Chapter Text
“I would like to refuse being paired with her again.” I couldn’t help but let out a sigh, it was a feeble protest indeed, but I still had to try even though I know pulling this would bring me no where but closer to the green-haired mage I love to hate oh so much.
“Rejected.” Serie replied, short and blunt–infuriatingly so. “Land, you and Ubel work perfectly together, and no other mage would be able to handle her but you.”
“How truly lucky I am…” A murmur escapes from underneath my breath.
I can already feel the frustration building up in my chest, but for the sake of keeping my dignity, I need to keep it in—after all, The Great Mage would heed no mind to my troubles concerning that woman if it means getting this job done. But may the goddess grant me patience, this mission will probably be harder than it needs to be all because of her…
“So just keep holding onto her reins and you’ll be fine.”
The Great Mage spared us not a single glance as she immediately went back to reviewing scrolls Lernen had sent for her to review. How infuriatingly dense of her.
“You both are dismissed.”
She flicked her wrist with disinterest, it was as if she was expecting us to just go on about our mission already like we were annoying flies to her.
How utterly annoying.
And as we walked through headquarter’s empty halls, Ubel was practically skipping and just kept poking and prodding at me. She was constantly trying to get me to look at her—give her attention.
“Hey Four-eyes, come on, talk to me for a bit!”
She was like a machine that's only purpose was to create noise and cause chaos, so I decided to ignore her for now to see if she’d continue prodding or finally give up.
I can’t risk letting my guard down and somehow letting her emphasize, or however she calls it, with me just so she could be able to get a hold of my cloning spell. It would cause so much trouble—no, a total disaster!
By just looking at her, I can already sense the mess I’m going to have to clean up…
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Like always, I was assigned to be Ubel’s mission partner and I had no say in it whatsoever. Well, there was no complaining now that we were already dispatched and on our way to the village that was reported to have been attacked by demons.
Their mission was to exterminate said demons who were terrorizing one of the towns in the Northern Plateau.
The journey there would be hectic and undeniably cold due to winter being around the corner, and yet Ubel still wore her stupid short dress that was clearly not made to withstand this type of weather. Better yet, how did I not notice until now that we are already trudging through snow?
“You’re going to freeze.”
“Hah, I’m stronger than you think Four-eyes.” She said with a cocky grin. “I can withstand something as simple as the cold and it surely won’t take this mage down!”
Dear lord, she’s already shivering in this weather and still has the gall to lie like this? How foolish. With the way her teeth are chattering together, her little lie is so easily debunked.
Rolling my eyes, I grab her by the shoulder and pull her to a nearest cabin meant for adventurers to stay in to survive these types of winters. Usually, cabins like these have extra winter garments for passing travelers to borrow, but just where could it be?
“I can hear your teeth chattering all the way from here, Ubel.”
“You’ve got hearing problems, Four-eyes. I'm perfectly fine.”
“And I have perfect vision.”
For someone looking as if they were about to freeze to death, she sure is frustratingly stubborn…
Does she really think I don’t notice her wrapping her arms around her for warmth? She’s shivering like a soaked kitten! Ugh, Why does she have to be so difficult!
“Here.” I shed my coat and wrap it around her shoulders. “That’ll keep you warm in the meantime while I look for the storage box here.”
“Aww, so you do care about me~”
Once again, that stupid little devil grin crept back on her face. It was cute, sure, but also a foretelling of the chaos that was just about to erupt.
“Do not take this the wrong way—I just don’t need you dropping dead on me mid mission from hypothermia.”
Leaving her alone near the warmth of the fireplace, I began my search for winter gear for that stubborn girl. Hopefully, this cabin still had some left, given that many adventurers often seek shelter here from the harsh snowy weather. After a while, I was getting frustrated and could only helplessly sigh. This girl is seriously so stubborn. It's been almost an hour and she still hasn't found a set of winter gear that suits her tastes, rejecting every single set I had given her so far. Saying it doesn't "suit her" or whatever that means. I for one think any set clothes would look good on her, not that I would ever admit that—it would only make her even cockier. After another couple of minutes of bickering back and forth, she finally accepted a set of winter clothes that suited her tastes.
The outfit she thankfully chose consisted of a simple white capelet with sleeves, proper winterboots, warmer gloves, and a longer dress. She looked all warm and cozy now, and also a little mischievous with that grin she was flashing at me. But one could only sigh and tolerate it for now…
“There…” The soft wool of the scarf slips into place around her face. A stray finger brushes against her cheek, lingering for a second too long without myself meaning to do so. “All set to go now.”
“My, keep pampering me like this and I might get too used to it, Four-eyes…”
That signature sly grin flashed back at me like always. At this point, I’m far too used to it to give her the reaction she wants out of me.
“Let’s just get on with our mission”
Turning my back towards her, I stride towards the door with the silent request for her to just follow me. This was a mission, we can’t afford to screw up just because of a simple mistake—not when the lives of people depended on us.
“Those demons’ won’t kill theirselves, you know.”
“Alright, alright… I’m coming!”
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With everything set, the two of us hurriedly made our way to the village, but by the time we got there we were greeted with the devastating sight of what once was a peaceful village. Scattered across the dirt was blood and corpses as the metallic scent hit our noses all at once. Some died during the attack, but some were still suffering and bleeding out underneath the wreckage of fallen buildings. The surviving children were crying over the loss of their parents while others kicked and screamed as they were forcefully taken away from the wreck.
What once was a peaceful village was now evidence of a demon’s brutal massacre.
Bending down to inspect the residual mana the demon left behind, my gaze ends up following the trail of what seems to be a furrow left by either a battle axe or a greatsword. Either way, this demon would not be an easy kill with the strength it had to singlehandedly kill a majority of villagers and almost all the soldiers sent to kill it.
"My, those pesky demons sure have done a number on this place, huh four-eyes?" Ubel spoke as her flat eyes scanned over the wreck. A small smirk still on her face despite the chaos of it all.
"Quit smiling." I retorted, frustrated and exhausted from having to deal with her. "Don't you see the state the people are in? This is no laughing matter."
"But I wasn't laughing though, huh?"
I felt the urge to roll my eyes far back that they would get stuck but no—we needed to stick to the mission. Any sort of tomfoolery would not be tolerated. We can't afford to fool around, not when people's lives are at stake.
"Forget it, let's just ask around and find this demon."
"Right behind ya, Four-eyes"
The two of us soon fell into step alongside each other with a goal in mind: Find the demon and eliminate it. But first, we’ll need details about this demon and where it was seen last.
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Thankfully for us, the village’s priest had managed to survive and was currently healing a wounded soldier despite being wounded himself. We could probably ask him—better yet the soldier, for details concerning the demon attack. I just hope they trust us, and by us I mean Ubel…
“Pardon the intrusion,” We approached the priest but his attention remained fixed on the wounded soldier on the ground. He gave a heavy sigh and asked, “And you two are?”
“We’re mages sent by the Continental Magic Association.” Ubel beat me to it, giving a slight smirk as she glanced at me.
Internally sighing, I side-eyed Ubel and said to the priest, “We’re here on a mission to exterminate the demon terrorizing the area. Would you mind telling us what you know—”
The wounded soldier scoffs, “Oh so now you mages decided to show up?” The wounded soldier snarled at us. “You both could’ve been here much earlier and prevented so much havoc, you wretched scu—”
“That's enough Kerl, you know how the Magic Association is. It's a miracle they even bothered sending mages this far off in the north.”
The priest began pulling and twisting painfully at the soldier’s ear
“Ow, ow, ow!” The soldier hissed at the priest. It's a bizarre sight—hilarious even, and I can’t help the tiny upward curl of the corner of my mouth. “Hurt the wounded as a healer, yes, just do that!”
In all honesty, suits him for cursing us out.
After a long scolding from the priest, the wounded soldier, Kerl, gave up on protesting. Grumbling, he rubbed the ear that the priest had pulled and turned to face us. “So you want to know about the demon?”
He crossed his arms as he went deep in thought. “Hrmm… I’m sorry if this is not a very good description, but the demon’s lower body was similar to that of a centipede…”
“A centipede?” I repeat, a little startled. “Was it fast? What were its abilities? What kind of magic did it use? What-”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down a bit!” Kerl scratched his head, grumbling under his breath about how impatient mages are, only caring about themselves. “Look, the only thing I know about the demon is that it’s some sort of centipede and it can somehow change weapons…”
“Change weapons? How?” Ubel asked, her interest piqued. She was always like that. Only caring if the magic was “interesting”, which is why she keeps pestering me for my clone magic… God, I just want to get this over with.
“Aren’t you guys mages? You’re the ones that are the supposed magic “experts” or whatever.”
I seriously want to punch this guy in the face.
Kerl continued, right as I was debating whether or not I should do it.
“Like… one moment the weapon was a sword and then suddenly, it changed its shape into an axe, you get what I mean?”
“Right… anything else?”
“Ugh, you want information or not?” Kerl threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “My bad for not being a mage, of course I don't know how to explain it properly! This is why you mages are—”
The priest pulled and twisted on his ear once again.
“Ow, ow, ow! You're a priest, shouldn’t you be taking care of wounded people?!”
“A priest’s job is to also take care of people with a terrible attitude.”
“You—!” As Kerl and the priest were busy bickering with each other, I pushed my glasses up and turned to Ubel,
“Come on, we’ve gathered enough information today. Let’s go.”
Ubel chuckled as she observed the two men bickering. “You sure, four-eyes? Don’t you want to socialize with that soldier a bit more? The two of you seem like you’d make great friends.”
I rolled my eyes and started making my way through the village, with Ubel following suit.
Though surprisingly, our walk is quieter now… She isn’t flirting or even joking around—I can’t even feel her gaze burning through my back. Is she planning something? Argh! no time to think about that now. There’s still work to be done.
As we continued navigating our way through the village, or rather, what remains of it, I realize that Ubel has been silent the entire time. Too silent. Usually, Ubel likes to chatter her way through the entire journey—talk about nonsense, trying to “emphasize” with me, or just flat out try to convince me to give me my cloning spell. Time seems to go on longer than usual now that she's so awkwardly silent.
Maybe I never noticed it before, but her insistent chatter always made time fly by faster whenever we were on journeys quite like this. Sure it was annoying, but at least missions like these weren’t so… awkward…
No, I shouldn’t overthink this, she’s probably just tired or something. Maybe just busy with analyzing the area or plotting something. But she looks so… Forget it, Land! Focus on the mission!
“Excuse me, Sir?”