IBYDH 54

Chapter: 54

I haven’t tested it yet, so I don’t know its exact power—but since Sylphid is a Spirit King, a single attack should be able to snap at least one or two trees in half instantly.

Tap.

I wiped the ink clinging to the tip of my quill onto a scrap sheet.

So if I tried to train here, I’d be discovered immediately.

What I needed was a place with no people, plenty of space, and where it wouldn’t matter if parts of it were damaged by attacks.

The problem was that there was no such place near the capital—but one of Sylphid’s other useful abilities solved that issue.

I can travel by riding the wind, so distance doesn’t matter.

Sylphid had boldly claimed that, with his abilities, even crossing the continent wouldn’t be difficult.

—Since the contractor has a human body that could break, I can’t fly at my original speed… but even so, a week would be enough.

If it only took a week to cross the entire continent, reaching a nearby city wouldn’t even take minutes.

Thanks to that, my options expanded rapidly.

I narrowed down several locations that met the conditions: not private land, no human traffic, and not excessively dangerous.

Among them, the place I ultimately chose was the Red Forest.

Located more than a week away from the capital by carriage, the Red Forest was also known as the Abandoned Forest.

At some point, monsters had begun appearing little by little, and the once-ordinary forest had turned crimson—earning it that nickname.

According to rumors, it wasn’t just the leaves that were red like autumn foliage; the entire trees were said to be blood-red.

The eerie phenomenon, unlike any natural coloration, had driven all nearby residents to relocate, leaving the area completely deserted.

The Red Forest also wasn’t privately owned.

Even if I caused unavoidable damage while training, it wouldn’t harm anyone.

That left the final condition: danger.

They say strong monsters appear in the central area, but near the edges, even apprentice knights can handle what shows up.

That was more than enough for my first real combat opponents.

“It’d take over a week by carriage, but if we ride Sylphid’s wind, we’ll get there in no time.”

I nodded with a satisfied smile.

It was a plan I genuinely liked.

After rolling up the map and closing my notebook, I tidied the desk and pulled the bell cord.

A moment later, Bell opened the door and came in.

“Bell. Can you bring what I asked you to prepare before?”

“What you asked me to prepare… Ah! That thing? Should I bring it now?”

“Yes, please.”

Shortly after, Bell returned with a thick rug rolled up under her arm.

“Here you go, miss.”

“Put it down here.”

As Bell set it on the floor, the rolled rug unfurled smoothly with a soft rustle.

I smiled in satisfaction at the single-person-sized rug adorned with exotic patterns.

This is exactly the kind of rug I imagined!

When I was young, I had a dream I’d nurtured while watching cartoons.

Back then, it was something impossible in reality—a dream destined to remain just that.

But now, it was time to bring it into reality.

The wind rushing past made me worry I might catch a cold—but that concern proved unnecessary.

Sylphid had created a dome-shaped barrier of wind over the rug I was riding.

Thanks to that, not a single strand of my hair fluttered as we flew comfortably through the sky.

“Wow. This feels amazing!”

Flying through the sky on a rug was… hard to put into words.

The wind didn’t slap against my face, but just watching the scenery below change rapidly made my chest feel wide open.

[Are you enjoying yourself, Contractor?]

Sylphid asked, flying alongside the rug.

I answered with a bright smile.

“Yes! Thanks to you. Honestly, I was flustered at first when you were summoned—but now I’m glad I made a contract with you back then.”

[Is… is that so?]

Uncharacteristically shy, Sylphid increased his speed.

Before long, a vast forest of red trees appeared in the distance.

“We’re already here.”

[Did I not tell you it wouldn’t take long?]

Nodding at Sylphid’s proud tone, I pointed to a quiet clearing with no monsters in sight.

“Please land us there first.”

At Sylphid’s gesture, the rug touched down gently.

[What do you plan to do now?]

Sylphid looked around the silent forest, where nothing but grass and trees could be seen.

“Do you remember what I said on the way here?”

[You said you planned to conduct combat training.]

“Yes. That’s right.”

[Is that really necessary? Even without such training, I am strong.]

At Sylphid’s grumbling, I patted his shoulder lightly to placate him.

“But whenever you use your power, you consume my mana. If you attack without paying attention and my mana runs out, that would be a serious problem.”

What I was referring to was mana depletion.

It was a dangerous condition common among heavy mana users like mages and spirit contractors—if all the mana in one’s body was consumed in a short time, they could lose consciousness, or in severe cases, even their life.

I’m doing this to live a long, healthy life—I can’t afford mana depletion.

I explained patiently to Sylphid, who still looked unconvinced.

“So starting today, our goal is to find the most efficient way for you to attack—using the least amount of mana for the greatest effect.”

[Hmm.]

Sylphid still looked dissatisfied, but he didn’t object further.

[So what should I do?]

What should we do…?

After thinking for a moment, I pointed at a nearby tree.

“Try attacking that tree first. You don’t need to use much force—just do it normally.”

[Understood.]

Sylphid casually gestured toward the tree.

And then—

Kwoooom—!

I stared, mouth agape, at the empty space where the dense trees had been moments earlier.

This is beyond what I imagined…

I knew he was strong, but not this strong.

And the mana consumption is lower than I expected.

At this rate, he could probably unleash at least five attacks of this level.

[Well?]

Sylphid asked proudly, clearing his throat.

Instead of answering, I gave him a thumbs-up.

Unfortunately, Sylphid lacked the common sense—and intuition—to understand my body language.

[What does that gesture mean?]

“It means you did well.”

[Hmph. This is nothing worth mentioning.]

After praising Sylphid once more, I moved on to the next training exercise.

“This time, let’s test precision. Please break only that single tree over there.”

[As you wish.]

Once again, without much effort, Sylphid fulfilled my request.

From then on, every attack he made was a success.

It wasn’t until the sun began to set that I finally halted the training.

…We could start fighting monsters from tomorrow.

Looking around at the now-cleared surroundings, I planned for the next day.

Despite exerting ourselves all day until sunset, I still had plenty of mana left.

We can increase the intensity starting tomorrow.

“Yipe—!”

“Kyahh—!”

At a single gesture from Sylphid, the wolf-shaped monster with bloodshot eyes—a Mad Dog—collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

I watched the dying Mad Dogs making their noisy final sounds, then shifted my gaze to the notebook in my hand.

Ten Mad Dogs at once is the maximum.

The notebook was filled with dense notes documenting Sylphid’s battles with monsters over the past few days.

…This feels more like a massacre than a battle.

A moment later, Sylphid, having wiped out the nearby Mad Dogs, approached me.

[Is that sufficient?]

“Yes. I’ve collected all the data on Mad Dogs now. You did great.”

[It was nothing.]

Despite saying that, Sylphid’s eyes gleamed as if asking for more praise.

I gave his waist a light pat and packed up my bag.

“Sylphid, could you move us to a place a little farther away?”

[That is no difficult task.]

“Thank you.”

I glanced at the surroundings, littered with monster corpses and blood, then subtly lifted my gaze to the sky.

I’d seen this sight for several days now, but I still wasn’t used to it.

After riding Sylphid’s wind for a short while, the stench of Mad Dog blood faded.

“Please set us down over there.”

Once on the ground, I spread the rug over a large nearby rock and sat down.

The soft rug blocked the chill of the stone, creating a reasonably comfortable seat.

“Sylphid, you should sit too.”

[No need. I prefer floating.]

“Suit yourself.”

I don’t insist twice—on people or spirits.

[But are we not returning to the manor today?]

Up until now, we’d returned immediately after hunting a group of monsters—but today was different.

“No. We’ll stay here until sunset today. Once we deal with orcs, we’ll have all the data we need, so I want to finish everything today.”

[Hmm. Is that so?]

“Just a little more effort, please.”

[Effort? For this great being, such mutated pigs are nothing but trivial.]

Orcs do resemble pigs… but “mutated pigs”?

Shaking my head at Sylphid’s odd naming sense, I pulled a lunchbox out of my bag.

I’d brought it along, planning to eat while staying here until evening.