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A swarm of irregularly shaped frogs as tall as a medium-sized dog —Slime Toads (they look like green slimes with toad limbs)— leaped around at a surprising speed, running away from us for cover between mossy rocks.

“Laika, you go to the right and herd them, Eleanor, you keep them in check here with your bow. I’ll go from the left side!”
“Leave it to me!”
“I’m not entirely sure my arrows work on them, they don’t look affected.”

There were around a dozen Slime Toads. They usually hid in watering holes or humid forests, but in early spring they would come down to human settlements to breed and attack livestock and humans, making them an annual extermination target.

They weren’t that much different than normal slimes, what with having a blue nucleus inside their green jelly-like body. However, for the lack of eyes, nose, and mouth, they had short forelegs and long folded hindlegs. Much like an ordinary slime, simply destroying their nucleus would cease their biological activities. However, their unusually high-speed made them a difficult target to hit and, if one was careless enough, they could serve a nasty counterattack. They’re an annoying pest.

“Tsk! This is bad, the herd is coming apart. Eleanor, can’t you fence them in somehow?!”
“No way! My arrows are basically useless in front of them, they just pass through!”
“Damn it!”

Right when Jesse gnashed his teeth in frustration, “Borf!” With a rustle, the treetops in front of him swayed, and with the sound of rustling leaves, the beautiful golden-furred Sirius, Vier, leaped down, herding the Slime Toads together with lightning speed movement.

“Alright! Nice. —They’re coming your way, Jill. You ready?”
“Yes, anytime. Also, please steer away from the area of effect!”
“Gotcha.”

The next thing I knew, these Slime Toads began to pour out through the bushes like ping-pong balls and into the little clearing in front of me.

“«Breath of Ice and Snow, lead these ones into their eternal slumber.»” I prepared my spell… Well, to be fair, I could perform a Magic Art of this level without preparing it firsthand, but I’d rather not appear too out of the ordinary, so this time I tried to imitate what a Witch/Magic Practitioner would do. “«Ice Circle.»”

The moment the spell was chanted, the temperature within an approximate 10 merte radius dropped well under freezing temperature.

“Uwoh, s-, so cold!”
“Well, this is intense.”
“B-, but look, those sticky frogs are all rock solid.”

As Eleanor pointed out, the Slime Toad herd that was driven into the area of effect of my Art was collectively frozen and unable to move.

“Oh, you’re right. Damn, we caught the whole herd with one throw!”
“Tell me about it. Just having a magician in our party makes so much difference already.”
“Jill, forget saying that this will be the only time, let’s party up with us again!”

Being showered by their praises made me bashful, I was already fiddling with my hair before I knew it.

“I’m just happy I could be of assistance. I really can’t thank you enough for all the help you’ve given me.”
“This is more than assisting, Jill. Yesterday the three of us could only defeat seven after struggling the whole day, but today we got… fourteen?! That’s double already!”
“No need to be so dutiful with us, Jill. …Oops, we gotta pull their nuclei before they melt, otherwise, we won’t have proof of extermination. Let’s work the hands before the mouth.”

Prompted by the chuckling Laika, we all began to dismantle the frozen Slime Toads, myself and Vier joining in.

♢♦♢♦♢

After paying for the inn in the morning and having lunch with the three adventurers who guided us, Vier and I and the adventurer party were now in the marshes adjacent to the Imperial Capital, on a mission to defeat demon beasts.

As for how it led to this…

After the incident in the Adventurer Guild, Jesse, Laika, and Eleanor guided me to the Commercial Guild which was about two blocks away, where I was able to sell my magic stones and medicinal herbs (they allowed free trade without the need to apply as a member), and obtained 10 half-gold coins, 20 silver coins, and some half-silver and some copper coins in return.

With that, we went back to the inn —their inn apparently was in the same general area, so they accompanied me there as well— and I paid off the accommodation fee. It was lunchtime by then, so the three adventurers led us to an open-air stall that they knew as “cheap, tasty, and hearty” where we ate a kebab-like dish made of meat and vegetables grilled on a skewer.

The meat and vegetables were then served between thin slices of bread, and while the choice of spices they used was a bit peculiar, the meal itself was tasty. And, it being an outdoor stall, I was able to carve some meat for Vier.

“Is that enough for you, Jill?”

Eleanor tilted her head as she chewed on her kebab (I don’t know what this dish is called, so I call it kebab in my mind) that had three times the amount of meat as mine. Inside, I was begrudgingly gazing at that calorie-fest protein bundle of hers, but outside I replied as I brought my mostly veggie kebab to my mouth.

“Yes. I am a small eater by nature, so don’t mind me. I am enjoying them. But…”
“Hm?”

When I looked at their faces, a sigh escaped my lips.

“—You have been nothing but a help to me the whole day, so I at least wanted to reimburse the trouble I caused.”

When I first tried to pay for all of them, they softly refused. In the end, I had to compromise by buying them the drinks only. I suppose it’s my Japanese nature that made me do this.

“A kid like you shouldn’t worry about that.”
“The drink is tasty, you know?”

Laika laughed bitterly, while Jesse smiled carefreely.

We casually chatted about the city and the recent talk of the town as we ate, but Jesse was quite eagerly observing my outfit and Vier who was stuffing her cheek with meat beside me.

“Say, Jill, can I ask you something? Are you maybe a magician?”
“I am. While I am still a novice, I’m a practitioner of the magic art of fire and water — a witch.”

For now, I’d just nod along, calling myself a Witch. I was actually capable of commanding two more attributes, them being Void and Light, but if there was one thing that I learned in my trip with Regina, it was that it was a rarity that someone my age was capable of practicing Magic Arts, no less wielding multiple attributes easily at that — in fact, it already stepped into the realm of anomaly. If I told them I could use Healing Art on top of that, I’d just be advertising how absurd I was.

“Huh. That’s huge for someone so young.”

Even with so much I hid, that still made Laika wide-eyed. Eleanor also nodded, voicing her agreement.

“It would be great if we had a magician in our party to broaden our strategy.”
“Tell me about it. I’m sure the Slime Toad subjugation request would’ve been a lot easier then.”
“Yeah. Physical attacks basically don’t work on those things…”
“Well, adventurers have to make do with what they have on hand. That’s just how it is.”

Concluded Laika, inviting a sigh from the three of them.

“Umm…”
“Aah, sorry. We’re talking to ourselves. The demon beasts we are commissioned to defeat are hella weak, but they’re tricky to deal with.”
“We’re all mainly physical damage dealers, like his sword or my bow, so it takes us a lot of time.”

When I heard Jesse and Eleanor lament, I came forward with a question, accompanied by a decision.

“…and you just need a magician to defeat them?”
“Pretty much. —Eh?!”

Their gazes met mine.

“It seems like I can repay the favor, after all.”

My lips twisted into a smile, while Jesse and the two looked at each other in confusion.