trials, but treated noobs—who'd likely crash and burn before clearing the barrier—like dirt.
Arsen had slipped into this cliquey society easily because he'd already cleared the barrier and was a confirmed joiner.
Just then, a wretched scream echoed from ahead—not human, but from the magic beast.
They could see the Blade Leopard sprawled with a sword buried in its chest.
The female squire, astride the leopard's corpse, heaved ragged breaths.
"Looks like it's over, Sir Palato."
"Let's go."
The three led their mounts toward the scene of the ended fight.
It was a gruesome sight.
The sword-slashed Blade Leopard was reduced to tatters, and the female squire's armor was shredded like paper in places, blood oozing from her wounds.
The boy squire who'd been first attacked lay collapsed—unclear if fainted or dead.
Palato asked the chief squire, who was checking if the boy lived.
"Is Boras alive?"
"Yes. A few broken ribs and a head injury, but no threat to his life."
"Green kid. Assign him to internal estate patrols for a while."
"Understood."
It wasn't a light injury at all, yet neither asker nor answerer showed a hint of gravity.
As if it were routine.
The female squire, having applied medicine and bandaged her wounds for first aid, staggered toward Palato.
"Olga."
"The hunt... is finished, Sir Palato."
"Feel it yet?"
"Not yet, it seems."
"Pity."
Palato left that soulless, curt reply and turned away.
Behind him, the female squire bit her lip in frustration.
Then, a thunderous roar echoed from afar.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■-!
"That sound..."
"Fire Monkey, Sir Palato!"
"Fall back behind me."
Moments later, amid crashing trees in terrifying fury, a massive magic beast over 3 meters tall burst from the forest with a racket.
True to its name, its eyes blazed like fire, and its muscled body resembled a gorilla more than a monkey.
Its hide, thick with fur, wouldn't take a blade easily.
Facing such a foe, Palato gripped a javelin in one hand and leaned his body back.
At the same time, Jin, his mount, bent its legs in sync.
"Take this..."
Then Jin sprang forward like a released spring, extending its hind legs.
Palato, thrusting his leaned-back body forward, hurled the javelin with all his might.
"Eat this!"
From Jin's leg to Palato's hand, the javelin flew like a bullet, propelled by perfect human-beast unity.
It pierced the Fire Monkey's chest smoothly, without resistance.
The thick fur, hide, and chest muscles couldn't withstand the spear laden with immense power and mana.
Gurrrrk—!
The Fire Monkey, impaled squarely in a lung, gurgled blood from its mouth, then gaped wide and spewed flames.
The heat would have cooked a normal person's lungs on contact.
But Palato casually drew his shield to block the fire as he retreated.
Amazingly, the shield was only slightly singed—the flames did no harm to Palato or his Jin.
"Fall back! No need to rush; the spear's in its lung!"
Despite blood flooding its lung and no breath left, the Fire Monkey showed dazzling fighting spirit.
Using its limbs like a gorilla, it charged wildly, intent on dragging its tormentor to hell with it.
But compared to Palato astride Jin, it was like a sloth lunging at a cat.
Dodging the charge with nimble footwork, Palato plunged another spear into the opposite lung. The Fire Monkey thrashed in agony before collapsing, seemingly lifeless.
Arsen approached the catching-his-breath Palato and expressed pure admiration.
"Impressive."
"This is nothing. Tough for squires, maybe, but any knight handles a Fire Monkey easily. Bonus lesson..."
As Palato turned to Arsen mid-sentence, the fallen Fire Monkey sprang up using its hands like a spring.
Its blazing eyes fixed on Palato's back, brimming with hate.
"Sir Palato!"
At Arsen's shocked shout, Palato—as if in reply—drew the sword at his waist, spun, and swung.
The Fire Monkey, reaching for Palato, collapsed headless.
"Most magic beasts have strong vitality. Never let your guard down till you've severed the neck."
"...Understood."
Only then did Palato remove his helmet, raking back his sweat-matted hair with a grin.
"Not a bad lesson, eh?"
"Did you do that on purpose, knowing it might still be alive?"
"I was mindful. Truth is, the right way is to finish off downed foes from range with a javelin like this."
Palato patted the javelin on his saddle.
It slightly shattered the illusion that the flashy scene was staged for teaching, but Palato's prowess left a profound impression.
The skill he'd shown sparring Arsen, other squires, or knights in the training grounds was less than half his true ability.
That fight was a textbook on how a knight masterfully handling Jin dominates magic beasts.
"Watching you, Sir Palato, makes me want a Jin too."
"Keep at it. Won't you earn one once you've got knight-level skill? Though you'll have to hound Sir Luden for it."
At Palato's order, the chief squire sliced open the Fire Monkey's lower belly and extracted a round orb.
According to Palato, it held intense heat.
"It's what keeps our estate warm in winter too. Pop one in a stove, and it's toasty. One orb heats a whole big building all season."
"Sir Luden makes those too?"
"Obviously. Who else but a mage?"
Arsen found it ironic—they feared and shunned mages yet relied on them to survive.
But mages and knights alike depended on each other in this world's structure.
Mages couldn't fight strong magic beasts or other knights; knights couldn't craft the magic tools aiding combat and life.
That thought sparked Arsen's curiosity.
Was Luden content in this setup? Holed up in his tower like isolation, endlessly churning out estate-needed magic tools.
'I'll ask him when I get back.'
* * *
"Are you an idiot? Few places treat mages as well as this estate."
The answer came the next day after returning from patrol, right after Arsen asked Luden.
Scowling with one eye like he'd seen every fool alive, Luden continued.
"As I said before, from wandering place to place learning magic in my youth: most estate lords and castle lords are scum. Locking mages in towers is tame; some cut ankles or gouge eyes to prevent escape. Dumb ones think mages are evil and should be hunted down."
He growled low, adding,
"My master lost an ankle to an estate lord who wanted to keep his mage from fleeing."
Arsen nodded silently at Luden's grim words.
"Plus, I'm not barred from leaving the tower—I just don't. The lord's never stopped me. What's the point of going out and meeting people? No good comes of it."
After that half-defensive, shut-in excuse, Luden bowed his head and swung his hammer.
The utterly crumpled greatsword glowed red with magic, slowly straightening.
"Anyway! This! Weble! Bastard! His weapons! Armor! Are filthy! Dirty!"
With each hammer strike came a curse at the sword's owner, like a chant.
Arsen's initial question—"Why's a mage so buff?"—upon first meeting Luden dissolved after more interactions.
As Luden had said, he wasn't just a magic tool mage; he was the estate's knights' armorer and smith.
Using magic for crafting and repair while enchanting weapons and armor made him the top smith.
"Can't you use magic for hammering or repairs?"
"If you learn a spell like that, please tell me. Eloise learning smithing's already got me in the dark. Speaking of, where'd that girl run off to? I told her to learn repairs."
Grumbling, Luden waved Arsen off.
"Go fetch Eloise. Feels like she bolts whenever you show up. You two lovebirds fight or something? Patch it up."
"I've barely spoken to her properly—what lovebirds? And she's just a kid."
"You're talking like she's not a kid yourself? Sure, she's tall as a beanpole, but you're same age."
Arsen shut his mouth—it was true.
Being treated like a knight around the estate often made him forget his physical age.
He'd grown taller and filled out lately, but he was still ten.
"Just go get her. Who'll make your gear when I'm too old to swing a hammer?"