We exited the forest and rejoined Baros, who was waiting for us.
While our carriage was moving, I practiced how to make various shapes by floating blood on my hands, or how to divide them.
I wasn’t used to the controls yet, so I was thinking of steadily accumulating proficiency in this way.
There was time and nothing left to do while traveling in a carriage, so it’s better to be more familiar with my new ability.
I had no intention of hiding the existence of [Blood Art] from Asher or the others.
Because they would find out, anyway. There would come a time when I would have to use it openly, so there was no reason to hide it.
As it was the first time she saw me using [Blood Art], I felt her constantly glancing at me.
“Do you have anything to say?”
As I spoke, she looked carefully and asked.
“Sir Ron… are you a vampire?”
I answered with a laugh.
“Do I look like a vampire?”
“...No, you look like a human.”
“Yeah, I’m human.”
But how could you control blood?
I could feel Asher staring at me with that kind of question in her gaze, but I had no intention of answering that question.
There was no need to tell her I had absorbed the [Blood Art] from the blood crystal.
After practicing [Blood Art] for quite some time, I stopped.
Now the next destination…
The original plan was to leave the Elrod Forest and go directly to the next Mystery.
That’s how the plan turned out when I found a vampire in the middle. As a result, I successfully obtained [Blood Art] and everything went well.
The next destination was the First Lord’s territory, as planned.
The Mystery to be obtained there was a Mystery that was close to a defense-type ability.
[Space Leap].
As the name suggested, it was a Mystery that could teleport.
Space-related abilities were very rare in this world.
In normal games, if you are a mage, you could use magic to teleport, but in the world of RaSa, this was not the case.
There were very few mages who could use space-based magic, and there were also many restrictions.
This one must be difficult to find…
Already, it felt like a tightness was accumulating in my chest.
Finding the Mystery had never been easy, but this time it was especially so.
Gaitan Lake, in the First Lord’s territory.
The Mystery of [Space Leap] was hidden somewhere in that great lake.
In short, there were a lot of things to prepare for because I had to do underwater exploration.
'Anyway, after getting that, there is only one Mystery left.'
'The last Mystery I plan to get after getting [Space Leap] was not something I was planning to use.'
But it was also a Mystery I must get above all else.
It was something that I should prevent that person from getting.
However, since its location was in one of the magical places that existed on this continent, it was inevitable for me to find other Mysteries and raise my specs first…
Maybe it’s already too late.
In fact, I didn’t know exactly when that person discovered the Mystery, so maybe it was already too late.
'No, it was likely. If you look at these and other things, that person might have been looking for it years ago and prepared to get it by now.'
'Still, nothing is certain yet, so I’ll have to look to make sure.'
For now, though, I should focus on finding the Mystery of the [Space Leap].
The present, five years ago from the background of the game’s play.
More time had passed, so there were less than five years left until the main story began.
Had it been almost half a year since I started wandering around Calderic?
I looked out the window, thinking that the journey was slowly ending.
***
Asher glanced at the Seventh Lord, who was staring out the window.
At first, she thought all she had to do was do her duty as an escort without worrying about this or that.
However, it had already been almost half a year since they started wandering around Calderic, and the many unexpected appearances he showed during that time made her curious about the Seventh Lord.
Sometimes he was so ordinary that she didn’t even think he was a Lord, and at other times he seemed like a good man who couldn’t stand injustice.
At other times, he looked like a cold-blooded person without blood or tears, and at other times he looked like a transcendent who had no interest in everything in the world.
Not only the disposition, but also the ability.
Like the ability to kill an opponent with just words, or that invisible shield.
The ability to manipulate blood that he had just shown was also something she had never seen before.
Considering the conversations he had with the vampires, he had a deep connection with their ancestor hundreds of years ago, but it was unknown whether his [Blood Art] ability had anything to do with it.
'A person who is hard to fathom.'
However, there was one thing she could be sure of, that he wasn’t close to a villain.
He did not turn a blind eye to the dying; he rescued the captives, and he solved a major problem for a tribe’s peace.
Although his actions might have some intention in them, she still wanted to believe that it didn’t originate from a bad place.
“Are you focusing on your escort duty?”
“Yes?”
“It seems like you keep looking at my face.”
“...Sorry.”
Asher blamed herself for being preoccupied by useless things, and just focused on her escort duty again.
***
A lot of time had passed since they passed through various cities of the Third Lord’s territory.
One of the major cities north of the First Lord’s territory, Feuselt...
The first thing I did after arriving in the city on the shores of the Great Lakes of Gaitan was to find someone.
A person who was absolutely necessary to explore the lake.
After finding a place to stay, as always, I went to the Adventurers’ Guild first.
One of the main tasks of the guild staff was to connect the client with the adventurer, and that was the biggest reason for their existence.
Therefore, it was usually quickest to find a guild that met the conditions. Even if the conditions were strict.
“Um, so…”
The staff of the Adventurer’s Guild who listened to me asked as if to confirm.
“You mean you’re looking for adventurers who can use both enchantment magic and underwater breathing magic at the same time?”
I nodded.
“And it would be better if they had some knowledge about the Gaitan Lake.”
The staff smiled a little awkwardly. It was a laugh showing that she’s a bit troubled by my request.
I understood her reaction.
Because the conditions I was requesting were pretty difficult to meet, and I really wanted to find an adventurer who would fit them perfectly.
Enchantment magic.
As the name suggested, it was a magic that granted magical effects to targets other than the caster.
In this world, items imprinted with magic were only auxiliary tools for mages to use magic more easily.
The more complex the engraving was, the more quickly it would be erased from the mana stone, or something like that. I read a book about it at my castle, but I couldn’t quite remember it.
So, mages engraved only the important parts of the rite and used it by filling in only the middle, but those who did not know magic cannot use it because it was not possible.
In ancient times, there was a technique for storing magic skills for a long time, but that technique no longer existed until the present day.
So, even in the game, items with active magic that could be used by people other than mages were quite rare.
Anyway, for that reason, enchantment magic had a very high status in this world.
Even more so because there weren’t many mages that could use it.
In this world, magical power must also be innate. So if the nature of someone’s magic did not match a certain type of magic, no matter how high their mana was, it was impossible to use it. This was the case with space-based magic or enchantment magic.
There must be someone who could at least use underwater breathing magic.
There’s a question on why should a mage even learn such a skill.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with learning it, but it’s normal to learn much more useful and powerful magic.
In a word, it would be very difficult to find a mage who could use underwater breathing magic along with enchantment magic.
In order to explore the lake, I had to find it, so I had no choice but to tell the truth to the guild staff.
“Aren’t there any adventurers who meet these conditions?”
To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations, so if she said no, I thought of giving up and looking for another way.
If I used my influence as a Lord, I might find someone who met the criteria somehow. Or I could visit the market in this city and looked for some appropriate items.
However, an unexpected reply came from the staff.
“That’s… There is only one adventurer that comes to mind, but I know he’s not in this city right now.”
“Then where is he?”
“I’m sorry, I also don’t know. But he often stops by the city. If you’re staying here, I can send you a message once this adventurer appears here?”
I nodded and handed the employee a silver coin.
“I’d appreciate it if you let me know. You can send a message to room 305 of the Teria Inn. You can tell him there’s a client looking for him.”
“Oh, yes! I see!”
Pricking her animal ears, she quickly accepted the money.
For now, I decided to stay in the city a little longer and wait for the adventurer to come.
Had a week passed like that?
The news I had been waiting for at the inn came.
“He’s in the city now?”
The staff who came to the front of the room nodded and said that she was a little sorry.
“Yes, young master. I was going to come with him after telling him about you, but the person himself said that you have to come in person…”
I smiled and left the inn room.
Yes, the one who needed the service should be the one to go.
I and Asher immediately followed her and moved to the tavern where there were adventurers.
“That’s him.”
She pointed to the bearded man sitting alone at a table in the tavern's corner.
I approached him.
He, who was drinking beer alone, looked at me and the staff behind me, and asked with a good smile.
“Ah, are you the one who is looking for me?”
I imagined he would be rude because he demanded that I came in person, but it didn’t seem like that was the case.
I glanced at him once and opened my mouth.
“Are you an adventurer who can use enchantment magic and underwater breathing magic?”
He scratched the bridge of his nose and snorted.
“Well, yes. First, may I ask what you’re going to hire me for?”
“I’m going to explore Gaitan Lake.”
“Ah, Gaitan Lake…”
The man smiled and said.
“Did you get any treasure map? Anyway, if you’re thinking about exploring that big lake, it seemed that you know what you need.”
I sat in front of him.
“Okay, let me ask you a little more about enchantments and underwater breathing magic first.”
