Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Volume 1 - Daily Life of A Maid Mage
020 – Nursing services available for unforeseen illness (1)
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Announcement: New website, same old me. I apologize for the delay. Happy New Year!
When I woke up this morning, my joints were strangely sore. I wondered if I had pulled a muscle by sleeping in a strange position without realizing it, but I still got up because I received a subduing quest in the guild. I was asked to eliminate several trolls that had settled in a cave northeast of Toris. No damage had been reported yet, but you never knew when they might attack someone. Their thickly muscular bodies, strong vitality, and amazing regenerative abilities made them difficult to kill with half-hearted attacks, but an A-rank spellsword could take them down alone as long as he wasn't too careless. The quest could even be finished in a day since the cave was not too far away.
The cave was located away from the road that led through the forest area, about a thirty-minute walk along an animal trail in the dim grove. At the entrance to the cave, which was hidden by shrubs and overgrown weeds, there was a small lone troll. It seemed to be the lookout. Although it was a creature
I coated my magic sword with flames. The trolls were still unaware, it was effortless since they couldn't even read the flow of magic. I jumped out from behind a tree, then closed the distance between us and cut into the guard. Starting at my neck level, I swung diagonally downwards and with the momentum of the strike, severed the body in two. The flames on the sword cauterized the wound and prevented it from regenerating. The fallen troll struggled to join the separated lower half of its body, but the cauterized wounds would not regenerate, and it spasmed and eventually died. First one.
A strange odor of burning flesh mixed with fishy bodily fluids hit my nose. I frowned, feeling uncomfortable about an odor I normally wouldn't notice.
Hearing the commotion outside, three more trolls came running out. They were bigger and stronger than the lookout I had just slaughtered. It might be impossible to cut them down.
"Light Pillar" (Light Arrow)
I created countless shining arrows and blinded the trolls, stopping them in their tracks. While they were frightened because of their aversion to light, I gouged a hole in one of them and poured flames into it, burning its body from the inside. It exhaled smoke from its mouth and died.
As soon as I sensed a killing intent behind me, I jumped to the side without turning around. Instantly a club struck down on the ground where I was standing and a huge hole was made with a thundering sound. One of them was still struggling with the blinding effect, but the other one was not held back and it menacingly roared at me.
My joints hurt.
Although it didn't affect the battle against the trolls that much, it was still somewhat distracting and irritating.
"Ice Needles!"
I unleashed thin, sharp icicles at the troll's face. Its body was covered with dense hard fur and thick muscles, making it difficult for blades to penetrate. However, the face was defenseless since it couldn't be trained. Some of the needles pierced both of its eyes, and it held its face with both hands and roared in agony. I quickly closed the distance and thrust my flame-coated sword at a vital point. With the sword still in the wound, I increased the intensity of the flames, burning the wound into charcoal. The troll roared louder than before, but it was the end of the line.
I jumped back to avoid being pinned underneath the huge falling body and confronted the remaining one. Standing at least three meters tall, the troll was much bigger and stronger than the previous three.
Sweat ran down my cheeks and I was out of breath. It was strange because although I hadn't been moving much, my energy was dwindling fast. It was better not to prolong the fight.
(– I should go for the legs.)
That giant troll with a towering body couldn't possibly protect all its vital points. I casted Light Pillar (Light Arrow) once more to steal its sight, and circled behind him and swung my magic sword at its exposed ankles. Then, I thrusted my sword into the troll's back when it fell forward to its knees, due to its severed ankle tendons, so my entire weight was concentrated in that spot. The troll immediately became enraged and roared twisting around to shake me off. I jumped back, leaving my sword inside the creature.
"Electric Shock!" (Electric Blast)
When the thunder magic casted with all my might landed on my sword, the troll convulsed a few times before collapsing on the spot with the unpleasant smell of burning flesh.
I searched for any presences again. There was only a reaction of a small animal living in the forest. The subjugation was complete.
"…Fwhoo"
The moment the battle was finished and became relaxed, my vision became blurry and I tottered. At this point, I finally noticed my physical condition and sighed deeply. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve.
I had a fever. The pain in my joints was due to fever.
(– I never expected to realize it on the road…)
I wished I hadn't noticed it, at least until I returned to the city. I still had to do the cleanup. On top of that, I also had to walk back for over an hour, which was quite painful now that I was aware of my condition. Both physically and mentally.
I slowly moved to retrieve my sword and sliced off the right ear of the dead trolls. Four ears in total. I stuffed the severed ears into a leather bag filled with odor-neutralizing herbs and tightened the strap. It was not very pleasant but it was necessary as proof of completion of the subjugation quest.
Then I headed into the cave. I had to confirm, just in case, that there were no victims, or people in need of rescue. I cast a light spell to illuminate the inside of the cave. Fortunately, there seemed to be no victims.
I found an old wooden box in a corner with no lid, so the contents were laid open. It was filthy, but packed with jewelry, precious metals, and coins. For some reason, trolls had a habit of collecting shiny things. I didn't know if they were lost, looted, or stolen items, but I was certain that the original owner was not a troll. They might have been reported as lost items. They were bulky, but I had to take them back with me as seized items.
I stuffed the contents into the cloth bag I was carrying and got up. As soon as I stood up, I felt an excruciating discomfort as if my blood pressure had dropped, and my whole body was shaking. I quickly put my hands on the rock wall to support myself. This was not good. I had to get back home quickly.
I walked as mindlessly as possible along the way, because every time I thought about my physical discomfort, I felt like I was going to fall apart and sit down on the spot. I even started to get a throbbing headache towards the end of the journey, but somehow, while walking on my own, I was able to drag my heavy body back to the guild. When I opened the door, I saw Zack's eyes widen as he looked at me, and then his face immediately turned grim.
"Hey! I hope you haven't been injured somehow."
He walked up to me from the counter, and I wondered if I looked truly terrible. I pushed the leather bag filled with troll ears and the cloth bag of seized items for inspection and exhaled.
"… I've been feeling a little under the weather."
"It's not a little with that complexion. Do you want to take a break in the rest area upstairs? You can use it immediately."
I was grateful for the offer, but I wanted to rest in a calm place. The guild's rest area was a large room and I didn't like to stand out too much.
"…No, thank you for your concern, but I'll return to the inn. I'm sorry, but please do the magic investigation
"If so, do you want me to send someone over?"
Zack said as he handed over the reward. This man, who looked crude at first glance with his words and actions, was actually quite a caring person. I could hear his concern in every word he said.
"…It's okay. I'll be fine if I go back to the inn."
Zack backed down and sighed at the prospect of an argument.
"…I see. Maybe the fatigue from the long trip has piled up. Get some rest."
"Yeah."
We said our goodbyes and I left the guild. Although I said it was no problem, I was too tired to walk. The distance to the inn, which was only a few minutes' stroll by foot, seemed frighteningly long. I pushed my body to the point where I felt like I was going to collapse and somehow managed to keep moving forward. But when I was almost there, I couldn't stand it any longer and stopped. I leaned my body against a building along the road.
I tried to breathe deeply and quickly in an attempt to somehow stifle the terrible discomfort from the fever and headache, but instead of getting better, I just felt worse.
I was overwhelmed. I should have rested at the guild instead of being so stubborn. Just when I was half-seriously thinking if I should just sit here, my eyes met with the eyes of a woman who was standing still in front of me.
"…Mr. Alex?"
Shiori, who seemed to be on her way home from shopping, changed her expression and rushed over to me as soon as she saw me.
"Are you okay!? Your complexion…"
A hand reached out to me in a reserved manner, as if to support my body. I grabbed her hand, pulled her close, and rested my head on her delicate shoulder. Perhaps I eased up at the sight of a familiar face, and my consciousness rapidly faded away.
I felt like Shiori had called my name, but my memory of what happened next was extremely vague.
[1] TL Note: Raw uses the same kanji as magical beasts/demonic beasts, which is the term I had been translating simply as monsters. For me orcs, goblins and trolls are usually a grade above magical beasts since they possess some intelligence and do not rely simply on instinct, and thus I'll be upgrading them from monsters to creatures. If you can think of a better term feel free to leave a comment as a suggestion.
[2] TL Note: Phonetically, it is written as Light pillar but the kanji meaning is Light Arrow.
[3] TL Note: Phonetically it is written as Electric Shock but the kanji meaning is Electric Blast.
[4] TL Note: Magic investigation is an experience points check to confirm growth, similar to EXP on RPG games.