I Was Told, “I Can’t Leave the Territory Management to You, Brother-in-law!!”, So I Restarted My Adventurer Life in My Mother’s Homeland – Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Another Magic Sword
  A week had passed since Millenia and Jaylot came to Eld’s place. For the two of them, this past week had been even more fulfilling and enjoyable than being at home, whether it was experiencing adventures with their brother or having Mary help them study magic letters.
 
  However, a sense of unease was creeping into Jaylot’s heart. He wondered how his older sister, Sandrea, who remained at home, was doing. Although his brother didn’t say it forcefully, he said they could stay here for as long as they needed. He also mentioned that Tohlight was currently investigating the situation. So, he told them to relax and not worry too much.
 
  Jaylot understood his brother’s feelings. He had been told that a curse had been placed upon the Goddess, and in order to prevent it, he had made a contract. As a result, misfortune had befallen his sister. He was worried that if they returned home, misfortune would also befall Jaylot and the others.
 
  “……Lot? Jaylot!?”
 
  Eld called out to him while he was lost in thought.
 
  “Are you alright? You can’t space out like that, especially since magical beasts could jump out at any moment.”
 
  “Ah, I, I’m sorry.”
 
  Even though he was always being told that, his thoughts had wandered, and he had become distracted. Jaylot shook his head, trying to dispel his anxiety.
 
  Today, the four of them had come to the forest not for a request, but for a walk. It seemed that Eld and the others had never been to the central part of the forest, so they decided to come and investigate without a request. When they entered the forest, Eld handed them magic swords from his subspace. Magic swords are swords imbued with a single attribute. He gave Jaylot a water-attribute sword and Millenia an earth-attribute sword. Usually, he gave them ordinary, unprocessed weapons, but since they didn’t know what kind of magical beasts they might encounter, he seemed to have given them magic swords today.
 
  “Even though we’re in the central part of the forest, it doesn’t seem like the magical beasts that appear are any different.”
 
  Eld said as he poked at the bushes with a wooden stick. Three rabbit monsters emerged from the bushes, and Millenia used earth magic 『Glock』 to make rocks appear above the rabbit monsters’ heads, crushing them.
 
  “Earth magic is inconvenient because all it can do is crush things.”
 
  Millenia said as she sheathed her magic sword.
 
  “Magic is about imagination. You can not only make it appear overhead, but you can also make it rise from the ground to trip your opponent, or even create a cage if you connect it well. Try imagining that.”
 
  Eld said as he threw the rabbit monsters with crushed heads into his subspace. Mary had also taught them about how to use magic in that way. Especially with chantless magic, it seems that the variations of the same spell change depending on one’s own image.
 
  “Hmm…… but I can’t imagine a cage made of rock. What should I do, Mary-oneesama…… Oneesama?”
 
  When Millenia turned to look at Mary, she was on guard, scanning their surroundings.
 
  “Shh…… Something’s coming……”
 
  Mary used her magic perception to assess the situation. Hearing that, the other three also became alert and looked around.
 
  “Jaylot! Behind you!!”
 
  At Mary’s voice, Jaylot turned around. A little further away, a large bear with two horns was standing. It looked at them and slowly approached.
 
  “A bear monster, huh? I’ve never seen one with two horns before.”
 
  Saying that, Eld stepped forward and held his sword at the ready. The sword he was holding was neither a magic sword nor a Tempera, but an ordinary sword.
 
  “It would be too cruel to let you two handle it, so I’ll take it down in one blow.”
 
  Eld, predicting that Millenia and Jaylot wouldn’t be able to match the bear’s magic power, ran towards it, jumped, and swung his sword at its neck.
 
  “Eld! That’s not a magical beast!!”
 
  Mary shouted. Eld landed and immediately moved away from the bear, looking at the sword in his hand. The blade was bent and unusable.
 
  “Oh dear. What incredible hardness. Oh well, it was cheap anyway.”
 
  Eld threw away the sword in his hand. Then, he looked at the bear and used his magic perception more carefully.
 
  “Hmm? This amount of magic power…… Has it sublimated into a monster?”
 
  Perhaps in response to that, the bear seemed to smile.
 
  “It has. But it probably hasn’t been long since it sublimated. It doesn’t seem to have that much intelligence.”
 
  Mary stood next to Eld. Millenia and Jaylot, as instructed by Mary, backed away.
 
  “I see. But what should we do? With that hardness, it would be a bit troublesome even with my Tempera. Mary, can I ask you a favor?”
 
  Hearing that, Mary made a slightly displeased expression.
 
  “Sigh…… Fine. If it were just the two of us, I’d say let’s cooperate and take it down, but in this situation……”
 
  Mary glanced behind her. Millenia and Jaylot had retreated quite a distance.
 
  “In that case, I’ll do it. Take them and head outside the forest. I won’t use that much power, but I don’t know how far the aftereffects will reach.”
 
  “Thanks, I’ll leave it to you.”
 
  Eld turned around and ran towards Millenia and Jaylot. When he caught up to them, he scooped them both up in his arms and started running towards the edge of the forest.
 
  “Eh, Eld-niisama! Will Mary-oneesama be alright by herself!?”
 
  “She’ll be fine. More importantly, I’m going to run fast, so close your mouths so you don’t bite your tongues.”
 
  Millenia and Jaylot clung tightly to Eld and looked back towards Mary. Mary summoned her subspace and reached into it. Then, she pulled out a large hammer with a head shaped like flames.
 
  “Ah, is that……?”
 
  “It’s a hammer. I’ve never seen Mary-oneesama use a weapon before.”
 
  Eld, instead of slowing down, kept increasing his speed, and soon Mary was out of sight. Then, they heard a loud thud, and a gust of wind immediately blew from behind them. Eld was almost blown over by the wind but managed to regain his balance and used the wind to run out of the forest.
 
  “Pant, pant, pant…… Carrying both of you was really tough……”
 
  Eld put them down and lay down on the ground.
 
  “Onii-sama, what was that hammer that Mary-oneesama took out?”
 
  Millenia asked after waiting for Eld’s breathing to calm down.
 
  “It’s the magic sword Meteor. It’s a magic sword that absorbs Mary’s magic power and delivers a powerful blow.”
 
  “A magic sword…… But that’s a large hammer, isn’t it?”
 
  Millenia asked a reasonable question.
 
  “The magic letter for 『sword』 can also mean 『weapon』 or 『something held in the hand』, not just 『sword』 literally. Magic sword, when translated directly, means 『weapon imbued with magic power.』”
 
  Mary had taught them that magic letters can have multiple meanings, and in old documents, they sometimes have to infer the meaning from the context before and after, so it’s important to memorize all the meanings properly.
 
  Eld sat up and looked at the forest. Millenia and Jaylot followed his gaze. After watching for a while, Mary emerged from the depths of the forest, dragging the bear by its horns.
 
  “Oh…… You managed to defeat it while keeping its form intact.”
 
  “Well, yeah. If I had smashed it to smithereens, this forest would have been blown away, and who knows what would have happened.”
 
  Mary let go of the horns and sat on the bear.
 
  “Haa, it’s been a while since I used it, so it was hard to adjust my magic power. Did you guys fall over from the aftershock when I swung it?”
 
  “We managed to endure it. I don’t want to run away with two people in my arms ever again.”
 
  Millenia and Jaylot were astonished, realizing that the final gust of wind was the shockwave generated when she struck the bear.
 
  “So, what should we do with this?”
 
  Mary said, looking at the bear she was sitting on.
 
  “With this form, it hasn’t fully transformed into a monster, so it’ll probably have the same materials as a normal bear. It would have sold for a higher price if it had become a monster.”
 
  Eld said, sounding disappointed.
 
  “Eh, is that what matters?”
 
  Jaylot said to the two of them in exasperation.