The Golden-Haired Summoner - Chapter 40

I silently listened, wondering what he was talking about, but eventually, I raised myself up and kicked his face with all my strength.

How dare he! Does he take me for a joke?

“You thought you could play games with me? It seems you’ve grown bold without a nose or ears left to lose!”

[What game is that, Master? Doesn’t sound fun.]

[Not fun for me either.]

I looked up at the mountain again.

It was indeed as tall and wide as a mountain that belonged to a mountain range should be.

Somewhere up there, Annie was said to be.

Even if she was no more than an hour away, finding her wouldn’t be easy.

This guy! He’s interfering with me again!

If it hadn’t been for him last time, if I hadn’t sustained internal injuries…

Maybe I could have defeated Rovenin!

The old grudge resurfaced sharply.

“Keh keh keh. You still don’t get it, huh? If you strip and crawl on your belly begging for forgiveness, I might tell you where the girl is. What do you say?”

“Oh? That’s a good idea.”

“Kahaha! Yeah, hurry up and strip… Wh-what are you doing?!”

“Rai, strip him completely.”

Why should I strip? You should be the one doing that.

Rai deftly tore away Grak’s wet clothing in an instant.

I wondered if clothes could be torn apart that easily. In no time, Grak was naked and under Rai’s feet again.

“W-what? What’s going on, Miss Geenie?”

“She really is a pervert.”

Ash and Chad, who had been watching from a few steps away with worried eyes, approached in shock.

Chad… I’ll let it slide this time since we’re busy.

“Tch. Tch! So, you don’t care if that girl dies, huh? I’m the only one who knows where she is! You killed everyone else who knew! Hahaha!”

“One person is enough. If you don’t want to die, tell me where Annie is!”

“Heh heh heh. I told you. She’s in that mountain!”

“Ash, Chad! Can you help for a moment?”

It seemed Grak had no intention of revealing Annie’s location.

In that case, I’d have to use a different method.

“Us? With what…?”

“If you didn’t catch it earlier, Annie is bound somewhere up on that mountain. Likely at the cliff’s edge. I know it’s a lot to ask, but please help me find her. This guy has no intention of talking.”

“That mountain? In this rain… Of course, we’ll help.”

“What? Annie is up there?”

The first task was to send Ash and Chad away.

Fortunately, Ash readily agreed to help, and Chad, who had a good relationship with Annie, wouldn’t refuse either.

“I’ll interrogate this one a bit more, so please go ahead and look for her. I’m counting on you.”

“Got it!”

“Hurry up!”

I watched as Ash and Chad ran past the building and then looked back down at Grak.

His expression screamed amusement, as if waiting for me to beg him to reveal where Annie was.

Hmph, as if.

I stepped into a nearby small warehouse.

Grak was dragged in by Rai, his hair clenched in Rai’s grip as there was no collar to grab.

“Heh heh. So, what are you planning to do in this warehouse? I don’t know what kind of interrogation you’re thinking of, but I won’t talk. Heh heh.”

“You talk too much. Who said I was going to ask you anything? Rai! Rip his hair out.”

“Eek!”

[Yes, Master.]

Grak already had no nose or ears left.

So, obviously, there was only one thing left to rip.

*Crack.*

I didn’t watch, knowing it wouldn’t be clean, but the sound was enough to make me wince.

I wasn’t keen on knowing what it sounded like when someone’s head was ripped apart.

The reason I came into the warehouse was to borrow the power of a spirit to find Annie.

To avoid any lingering eyes.

“Tarzan!”

The spirit of plants, Tarzan.

Tiny green particles gathered and soon flapped leaf wings as an unexpected figure appeared.

This guy would surely help find Annie.

[Oh my! What’s the matter, Master?]

“Tarzan, this might be a bit much… Come here. See that mountain? I want to find someone on it. Can you do it?”

*Flap, flap.*

Tarzan, who flew up on his leafy wings, looked at the mountain I pointed at and made a surprised face.

[It’s a huge mountain. Looks like a tail of Mother Mountain.]

“Can you do it? Ask the plants for me.”

[It’s possible, but it’ll cost a significant amount of mana. You might get hurt.]

“Don’t worry about mana. Let’s start immediately! The target is an 8-year-old girl with silver hair. She’s probably tied to a tree at the edge of a cliff. Save her as soon as you find her.”

I had enough mana, but the concern was my mental strength.

I had to spread out over such a wide area and draw on Rai’s mana, which also consumed mental energy.

But it had to be done.

Every minute and second counted now.

[All right, starting now.]

“Good. Come here, Rai!”

From the start, the mana drained heavily.

I immediately grabbed Rai by the neck to draw in mana, but even that barely kept up with the outgoing flow.

As I pulled Rai’s mana, visions of various plants flashed rapidly before my eyes.

It felt like running through a forest at high speed.

What was this?

Was I linked to Tarzan’s consciousness?

I couldn’t be sure, but a quick glance at Tarzan showed his eyes glowing green.

Tarzan’s body hovered motionlessly in the air, rigid.

Plants of all kinds rushed past me, and suddenly, a few stopped.

Trees shaking their branches as if signaling they knew something and small flowers fluttering their leaves.

Following their motions, the consciousness sweeping through the forest converged and changed direction rapidly.

My head started throbbing, and my hands, clutching Rai, grew hot.

Just a bit more…

[Master, are you all right?]

I didn’t have the energy to respond to Rai’s question.

I focused all my attention on the visions in front of me.

My body, already drenched from the rain, was sweating as if it were pouring again.

The number of plants passing by visibly decreased, replaced by an open space illuminated by a faint light.

A cliff! Where are you, Annie?

I circled around the cliff, but Annie was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps because I was seeing from the perspective of plants, the cliff itself posed no limitations.

I checked the forest across the cliff, but she wasn’t there either.

The scene shifted again, moving quickly along the cliff.

Yes, following the cliff would lead to Annie! Ah…!

“Ouch!”

[M-Master?]

My arm in contact with Rai burned as if scorched.

Was it because I drew too much mana?

But I couldn’t let go.

Meanwhile, my head throbbed as if alarms were ringing throughout.

Suppressing the groan, something finally came into view.

A tree barely hanging on by a single root.

And at the end of it, bound tightly, was Annie.

She seemed unconscious, but maybe that saved her from struggling.

In an instant, the vision shifted to focus on the tree holding Annie.

“Found her! Tarzan, lift Annie up to solid ground!”

[Yes, Master.]

The tree’s roots, which had been teetering as if about to fall, suddenly multiplied and lifted, setting the trunk upright.

The extended roots strode off the cliff and into the forest.

What is this? Can trees even do that?

“Good job, Tarzan. You can go now.”

[Yes, Master. See you next time.]

As I released Tarzan, I immediately pulled away from Rai.

I quickly checked my arm but found nothing wrong.

Not even a red mark, let alone a burn.

It had felt so hot just moments before.

But now, the heat was gone, leaving only a faint headache.

“Rai, how much mana did I take from you?”

[Um, about… one-thirtieth?]

I had expected it to be at least one-tenth. But only that much?

I had scoured half of a mountain bigger than most, after all.

It was astounding.

Dragon mana levels were something else.

“Phew, Rai. Let’s go up the mountain. I have a rough idea of where Annie is.”

[Yes, Master!]

I thought I’d be fine, but exhaustion weighed heavily on me.

I wanted to collapse right there.

Even though searching for Annie took less than half a day, it felt like I’d worked ten times as long.

Probably due to the excessive mental energy used, but I couldn’t rest yet.

I had to get Annie and send her to Dmitri, to Drike Academy.

Traveling with just me and Annie would be cumbersome.

With things already this messy, what would happen next?

Using the warp should make sending Annie easy!

I’d planned to leave her education in Master Yael’s hands, so sending her ahead wouldn’t change anything.

Master Yael would likely shout “Geenie, you rascal!” but it was all part of the plan.

A solid foundation!

Finding Annie was great.

Despite being tied up in the rain for over two hours, Annie was lively.

Her shy nature hadn’t changed, but her stamina was impressive, given her jungle upbringing.

I worried she might catch a cold, but she didn’t sneeze even once, making me feel foolish.

Meanwhile, as soon as she gathered herself, instead of coming to me, she rushed to Chad. How infuriating.

“Achoo!”

The real problem was that I caught a bad cold.

What a mess…

[Master, you’re sending the kid back, right? When?]

“Sniff, when my cold’s gone.”

Ah, I needed to send Annie home to rest in peace, but this cold wouldn’t go away.

If it were a fracture or an external wound, I’d call Undaine for healing, but a cold was different.

Somehow, the water spirit’s healing magic worked only for injuries, internal or external.

Clerics could cure colds with holy magic—what made the difference?

[Tch, when will that be?]

“I don’t know! Other pets share their master’s ailments; what about you?”

[I’m not a pet.]

“Well, true enough. Ugh…”

Arguing with Rai made my fever spike.

My throat was already hoarse, and my body ached.

Calm down. Calm.

I needed to recover quickly so I could send Annie home and get some rest myself.

Sleep was the best cure for a cold!

I buried myself under the blankets and closed my eyes.

[Master, the kid’s coming in.]

“Why now…”

I pulled the blanket over my head.

I hoped she’d see I was asleep and leave.

After all the trouble she caused…

Well, the problem started with my own grudges, so I couldn’t exactly complain.

*Cre-eak.*

“U-um… M-Master?”

Huh? Did she just say ‘Master’?

What’s going on?

Even after all my pushing, she never called me that.

I guess she was grateful.

This girl who’d been saying “I don’t like you!” until recently.

“Yes?”

“An old man wants to see you.”

An old man who’d want to see me?

Could it be a remnant of the Blood Wing?

If so, Ash or Chad wouldn’t have let Annie come up alone.

No one came to mind.

“Who?”

“Um, he said his name was Hansen. He said if I told you that, you’d know who he was.”

“Hansen? A thin, red-haired knight?”

“Yes! When he asked your name and I said ‘Geenie,’ he said you were the lady he was looking for.”

How did Sir Hansen find his way here?

Ah, maybe he tracked me from our communication.

But why Sir Hansen?

I figured I should go out to see him.

Ugh, my hair was a mess!

I tied it back loosely and changed out of my sweat-soaked clothes.

Lastly, I draped Rai over my shoulder and took Annie, who was staring at me, out to the inn’s corridor.

I was still staying at ‘Events of Mielta,’ and as I reached the stairs to the first floor, I could hear guests talking.

“I’m telling you! Half of the ‘Blood Wing’ crew was found dead!”

“Hey, who’d believe that? No one just dies for no reason. Someone must’ve done it. They made a lot of enemies.”

“Right! Who killed them isn’t clear, so they were just found dead, right? The security forces have been swarming their base since morning. They’re saying they’ll wipe them out for good! Someone tipped them off… You don’t get many chances like this to take out such thugs.”

Heh, I’m the one who tipped them off.

I also added a little threat to make sure they’d act.

Of course, I couldn’t show my face, so I sent an anonymous letter.

With a friendly reminder at the end: ‘Act fast if you don’t want the same fate!’

“Who was it? I heard there were almost 50 bodies. The rain even bloated them, so it’s hard to tell the cause of death.”

“What do you mean, cause of death? Stabbed, sliced—it’s always the same, isn’t it? The method doesn’t matter.”

“True, but they don’t even know what weapon was used. They think it might’ve been magic. I heard that from the guards having drinks here earlier.”

“Magic? In this backwater? It’s the capital in name only, besides that one tower.”

“Hmph, my guess? They ticked off a dragon, tearing up the mountains and kidnapping non-humans.”

“Hah, sounds about right. I thought dragons were just fairy tales, but this makes me believe again after 40 years.”

Hmm, I didn’t expect to slip through quietly, but the inn was buzzing with yesterday’s news.

Good thing the innkeeper and Ash kept their mouths shut.

Not that it would benefit them to talk.

“U-um… Master? Are we going?”

“Yes, yes, we are.”

I remembered Sir Hansen waiting for me and moved down the stairs.

The inn was packed today, making it easy to spot Sir Hansen.

With that distinctive red hair, even just the back of his head stood out.

Lighter than Rovenin’s, but just as eye-catching.

Feeling a sudden rush of excitement, I called out to Sir Hansen.

“Sir Hansen!”