~Roche’s Perspective~
"Alright, listen up! The matches will start today at three in the afternoon. Ryoma is going to build a spectator stand for us out on the plains—you’ll see it from here. Use that as your landmark to gather. Attendance isn't mandatory, though. I know some of you still haven't finished your requests, so feel free to keep working. On the flip side, you’re welcome to watch even if your work isn't done—just know that you’ll be responsible for the consequences later. Dismissed!"
As soon as I gave the word, the crowd broke apart. Some headed off immediately, while others lingered to chat. It was the usual post-assembly scramble.
"Roche, you have a moment?"
"What is it, Lucas?"
"The matchup list is finished. Take a look and see if there are any issues."
I took the document from Lucas. It contained the names of the participants, paired off for the bouts, along with their weapon of choice.
"Your handwriting is as meticulous as ever... Ten people, five matches in total. Everything looks fine to me. We’ll go in this order."
"Then I’ll go notify the participants of their turn."
"Thanks. By the way, what do you make of this lot?"
"Their technique is still crude, but there’s no shortage of spirit," Lucas replied. "Perhaps it’s because of Ryoma? Seeing a kid their age acting as an instructor alongside adults is bound to pique their interest. I’d say quite a few of them are feeling competitive because of him."
"Probably. Adventurers are better off being a bit bold anyway."
"Is that why you exposed the truth about his abilities on the carriage during the first day?"
"I did that because I figured he’d have a hard time doing his job if they looked down on him. He doesn't seem like the type to assert himself, even if he does have the talent."
One look at his base was enough to gauge his skill with Earth Magic and the massive amount of mana he possessed. If you looked hard enough, you could probably find an adult capable of the same thing. But finding someone his age? That was a different story entirely. And finding someone who could finish a project like that and still look like they hadn't broken a sweat? The numbers dropped to almost zero.
He was far removed from the average for his age group. Far removed indeed... but there was more to it.
"Hey, Lucas. Did you hear? Ryoma says magic is just something he’s 'practicing.' Apparently, his true specialty is close-quarters combat, just like us."
"What? But for today’s match..."
"Yeah, that’s only because I asked him to use a bow. It sounds like he’s proficient with a variety of weapons. I don’t know his actual level, but he said it with a quiet confidence that suggests he's even better at it than he is with magic."
"Considering his future potential, that’s almost terrifying."
"That’s exactly why it’s a problem for me."
"A problem?"
"You remember what the Guild Master told me beforehand, don't you? That he was sending Ryoma along and asked me to look after him."
"I recall."
"Thinking back on it now, there was a strange weight to his words."
Wogan had gone on about how Ryoma had plenty of skill and camping experience, and how he was a level-headed kid. At the time, I just figured it was his usual busybody tendencies, but after seeing the boy in person, I was starting to suspect something else.
"Ryoma doesn't have any permanent companions yet," I continued. "He’s been part of temporary parties for specific jobs, but that's the extent of it."
"...Surely you aren't suggesting the Guild Master wants him to form a party with these kids? I know they're fellow rookies with similar levels of experience on paper, but the actual skill gap is massive. Wogan isn't the type of man to overlook that."
I understood Lucas’s point. In any group, there’s bound to be a difference in ability, but when the gap is this vast, it almost always leads to friction later on. That tendency was even more pronounced among young hotheads.
"I don't think pairing him with these students is a good idea either," I agreed. "The Guild Master must know that. Which means..."
Instead of trying to force Ryoma into a group, was he trying to set the stage so that Ryoma would want to find a party?
"Aren't you overthinking this?" Lucas asked. "The boy has been registered for less than a year. Solo work is dangerous, sure, but he has a history of living in the forest alone. There shouldn't be a need to resort to such roundabout methods to make him hurry. Unless there’s some other reason?"
"That’s the part I can't wrap my head around."
I just didn't think it was my imagination...
"He saved one of my party members, so I want to help him if I can. But this isn't an official request. For now, the training camp is the priority. If the Guild Master didn't state his intentions clearly, he must have his reasons. ...Assuming he didn't just forget to mention it."
"Knowing him, that’s entirely possible."
"No doubt."
In any case, I had a job to do.
Noon came and went. When I went to find Ryoma to check on the progress of the spectator stands, he turned to me with a polite smile.
"How does this look?"
"It’s... more than enough."
At most, I’d expected a row of chairs and a few landmarks. Instead, Ryoma had constructed three rows of tiered seating, each wide enough for fifteen people. He’d built it like a proper stadium, ensuring that no one’s view would be blocked by the person in front of them.
He had even leveled and reinforced the ground to create a solid foundation. He’d added handrails to prevent falls, and for the final touch, he had apparently cast an Anti-physical and Anti-magic Barrier to protect the crowd from stray arrows or misfired spells.
I hadn't asked for even half of this... but he looked so satisfied with his work that I decided to keep my mouth shut.
"Still, Ryoma. You’re supposed to be in a match today too, right? Are you going to be okay on mana after building all this?"
Even if he hadn't completely exhausted himself, magic usually came with a degree of fatigue. I was worried it might affect his performance, but he looked perfectly fine, just like he had after building that house.
"It’s incredible that you can put something like this together and stay so unfazed."
"Thank you. I’m quite confident that I won't lose to many people when it comes to mana capacity."
Hmph... Coming from a kid who was usually so reserved, that meant he must really have a monstrous pool of it. Even so...
"Say, Ryoma. I’ve been wondering... Why did you decide to become an adventurer in the first place?"
Thinking about it, I didn't actually know much about him. I’d heard rumors and stories from Wogan, but we’d only met in person a few days ago.
"A lot of kids dream of being adventurers because they want money or fame, but that doesn't seem like your style. If you just wanted money, you already have your shop. And with your mana and the ability to use barrier magic, there are plenty of lucrative, safe jobs for a mage, even at your age. You didn't have to choose a profession that puts your life on the line... I was just curious. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"Oh, it's fine. I don't really have a grand reason," he replied. "When I registered, I suppose the goal was just to be an adventurer. I was confident in my survival skills, and I thought the guild's identification would be useful for traveling. Beyond that, it was the usual 'admiration,' I suppose. I heard my grandparents were former adventurers... And I like the freedom the job offers."
"I see."
Admiration. It was a common enough reason for the young. In that regard, he actually seemed like a boy his age. He’d mixed in some practical talk about IDs and freedom, but that wasn't a bad thing.
"Roche-san, may I ask a question as well?"
"Sure. Anything I can answer is yours."
"When you said there would be many jobs for me earlier, you made it sound like barrier magic was a big deal. Does it really make that much of a difference? Whether you can use it or not?"
I stared at him. "...You use it yourself and you don't know?"
"I knew it was a difficult school of magic, and I certainly struggled with it more than most... but to be honest, I spent a long time living without any contact with other people. I’m embarrassingly out of touch with the world."
"To put it simply, it requires far more finesse than the elemental magic we usually use. You know that mana dissipates when you release it outside the body, right?"
He nodded. At least he knew the basics.
"Now, a mage can manipulate mana to keep it from disappearing through sheer will. That’s also basic, but with elemental magic, you don't actually have to be that conscious of it. You just have to fire the spell before the mana vanishes. Aiming to be a 'proper' mage requires mastering that control because the power drops otherwise, but... let’s put that aside."
I gestured toward his spectator stand.
"The core of barrier magic is creating a physical wall out of mana itself. Because of that, it’s almost always used for defense. Unlike an attack spell that exerts its force in an instant, a barrier has to be maintained in a specific location for a long time."
"I see."
"To do that, you have to manipulate mana—which naturally wants to dissipate—and fix it in place. The 'minimum' level of mana manipulation required for barrier magic is roughly equivalent to being able to cast intermediate-level elemental spells. If you can't do that, you can't even start.
"That said, skill in elemental magic and pure mana manipulation aren't the same thing. Just because you can cast intermediate fire doesn't mean you can cast a barrier. How did you learn it, anyway?"
"My grandmother taught me."
An adventurer who was a specialist in barrier magic. That was a rare find.
"It seems like it would be useful for things like camping," Ryoma mused.
"It’s useful, but it’s damn hard. If you don't have a mentor nearby like you did, most people wait until they’ve mastered intermediate magic as a benchmark before they even look for someone to teach them. And then it takes years to become proficient.
"On top of that, there’s always a massive demand for barrier mages from the wealthy. Most are hired alongside their masters, or find stable employment elsewhere almost immediately. Very few people learn barrier magic and then decide to become adventurers. It's much easier to just take a cozy job and live a stable life.
"In your case, you can already use it. Even if your skills were unpolished, anyone would see the massive potential in someone your age. If you looked for a master, you’d find one in a heartbeat. Even without one, being able to use barriers is proof that you have above-average talent for mana manipulation. It’s a huge selling point for any magic-related work... Well, that’s about all I know. If you want the technical details, ask Lucy or Mimil. I only looked it up so I could explain things to the students; magic is their territory."
"Thank you very much! That was incredibly helpful!"
His eyes were practically sparkling. Despite his common sense in other areas, it didn't seem like he was just being polite. He really hadn't known. He’d had that same look on his face the other day when I’d answered his questions... I’d thought he was exceptionally mature and knowledgeable, but now I was starting to worry.
He was brilliant, yet he was missing pieces of common knowledge in the strangest places. It made me feel uneasy.
...Wait. Could this be what the Guild Master was so concerned about?