The next day, the volcano erupted.
“We have to get the remaining people out! I’ll go this way, so Fran, you take the other side!”
The ground rumbled violently, and old houses collapsed.
Bright red lava flowed from the mountain’s peak.
It crept down the slope like a crimson river, swallowing up trees in its path.
For someone experiencing it for the first time, it was a sight that could make them believe the end of the world had come.
This was the third time.
Massive eruptions, unprecedented for hundreds of years, had continued.
While checking each empty house, a sobbing voice rang out from somewhere.
“The god of the earth is angry… This village is finished!”
Several residents who had not escaped sat on the roadside, wailing in despair.
“What are you doing?! You need to run!”
“It’s no use. This is the punishment given to us.”
“That’s not true! Get up and come with me, quickly!”
I had seen it happen too many times not to know.
There were always those who refused to leave the village, no matter how much they were coaxed or persuaded.
They would return, saying they needed to hide or gather their belongings, only to be caught in the eruption.
Even knowing that, I couldn’t just pretend not to see them.
I had to find each one and bring them out.
When I reached the main gate, two carriages were waiting.
“All the other areas have been checked. The ones you brought, Sir Theo, are the last.”
Rosaria guided the villagers and set the carriages in motion.
With that, the evacuation was finally complete.
“To have predicted the eruption so precisely, that’s impressive. Sir Theo, could it be that you can see the future?”
Canon spoke in her usual calm tone.
Even the village chief, who had lived here his entire life, believed it couldn’t be true.
But the volcano erupted, and even the lava colossus crawled out.
Everything unfolded just as I had feared.
“No, I simply referred to the records. Major eruptions tend to follow a cycle, and they usually come with two signs beforehand. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.”
I couldn’t say I knew because I had experienced it myself.
That was why Rosaria’s praise felt like a burden.
“As expected, you’re amazing. If it hadn’t been for you, Sir Theo, it would’ve been a disaster! You’re the savior of this village!”
“You flatter me… haha.”
Rosaria, Canon, and I…and a little farther away, even Fran—
We all turned our eyes toward the mountain peak.
The lava golems were coming down.
Beings passed down through legend.
Lava golems said to be servants of the god of the earth and not just one or two….hundreds were walking toward the village, raising flames as they came.
“I heard there’s a leader among the lava golems. One that’s made deep within the volcano, with a lava core.”
It seemed the legend was so well known that even Fran had heard of it.
“That’s right. They all look the same, but it must be among them.”
“Claria left ahead of us to claim it, didn’t she? Weren’t you also after the lava core?”
“That’s true… but the villagers’ lives are more important.”
Even without relying on others, I could still help with the evacuation.
Though it had delayed my departure.
“Lady Rosaria, please go somewhere safe. From here on, I’ll be acting for personal reasons.”
“Please don’t overdo it. You must come back safely.”
“If that’s the goal, I’m confident.”
Rosaria smiled at my response.
“Someday, everyone will come to see that Sir Theo is even more remarkable than the hero’s party.”
With those words, she got into the carriage with Canon.
Thud.
The ground shook once again.
There was no time to hesitate.
I turned and began walking toward where the lava golems were.
***
“Shouldn’t we have helped too?”
Farne had been worried about Theo.
All the way up the mountainside, she kept glancing back, checking on the village.
He had said he would stay behind to search for any villagers who might still be there.
It would have been over quickly if they had joined forces, but Claria insisted stopping the lava golems was the top priority and suggested heading for the volcano.
“This is just a division of roles. Theo’s handling the village, and we’re taking care of the monsters.”
Farne hoped she was right, but she couldn’t shake the unease.
“If we all looked for the remaining villagers and waited for Fran to join us, things would go a lot smoother…”
“Don’t overestimate Fran. If we formed a team with her, it’d only make things harder.”
Farne knew full well the two of them didn’t get along.
Still, she hadn’t expected Claria wouldn’t even consider cooperating, not in a situation like this.
“Can the three of us really take down that many lava golems?”
She cautiously changed the subject.
“It won’t be easy. You and I don’t have unlimited mana. And Louis… well, he’s basically just a bystander.”
“Hey! That’s a bit harsh, calling me a bystander!”
“Fufu, if you swing your sword around recklessly, the blade might chip or melt. You did well with the Blood Lilies, so take it easy today.”
A lighthearted joke passed between them, warming the atmosphere.
Claria continued as if to reassure Farne.
“Like I said before, the lava golems have a core. It’s even more precious than the core of a Blood Lily, something you can’t find anywhere. If we just take down the one carrying that core, the rest will collapse without us lifting a finger.”
The golems’ consciousness was linked.
So if they could find the leader carrying the core, it would save them a lot of trouble.
“Huh? What’s this? Hail?”
Louis held out his palm toward the sky.
Small pellets of ice patted against it.
“This is… ice magic.”
There was a faint trace of magical power in the air.
It hadn’t come from the sky.
“Looks like Fran is casting a spell!”
The ice pellets were falling across the entire mountain.
Even for tiny shards of ice to be spread over such a wide area, it would take immense magical power and skill.
No ordinary adventurer could ever hope to pull off a spell like that.
“She must have left the village. She’s realized we’re after the lava heart and is trying to follow us.”
Fran wasn’t in sight.
Had she just begun climbing the mountain?
But it would be in vain.
Even if she started now, there was no way she’d catch up.
“Why is she using this kind of magic?”
“Beats me. But hey, it’s nice and cool thanks to her.”
If it was a signal asking them to wait, it was a pointless gesture.
Claria scoffed and continued climbing the mountain.
“She didn’t seem like the type to waste her magic in a place like this…”
“She wastes time running a shop half-heartedly. Let’s not worry about her.”
After they pressed on for a few more minutes, golems made of magma and rock finally appeared.
“Everyone ready?”
Claria took a quiet breath and spoke.
There were five enemies.
They had to take down as many as possible before Fran caught up.
The goal was to finish quickly using her specialty ice magic and secure the cores.
“I’m ready!”
Farne pulled a wand from her robe.
Louis moved to cover the two of them as the battle was about to begin—
“Ugh! Ahh…”
Suddenly, Claria staggered and collapsed to her knees.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay!?”
Louis rushed over to support her.
“It’s nothing. Just a bit of dizziness…”
“Getting dizzy in the middle of casting magic? Don’t scare me like that.”
“Magic…?”
“What’s really going on with you?”
Claria lifted her head and looked ahead.
The lava golems were approaching with heavy, echoing footsteps.
“Fran… Where’s Fran?”
She sprang to her feet as if she’d suddenly come to her senses.
“Why now, of all times?”
“There’s a lava golem where Fran is!”
“What?”
Claria ignored Louis and kept frantically looking around.
“Of all times… We have to get out of here right now. This is no time to hesitate!”
“Fine, just tell me what’s going on!”
“P-Please wait…!”
The three of them left the lava golems behind and hurried down the mountain.
***
While we were climbing the mountain, Claria experienced her eighth regression.
Whether it was a good thing or not was unclear, but judging by the outcome, it hadn’t been bad.
“I can handle this on my own, so just stand back and watch.”
Fran spoke indifferently as she extended her hand holding Levasthan.
A short incantation slipped from her lips, and white frost began to spread at her feet.
Ice spears rapidly grew along the slope.
Their sharp tips shot upward, piercing through the bodies of the lava golems in their path.
“That’s amazing!”
I exclaimed in admiration.
She had taken down ten of them in a single strike.
I lose a huge chunk of my sword’s lifespan every time I take down just one.
Ice magic was unbelievably efficient.
“That one looks like the leader.”
Fran’s gaze shifted to a taller lava golem.
The four remaining golems surrounded it, standing like a protective barrier.
“When they group up like that, it actually makes things easier for me.”
Fran cast her ice magic once again.
As the ice spears shot up, the giant golems crumbled into fragments of basalt without even being able to resist.
I jumped down from the rock with a light leap.
“That’s the lava heart.”
The remains of the largest lava golem.
At its center, a red gem began to shimmer as it revealed itself.
After Fran cooled it with her magic and pulled it out, the lava heart sparkled under the sunlight.
“Wasn’t much, after all.”
She sounded unimpressed.
She probably hadn’t expected much, since we’d left the village later than the others.
She must have thought Claria would take it.
“It was only possible because of you.”
We had taken down the lava golems like they were nothing more than small fry, but it was entirely thanks to Fran.
Normally, even my magic sword would struggle against those tough golems.
Their elemental affinity made them extremely difficult to fight without a mage.
“The lava golems are linked to their leader. If it hadn’t been you, someone who could scatter ice shards across the whole mountain, even finding them would’ve been hard.”
Even the smallest ice particles were deadly to golems made of lava.
The underlings would instinctively try to protect their leader, and by spotting that kind of movement, we could locate the one that held the lava heart.
Claria’s party likely never had the chance to witness that.
However, since we had just started climbing the mountain, we were able to observe it.
In a timeline where I hadn’t come with Fran, the lava heart probably would’ve been stolen.
I would’ve wasted time trying to get the right magical tools.
And even if I managed to find one, it wouldn’t have been as efficient as now.
And even if I somehow located it, I’d have struggled, using spare swords out of fear of damaging my magic sword.
This was why a party really needed at least one mage.
“This could be used as material for a staff. What do you think?”
At those words, Fran stared intently at Levasthan in her hand.
“W-Why are you looking at me like that! Just say you don’t need it already…!”
“It’s not that I don’t need it.”
“Master, you’re not planning to make another staff when you already have a first-grade one like me, right?!”
The crystal embedded in Levasthan’s head began flashing wildly like a fire truck’s siren.
That meant he was either nervous or scared.
“If it comes to it, how about just replacing the crystal with the lava heart?”
“Stop that! Don’t pull out my brain! I’ll break down for real if you do that!”
It seemed Fran intended to keep using Levasthan.
Noisy as he was, she had used him for over ten years, so it made sense she’d grown attached.
What a shame.
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