How to Suck Honey at a Warrior’s Party

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, great….
I’m sorry, that was gross.”

“No, it’s not.
Never mind.”

I smiled broadly at the sobered warrior as a way of saying, “I’m fine.”

I thought to myself, the atmosphere was quite cordial.

Even if the surroundings were distorted by magi, and there was a faint glow of protective magic all around.

“Do you think Herrin and Regs got scattered too?”

“I don’t know….
I hope they stayed together.”

I was honestly stumped.

I’d somehow managed to get to the warrior with the magic chamber, but I couldn’t think of a way to find the other two.
Besides, they were the weaker members of the party, and the only ones I could trust were the spirits of Herrin, and I didn’t know if those selfish spirits would look out for Regs.

The only saving grace was that Herrin’s spirit seemed to really like her.
They’re more likely to do a favour for their favourite elementalist.

I once met an elementalist by accident, and his spirit ran off in a huff as soon as he saw me, and I almost got killed by him for asking directions.

He told me that the spirits didn’t like mages, and that I should carry a sign saying I was a mage, which was ridiculous.
He didn’t even wear a sign that said he was an elementalist!

In any case, Herrin was a well-liked elementalist, with many spirits who didn’t shy away at the sight of a mage.
Moreover, she seemed to have an unusually good affinity with nature.
She wasn’t very good, but who isn’t?

Being human and having such a good affinity with nature was enough to make her an interesting character.
I’d heard that elementalists were so rare in the first place that even the method of contracting them was based on pure luck, followed by self-taught.
In a previous life, something like this was called Luck X Manga.

“You don’t feel well, Cylon? I’m very worried about you….”

The warrior sounded concerned next to me.

“Oh, no.
I’m fine, I just had a bad flashback.”

He patted me on the shoulder.
Feeling the unspoken pressure, “I trust our mate.” I added.
He paused for a moment, then said something like, “We….” like a boy’s cartoon line.

After stumbling over an ogre that appeared to tear through the distorted space, I made a decision.

“I can’t do this.”

The warrior glanced at my clenched fist and spoke cautiously.

“Um… Cylon.
I don’t know what else you’re going to try… but don’t get hurt.”

I’d tried a lot of things by this point.
I’ve set off explosions, I’ve deliberately provoked creatures to squeeze through spaces, I’ve tried to expand protective magic.
All failed.
We were still standing in the same spot.

“This time, it might actually work.”

“Oh….”

The warrior looked neither expectant nor happy.
No, he can’t be happy, his handsome face must be creating an illusion in his brain.

“You’ve been trying to get out of here all this time.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve failed, so let’s do it the other way round!”

“Didn’t you call on a demon?”

“Not demons.”

A shimmering jaan boosted my spirits.

“Spirits.”

Normally, spirits wouldn’t be in a crowded place like this, and if they sensed a mage’s magic, they should be avoiding it, not approaching it.
But there was one here, and it had come in with Herrin.
A very intelligent spirit, who was able to show them the way.

Even if she had slipped away completely, there was a good chance the spirits would find her, even if they didn’t want to see her desperately searching for the mage.

Besides, the spirits who had already made a pact with her would be used to my magic.
Even if Herrin couldn’t sense whether I was using magic or not, the spirits would be able to sense it, and by this time I had been using magic in a sneaky way.

“I’ll call Herrin’s spirits and ask them to show us the way!”

“But Cylon….
We can’t see spirits, can we?”

“Don’t worry about that, there’s always a way.”

The warrior, who had been acting even more bland than usual, nodded obediently this time.
“It’s not that I don’t trust Cylon,” he said, “it’s just that I’m worried about you.” He took one of my hands in his.
He must have been traumatized by being left alone.

I watched the palm of my hand being slightly pressed for a moment, then raised my other hand.

I deliberately made my magic visible.
A giant silver knife appeared in midair, slicing through the air.
I could see the magic and the magi pushing each other away, then tearing into each other bit by bit.
The similarities were striking.

For a moment, I stood mesmerized, analyzing the unfamiliar phenomenon, before I slapped my cheek in anger.

Puk-!

Get a grip, man, and don’t start thinking about who you’re going to tell when you’ve run away!

It wasn’t until I felt the warrior’s body heat on my cheek in concern that I smiled again.

“It’s okay, hehe.”

It was an awkward laugh.

Fortunately, before the warrior could voice another worry, something more intense happened.

A gust of wind blew.
A gust of wind that sliced through the air around me.
I instantly recognised it as a spirit.
It was the sylph that Herrin called upon in times of emergency.

Whoo-hoo.
Just as planned.

With a wary look on his face, the warrior tried to pull my body into his arms.

I created a silver barrier of magic in thin air.

“Write here!”

It was the last thing the spirits wanted, but Sylph knew I had no choice this time.

Sylph, who was digging the ground more nervously, soon began to tear off the silver membrane.
The spell that had been torn for a long time soon produced a certain word.

[Help!]

“…huh?”

This isn’t exactly how I planned it, is it?

I called for help here, but instead I was asked for help.
I raised my magic shield once more to ask why.

“What happened….”

Before I could finish, the torn silver membrane quickly formed another three letters.

[Follow me!]

I could feel the wind pushing at my back.
Ahead of me, the leaves only swayed in certain directions.

“Well, that’s not exactly the plan, but let’s go!”

“…Okay.”

The warrior’s expression remained a little stoic, unlike before, and after examining his face, he took his hand.

“Don’t worry.”

…I guess I should be worried, right?

I took a long look at the dungeon entrance the sylph had led us to.

How on earth can I enter the dungeon with the spirit as my guide, it was a real embarrassment.

Normally, discovering a new dungeon was a good thing.
But now this place was full of magi, and there was no telling how much worse it could get.

The dungeon was akin to the ruins of ancient craftsmen grinding up bones, so the composition of the dungeon varied depending on who made it, and if there was any magic in it, it was likely to be even more ruined.
The way magic and magi had argued earlier had given me an estimate.

Look on the bright side.
It’s probably not a mage who made the dungeon, just a bunch of people going on a rampage and falling into a trap or something.
Um, rewards.
Let’s hope for a dungeon reward…!

“Cylon, if you’re scared, do you want me to just make it all go away?”

I was trembling so badly, it was uncharacteristic of a 3-star swordsman to use such bravado.

Without a word, I tugged on his hand.
It was enough to make him obey.

The sylph pushed at my back, urging me on.
There was a steady stream of hissing, humming, and other strange sounds coming from inside the dungeon.

When they reached the entrance, they felt their bodies pass through a membrane, and at the same time, the candlesticks on either side of them flared to life.
Everyone’s eyebrows twitched at the magical scene.

Hey, isn’t this?

The ominousness stopped me in my tracks.
The ominousness of the dungeon grew even greater as I cast a sensory enchantment.

“Does your leg hurt, Cylon?”

The warrior acted like he was going to pick me up and carry me away at any moment.
Should I tell this cheerful warrior that the dungeon was bad? Tragedy was on the horizon.
I didn’t know if it was better to give him a heads-up or to keep him in the dark.

I wobbled and took three more steps.

Swoosh, bang!

A boulder fell from the ceiling.
The warrior swung his arm, knocking the boulder away from overhead.
The dust settled, revealing the corridor the boulder had swept away.

The broken traps lay in a pitiful heap.

I stared at the warrior in disbelief.
Was this… something a third-rate swordsman could do?

As I stared, my eyes narrowed slowly, the warrior smiled shyly and took my hand.

“You okay?”

I squeezed his palm.

Aside from the oddly affectionate gesture, my mind was racing with the question of who should be labelled stronger: the slime or the big rock?