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"W-What is it!"
Davian arrived right below Obsess in an instant.
Obsess hurriedly moved his left arm to aim at Davian.
The fire on his left arm flared up, ready to pour out forward.
"Flame human, you're too slow. You've become slower than a regular person now."
He even had time to make a comment.
Obsess's movements had become that messy.
No matter how strong the fire magic was, it was useless if it was too slow to hit.
If he were a normal mage, he would have been terrified by the power of the strengthened fire magic.
But Davian is not a normal mage.
Swish!
Davian, who had jumped from Obsess's feet, wielded an ice sword he had created.
Obsess hastily swung his left arm, but.
His burnt body creaked and moved at an even slower pace than usual.
"Kuh-ack!"
A short scream.
Obsess's body, surrounded by flames, split in two in mid-air.
Ting.
=====
[Quest 'Defeat the Flame Mage Obsess' successful]
―Reward: 13,000 Mana Points (x2)
=====
Ting.
=====
[Achievement 'Defeat the Flame Mage Obsess who made a name for himself on the Manum Continent' achieved]
―Reward: Leadership Increase +1
―Reward: Dignity Increase +5
―Reward: Luck Increase +1
=====
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[Achievement Stats]
―Charm: 86
―Leadership: (51→)52
―Dignity: (21→)26
―Luck: (50→)51
=====
Defeating a well-known figure or a named monster grants achievement rewards.
'Sophie was right, he must have been quite famous.'
Mons and Sophie had already approached his side.
"Young Master, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Sophie stared at Obsess's corpse, split in two and burned, still in disbelief.
"Wow... You won alone. Against that demon. Davian, what are you..."
"How is it, Sophie? You made a good choice sticking with me, right?"
Suddenly, tears streamed down Sophie's face.
"Do you think you made such a good choice sticking with me that you're crying?"
"Could it be that you're impressed by the Young Master's magic skills?"
"Surely not..."
While the two men were barking up the wrong tree.
Sophie wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
"Thank you, Davian. Thank you, Mons. For killing this demon who burned down our village and made my family live in pain. I would have preferred to do it with my own hands... But I don't have the skills to do that anyway."
Mons asked, startled.
"Isaya? He's the one who kidnapped your father and imprisoned your family?"
"Yeah. He burned all the people in our village to death, too."
Davian approached the bodies of the three escort warriors.
They were completely burned to ashes.
Three piles of ashes.
Wind elemental magic arose from Davian's hand.
The wind, gently escaping from Davian's hand, began to move the ashes little by little.
Before long, the ashes were divided into four clumps.
'This won't be enough.'
The spy organization of the Marino Empire would soon come to investigate the scene, but before that, all the ashes might be blown away by the wind.
This time, he used fire elemental magic to burn the four clumps of ashes more strongly.
Dirt and ashes burned together, creating four completely burnt marks on the ground.
Traces that would last for at least a few days.
"Sophie."
"Huh?"
"You died today. Fighting alongside Obsess."
"Ah? Okay. I understand."
"The opponent is an unknown mage who claims to be a detective. There are witnesses who saw us earlier, so it won't be difficult to spread that rumor, right?"
"Okay. I'll spread the rumors right away."
"Spread rumors that he's an unknown hidden expert from the Alcancia Kingdom. To confuse the Marino Empire guys."
"Okay!"
"And you leave. Leave far away and live as someone else. Sophie, it shouldn't be a problem for you to do that much."
"......"
The next day.
Davian and Mons's house.
"Um, that... Sister. I can do it."
"No. These are things a maid does."
"You're just disguised as a maid, aren't you?"
"No? I really came to this house as a maid? Right, Davian?"
Sophie, wearing a maid outfit and smiling brightly, looked at Davian.
She had long blonde hair that didn't match the maid outfit.
Of course, it was a wig.
She was holding a duster and wiping the furniture.
Davian shook his head with a troubled expression.
"I told you to go wherever you want. When did I tell you to come into my house?"
"You said I could go wherever I want, right? So I came here as I pleased?"
"Ugh... And. Do you think that wavy blonde hair goes well with the maid outfit?"
"Why? Is it not good? Should I change it? Yeah. It's better not to have hair that stands out too much."
"Never mind. Do whatever you want. So, are you really going to live here now?"
"Yeah. Davian, you're a son of a count, too. It wouldn't be strange to have a maid in the house. Well, it doesn't seem like there's a safer place than here either. Above all..."
Sophie put down the duster, stood up, and pointed to the back door.
"I've already brought all my mana bombs and buried them in the backyard?"
"What? When did you do that?"
"Last night. Mons helped me."
"Mons, you..."
Just then, Mons opened the back door and came in.
"Mons, did you help Sophie move in?"
"Move in? Oh, moving the mana bombs? Yes. I helped. We don't know what might happen later, so wouldn't it be a great asset to our side?"
He was troubled, but.
Mons was right.
She would definitely be a great asset to have by his side.
That's why Davian wasn't being too harsh in kicking her out.
"What about your face? Your organization members will recognize you. That's why I told you to go far away."
"Ah! Don't worry. I'm going to the Royal Medical Center early tomorrow morning. They say they also do plastic surgery for people with unavoidable stories?"
"That'll be quite expensive."
"I've saved up enough money for that. Since I'm doing it anyway, I should ask them to make me even prettier. I'm pretty enough now, though. Hohoho."
"I'm actually a spy from the Marino Empire who escaped from the organization. Is that what you're going to say and ask them to fix you?"
"Are you crazy? I can just make up a story. Like being caught by a wicked pimp and running away."
"They'll need proof of your story to do the surgery, right?"
Sophie crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
"Come on, I'm Sophie Mare. That's nothing."
"Oh my. You're so great."
"I need to come up with a name, too. What kind of names are popular these days?"
"You're having a lot of fun."
"Of course. It's like being reborn. It's all thanks to you, Davian Naone."
"Yesterday, you were crying and screaming about having to go save your family."
"I'm going to. I'm going to, but I don't have enough strength yet. I'll look for an opportunity to save my family and my dad and drop a super-large mana bomb on their base. Until then, let me stay with you, Davian."
Knock knock.
"Looks like someone's here?"
"I'll go see."
Bellus went to the front door and opened it.
"Hello, Bellus."
"Hello, Liber senior."
"I told you to call me Oppa. What senior. You haven't even entered yet. You call Davian Oppa just fine."
"Ah... Yes..."
Liber, after a brief greeting with Bellus, entered the house.
"Davian! My older brother sent an invitation. With a warp scroll that allows us to move directly to our castle."
"It's faster than I expected? He must have been pretty upset about losing that day."
"I guess so. Anyway, our Grey Bear Expedition has been officially invited to the Specula family's castle. He says we should determine the owner of the sixth trace through a simple and fair game?"
"It doesn't say what kind of game?"
"Yeah. It just said that."
"What about the date and time?"
"Tomorrow."
"Okay. Let's go for now."
The next day morning.
"If I tear this, we'll go straight to Liber's castle?"
"It could be a castle, or it could be a place my older brother prepared separately. I don't know."
"Let's go for now. We'll know when we get there."
The seven members of the Grey Bear Expedition gathered closely around Davian.
"I'll tear it."
Whoosh.
A bright light erupted, and a warp magic circle was drawn on the floor.
A moment later.
Davian and his party were warped to one side of a large circular stadium.
"What is all this?"
"And who are all those people?"
"Liber, is this your castle? Why is there such a big stadium?"
"Ah, this isn't inside the castle. It's a stadium our family uses. To run a spy organization, you need a lot of connections here and there. We invite local nobles here from time to time to watch games and have banquets."
"So, is today that day?"
"No. We usually do it at the beginning of the year, so it's not now."
A large stadium.
The oval-shaped stadium was a stone building with no roof, and the stands were arranged in a circular, tiered fashion.
It was a scale that could accommodate thousands of spectators.
Then.
A voice using a magical megaphone echoed through the arena.
―They have finally arrived. The Grey Bear Expedition from Alcancia Kingdom's best educational institution, Elton Academy!
Applause and cheers erupted from here and there.
Although the stands were not completely filled, quite a few people were sitting in the stands.
Judging from their luxurious attire, they seemed to be nobles who were well-known in various regions.
Latia, looking around, frowned.
"Is the plan to make the situation bigger and publicly humiliate us?"
"It seems like it."
Seven people walked out from the opposite side of where Davian's party was standing.
"They matched our numbers?"
"I guess so. Trying to be fair."
At the forefront was Leonel Specula.
―Now, let's introduce the Specula family's expedition. The expedition led by the eldest son of the Specula family, Leonel Specula!
"Waaah!"
"Leonel!"
Unlike a moment ago, thunderous applause and cheers erupted.
The invited people were probably related to the Specula family, so it was a natural reaction.
―The two teams are expeditions searching for the twelve traces of the great mage that have been passed down in legends.
The audience stirred.
"What? I came because they said it was going to be a great battle. But they were just expeditions looking for things like that?"
"There's no way the eldest son Leonel would willingly take on such a mission?"
It was only natural that the people who came as spectators heard it as a nonsensical story.
Because it was a story that no one had been able to find for hundreds of years and remained as just one of the interesting legends.
―The two expeditions will have a fair battle here today for the sixth trace. The battle will be held in a best-of-three format.
"The sixth? Does that great mage's trace really exist?"
"I don't know. Even if there is such a thing, it's not like we can go out and find it, so why don't we just enjoy today's game?"
"Those guys are students from the famous Elton Academy, so they must be highly skilled?"
"I heard they're all freshmen? Then it's only been a few months since they entered the academy. They're freshmen."
"Ah, really? Then that changes things."
Grey Bear Expedition camp.
Nubes asked.
"Three rounds like before? The content of the game isn't the same, right?"
"Probably not. They wouldn't gather so many people and do arm wrestling or go out and catch animals."
―The rules are simple. The team that wins two of the three games first wins. However, a player who has participated once cannot participate in the next game.
Bonita chuckled.
"He's doing exactly what Davian suggested that day."
"It means his pride was hurt quite a bit."
Ting.
Notification sound that only Davian could hear.
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[Step-by-step Quest: Win Each of the Three Games]
―Reward for Winning Game 1: 3,000 Mana Points (x2)
―Reward for Winning Game 2: 4,000 Mana Points (x2)
―Reward for Winning Game 3: 5,000 Mana Points (x2)
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Ting.
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[Achievement Quest: Final Victory in Best-of-Three Battle]
―Reward: Leadership +5
―Reward: Dignity +2
=====
The corners of Davian's lips slightly turned up as he looked at the status window.
He only came to find the trace, but he also got mana points and achievement rewards.
'Should I thank Leonel for this?'
―Now, let's start the first game right away! Only two members from each team can participate.
The thick iron door on one side of the stadium slowly began to open.
"Krrr."
Nubes, Bellum, and Luna stepped back at the same time.
"Eek! W-What is that!"
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