Seven days have passed since Clerias foot gotpletely restored.


    Her arm has also nearly healed up as well, and all that remains to be regenerated are her fingertips. It should be fully restored by tomorrow.


    After discussing with her, both of us decided to finally leave this makeshift base tomorrow.


    Yep, mynguage proficiency has improved to the point where I can talk with Cleria normally. There are still some words Im unfamiliar with, but I have no problems with the vocabry often used in daily conversations. Cleria even said my pronunciation was impable.


    Id like to gather more data by talking to people other than Cleria, but that would have to wait for the time being.


    I asked her about the reason why she was being chased the moment I became able to converse normally.


    After pausing to think for a bit, Cleria requested that I give her some more time before she tells me the reason and assured me she would divulge it when shes good and ready.


    It seems her circumstances really wereplicated. Ive stayed with Cleria for quite a bit now and I really do think she isnt someone who wouldmit wrongdoings. Shes no criminal, thats for sure. So I dont really mind if she doesnt want to talk about her circumstances.


    As for the number of her pursuers, she told me they definitely wouldnt be just a few but their numbers wont exceed a hundred. But theres also a chance they wont be able to catch up.


    Thats rather vague. So is it alright to expect their numbers to be about fifty men strong? I think Id be able to deal with that amount of targets with my rifle somehow, but those kinds of numbers still warrant utmost caution. And Im still uncertain if it would be fine to shoot first and ask questionster if and when we do manage to encounter them. Im still considering it as of now.


    Its also been seven days since I began learning magic, but my research hasnt progressed at all. Well, not exactly. Its progressing in some areas, but I havent really developed any new applications of fire spells and the like. This is because of something I requested Nanom to prioritize developing.


    I wanted to produce the so-called multi-sensor  a standard piece of equipment of the Gctic Army Corps. As its name implies, it is able to detect anything within scanning range  terrain, the internalyout of buildings, the presence or absence of living life-forms and the like. Even if youre not wearing active camouge, youd never be taken by surprise if you have a multi-sensor handy.


    When I first came to this, the thing I wanted first was a multi-sensor.


    I was honestly amazed at the wide applications of magic in this and asked Nanom if it could develop a magical version of a multi-sensor.


    Due to that, there was no point in wasting magicles with aimless magic experiments. However, I was able to learn more about magicles as a result.


    Every living creature on this is able to contain magicles within their bodies; whether its something asrge as a Big Boar or as small as a tiny insect. Even nts have magicles inside them. Its a rather surprising discovery, but the amounts of magicles present in a majority of creatures arent enough to construct a simple fireball spell.


    Living things attract magicles, and the magicles gradually builds up inside of them. However, the amount of magicles will not continue to increase indefinitely. Once a certain amount gathers inside of a creatures body, the inflow of magicleses to a halt and the surplus magicles get expelled back outside. I dont know the exact cause of this phenomenon.


    It seems the amount of magicles an organism is able to contain greatly differs from species to species. In other words, creatures of the same species are able to contain the exact same amount of magicles inside them. As an example, Cleria and I have the same magicle count inside each of us.


    The reason for the difference between the numbers of fireballs I and Cleria are able to cast stems from the efficiency of magicle use. ording to Cleria, if one is able to improve their rate of magicle consumption, the number of times they can cast spells would increase ordingly. I just rely on Nanom for these sorts of things so its possible I wont be able to improve this aspect anymore.


    I and Nanom prioritized collecting this sort of data every day because it would enable us to determine what kinds of life-forms are present in an area from long range by determining the amount of magicles contained within them and creating a corresponding database.


    Weve also discovered that magicles have properties simr to normal particles and energy waves to some extent. They were particle-ilke, but also had properties like reflection, interference, and diffraction.


    Upon discovering this fact, we were able to determine that it was possible to release raw magicles outside of the body instead of spells.


    The magicles could be released outside of the body in the form of waves. Theres no noticeable effect if you only release a small concentration of waves out, but if you increase the output, the magicle waves get reflected back whenever they hit another mass concentration of magicles.


    Utilizing this characteristic, we were able to develop a radar-like function using magicles. The detection range depends on the intensity of the output of magicles. If a strong wave is released, a wide range of information can be acquired.


    Unexpectedly, Cleria was able to notice when I released a magicle pulse as part of my on-going experiments. When Nanom directed me to release a high output wave, she came over and told me she felt I emitted some magic power and asked me what I was up to.


    It looks like the people of this call the movement of magicles as magic power. I was told one would be able to sense the build-up of magic power before a spell gets released, but somehow, I wasnt able to feel a thing. Would I be able to do so with time?


    It seems Cleria was told that her talent for detecting magic power is several times greater than most people, ording to an experienced mage she knew.


    After knowing this, I immediately enlisted Clerias help with my experiments. It seems whenever I use this form of scanning magic, theres a danger of the other party bing aware of my presence and position. Id like to be able to obtain information unterally if possible.


    Weter discovered that Clerias ability to sense magic power was not only affected by the strength of the waves released but also the total distance from the emission point. I sort of expected this kind of oue.


    If thats the case, would it be better if I increased the range and intensity of the magicle waves being released gradually instead of emitting something high-output all at once? I managed to arrive at such a conclusion.


    For example, Id first release a magicle pulse weak enough for Cleria not to notice from fifty meters out. If I found nothing worth noting, Id proceed to widen the range to seventy-five meters, a hundred meters and so on.


    Using this method, Id minimize the risk of being noticed by the other party.


    If this method isnt effective, then Ill just have to improve it step by step.


    The nice thing about this scanning magic is that I can leave its activation entirely to Nanom. This is probably because I didnt need to focus on a concrete sort of image for it.


    Once it gets invoked, Nanom would automatically disy the search results on a virtual disy. Its roughly the same disy method as the multi-sensor, so its quite intuitive.


    The amount of magicles used up when using scanning magic is about equal to one fireball per one hundred magicle pulses. Its very cost-effective. It should prove quite useful from now on.


    In the end, we werent able to quite re-create the functions of a multi-sensor, but the results were plenty satisfying enough.


    When I dered thepletion of my scanning magic method to Cleria who cooperated in its development, she first responded by staring at me with a wooden stare again. But she eventually snapped out of her stupor and immediately asked me to teach her the method.


    But ysee, its kinda impossible for others to use this method without the aid of a sensor able to urately detect magicles and the information processing ability of Nanom. I somehow skirted around the issue by telling Cleria she had to improve her magic control more. And then the conversation somehow moved to her tagging along with me on todays hunt. I wonder why?


    As weve used up a lot of time doing magic experiments, its already almost noon when we finished up. I decided to go hunting after weve had our lunch. Todays dishes include grilled fish and stir-fried Big Boar meat  a ssic but delicious menu selection.


    Guess its time for a hunt.


    Yes! Lets depart immediately n.


    Cleria seems quite eager to go hunting.


    At first, Cleria was still somewhat embarrassed whenever she addressed me by name, but she seems to have gradually be ustomed to it. I think she looks to be more rxed about itpared to before.


    My preferred hunting spot was about an hours walk from the base. For some reason, this part of the mountain was rich in edible nt life and wild animals. I immediately had Nanom activate scanning magic while heading deeper into the mountains.


    Since I was rtively free until we reach the hunting grounds, I ended up teaching Cleria about the standard hand signs I learned back in the military academy. I didnt have a lot of chances to use them before because we justmunicated through the Nanoms in livebat situations, but I guess these would prove useful in the situation were currently in.


    I managed to get a reaction from the scanning magic after walking for about thirty minutes. Three oclock. Theres two of them, about two hundred meters away. I immediately conveyed the info to Cleria via hand signs. She looks to have understood and disyed a serious expression.


    The other party is heading towards our general direction, but theyre not moving in a straight line. They probably havent noticed us yet. Judging from their movement patterns, I assumed them to be Gray Hounds.


    Ive often encountered Gray Hounds during my hunts. I usually met one or two of these guys; three at most. Ive always eliminated them whenever I encountered some. Dangerous pests like these need to be promptly exterminated.


    Theres a good chance these guys are Gray Hounds.


    Would it be alright if I fight them instead n?


    Oh, Cleria seems to be raring to have a go! Well, she has her armor on and all. Fine, lets see what shes got. I have my rifle with me, so I can just intervene if she ever gets into a bind.


    Alright then, engage them in aposed manner. Theyll be arriving on our position in about thirty seconds.


    Oh, and by the way, the method of time measurement in this is roughly the same as whats used all throughout the empire  one minute is sixty seconds, one hour is sixty minutes, one day is twenty-four hours and one year is three hundred and sixty days. And simr to my home, they also divided the day into twelve hours each.


    The reason for it is unknown, but the method of time measurement on almost alls which housed the human race is roughly the same. The most promising theory is that the third-party responsible for spreading humanity all throughout the cosmos somehow taught all of mankind how to count time. Other theories provedcking.


    Furthermore, the period of revolution of each and every human-inhabited is around 365 days. Again, the most promising theory is that a third party selecteds that fulfilled this criterion and brought humanity to them.


    Cleria pulled out her sword and stared at it. It was a thin one-handed sword iid with detailed engravings. After about ten seconds, the de began to glow. Whoah! Can Cleria use Final de too!? Alright then, lets follow suit.


    I drew my sword and activated Final de as well, making the sword glow brightly. It seems the Gray Hounds finally noticed something. The glowing icons representing their position on the virtual map were approaching us rapidly.


    I thrust my palm out in front of Cleria and started counting down. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. The Gray Hounds finally came into view. One of them headed straight towards me. I jumped off to the side as usual and swung down my sword. I lopped off the Gray Hounds head without any resistance.


    Cleria moved forward after I finished one off. The second Gray Hound froze on its tracks for a bit after witnessing the other one getting killed. It pounced toward Cleria instead, probably because it thought she was the easier one to bring down.


    Cleria swung her sword but the creature somewhat avoided the sh. Too shallow! However, Cleria immediately followed up with another sh. This time, she was able tond a fatal hit. The Gray Hounds throat was split open and it thrashed about on the ground, but Cleria soon finished it off.


    Did she just use the basicbo I taught her? That looked quite good by the way. Cleria also seemed ted at her performance. I put away my rifle.


    How did I do, n?


    I think you did pretty well. But I sensed a slight gap before you unleashed your next sword sh. It would be best if you practiced your ability to unleash sessive follow-up attacks in case one sh fails to finish off your enemy.


    Corinth-style Swordsmanship was a style that aims to overwhelm opponents with multiple sessive attacks. Its better for Cleria to form a habit of performing continuous attacks and always thinking of the next move. Oops. Its not like Clerias my disciple or anything. What am I getting all worked up for anyway?


    Cleria seemed convinced with my teachings and did a few practice swings.


    Alrighty then, since the pests have been exterminated, lets continue on.


    Arent you going to extract their magic stones, n?


    Hmm? Magic stone? Whats that?


    Whats a magic stone?


    Cleria seemed taken aback when I asked such a question.


    Magic stones are materials located inside the body of monsters.


    Whats a monster? How can you differentiate between normal animals and monsters?


    A creature with a magic stone inside its body is a monster and a creature without one is an animal.


    You serious? I got to learn something new again. Now that I think about it, I did find a round stone inside the body of one of those disgusting green creatures a while back.


    What do people do with these magic stones?


    Are these stones really useful or something?


    You can exchange them for ***** in any city or town. But the stones from these Gray Hounds arent worth that much ***** though.


    An unfamiliar word appeared. Its been a while. Ill try updating mynguage database again.


    I yed back Clerias reply.


    You can exchange them for money in any city or town. But the stones from these Gray Hounds arent worth that much money though.


    I was shocked silly. It wasnt due to the low value of Gray Hound magic stones, but about the fact that Ipletely forgot about the issue of money!


    Its the form of currency this is using. Money! I think I saw some several small and round metallic tes while I was sorting out the luggage back then. Argh! Dammit! I failed to take note of it because it wasnt a concept I was familiar with. I was even wondering why there were several pouches containing those things when I was sorting out the items.


    For thousands of years, the empire has used electronic currency to process transactions. I was not familiar with this worlds money because what Id used ever since I was a kid was e-currency.


    (Hey Nanom, you also missed out on the money man!)


    [We did not determine them to be particrly necessary at the time.]


    Im in the same boat. I only managed to secure a few pieces. This is bad. Once we arrive at the city of Gotania where Cleria was heading, I bet wed need some money.


    Should I go back to where the carriages were? Nah, it would be too risky. Clerias pursuers might be hot on our trail after all. They might have already found the carriages too.


    Wait, maybe Cleria brought some with her.


    By the way, Cleria, do you have some money on you?


    Ugh. I sound like a deadbeat good-for-nothing asking for some dough.


    No, I, unfortunately, do not.


    Looks like Cleria was broke too.


    In that case, our only choice right now is to earn some. If these magic stones can be exchanged for cash, then Ill have to gather a bunch of em right away.


    (Disy the position of the magic stone inside the carcass.)


    [Here.]


    A cross-section of the Gray Hound was disyed on a virtual window. The magic stone was located near its chest. I see. So magic stones get formed in the area of the body where magicle concentration is the densest.


    Should I open the body up with a knife and thrust my hand inside? Naw, I aint doing that. Might as well just split it open with my sword.


    I activated Final de again and shed the carcass while being careful not to damage the magic stone in the process. I finally retrieved a magic stone after poking around the carcass with my sword.


    It was a cloudy white ball about three centimeters in size. I secured both stones from the two carcasses. Cleria didnt know how much they were exactly worth for.


    Ok, lets resume the hunt. After walking around the hunting grounds for twenty minutes, I finally got a couple more reactions from the scanning magic. It was in the two oclock direction and was stationary. It was located two hundred meters away.


    I ryed this info to Cleria with hand signs and approached the target slowly and soundlessly. I somehow had a hunch about the identity of our stationary target.


    As expected, its a ckbird. These guys almost never budge from the tree they were roosting on unless they sense danger.


    Cleria asked me to allow her to hunt it as well. I agreed and approached the target with her until we came within forty meters. Cleria closed her eyes and prepared to cast a spell.


    me Arrow!


    Cleria released her spell. Three ming arrows hurtled towards the ckbird, but it was disturbed by Clerias shout and was about to fly away to escape. One arrow managed to barely hit its wing and the pudgy avian fell down from the tree. I started running towards it along with Cleria.


    The me Arrow hit its wing but the ckbird still seemed energetic. It couldnt fly, but it started running on the ground. Its fast!


    After em!


    I started chasing it around together with Cleria. The running speed of the bird was somewhat slowerpared to humans, but it was using the trees as cover, making catching up to it a challenge.


    We split in two directions and pincered the damn bird. We chased it around for about three minutes until Cleria finally managed to fatally wound it with her sword. Man, that was tiring.


    Cleriaughed heartily. It seems she really enjoyed the chase. Well, two people chasing a fat bird around did paint a silly picture. Iughed along with her.


    We returned to the base after I finished draining the birds blood. Since this birds liver was the vaunted white liver, it was, of course served as sashimi.