Volume 10 Chapter 1 Pursuers(Ask)
Al pulled his hood low to avoid being seen by the guard and slipped through the south gate. The morning bell had already rung, and a few adventurers were heading out to hunt Barbarians. Maybe it was because of the Mushroom Festival today, but there were way fewer people than usual. The guard kept glancing at Patricia. Since her identity was a secret, they shouldn't recognize her, but her looks and platinum blonde hair were hard to miss. Because of that, they didn't pay much attention to Al and Joanna beside her.
"Finally, we're leaving! Sir Al, I've been so excited for these 3 days!"
Once the guard was out of sight, Patricia said, slightly out of breath. She hadn't realized it, but Al had been walking a bit faster due to nerves.
"Ah, sorry. I'll walk a little slower."
"It's okay! I can keep up just fine..."
Patricia said happily, lightly skipping as she looked at Al. Joanna watched them with a slightly exasperated expression.
She seemed really excited. Al alsp heard that, for security and secrecy reasons, she hadn't been allowed to leave the lord's mansion except when Ruella took her out.
It had been a long time since she could walk outside without worrying about being watched. He can understand why Ruella was so worried about her. They had to be careful about a magic tool that could eavesdrop, so they couldn't talk freely. But thanks to Guildmaster Levy giving him a magic bag with a belt pouch, he felt a lot less tense about being listened to.
"This place is dangerous, so stay close to me or Lady Joanna, okay?"
"Yes. I won't leave Sir Al's side."
Patricia replied cheerfully, and Joanna walking beside her smiled a little and nodded. The guards at the mansion were probably in a panic right now because the magic tool in Patricia's room had stopped responding.
Al had asked Joanna to help him. He placed a small stone under Patricia's bed that was set to stop the 'Light' spell just when the morning bell rang. To the guards using the 'Detect Magic' tool, the stone would look just like the magic hairpin. This was a trick. When the 'Light' spell ended, the guards would think the hairpin suddenly stopped working. They would believe that Patricia had vanished.
"Is this the true frontier, south of the border city Lester?"
Patricia stretched a bit and looked around. To the south, the Holden River flowed, and wetlands spread out. She couldn't see any adventurers, but they should still be nearby. If Al used the 'Fly' spell, they would be spotted flying. As someone being chased, he wanted to keep his ability to use 'Fly' a secret.
"True... well, yeah. South from here, there are a lot more Barbarians and magic beasts. It might be better to call it an uncivilized land than just a frontier."
Al had been to places he could reach in a day many times, but he only went further when he was with a caravan or a knight group. As they walked while Al explained what to be careful about in the area, he suddenly heard Glee's voice.
'Ally, a transparent round ball is coming!'
Just to be safe, he had combined the 'Floating Eye' spell and the 'Magic Sense' spell to keep watch behind them, but it seemed Glee noticed first. Looking through the 'Floating Eye,' he saw a small ball floating about a hundred meters behind them, moving quickly in their direction.
"Did they find our location and send a 'Floating Eye'?" Al thought. The magician using the 'Floating Eye' could be a spy from the Tempest Kingdom, or maybe Eric, who works for Viscount Lester. There might also be another magician named Wald serving the Viscount, and Al didn't know if there were others.
Al quickly put on his hood and carefully watched as the 'Floating Eye' approached, trying not to be noticed. The 'Floating Eye' slowed down a bit above them.
It was unclear if it noticed Patricia. There were still people walking around, so it was probably trying to see their faces.
'Dispel Magic.'
Al waited for the 'Floating Eye' to get close enough and then canceled the spell.
"What happened?"
Joanna asked, looking confused. Patricia also had a puzzled expression.
"'Floating Eye' is watching us. I thought about ignoring it, but I want to draw it in for now. I used 'Dispel Magic' to make it disappear. Someone noticed us moving. With that quick reaction, I think it's a spy from Tempest Kingdom. Using 'Floating Eye' at this distance would tire them out, but maybe reinforcements for the planned attack on the Levy merchant guild have arrived."
"Are they already chasing us?"
Al's words made the two look at each other. They couldn't believe it. Al didn't want to believe it either. He had also overused 'Floating Eye' before and felt exhausted. It's easier to keep it above your head like this, but using it for long-range scouting is tough for Al too. Still, it's better to be cautious.
"There's a hill ahead where we camped during the caravan escort. I know the area, so it's easier to stay alert. It will take us 4 or 5 hours to walk there, but if we fly, we'll get there in no time. There shouldn't be any adventurers nearby, so using 'Fly' won't attract attention."
Seeing the two nod, Al used the 'Carrier' spell to create chairs for them to sit side by side.
"This time, we have chairs instead of running away from the lord's mansion."
"Yeah, Lady Joanna, there were watchful eyes back then. Sit deep and hold onto the armrests tightly."
"Okay." "Okay."
Patricia looked happy, but Joanna's voice was a bit shaky. They had met at the hot spring in Clarence Village and then moved to the remote city of Lester, doing something similar, but this time it was the 'Fly' spell.
'Fly.'
Al's body floated gently. At the same time, Patricia and Joanna's chairs also lifted off the ground.
"Wow!" "Eek!"
"Are you okay?"
The two held onto the armrests with one hand and tightly gripped each other's hands with the other. Joanna squeezed her eyes shut.
"Yes, Sir Al. Joanna... it's okay. Since it's you, there's nothing to worry about."
Patricia squeezed Joanna's hand to encourage her. Joanna opened her eyes a little and looked at Patricia. Patricia's way of speaking was a bit strange, but there was no time to correct it. Seeing Joanna nod with a pale face, she slowly nodded back.
"Joanna seems a bit scared of heights. But it's okay."
"I see. Well, what should I do...?"
Right now, the chairs had armrests on both sides, but even holding onto them, sudden turns or stops in the air could be dangerous. It might be better to change their shape to support their bodies.
'Magic Power Control.'
The chairs could move without using a spell, but to change their shape, Al needed to use the 'Magic Power Control' spell. He transformed the chairs, adding a round bar near their knees. Now, they couldn't suddenly stand up, but they wouldn't fall off either.
"Okay, please hold that stick tightly. We're going to go slowly."
Al said this and then smoothly increased the altitude.
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