Magic Scavenger Part 1 Chapter 5

 Chapter 5: A Desire Wells Up

"Man... it's just nonstop fighting around here, huh, Kanata..."

"Yeah..."

The day after Griare gave him a task to work on, Kanata had gone into town looking for a new sleeping bag.

He'd finally made it back to town but apparently the lord's orders meant they'd be back in battle again before long.

As a battlefield scavenger, that had meant good business. He had to keep at it just to survive. But even so, the fear never really left him.

Roa, walking beside him with her head down, was especially sick of a war that just wouldn't end.

"Make way! The lord's procession is passing through!!"

Kanata and Roa turned towards the shout that was coming from the main street.

They cut through a side path and came out onto the bustling main street, where a portly man on horseback rode leisurely past, surrounded by knights and dressed in clothes so lavish even the two of them could tell at a glance they were expensive.

The lively street shifted into a different kind of noise as residents cleared a path for the lord and his knights to pass through.

"Rest easy, all of you! To put an end to this pointless war, I, Danres, shall personally take to the field myself!"

He waved to the crowd from atop his horse but even Kanata could tell that they weren't exactly welcoming him.

On the surface it looked like the townspeople were welcoming their lord but plenty of whispered complaints about him kept reaching Kanata's ears.

"That's the lord... a noble. Viscount Danres Jarosu, our employer this time around."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There were rumors he'd be heading to the front lines soon, but... guess it was true after all."

Through gaps in the crowd, Kanata and Roa watched Danres and his knights make their slow way down the street.

"Not even bothering with a carriage, making a big dramatic entrance like that... he's just showing off that he's heading to the battlefield, isn't he. Bet he never sets foot on the front lines and just sits around in the back the whole time..."

Roa clicked her tongue, watching Danres wave to the crowd with a plastered-on smile, playing up the performance.

"How do you know that?"

"Because the townspeople aren't happy the war's dragging on so the lord's showing his face to win them back over, right. He's the one who started this war in the first place and now that it's dragging on and messing with supply lines and everything, of course people are gonna be angry at him."

"Huh... you really know a lot, Roa..."

"Well, Viscount Danres is a pretty strong mage so nobody's got the guts to say it to his face though."

"Huh, really?"

"That's what catches your interest? Look, there's a staff at his hip, see?"

Roa pointed, exasperated.

A sword and a short staff hung at his hip as he waved. The staff caught the sunlight and gleamed dazzlingly bright, like there might be a gem set into it.

"Apparently that staff's a magic tool that only people who graduated from a magic academy get to carry. Griare-san told me about it once."

"Huh... yeah, that is pretty fancy."

"Normally it's supposed to just be decorative but that pig probably wears his so everyone can tell right away he's a powerful mage... It's plain intimidation so none of the townspeople who resent him try anything funny... ugh, I hate this."

They were still talking, watching the middle of the street, when hands suddenly landed on both their shoulders.

Maybe because she'd just been badmouthing the lord, Roa flinched, her whole body going rigid.

"Who's that, huh? Talkin' smack about our employer?"

"B-boss..."

"That scared me..."

The one who'd clapped a hand on each of their shoulders was Uval, the captain, already smelling of liquor in broad daylight.

His stubbled, scarred face leaned down toward them and Roa dropped her eyes, looking guilty.

"Oi, kid... what happens if the boss hears that? You don't get that we're gettin' paid by that guy?"

"S-sorry..."

"We make our livin' off work from guys like that... don't go runnin' your mouth somewhere it might get back to him."

"Y-yes... I'm sorry..."

Roa was unable to meet Uval's eyes as he quietly scolded her, trembling all over.

Battlefield scavengers, nothing but orphans the mercenary company kept around out of pity. Roa was no exception. If Uval, the head of the company, ever gave up on her, she'd be out on the streets by tomorrow.

Roa squeezed her eyes shut, gripped by the fear that she might be thrown out.

"Roa was just explaining stuff to me, that's all."

"Hnn?"

"K-Kanata..."

"I was the one askin' her all kinds of questions, boss."

Beside her, Kanata looked Uval straight in the eye.

"Huh... well, well..."

Uval studied him with obvious interest.

By the time he'd finished sizing him up, Lord Danres and his knights had already passed through.

The street slowly settled back to normal but the three of them stayed rooted right where they were standing.

"Then you'll take the punishment instead?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Even if it's somethin' like handin' over the next piece of Rubbish you find?"

Kanata froze for a moment at Uval's proposal.

Kanata's one and only hobby, the one thing that made battlefield scavenging worth doing, suddenly hung in the balance.

"U-u-uh... yeah...!"

"For someone who just covered for her, you sure took your time answering."

Something about the awkward way Kanata nodded, as if fighting some invisible resistance, must have struck Uval as hilarious, because he burst out laughing.

A few nearby townspeople glanced their way, but a scene like that was common enough anywhere that no one paid it any mind.

"Geez, for a second there I almost thought better of you, but... you got a long way to go before you're any kind of man."

"I am a man, though?"

"That ain't what I mean. Well, I'll cut you some slack for the attitude so I'll make the punishment light."

"Th-then the Rubbish is safe...?"

"Told you before, I don't want that trash even if you begged me to take it."

With that, Uval lifted his hands off their shoulders.

Roa, who'd been trembling the whole time, let out a breath of relief with her hand pressed to her chest.

"Employers who pay well are off-limits, no matter what... if you really can't help yourself, do it somewhere nobody's around to hear."

"Yes..."

"Yes."

With that, Uval turned and headed back toward the tavern.

Looked like he had plenty more drinking left in him.

"Oh, right, boss. You're a magic swordsman but you can't use magic?"

"Huh? 'Course I can't use it. Magic's somethin' rich kids who went to school use. I look like I got any book learnin' to you?"

"Then how come you can use mana?"

"What's with the sudden question... don't tell me you're wantin' to be a magic swordsman?"

Kanata started to say no, then remembered something Griare had told him.

—Whatever happens, don't let Uval find out.

According to Griare, Uval hated mages. If Kanata said no here, it might lead into him having to explain about his own magic.

Catching himself just in time, Kanata swallowed his answer and nodded awkwardly again.

"From battlefield scavenger to mercenary, huh... not exactly a story with much dreamin' in it..."

"Ah, boss!"

Uval murmured the words, sounding a little lonely, and turned his back on them.

"There was someone who showed me how it's done. Know the right answer, train toward it and that's all it takes to get there faster... well, I was a genius. So watchin' was plenty enough for me."

With that, Uval disappeared into the tavern.

Watching him go, Roa gave Kanata's sleeve a couple of light tugs.

"Sorry, Kanata... that you got stuck with the punishment because of me..."

"It's fine. I don't really hate the boss all that much anyway."

Plenty of the other battlefield-scavenger kids hated or feared Uval, maybe because of how he looked, but strangely enough, it never bothered Kanata.

Though getting stuck listening to his drunken rambling was a bit of a downside.

"...The right answer...?"

Kanata murmured Uval's words to himself, and something clicked.

"That's it!"

"Huh? W-what is it?"

This time, Kanata was the one grabbing her shoulders, and Roa blinked at him in surprise.

"That's it! That's it exactly! Ah, but I might get in trouble for it... but I think I can actually pull this off..."

"You're gonna go and do something that gets you in even more trouble, on top of already taking my punishment for me?"

Kanata glanced sideways at a baffled Roa and couldn't hold back a grin.

How to actually sense mana. That advice Uval had probably tossed off without much thought had turned out to be exactly the hint he needed.

"...Guess I'll just do it on the sly."

"Whoa... you can actually make a face that sneaky...?"

"The boss said it himself, didn't he? Do it somewhere nobody's around...!"