The day after Hikaru accepted the special request.
ăThatâs it? Are you sure?ă
ăYup. Itâs done.ă
ăIt doesnât look like anythingâs changed.ă
ăI said itâs done.ă
TOP ARTICLES1/5Mercenaries in Apocalypse Volume 1Chapter 29
ăFor real?ă
ăYou donât trust me, do you?ă
ăWell, you do look like a gluttonous, drooling, bizarre creature.ă
Hikaru and Drake the white drakon were in a forest located in the middle of Pond and Leather Elka. They came to this place since the latter said a Drakon Passage was here.
It was starting to get dark. Worst case, they might need to make camp for the night. There were barely any vicious monsters around, so Hikaru believed theyâd be safe.
In the middle of the forest stood a hill with a hole in it, too small to be called a cave. An experienced hunter might think a bear was hibernating in there.
Drake said the hole was the entrance to the Drakon Passage. The drakon mumbled some incantation and that was it. It was dark inside, but Hikaruâs Life and Mana Detection didnât pick up anything.
ăHikaru. Letâs try going in.ăLavia urged.
ăOkayâŠă
Drake wrapped himself back around Laviaâs neck. Hikaru took out a magic lamp shaped like a flashlight. The hole went surprisingly deep, although Hikaru had to crouch down just to enter.
ăYou two wait for my signal first before going in.ăHikaru said.
ăYou really donât trust me, huh?ă
Drake looked dejected. For a drakon, he sure is expressive and cocky, Hikaru thought.
As soon as he entered the hole, the path quickly turned to a downward slope. Hikaru proceeded onward, half-sliding down. The passageâmade by simply boring through the groundâgrew wider midway, and he could now stand straight up. The whistling of the wind indicated that the passage was connected somewhere.
ăThis isnât a dungeon, is it? ăHikaru wondered.
There would be life around if it was, but he didnât detect anything. Soon the slope turned into level ground.
ăHmm?ă
Hikaru noticed the air had turned warm. It felt like winterâs chilly grip loosened just a bit. As he advanced deeper, this time the slope turned upward. The feel of the earth seemed to have changed, but he couldnât explain exactly what had changed, since he wasnât a geological expert.
ăHm? Stairs?ă
Nicely-shaped rocks set on the ground formed stairs, though some part of it had long crumbled. When Hikaru made it out, he found himself inside a small buildingâa shrine. He had no idea what kind of god was enshrined here, but a stone statue stood inside. On the entrance to the shrine was a double door, one side rotten and on the ground. From there, he stepped outside.
ăNo wayâŠă
Hikaru stood there blankly, dumbfounded. He was in a deep forest just a while ago, and now he was on top of a hill. A town sprawled out below. Houses made primarily of sandstones lined the streets. The place looked just like the town where he freed Drake, Einganstadt.
There was still time before sundownâthe sun sat a little bit higher in the sky than when Hikaru entered the hole, as if it climbed back upâand they managed to secure themselves rooms at an inn. Asking at the checkpoint would only draw suspicion, so instead Hikaru casually asked the owner of the inn where they were. As it turned out, they were in Nordenstadt, a town in Einbeast.
ăHere you go. Eat up.ă
ăYahoo! Deep-fried bread coated in sugar! One of my favorites!ă
Hikaru brought Drake a bag full of deep-fried bread. Lavia and Paula already made themselves at home. After asking for tea from Paula, Hikaru turned his attention to Drake.
ăSo. What was that?ă
ăLike I keep saying, itâs the Drakon Passage.ă
Hikaru knew already, but after seeing the real thing, he couldnât help but ask.
ăWith those things, border checkpoints are pretty much useless.ă
ăI told you, holy mana is needed to activate the passage. A normal human being canât use it.ă
Drake talked as if these things were common knowledge. Verifying every single one of them was a pain. The Drakon Passage was a series of pathways that drakons used to travel all over the world. They were basically shortcuts. In this world, mana accumulated under the earth, running from one place to another. Hikaru didnât warp through the hole, but rather for a moment, space was bent, allowing for short-distance travel.
Holy mana was more powerful than ordinary mana, able to perform things magic and sorcery couldnât. Humans couldnât accumulate this inside their bodies, but it was possible to seal it inside using a catalyst.
ăHow much mana did you use, then? Youâre getting mana from Lavia, right?ă
Lavia provided Drake with excess mana which the drakon converted to holy mana so he could recover his strength.
ăHmm⊠I used up every last bit I got today.ăhe answered, his mouth covered in sugar.
ăSo you can only use it once a day.ă
ăI can use it more than once if I got more mana.ă
ăLavia, have you tried giving him all youâve got?ă
ăI havenât. Should I try it?ă
ăYeah, go ahead. Of course, you donât have to give every last drop you have. Just give him enough.ă
ăOkay. Are you okay with that, Drake?ă
ăSure.ă
Lavia placed her hands on Drake and closed her eyes. The drakon simply munched on his food without a care in the world. Hikaru crossed his arms, while Paula watched them with great interest.
ăHere goes.ă
Her hair seemed to stand on end. Then, the mana oozing from her body ballooned. This is just like what happened when I first met her, Hikaru thought. In the cell underneath the Morgstad residence, Lavia showed him her absurd amount of mana, how she was not normal. He could feel the immense power even from outside the cell, but watching it upfront was a whole different matter.
The tea-filled cup clattered on the table. Windows cracked.
ăHuh?! ăDrakeâs eyes widened.ăWait! Hold it! Thatâs too much!ă
ăWhat?ă
Hearing Drakeâs protests, Laviaâs mana quickly shrank.
ăIncredible! I didnât know you had that much! I thought humans only had a tiny bit of mana, so Iâd been holding back. Maybe I shouldâve absorbed more?ă
ăTh-Th-That was amazing, Lavia-chan! I thought you had incredible mana capacity since you could use powerful spells, but I didnât expect this much.ă
Even Paula was surprised. Lavia had 11 points on Mana. The average Mage wouldnât be able to hold a candle to her. Among the people Hikaru had met, Laviaâs mana capacity was off the charts, save for one person. Selica had a ridiculous 19 points on hers, but that was only because she consciously tried to level up. As such, she was an exception. Her fellow party member Sophie only had 7 points on Mana.
ăâŠâŠâŠă
Showered by compliments, Lavia stared at her hands. Hikaru felt worried. He thought Lavia would recall the times when people treated her as a terrifying tool.
ăHikaru.ăLavia called his name.
ăWhat is it?ă
ăItâs strange⊠I never thought there would come a day when Iâd feel happy about people complimenting my power.ă
Hikaru didnât need to worry, after all.
ăIâm proud of your power too.ăHikaru said.
ăThank you. Iâm glad you feel that away.ăA smile blossomed across her face.
ăIf I can have this much mana, I might be able to do a lot more.ăDrake said.
Exhausted from opening the Drakon Passage, Drake retired early. Surprisingly, he left more than half of the deep-fried bread untouched.
After that, Hikaru went around Nordenstadt to see the sights. They had plenty of time to reach Agiapole. The Pope and Conia were surprised that Hikaru arrived in seven days. What they didnât know was he had to visit the royal capital for the first day and they actually arrived two days earlier. So in reality, the trip only took four days.
ăWeâre not entering Agiapole yet?ăPaula asked.
They were staying in an inn town just outside of Agiapole to kill time. Hikaru took a sip of his tea as he flipped through the book that he borrowed from Lavia.
ăYeah. Theyâll be too cautious of us if we arrived too early.ă
ăBut seven days is still not normal, right?ă
ăBut itâs possible, is what they would think. They would assume I was an extremely skilled adventurer, or someone with a means to travel fast, like say, I tamed a swift monster and used it to travel instead of a horse.
ăI-Iâm sorry, Hikaru-sama. I donât follow at all. If you didnât want to draw attention, you could show up after exactly ten days.ă
ăIâm trying to see how the Pope would react. Heâs testing the princess. His methods donât sit right with me. I have a right to test him as well.ă
ăTest the Pope?ă
Hikaru flashed a meaningful grin.ăA pacifist would probe for information without laying a hand on me. A go-getter would try to recruit me to their side. And a cool-headed tactician would try to kill me right away.ă
After taking another sip of tea, Hikaru place the cup on the table and turned his eyes back on the book.