Chapter 16
Episode 31: Imagination is the Essence of Magic
As we were walking towards the ranch east of Cavia Town, Mystique-sensei explained the fundamentals of offensive magic to me.
「Alright, the power of magic depends on the amount of magical energy and the skill of the one manipulating it, but most importantly, it’s the imagination needed to clearly shape the magic. Imagination is the essence of magic.」
「Imagination is the essence of magic… I understand!」
Mystique-sensei continued to elaborate on the importance of imagination in magic.
「No matter how much magical energy you have or how delicate your control over it is, if you can only imagine a small fireball, you won’t be able to deal significant damage. On the other hand, even with minimal magical energy and limited control, if you can imagine a spear of flames, it can be incredibly lethal, even if only for a single use. This makes the latter more powerful in combat. Keep this in mind.」
「I understand!」
After finishing her explanation, it seemed that today would be focused on imagining the precise shape of the magic before casting it to defeat monsters.
While Mystique-sensei and I were engrossed in our conversation, Gai-san interrupted us.
「Selen-chan, I can see the ranch up ahead. There are people there too; they might be the clients, so let’s go talk to them.」
「Yes.」
We walked a bit further and approached a man working inside the ranch’s fence.
「Hello, we are the adventurers who accepted the orc subjugation request from the guild. Are you the client?」
「What? Yes, I did submit a request to subjugate the orcs, but no one had accepted it. Did you really take on the request? If so, I’m very grateful.」
He looked surprised, but he bowed his head in gratitude when he realized we had accepted the request.
「Leave it to us! We’ll take care of those orcs and wipe them out.」
「Oh, that’s reassuring. The orcs always come to attack the livestock in the evening. If the damage continues, I might have to give up running the ranch here… Please, take care of the orcs.」
The man bowed his head again, so I resolved to exterminate the orcs to help him continue running the ranch.
As we waited for the orcs to arrive, just as the man said, a herd of orcs approached the ranch as the sun began to set.
Alright, orcs, prepare yourselves! For the sake of the rancher, we will annihilate you all!
–
Episode 32: Unprecedented Magic
As the sun began to set, just as the rancher had said, the orcs started making their way towards the ranch.
There were six orcs, each wielding a club, slowly and steadily advancing towards the livestock shed.
We watched the orcs while staying out of sight, and Mystique-sensei gave me quiet instructions.
「Alright, young lady, use your attack magic to take down that group of orcs. Imagine the attack magic you think is necessary to defeat them, then unleash your magic with all your might. Even if you can’t take them all down, I’ll handle the rest. It’s just practice, so take it easy.」
「Okay, I’ll count on you if I can’t take them all down.」
Now, without a demonstration from Mystique-sensei, it was time for me to take down all six orcs on my own.
I imagined six large arrows with extremely sharp drill-like tips.
These arrows would spin rapidly, burrowing into and then through their targets.
With this image in mind, I cast my spell.
「Pierce through! 〚Iron Arrow〛!」
With a resounding ‘whoosh,’ the six large iron arrows shot towards the orcs.
Without shields to protect them, the orcs could do nothing as the arrows struck their heads.
The rapidly spinning arrows burrowed into their skulls, piercing through in an instant.
The orcs’ large bodies twitched momentarily before collapsing forward.
Since all the arrows had pierced the orcs’ heads, I believed all the orcs were dead.
After a short pause, Gai-san went to check on the fallen orcs.
He lightly prodded them with his spear, and seeing no movement, he turned to us, his face tense, and reported.
「Umm… all six are dead. (sweat)」
After Gai-san’s surprised report, Mystique-sensei spoke to me, equally astonished.
「Young lady… you really understood the essence of magic. This is surprising…」
「I just faithfully did what you told me to do, sensei.」
「No, no, you’ve completely exceeded my expectations. Young lady, you’re destined to reach heights far beyond mine in the world of magic.」
「Hahaha… Well, for now, let’s collect the parts and materials from the orcs.」
At Gai-san’s suggestion, we began to harvest the subjugation parts and materials from the fallen orcs, then headed back to the rancher to report the successful completion of the subjugation request.
We could let the rancher take the remaining orc meat that we couldn’t carry back.
–
Episode 33: Ranch Reconstruction Proposal
We headed over to the rancher and showed him the orc parts to confirm the completion of the subjugation.
While this meant there would be no more livestock losses from orc attacks, I still thought running the ranch would be tough. Restoring the livestock to their original numbers would take considerable time and effort.
「I can’t thank you enough. Getting the leftover orc meat as well… somehow, I’ll manage to keep the ranch going.」
「What is the main source of income for the ranch?」
I asked about the main source of income to think about how I could help.
「Raising livestock and selling the meat to the town is our primary source of income. We also sell the hides, but that’s just a small part of it. (sweat)」
「I have a question. Do you have any surplus milk from cows and goats?」
「Yeah, we dispose of the excess that we can’t consume ourselves. Why do you ask?」
I thought that while selling raw milk might be difficult, there could be a demand for processed milk, so I made a suggestion to the rancher.
「If there’s a demand for processed milk in town, would you consider selling it?」
The rancher looked a bit surprised. Since his livelihood depended on selling meat, he hadn’t considered selling milk, especially since they didn’t get as much as from dairy cows.
「If there’s someone willing to buy it, that would be great. We end up discarding most of the milk we produce.」
If most of the milk was being discarded, it could potentially bring in some money if there were buyers.
「Can you spare a little milk for me? I’ll check with the guild when we get back to town and see if there’s anyone interested. If there is, I’ll have them contact you.」
「Oh, that would be really helpful.」
After getting some cow and goat milk, I received the signed confirmation of the subjugation completion on the request form.
Since it was already dark, we camped out in the rancher’s yard for the night.
The next morning, we headed back to Cavia Town.
–
Episode 34: To the Commercial Guild
The next day, after returning to Cavia Town, we headed to the Adventurers’ Guild.
「Good morning. How can I assist you today?」
「Good morning. We completed the subjugation quest, so we’d like to complete the procedures, please.」
I handed over the signed request form, along with the magic stones and fangs we obtained from the orcs. The receptionist reviewed the documents and counted the magic stones and fangs.
「Confirmed. Thank you for taking on the backlogged request. The reward for the quest is 60 silver coins, and the purchase of the fangs comes to 120 silver coins.」
「Thank you. I’ll accept the silver coins as they are. I have a small matter to discuss. The rancher who made the request has surplus milk that he wants to sell, and we are looking for a buyer.」
When I mentioned the milk from the ranch, the receptionist took out a piece of paper and explained.
「For such matters, you should visit the Commercial Guild. It’s a bit of a walk, so I’ll give you this map.」
「Thank you very much♪」
With the map given to us by the receptionist, we headed towards the Commercial Guild to discuss the rancher’s milk.
The Adventurers’ Guild has a sign with a sword and shield, while the Commercial Guild has a sign with an abacus.
Spotting the building with the abacus sign, we went inside and approached the consultation desk, where I spoke to the receptionist.
「We brought milk from a ranch east of Cavia Town. We’re looking for a processor who can buy this milk for processing.」
「Oh? That ranch only sold meat, didn’t it?」
The receptionist seemed familiar with the ranch, so I explained the situation and handed over the milk we had received.
「That’s right, but due to the orc attacks, the number of cows and goats they can sell has decreased. They have excess milk from the cows and goats, and they want to sell it if there are any processors interested. Here is the milk.」
「I see. I know some processors who might be interested. I’ll visit the ranch to get details on the amount of milk they can supply. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.」
「You’re welcome. It seemed like the rancher was struggling with the livestock losses due to the orcs, so I’m glad we could help in some way. Please take good care of this.」
After that, we left the Commercial Guild.
When I got home and reported the events to Mom, she praised me.
「Selen, you’re such a kind girl. I’m proud to be your mother♪」
「Hehe♪ I’m proud to be your daughter, Mom♪」
While I was happy to have helped the rancher, being praised by Mom made me even happier, though I kept that part to myself (laugh).
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