Chapter 6
“What is that!? What in the world is that thing!?” A monstrous figure of a monster, body looks like that of an albino wolf with red eyes and pair of horns on its head. It's currently chasing both Olivia and Kaiser right now. “Class-A monster, Snow Wolf, a monster born in Western Continent.” Olivia voiced calmly, albeit her face showed her nervousness.
Within her peripheral vision, Olivia saw a small cave hidden behind a bush so she quickly dragged Kaiser to hide in it. It is a good thing that the wolf’s sense is not as sharp as what she once read in a book so their hideout is a safe place for now. “Olivia, are you okay? You’re shaking.” Kaiser held Olivia’s shaking hands and grasped it tightly. Kaiser was shocked to find it cold and it worried him more. “Yes, I’m okay. It’s been like this for a long time.”
For a long time?
Kaiser tried to ask more but a reverberating howl interrupted him. “Not good, that monster sensed us.” Olivia swiftly gets out of the cave with Kaiser and runs. The monster was very insistent on chasing them and she could feel how her stamina was drained rapidly. Kaiser doesn’t look good either. She decisively shouted, “Kaiser, create a hurricane. A strong one!”
“How!?”
“No matter how, just create one. Hurry up!”
“Great, that certainly was helpful, Olivia!”
Clenching his fist, Kaiser guided his mana around the monster without thinking, silently praying that this would work.
“Gale!”
Silence enveloped the forest for a second until a sudden gust of wine slammed both of them to a tree accompanied by the panicked howls of a wolf. Olivia could see the whole forest shaken by a strong wind as did the wolf who was set in a place by the strong current. Olivia gaped in surprise. She did tell Kaiser to create a hurricane but this is not a hurricane. To Olivia, it looks as if someone commanded them to roam madly, not just on one spot but the whole forest.
Olivia then quickly looks at Kaiser and sees that he fainted. Worries furrowed her eyebrows. “Is it mana outburst? He needs to be checked quickly.”
Olivia gazed at the struggling snow wolf and she exhaled a breath, “Crystal Seed.” The spell was chanted softly.
The wolf who was trying hard to defy the wind stopped as it saw the growing ice from his feet. Faintly, a stinging pain could be felt and it seemed to get stronger. The wolf panicked but it was a meaningless attempt as the ice climbed up on his body, suffering from the agony. The whole ice enveloped the huge wolf formed a crystal as the blood was sucked dry, leaving a tinge of blood in the ice at the end.
Crushing the ice back, Olivia picked up the unconscious Kaiser on her back and quickly ran from that place, the wind no longer disrupted her as it died down as soon as the wolf died.
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“Ugh…” Kaiser felt his head throbbed badly as he struggled to wake up.
Olivia, reading a book by his side, quickly helps him get up and give him a glass of water. “Don’t get up quickly. You’re still not in a good condition. Drink some water.”
“Olivia..? What happened? Are you okay? You’re not injured, right?”
Olivia saw the obvious concern and smiled lightly, “I’m okay. The monster died thanks to you. Get some rest first. I’ll explain later.” She helped Kaiser lying down and watched him sleep, face scrunched in pain. Seeing that, Olivia guides her mana into Kaiser’s body so it will decrease the pain of overusing the mana. After a few minutes, she retracted her mana back and picked up her book once again yet her mind drifted to the situation hours ago.
On the way back, it was a smooth ride as she used the back alley road to the inn but she vaguely heard the rushing steps of soldiers and adventurers. Kaiser needs urgent treatment and she can’t take her sweet time on the chaos happening at that time. Even after they arrived at the inn, Olivia was trying hard to help Kaiser in controlling his mana that was leaking out from his body so she ignored the bustling and noisy sound from the dining area. It took a few hours until Olivia could relax and the moon already showed itself at that time. Effects of using spells higher than she can bear caused her mana to be hard to control too but not as bad as Kaiser. Still, it did not help her as she couldn't even get out of the room for her blue eyes and rune glowed in response, using a spell to hide it was useless as she also cannot bear to use any more mana.
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“Olivia, you’re okay!?” The first thing Olivia needs to do in the morning is fabricate a lie. Kaiser still didn't wake up and Olivia decided to go home first. "I'm okay…I just stayed with my friend overnight."
"Goodness, I was worried..Have you heard about the A-Class monster rampaging in the forest yesterday?"
"Yes, I heard it on my way back. It's fortunate we went back before the monster started rampaging."
Aria nodded in relief, "Yeah..Right, did you stay with your friend last night?"
"Yes, she fainted because of mana outburst so it’s not good to leave her alone and unattended."
"Oh no, is she okay now?"
“She’s okay now. I came back to get something for her.”
Aria smiled. “Take some food for her too, okay? I almost finished cooking anyway.”
Not long after that, Aria called for him to have breakfast, Lily and Ben already seated at the table. Both of them greeted her with a smile.
Ben took the opportunity to ask, “Olivia, I heard you went to the forest yesterday. Are you okay?”
“Yes. We got back early and missed the time where that monster started rampaging.”
Ben sighed in relief, “Good then. Hm? We? You went with someone?” Then, as if he had eaten something horrible, Ben shakily looked at Olivia with a pale face. “You, did you get a boyfriend!?”
On cue, Lily yelled, face equally horrified, “Boyfriend!? Sister got a boyfriend!? No!”
“No, this old man here won’t approve of it! Let me meet him first!”
“Nooooo! Sister, you can’t get a boyfriend. That man must be a scum. He just wants to use you. No man can be trusted, sister!”
“...Calm down both of you.” Aria frowned and sighed, having to face her husband and daughter’s antics early in the morning. “It’s just her friend. Why are you making so much fuss?”
“But mom! Sister Olivia is just too beautiful! She deserves a better man, like the prince!”
“But honey, men in this area are a sc-”
Aria slammed the table. “Be quiet and eat the food. It’s getting cold.”
“Yes ma’am.”
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“Olivia, you’re going already?” Aria asked softly while sewing a handkerchief like she always did to spend her free time. Aria’s handmade knitted handkerchief is always beautiful and she would sometimes knit a ton of it and sell it to make extra income. “She still didn’t wake up when I left this morning so I need to go back.”
“Here, give this to her. She must be hungry right now.”
“But, I can buy breakfast for her. You don’t need to tire yourself, Aria.”
Aria chuckled. She looked at the beautiful teenager before her whose expression is getting softer than the first time she’s here. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m still young, you know. Take it.”
“Thank you, Aria.”
“You’re welcome, young lady~”
Olivia takes her time walking to the inn, checking the situation from yesterday. As expected, more people are on the street than usual, countless similar whispers made their way in her ears and one particular sentence got her stopped on her track.
“Apparently, the monster’s corpse they found was unusual!”
She went to the stall selling accessories which coincidentally was beside the group of men who’s talking about it.
“In what way?”
“They said that even the traces of blood are gone!”
“...What? How is that even possible?”
“Hey, do you think that the gods will send their prophecy- Ouch! Don’t smack people’s heads, would you?”
“Don’t say that! Gods’ prophecy means the tragedy of the world. You want that to happen?”
After that, Olivia couldn’t hear anything useful anymore. She then saw the stall’s owner looking at her weirdly at the moment and randomly picked something akin to a red marble. “I’ll buy this.” It is a very glossy red marble that shines brightly.