Elrago Habel felt that his life was a tragedy. It was as if Beshaba herself had possessed him. What was the greatest sorrow for a member of the North's most famous mage family? Of course, it was being unable to cast magic and become a powerful spellcaster worthy of admiration. What made it even sadder was that Elrago had once possessed spellcasting talent that others envied. But a disastrous magical experiment had injured his soul and destroyed his connection to the Weave. Now he could manage only a few flashy Prestidigitations, and his emotions had become painfully fragile. Whenever he got worked up, he couldn't help crying, whether he wanted to or not.
The traumatized poor sap didn't want his life to end there. He wanted something to occupy himself, so the Habel Family arranged a job for him: escorting cargo to the Mirabar region once a year. In truth, no one in the family wanted to do this simple task, which did little besides consume a lot of time. Every member of the Habel Family was more or less immersed in their own magical world. Even in this simple, dull life, Elrago had found his own pleasures: facing ambushes by monsters like Goblins and Ogres alongside the guards, bragging and shooting the breeze with people in taverns, getting into fights or getting beaten up. Aside from the deeply irritating habit of "crying all the time," Elrago felt he could now be considered a proper adventurer. After abandoning the path of a spellcaster, he had found a new dream: to become a great adventurer.
However, that awful habit of crying meant no adventurer would take him on as a companion. Elrago could only boast in taverns about what a great adventurer he would have become if he hadn't lost his magic. Alos, a tavern server, was one of his loyal listeners.
"Oh! My dear little Alos! Do you know what a thrilling, terrifying adventure I had today? You'd never imagine it! I'm sure of it!" After the misunderstanding was cleared up, Chen Jinyang had dragged the injured guards aside to set their bones and treat their wounds. The uninjured guards led the wagons into the village, unhitched the horses and other livestock, and took them to the stable to feed. Meanwhile, the tearful Elrago had dragged Alos off to one side and was nervously recounting today's "adventure." "The brave Elrago Habel did not falter! Yes! Facing a giant! Facing a powerful and evil Frost Giant woman! I didn't—"
As Elrago rambled on, spittle flying, he felt someone kick him from behind. He turned around and saw the little girl glaring at him angrily, her tiny fists clenched. Her little foot tapped against his heel again and again. "You're not allowed to say bad things about Sister Phinia! Phinia is a good giant! You're a bad person!" The little girl had gotten violent, too.
Alos shrugged at his poor friend and whispered, "Phinia is William's girlfriend! Mishaer and the giant get along really well, too."
Elrago froze, then asked in astonishment, "What?! William's girlfriend? That giant? No way! No way! A human and a giant? Hahaha! That's hilarious! Hahaha—boohoohoo! Unbelievable! Boohoohoo—!" Hearing that the giant was William's girlfriend made him burst out laughing. After a while, his laughter suddenly turned to tears. Alos helplessly shrugged at the astonished Mishaer. "He's like this all the time. Whenever he gets worked up, he can't help bawling."
The little girl giggled and ran a finger across her cheek. "You're so big and you still cry! Shame! Shame! Shame! Crybaby! I'm not playing with you anymore! I'm going to find Sister Phinia." Then she skipped away, leaving Alos looking on in amusement and helplessness as the man's emotions swung wildly between laughter and tears.
Chen Jinyang gripped the arm of a guard whose bone had been dislocated, then swiftly pulled and twisted it back into place. At the guard's scream, "Aah—!", the bone was reset. The guard moved his arm in astonishment. It hurt only a little. "William! How did you—?" Chen Jinyang smiled faintly without answering and moved on to the next injured man. Most of the dozen or so wounded had dislocated or displaced bones. Once reset, they would be fine after a few days' rest. Only four or five guards who used bows had had their bones deliberately broken by him. Phinia's injuries couldn't go unanswered. Most of the guards already knew William; after all, Gnome Village was one of the usual stops on the way to Mirabar, and almost everyone who traveled that trade route knew there was a big, dumb fellow in the village. But William had changed so much that they could hardly believe it. The fool of the past had become a powerful and terrifying warrior.
Chen Jinyang roughly set the broken bones of several archers. One of them had a pair of pointed ears and an unbelievably handsome face. If not for his Adam's apple and smooth chest and abdomen, Chen Jinyang would have thought he was a woman. Feeling a wave of revulsion, Chen Jinyang used an even rougher bone-setting technique, making the poor "sissy" scream in agony. Damn, he was so disgusting! Remembering the impulse he'd felt when he first saw this fellow, the embarrassed and annoyed Chen Jinyang was overcome by a dark urge to kill the sissy.
The "sissy," his face pale from the agony, keenly sensed the hostility this tall human felt toward him. In a very elegant tone, he asked, "Have you and I met before, sir?"
"No!" Chen Jinyang answered curtly.
"I thought as much! I'm Alafil Nightstar, from the Nightstar Tribe in the High Forest. This is my first time joining a mercenary expedition. Hmm! It's also my first time being injured this badly. Hiss—! It really hurts! Do you have a prejudice against Elves?" This innocent rookie was a real chatterbox.
"No!" Chen Jinyang realized he was being overly emotional. This little sissy didn't seem so annoying after all. He seemed like an innocent little guy. "All right! Stop talking. Lying quietly will be good for your injuries."
"It's no problem! I'll be fine in no time! See for yourself!" As he spoke, the Elf took a small, flat bottle from his bag, pulled out the stopper, and gulped down the milky-white potion inside. A faint, fresh fragrance spread through the air. A guard nearby turned at the Elf's movement and cried out in surprise, "A healing potion?!"
Before long, the handsome Elf was up and bouncing around. "See? I told you I'd be fine in no time. They all call you William the Fool. Is your name really William the Fool? Can I call you that, too?"
Chen Jinyang felt another urge to punch someone. He growled, "You can call me William! Leave off the 'Fool'! And are you a Troll? How did your wound heal so quickly?"
"Hey! Of course I'm not a disgusting Troll! It's all thanks to this! A healing potion, a remedy that quickly heals injuries." Alafil handed Chen Jinyang the empty bottle and kept asking, undeterred, "Why should I leave off 'Fool'? Why?"
Looking at the empty bottle in his hand, Chen Jinyang thought it seemed familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere before. But faced with the Elf's exasperating questions, he couldn't bring himself to lose his temper. He had no choice but to cover his face and walk away, while the little rookie followed behind him, continuing his maddening verbal harassment.
Elrago, who had been bragging to Alos, saw the Elf chasing after Chen Jinyang and spoke to the boy with deep sympathy. "That fellow is an oddball among the Moon Elves. His tribe drove him out, and he's a real headache. You'd better stay far away from him! Hahaha—William's in for trouble! Sigh! What a wasteful fellow, using a life-saving healing potion on an ordinary wound!" Alos glanced at the distant Elf in confusion and shrugged, unable to understand.
With most of the guards injured, the caravan had to stay in the village for a while. Chen Jinyang and the guards dismantled the tavern's barricades, and the guest rooms on the second floor would give them a place to sleep. As for food, Chen Jinyang watched in utter amazement as the guards poured large amounts of flour and vegetables out of an exquisite little bag. The Elf who'd been pestering him gave a perfectly serious explanation: "A magic space bag. It's a very useful magical item. Among humans, only mage families like the Habel Family would be so extravagant as to use one to transport cargo." Monsters, magic, Elves, healing potions, magic space bags—just encountering one corner of this world had left Chen Jinyang feeling dizzy. He had no idea what kind of world this was.
"Oh my God! A Fish-Eating Crocodile! How did you catch such a vicious creature? I've only ever read about these savage aquatic predators in books. Little Alos! How about selling it to me? Sell it to me! I'll pay you five hundred gold coins!" Elrago was just as astonished by the crocodile-headed fish monster. Such a rare catch was undoubtedly a valuable prize.
"William caught it! You'll have to ask him!" Alos told him honestly.
"This is our food for the next few days! I can't sell it to you!" Chen Jinyang flatly refused the caravan leader's offer.
Hearing Chen Jinyang's reason for refusing—a reply that treated a treasure like common food—Elrago was absolutely furious. "How can you eat such a precious Fish-Eating Crocodile as if it were just a meal? You can't treat my beloved treasure so cruelly! Boohoohoo—" The poor crybaby burst into tears again.
"It's mine! It doesn't belong to you yet!"
After haggling back and forth, the poor fellow, still sobbing, finally got what he wanted at the cost of a magic bag. Chen Jinyang also got the miraculous bag he'd been coveting for a while. But Chen Jinyang didn't know that the ordeal that would give him endless headaches had only just begun.
After dinner, Chen Jinyang took Phinia to a secluded spot outside the village to continue their daily impromptu exercise. Just as they were getting carried away, an unexpected voice suddenly rang out. "William! What are you doing?" The "sissy" Elf Alafil had appeared beside them, looking both curious and clueless.
Being caught in the middle of doing that had startled Chen Jinyang so badly that he instantly went limp. He put an arm around Phinia and roared furiously, "Get lost! Do you want me to kill you? Damn sissy!"
"Why would you kill me? Tell me! What are you doing? It looks like fun! Oh—!" The innocent Elf continued to press him without the slightest concern.
Mortified beyond belief, Chen Jinyang glared at the oblivious Elf, grabbed the fur cloak beside him, and stood up with the giant woman in his arms before turning to leave.
"Don't go! You still haven't told me!" the "sissy" Elf called after them, a sly smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
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