Ruby Earrings

Rhode ran toward the spot where Yetius had fallen, and Lilia followed him over.

Yetius lay facedown on the grass, his body still twitching slightly.

Rhode threw himself straight onto Yetius, then used the last of his mana to cast Mage Hand.

He could no longer cast a larger Mage Hand, but his opponent was already on his last breath. This much strength should be enough.

The Mage Hand grabbed Yetius's fur and pressed him down.

Yetius struggled with considerable strength, but he still couldn't break free of Rhode.

Straddling Yetius, Rhode used every ounce of strength to pin him to the ground.

Yetius roared and clawed endlessly at the earth on either side of him, quickly digging out two pits and piling up two mounds of dirt, but he still couldn't shake Rhode off.

Rhode said to Lilia, "Hurry, stab him in the eye."

Now he really did need this "Warrior's" help.

Lilia froze for a moment, then snapped out of it and ran over with her shortsword. Yetius's once-threatening roars had already dwindled into faint, plaintive cries.

He braced himself with all his strength, trying to get back to his feet. The little girl raised her sword and brought it down, driving the shortsword through Yetius's eye and into his brain, decisively ending his life.

Yetius gave one final struggle, then went completely still. Rhode dismissed his Mage Hand, let go of Yetius, and sat on the ground, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"We won." Rhode looked at the little girl and smiled. "Adventurer, Warrior Lilia, you're the one who killed this huge monster."

"No," Rhode heard the little girl say. "We did it together."

Rhode burst out laughing. He clapped his hands, then spread his arms. "Come on, let's celebrate with a hug."

Lilia stared at Rhode with disdain. "I don't want to."

Rhode paused, then lunged at the little girl.

In the end, Rhode caught Lilia and gave her round cheeks a vigorous rub, feeling all his exhaustion melt away.

Although the fight with Yetius had only lasted a few minutes at most, it had certainly been tiring.

You awful grown-up. As Lilia gently rubbed her cheeks and thought this, Rhode turned his gaze to Yetius's corpse.

Let's grab the loot and get out of here.

With the weather so hot, the frost left by Frost Nova might be about to melt, and those ten little Abominable Snowmen would come charging over.

Both of them were out of mana now. They couldn't fight that many Abominable Snowmen.

"Lilia, give me your shortsword." He could have simply walked over and taken her shortsword himself, but for some reason, he just liked ordering the little girl around.

Lilia handed Rhode the sword, then crouched beside him to watch.

Yetius's horns were firmly attached to the top of his head. Rhode couldn't cut one off even after considerable effort, and only succeeded after using Mage Hand to help.

Rhode was drenched in sweat.

The sun outside was fiercely hot, baking the flowers, grass, and shrubs until they drooped listlessly. Only the little lizards were enjoying themselves, basking in the sunshine.

"Let's go claim our reward, Adventurer Lilia." One horn should be enough. Rhode had no desire to cut off the other.

"What's this?" Lilia pointed beneath Yetius.

Beside his belly lay an exquisitely decorated box.

Perhaps he had dislodged it during his desperate death throes.

Lilia picked up the box, while Rhode felt around Yetius's belly.

It turned out that the front of his belly had something like a kangaroo's pouch-or, rather, something more like Doraemon's four-dimensional pocket, which could hold things inside.

Yetius's thick fur had simply covered it, hiding it from sight.

But Rhode felt around inside the pocket and found nothing else.

Yetius had only been carrying this box.

"There really was treasure!" Lilia happily opened the box.

Inside lay a pair of Ruby Earrings.

Lilia picked one up and gave it a little shake. The deep red of the ruby set into it was mesmerizing. This thing looked quite valuable.

Yetius had certainly been a snow monster with an eye for quality.

"Oh, this is a magic earring," Lilia said.

Clearly, she had felt the mana surge emanating from the earring.

Rhode had felt it too.

"A magic earring? What does it do?" Rhode naturally had no idea.

"It can store mana. If you run low, it can replenish yours."

Ah, now Rhode understood.

Isn't this just a reusable mana potion?

Or more like a power bank-charge it up normally, then use it in a pinch when your phone runs out of battery.

"How do you use it?" Rhode asked.

"I don't know," Lilia replied. "Putting it on should work, I think."

A look of distaste appeared on Rhode's face.

It might be a piece of magic equipment, but the real question was whether a grown man like him should wear something like this.

Lilia was still a girl, after all. Gazing at the Ruby Earrings, she murmured, "They're so pretty."

Rhode brushed aside the loose locks covering the little girl's ear, revealing its pretty pointed tip. "Do you want to wear them, Lilia?"

"Yes."

Rhode said, "You don't have pierced ears. We'd have to pierce them."

"Pierce my ears?" Lilia tilted her head.

"With a piercing gun... but we don't have one... so we'd have to take a thick needle and poke a hole through your earlobe. First, we'd rub your earlobe a little, then stab it hard when you're not paying attention. Pfft, blood spurts everywhere..."

He had originally intended to explain it normally, but seeing the little girl touch her earlobe in fear, Rhode started teasing her. He continued, "Piercing ears is easy, but you have to be careful about infections or anything worse. I've seen someone get their ears pierced, and their ears swelled up this big... See this curved hook? That's what you hang through your earlobe afterward."

"No!" Lilia said. "I don't want them anymore!"

Rhode said, "You do. Why wouldn't you? This is magic equipment. You have so little mana, it'd be really useful to you. Besides, I think this must be expensive. It might sell for ten gold coins. Even pricing your meat at fifteen copper coins a pound with no discount, that'd be enough to buy ten of you-no, a hundred of you, with plenty left over."

"No, I just don't want them." Lilia shook her head like a rattle, then caught on. "Your meat is worth fifteen copper coins a pound!"

Rhode laughed and held out his arm. "Look at these muscles. Meat this lovely would definitely cost more than yours. At least a silver coin a pound. Don't buy it if you can't afford it."

Lilia burst into giggles.

Rhode took the Ruby Earrings and thought for a moment.

Forget it. Let's not put them on yet.

Lilia was such a tiny little girl. Wouldn't wearing jewelry-and magic jewelry at that-be too conspicuous and invite trouble?

I'll just sell them if I find someone who wants them.

Just then, however, Rhode heard hurried roars and footsteps from the snowmen behind him.

Damn, Frost Nova's immobilization has worn off.

But he didn't even have enough mana left to cast another Frost Nova.

"Try drawing from it!" Lilia shouted urgently.

Huh? Drawing?

Draw what? How?

"The earring!" Lilia pointed at Rhode's hand.

Rhode looked down at the Ruby Earrings and reached out to sense them with his mental energy.

This must be what she meant by "drawing," right? Looks like I can use them without putting them on my ears!

Sure enough, a pleasantly soothing stream of mana flowed into Rhode's body.

It wasn't much, but it was enough.

The Abominable Snowmen really were creatures of low intelligence. They hadn't learned their lesson and still came charging toward the two of them in a mob.

So Rhode pulled the same trick again.

Then Rhode took Lilia's little hand, waved goodbye to the ten frozen snowmen, and slowly turned to leave.

Yep, the Ruby Earrings are good stuff. I'll hold off on selling them for now.

As for your boss-Yetius's corpse-you can keep him.