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Chapter 9

It’s Not Surprising For Oneself To Not Know The Extent Of Their Own Abilities

 

As expected I’m already used to exploring dungeons since I’m not a beginner.

No matter how many times she’s been doing this solo, there’s no way I can just leave the vanguard to Sybilla who’s a mage now, can I?

 

I pulled out the sword I had just bought from the sheath and stood beside Sybilla.

 

「I’ll be the vanguard.」

 

「Oh my, is it really okay for the healer to be in the front?」

 

「….Wouldn’t be more absurd to let the offensive mage take the front?」

 

「Hmm~ isn’t it common sense that a healer should be in the safest position in the formation? But it’s true that you just bought a sword and all so…… If you want to be in the front, why don’t we just line up together and watch each other’s back since the dungeon is wide enough?」

 

I nodded at her suggestion and Sybilla walked up beside me.

 

We went further down and descended the dungeon which is slightly slanted downhill while being alert of our surroundings. The dungeon wall was emitting magical light, eliminating the dark areas.

What I’m trying to say is that this is not your average cave.

We carefully look around to see if there’s a path on the side. It won’t be good for us rear-guards if we were to get attacked from our flanks.

 

It was after we had walked quite a distance.

 

「Looks like there are monsters in this dungeon after all.」

 

Sybilla pointed her sword at a faint shadow in the depths of the dungeon further ahead.

That’s… a goblin huh.

 

「A typical monster of a dungeon has appeared, I see. Well then, here I go—!」

 

Sybilla put her left hand out in front of her and a fireball flew from her hand.

……Just now, did she just shoot her magic without chanting?

 

『Gyaa–!!』

 

The fireball hit the goblin right in the face and stopped moving after letting out a small scream.

 

「…What was that just now?」

 

It’s a chantless magic, but… you’ve never seen it before? Well, you have to really concentrate for it to work, and you can’t do it with high-level magic you’ve just learned, so you can say that it’s a little trick only those with the knowledge of it can pull off.

 

「So you can do something like that huh…」

 

Since the party where I was before had never been in a pinch, we never had a situation where we needed that kind of speed.

Jannet, as a 【Sage】 with abundant magic power was always the first to attack the enemies with her powerful magic from afar.

 

「Fufufu, are jealous because I can use such cool offensive magic?」

 

「…Well, I guess?」

 

「Right… Do you desire power?」

 

「What are you saying all of a sudden?」

 

Sybilla looks at me with a straight face.

Asking something like, “Do you desire power”, is she a member of a suspicious cult after all?

 

「Do you desire an overwhelming power to defeat monsters……?」

 

What the, she’s still going to continue with that?

Why is she being weirdly persistent about it, this shameless mage?

 

While feeling dumbfounded by her sudden change, I’m preparing a karate chop with my free left hand.

Just a little closer, and her head will be in just the right place. This time, maybe I’ll make sure to make a bump on her hea——.

 

「…..Do you desire the power to take revenge and settle grudges?」

 

Wha—!?

 

For a moment, I wasn’t able to react at all.

 

Revenge.

I don’t want to think about it…. I tried not to think about it, but in reality, I was never able to not think about it at all.

 

Before I knew it, Sybilla’s face is now very close to mine.

 

Do I want such power, you said.

Something like that……

 

Of course I want it.

 

The despair I felt for not being able to play an active role in my previous party.

My best friends who grew up together with me doing the same thing, but getting more powerful skills.

An overwhelming power.

A power to attack and overwhelm my enemies.

 

If only I had such a power.

A power so strong that not only I can fight toe-to-toe with the hero Vince, but also beat him.

 

….Sybilla, are you….

 

「Do you want it……? Do you want… a dried squid? because I’m really craving for one right now.」

「ほしいか……。……ほしいか、さきいか……するめいか食べたいわね」

 

「Hmph!」

 

「Ouchhh—!!」

 

I dropped a karate chop onto her head as strong as I could.

 

The tension in the air was gone in an instant.

What was that stupid line earlier?

I felt like a complete idiot for taking her seriously and I even remembered my trauma, or rather, I was an idiot…

 

Good grief, I’ll make a note to myself not to take this girl seriously from now on.

 

But still, chantless magic, huh?

 

「Then that means…… can I also use my skill without chanting?」

 

「Ouch, ouch…… Well, if it’s just Heal, then I guess even you can do it, right? I don’t have any idea what kind of job a 【Saint】 is, but I’m sure you learned it at level 3.」

 

Sybilla replied as she leaned close to the goblin and cut off his purple ears.

 

「I learned healing magic from level 1, so I guess it’s doable.」

 

Sybilla suddenly stopped and turned at me while holding the goblin’s ear in one hand.

 

「Wait… you learned Heal at level 1?」

 

「Isn’t that normal in the 【Priest】 job tree? Otherwise, you’re useless.」

 

「Even the fireball I used earlier is something I learned at level 2, and I never heard of people being able to take advantage of the abilities of their job from level 1.」

 

「Is that so?」

 

I have no idea because I have no one to compare my job with.

At best maybe Jannet since we’re the same magic type, though it’s still a stretch.

 

….No, I guess I can’t compare it to a 【Sage】 either. After all, she can use magic from level 1.

 

「I see… so that’s what a Saint is huh? Well then, I guess it’s time we move on.」

 

Sybilla lightly brushed off the question as she put the goblin’s ear in her bag and started walking forward again.

I was still a bit curious about the topic, but I also started walking alongside Sybilla.

 

However, just after a few steps, another monster showed up in front of us.

It’s hard to see because the figure is all black, but thankfully, its weapon is emitting a light, so we can easily locate its position.

 

After looking at it more closely, the figure was the same as the goblin we had seen earlier.

 

「….A black monster? I started to get the feeling that this dungeon was more difficult than we thought.」

 

「Is that guy strong?」

 

「Yes, it’s a lot stronger than the regular ones. You should start to get serious too.」

 

I readjusted my sword after hearing that and Sybilla put her left hand out in front of her.

 

「《Fire Arrow》」

 

A fire arrow flew out of her hand and went straight at the black goblin.

I was sure that would’ve defeated it, but to my surprise, the black goblin avoided a direct hit from the magic and launched itself toward Sybilla at high speed.

 

A small knife in the black goblin’s hand is glowing.

 

「Sybilla!」

 

I quickly stabbed the goblin that was targetting Sybilla with my sword from the side.

I could feel my sword pierced deep into the black goblin’s throat, killing it with a single blow.

Even though it’s been a long time since I’ve held a sword in my hand, it seems like I can quickly get used to fighting with my new sword.

 

But it’s not the time to indulge in that sense of accomplishment right now.

 

「Tch, it got me.」

 

Sybilla looks at the wound with a frown.

Red blood was flowing from her white thighs.

The wound is quite deep. Unlike the relaxed look she had on her face a moment ago, she looked quite pained now.

 

I must hurry and use healing magic on her.

……Right, I should use this chance to learn how to use chantless magic too so I can heal injuries like this during battle which will make things easier.

 

(《Heal》)

 

Was it like this?

When I recalled the same sensation as when I used magic in my mind, the red blood on Sybilla’s thighs disappeared immediately.

 

Sybilla stroked her own thighs lightly and looked at me with her eyes wide in shock.

 

「You used it just now, didn’t you? I thought it was a pretty deep cut, but… to think you healed it in such a split second. As expected of the Saint-sama, I give you my thanks.」

 

「Sure.」

 

「But I don’t think we can explore any further than this.」

 

「What? Why? You’re no longer injured right?」

 

Sybilla kicks the knife in the black goblin’s grip with her toe.

 

「The knife this black goblin used is poisoned. Because of that, I think my condition could drop drastically at any moment. Good grief… I did prepare an antidote, but with a black one suddenly coming out of nowhere… if it’s like this, even after my wound is healed, it will be difficult.」

 

Poison…… I see, so the monster who attacked Brenda’s mother was the same one as this guy, huh.

From what she told me, she was chasing away a monster from the dungeon and then fell ill to the point she had to lie down in her bed all day.

It’s impressive that she was able to chase it away or get away from it. Maybe Brenda’s mother is stronger than I thought.

 

If that’s the case, then…

 

(《Cure》)

 

I used the magic to cure poison without chanting too.

Did it work?

 

After I used the magic, Sybilla tilted her head as if she had noticed something, and then moved to check her body by opening and closing her hand and moving her legs up and down.

 

「……..Hm? Hmmmm?? Russell, you… Just now… to me….」

 

「I told you earlier, didn’t I? The housewife from the bean field. I cured her yesterday with “Cure”, so I used the same magic on you, just without chanting, thinking that probably it was the same poison. But looks like it worked just fine.」

 

When I told her what I did, Sybilla’s eyes and mouth opened wide in surprise. I think this is the first time I’ve seen her this surprised.

 

「….”Cure”? …And chantless at that? At level 5??」

 

「That’s right. Is there a problem?」

 

「By the way, when did you learn it?」

 

「When I was just level 2.」

 

Upon hearing this, Sybilla paused as if she was thinking about something and then let out a deep sigh.

 

「….For now, I guess I’ll say thank you. I’m really glad I get to party up with you.」

 

「I see. Well, I also think that you’ve been helping me too, Sybilla, so the feeling’s mutual.」

 

「As I thought, did you fall for me?」

 

「Do you want to get hit again?」

 

It seemed like she would get carried away again, but I let her off for now and I walked ahead of her.

 

Sybilla was saying something behind me, but having learned that there was no point taking her antics seriously, I decided to ignore her and keep walking.