Bathed in dense killing intent, Tino, who had been shielding me from behind, moved forward with a sliding motion.
She swayed her body left and right, executing complex steps before leaping in front of the old man.
A Mage's forte was long-range attack magic. For top-tier users like Lucia who could cast without incantation, that was one thing, but at this distance against a Thief, there was no chance of winning.
Without a moment's hesitation, Tino raised her short sword overhead. Perhaps not expecting the girl he'd been shielding to come at him, the old man couldn't react in time.
The polished blade of the short sword gleamed in the darkness. Her transparent eyes, stripped of all emotion — she fully intended to kill. Whoa, whoa, that's no good.
"Tino! They're civilians, hold back!"
"...Huh!?"
"Consideration for the weak is the duty of the strong. Don't forget your respect for your elders!"
"!?"
The short sword Tino was about to bring down collided with the tip of the old man's staff and was deflected. She must have eased up upon hearing my instructions partway through, but still, for the old man to deflect Tino's strike — he was quite the energetic gentleman.
The old man, his life saved, wore a ghastly expression with his eyes pulled up like a demon and retreated.
Tino cried out in a confused voice, unsure of what to do.
"Mastaa!? They're not civilians!"
I know, I know. After all, Tino is Rize's disciple.
For my childhood friends, even if the opponent was a civilian, the moment they turned hostile, they became enemies to be killed. Even if the law protected them, they'd show no mercy, but I hadn't lost that much of my morality.
"I know! But don't kill them! You can do that, Tino, can't you?"
"I can't!? They're Mages!"
"Yeah. But they're just people doing Sand Rabbit research!"
"Thousand Transformations... just how far do you intend to mock us?!"
Why is it that I, who's shielding them from Tino, have to face their killing intent?
I just want to settle this peacefully. If they report us to the authorities later, it'll be a real hassle.
Between Hunters and civilians, self-defense isn't recognized without substantial justification. One of Footprint's mottos was "don't lay a hand on civilians."
There must just be a little misunderstanding! If we talk it out, we should be able to understand each other!
I looked at the Rabi-ken members (short for Sand Rabbit researchers). What they directed at me were the eyes of beasts looking at prey.
Understanding might be... impossible.
"They're not my enemies! Please, let's settle this peacef—"
As I spoke, the area suddenly brightened.
The man standing right behind the leader had raised his staff. At its tip, a blue-flaming fireball hovered.
The target of his gaze wasn't me. It was Tino, who was caught between my orders and her master's teachings, confused and conflicted.
You've got to be kidding...
A Mage's attack magic was powerful. Because it required incantation, there was a delay before activation, but once activated, it exceeded the attack power of a melee attacker of comparable proficiency.
On top of that, I didn't hear any incantation. Incantation Cancellation was an advanced skill. Why would people who just study rabbits know such a technique— Tino's eyes locked onto the fireball. By that time, the pale blue fireball had already been launched.
Could she dodge it? Maybe she could. Maybe she couldn't. No way I could make that judgment.
I kicked off the ground. There was no hesitation. I knew the power of the Barrier Ring from my Hunter activities.
I threw myself into the path of the magic. The Barrier Ring activated.
An apocalyptic blast of wind roared in front of my body. The grass nearby was reduced to dust in an instant, and the impact cratered the ground.
"Mastaa!?"
Tino screamed. I stopped her with my hand as she tried to rush over.
"It's fine. No problem. Not a scratch on me."
But that was close. That fireball clearly wasn't meant for self-defense.
It had enough power to kill even a Hunter who'd absorbed plenty of Mana Material. No way you could tank it without a Treasure Weapon.
I soothed the pale-faced Tino and turned to the Rabi-ken members. The man who'd fired the magic took a step back at my gaze and dropped his staff.
With that much offensive power, he must have been confident.
The Dog Chain hanging at my hip was rattling at the appearance of an outside threat.
I lightly brushed off the area where the fireball had hit and raised my voice.
"That was clearly an attack. It didn't work on me, but — I don't know what offended you, but you'd better stop there. If you keep pushing, I have ideas of my own."
"..."
The Barrier Ring was a rare item. People knew it existed, but few had witnessed its activation. This should at least serve as a bluff.
I watched them carefully. At the Rabi-ken's reaction, I was inwardly horrified — though I didn't show it on my face.
There was no surprise. What I saw was strong wariness and — a trace of fear. This was a first.
Fear was bad news. When people were consumed by fear, there was no telling what they'd do. If they started spamming magic of that power, I'd be turned to charred remains in no time.
I continued the negotiation.
"...L-look, I am a Hunter, you know. I've got decent power. Turning all of you to charred remains would be easy. It wouldn't even take a second. But I'm a philanthropist. I got a little annoyed that you attacked my junior, but I respect all of you who research Sand Rabbit. I could never do something so petty... so cruel. No, I'm not mocking you. Showing respect to those who can do what I can't is only natural—"
"Mastaa, what an incredible provocation skill. Impressive as always."
Tino whispered praise to me as I desperately tried to negotiate. I wasn't provoking them.
I cleared my throat and went for the closing argument.
"...In other words, what I'm saying is — if you leave right now, I'll let you go. You don't want to get caught either, right?"
"Mastaa!?"
"...What did you say!?"
The leader's eyes bulged. Those two pupils gleaming in the darkness resembled those of a Sand Rabbit, but were far more abhorrent.
What's wrong with that? There's no reason to fight. I'm sick of this incomprehensible situation. I'd very much like you to leave.
"I'll let the earlier attack slide. Consider it even with me accidentally laughing at you. Our meeting this time was just an unfortunate accident for both sides."
"Didn't... happen? What do you mean by that?"
What do I mean? If it didn't happen, it didn't happen.
Being attacked by Phantoms was one thing, but being attacked by humans out of the blue was unacceptable. I had no memory of earning their grudge.
The old Mage fell silent. I'd made maximum concessions. If this didn't work, I'd have to fight ready to kill.
Tino kept quiet, though her expression showed her dissatisfaction.
She was attacked and still held back. What a great junior. Next time I'll treat her to ice cream.
"We're about to leave, and if anything, we can be the ones to leave first—"
Before I could finish, the old Mage reached his conclusion.
"Kill Thousand Transformations! Make them regret mocking us! No one can take our magic unscathed! There must be some trick!"
"...Yes, sir!"
He barked the absurd order with a voice on the verge of cracking. My prayers had apparently gone unheard.
The subordinates behind him answered in unison as the old Mage himself kicked off the ground, retreating while facing me. He was planning to flee alone.
If you're going to run, why not run together...? And "kill" is a bit much, isn't it?
Judging from his expression, this was no joke. I wasn't so naive as to think otherwise.
I had no memory of mocking them, but it seemed they had no intention of letting us go either.
The subordinates raised their staffs in unison. Their expressions were rigid, and some even had trembling hands.
But none fled. There was a resolve to die here in their eyes.
What kind of organization was Rabi-ken...? Their discipline rivaled that of the Empire's official knight orders.
I grabbed the arm of Tino, who had silently rushed forward to protect me, and stopped her. Tino's eyes widened as she looked up at me.
Tino could probably take down a few of them. But there were too many, and there was always a risk.
I let out a deep sigh — and steeled my resolve.
I was, despite appearances, Level 8. As long as the opponents weren't Phantoms and were humans, I could handle this.
I had passed the Level certification exam, after all. What I'd said earlier — that I could turn them to charred remains — was a lie, but when I said I had ideas of my own, that wasn't just a bluff.
The Treasure Weapon's mana was nearly depleted. But I still had one ace left in the hole.
The one I was glad I hadn't used at White Wolf's Den.
I'd planned to save it until Lucia came back, but at this point, persuasion through words alone was impossible.
I pulled out the pendant-type Treasure Weapon I'd been wearing under my clothes. A pentagram fashioned from gold, with a crystal set into it as if embedded. Within its transparent depths, a pitch-black darkness like the night sky swirled.
Yearning for a Foreign Land.
It was a Treasure Weapon originating from an artifact that a technician — who had once harbored deep yearning for magic — had created.
Its power was simple but absurd: in exchange for consuming roughly a hundred times the mana that its normal use would require, it could store a single spell and release it at will.
My strength came mostly from the fortune amassed by the Mourning Specter.
But this was the most outstanding of them all.
What it contained was a high-tier Gravity Magic that would flatten everything in the surrounding area except the caster and anyone in direct contact with them.
The one who had put it in was my sister — Lucia Roje, the Grand Mage who boasted the highest offensive power within the Mourning Specter, who was always complaining while charging mana into Treasure Weapons.
My — sister.
Perhaps because its nature was to store spells, the Treasure Weapon's natural mana consumption rate was extremely slow. It had been my trump card for when Lucia, for whatever reason, would be separated from me for an extended time.
I'd been told to use it only when my life was truly in danger. If anyone found out I'd used it against civilians, Lucia would certainly scold me. She might not speak to me for days.
But if I didn't use it here, even if things worked out... I couldn't forgive myself.
I grabbed Tino's arm and pulled her close.
With a confident expression, I looked down at the Mages, and — just as the original inventor of this Treasure Weapon had intended — wielded its power as if it were my own.
Magic was forming at the tips of the Mages' staffs. Fire. Ice. Lightning. Wind. Simple but lethal spells.
And all of them were cast without incantation — unbelievably, every member of Rabi-ken was apparently a high-tier Mage.
But I had no doubts.
"Have you ever — seen the world's most powerful attack magic?"
At my words, the Mages' eyes went wide, but their hands didn't stop. Silently, the attacks were launched.
Sound disappeared. I gazed at the various colors of light descending upon me with a strangely detached feeling, and released the Treasure Weapon's magic.
§ The ground simply trembled once, quietly. And that was the end of everything.
The Treasure Weapon produced no visible effect. There was no brilliant light, no sound — the stored magic was simply released.
On the ground, all the Rabi-ken members who had been pointing their staffs at us moments ago were now sprawled on their backs.
Their number — five. At first glance, there were no external wounds, but looking closely, you could see that tremendous force had crushed them into the ground from above.
The entire area had been flattened. Grass, trees, everything had been crushed from above as if pressed by something enormous.
The only ones still standing were me and Tino, who had been exempted from the effect because I was touching her.
The attack magic that had been aimed at us had vanished without a trace, as easily as blowing out a candle flame.
Magic was the manipulation of phenomena using energy called mana. If two Mages simultaneously tried to manipulate the same phenomenon at the same location, the weaker spell would be overwritten.
This meant that the "trump card" I'd received from Lucia vastly outclassed the Rabi-ken's magic.
Well, they seemed to be a rather dangerous organization, but the power gap between a Hunter and civilians was just too great.
Gravity Magic was, as the name suggested, magic that manipulated weight.
I wasn't very knowledgeable about it, but it was a minor school of magic with high difficulty among the many spells, making it hard to give special treatment to.
It was useful, but in terms of pure destructive power, it fell slightly behind other magic. It interfered at a higher layer than other spells, consuming more mana. Among Mages, only a handful had mastered it — or so Lucia had told me.
Still, the reason I'd asked for Gravity Magic to be loaded into this Treasure Weapon rather than a lethal spell was because it was suited for the "subjugation" of humans.
Gravity Magic, which affected not points or lines but the entire world, could attenuate incoming spells and neutralize a wide range of enemies without killing them.
It was insufficient in power against Phantoms, but I never went to the Treasure Hall alone, so it was enough.
The fallen Mages were all convulsing, not even groaning, but they weren't dead yet.
Yearning for a Foreign Land could only release the stored magic as-is.
It couldn't adjust the power like a Mage normally could when casting, but Lucia had apparently loaded it with just enough restraint to avoid killing anyone, as per my request.
I'd been a little worried since she'd been going through a minor rebellious phase lately, but as expected of Lucia. Your big brother is very pleased.
Perhaps because he'd been farther away than the others, the leader old man — the only one who'd managed to stay on his knees — stared at me blankly.
His staff had been knocked from his hand and was deeply embedded in the ground, but he seemed able to move.
"...This is... ma... gic!? Gravity Magic!?"
"Just because I went easy, you come picking fights without any good reason — that's what happens."
He was muttering to himself, so I cheerfully piled on.
"Looks like you're not dead... Good thing I chose a low-power spell."
"Impossible...! This cannot be! My magic barrier — I, the one they call Sage — defeated so easily by... You... you're a... Mage!?"
Whether from shock or fury, his eyes were strained to their limit, staring at me as if looking at some monster.
Sage? Could this old man actually be someone important? Was he at the cutting edge of the Sand Rabbit world?
...Well, either way, Rabi-ken was in the wrong for attacking us out of the blue.
I slightly regretted getting carried away, but it was too late to back down, so I decided to keep up the act.
"A Mage? I'm — just a Hunter."
Pretty hard-boiled, right?
Tino, who had been silent this whole time, was looking up at me with glistening eyes brimming with tears. Since I was firmly gripping her shoulder, she hadn't been affected by the Gravity Magic.
She was probably sad that the Mastaa of her own Clan was behaving so childishly. Don't look at me like that... I'm sorry. A little showboating never hurt anyone.
"Impossible... I... I, Not Koclea — who absorbed Mana Material and gained this power — defeated by magic without even an incantation... damn it!!"
"Huh? Wait, can you actually stand up? I went too easy on you...?"
Hmm. Maybe I should've had Lucia hold back less?
The important person from Rabi-ken groaned and — incredibly — slowly raised the knees he'd planted on the ground.
But looking at his face, it was clear he was forcing himself. His eyes were bulging, and saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, which he'd clenched between his teeth.
The air was distorting. The pressure was immense.
The lack of incantation was thanks to the Treasure Weapon. The power should have been equivalent to what Lucia would produce with an incantation.
Even so, to be able to stand after receiving Lucia's "Overweight Gravity Wave World" was not normal.
Even non-lethal, there should still be damage.
My last trump card was spent. Gravity Magic didn't last long, and I had no more offensive options.
But what I felt wasn't panic — it was pity. I looked down at the old man with compassion.
"You should really stop now."
"...What... did you say?"
I didn't know why they harbored such intense anger toward me.
But no matter how much they resisted, I had no intention of harming them. Our people were always causing trouble for ordinary citizens.
"I have no desire to fight. I'm a Hunter. My enemies aren't people like you — people who crawl into Sand Rabbit burrows to dote on rabbits."
"............"
For some reason, the old man bared his teeth and looked up at me with eyes blazing with boundless fury. But while he could stand, he probably couldn't walk.
He'd reached his limit. His body had gone as far as it could go. Pushing further might cause irreversible damage.
Besides, I had Tino here, and from the start, this was a fight with no chance of winning.
Just then, a certain phrase crossed my mind.
Don't say it. Stop.
I told myself, but my mouth slipped. And with a beaming smile, no less.
"...I got attacked and all, but I'll let you go for today. There, I won't hurt you anymore... Go back to your burrow."
Ugh, I said it. I knew it would only pour oil on the fire, but it was a bad habit.
Maybe the stress of being attacked out of nowhere and shot at with magic had built up.
"...Kill... Kill them! Make them regret... insulting Akasha!"
Just as I'd expected, the old man was furious. The emotion burning in his eyes could only be called hatred.
He looked every bit the villain. That such an old man was doing Sand Rabbit research — the world truly was full of wonders.
Perhaps the magic had just worn off, as the old man's posture recovered. But the strain on his body hadn't dissipated.
"...Be... prepared! You will regret... letting Not go free!"
He spat out his parting words in a trembling voice, and the Not who'd introduced himself as part of Rabi-ken (probably the director) turned his back.
If he could say that much, his life wasn't in danger. One worry off my mind.
And that's when I realized I'd forgotten something and released the Dog Chain.
The chain, which had been making a racket this whole time, raced across the ground as if to say "at last" and wrapped itself around Old Man Not's legs.
As Not took a spectacular tumble on the ground, I pointed at his companions twitching on the ground.
"Wait. Make sure to take your fallen comrades with you. If you leave them here, the Sand Rabbit researchers will become actual sand rabbits."
"I don't think that would happen, Mastaa," Tino said in a small voice.