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The Magicians Duo

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(POV switch)

I was pushed an unmotivated job onto. Called out by the guild, Ifu-nee, who had returned looking dejected, was the first to speak.

“Top Killer.” (Ifu)

Apparently, in the shadow of the guild, we are known by this name. We haven’t killed anyone. It was just venting frustration, but what an exaggeration.

Come to think of it, we did vent our frustration the other day too. If I remember correctly, it was that bald old man. Ifu-nee burned the prey, and I froze part of the cave. If it’s a short-tempered guy, he’ll make a move, and then Ifu-nee and I will strike back. For a while, our meals become luxurious. The guild actually moved in response to our outburst. The bald old man apparently took a guard request and went somewhere. What a hassle.

And so, while looking for a request because we had free time, we were called.

“So, Ifu-nee. What got pushed onto you?” (??)

Since Ifu-nee is moody, what she finds unmotivating changes daily. If it’s a really bad day, she finds everything unmotivating. Judging from her mood during breakfast, she was in the mood to burn something with magic. If it were a subjugation request, she would have accepted it in two words, but if it were a collection request, she wouldn’t be motivated. If it were a guarding request, she wouldn’t be this dejected.

It’s probably a collection request, I tried guessing as I listened, but what came from Ifu-nee’s mouth was far lower than I had expected.

“Letter delivery.” (Ifu)

“……Huh?” (??)

What is that? That’s a job even a rookie could do. And they actually went out of their way to call her out for this? I don’t get it.

Ifu-nee smiled for a brief moment at my reaction, then immediately slumped and collapsed onto the bed. There should be no issue refusing such a request. But Ifu-nee must be drained because she couldn’t refuse and accepted it.

Because it’s a hassle? No, I feel like it’s something else.

I demanded an explanation.

“First, the client. Margrave Farce.” (Ifu)

Indeed, refusing is out of the question. Margrave Farce is the ruler of this entire region. Moreover, it’s a designated request, an urgent matter serious enough to summon her. If she refused, she wouldn’t be able to stay in the Empire. At worst, she’d lose her life. But something like a letter should be entrusted to his vassals. There’s no reason to specifically hire adventurers.

“And the delivery destination is south.” (Ifu)

“South? Andal?” (??)

I’m even more confused. Andal isn’t far. The guild could handle the delivery, and it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Wrong. Even further south.” (Ifu)

“…! Even further south? Beyond Andal, there’s only the Kingdom… Don’t tell me, to the Kingdom?” (??)

That would make sense. I don’t know the contents of the letter, but a letter from one country to another, and in secret. He couldn’t use his vassals, so using adventurers makes sense. I see—

“Wrong. Before that.” (Ifu)

“…Huh? But between Andal and the Kingdom, there’s only the Great Forest of Owa.” (??)

“Correct. The recipient is the Demon King in the Great Forest of Owa.” (Ifu)

“Hah? Ifu-nee, no one lives in the Great Forest of Owa. And right now, with a new Demon King, it’s the most dangerous time.” (??)

It seems Ifu-nee has lost her mind. I’ll have to check with the guild later for accurate information.

“Absolutely correct. The job is to deliver Margrave Farce’s letter to the Demon King of the Great Forest of Owa.” (Ifu)

………Huh? I can’t comprehend it. I replayed Ifu-nee’s words once more and finally understood.
She really hasn’t gone mad or is joking. What kind of human sends a letter to a Demon King? If you’re looking for a pen pal, choose your recipient wisely.

“And this is the letter.” (Ifu-nee)

Thinking “no way,” I took it in my hands, but sure enough, there was Margrave Farce’s name and the letter addressed to the Demon King of the Great Forest of Owa.

Nobunaga—Is that the Demon King’s name?

…It really isn’t a joke or madness. Now I understand why Ifu-nee collapsed onto her bed as soon as she returned. Just hearing about this request is exhausting. Well, even if it’s just delivering a letter, if it’s an urgent noble request, the reward should be decent. Even if the recipient is the Demon King… Will it really be okay?

“Ahh, geez! A request involving the Demon King alone is already crazy, and now they want us to hand-deliver a letter? Are they stupid?! We could die! Should I just burn it in a sneak attack?! Ugh, no way. where the hell did Dan’s bald head go? Make that guy do this annoying crap!” (Ifu)

Ifu-nee has revived. Her fatigue has turned into rage at the absurdity. She’s flailing around, but if I leave her alone, she’ll settle down eventually. In the meantime, I’ll confirm the details of this troublesome job.

The client is Margrave Farce. A noble with considerable power even in the Empire. Defying him is not an option. The content is to send a letter to the Demon King who was born in the Great Forest of Owa. From here, we go to Andal, then enter the Great Forest of Owa. That much is fine, but the problem is that we do not know the Demon King’s location. Furthermore, whether the Demon King will accept the letter is another issue.

Regarding the location, the guild might know. Due to the bad relationship between the Empire and the Main God Church, a state of martial law has been declared, preventing any action against the Demon King, but the Kingdom, which is deeply tied to the Main God Church, must have made a move. They should at least know the Demon King’s location.

As for the letter, there must be some certainty behind sending it. If they were sending it without certainty, they would have chosen Don Orga, the leader of the fiends, rather than the Demon King of the Great Forest of Owa, whose appearance and form are unknown.

The remaining problem is…

“Ifu-nee. What is the deadline for this?” (??)

Ignoring the increasingly foul language, I shook the letter to show it.

The deadline is important. Preparing tools, arranging transportation. Various other things—

“Urgent, emergency, extremely urgent. Hurry up and go, they said.” (Ifu)

Various other—huh?

“In other words? Right now?” (??)

“Yes. The horses are already arranged too. The worst.” (Ifu)

Hearing that horses have been arranged made me dizzy. Not a carriage, but horses. That means they know for certain that we can ride horses. And our luggage is not even prepared yet. No, since it is an urgent matter and they have arranged horses, we cannot carry that much anyway. We will have to carry enough for the Andal leg and buy more in Andal.

“…Haa, there’s no point in complaining. Alright, let’s go, Selmina.” (Ifu)

Having vented her frustration by flailing on the bed, Ifu-nee quickly got up and left the room without caring about me. I was just told about this suddenly, and I haven’t even been able to vent my frustration or recover mentally. I let out one sigh and immediately ran after Ifu-nee with small steps.

 

—

 

“Haa!? Dan’s bald head was here until a little while ago!?” (Ifu)

Andal’s guild. Inside the guild master’s office. Apparently, they had promised to prepare a map from Andal to the Demon King’s location in the Great Forest of Owa, as well as food and supplies, so stopping by here yielded unexpected information.

Seriously, Ifu-nee, you should at least tell me things like this. Try considering how I feel trying to prepare.

“Dan Dastel, right? He came here on a request, but he seemed to be quite scared. Kept saying, ‘I’ve been marked, if this keeps up, I’ll be killed,’ and took a request to the Federation states and left.” (Guild Master)

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! If he were here, we could’ve pushed the request onto him!” (Ifu)

The guild master gave us a look that seemed to say, “Maybe he was scared of you two,” but that’s just insulting. Sure, with Ifu-nee in her slightly rampaging mode like right now, maybe, but normally, we never resort to force unless someone makes a move first. Besides, I don’t think that man would be scared of us and run away. It must be someone else.

“Hey, don’t go saying ‘push the request onto him’ right in front of the guild master.” (Guild Master)

“Like I care. So, what about the supplies? Also, we rode the horses here like we were going to burn them out, so we need to swap them.” (Ifu)

From Mustang to Andal, we came with almost no rest and the bare minimum of sleep, pushing the horses without concern. The request does say urgent, but there was no need to rush this much.

But we have a reason. To quickly finish the request and escape from Margrave Farce’s territory.
There’s no way this letter exchange will be a one-time thing, and they’re unlikely to entrust its delivery to another adventurer. Strength is one factor, but also, it’s more trustworthy for the recipient if the same person delivers the letters each time. If the first time it’s me, and the second time it’s him, it would be confusing. Not to mention, the recipient is the Demon King, so of course, he would be cautious.

That’s why, probably, even after this request is over, we’ll be semi-bound to Mustang. All just for delivering a letter to the Demon King.

Of course, that’s out of the question. So, we plan to complete the request at a speed beyond the guild’s expectations and escape before they make another move.

That’s the plan, but somehow, I feel like Ifu-nee has forgotten about this part.

“What the hell, just dried meat? So stingy. You’ve got better stuff, don’t you?” (Ifu)

“Don’t complain about the guild’s free supplies. Be grateful you’re getting it for free. As for the horses, fine, I’ll lend you some. I’ll make arrangements.” (Guild Master)

“Make sure they’re good horses, got it? Serumina, let’s go.” (Ifu)

“Let’s go”—no, that’s not the issue. I told her before we entered Andal that we needed to stock up in town because the supplied food wouldn’t be enough for the return trip from the Great Forest of Owa to Mustang. If we go to pick up the horses now, she’ll probably head straight for the Great Forest of Owa.

“Ifu-nee, I will buy a little more food, so wait outside.” (Selmina)

“Eh? We received food… Ah, that’s right. Understood.” (Ifu)

It is a relief that she remembered. Surely, she has not forgotten this job, right?

“Deliver the letter to the Demon King and immediately escape from Margrave Farce’s territory. There is no way I would forget.” (Ifu)

“Yet you forgot about buying additional food.” (Selmina)

It is a relief that she has not forgotten. The purchase of additional food was completed smoothly. As expected of Andal, there are many merchants, and my eyes wandered to various things. Thanks to that, now we are at the edge of the Great Forest of Owa, and as the sun begins to set, we are having a reasonably delicious dinner.

Usually, we would take turns resting after this, but right now, we want to finish as quickly as possible. According to the information obtained from the guild, reaching the Demon King’s location will take two or three days. In that case, we want to travel during the night and cover as much distance as possible.

“Well, well, there is no point in worrying about the details. Once we finish eating, we are setting off immediately.” (Ifu)

As if trying to change the subject, Ifu-nee shoveled her meal into her mouth, quickly stood up, and urged me on. Even though I specifically chose something delicious, she should take her time to enjoy it. Of course, I ignored Ifu-nee’s words and ate slowly.

“…Still not done?” (Ifu)

“Not yet.” (Selmina)

Annoying. It is her fault for shoveling down food to distract herself. She should just wait quietly.

“Can I go roast a monster for a bit?” (Ifu)

“No, too conspicuous.” (Selmina)

Even if she is bored, I want her to stop. Ifu-nee can only use fire magic, and if she uses it at dusk, it will attract other monsters as well. Come to think of it, ever since we left Mustang, she seems to have wanted to burn enemies. Honestly, I want her to stay quiet, but if she explodes later, that would also be troublesome.

“…Just a little is allowed.” (Selmina)

“As expected of Selmina! A new—” (Ifu)

“But only Ball (Lower). Anything higher is not allowed.” (Selmina)

I doubt it, but I will warn her just in case. If she uses intermediate or advanced large-scale magic, it would be far too conspicuous.

When I turned my gaze, Ifu-nee had a somewhat dissatisfied look, but I had no intention of compromising. After a brief staring contest, she seemed to give up and went off to look for monsters. Until I finished my dinner, not once was magic used.

That was a truly delightful thing, but Ifu-nee seemed even more stressed, expecting to vent it out.
I had not heard of any large-scale subjugation in this area. Did someone reduce the number of monsters here?

After that, we entered the Great Forest of Owa and headed toward the place where the Demon King was believed to be, but until dawn, we did not encounter a single monster or demon. It was strange, to the point of being abnormal.

If this was the work of the Demon King, did he exterminate all life in the area? How much power does he possess?

In the eerie silence, rustling sounded from the bushes. I instinctively pointed my staff, but I only saw its back. And in an instant, it disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Was that a Kobold? No, judging by its size, a Kobold Leader?

It seemed that demons had not completely disappeared, which brought me some relief, but beside me, Ifu-nee had a demon-like expression from letting prey escape.

Her stress must be at its limit. Lately, we have been rushing and not getting proper rest, and the strange atmosphere has kept us on edge, mentally wearing us down. For me, it is just sleepiness and fatigue, but for Ifu-nee, destruction impulses come first. Ifu-nee has always been hot-blooded and quick to fight. Can she endure until we deliver the letter to the Demon King?

There is still a long way to the place where the Demon King is believed to be. But if we cause trouble here and make the Demon King wary, it will be a problem.

“Ifu-nee, from here on, only counterattack after confirming that the enemy has attacked. Do not make the first move.” (Selmina)

“…Nn.” (Ifu-nee)

For us as magic users, this is a poor strategy. Magic users always take the first move to utilize their range. Yielding that advantage to the enemy is extremely dangerous. But considering the possibility of making the Demon King our enemy, it cannot be helped.

Ifu-nee’s response was suspicious, and I felt uneasy, but there was nothing more I could do, so I continued forward in silence.

 

—

 

The change came shortly after. Something was approaching us. With slow steps, as if it was aware of our presence. Just in case, I placed my hand on my staff.

The grass and trees swayed. What emerged from the bushes was—

A person? A person with a Haniwa face. A demon? A Haniwa demon. I had neither seen nor heard of such a thing. A new species? No, perhaps—

Just as I was about to speak—

“Fire Storm.” (Ifu)

A vortex of flames engulfed the Haniwa.

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