Unexpected Guest (4)

Trying to lighten up the atmosphere, Rian stirred up Olina's burning heart.

"Father, instead of doing this, let's have a session right now. To commemorate Shirone's arrival!"

"Hahaha! Shall we? Alright, let's set the world on fire with the three men!"

"Darling! What are you talking about, having a session after drinking? Come in and sleep first."

"Mom, it's okay. I'll go and come back."

Shirone easily agreed. Since things had come this far, it seemed fine to let it all out.

However, Olina couldn't let go of her concerns. Though Vincent held his alcohol well, he was climbing a mountain while drunk. It was a risky venture even for the toughest mountaineers.

"Are you sure? What if you get hurt?"

"I'll be fine because I'm there. We'll be back before lunch."

In the past, he would have heeded Olina's words, but now the situation was different. He had faced the terrifying Lycanthrope and protected the children, so it seemed unlikely there would be any reason for concern.

Olina didn't recognize this image of her son. He certainly seemed brighter than before, and his words and actions were full of confidence.

Is this the power of education? He had been a good son, but there were many times when she didn't know what he was thinking, but now he seemed like a completely different person. Above all, it seemed like he had learned to love himself a bit more.

After Olina gave her permission, the three men went to the logging area, exchanging stories they hadn't been able to share for a while. In particular, Rian walked briskly because he wanted to show off his achievements so far.

Rian, who had stayed at Vincent's house for two days, heard stories from Shirone's childhood. Among them, the most impressive part was the Thunder Chop. He had been particularly interested because he had struggled with Shirone when sparring at his house.

Arriving at the logging area, Rian shouted.

"Alright! Should we chop a tree like men? What do you say, Shirone? Want to bet? The loser fulfills a wish."

Rian, who was bigger than before, had no trouble holding the two-handed axe with one hand. To exaggerate, if Rian was a giant tree, Shirone was like a squirrel standing next to him.

"Okay, let's do it."

Shirone agreed meekly. He had never lost a bet with Rian. The winner couldn't run away when the loser challenged, right?

Rian lifted his axe and nodded at Vincent, who also gave him a thumbs-up under his arms.

"Then I'll go first."

Rian swung the axe with all his might. With a dull thud, the tree swayed.

It was truly destructive power. One could see how much intense training he had undergone in the past six months.

"Wow, that's incredible. Is that Esquema?"

"Eh? Haha! Of course not!"

Rian's response was somewhat awkward, but Shirone decided to go ahead.

Rian lifted the axe again. Then, looking at Shirone, he winked.

"The real deal starts now."

Rian's axe struck again in the area where the bark had split. With a thunderous sound, the tree fell in one blow.

"Thunder Chop..."

Shirone realized immediately. The fact that Rian had successfully executed the Thunder Chop meant he could also execute Sword Kill.

"Hahaha! How's that, Shirone? I'm not the old me!"

Contrary to his loud exclamation, Rian's heart was racing. To be honest, there was a small chance of failure.

He had learned Sword Kill at the fencing academy, but his success rate significantly decreased when facing a person.

However, thanks to Vincent's explanation of Thunder Chop and practice throughout the day, he had managed to bring it to a point where he succeeded nine out of ten times when his target was a tree.

"Incredible. It's different from the Thunder Chop I do."

"Is this a natural result? Anyway, a bet is a bet. I succeeded in two attempts, so you have to bring it down in one!"

Vincent let out a laugh.

"Haha! Shirone, do your best. If it's a tie, we'll keep going until one person wins. I guess we might run out of trees on this mountain?"

Vincent thought Shirone shouldn't be taken lightly either. Rian's strength was great, but from an early age, Shirone had a natural talent in the technical field.

"Here, use my axe."

"No, it's okay. I'll do it this way."

Shirone approached the tree and extended his hand. Then, Vincent and Rian made puzzled expressions. Without an axe, how would he bring down a thick tree?

After estimating the location, Shirone entered the Spirit Zone. And he cut the tree with Wind Cutter, which could be called basic magic.

From inside the tree stump, a crack was heard. And that's it.

As the two spectators tilted their heads, Shirone slowly pushed the tree. The trunk fell, revealing a clean cut.

"Yay! I won!"

Unlike Shirone, who jumped with excitement, Vincent and Rian had their mouths open as if they were missing their jaws.

How could a tree be cut without any impact? It was impossible unless magic was used.

'Rian examined the cut section of the tree Shirone had cut. Even a swordsman couldn't cut so smoothly.

"What kind of magic is this?"

"It's called Wind Cutter. It sharpens the air by creating wind, it's basically the most basic magic."

Vincent was speechless to see his changed son.

Of course, Vincent assumed he would learn some magic after sending him to the magic academy, but he only thought it would be at the level of a circus trick.

But to cut a log at once. Depending on how it was handled, it was as deadly as a weapon.

"Haha. I can't believe it. Can you teach this to Dad too? If I cut trees with that magic, I'll be able to do it faster than I do now."

"It's basic magic, but it's not that easy to learn."

Naturally, if you mastered Wind Cutter, you could cut more than a hundred trees in a day for logging. But no wizard in the world made money cutting trees.

Even if they could chop a thousand, a wizard's daily wage was much higher. It's not that the value of a thousand logs was low, it's that a wizard's salary is high.

Shirone realized this and felt better. He had been afraid of failing when he first enrolled, but now he was relieved to have the skills to support his family, even if he couldn't graduate.

If others heard him, they would think he was crazy, as he was a wizard who had unlocked the Immortal Function, but for Shirone, family was just as precious.

"Anyway, since I won, I'll make a wish. Rian, move the tree to the house."

"Cheh! Can't help it. I was going to carry it anyway."

Rian chopped the fallen tree into pieces and prepared to return.

Even though he lost the bet, a smile hung on Rian's lips as he descended the mountain. Shirone had personally shown that his eyes were not wrong.

"You're amazing, Shirone. Of course, what you showed me today isn't all of it, right?

When they returned home, Olina had prepared all sorts of food. It seemed like all the food from land, sea, and air was served.

"Wow, it looks so delicious. Thanks for the food!"

While eating, Shirone told them what had happened at the academy.

Of course, he omitted the situations where his life was at stake, but there were many other things besides that.

"…So the correct answer was No.3. Hahaha! Thanks to that, I'll be promoted to Class Four next semester."

"Ah, I see."

Contrary to his expectations, Vincent and Olina didn't react in particular. Shirone, wondering if there was anything more to add, opened his hand as if he finally realized something.

"That's incredibly impressive."

Then color returned to the couple's faces. They couldn't understand half of what Shirone said because they hadn't been to the academy, but they were no different from other parents in being proud of their son's achievements.

"Ah! Is that so? Congratulations, Shirone!"

"Good job, my son. You have no idea how worried your mom was."

Olina wiped away tears with a handkerchief.

Rian smiled sincerely as he watched the scene of a loving family. He seemed to understand where Shirone's calm personality came from.

"Anyway, Rian, why did you come here?"

"Oh, right. Now that I think about it, I came to ask for your permission."

"You can say anything. If there's anything I can do, of course, I should help."

That's what he said, but Vincent was quite worried. What does the son of a noble family ask permission for from a lumberjack?

"Can I go on a trip with Shirone? For about a week."

Shirone turned his head as if it was absurd.

"What trip? Why are you talking about something I don't even know about? Where are you going?

"Galliant Island. Don't worry. I've planned it in advance."

"What? Galliant?"

Shirone widened his eyes. He was startled when the recent place in his mind came out of Rian's mouth.

"When I was working at the library, I was completely enclosed. Let's take this opportunity to get some fresh air. It's also close to Creas. It'll be fun. Galliant Island is one of the most popular vacation spots in the world."

"Plus, there are the ruins of Kerugo."

This time, Rian was surprised.

"Eh? You knew?"

"No, I didn't know except for the fact that there are ruins. Hoo, it was such a famous place. This is amazing."

Shirone, who had been leafing through the map for a few days, found out that the ruins of Kerugo were on Galliant Island. He had the vague feeling it was a ruin but remembered deciding to go there since it wasn't too far away.

Shirone looked at his mother. He had planned to visit it once during the holidays, but it would have been disappointing if the son who returned after half a year said he was leaving for a trip right away.

But, as always, Olina followed Shirone's wishes.

"Go and come back. We're all for it."

"But mom, this time I was going to help dad with his work when I came back from the academy..."

Vincent burst out laughing.

"You rascal! Did you go to a battlefield? You can go play during the holidays after returning from the academy. If a son clings too much to his parents, it's not good."

Shirone pouted with a guilty expression. Of course, the magic academy was also an academy, but it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the danger he experienced there was close to that of a battlefield.

"So, can we set the period at ten days?"

"Eh? Ten days? Doesn't matter, but it's not a place worth looking at for that long, right?"

"Ah, actually, there's something I want to investigate separately."

Rian put on a puzzled expression.

"Are you studying there too? You're amazing, really."

Since Shirone had read all the history books of the Ogent family, studying at a vacation spot wouldn't have been a tough task.

'Hehehe, but it won't be easy this time. I wonder if studying will catch his attention there.'

Thinking of a trump card, Rian secretly smiled and looked forward to tomorrow.

***

Shirone packed his suitcase and went to bed. Rian also decided to stay until today, so the two lay side by side with a blanket on the floor.

"Anyway, tell me. Why didn't you go home?"

"Huh? Oh, that's..."

Rian was speechless. Just as Reina understood her younger brother, Rian also knew his sister well. She must have sent the report card home, and it was likely that she would catch him.

But he couldn't tell Shirone the truth. He wasn't embarrassed to be last because he did his best, but he simply couldn't open his mouth.

"Just some trivial family matter. Haha."

Shirone didn't press further.

"That's alright anyway. I was planning to go home once during the holidays after all."

"You mentioned Ruins of Kerugo? What are you going to investigate?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll enjoy the holidays as holidays, so it's fine. First, I'll play with you on the island, and then I'll stay alone to do the research."

Rian felt something was unusual. The Ruins of Kerugo were a tourist destination. There was no way Shirone would tell him to go back first if he was simply conducting research in a place like that