[Frick’s Old Wound]

While rising thudding sounds, the Cloud Whale golem is following after the wagon.

Because it is slightly larger than Dimol, it has quite a long stride; it was able to keep up with the speed of the wagon.

On the other hand, Cinzia has dismantled the bone horse that she had been riding until then and is moving that bone golem, following after our wagon.

According to Cinzia, it seems that it is easier for her to absorb magic power by being near me and Noelia, she was relaxing with Noelia in the luggage compartment.

“Because of that, you guys are looking for that intelligent horse.”

“That is right. Our real purpose is different, but the Inbahanes Guild Master was troubled by it, so we decided to settle it first.”

In the luggage compartment, Noelia was explaining to Cinzia about the giant horse we were looking for.

Watching the situation, Suzana was driving the wagon while peeping into the luggage compartment once in a while, worried about Noelia.

“Suzana, it is dangerous, so can you drive while looking forward? Cinzia said that she wouldn’t absorb more magic power than necessary, so it’s okay.”

“I can’t trust what that fishy mage said. If anything happens to Noelia-sama, I’ll offer my head to Lloyd-sama as an apology.”

Because Suzana followed us under the pretext of being a chaperon, she was concerned about Noelia’s surroundings more than the others.

But even though she was assigned as a chaperon, she didn’t say anything in regard to me who is an opposite sex…

Is it perhaps because I’m a commoner, so she didn’t put me in her eyes?

I couldn’t understand Suzana’s criteria to regard someone as dangerous, so I can only tilt my head.

The journey of such a carriage continued for a while, and one of the forests that we marked as the refuge of the giant horse appeared in front of us.

It was a small forest that seemed to be out of place in the grassland, but it was large enough for the herd to hide in.

“According to my intuition, that place is the best candidate, but… Oops, looks like Dimol found something.”

Dimol who had been scouting the situation alone in advance seemed to find something as I saw him circling over the forest and crying.

“Is the giant horse hiding there?”

“I’ll be glad if that is the case. For the time being, Suzana and the others should wait here. If there are too many people, that guy will be alert and won’t listen.”

“Understood.”

When Suzana stopped the wagon, the two in the luggage compartment also came out to the coachman’s seat.

“Did you find it?”

“Ah, no. I don’t know yet. But it looks like Dimol found something.”

“If you ask me, I’d rather turn it into bones and employ it. Look, at worst, you’ll just have to add padding on it and cover it with leather, then it won’t be found out right?”

What she said is pretty dangerous, but I feel that if it’s Cinzia, she will really do it.

In fact, she was the person who crushed the Chaos Horse that was her mount, turned it into bones and employed it.

“Cinzia-sama, that’s a little… The request is to capture it alive.”

“Hmm, is that so. You sure accepted a troublesome request. Noelia, it seems that it’s going to take some time, so I’ll teach you the continuation of the basic theory of the Employment magic in the meantime.”

“Frick-sama, are you going to be fine without support?”

Cinzia lost interest in the giant horse, it seems that she was going to resume her previous lecture on magic theory that had been continuing until then.

On the other hand, Noelia is looking at me worriedly.

“Ahh, as long as that guy is there, I won’t be going in vain. I’ll be helped if Noelia can get the gist of the manipulation magic from Cinzia-sama. Please teach me later too, okay?”

After I said that, Noelia’s face turned bright.

“Y-yes! I will learn the essence of Employment magic from Cinzia-sama so that I can teach Frick-sama properly.”

As I thought, Noelia is the most attractive when she is learning magic.

With such a face, any man would be fascinated by her.

If I hadn’t had the matter with Alfine, I would have been fascinated too.

For me, who was shown by someone close to me the fact that people change, shortening the distance between my heart and Noelia would only open up an old wound.

It should be better for both of us to keep the appropriate distance as much as possible.

Having broken up with my childhood friend and lover Alfine, and started a new life the frontier region, the wound of my heart began to close thanks to the change in the environment, but when I thought that because of a whim, the wound would burst open, I trembled in fear.

“Frick-sama, is there something wrong?”

For a moment, I saw my face reflected in Noelia’s ice-blue eyes looked like the face I had when I was Finn.

I-I’m not Finn anymore.

The current me is the magic swordsman Frick.

“N-no. Nothing. I’m going.”

“Ah, yes. Please be careful.”

After I put Dayle on my belt, I got off the carriage and started running toward the forest.