Chapter 15

After running for several minutes, I finally arrived at the guardhouse at the southern gate. Seeing as there were a number of guards hurriedly running in and out, it seemed that Daniela too had arrived safely. And just as I was thinking about going inside, Daniela came out of the door with a guard in tow. A moment later, Russell followed.

“Asagi!”

“Daniela, I see you made it here safely.”

“Aye, I explained the situation to Captain Russell.”

Russell nodded and said that he was now leaving to arrest the adventurers.

“To be honest, I was getting quite angry with this trend of making you out to be a fool. I don’t appreciate them speaking ill of a man I rescued. But just leave it to me, I’ll have them thrown into prison, even for the smallest of crimes if I have to!”

“Russell, I’m grateful for the thought. But you shouldn’t abuse your power.”

“Hahaha!”

“Hey, Russell.”

He looked away from me and began to walk on. No, I really was happy for the thought, but.

“Asagi. The captain did listen to what I said with a serious ear. I think it should be fine.”

“Well, I do trust him…”

I mumbled as we watched the group of guards running, their armor clanking as they set off. There was something suffocating about being in the center of such an uproar, when I had rarely been anywhere but the sidelines all of my life.

As I and Daniela stood there watching, a young guard came and guided us into the building.

The inside of the house was overflowing with stuff. From documents to mysterious boxes… Contraband, they later told me. It was a bit unsettling. I tried to avoid touching anything as we went further in towards the back and into a small room. There were two chairs, a desk, and a bed. And while there was a window in the room, it was set with iron bars. Wasn’t this a room to put villains in?

“I’m terribly sorry, but you must rest here today.”

“It makes me feel as if I were guilty of something…”

“Hahaha. Rooms that are difficult to escape from are also the safest.”

It’s not what you say, but how you say it, right? It was what it was. I didn’t care to get involved with anyone else out there now. But there was still one problem.

“There’s only a single bed here.”

“I’m very sorry, but that’s all we have at this time. Please share it.”

The hell was he talking about? …Is he stupid? I looked at him with as much exasperation as I could muster, before slumping down into the chair.

“If it’s all you have, then I’ll just rest here. Daniela, you can use the bed.”

“Are you sure? You won’t get much rest sitting on that chair.”

“No, I’m actually used to it.”

“Are you…”

Yes. What can I say? I’m used to sleeping over a desk. I would sometimes get so tired during my night shift at work, that I once fell asleep in the office. The manager was nice enough to let me sleep then. And ever since that time, I would sleep there right after work. And that was how I became accustomed to sleeping on desks.

“Well, that solves the problem. I shall return to my guarding duties!”

He gave a sharp salute and left the room. No, it’s not solved! I just compromised! I shouted inwardly, but only allowed a sigh to escape me. I should just rest for now. It’s been a while since I’ve run this much. I had been so tired when leaving the park, but I wasn’t sleepy at all anymore. I was bored.

“By the way, Daniela. You’re pretty fast, huh. I went after you only seconds later, but you were nowhere in sight. I was quite surprised.”

I had nothing better to do, so I tried talking to her. Also, I was curious. Maybe she was a fellow AGI hoarder.

Daniela sat down on the bed and looked at me as she began to speak.

“Ahh. Then, of course, you would not have seen me. I was running on the rooftops.”

“You what?”

Rooftops? Was there a ladder there that I didn’t see?”

“With wind magic. I can make my body lighter and add a boost when I jump. That height is really not that difficult at all.”

“Wind magic…”

I was reminded of how close the presence of magic actually was. Who would have thought she was a magician? She looked so much like a knight-type.

“Are you good at it?”

“I suppose so. I’m adept at a combined martial art that uses magic and swords. Oh, please keep my magical abilities a secret, will you? I’ll be hounded by adventurers if word gets out.”

“Hmm…I didn’t know such a thing existed. I envy you, I can’t even use magic.”

“You don’t have the aptitude?”

“No, I, I don’t know. I don’t even know how to find out.”

Daniela then stood up and sat on the chair opposite me.

“The aptitude test is easy. You just need to look at the color of the magical energy inside your body. Wait a moment.”

She took out her mask from a pocket and put it on. Then she stared through the mask and into my face. I was becoming nervous… This aptitude test could have a massive impact on the way I would plan my life.

“Good, now just concentrate. Imagine that there is something flowing inside of you, circulating. Then the magic should move within you.”

“Mm…”

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine it. Just then, ‘Jack of all trades’ triggered, and I could visualize the magic circulating through me. It was as if the use of magic, or hearing about the actual existence of magic had solidified the image in my mind.

And so I concentrated all my power into it. I could then feel something moving, starting from my core and flowing out towards the rest of my body. It reached every corner before returning to the center, circulating.

Then the magical source began to flow, little by little. It ran, flowing like small rivulets that connected into larger rivers as they coursed through my veins.

But then I felt something within that river. It was around my stomach. I considered it, then understood. It was the place where the thief had stabbed me. And the moment I understood it, the heat revived within me. It was hot, so very hot. But that too only lasted a moment. The unbearable heat turned cool, then cold and eventually froze over. The flow of the river began to stagnate. I became desperate for the flow of magic to continue; increasing the volume.

And then the ice was slowly pushed away. It was a glacier now. The magical glacier continued to run through me. Eventually, the ice began to melt. But every time it passed near the wound, a large block of ice would form.

“Good. We’re done now.”

I opened my eyes then. The sharpness in my senses dissipated, and I remembered where we were.

“Hahh…that was tiring. So how was it?”

Daniela removed her mask and folded her arms.

“It was a strange color. At first, the flow was colorless. That is a magic that most people have. But then it turned red for an instant. Then it turned blue. This was the color that coursed through your body the most, but that too turned purple and then back to blue… It was very unstable. But in a way, that state could be considered a kind of stability. It was very strange.”

It was as if the heat and the coldness I had felt were manifested as colors. It was proof that what I had imagined had been conveyed directly to Daniela.

“I see… So, is there any magic that I can use?”

“A lack of color means a lack of the attributes. This is a kind of magical energy that everyone has. Red is for fire. It would allow you to burn things or cause explosions. I only saw that color in you for a brief instant, so I doubt you would be good at it.”

Uh huh. So I wouldn’t be able to cause epic explosions like a cheater.

“And deep blue is for ice. After many changes, you mostly stayed on that color. It means that you must be adept with ice magic. And last is purple, which is for water. Perhaps not as strong as ice, but ice will turn to water when heat is added. Water will turn to ice when robbed of heat. This cycle is complete within your body. Considering all of this, the fire magic must exist inside of you as a cushion for the ice magic and the water magic. And so it is ice and water. Those are the attributes you should be skilled with.”

It was surprising, the ever-changing colors were flowing for such a reason. A smile slowly crept on my face.

Hehehe…Hahahah…Ahahahahaha!!!

So I wasn’t just an agile ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’!

I was an agile ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ who could use some magic!!

I was so happy that I had tears in my eyes.