The Banished Incompetent Mage Achieves Revenge with His True Power - Nameless Request — The Morning a Man with a Faint Crest Can Bow His Head

Once they passed through the rain-soaked forest, the color of the air changed. The smell of earth and mold gave way to a blend of fresh-baked bread, horse dung, and river water. From somewhere distant came the clatter of wagon wheels on cobblestone and the shouting of merchants. It was the town of Tarva. Kyle stood at the town entrance, unable to move for a while. This was the first time he'd returned since being banished. Gale's face, Seraphina's smile—they flickered in the back of his mind. Those bastards might still be in town. If they found him, this time they'd kill him for sure. (Even so, I have no choice but to go.) Kyle touched the back of his neck. The faint trace of a faded crest. When he traced it with his fingertip, he could feel a slight unevenness. When he'd touched the wall in the Sealed Crest Tower, something had groaned deep in his chest. That sensation still lingered in his body. "Kyle, are you all right?" A voice came from beside him. He turned to see Lizette looking up at him with large brown eyes, her chestnut braid swaying. The cuffs of her healer's robes were faintly stained with herb juice, as always. The small old scar at her right temple stood out white in the morning light. "...Yeah. Don't worry about it." Kyle answered without lifting his head. "But you look pale. You barely slept last night, didn't you?" "...You're one to talk. You've got dark circles under your eyes." Lizette touched beneath her eyes, startled. Then she smiled softly. "Don't worry about me. I'm a healer—managing my own health is part of the job." (She puts herself last, huh.) Kyle had watched that side of Lizette for three whole years. Even back in the Dawn Fang, she'd always been fussing over someone. Hiding her tired face, smiling, brewing herbs, healing wounds. Worrying about her own faint crest, and yet working harder than anyone. "...Let's go. First, we find an inn." Kyle started walking. The town was livelier than he'd expected. Built along a tributary of the Ash River, this trading town was bustling with its morning market. Fruit stalls, dried fish, cloth, fragments of magic stones. The merchants' calls made the air tremble. "Look, Kyle! That stall over there—those are Tarva bakes. Two col each. They're sweet wheat-flour pastries, really delicious!" Lizette's voice was unusually animated. "...I'm not hungry." "Don't say that—let's buy some later, all right? I have money." "...No. I'll pay." Lizette stared at Kyle, blinking in surprise. "Huh?" "...I said I'll pay. So let's eat later." Kyle said only that, and started walking again. (I'll pay.) The words surprised even himself. Since being banished, Kyle had been penniless. He'd left the Sealed Crest Tower, crossed the forest, and walked the highway with Lizette. Along the way, she'd shared her hardtack with him, they'd drunk from rivers, slept outdoors. (I don't have a coin to my name. What am I saying?) But he couldn't help himself. He didn't want to burden Lizette any more than he already had. The inn was a little ways from the town center. A wooden sign reading "Crescent Moon Inn" swayed in the wind. It was an old two-story wooden building, with the first floor doubling as a dining hall. The smell of simmered river fish drifted from the open entrance. Kyle stood before the inn, hesitating to go inside. (Eight col a night. I don't have a single col.) "Kyle, this is the place. I've stayed here before. The landlady is a good person, so..." Just as Lizette began to speak, a stout landlady emerged from the inn. "Oh, Lizette! It's been ages. Are you staying with us again?" The landlady's face lit up the moment she saw Lizette. "Yes, thank you for having me. Um, this person is with me..." Lizette started to introduce Kyle. The landlady's gaze turned to him. Her eyes stopped at the back of Kyle's neck. The faint crest. The nearly vanished trace. The landlady's smile clouded—just for an instant. "...Ah, I see. We have rooms. How about the double room at the back on the second floor?" "Yes, that would be fine." Lizette handed the landlady silver coins. Eight of them. One night's stay. Kyle couldn't say a word. (She paid again.) The landlady took the coins, glanced at Kyle once more, then retreated inside without a word. "Kyle, shall we go?" "...Yeah." Kyle planted his feet firmly on the inn's floor. (Just you wait. I'll earn my own money. Absolutely.) A quiet resolve hardened deep in his chest. —— That afternoon, Kyle went out into town alone. He told Lizette only that he was "going for a walk" and left the inn. His real purpose was to look for work. Tarva had a branch of the Arcus Alliance—the adventurers' guild. Kyle knew where it was. Back in his Dawn Fang days, he'd come here countless times to take on requests. (Back then, I walked behind Gale.) (Now I'm alone.) Kyle pushed open the guild branch door. Inside, adventurers packed the place. The smell of liquor, sweat, monster blood. Request notices plastered the walls, and a long line stretched before the reception desk. Kyle joined the end of the line. The adventurers around him glanced his way. Seeing the faint crest on his neck, they lost interest and looked away. It was always like this. "Hey, look. Crest rank one. What's a guy like that doing at the guild?" "Probably a decoy or a porter. Go get yourself picked up by some party." Voices meant to be overheard. Kyle pretended not to hear. (I'm used to it.) It had been that way for three years. His turn came. The receptionist looked at Kyle's face with a slightly surprised expression. "Oh, you're... from the Dawn Fang..." "...No. Not anymore. I was banished." Kyle answered briefly. "...I see. So you're here for a request?" "...Yeah. Is there any work even I can take?" The receptionist's brows drew together in a troubled frown. "With your crest rank, official requests are mostly... but, well, there are personal requests posted on that board over there. Direct requests from townspeople, not through the guild. The pay is low, but there's no crest-rank restriction." Kyle looked where she pointed. In the corner of the guild was a small board. Unlike the official request forms, it held several handwritten scraps of paper. "...That one." "Yes. But those requests carry no guild guarantee. If trouble arises, it's your own responsibility." "...Understood. I'll take a look." Kyle stood before the board. The scraps of paper described the townspeople's troubles in clumsy handwriting. 'My child hasn't come home since yesterday. Five silver coins to anyone who finds them.' 'My back hurts and I can't work the fields. I need someone to gather herbs for me. Three silver coins.' 'The bridge is broken and we're in trouble. Looking for someone to fix it. Seven silver coins.' Kyle read each request carefully, one by one. (I can do this.) He didn't have the strength to fight monsters in a labyrinth. But finding people, gathering herbs, fixing bridges—that much he could do. Kyle first picked up the request that read 'Please find my missing child.' —— The client's house was on the northern edge of town. A small house. A few chickens in the yard. The smell of hay. When Kyle knocked, a gaunt woman burst out. "Oh, you came because of the request!? Please, I'm begging you—find my child, find Riko!" The woman's eyes were swollen from crying. "...Calm down. Tell me the child's name and where she was last seen." Kyle spoke in a quiet voice. Wiping her tears, the woman began to speak in a trembling voice. "Riko is six... yesterday evening she went out to play with friends and never came back... she loves playing near the well... I'm afraid she fell in..." "...Where's the well?" "The old well behind the house. It hasn't been used in years, but the cover came off..." Guided by the woman, Kyle went around to the back of the house. There was the old well. Built of stone, long unused. The cover had come off and lay on the ground. The opening was just wide enough for a child to slip through. Kyle peered into the well. The bottom was too dark to see. But when he strained his ears, he heard a faint voice. "...Mama..." A small, crying voice. "...She's there. At the bottom." "Riko! Riko, it's Mama! I'm coming to save you!" The woman shouted. From the bottom of the well, the crying grew louder. Kyle took off his robe. "...I'll go down. Bring me a rope. A long one." "You're going down!? It's dangerous!" "...Who else is going to? Hurry." The woman rushed inside and came back with a rope. Kyle tied one end around a large tree near the well and wrapped the other around his waist. "...Don't pull until I give the signal. When I do, haul me up." "O-okay. Be careful..." Kyle gripped the edge of the well and slowly lowered himself. Inside the well, it was cold and damp. The stone walls were wet and slippery. Darkness swallowed him. (It's deep.) Five meters, six meters. Down and down. (This much darkness is nothing compared to the fourth floor of the labyrinth.) Kyle let his eyes adjust to the dark and kept descending. About ten meters down, his feet touched water. "...hic... hic..." The crying was right nearby. Kyle reached toward the sound. A small hand grabbed his. "...It's all right. You don't have to be scared anymore." Kyle lifted the child's body. It was a little girl. Mud-caked clothes, a face smeared with tears and snot. But her eyes were wide open, looking at Kyle. "...Who are you?" "...I came to save you. Your mama asked me to." Holding the girl in one arm, Kyle tugged the rope three times. Slowly, his body rose. Light appeared at the mouth of the well. "Riko! Riko! Oh, thank goodness...!" The woman was leaning over the well's edge, shouting. When Kyle climbed out, the woman clutched the girl and wailed. "Thank you... thank you so much...! You're her savior...!" She bowed to Kyle again and again. Kyle stood there in his wet clothes. (She bowed to me.) (She bowed—to me.) For three years, he'd been in the Dawn Fang. As a decoy, as a porter, he'd risked his life countless times. But no one had ever bowed. Gale laughed, Seraphina sneered. The rewards all went to the party. The woman pressed silver coins into Kyle's hand. Five of them. "Here, the promised reward. It's not much, but... truly, thank you." "...Yeah." Kyle accepted the coins. They were cool against his wet palm. (This is the first reward I've ever received in my own name.) Kyle clenched the silver coins tight. —— The next request Kyle took was an herb delivery. Deliver herbs to an elderly couple's house in the south of town. Three silver coins. Kyle received the bundle of herbs from the client and headed south. The afternoon sun cast shadows on the cobblestone road. The clamor of the market slowly faded behind him. The elderly couple's house stood beside a small field. When Kyle handed over the herbs, a bent-backed old woman bowed to him again and again. "Oh, thank you. My back hurts so much I just can't walk. You've been a lifesaver." "...It's nothing. Don't worry about it." "Oh my, your crest is faint, isn't it. And yet you do work like this all alone... isn't it hard?" The old woman stared at the back of Kyle's neck. "...I'm used to it." That was all Kyle said. The old woman handed him three silver coins and wrapped his hand in her wrinkled ones. "You're a good boy. May I ask you again sometime?" Kyle couldn't find words. (A good boy, huh.) How long had it been since anyone said that to him? Kyle gave a small nod. —— The third request was bridge repair. The wooden bridge over the stream east of town had apparently broken in yesterday's rain. The farmers were trying to fix it themselves, but they were short-handed. Seven silver coins. When Kyle arrived at the site, three farmers were hauling logs, drenched in sweat. "Oh, you came because of the request? Sorry, it's heavy work. With a faint crest, it might be tough for you."

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Episode 3

Name: The Banished Incompetent Mage Achieves Revenge with His True Power
Author: Novelia

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