The Man Who Should Not Have Been Here

The morning mist flowed between the ancient trees with the breeze, like liquid moonlight.

Parasitic vines hung from the old trees like silver threads, crystal pendants of dew dangling from their tips and dripping onto the flowers below.

Galan walked through the moss-covered forest, each step sinking into a glowing blue-green carpet of fungi and sending clouds of spores into the air.

Before setting out, he had taken some long-unused weapons from the cellar and made thorough preparations.

After glancing at Lia, who still seemed to be fast asleep, he checked that the traps and protective measures around the house were in order, then left.

Rather than head straight for the great southern forest, Galan had made another trip to Rogley and obtained a map from the Adventurers' Guild.

The map marked places near the forest where troublesome monsters appeared, as well as the direction of the Red Mirror Dragon's nest. It had been compiled from the findings of a large number of adventurers sent to investigate, so it was supposedly quite authoritative. At least, that was how the man who sold it had described it.

A rushing stream curved not far away, forming a small, mirror-smooth pool.

The wisps of cloud drifting across its reflection shimmered with an emerald color that did not exist in reality, beautiful yet concealing an unknown danger.

"Is the Bone-Eating Fish breeding ground past the swamp? It's marked right there on the map, but nobody's dealt with them. The water's so clean it really makes you want to take a couple of sips."

Looking at the deep pool, which was almost eerily still, Galan ultimately gave up on going over for a closer look.

Bone-Eating Fish were cunning monsters that lurked at the bottom of the water. Their innate color-changing magic let them blend in with the algae until an unsuspecting prey approached the pool and stuck out its tongue to drink. Then their crocodile-like jaws would snap open, crushing the prey before it could react.

Come to think of it, he had forgotten to bring any rations when he left that morning, and now his stomach was growling.

I brought this on myself... I should've brought some bread or something. Who knew this route would be so hard to travel?

Galan looked at the map again. It showed that he still had to cross a small mountain to reach the Red Mirror Dragon's nest. A distance of only a few centimeters on paper was truly daunting in reality.

He suddenly felt as though the world had deceived him.

"Rumble—"

After Galan had continued forward for another ten minutes or so,

A tremendous commotion startled a great flock of birds from the forest, sending them chirping in fright.

Judging by the trees toppling one after another in the distance, something unpleasant was clearly rampaging around.

"Hey, hey, what's with all this noise? I made sure to avoid the places on the map where those monsters show up."

Sensing a powerful surge of magic approaching him, Galan cursed the profiteers at the Adventurers' Guild for selling him an unreliable map and charging him eighty copper coins for it. At the same time, he ducked and rolled into the bushes to one side, concealing his presence.

"Boom!!"

A dark figure burst from the forest. Before Galan could make out who it was, huge cracks suddenly appeared in the ground before him, and several stone pillar platforms quickly rose from them.

A man in a brown mage's robe emerged from the trees, then leaped nimbly across the platforms he had created.

After getting up, the Human-Faced Tree brandished its thick branches and smashed through the obstacles in its path, letting out a piercing shriek as it pursued the fleeing man.

It looked as though the man had unwittingly entered its territory and led the monster all the way here.

What rotten luck...

It was hard to tell whether he meant the man or himself.

The supple branches lashed like powerful whips, easily smashing the stone pillars into heaps of rubble with every strike.

If one struck a person, and that person was a mage rather than a tough-skinned, thick-fleshed warrior, their internal organs would probably burst on the spot.

The man's movements, however, were highly practiced. No matter which direction the monster attacked from, he dodged with ease. His evasions looked fairly effortless, and he clearly had a great deal of practical combat experience.

"He's a mage, but he's pretty nimble. Looks like he's trained specifically in close combat."

It was a highly unusual type. It seemed the man had his own ideas about training in magic—at the very least, he did not fight the traditional wars of attrition and positional battles taught at magic universities.

Just as Galan was secretly watching the show from the sidelines, a disturbance broke out in the woods opposite him. Two more Human-Faced Trees came charging out and joined the fight, chasing after the man.

Branches whipped wildly through the air, throwing the scene into even greater chaos.

"He drew three of them at once? No wonder he couldn't finish them off."

These monsters, called Tree Demons by some mountain villagers on the northern plateau, were extremely troublesome. Once they set their sights on prey, their lightning-fast whips would cling to it like a venomous tongue, refusing to let it escape easily.

Many adventurers would usually choose to avoid confronting this kind of monster head-on. The best way to deal with them was to launch a sneak attack or crush them with overwhelming strength.

This was particularly deadly for an ordinary mage, because the monsters gave them no time to cast spells, making an effective counterattack difficult. When facing this kind of monster, it was therefore often necessary to seize the initiative.

"Looks tricky."

The man frowned. With the other two monsters joining the battle, he had no opening to counterattack.

A branch flashed across the left side of his forehead, drawing thin streaks of blood. Under attack from all three monsters, he gradually lost his composure and began to look somewhat disheveled.

That last strike had been particularly tricky. If the man had not prepared for it in advance, he might have lost an eye by now.

"Friend over there, are you going to keep watching?!"

Hearing that, Galan could not help being startled.

He actually found me? I was concealing my presence. This is the first time anyone's noticed me.

Was that man moving in my direction all along because he hoped I'd step in? What terrifying perception.

Just as he was marveling inwardly and preparing to rise and intervene, a cold voice came from another direction.

"Judgment Light Magic."

Cross-shaped lights flickered beside him, illuminating the man's handsome face.

The distinctive monocle over his right eye gleamed in the light.

Galan turned to look that way, only to freeze on the spot.

It's him?!

That can't be right. Why would he be in the northern nations at this point in time?

As Galan made out the man's face, confusion and shock surged through him like a tide.

After a short, crisp chant, the young man wearing the monocle waved his wand with the composure of a cold machine.

The cross-shaped lights gathered a terrifying amount of magic and flew toward the three Human-Faced Trees surrounding the man, leaving dazzling afterimages in their wake like shooting stars.

The attack reached them in an instant, giving them no chance to defend themselves.

Loud explosions rang out as the monsters were struck, drawing groans of pain from them.

The powerful offensive magic also seemed to be highly corrosive. After being hit, the Human-Faced Trees' branches could no longer regenerate quickly. Filled with mounting rage, the low-intelligence monsters began charging straight at the man without any logic.

"Hey, hey, hey, how could you forget about me?! You'll pay dearly for underestimating me!"

Although he had been somewhat disheveled under their combined assault just moments ago, he was now relaxed and at ease again, chattering nonstop.

What an arrogant man.

The middle-aged man leaped backward, landing steadily atop a newly created stone pillar. He crouched down and pressed both hands against the surface of the platform as magic surged around him.

"Earth-Controlling Magic!"

Sharp stone pillars suddenly thrust up from the ground, piercing straight through the backs of the unsuspecting Human-Faced Trees as they ran. The battle, which had been turning against him, was instantly reversed after the young man appeared.

In a real battle, victory or defeat often depended on a single opening an opponent revealed or the countless flashes of inspiration that erupted in the midst of a clash.

There were no rousing scenes like those in martial arts novels, where battles so often lasted three hundred exchanges. Real-life duels had only the finality of a single move deciding the outcome.

After struggling for a moment, the monsters impaled and pinned to the stone spikes finally stopped moving. They lost their ability to regenerate and dissolved into clouds of magic particles that scattered through the air.