Just as the bartender was about to pour a glass of fruit wine from a deep purple bottle, a small hand reached out from behind Midir and pinned the bartender’s hand to the counter.
“If you try to pass off your own home-brewed swill as elven wine to a newcomer one more time, I won’t be so polite!”
A clear, somewhat familiar voice came from beside him. Midir turned his head and locked eyes with the speaker.
“It’s you?” Aila and Midir spoke in unison.
“You’re back? What are you doing?”
Midir glanced at Aila’s hand holding down the bartender and asked in a low voice.
“The caravan reached the city gates this afternoon. It takes time to process everything, and since there was nothing for me to do, I came back early~”
“This guy is always trying to sell his own fruit wine to new customers. I mean, it’s not exactly terrible... but the taste is nothing like what the elves brew.”
Aila sat down casually beside him and spoke to the bartender.
“This is a friend of mine. Swap that for a beer, and get me one too. Put it on his tab!”
“Of course, Miss Aila.”
The bartender gave a sheepish laugh as he put away the purple bottle. A moment later, he returned with two mugs of beer.
The two took their mugs and clinked them together like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years, beginning to chat idly.
“Whew~ Beer always tastes better after finishing a job! It’s a shame it’s not cold enough, though. I didn’t expect to run into you again so soon. By the way, what’s your name, kid?”
Aila let out a long sigh of satisfaction after taking a large gulp of beer.
“Um... my name is Midir.”
Not quite sure how to keep the conversation going, Midir looked at their mugs. With a gentle flick of his finger, a faint trace of water elements gathered, wrapping around the glasses in their hands.
In just a few seconds, a layer of white frost formed on both beer mugs.
“Water magic?! How do you know that too? What about the wind and fire from before? Don’t tell me you can use three elements?”
Aila felt the mug in her hand turn icy cold and suddenly sat bolt upright.
“Yeah. Is that strange? And it’s not just those three; I can use the others as well!”
Midir didn’t quite understand why Aila was so shocked. He flipped his palm over, and a small orb of light emerged, dancing lively in the center of his hand.
Seeing the bobbing orb of light, Aila looked even more stunned.
“Have you never met another mage? Most people only have an affinity for one or two elements. Someone with three is incredibly rare. Even Grand Archmages can’t use magic outside their affinity as effortlessly as you do! How on earth are you doing this?”
“How? I just... do it! But I really haven’t met any other mages... Oh, I forgot to mention, I have amnesia. I’m traveling specifically to find my memories,” Midir explained.
“Amnesia? That doesn’t seem right. Based on the amount of mana I sensed... you should have been famous across the continent even if you tried to keep a low profile. I’ve met almost every Archmage of any repute, and even the ones I haven’t met... none of them fit your description!”
Aila frowned slightly, counting on her fingers as she went through names.
“I’m at a loss too. I’m sorry I can’t answer your questions,” Midir said with a helpless shrug.
Suddenly, a commotion on one side of the bar caught their attention.
A dispute seemed to be breaking out nearby. Midir didn’t originally want to pay much attention to such trivial matters, but Aila dragged him over to watch the spectacle.
“Please... please give me back my money!”
Rosal stared with wide, red eyes at two large men who reeked of alcohol.
Seeing the source of the disturbance, Midir froze. Why was it someone he knew again? Lionheart City was so huge, yet he’d run into her twice in one day? What was going on now?
“What’s happening?”
Aila asked a nearby adventurer who was watching the scene with curiosity.
She seemed to be quite well-known among adventurers, as the man quickly answered when he saw it was her.
“Oh, Miss Aila! That little girl, Rosal, says those two men cheated her out of her money. They told her they could use their connections to help her pass the swordsman qualification audit! Well, she didn't pass, and now they're arguing!”
“Little girl, your money has already turned into booze! You have to understand, using connections isn't a guaranteed success!” one of the large men said, patting his stomach and letting out a loud, boozy burp.
“Then you cheated me! Give me back my money! That... that was over a month’s worth of savings! If you don’t give it back, I’ll... I’ll...!”
“You’ll what? Want to go a round with us? You’re just an underage girl; this is no place for you! We should teach you a lesson. Let’s see how much weight you actually carry!”
The other man took a swig of liquor and reached out a drunken, filthy hand toward Rosal’s shoulder.
Rosal was startled by the sudden move. Just as she was about to retreat, she realized several other men with ill intentions had appeared behind her—clearly accomplices of the first two.
“Who are those two?” Aila continued to ask the person beside her. “I haven’t seen them before.”
“Those two? It’s normal that you don’t know them, Miss Aila. They aren’t adventurers. They seem to be... followers of the Second Son of the Duke of Azure. They idle around all day, and when they aren't with their master, they often do dirty business. Tsk, tsk, that little girl is in for it now!”
“They’re from the Azure City-State? What are they doing here? This is a pain... should I get involved or not?”
As Aila pondered this, she turned to Midir, seemingly wanting his opinion.
But then she realized the silver-haired man who had been beside her just a moment ago was gone. By the time she looked back, Midir was already standing in front of Rosal, gripping the hand the man had reached out toward the girl.
“If you cheated her, please return the money,” Midir said calmly, looking at the drunken man before him.
“Who the hell are you? Trying to be a hero?! Boys, teach him a lesson!”
The man felt a surge of pain from his wrist. He struggled while shouting loudly, and his companions began to surge with Battle Qi, preparing to attack the silver-haired man.
“Sigh... if you really want to fight, I suppose I can accommodate you.”
Midir let out a sigh and gave a powerful swing of his arm. The man’s bulky body was thrown like a sandbag.
His two-hundred-pound frame flew straight over the surrounding crowd, smashed through the bar’s front door, and landed out on the street.
Passing through the broken wooden door, Midir picked up his bag and walked straight out onto the street. A crowd of people followed him out in a rush.
Seeing the man’s accomplices cursing as they chased after him, Aila hurriedly grabbed Rosal’s hand and followed, with a host of curious adventurers trailing behind.
“No way... a mage who fights that hard? Or is this guy a Magic Swordsman?”
Aila looked at the burly man across the street who was currently seeing stars, feeling her understanding of Midir being challenged once again.
“It’s much more spacious out here! Don’t waste time, come at me all at once!” Midir said, loosening up his muscles as he faced the men.
“Didn't realize you had some skill, kid. Boys, grab your gear! Break him!”
One of the men shouted as he drew a dagger from his waist. The group began to circle Midir, closing in on him.
Seeing them draw weapons, Midir’s brow furrowed slightly. Accompanied by a flash of blue light on the back of his hand, Starflame slowly manifested in his grasp.
“Look! That silver-haired guy has a Spirit Weapon! They’ve run into a tough one!”
Among the watching adventurers, there were plenty with broad experience. When they saw the blue longsword suddenly appear in Midir’s hand, someone cried out in surprise.
At that moment, the battle on the street was about to erupt.
Rate on N.U.
