Over the next few days, Lloyd takes it upon himself to keep watch in case anything similar happens. But the others are starting to get worried since it’s not healthy for him to stay up so late. They offer to go back to rotating shifts, but Lloyd tells them he’s perfectly fine—he’s used to staying up late. After all, with how mediocre he thinks his skills are, this is the only way he feels he can contribute to the team.
That’s absolutely not true, and everyone knows it. But even after all the time they’ve spent trying to convince Lloyd that his skills are extraordinary, he remains completely oblivious. So, Silica tells them to just drop the subject for now so they can get some sleep. But before they go, she begs Lloyd not to push himself too hard.
The next morning, the party continues their journey, and Yui is getting concerned about how low Lloyd’s confidence is. So, when she sees him silently casting a spell, she walks over to ask what he’s doing. Lloyd explains that he’s just casting a simple detection spell to see if any monsters are nearby—but there’s nothing “simple” about that.
Detection magic is so rare that Yui has never actually met anyone capable of using it. But to Lloyd, it’s not even worth mentioning. He says his detection range isn’t that large—just a few kilometers—but thinks it would be safer to use the spell periodically for the rest of the trip.
Yui agrees that using detection magic would make the journey safer, but she worries that making Lloyd use such a powerful spell so often might be too much of a burden. She offers to help, but Lloyd tells her he can handle it.
Later that night, Lloyd is staying up again for watch duty. Meanwhile, in their tent, Yui and Silica start wondering if Lloyd doesn’t trust them or something. They know he’s capable, but he’s refused to rely on anyone in the team—despite them being companions.
Silica thinks it’s nothing to worry about; it takes time for people to warm up to teammates. She and Yui barely spoke at first, but now they’re great friends. Lloyd is a little different—he thinks he’s weak and tries too hard to prove himself. There’s probably a reason for it, and she’s sure he’ll open up eventually.
Outside, Lloyd is still on watch when Daggas walks up and says he needs a favor. He asks Lloyd to help him with something. Lloyd is hesitant to leave his post, but Cross shows up and offers to take over the watch. So, Lloyd agrees.
They head deeper into the woods, and Daggas sets up a chime system between the trees. Lloyd asks what it’s for, and Daggas explains the chimes will alert them to monsters—so Lloyd doesn’t need to stay up all night anymore. Lloyd starts to protest, saying he can’t use detection magic while sleeping.
Daggas asks if Lloyd really trusts them that little. Lloyd immediately denies it, but his actions say otherwise—he scouts alone, refuses help, and never lets others take watch. He explains that for years, Merlin told him he needed to be independent, and the first party he joined after coming to the capital called him useless. So, he pushed himself to be useful.
Daggas tells him he doesn’t see Lloyd as a burden. And even if he were, the whole point of having a team is to rely on each other. Lloyd had literally never thought about it like that. This is a big realization for him. Daggas wonders what kind of hardship Lloyd must’ve gone through to end up this way, but for now, he says they should just get some sleep.
They head back to camp, and Cross takes over the watch while Lloyd and Daggas get some shut-eye in the tent. Lloyd isn’t used to the idea, but having true companions sounds nice—so he wants to give it a try.
The next morning, Lloyd finds Yui and asks if she can help fetch some water. Yui freezes in disbelief—it’s the first time Lloyd has asked her for help. But she’s happy he’s finally starting to rely on her and gladly agrees.
Meanwhile, in a nearby castle, an evil count named Michaels receives a report saying all the magic stones have been placed as planned. Michaels is pleased—everything is going smoothly. Thanks to the monster attacks he arranged, almost all the adventurers in the capital have been sent on missions. The only ones left are low-ranking adventurers and the Hero Party.
Honestly, he wishes the Hero Party was gone too, but he’s confident he can overwhelm them easily.
Back in the forest, Lloyd and the team keep moving. But Yui starts getting a bad feeling—it’s unnaturally quiet. The group finds it strange that they haven’t encountered any monsters in this part of the forest.
Yui asks Lloyd if he had something to do with the absence of monsters, but he tells her he’s only been using detection magic, and it doesn’t repel monsters at all.
That means something else must be scaring the monsters away. So Lloyd increases the range of his detection magic to figure out what it is. After scanning for a few seconds, he finally spots something. He tells everyone there’s a horde of monsters about 2.5 km ahead—and according to the map, that’s the direction of the farm they were heading to.
Before they discuss that further, Yui asks Lloyd to seriously scan everything in a 2 km radius. Lloyd confirms it, though he still doesn’t think it’s anything special. But the others quickly point out that’s over 10 times the distance even the most talented mages can manage. Lloyd had no idea that 2 km was considered impressive. He instinctively downplays it, saying that 2 km is pretty much his limit and it uses up a lot of mana, so he can’t do it often. Still, it’s nothing short of incredible.
Yui is getting frustrated with how dense Lloyd is when it comes to recognizing his own power. But there’s no time to argue—they’ve got a mission to deal with.
They arrive at the farm, and even though they were warned about the number of monsters, actually seeing it in person is terrifying. There are tons of highwolves, but Lloyd remembers the report saying the horde included many different monster types. So where did the others go?
The team agrees something is off—there should be stronger monsters in the area, ones that would easily overpower the wolves. So why are only the wolves present?
Lloyd asks Yui if she knows where the farm owner is, but she says she’s not sure. The request mentioned the owner was injured and staying with his son in the city.
Just then, Cross notices something strange down on the farm. He tells the others to take a look, but none of them can see what he’s talking about—their vision isn’t as sharp. Even Lloyd can’t see it, so he casts enhancement magic on his eyes, and now he spots it: an ominous magic stone in the middle of the field.
He casts the same vision buff on the others. They all agree—it looks dangerous. Based on its aura, Lloyd suspects it might be orc magic. Merlin once told him that orc magic can control monsters, so someone might be using that stone to lure monsters to the farm.
To confirm, Lloyd casts his detection magic again. Just as he feared, another massive horde of monsters is heading straight for them. But he wonders—why would someone go to all this trouble? If the goal was to eliminate the party, there were easier ways.
Cross interrupts his thinking and reminds him they’ve got another horde on the way, so they should retreat. But Yui argues they can’t—if they do, the farm will be destroyed. Cross points out that they can’t handle over a thousand monsters alone. But Dagas says retreating might not be an option—they could lead the horde straight to a village.
They’re stuck. No one is sure what to do.
Then, Lloyd says they should stay and fight—he has a plan.
Step One: Destroy the magic stone.
Lloyd asks Cross if he can shoot the stone from this distance. Cross, a skilled marksman, says he can aim at it, but he’s not sure he can destroy it in one shot. Lloyd tells him that’s fine—he can enhance the shot.
Lloyd casts three layers of enhancement magic on Cross—on his body, bow, and arrow—which boosts the power enough to shatter the stone in one shot. Cross is amazed. Lloyd casually explains what he did, still not realizing that casting three simultaneous enhancements is highly advanced magic.
With the crystal destroyed, the monsters begin to attack each other—no longer under mind control. Even if they don’t completely wipe themselves out, it should reduce their numbers drastically.
As for the second horde, Lloyd had hoped they would turn back after the crystal was broken—but no such luck. The team braces for battle. As the horde closes in, Lloyd tells them to wait for the right moment.
Just as the monsters reach Silica, Lloyd gives the signal. Silica casts Firestorm, and the spell is shockingly powerful—literally vaporizing monsters.
The others are stunned. There’s no way her spell should be that strong.
Lloyd explains he cast mana enhancement and mana efficiency on her—making the spell far more effective.
Next Phase: Aerial Threats
Lloyd runs to Cross and forms a mental link—something else he can apparently do—and uses spatial magic to send Cross the exact locations of all flying monsters through the smoke. With Lloyd’s help, Cross snipes them all.
Final Phase: Storm Suppression
Lloyd rushes back to Silica and asks if she’s finished with the land monsters. She has—but she’s low on mana. Lloyd tells her not to worry and asks her to hold his hand. She does, and Lloyd transfers mana directly into her.
With the extra mana, Silica casts a massive weather spell to summon storm clouds, extinguishing the forest fires. As soon as it’s done, she collapses—completely drained. Lloyd is exhausted too.
Despite saving the entire operation, Lloyd only thinks about how inadequate he must be for getting tired.
But something still doesn’t feel right.
Lloyd realizes this might have been a trap all along. The monster attack seems like a setup—meant to lure high-ranking adventurers away from the capital. If that’s true, then the real target might be the city itself.
He shares his theory with the others: someone may have wanted to weaken the city’s defenses before launching an attack.
Yui reminds him that the Hero’s Party and the knights are still in Ishtar, so the city isn’t defenseless. Still, coming from Lloyd, a warning like this can’t be ignored.
To be safe, Yui suggests they all head back immediately. Lloyd agrees. Without a word, he casts Speed Boost on the entire party and takes off running back toward the city.
The others watch him zoom away, confused—until they suddenly realize they’re moving just as fast.
They realize Lloyd must’ve done something, so they ask him for an explanation. He casually tells them he boosted everyone’s speed so they could reach the city faster. The group appreciates it—but maybe next time he could mention when he’s casting spells, so his contributions don’t fly under the radar.
While Lloyd and the party are racing back to the city, the Count sits at his desk with a glass of (hopefully) red wine when General Gri walks in. Gri asks how the plan is going, and the Count says it’s nearly ready—all thanks to the girl Brisk kidnapped. She’s been incredibly useful. In fact, he has a whole list of “experiments” he wants to try on her once the city of Ishtar falls. Riss senses the Count is up to something dark, but he keeps quiet. After all, this is the former right-hand man of the Demon Lord. Questioning his methods? Not advisable.
Meanwhile, the girl is imprisoned in the Count’s dungeon. He visits now and then with magic potions, only to harvest her magic and create those monster-attracting crystals. It’s happened so many times, she’s lost the will to fight.
Back with Lloyd’s group, they’re crossing a vast field, nearly back to the city. But Silica starts worrying about Lloyd‘s health—it must be tough keeping up speed magic for so long. Lloyd, however, has no clue what she’s worried about. Once you get used to it, enhancement magic barely uses any mana.
The others ask what he means by “getting used to it.” So Lloyd explains: when he was younger, Merlin left him in the middle of a forest and told him to find his own way back. As a White Mage, he couldn’t fight monsters, so he just cast support spells on himself and ran for his life. After a lot of trial and error, he finally made it home.
Everyone is shocked. But Lloyd insists it must be standard training. Yui and Silica pause and break the news—most legal guardians don’t toss their kids into the wilderness for “training.” Lloyd, of course, takes this to mean normal kids go through even worse, and concludes his skills must be subpar. Classic Lloyd logic.
After their break, Lloyd casts the spell again and they continue running—until he suddenly stops, making everyone tumble. He explains that he sensed something ahead with a scan but isn’t sure what. Silica asks if it’s a monster. Lloyd doesn’t think so—it feels more like a hunter stalking prey.
He tells the group to go ahead while he checks it out. Yui immediately objects—he doesn’t know what he’s walking into, and if it’s dangerous, he’d be in trouble. The rest agree—they’re a team, so they’re investigating together. Lloyd appreciates their concern and leads them to the source.
Now closer, he confirms there are demons in the house. When Yui hears this, she asks if he’s sure—demons are usually found in the Mega, and right now they’re banned from the continent’s three major nations. Everyone looks confused—it’s basic knowledge, but Lloyd looks like he’s hearing it for the first time.
Embarrassed, Lloyd admits he has no memories from childhood. His earliest memory is the day Merlin took him in—after the war was already over.
If there really are demons here, Dagas suggests reporting it to the city knights immediately. Lloyd agrees, but he wants to gather a bit more intel first. The others warn it’s too risky, but Lloyd explains that the mana inside feels just like the one from the magic crystal that attracted monsters. If these demons are tied to whoever’s behind the city attack, then it’s worth the risk. Yui agrees—it’s their duty as adventurers to protect people, and this might be their chance to prevent the attack on Ishtar entirely.
Yui convinces the others that it’s their duty as adventurers to protect the people, and the demons clearly pose a threat. Besides, if they’re lucky, they might be able to stop the attack on Ishtar altogether. So, they decide to give it a shot.
When they peek through the house window, they’re shocked to find it completely empty. Lloyd does another scan and realizes the demons are underground—and definitely up to something sketchy. He asks Silica if she can use earth magic to get them down there. She confirms she can.
Lloyd casts enhancement magic on everyone, and Silica uses her sand pit spell to open a hole in the ground, dropping the whole party straight into the middle of the demons’ ritual. The demons are stunned and demand to know who the intruders are. But Yui holds her sword to one of their faces and threatens him for answers.
Before he can respond, another demon uses earth magic to launch rocks at Yui, forcing her to dodge and giving the first demon time to escape. He bolts, running past the demon who helped him, and locks the door behind him to keep Yui from following. The remaining demons try to sneak up on her, but Cross shoots both in the legs, allowing Yui to finish them off easily.
With those demons handled, the party regroups and prepares to chase down the last one. Meanwhile, the escaping demon tries to wrap the imprisoned girl in a magical cocoon to transport her. But Yui and the others burst through the door, forcing him to flee again. They chase him up the stairs and out into the open.
Realizing the demon might escape, Lloyd tells Yui to run ahead and cut him off, while Silica and Dagas flank from the sides. The demon finds himself surrounded. Lloyd tells him to surrender—he’s got questions. But instead, the demon tries one final attack, casting a lightning spell.
Lloyd reacts quickly, casting shields over everyone and blocking the attack. The final strike pierces the demon’s chest, taking him down. Lloyd then unwraps the cocoon and is surprised to find a beast girl inside.
They take her back to the cabin and lay her in bed to rest. With all the demons gone, they’ve got no one left to question—except this girl. Dagas asks if Lloyd can heal her. He agrees and raises his staff to begin. Silica is amazed at how effective his healing magic is. Lloyd casually explains he’s made a few improvements to it in his spare time.
Yui quickly points out that most adventurers can’t improve spells at all—what Lloyd did is almost unheard of. Lloyd admits he didn’t realize that, since Merlin used to make him help refine her spells all the time. At least now, he understands enough not to brush off his own skill.
Soon after, the girl wakes up. As soon as her eyes open, Yui bombards her with questions. The girl can barely keep up but manages to tell Yui her name is Clare. Progress!
Lloyd gently takes over and asks Clare if she knows why the demons imprisoned her. She doesn’t answer, so he changes topics. He explains that they’re adventurers who came to save a farm being attacked by monsters. The monsters were drawn by a magic crystal, and he could sense beast magic coming from it. Lloyd remembers that some beastfolk have the power to control beasts, so he asks if the magic came from her.
Clare hesitates, but finally admits her magic was powering the stones.
Meanwhile, back in the city, a group of guards discovers one of the magic stones left behind by the demons—but it’s too late. Monsters have already started appearing, and it won’t be long before the entire city is overrun.
Leave a Reply