A Court Magician, Who Was Focused On Supportive Magic Because His Allies Were Too Weak, Aims To Become The Strongest After Being Banished - Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Loki Sylveria the Bastard

“…Spell Boost…”

After a moment, Yorha directed her eyes and hand to the ground, and cast the support magic.

It was one of the spells that Reviel had used when I faced him in the guild’s underground arena.

A silver magic circle then appeared.

However, the pattern on it was completely different from what Reviel had made.

It was much larger, and began to expand in order to cover each of us, though we stood apart.

“Well, let’s go and see what is happening. Regardless of who it is, we should check it out.”

There was no better clue than sound, and it might disappear if we didn’t act.

Yorha suggested as she cast Spell Boost twice, and then a third time. No one objected to her suggestion.

In other words, we were all in agreement.

“However, you should remember the position of the second floor boss room. There is no guarantee that we won’t have to run into it in order to escape.”

‘Especially Ornest.’

She added on purpose.

“Aye-aye.”

“…I hope you really understand…”

Yorha said with an exasperated sigh. Judging by how he answered while putting away the Artifact on his shoulder, he probably had not even been listening.

That little interaction made me wonder how much Yorha had been troubled by him while I was gone for the last four years.

“That bastard won’t die so easily, I think. We might as well just stand back and watch. Unless, of course, they are fighting against a floor boss. In any case, let’s go and take a look at them.”

This was a good opportunity, and he did not want to let it go to waste.

There was great amusement added to his fierce expression, and with those last words, Ornest disappeared from my view with all of the agility of a beast.

Dust rose into the air, and the echoes of far away footsteps told me where he was headed.

“Aren’t you going to chase after the idiot, Alec?”

“…If Ornest went, then surely there is no need for me to go. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to catch up.”

I shook my head at Clashia’s question.

Since Yorha had cast support magic on all of us equally, there was no way that I could catch up to him.

He was a close quarters attacker after all. And so Ornest’s physical ability far exceeded the rest of us in the party.

There was no hope of finding him after he got ahead.

In that case, it was better for me to stick with Yorha and Clashia, instead of risking getting lost.

“Besides, while Ornest may be a selfish mass of self-importance who lacks any reserve, he is not that stupid. So…I think he should manage just fine.”

If he saw that he was at a disadvantage, he would try and regain his footing. And more than anyone, he had a strong fixation with winning.

And so I decided that it should be fine to let him go off alone.

After a moment, we too began to rush in the same direction. Though we could not match his speed, the support magic still made us quite fast.

“So, what can you tell me about this Loki Sylveria?”

If things continued like this, it would likely end in a joint struggle. And so I asked Clashia about this Adventurer from an S-Rank party.

“A conniving support magician. Perhaps he would prefer to be called clever. Anyway…”

“Yes?”

My eyebrows narrowed as she suddenly paused.

She waited for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts.

Was it really something that she should hesitate to say?

She looked quite troubled, and blinked a few times as if repeatedly checking her own thoughts.

And then finally…

“…Only, his ability is incredibly high. And so if this really is the work of Loki, things will likely be quite difficult.”

One of their party had come to the guild asking for help.

In other words, they were currently a party of three.

So it was better to assume that these sounds of destruction weren’t from defeating an opponent, but to buy time.

“…Well, this is the 64th floor in Fezel, after all.”

The Fezel dungeon was known for being especially difficult when compared to the many dungeons scattered across the world.

On top of that, the 64th floor was quite deep down.

So it should be no surprise that things could not be solved so simply.

“Still, will it be alright? Being with someone who is such a bastard?”

Could we cooperate with such a person?

I couldn’t help but ask the question.

“…As for that, it should be fine. He just likes to mock people if he thinks it will be amusing. Also, in order to win, he will use everything he has to crush his opponent thoroughly into the ground. Also, sometimes he gets over excited. But otherwise, he is a completely normal person.”

“Uh, I don’t think he qualifies for normal.”

If anything, I just felt more anxious after hearing that.

The fact that Yorha had nothing reassuring to add, like she usually did, just made me even more worried.

And after running with this feeling for several minutes…

“…Ah, it is Loki after all.”

Yorha suddenly said, as the distance between us had shrunk.

Of course it is…

She seemed to say. And her voice was filled with a sense of tiredness.

“See? That weirdo who is asking Ornest for help while being chased by the huge monster. That’s Loki.”

I squinted ahead, and finally saw a single figure there.

A man with a bowl cut was running at top speed towards Ornest, who was just watching him.

“OORRRRNEEEEST!? He-hey, help me already!! I’m going to die out here!! Don’t you see that I’m tired!? I thought you came here to help me!? Didn’t Clista ask for your aid!? Are you just going to watch, damn it!!! Really! Damn you! Hey! Hey! HEEEEYY!!”

“You look like you have plenty of energy to spare.”

As the man shouted, Ornest continued to roll his eyes and clean his ears with a bored expression.

Then there was the monster that was chasing Loki. It was a beastly mutant covered in stitches and was over ten meters in length.

Its four legs still somewhat retained the shape of the original creature, but the venomous skin and unnatural stitching made it look more like an abomination than any living animal.

Besides, it let out such an ominous roar that anyone near it could not help but shudder.

However, this monster, who was likely a floor boss, seemed to have no interest in Ornest, and even when Loki tried to shake it off by passing in front of Ornest, the monster took no notice.

And then…

“You bastard. I’ll remember this. And if I happen to die, then I’ll be haunting your pillow at night. Every time you try to sleep, I’ll whisper curses into your ear. And then finally… Bah!?”

It was probably because he was shouting angrily at Ornest while also trying to dodge the attacks of the monsters. But Loki tripped in a hole in the ground, causing him to fall face first into the ground.

“…Uh. Isn’t that pretty bad?”

Surely we would have to help him.

Thinking this, I started to frantically make my way towards him.

“…Ah… Hmm. I understand how you feel, but I think it’s fine. That is Loki’s style.”

Yorha had picked up on what I said, and told me that it was not necessary.

Still, I saw the monster’s sharp claws shoot towards the fallen Loki, and in the next moment, they crashed.

Dust rose as the deafening sound echoed.

It was such an attack, that if it were a direct hit, then he would surely have died from it.

…However, shortly after, a giant and red magic circle appeared in the place where Loki would have been.

It then spread so that it was big enough to cover the monster, and then a moment later, a pillar of fire burst out from it.

Then there were moer. They increased in number every second. An angry chain of attacks.

“…He’s good.”

I couldn’t help but mutter as I watched this.

He had pretended to trip and fall, when he had in fact placed a magic circle on the ground. And then he made it so that it would activate after stepping on it, causing new magic circles to appear all around the monster.

There were five in total.

He didn’t simply set the magic circles and then lure the enemy in, but went out of his way to pretend to fall. It definitely said something about his personality.

“Heh! Hah! Ahahahaha!! I got you again, eh!? As if I would be so clumsy as to trip in such a situation!! You bloody idiot!!”

I heard the gleeful shouts.

Due to the amount of dust in the air, I could not see Loki. But what I could get a glimpse of, was the reason that Ornest and Clashia called him a bastard.