Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Volume 1 - Daily Life of A Maid Mage
012 – Search for lost kids services available (2)
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About 300 meters away from the west gate of Toris, the outskirts of the West Woods began. It was close to the city, but since the demon beasts that lived there were all relatively small and mild-mannered, there were many people who would go out with their families and close friends to play outdoors on sunny days.
A tense atmosphere suffused the area now. Knights were stationed around the outer edge of the forest. People wearing well-tailored outfits were anxiously looking around while gulping. They seemed to be relatives of the missing child. The other residents of Toris, who were spending time outdoors close to the forest, had already been sent back because they would interfere with the search.
When Alex and Clemens (and Rurie), two of whom were out of breath, reached the outer edge of the forest, Elias's companion noticed them and walked up to them.
"You decided to come?"
"Where is she?" Alex asked instead of answering the man's question.
The man—who introduced himself as Martin—pointed behind him with his chin and urged them to follow him.
"You can't just take me away without permission," a woman's voice rang out.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to know where he could be. Please understand… that's it," replied another placating male voice.
At the entrance of the forest, in front of the animal trail that wound deeper into the woods, Shiori was chatting about something with a man who seemed to be the commander of the knights and Elias. She noticed the approaching group and looked relieved. Rurie immediately jumped off Alex's shoulder and bounced at Shiori.
"…Thank goodness. I'm glad you came," Shiori sighed.
"You were suddenly taken away so we rushed." Alex placed a hand on Shiori's shoulder as he spoke.
Clemens said, "I'm here, too," from the sidelines while lowering his eyebrows and smiling morosely. He appeared to feel left out.
"But are you okay? You said you'd use magic to search, but how?" Alex questioned, thinking he had understood the breadth of Shiori's abilities during their encounter with the manticore. Now he had no idea what she planned to do. Originally, search magic had very narrow range and was used only for limited purposes, such as searching for magitech items in small spaces such as a room. In other words, it could only be used to that sort of extent. At best, it was only used to find lost magitech items. He had never heard of it being used to search for people in distress within a forest.
"Shiori, ma'am, it's about time."
Elias interrupted before she could answer the initial question. Alex could see the impatience on his face. There were only two hours left until nightfall and they didn't have much time.
"Yes. I'm sorry, I'll start. I'd appreciate it if you could be quiet for a moment." Shiori faced the edge of the forest and raised her arms, palms downturned and fingers splayed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A tense sensation in the air pierced Alex's skin.
"This is…." He looked at Shiori for a while as she searched, then couldn't help but grunt as he read the flow of magic and guessed the true nature of the spell she was casting.
"What's happening?" Clemens whispered. He wasn't so knowledgeable about magic, and he looked at Alex as if he was asking for an explanation.
"… It's a different application of search magic. Shiori's original take. The magic power is stretched as thin as possible and released towards the forest. The reason why it's stretched so thin is probably to compensate for her small amount of magic power. Moreover, there are holes here and there in the flow of magic. Instead of releasing the magic evenly in a wave, she's aiming to save even more magic power by making the spread mesh-like. This surely… would allow her to spread the search magic over a considerably wider area."
Search magic worked by emitting magical power and detecting any magical power reactions caught in it. It was said that every human being possessed magical presence, even if minutely. Shiori may be trying to locate the whereabouts of the lost child by detecting that little bit of magical energy.
Although human beings always had a minuscule amount of magical energy in theory, if you asked if it was possible to active magic with that modicum of magical power, the answer would be no. Generally speaking, "possessing magical power" meant you had more than that bare minimum amount to willingly activate as magic.
Shiori barely met the condition of "possessing magical power". With that barely applicable degree of magical energy, she was searching for that very minuscule magical reaction.
But even so. Even if her power was limited, she was getting the most out of it, using her magical capacity with ingenuity.
Alex narrowed his eyes and stared at Shiori's petite back. (What do you mean a maid mage? She is more than just a maid. Isn't she a magnificent mage?)
However, Clemens frowned lightly. "But wouldn't that… put a considerable burden on Shiori?"
"Of course. It should take a lot of concentration to maintain the magical power released over a wide area."
It was a skill that could only be accomplished by Shiori, who had shown dexterity in using fusion magic without difficulty. However, the search magic that was deployed over a wide area required not only high magic power consumption, but also considerable mental procesing power. There was no way it wouldn't become a burden. Alex unconsciously searched the pouch at his waist for his reserve of magic power restoration potions. Of course, she should be carrying recovery potions on her, too. However, it wasn't possible to recover using those potions the mental and physical strength that had been spent. You could only recover those by taking a break.
"Alex," Clemens said, keeping his eyes on Shiori. "Due… to the 'Dawn' incident, Shiori learned how to push herself to the limit while hiding the burden. She rarely shows it on her face. The only way to detect the condition is to judge it by her complexion. I'm sure we'll be together on requests in the future, so just remember that."
"I understand."
Shiori reacted to something when Alex replied to Clemens. She pointed in the direction of ten o'clock. "There are two human-like reactions over there, and also multiple other reactions approaching them! The distance is an approximate, but it's about five hundred meters!"
A roar was heard from the knights and others, and even the nobles gasped. The commander gave instructions, and the knights rushed out towards the direction Shiori had pointed.
"I want Madam Shiori to accompany them for an accurate location!" Elias shouted.
"Hey, wait a minute," Alex protested when he saw Elias taking Shiori's hand. "This magic is draining. Don't push her too hard! I don't see any problem with leaving it to the knights!"
He looked at Shiori as he said this; after all, her complexion was still pale. If he looked closely, he could see that she was breathing so hard her shoulders lifted and fell with every breath. It was a symptom of running out of magic reserves. He couldn't overlook the fact that the knights would make her run through the uneven floor of the forest in her weakened state and even force her to use more magic.
"This is not the time to be lenient about this! If anything were to happen to my young master—" Elias was interrupted.
"I understand your concern about your Lord. But the people are not expendables for the nobility!"
Elias gasped and went silent at Alex's words. He quieted down when he saw Shiori and Clemens widen their eyes slightly.
Shiori spoke at last. "Mr. Alex, I'm fine. I'll get better with rest, but if something were to happen to the child, it'd be irreparable. Besides, I know my limits. I'm not going to fall down so clumsily. I can go."
A strong gaze pierced Alex, but within it were the undercurrents of her calm and gentle temperament. They were the eyes of an adventurer, one who still upheld their pride. Alex opened his mouth to argue, then sighed and gave up. It occurred to him that if he had been in her position, he would have said the same thing.
"I understand. Then drink this first." He pressed the magic recovery potion into her hand. The only thing that could be recovered was magic power, but it was still far better than nothing. She did as she was told and quickly opened the potion bottle. Alex made sure she had swallowed the contents before taking her hand. He also looked at Clemens, who was still dissatisfied with the situation, but Clemens nodded and indicated that he had given up on pressing the point.
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
"Oh!"
The three of them ran into the forest.
Author's Note: "Meteru" (メテル) = "Meetoru" (メートル)
TL Note: Here the author "invented" a new and vague unit of measurement named "Meteru" (メテル) which is basically a different spelling of "Meetoru" (メートル) or "Meter". Since the spelling is so similar and the functionality is no different from the real world's unit of measurement "meter", for simplicity's sakes I changed it to "meter". For the American readers, a meter is roughly 3 feet so just multiply it to get a rough idea of the distance. I'm not certain if the author will use different "invented" names for various distances of length (such as "kilometer") but they'll be annotated appropriately if they show up.