“Let's try a mock battle. Just do what I described earlier.” Actually, the swordplay Macar had just demonstrated was mostly for show.
It was the kind of style that looked flashy and elegant when swung around.
Of course, there was still some practical substance to it—for example, which areas were the most vulnerable to injury.
“Come on, Little Gelin. If you can land a hit on my body, you win,” Maqi said with a smile as she stood before Ogre and raised her wooden stick defensively.
To her, this was nothing more than playing house.
‘Still, taking this chance to train Little Gelin a bit seems pretty good.’
Remembering how shy and timid the young girl had been last night, Maqi felt that letting Ogre handle a weapon a little wasn't a bad idea either.
“Mmh...”
Ogre raised the wooden stick in his hand.
Beside them, Eve gripped her wooden stick, momentarily reminded of her childhood experiences.
“Come on, Eve, just like the old days,” Macar said, facing her with his own wooden stick raised.
He had already planned out their itinerary for the next few days—after warming them up with swordplay practice, he would take them for a stroll through the streets, and then teaching them how to use a slingshot in the afternoon would be perfect.
That would easily fill a day while also teaching the girls some self-defense skills along the way.
Ten minutes later...
“Wait, that doesn't count. I wasn't ready yet.”
Maqi rubbed her head where she had been whacked, feeling quite embarrassed.
How could she have been hit by a little girl who had never even trained in swordplay before?
‘I've gotten too used to whacking goblins on the head...’
Ogre was also a bit embarrassed. He had gotten a little too carried away during the sparring with Maqi.
He had reflexively used the same movement he used to bash goblins.
“Let's go again. You're actually quite talented, Little Gelin.”
Maqi felt that what had just happened was likely just an accident.
“Mmh.”
Ogre once again held the stick horizontally before his eyes.
When he first picked up the weapon, Ogre's hands had indeed been itching for action, but after playing around with Maqi for a while, he quickly grew bored again.
He was truly indifferent to this kind of play-fighting, which did absolutely nothing to improve his skills.
‘If only Seran were here...’
Ogre still preferred the knuckle-to-flesh, exhausting spars he used to have with Serandic.
This time, when he chose to tag along, his main goal was actually to spar with Macar.
“Don't get distracted, Gelin.”
Maqi began to take it seriously.
...
Sometime before this.
Not far from Roke Town.
Fula stretched out his hand to recall his scouting white dove.
“Coo... Coo-coo!”
Standing on Fula's hand, the white dove let out a soft coo.
“A puppet warlock? No... It seems more like people have been turned into magical servants... and goblins are involved too?” Fula analyzed after digesting the information brought back by his white dove.
Based on the reconnaissance of his avian partner, combined with the report from the hunter who had been observing from the hilltop, Fula confirmed the issue plaguing Roke Town.
The caution shown by those hunters earlier had been entirely justified.
“Friar Fula, how is the situation? Did I just hear you say there are goblins inside?” another white-robed Cleric asked Fula.
He was the reinforcement Fula had requested from the church.
Since an entire town was at stake, Fula had to proceed with caution.
“The situation might not be simple, though I didn't sense any overly powerful energy fluctuations,” Fula said as he released the white dove back into the air.
“Can you handle this on your own?” the white-robed Cleric asked curiously.
“I probably can, but I still hope we can handle this matter together to ensure a perfect resolution,” Fula replied with absolute seriousness.
Then, he took off the white gloves he wore on his hands—a magical item he used to suppress his own strength on a regular basis.
“Don't worry, I don't want to get punished either.”
The other white-robed Cleric untied the thorny belt from around his waist and straightened it with his hand into a makeshift rod.
“You're not using a sword?” Fula questioned this temporary 'partner' assigned to him.
He didn't quite like the man's attitude.
“Who says thorns can't kill?” The white-robed Cleric smiled. “I'll just treat it as practicing swordplay.”
“Let's go then.”
Fula turned around and spoke devoid of any emotion—he disliked repeating himself.
If the other party refused to listen, talking more would be a waste of breath.
Therefore, once he confirmed his state was optimal, Fula stopped bothering with his misbehaving colleague and silently made his way toward Roke Town with swift strides.
“Tsk, always so cold and detached. How are you ever going to spread the faith like that?” the white-robed Cleric muttered under his breath, following close behind.
Regardless of his disdainful remarks, he still had to do his job.
After all, this concerned countless human lives.
Every commoner who died was a loss to the church, and a failure on the part of they who were the shepherds...
...
“Are they finally here?”
Sensing Fula's approaching aura, a young girl inside Roke Town slowly opened her deep blue eyes.
If Goler were here, he would recognize this young girl as the very human Mage who had been taken away by his teacher.
“The Church of Dawn... I thought the first to arrive would be those arrogant, foolish adventurers.”
The blue-eyed girl waved her hand casually.
In that instant, every human and monster in Roke Town stood up.
“An excellent opportunity to test out my new power.” A bizarre smile curled upon the lips of the blue-eyed girl.
As long as this body could draw in the nearby powerhouses... its goal would be achieved.
It was a bit of a pity that its spell wasn't perfectly executed—due to the lack of stronger soul materials, it could only control a single town at a time from this distance.
However, none of that was an issue.
As long as it accumulated enough time and powerful souls, it was confident it could unleash a catastrophe!
It would use that to pry open the coveted Mana Weave.
Had it not been for those stupid ogres and centaurs, it would have succeeded last time...
“Once I handle this, I will come looking for you, my dear student, Goler... You had better pray I don't catch you!”
In truth, it could have proceeded with much more caution and didn't need to be in such a hurry. If Goler hadn't left, there would have been no need for it to take action personally!
Unfortunately, there were no 'ifs' in this world.
...
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