IWSE 11

“Just how much farther do we have to go?”

“Elodie Fontaine. Are you sure this is the right direction?”

Louise and Tristan grumbled, pouting their lips. Honestly, they had absolutely no patience. Elodie’s eyelid twitched at the familiar exhaustion she hadn’t experienced in quite some time.

“You know my memory is accurate.”

Louise nodded while munching on a sweet potato.

“True. You even found the buried sweet potato vines right away. I guess your head wasn’t damaged when you fell after all.”

“Hmm. She’s already so frail. It would be a disaster if she got any more damaged.”

Tristan flexed his muscles proudly and called out to Robert.

“Are we finally going to meet His Highness the Prince?”

“Hey. I’m hungry.”

The black ponytail whipped around, striking Elodie across the cheek. Ouch, that stings. It had been a long time since she’d experienced something like this, too.

“Louise, you just ate two sweet potatoes…”

“There are more left, aren’t there?”

“……”

Her slender arms obediently rummaged through her bag.

Ah, I miss Red.

Red’s egg, which should be sleeping peacefully inside the cave. A dark crimson circle flickered in her violet eyes. Elodie continued walking, coaxing and indulging these troublesome people, who were even harder to handle than a baby dragon.

An hour later.

“Argh! What the hell is this? Hey, Elodie!”

The muddy ground swallowed all three of their shoes. No matter where they stepped, their feet kept slipping and sinking.

We got here sooner than I expected.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. Was this where it began? Having grown into an excellent con artist, Elodie flailed her arms around.

“Ugh. It’s because this is a swamp. Louise, be careful.”

“A swamp? The entire area ahead?”

“There are places where you can step in between, but…”

“Ahem!” Tristan crossed his thick arms.

“His Highness passed through here?”

“There was definitely a battle here!”

Elodie Fontaine made her passionate claim without even moistening her lips.

It’s not a lie.

They had definitely passed through here about two weeks ago, after all.

Tristan lifted his foot with an uneasy expression.

“Ahem. To think His Highness had to pass through such an unpleasant place…”

“……Hey.”

Louise frowned and tapped Tristan on the shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“Uh… I’m not sure.”

Bubbles of air were rising from the ground. It was about time to start backing away.

“They’re toads. The monsters around here are a little strange.”

Elodie calmly increased the distance between herself and the two.

Pop. Pop.

Thick bubbles burst over the sticky, filthy mud. A monster encyclopedia flipped open in Elodie’s mind.

“Croak.”

Leotoad. A Class 3 monster by Imperial standards. Its bumpy skin was hard and tough. It wasn’t particularly difficult to deal with, but…

If you don’t cut off its life quickly, it’s a nasty creature that can even regenerate on its own.

Elodie pursed her lips and shrugged.

Go on, my shields.

The black ponytail leaped forward first.

“Argh! Disgusting!”

The one advantage Elodie could name about Louise Charmant was her tremendous mana, which was just as fierce as her terrible temper.

BZZZZT!

The cleanup didn’t take long.

Just ten minutes. In the swamp where the electricity had swept through, corpses of Class 3 monsters, Leotoads, were piled up like mountains.

“Tch. They’re not even good enough for a warm-up.”

Her rhododendron-pink eyes curved arrogantly. Elodie was a little impressed.

She actually fried them all?

It was a decision made without giving a single thought to how much farther the swamp might extend.

If it were me…

If she were alone, she would have chosen to sneak through. Elodie Fontaine had neither the experience nor the confidence to freeze a large number of enemies at once.

But Louise was different.

“How many times am I going to have to use Clean Magic?”

The only thing Elodie heard was her irritated voice, completely free of anxiety. Looking up at the elegant young lady, Elodie couldn’t help feeling envious.

Exceptional stamina, overflowing mana, and dazzling talent.

“Hey. Just you dare lead us in the wrong direction.”

……And a truly awful temper.

The first day went relatively smoothly.

Crackle!

“Savages!”

A black spear struck down like lightning into the open mouth of a toad.

“Come out all at once! Are there any more?”

“Ahem. Don’t get carried away. It would be troublesome if you wandered too far away.”

Tristan frowned and adjusted his grip on his shield.

“Croak!”

The Mithril shield sliced through the long tongue that suddenly shot up from beneath the ground.

“……Louise, fall back. With Sylvia not here, you need to be careful.”

“Shut up!”

Tristan’s lips twitched as he frowned.

“Hah. Fine. Let’s see what you can do.”

His thick, bare hand disappeared into the swamp.

Grab!

“Croak?”

Tristan lifted a toad nearly as large as his own upper body with one hand.

“Grrrr!”

The black tongue wrapped around his muscular arm, but it was the monster that burst apart. Tristan began slamming the toad into the ground with thunderous force.

Two hours later.

“Aaaaah! This is so annoying! Are you absolutely sure this is the right place?!”

“Hmm. Somehow, it seems like their numbers keep increasing the farther we go.”

Well, of course they did. The place they were heading toward was the toads’…

“Ah!”

Elodie flinched and stepped backward.

“Croak.”

Sometimes, monsters that the two had failed to notice approached from behind, just like this one. In situations like these, there was a simple rule.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

All she had to do was scream as loudly as she could. Elodie dropped to the ground with a miserable expression.

“Aaaaaah! If I die here, we’ll never find His Highness!”

Tristan’s eyes flashed.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

The enormous knight’s shield shot toward them in an instant. The gleaming Mithril shield split the monster in half. Tristan then came charging over and immediately began scolding her.

“Elodie Fontaine! Stop wandering off for no reason and stay right beside us! And you!”

His deep blue eyes glared at Louise.

“Stop rushing ahead all the time and protect Elodie Fontaine!”

“You want me to waste my time protecting someone like her?”

“She’s the only one who can find the way! You nearly got yourself killed just now!”

“So what? Why don’t you just stay right beside her yourself?”

“Obviously, a mage should—!”

“I’m a magic lancer, you muscle-headed idiot!”

So this kind of day has finally come.

Elodie watched the two of them bicker with a peaceful mind. Ice Magic? Was there really any need to show it off?

Let them struggle a little.

The Leotoads’ habitat was an enormous swamp notorious even in the western region. And their destination was the place where their leader resided.

“Huff… Huff…”

“I’m starting to feel sick just looking at toads… Urgh.”

Mud dripped from Louise’s once-pale cheeks. Perhaps she no longer had the energy to throw tantrums, because she had become considerably quieter.

“Louise, it’s food.”

“Argh! Get that away from me!”

……Grilled toad was such a precious source of protein here. Elodie promptly put a skewer into her mouth. Louise’s face twisted into a demonic expression.

“Just how much farther do we have to go?! We’ve been searching for three whole days! If we haven’t found them by now, doesn’t that mean they’ve moved somewhere else?”

“Hmm. His Highness would never stay in such a filthy place for long. He must have already left the swamp.”

What nonsense.

Before her regression, Robert’s group had come to the swamp for one reason only: to satisfy their hunger. Back then, they had to eat even toads just to survive.

Elodie let her shoulders droop and blinked.

“I’m certain there was a battle here. Then, should we move farther down starting this afternoon?”

The expressions on both their faces immediately brightened. It seemed they had grown thoroughly sick of the swamp.

“Let’s climb up to that hill first, look around, and then come back down.”

“Hmm. High ground is always important. We should check whether Lord Robert left any signs behind.”

Elodie silently followed the two, who had quickened their pace. As their shoes repeatedly sank into the mud ahead of her, she didn’t forget to secretly spread a layer of cold beneath her feet. She had to struggle to keep herself from humming.

Having Louise around makes controlling my mana so much easier.

The Charmant Ducal Family’s hereditary magic was Aether Charmant. It was the Blessing of Mana. Louise possessed a rare ability that allowed her to infuse others with her own mana, which flowed like a waterfall.

……And yet, she picked up a spear because studying magic was boring.

Well, who could possibly stop someone with that kind of personality?

Elodie rubbed her aching calves as she climbed the steep hill.

“What? There’s nothing here after all.”

Louise placed her hands on her hips, looking relieved.

“……Where on earth has His Highness gone?”

Elodie looked up at Tristan, whose shoulders had slumped, and shrugged.

“We’ll meet him soon.”

At that very moment, the swamp beneath the hill split apart.

KWA-BOOOOM!