Volume 20 Chapter 4 Young Man
Al floated above the hut where Lamia was thought to be, while keeping an eye on the motionless magician of the Marquis Prentis family.
Even though he defended against the magic's Magic Shockwave spell with his metal armor and shield spell, his whole body still ached.
He might have even cracked a rib.
He didn't think he had let his guard down as a scout, but perhaps he had been careless.
Normally, Glee would use the 'Floating Eye' to monitor threats approaching Al from nearly all directions.
He had become complacent because of that.
'Looks clear. No one in sight. The fallen magician isn't breathing either.'
"Thank you, Glee."
Al approached the magician without lowering his guard and carefully touched the body.
It was still warm, but there was no pulse.
Finally, Al let out a big sigh of relief.
He searched the corpse for belongings.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to indicate the magician's identity.
In fact, he didn't have a wallet or any food.
Moreover, it seemed he didn't even have the button-shaped magic tool that had been used to produce barrels of grain for the Barbarians.
"What's going on?"
Did he leave his belongings somewhere and then attack?
Al looked toward where the man had first cast the magic's Magic Shockwave spell.
Upon closer inspection, the underbrush in other areas had been trimmed to muffle sound while walking.
It seemed this ambush had been planned down to the smallest detail.
Losing over 2 thousand gold coins (which had been counted by High-Rank Worker Golems at the research tower, specifically 2105 gold coins) might have been a blow, but was there certainty that the enemy would come here?
After thinking for a while, he couldn't come up with anything.
Al decided to follow the traces while enduring the pain.
To be safe, he cast the 'Shield' spell on himself and store the corpse in the button-shaped magic bag he originally had.
He hesitated a bit about tracking the traces with 'Floating Eye', but decided to go himself. His body hurts, but he judged he could manage.
Carefully following the traces of cut grass and branches, he advanced cautiously and came across a large rock.
This rock had traces of climbing up and down, and footprints were left behind.
There are 2 types of footprints.
One matches the shoes worn by the mage he defeated earlier, and the other seems to belong to someone slightly lighter in weight but of a similar size.
Someone was likely watching from above this rock.
Around the rock, trees were dense, so even if someone was on top, they probably wouldn't be noticed from the sky.
From that rock, he could see well where he was attacked.
After advancing about 100 meters further, he detected a response with the 'Detect Magic' spell.
There is one magic response and 3 magic tool responses.
Following that, he found an exposed rock on the ground about 40 meters (131ft) ahead, where there was an inconspicuous crack.
The magic and magic tool responses seem to be about 10 (32.8ft) to 15 meters (49ft) deeper inside.
The crack is one meter (3.3 feet) wide and 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) high; a well-built adult could likely crawl inside.
That said, it's still too dangerous for Al to simply peek into that hole.
Al hides in terrain that is less likely to be ambushed and sends out the 'Floating Eye' again.
'Sensory Boost' 'Night Sight'
The eye slowly enters the crack.
Once it passes through the narrow entrance, the inside opens up.
It's impressive that such a place was found.
Deep inside, a light spell is lit, and under it, a person wrapped in a blanket is lying down.
It's a young man.
He might be a bit taller than Al.
He seems to be sleeping, wearing leather armor, with a one-handed sword, a bow, a quiver, and a large backpack beside his pillow.
The magic tool's response showed 2 in the backpack and one a bit away from the sleeping man.
The one further away was likely a magic tool that produces water.
'Looks like that mage's companion.
If he's sleeping, does that mean he's not strong enough to wake up?'
Al tilted his head at Glee's words.
He might have underestimated Al being alone, and there could be many reasons for that.
But what should he do?
It feels dangerous to enter that hole, but attacking the sleeping man with magic from outside is impossible.
Should he wait for the man to show his face and then ambush him?
After thinking it over, Al decided to use a staff that could cast 'Soften Stone' to block the entrance, confirming there were no other exits.
There's no need to push himself when his body hurts.
He could just call his brothers and catch him together.
Al softened the rock at the entrance, leaving just a hole big enough for the 'Floating Eye' to pass through, pushing it all in with his hands.
* * *
Flying back to Channing Village, he saw Gustave standing at the entrance of the mansion with a slightly angry face.
"I'm home."
As Al descended and approached, Gustave raised his voice to say something.
But before that, he noticed Al was injured and rushed over in a panic.
"Hey, what happened to that injury? Dad! Mom!"
At Gustave's loud voice, everyone came out from inside the mansion.
"Yeah, it seems I was ambushed while checking things out..."
With a wry smile, Al flew to the mountaintop overlooking the iron mine with Jasper and the others, explaining how they were attacked while checking the situation, managing to fend them off, and found a man who seemed to be their companion.
"Really... Did they find out you were making an easy path?"
At Jasper's mutter, Al replied, "Ah, I see."
Indeed, he had cleared a path with Jasper and the others to check the mine's condition.
They cut some trees and put down ropes in places to make it easier to cross the rocks.
It might have been discovered and used for an ambush.
It's certainly correct, but did they really search that persistently?
"By the way, how's the injury? You really managed to survive."
"Yeah, when the second squad got hit by the 'Magic Tornado' spell, the injuries were bad for the vassals, but the knights were still better off, right? So..."
Al smiled slightly and answered Gustave's question.
The short duration and difficulty of movement were unexpected, but it was still quite useful.
"Don't just stand there, let's check if Alfred's injury is okay. I studied that kind of thing in middle school. Come on, let's go inside... everyone too."
His sister Lucy urged him.
Al decided to follow her and enter the house for his sister's examination.
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