Rebound of Word Magic

Right after Rigund disappeared, Jin-u, who was healed with the word 『Complete Recovery』 | 『完治』, opened his eyes. Camus filled him in on the details. Jin-u ground his teeth as he regretted being unconscious the entire time this was happening.

“That’s how it turned out.. but for Rigund-sama to smile in his last moments..” (Jin-u)

“....Un” (Camus) [‘Un’ – Yes]

Jin-u closed his eyes and looked up, seeming to experience a flood of emotions, after which he exhaled softly.

“Thank goodness. Chief.. sorry for causing you trouble.” (Jin-u)

“No. The one who should apologize.. is me. Sorry.. if I had been ready from the start..” (Camus)

“Chief..” (Jin-u)

“But, there is something that bothers me.” (Camus)

“What is it?” (Jin-u)

“What happened.. to your wounds?” (Camus)

“A, aa.. About that..” (Jin-u)

At that moment, Jin-u glanced at Hiiro. However, Hiiro simply stood there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Jin-u worried whether or not he was allowed to talk about it, however he remembered that he wasn’t specifically told not to.

(Before I lost consciousness Hiiro mentioned a debt, but..) (Jin-u)

After vaguely recalling what happened and looking at Hiiro’s attitude, Jin-u figured he could talk about it.

“Actually..” (Jin-u)

Upon being told that Hiiro was the one who cured Jin-u’s wounds, Camus reflexively drew nearer to Hiiro.

“Hiiro!” (Camus)

“W-what?” (Hiiro)

“I have.. a request!” (Camus)

“......Haa” (Hiiro) [Sigh]

Hiiro had a rough idea of what Camus was going to say.

“Please cure my people!” (Camus)

Hiiro expected it might turn out like this, however, he had already prepared himself for it when he healed Jin-u. Moreover, even if the 『Ashura Tribe』 was able to understand his ability, because of their nature, he did not think they would cause any problems. Besides that, there was also the fact that Camus had become Hiiro’s subordinate and because his subordinate’s tribe were under his jurisdiction as well, he was obligated to help them as well.

However, despite it being a request from his subordinate, Hiiro wouldn’t work for free.

“Haa, I don’t mind healing them, but only on one condition, okay?” (Hiiro)

“Just name it!” (Camus)

Hiiro wanted to tell him to think for a bit before accepting. However, for a man who boasts that he will do anything for the sake of his tribe, it was the obvious answer.

“..Understood. In that case, you must feed me delicious things until I am content. That’s my condition.” (Hiiro)

“Un un!” (Camus)

Camus’ usual blank face turned into a slight smile as he returned a nod in return.

“Ohon! By the way, Hiiro-sama?” (Silva) [‘Ohon’ – cough to get someone’s attention.]

At that moment, Silva called out to Hiiro with a cough.

“What?” (Hiiro)

“For an old man like myself, are these circumstances not slightly harsh?”

Silva was looking at the surroundings while he said that. Speaking of which, Hiiro had completely forgotten about it. Currently the desert all around them was covered in ice. This is the result of using the word 『Frost Conversion』|『氷結化』 with the recently unlocked Three Word Chain skill of his 《Word Magic》.

“Now that you mention it, how did this happen?” (Jin-u)

Jin-u tilted his head while shivering from the cold transmitted from the ground.

“This.. Hiiro did it.” (Camus)

“..Eh? Chief, is that true? He.. did this?” (Jin-u)

Jin-u was watching Hiiro and blinking in surprise but Hiiro ignored him and started to write a word. The word written was 『Origin』|『元』. The word that Hiiro always used to remove the 《Word Magic》 effects of 『Harden』|『硬』 and 『Extend』|『伸』.

However, the the word 『Origin』|『元』 activated like normal but-

Pachin! [Crack]

The character cracked and disappeared.

“..Nn?” (Hiiro)

Since the word 『Origin』|『元』 wasn’t effective, Hiiro had his hand on his chin while thinking. But then he felt pain run through his body like an electric current.

Abruptly, Hiiro groaned and fell to his knees, surprising everyone watching. However, this truthfully was not the first time Hiiro had felt this pain.

(A-as I though, it’s a 《Rebound》, huh..) (Hiiro)

This was the 《Rebound》 penalty that 《Word Magic》 incurred if it wasn’t properly completed. In order to confirm the effects of the 《Rebound》, Hiiro had purposefully triggered it in the past. If he tried to cast a spell and the characters or imagined effect were not adequate, the spell would fail like this one, inflicting pain and reducing his MP drastically.

Therefore, Hiiro was not particularly surprised by this. However, he was more concerned about why the spell wasn’t effective. After that, Hiiro reassured the other three that he was okay before he began thinking again.

(It doesn’t work? No.. perhaps it’s..) (Hiiro)

Thinking that, Hiiro wrote a word on the ground this time. After he activated it, the frozen ground instantly turned back to desert.

(Hmm, I see.) (Hiiro)

The word he wrote was 『Desert Conversion』|『砂漠化』. Hiiro surveyed the surroundings. Everything seemed to have returned to normal.

(It seems that Three-Word spell effects can only be removed by using another Three-word spell. Well, they do have a lot of power, but..) (Hiiro)

Since even removing the effect cost a lot of MP, Hiiro noted that he better think twice before using Three-Word spells. After all, he had already used 600 MP casting 『Frost Conversion』|『氷結化』 and, in order to reverse the effects, he had to use another 600 MP for 『Desert Conversion』|『砂漠化』. Doing this unexpectedly took a total 1200 MP. An ordinary adventurer would be completely exhausted after doing that.

When the area suddenly turned back into desert, everyone was dumbfounded – even Silva. Liliyn’s group, who were preventing monsters from passing nearby, also turned up.

However, Liliyn was running at them with great speed.

Dadadadadadadadada! [Footsteps]

Liliyn came up straight to Hiiro and grabbed him by the collar.

“Oi, Kozou! What was that just now!? That was your doing, right!?” (Liliyn)

Apparently, she wanted to know about 『Frost Conversion』|『氷結化』 and 『Desert Conversion』|『砂漠化』.

“Fun, I don’t really mind answering, but weren’t you going to analyze it by yourself?” (Hiiro) [‘Fun’ as sound effect.]

Hiiro showed a malicious expression and said that.

“Mu..Muu... That’s.. However..” (Liliyn)

Liliyn mumbled slightly as she remembered that she certainly had declared so herself. Hiiro made Liliyn release her hand from his collar.

“More importantly, what about the monsters?” (Hiiro)

“Ah? Kukuku, those small fries aren’t even enough to kill time.” (Liliyn)

“.. I thought you said you were not even going to lift a finger?” (Hiiro)

“Mu.. Shut up! I couldn’t stand watching the others deal with them so slowly so I gave them a hand! That’s all it was!” (Liliyn)

Seeing her face dyed red while she was desperately making excuses, Hiiro could only see her as a child.

“Nofofofofo! I’m happy to return to your side, Ojousama!” (Silva)

“Nn? Aa, what.. You were still alive, huh.” (Liliyn)

The light sound of a tongue clicking could be heard from Liliyn, but Hiiro thought that it was just his imagination.

“Nofofofofo. That cold attitude is embodiment of Ojousama’s loneliness! It’s wonderful! This unworthy existence, Silva Plutis, will gladly lend my chest to bury the loneliness of my innocent tsundere ojousama. Ojousamaaaaaaaaaaaa!” (Silva)

The butler jumped toward Liliyn like a frog. At that,a tremendous killing intent burst from Liliyn.

Pishun!

Liliyn vanished for a moment but then reappeared above Silva, who had been coming at her from above. She grabbed both of his feet and-

Dosun!

“Hauuuuu!?” (Silva)

Liliyn took a big swing with both of her feet and struck Silva’s groin. The men of the 『Ashura Tribe』 who saw that instinctively clenched their thighs together. Silva was completely knocked out, showing the whites of his eyes and drooling from his mouth.

“WHO-ARE-YOU-CALLING TSUNDERE OJOUSAMA!” (Liliyn)

While holding Silva’s legs and crouching on his groin, Liliyn performed a piledriver and planted Silva headfirst in a sand dune. His twitching lower body was the only thing seen above the sand.

(How pitiable.. that perverted butler.) (Hiiro)

Hiiro imagined pressing his hands together and silently prayed.

“Feeeeeee! Silva-samaaaaaaaaa!” (Shamoe)

Shamoe was the only one worried about Silva’s safety, but Liliyn came back over while dusting the sand off her clothes and said to her “Leave him, he’s already dead.” Being told that, Shamoe once more cried “Feeeee!” in surprise.

“S-she’s quite something..” (Jin-u)

“U-un..” (Camus)

“I’m just gonna say this, but don’t lump me together with them.” (Hiiro)

Jin-u and Camus were stunned and muttering, however, Hiiro explained to them that he was completely different from those three. Hiiro wouldn’t be able to stand it if they thought he was like them.