Chapter 10. Ria Hailyn (2)
【Hidden Event – “Rescue Ria Hailyn” has begun.】
Two days before the entrance ceremony, in the Ryhellen District, the hidden event “Rescue Ria Hailyn” can be triggered.
It involves rescuing Ria Hailyn from an attack in the middle of the night. If successful, you’ll gain discounted access to items from the Cosmo Merchant Guild, and with her survival, the difficulty of a major mid-game event is reduced.
Ordinarily, not using a disguise offers various advantages, but since I was currently possessing Ban’s body, gaining favor would be difficult. Besides, I had cleared this event multiple times in disguise, so I went in disguised.
But there was one more problem.
Ria’s insight is so sharp that she can figure out someone’s identity with just a few words.
So for this event, I had to keep completely silent.
Ria, nestled in my arms, blinked as if she didn’t understand the situation at all.
I gently placed her in a corner of the alley and patted her shoulder to calm her down.
Then I looked up at the group of assassins rushing toward us.
They warily stared at me as I pointed my wand to protect Ria.
They were a ragtag bunch, struggling to hold their weapons properly. It was obvious they weren’t trained assassins but vagrants hired with coin. I wasn’t surprised.
With enemies like these, no wonder such a major event like raiding one of the five top merchant guilds could appear so early in the game.
While threatening them with mana, I used 【Dual Casting】 to write a message to Ria using mana.
[Do you have a self-defense weapon?]
She frantically rummaged in her inner pocket and handed me a small dagger.
Not ideal, but better than nothing.
So I faced the assassins, dagger in one hand and wand in the other.
As neither side moved, their leader stepped forward and said,
“Who the hell are you…?”
Before he could finish, I cast 【Tracing Fire】 directly at his face.
Boom!
He barely dodged back in time to avoid the explosion.
With the sudden attack throwing them into confusion, I gripped the dagger firmly and charged at the assassins while casting 【Ignite】.
A mage’s basic combat strategy is to maintain distance—keeping within range for spells while avoiding enemy strikes.
But I had no need for that.
I charged straight at the leader, pretending to aim for him.
As he prepared to defend, I spun around and slid past him, stabbing a nearby assassin in the gut.
Squelch!
Finally shaken, the others began attacking.
Using 【Ignite】, I deflected their strikes and countered with point-blank 【Fire】 spells whenever I saw an opening.
Fwoooosh!
Engulfed in flames, one fell behind me as the others charged forward.
I’d played this event countless times, so I knew their attack patterns by heart.
I fired off more 【Tracing Fire】 mana lines, disrupting their coordination and dodging their attacks.
At first, they avoided the lines, but when no explosions came, they ignored them and resumed their assault.
Meanwhile, some tried to go after the defenseless Ria, so I activated a 2nd-circle earth spell: 【Stone Edge】.
The magic circle I’d pre-set lit up around her, and sharp stone pillars shot up from the ground.
Hit directly, the attackers were launched into the air. While their comrades reeled, I took them down one by one with precise dagger strikes.
The regular ones were easy to handle with a dagger, but the leader was different.
Unlike the others, who swung like amateurs, he was skilled and gradually pushed me back.
He wasn’t this tough in the game. Maybe because this was real, his timing and movements were off from what I remembered.
While relying on the assist from 【Basic Swordsmanship】, I used 【Ignite】 to parry and kept firing mana lines from 【Tracing Fire】.
The battlefield had become a web of mana lines, but the assassins didn’t care.
I just needed one good chance to escape, but the leader’s pressure left no room to retreat.
At that moment, as if reading my mind, Ria hit the leader with a 【Wind Spear】.
“Guh!”
Not wasting the opening, I kicked him away and backed off.
The blow launched him right into the cluster of his men.
Now that they were all grouped together, I snapped my fingers and poured mana into the lines.
Naturally, the spell was 【Tracing Fire】.
The overlapping lines all ignited at once—exploding faster than they could react.
BOOOOM!
Massive chain explosions swallowed the assassins whole.
Dozens of 3rd-circle level 【Tracing Fire】 spells going off simultaneously. It had enough power to be considered 4th-circle.
I hoped that would be the end—but no event completion message appeared.
Sure enough, the leader emerged from the smoke.
“You son of a—!”
I was already ready. I backstepped lightly to dodge.
Crash!
His blade struck where I had just been, leaving a deep crater.
Gripping his sword, eyes bloodshot, he snarled.
“I’ll kill you!”
As he charged, I activated the 【Aqua】 spell I had just planted.
A burst of water shot up from the ground, launching him into the air.
Then I cast 【Fall Delay】 to slow his descent.
“W-What the hell?!”
The caster alone can control the speed of 【Fall Delay】 unless canceled or overridden.
I set his fall speed to the lowest and aimed my wand.
While maintaining 【Fall Delay】 with 【Dual Casting】, I fired 【Fire】.
Fwwwwhhh!
The magic circle at my wand’s tip erupted like a flamethrower, engulfing him.
Only after he was completely burned and unconscious did he finally hit the ground.
【Hidden Event – “Rescue Ria Hailyn” has ended.】
【You have reached Level 12.】
【Your skill proficiencies have increased.】
【Ria Hailyn’s favorability has greatly increased.】
I closed the system window and approached Ria.
She still looked dazed. I wrote with mana to ask her:
[Are you hurt?]
She lowered her head, then looked up at me shyly and asked,
“Th-thank you for saving me. Is there… anything I can do to repay you?”
Just as planned. She wanted to return the favor. Everything was going according to plan, and yet…
Something felt off.
Her slightly reddened cheeks, the gaze lingering on me, the subtle tremble in her eyes—it was like a girl in love.
I had never seen this kind of reaction in the game…
