CH 135

Chapter 135 – I Acquired Magic That Could Hide Various Things!?

A few days after the school was completed.

As I had now crafted most of the things we needed, whenever I had some spare time, I would ask Ronea to teach me some shadow magic.

“Great. I’ve learned it perfectly now. This ‘Hide’ spell is rather useful, huh? It can erase the sounds of footsteps and your scent.”

“In-indeed.”

Ronea nodded.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“N-no. It is just…I thought that you would surely know them already, Sir Joshua.”

“I think you are misunderstanding something, Ronea. I may have black hair, but I am not a demon.”

“Of course, I am aware of that. We are not worthy of being compared to you.”

“You exaggerate…”

It was said that a summoned monster would pledge their absolute loyalty to the summoner.

Was that affecting the way she talked to me?

But then again, she had been summoned from a stone with Celes’s name in it, so it would be strange for her to be loyal to me.

In any case, there was one other thing that I needed to confirm with Ronea.

“Ronea… I know this is rather abrupt, but we will likely have to fight the Demon King who is leading an army of monsters and demons. And there are probably some of your own kind with them. Would you still fight for us?”

“I can only act by the order of the person who summoned me. And so if that person wants me to fight the Demon King, then I will do just that.”

“I see… Thank you. When the time comes, we will need your help.”

I answered. But I also noticed that Iria was watching Ronea from a distance with a serious expression.

She must feel something that made it difficult for her to fully trust Ronea.

“…That’s right. Iria, could you try to look for me while I am using the Hide spell?”

“I see. You want to train with magic.”

“Aye. I will be moving around while using it. It is nearly midday…so could you find me before then?”

“Certainly. Then I shall turn around and count to ten.”

“Aye, thank you. Ronea, could you tag along with Iria?”

“As you wish.”

And then I activated Hide around me.

It was shadow magic that erased your presence, including sound and smell.

Though, the actual amount of concealment was affected by how much magic energy you used.

And so I used as much as I could while activating it.

Well, now I should have vanished completely.

Of course, I could still see Iria.

And so I decided to move a little to the side from where I had been standing.

“Nine, ten… I will start searching for you now.”

Once Iria was finished counting, she turned around to face the direction where I had been.

And then she looked around her… Or so I thought.

Her eyes were cast to the ground. We were on a field of grass.

…Damn it.

I quickly turned and ran.

“I won’t let you go!”

Iria watched the blades of grass bend as she followed me.

I could not hide the footprints and the grass that was being trampled.

And Iria had sharp eyes for noticing such details.

“…Still, this is a lot more frightening than I expected.”

Being chased by Iria. It was something that never happened before. Of course, it’s not like I minded if she caught me. But there was an intimidating intensity coming from her.

Still, I managed to arrive at an area that was paved in stone.

Here, there were no plants, and I didn’t have to worry about making footprints in the dirt.

Now even Iria wouldn’t be able to…woah.

I dodged a demihuman that was in my path.

“I have to be careful about passersby… After all, no one is able to see me.”

As this was just outside of the east gate to Fendel Village, the river was close by, and there was a lot of traffic.

Even the dwarven carriages from Ymirdia passed through here.

Well, I might as well go into the village then. The plaza was quite big, so it would be difficult for her to find me there.

And so I made my way through the crowds of people and headed towards the center of the village.

However, Iria either noticed this or somehow predicted it, as she too went through the gate.

And she must have also seen that I would go through the crowd, as she also passed through it at a speed that my eyes could hardly follow.

“Da-damn it! At this rate! Woah!?”

I quickly drew back as Iria moved towards me at an alarming speed.

“This is sc-scary… Hmm?”

I noticed that Melk and Asuha were passing by.

Melk noticed Iria and called out to her.

“Iria. Why are you moving so strangely?”

“It has nothing to do with you, Ms. Melk… And everything to do with me grabbing onto Sir Joshua.”

“I see. Joshua is using the magic that Ronea taught before. How interesting. Melk will do it too.”

And then Asuha muttered, ‘Me too.’

“Hey, hey, three people now… In that case, I won’t hold back either, while I escape.”

And so I started to run.

Asuha and Melk were just as fast as Iria. I could not take my time.

Not only that, but Asuha was sending a gentle wind around the area.

“She is searching for a place where the wind hits something… However, with so many people… Huh!?”

Asuha then spread out her wings and flew right towards me.

“Ar-are you serious!”

I quickly started to run again.

However, Asuha’s wind would not stop, and she continued to chase me.

Iria and Melk must have detected something as well, as they started to run towards me.

“I have no choice then… It may be a little cowardly, but it should be allowed when there are three people who are chasing me.”

I unleashed wind magic behind me.

Which disturbed the wind that Asuha was sending.

It seemed to work, as Asuha lost me after that. Even Iria and Melk stopped in their tracks.

“Good! It is almost midday. I’m going to win!”

As long as I continued to move like this, I could not lose.

Really, this Hide spell…was incredibly powerful.

“…Hmm? Woah!?”

Suddenly, just on the ground, vines started to shoot up. And then the vines started to move up and down like a jump rope.

“Thank you, Ms. Ecleshia! Now Sir Joshua will not be able to run away!”

Iria said as she moved towards me.

Behind her, Ecleshia was tilting her head with a confused expression.

So these vines were hers.

“This is bad… Like this, I’ll have to jump forever.”

Not only that, but Asuha was still using her wind magic.

As I had to deal with that as well, I could not levitate and go up onto the roofs.

But Iria was getting closer and closer.

“Wa-wait. I give up… Ah!”

And then Iria threw her arms around me.

“Sir Joshua, I caught you! Hehe!”

She said as she rubbed her cheek against my face.

Melk and Asuha jumped onto me shortly after.

And so I deactivated Hide.

“I-I lost then… You can let go of me.”

“As a reward for finding you, allow me to hold you for a moment longer.”

“Yes. After all, you cheated halfway through, Joshua.”

“You used wind magic. That was very bad of you, Mr. Joshua.”

They said as they continued to hug me.

“Hah… There’s no beating you. None of my old comrades would have been able to find me if I was using this…”

I muttered, and then Ronea looked at me with surprise.

“Si-Sire Joshua… So you are able to conceal your magic energy as well.”

“Huh? Magic energy?”

“Y-yes. The moment that you used the Hide spell, your magic energy disappeared as well.”

“I wasn’t thinking about doing that… Are you sure?”

Ronea nodded. Sweat was pouring from her forehead.

“In that case, it should be useful against people who can use Magic Detection.”

When Melk and Asuha had used it, they had not been able to conceal their magic energy. Even Ronea could not do it.

“Us Demon Lords cannot conceal it.”

“Hmm… Perhaps I was combining it with something else without realizing it.”

“That is possible.”

I nodded at Ronea’s words.

“In that case, I will test different things out. That way, maybe everyone else will be able to erase their magic energy when using Hide as well. Though, it is powerful enough, even if you can’t. Train well with it, Melk.”

“Yes. Melk and Asuha have made a ninja unit. They will protect Fendel from the shadows with this magic.”

“That is very reassuring. If you need anything, let me know so that I can craft it.”

Melk was also learning other kinds of shadow magic from Ronea.

And so I said,

“Well, I think it’s time that we all eat then. After moving around so much, I’m incredibly hungry.”

Iria nodded at this.

“Yes, let us do just that. Will you join us, Ms. Ronea?”

“Do you mean it?”

“Of course. The food in this village is quite delicious.”

Apparently, Iria was now ready to accept Ronea…

Ronea thanked her and bowed politely.

“Good. Then let’s all go to the dining hall.”

After that, we had lunch together.

And so that was how I acquired the Hide spell.