Volume 2 Chapter 6 First Quest - Investigation
The next day, when I introduced Toxy to Clay, they hit it off right away. Clay, just like the rest of the group, accepted Toxy without any fuss.
I made sure to mention that she was a poison magician, but Clay didn't seem to mind at all.
Considering that I used to have a bit of a dislike for poison magic back when I didn't have memories from my past life, I was curious about Clay's openness. When I asked him about it, he said,
"I used to have those prejudices too. But after seeing how impressive Wade-kun was with his Slow Magic, I had to rethink things."
If someone were to tell me, "You're the one who took off your colored glasses," I wouldn't feel offended either. So, the four of us decided to take on the quest we had abandoned before, hunting down night thieves in the forest.
"So, this is the forest..."
After walking for about an hour outside the city, there was a forest. Although it didn't have a particularly well-known name, it was said that bow adventurers spend most of their time here in order to make deliveries.
"If you go deep into the back, it becomes a mountain, and it is said to be connected to Mount Olympus. Since it's a sacred mountain, unless something big happens, we don't intrude too far and just operate around here."
Toxy, a copper-tier adventurer who had been operating solo for six months, explained. I think I've heard of Olympus somewhere before... oh well.
"Do you think there's a possibility that thieves are advancing deeper into the mountains?"
"I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it's low enough that we can probably ignore it. Even thieves have faith. Without it, they wouldn't be worthy enemies."
It wasn't Toxy who answered, but Clay. I frowned at the mention of "faith."
"Well, anyway, I guess we just have to search for the thieves in the forest, right? Still, it seems like it'll be tough to find them."
I nodded in agreement with Ice's words, crossing my arms as I thought. It would be helpful if we had a wind magician who could search over a wide area, but we didn't have anyone like that in our group.
"Sorry about that. If I had a bit more earth magic, there's a spell for that."
"Don't worry about it, Clay. Just let us know when you can do it."
"Of course, Wade-kun."
While offering some comfort to the slightly apologetic Clay, I turned to Toxy, the bow adventurer, and asked,
"Toxy, how do you go about this kind of investigation?"
"Hmm... we just proceed as usual and follow any traces we find. That's how it usually goes when hunting animals."
"I see..."
"Footprints are a classic. And then, if it's humans, you can tell if the grass and trees have been unnaturally cut. Like, 'Ah, they forced their way through with a knife.'"
Hearing that, I couldn't help but feel impressed. Ah, those are the words of a hunter, I thought. Clearly, Toxy had enough experience to support herself solo for half a year.
However, I had a plan of my own.
"I want to try something out. Can I give it a shot first?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure."
With Toxy's approval, I turned to Ice.
"Remember that snowman you created earlier? I recall that you can gather visual information from it, Ice. So, I was thinking, if I could use gravity magic to lift that snowman and quickly survey the area around us..."
"Uh, yeah... b-but that might take too much time."
"?"
I tilted my head in confusion at Ice's perplexity.
"Can you only create one snowman?"
"Hmm..."
After hearing me, Ice created one snowman. Then, another one.
"...I didn't know I could do that."
Ice said, looking surprised. I chuckled and asked, "I think you could make as many as possible?"
In the end, Ice could create up to ten snowmen with the new magic. Beyond that, Ice explained, "I can’t make any more—I just kind of know, you know?"
Well, ten snowmen should be enough, I figured.
I cast [Weight Reduce] on all of them, and they began to float gently into the air.
"How's the view from up there?"
"Y-yeah. I can see... It's like they're watching us from ten different angles."
"Huh, so that's how it works. Ice-san's new magic could be pretty handy."
Seeing how impressed he was, I thought, Clay's got a good head on his shoulders.
Then, I jumped up and flicked each snowman, sending them flying in all directions. As I landed, I asked,
"What do you think?"
"Yeah... I can see over a wide area...! Oh, but could you not make them float any higher? It's getting hard to see from far away."
"Got it."
I reduced the [Weight Reduce] on the snowmen slightly. If I balanced it with the weight of the air, they should maintain their altitude.
After releasing the snowman scouts, five minutes passed. Figuring I shouldn’t just stand around, I started walking when Ice said, "I think I found something."
"Wow...! Finding thieves in such a short time? Normally, quests like this would take days without a Wind Magician."
Yeah, the reward was enough for a few days' worth of work from a few people. Most of it must be the time spent searching. If that's the case, this quest might end up being quite profitable.
"Which way?"
"Over there, I think."
Closing her eyes, Ice pointed ahead. We nodded to each other and proceeded in that direction.
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