The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

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Author Notes:

  [Today's second update. 2/2]

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"We're under attack! Gray Wolves are here!"

I jumped up at the night watchman's bellowing voice and immediately shook Elenora awake beside me. Any drowsiness vanished in an instant.

The moon was out, so I could faintly make out our surroundings.

Emerging from the forest in droves was a pack of gray wolves—Gray Wolves.

If I remember correctly, a single Gray Wolf is equivalent to a D-rank monster. And already about 20... no, 30 of them had appeared.

Launching a night raid, these magical beasts are quite meticulous.

"Tch, so they came after all."

Mererosu clicks her tongue while nocking her bow.

The merchants climbed into the covered wagons, and the adventurers formed a defensive formation with their backs to the wagons.

Mererosu was at the very front. Behind her were seven adventurers—and Elenora and I were positioned near the wagons.

There was still no sign of Roze.

"The enemy is fast but weak to fire and light! 'Steel Guardians' party, take the right side, 'Demon Warding Book' take the left! I'll handle the front!"

Mererosu gave instructions to the adventurer parties behind her and took aim.

The 'Steel Guardians' deploying to the right is a D-rank adventurer party of four, while the 'Demon Warding Book' on the left is a C-rank party of three.

Given the number of enemies, it looked like it would be a tough fight even with multiple parties.

We were told to stay back since we're novice adventurers, but this might not be the time to just stand by and watch.

If Gray Wolves are weak to fire, then Elenora's fire magic should be effective here—just as I thought that, I noticed Elenora's condition beside me.

She was trembling.

The color had drained from her face.

"Elenora, what's wrong?"

She's been through plenty of special training against C-rank monsters, so it can't be that she's afraid of fighting.

Then Elenora pointed at the Gray Wolves and said,

"Mm... e-eaten..."

"Eaten? By those guys?"

Elenora nodded vigorously.

I was about to ask what—when it hit me.

Elenora's hometown was attacked by a group of monsters, and everyone except her was wiped out.

Could it be that the monsters that attacked were...

"Were the ones that destroyed your hometown Gray Wolves?"

"...Mm."

No wonder it's traumatic for her.

According to Roze, after Elenora's parents and friends were eaten and she was the last one left, she continued resisting until her magic ran out. Finally, when she collapsed from exhaustion, Roze arrived just in time to save her.

It's unreasonable to expect her to keep her composure in front of such opponents.

This time, we can't rely on Elenora.

I picked Elenora up and placed her on the wagon bed.

Glaring at the pack of Gray Wolves inching closer, I took a deep breath.

"...They might not be the ones who killed Elenora's parents, but I'll make them pay."

I promised Roze I wouldn't use "Word Soul" as much as possible.

So this time, it's the turn of the new mystical art I acquired during these five days of intense training.

"Here we go, fire!"

Just as Mererosu loosed her arrow, flames burst out from both sides.

As an arrow pierced the forehead of the lead Gray Wolf, the pack started to charge.

The 'Steel Guardians' and 'Demon Warding Book' members took down the Gray Wolves spreading out to the left and right with fire magic.

Mererosu fired arrow after arrow to counter the Gray Wolves approaching from the front. Despite Gray Wolves supposedly having hard skulls, the arrows pierced through easily.

—Judging from the movement of the spirit elements, is that a summoning technique with effect bestowal?

The arrowheads probably have a hardening effect, the shafts have speed enhancement, and the fletching has accuracy reinforcement. The arrows fly at an incredible speed, not missing a single target.

So this is how elves fight.

—But this isn't the time to be impressed.

For now, the front is being held thanks to Mererosu, but the defense on the sides—especially the right side—is starting to crumble.

Two of the four-person party are magic-focused ranged fighters, while the other two are close-range sword and magic types. But whether due to low levels or lack of sword skill, they were being overwhelmed by the approaching Gray Wolves.

That's where I should provide support.

As I ran towards the right, I targeted the nearest Gray Wolf.

I swung my sword.

"'Blade Shift'"

"Gyaan!"

Despite being out of range, my short sword sliced the Gray Wolf's throat.

"Blade Shift" is a long-range attack technique that uses transfer magic to momentarily copy only the blade of the sword to a desired location. Perhaps due to practicing relentlessly against C-rank monsters during Roze's Spartan training, I don't miss my aim against Gray Wolf-level speed.

The 'Steel Guardians' members were surprised by the suddenly falling Gray Wolf, but the enemy wasn't just one.

"I'll provide support! Please maintain your defensive formation!"

I accurately struck the vital points of the approaching Gray Wolves with "Blade Shift," neutralizing them. The good thing about "Blade Shift" is that it's a coordinate-based long-range attack, so it's almost impossible to defend against unless you can see spirit elements.

The downside is that it's completely ineffective against extremely fast opponents.

Since the ranged enemies were being handled by the mages, I could concentrate on close-quarters combat. It didn't take long to mostly wipe out the enemies on the right flank.

"W-what is this kid..."

"Could it be... mystical arts?"

I don't have time to deal with the stunned 'Steel Guardians'.

I immediately headed to the left flank.

The 'Demon Warding Book' defending the left flank was demonstrating their C-rank party capabilities, protecting the wagons from Gray Wolves without much trouble. Especially impressive was the middle-aged swordsman single-handedly holding the front line; Gray Wolf corpses were strewn around him.

However, he was breathing heavily, having no time to rest.

Perhaps because it was too dangerous to provide magical support to allies in close combat, his two mage companions were only attacking at long range.

When I joined in to support the middle-aged swordsman, he thanked me with a gruff "Thanks, kid" despite his surprise.

As we continued to reduce the number of Gray Wolves on the left flank, it seemed Mererosu in the center had finally run out of arrows.

She threw away her bow and drew the longsword from her back.

"Spirits, bestow upon me—'Flash' 'Grace' 'Weight'"

Spirits gathered around Mererosu's body and sword, giving them a faint glow.

She then charged forward, engaging the Gray Wolves in close combat.

The middle-aged swordsman was strong, but Mererosu was a step above.

"A spirit swordsman, huh... As expected of an elf, she's damn strong."

The swordsman, now with some breathing room, whistled at Mererosu.

I could tell too. She was incredibly strong.

There were no flashy attacks, but the way she reliably took down her opponents was truly befitting of a B-rank adventurer. It didn't seem like she needed any support.

"Alright! If we hold out a bit longer, we can win this!"

As the Gray Wolves' numbers kept dwindling, we had them cornered with just a few left. Just as the middle-aged swordsman, judging it to be the final push, was rallying the tired adventurers—

"Wooooooooooo!"

A loud howl came from the forest, and then more than 30 additional Gray Wolves emerged.

Reinforcements when we're already getting low on stamina?

This is too much trouble.

"Y-you've got to be kidding me..."

"Everyone, fall back to the wagons!"

As one of the 'Demon Warding Book' mages whimpered, Mererosu hurriedly gave the order.

It might not be the time to hold back anymore. At this rate, there will definitely be casualties.

Just as I was about to use another one of my new techniques, having judged the situation—

"Mm, Ruruk."

I felt a tug on my back and turned around.

Elenora was standing outside the wagon.

Her face was still pale, but much better than before. The fact that she's standing here means she's willing to fight.

This kind of group combat is Elenora's specialty.

"Can you do it?"

"Mm."

Then, let's leave it to her.

She might even be able to overcome her trauma.

I patted Mererosu's back, who had formed a tight formation with the others, and said,

"Elenora will handle this, please take care of any stragglers."

"Huh? Stragglers?"

Mererosu looked puzzled. Yeah, even that face is beautiful.

Elenora glared at the surrounding Gray Wolves while tightly gripping my clothes.

Her fear was palpable. So I gently supported her back.

"Go all out."

"Mm... Mighty thunder—'Lightning Spark'!"

BOOOM!

Right after the short incantation, a gale and lightning filled our entire field of vision.

Since it was night, it made my eyes a bit dazzled.

The single strike of Elenora's intermediate-level wind and lightning magic pierced the ground over a wide area, leaving the Gray Wolf pack completely charred.

Wow, they've all turned to charcoal.

Of course, there were zero stragglers. It was complete overkill.

"As expected of Elenora."

"Mm, did my best."

Whether tired from casting intermediate magic or from facing her trauma, Elenora leaned on me unsteadily.

Supporting her small body, I felt tired too, so we moved to rest by the campfire.

It took a while for the other stunned members to come back to their senses.