The following day arrived. At last, the time had come for me to attempt a contract with a Rimul Bird. To that end, a group of ten—the four members of the Ducal House, Sebas, Jill, Zeff, Camille, Hughes, and myself—were making our way along the path toward the abandoned mine.
The Young Lady and the others were equipped with armor and weapons, just as they had been during our training in the mine shafts, but I was wearing my usual coveralls. My outfit set me apart so drastically from the others that I felt rather conspicuous.
We weren't using a carriage for the sake of Elia’s training, but she proved to have more stamina than I had expected. Although we were taking regular breaks, she hadn't voiced a single complaint thus far.
"Phew... Ryoma-san, are you quite all right?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
"You certainly have remarkable stamina, Ryoma-san..." Elia said, looking a bit dejected. Personally, I didn't think there was any shame in getting tired.
We were hiking up an unpaved mountain path, so it was only natural to feel the strain. In my eyes, the fact that she hadn't complained was impressive enough.
Camille seemed to share my sentiment, as he stepped in to encourage her.
"Do not worry, Young Lady. Compared to an ordinary child your age, you are handling this walk exceptionally well."
"He’s right, Young Lady. Don't go comparing yourself to Ryoma. This kid is an outlier. Normally, it wouldn't be strange to be exhausted by now. I mean, look at him! Ryoma, you could at least have the decency to break a sweat."
"Even if you tell me that..."
It was a physiological response; there wasn't much I could do about it.
"Young Master," Sebas noted, "Normally, one would work up a sweat even without trying."
"We are matching the Young Lady's pace, so we aren't moving that quickly," Reinhardt added. "Still, those of us who have undergone proper training can tell... Ryoma, what kind of regimen were you subjected to?"
"Let's see... to put it simply... I would train until I reached my absolute limit. If I collapsed or tried to rest, I would be subjected to relentless attacks that could cause serious injury, so I had to choose between suffering or continuing to train. I ended up this way because I did that every single day."
"Was your master some kind of demon!?"
"I can't exactly argue with that."
When I was a child, I was simply terrified of my father. Just having him stand in front of me produced a pressure so intense it felt like I couldn't breathe.
As I was lost in those thoughts, it was time to move again.
"We should start moving before Elia's sweat completely cools," Reinhardt said.
"We’re almost there, so do your best," Elise added.
We resumed our trek. About thirty minutes after our break, we veered off the path and pushed through the forest for another half hour. Eventually, a foul odor reached my nose. This must be the smell of the swamp.
As we pressed on, a reddish-brown marsh came into view.
It sat right on the boundary between the forest and the mine. While it was inside the woods, the trees were sparse here; it looked like a muddy basin where soil from the mine had washed down due to the rain. As we drew closer, the stench grew even more pungent, and the Young Lady covered her mouth to endure it.
"This is the swamp I told you about," Reinhardt explained. "The fallen leaves and the carcasses of creatures that live in the marsh rot together to produce this smell."
"It is a truly dreadful odor..."
"It certainly is, but if you intend to travel through other territories, you must grow accustomed to such environments," Elise cautioned.
I recalled that Reinbach-sama had personally overseen the environmental upkeep of the Jamil Duchy, making it cleaner than most other lands. That meant that outside their territory... I could only pray it wasn't always this bad.
"Hmm, it seems neither Grel Frogs nor Rimul Birds are in this particular spot yet," Reinbach said. "There isn't just one marsh; let’s look elsewhere."
We moved on at Reinbach-sama's suggestion. After about ten minutes, we found a swamp roughly three times larger than the previous one. There, we saw about thirty people—a mix of adventurers and tamers—along with more than two hundred blue birds.
"There they are! The Rimul Birds!"
"Oh..."
"They are beautiful..."
In appearance, they were similar to large parrots, but their most striking feature was their long, elegant tails. Their feathers were a stunning combination of blue bodies with green heads and tails; it was easy to see why they were so popular. They stood out with surprising vibrance against the dull, reddish-brown water.
They were indeed beautiful, but the presence of the adventurers around them felt like a distraction.
"It went that way!"
"Hurry up and catch it!"
"Ah!?"
"Quick! Before it gets eaten!"
Adventurers were wading into the swamp, competing with the Rimul Birds for the Grel Frogs. Watching these burly, mud-caked men lunging with nets or bare hands at frogs the color of sludge was an exhausting sight.
Just then, two young men on the shore began preparing instruments.
"You two, watch. It looks like those people are about to attempt a contract," Elise said.
One of them began to play a flute. it was a vertical instrument, much like a recorder. However, he didn't seem particularly skilled.
"How much does the quality of the performance affect the contract?" I asked.
"It’s hard to say for certain," Sebas replied. "The birds are the ones who judge, after all."
"There have been cases where someone failed with a song they played perfectly, only to succeed when they smashed their instrument in a fit of rage," Elise added.
"That’s... well, quite something."
Eventually, the man finished his song. As the music stopped, the Rimul Birds all began to cry out in unison.
"Kera-kera-kera-kera-kera!!" "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"
It was a grating, mocking sound, exactly like a human laughing at someone they despised.
This matched the information I had received from Koken. If the Rimul Birds do not approve of a performance, they emit an alarm call—a sound noted for being exceptionally unpleasant.
So this is what he meant. It certainly wasn't a sound I wanted to hear twice.
The adventurers seemed used to it, as they didn't pay the noise any mind, instead taking advantage of the distraction to gather more Grel Frogs. Their indifference only made the failed performers look even more pathetic.
"As you can hear, that was a failure," Reinhardt explained. "A contract is impossible now. You can try a few times, but if you push them too much, they will attack. It’s best to stop after one or two attempts."
While Reinhardt was speaking, the other man started to play. He was even worse than the first one. This time, the Rimul Birds started laughing before he even reached the halfway point of his song.
Perhaps snapping from the mockery, the man drew a dagger—likely for self-defense—and waded into the swamp toward the birds.
"Mm, this is bad... Stay alert," Reinbach commanded.
"Understood!"
At Reinbach-sama's word, the four guards stepped forward. Even Sebas and Reinhardt moved into a defensive stance. Elise came to stand beside Elia and me.
"Keh!"
"Gah! H-Hieee!!"
Sensing a threat from the man with the blade, the Rimul Bird closest to him let out a sharp cry. A moment later, the man's shoulder was sliced open, and he screamed in pain.
"Wind Magic..." I muttered.
The rest of the flock turned their gaze toward the man simultaneously. His anger vanished, replaced by pure terror as he turned to flee. The people near him were caught in the panic and began to retreat as well.
Several birds fired Wind Cutters at their retreating backs. Their aim was poor and the shots missed, but the man was running for his life.
"You must not follow his example," Elise warned. "Rimul Birds are gentle creatures, but they are far from weak. If you insult them and try to force them into submission, they will naturally fight back."
The Duchess’s warning was sound, but I was more concerned with the fact that the man was running straight toward us. This was going to be a problem.
The man reached the shore, but he stopped there, perhaps thinking he was safe. In that moment of hesitation, an attack from one of the birds caught him in the leg.
"Gwah!? Ah..."
""Earth Wall!!""
"Keh!!"
The spells Camille and I instinctively cast created a solid barrier of earth between the man and the birds. A dozen Wind Cutters struck the wall with a series of grinding thuds, but we managed to shield him.
The barrage of Wind Cutters stopped, but a second later, a massive cry roared through the area.
"Ku-keh! Ku-keh!! Ku-keh!!! Ku-keh!!!!"
"Kyaaa!"
"Guh!?"
"What is this!?"
"Everyone! Keep your focus!!"
The people around me suddenly began to double over in pain. Elia trembled and stumbled; Elise and Sebas rushed to catch her.
What was happening?
Looking around the swamp, I saw adventurers screaming and collapsing as if they had lost their minds.
The range was enormous, and I felt a massive surge of mana. The cry was clearly the cause, but which bird was it?
I scanned the flock for the source of the mana and spotted one bird within seconds. It was using Wind Magic to manipulate the air, amplifying the sound and blasting it outward—much like my own Wind Magic. Because I understood the mechanic, I found it quickly.
"Silent!"
I directed the spell toward the bird that was the source of the mana. Since Silent used Wind Magic to halt vibrations in the air, it worked exactly as intended. The sound cut out instantly, and the tension in Reinhardt and the others visibly eased.
It seemed effective, but... it was a struggle.
The bird was fighting back.
It was likely using a spell similar to my Big Voice to amplify vibrations. Because we were using the same element for diametrically opposed purposes, it had turned into a contest of mana and magical control. If my concentration wavered for even a second, the sound would surely leak through.
We were evenly matched in terms of technique... no, I was slowly being pushed back. If I couldn't outmaneuver it, I’d just have to use brute force.
I funneled a massive amount of mana into the spell and cast it again.
"Silent!"
"...Ku-keh!"
After a few seconds of resistance, the bird seemingly realized it was at a disadvantage and took to the sky. The rest of the flock followed suit immediately. I braced for an aerial attack, but the birds simply flew off into the distance.
"They fled? Is... is it over?" I asked.
"Camille, tend to that man! Jill, Zeff, Hughes, get the people who collapsed in the swamp back to the shore! Sebas, how is Elia?"
Reinhardt began barking out orders. Elia was the one who answered his question.
"I am... quite alright..."
"Elia, are you sure? You don't feel ill?"
"Yes... I was suddenly overcome with fear... but that was all. I've calmed down now."
"I see. Thank goodness. Ryoma-kun, thank you. You were the one who stopped that, weren't you?"
"The cry was the cause, wasn't it? I stopped what looked like the source for now, but what exactly was that?"
"Eh?" Elise and Elia both let out a sound of surprise.
"Ryoma-san, did you not feel anything?"
"Not particularly."
I just thought the noise was irritating. That was why I had the presence of mind to look around. Honestly, I was more shocked to see everyone else falling apart.
"It was just 'noisy' to you? That’s all?"
"Yes."
While Elise tilted her head in confusion, Reinbach and Sebas provided the explanation.
"The bird Ryoma-kun silenced was likely not an ordinary Rimul Bird," Reinbach said. "It was almost certainly a high-tier species known as a Nightmare Rimul Bird. In addition to Wind Magic, they can use the Dark Attribute. Their most terrifying trait is the mental attack they release alongside their cry."
"It induces fear, confusion, and madness," Sebas added. "Some people suffer hallucinations or simply faint, much like those people over there."
Sebas pointed to the shore. Most of the people being helped by Jill and the others were slumped on the ground, while some remained unconscious or were still huddled in terror.
"This is a disaster..."
"It is an incredibly potent mental attack," Sebas continued. "Physical strength has nothing to do with mental fortitude, so even seasoned adventurers can lose consciousness. Since most of these people are rookies, this outcome was inevitable."
"Even if you’re trained, it’s still agonizing," Reinhardt noted. "You can only hope to endure it."
Then I remembered—I had the Mental Pain Resistance skill. That must be it.
When I mentioned the skill, Elise’s face lit up. "That must be it!"
Apparently, my resistance was so high that instead of just "enduring" the attack, I didn't feel it at all.
I was told that mental attacks would likely never work on me, but I realized I hadn't prepared any countermeasures for that type of magic until now. While the immunity was good, the fact that I hadn't even realized I was being attacked was something I needed to keep in mind.
Eventually, Jill and the others returned. It seemed they had finished treating the injured and rescuing those in the swamp.
"What’s the status over there?" Reinhardt asked.
"Only one casualty—the man who caused the mess. He’s been treated and should be able to make it back to the city on his own."
"But what now?" Hughes asked. "The whole flock turned tail and ran during the chaos."
"Should we search for the nest?" I asked.
"That'll be tough, Young Master," Zeff replied. "When Rimul Birds fly, they use Wind Magic to create currents and ride them. Their speed and range are in a different league compared to other monsters. They’re likely far beyond our reach by now."
"That’s why people wait in ambush at this swamp," Hughes said. "I don't know if they'll be back today. You want to wait?"
"I will wait," Elia said firmly. "We’ve come all this way, and I want to try at least once."
Following the Young Lady's lead, we decided to wait for a while. The adventurers on the shore gradually recovered, and those who had fainted eventually woke up.
However, whether they lost their nerve or simply wanted to avoid the Ducal House, everyone eventually cleared out. Left to ourselves, we created stone chairs a short distance from the water and sat down to chat.
During our conversation, I learned that the Nightmare Rimul Bird's mental attack is so powerful that trying to stop it by force usually causes the entire flock to become hostile, turning the situation into a bloodbath. The standard procedure was to either endure it or run.
I wondered if my Silent was acceptable because it wasn't an attack, but just a way to block the sound. I was glad Koken and the others had warned me beforehand that harming the birds was strictly forbidden.
Furthermore, high-tier Rimul Birds were only seen about once a decade, making them incredibly rare. Despite the trouble, we—and especially I, who had seen it clearly—were considered quite lucky.
"What did it look like?" Elia asked.
"Its colors were a bit darker than the others. Not dull, but... a deep, rich blue and green that looked quite elegant. Other than that..."
As we chatted, a somber mood eventually settled over the group.
"We’ll be parting with Ryoma-san for a while soon, won't we..."
Elia's words made me realize the reality of the situation. They had come here to see the birds and attempt a contract. Once that was done, their goal would be achieved. We would be heading back, and our time together was running out.
How was I supposed to respond? I felt lonely, but...
That's true. No, that’s too cold.
Don't go! A man in his forties saying that would be repulsive. Even if I looked like a kid, it would hurt my soul.
We can meet again. Yes, that was it. I wished I had something more poetic to say, but that was the truth.
"It’s not as if you’ll never see him again, Elia. Isn't that right, Ryoma-kun?" Elise said, beating me to the punch.
"Of course."
"You can exchange letters to keep each other informed," Reinbach added.
"That’s... true! We can see each other again! Ryoma-san, you must promise to write to me. I'll be writing to you as well!"
"I promise."
"Dammit, kid! If you're a man, show some backbone and give her a hug!" Hughes shouted, slapping me hard on the back. I nearly tumbled off my stone chair.
"Whoa! What are you doing? Or rather, what are you thinking!? You're a guard, Hughes-san! You're supposed to be the one stopping this kind of thing!"
"Hah? I’m doing it because it’s fun to watch!" Hughes gave me a bright grin and a thumbs-up.
"Is that really allowed?"
"Well," Reinhardt said with a complicated expression, "if it’s just between friends, I suppose it’s fine. As friends. Yes."
"There’s no need to get worked up over it," Reinbach chuckled. "They’re only ten years old, after all."
Is a hug just a greeting here? Like in the West?
"See? Come on, if you're a man, you gotta just go for it. If you aren't smooth about it, it just gets more embarrass—"
"..."
"Gah!? You... you little..."
I felt a surge of irritation and landed a solid blow to his midsection. When I turned back, I locked eyes with the Young Lady. Her face seemed a bit flushed. It was awkward to have her react that way. I looked to the Duchess for help, but she was just watching the scene unfold with an amused smile. She was definitely enjoying this.
"Hey... what... was that... for... ugh..." Hughes wheezed, clutching his stomach and doubling over.
"Ah... I was just... trying to hide my embarrassment."
Even as I said it, I knew it was a terrible excuse. It had just slipped out.
"That wasn't the punch of an embarrassed kid! If I hadn't been trained, that would've... ow-wow-wow... Why does a hit over armor hurt this much!?"
"Ah, sorry. Habit."
It couldn't be helped; I was trained to strike with the assumption that my opponent was wearing armor.
...This was bad. I was getting swept up in the weird energy of the group. I needed to calm down.
In the middle of the awkward silence that followed...
"............" "............" "............" "............"
"Piro-ro-ro-ro-ro!!"
"!?" "Wh-what!?"
A sound like a sharp whistle cut through the air.
Looking toward the source, we saw the flock of Rimul Birds returning to the marsh.