Annan and Tadel each had worries of their own.
After finding Alger, Tadel found Selma Windrunner. His archery astonished even her. He could fire three arrows so that the second struck the first, the third struck the second, and the first still hit the bullseye... But he was a Bard.
As for Annan... his plan to use Lesser Summoning in place of the Elemental Legion would not work. He cast the spell twice that day. The first time, he summoned a Goblin in the middle of a bath, holding a boar-bristle brush and covered in suds. At the sight of Annan, it shrieked, covered itself, and slapped him. A stunned Annan dismissed the summoning.
"Did you see that? It hit me...!"
"This is your fault."
Ingrid thought Annan had done it on purpose.
The second time, he summoned a Kobold... pup. Its pitiful yelps were probably cries for its mother, so Annan had no choice but to send it back.
Lesser Summoning could only summon ordinary creatures, and the results were random... which meant Annan would have to get back to studying.
Meanwhile, Olmedo and Idelia had found a way to avoid dragging Free City into the quagmire of war: sell weapons.
Mrs. Locke's Sweet Home was an Island. For anyone who was not a Spellcaster, there was no way to reach it except by boat... They could mount Magic Cannons at the Harbor and arm the local townspeople.
Rather than have Free City enter the war directly, they only needed to send a Musketeer Corps to train the locals. They could also profit from selling Magic Cannons and Magic Muskets, and even use Mrs. Orok's Island as a stepping stone to spread Magic Films and Magic Newspapers across the Pry Peninsula.
"'Give a poor man a fish, and you