When I came to my senses, everything was already over.

The female Knight was dressed.

Once she was fully dressed, two women approached and helped her into her armor. Unusually, she had ladies-in-waiting instead of squires.

She stood up and smiled, looking in this direction.

I avoided her gaze.

My face flushed as the image of her in the heavy armor kept coming back to me.

When I came out dressed, Amelin was there.

Seeing her, I felt a sense of guilt.

Amelin hugged Rael. Then she glared at the female Knight.

But for some reason, she couldn’t speak.

She just kept her mouth shut, as if resentful.

Rael called out to the female Knight who was about to leave.

I had to say what I needed to say.

When she turned around, I bowed my head.

“Thank you.”

“No. Don’t be too hurt.”

“I…”

Rael hesitated.

“My name is Charlotte.”

“Charlotte.”

“Do you have something to say?”

I looked at Charlotte.

She didn’t avoid his gaze like before.

“Why do you care about me, Lady Charlotte?”

“Because you’re useful.”

“Useful?”

“Yes. It’s like I’m marking you as mine.”

“W-w-what! What did you say?!”

Amelin shrieked. She hid the boy behind her.

“I called dibs first!”

“So? I think I’m much better than you.”

“What! What’s wrong with me?”

The female Knight said that the Protagonist was a descendant of a prestigious family and had built up more value in her life.

The woman was trying to argue that the Protagonist would be a better match for the boy.

She had a thick skin.

Amelin trembled, unable to retort. Compared to her, a wandering Mage, the opponent was too strong a rival.

Her eyes, which had been scanning for flaws, stopped at one spot. It was near the chest.

“Her chest is small, too…”

“…”

Charlotte’s relaxed face cracked.

From Rael’s perspective, who had experienced both, Charlotte’s wasn’t small.

It was just that Amelin’s were too big.

Charlotte’s were indeed small.

However, they were prominent enough to prove her femininity. They might grow larger later. They said there were cases where they continued to grow even in adulthood.

The conversation between the women, after a few more words, ended when Charlotte left.

She said she didn’t know why they were having such a foolish conversation and headed somewhere. She seemed to be going to give orders to the soldiers.

As Amelin’s gaze turned towards him, he avoided her eyes.

But she said something unexpected.

“I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Really?”

He knew he was in for it.

What Rael did was betray her.

Although many men had multiple wives, it was a life-threatening situation.

Even when he was in the Village, there were instances of wives killing their husbands.

One woman, harboring resentment towards a husband who only favored one wife, stabbed him in the stomach.

If Amelin, blinded by jealousy, were to stab Rael in the stomach, he would have no one to blame but himself.

However, it didn’t seem like that would happen.

That was a relief.

“Because you’ve looked troubled for several days. It’s normally my role, so I’m angry that that woman took it from me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You can’t go back.”

“…”

“Understood?!”

“…”

“Why aren’t you speaking! Tell me quickly. Her or me!”

“That…”

He wiggled his fingers as he spoke.

“Can’t it be both?”

For the first time in his life, Rael was grabbed by the collar by a woman.

The carriage, which had traveled some distance, stopped.

The Coachman turned his head, looked this way, and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk… He deserved it.”

Rael just bowed his head.

But he didn’t give up.

She was angry because the Protagonist hadn’t properly satisfied her.

The current Protagonist only won two or three times out of ten fights.

He couldn’t even handle her alone, so it was only natural that he would get hit for having an eye Poison for another woman.

He had to become stronger.

To become a man who could embrace everyone.

No, it would be more accurate to say endure.

Rael was growing day by day in the Castle.

He could feel his body subtly getting bigger.

He thought he should at least grow taller than Amelin.

He was annoyed that he was somehow being treated like a child.

During his break, Rael froze the water in the Wooden Barrels that the Soldiers brought. Then he increased the size of the Golem.

It was annoying that the ice melted in the sunlight.

Suddenly, he thought it would be nice to have Unmelting Ice.

The ice the Old Man made didn’t melt easily.

He didn’t know how it was done.

Because he wasn’t told.

The Protagonist had to figure it out.

Rael racked his brain. He thought about how to keep the ice from melting.

Then he remembered the battle in the large Village.

He recalled that the fire Arrows shot by the enemy Shaman didn’t go out easily. The Villagers were flustered because they couldn’t extinguish them even with ordinary water.

He asked Amelin for advice.

She was a Mage who controlled fire.

She said she had learned the low-level Magic, fire Arrow, so she might know.

“Fire that doesn’t go out easily?

“Yes.”

“Why are you curious about that?”

Rael said he wanted to make Unmelting Ice. He added that knowing about making fire that doesn’t go out easily might help.

Amelin, despite her sulky expression, taught him what she knew.

“Just think about it.”

“Thoughts?”

“Yes. Rael learned magic that way, didn’t he? It should be easy.”

It was simpler than expected.

When making ice, I just had to strongly imagine Unmelting Ice for a long time.

That night.

I used Freeze on the smaller Golem, imagining it intensely.

Something seemed to have changed.

If I had to say, the flowing Cold Energy felt stronger.

The next day, I checked the Golem.

It had definitely melted less than before.

It was only a slight difference, but it didn’t matter.

What was important was that I had taken a step forward.

From then on, every time I used magic, I strongly thought about it not melting. The more I did, the stronger the Cold Energy became, little by little.

It was the same act of using magic, but there was a difference. Even if I simply used magic, imagining something stronger increased its power.

The power had a limit, but the Cold Energy had no limit.

The ice gradually stopped melting, and even after being exposed to sunlight all day, it remained intact.

The Soldiers noticed the difference first.

When they rested during the day, they gathered by the Golem. The Golem, emanating Cold Energy, itself helped dissipate the heat.

After a week, it could last for about three days.

Now, although small, I could make ice instantly. Learning Icebolt was still far off, but I was slowly getting closer.

Rael leaned his head towards the Coachman’s seat.

A large City was visible in the distance. It was an incredibly large Castle. It was bigger than Langs Castle.

“It’s the Count’s Territory.”

“How did you know?”

“The Soldiers were chattering about it.”

The Soldiers were excited.

He had accumulated quite a bit of poison from all the movement.

It seemed he planned to rest at the Castle for a considerable time before heading to the Front Line.

“What will you do first when you get to the Castle?”

“What about Amelin?”

“I have to spend money first.”

“Money?”

“For intermediate magic books.”

“Ah.”

She intended to acquire an intermediate magic book when she visited the Castle.

What she had said before came to mind.

“Where will Rael spend his money?”

“I don’t know.”

He had a lot of money, but he hadn’t thought of a specific place to spend it.

At most, he planned to buy any necessary magic items.

“I think I’ll go to the Auction House if there is one.”

“Auction House?”

“If there are any magic items or equipment I need, I’ll get them.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Amelin said she hoped there would be something useful. Then she spoke about magic items that the Protagonist knew about.

There were other good things besides magic staffs.

Items imbued with magic itself were like that.

There were clothes that subtly emitted heat, and cloaks that were impervious to spear-knives.

Simple ones were relatively cheap, but anything even slightly useful was outrageously expensive, she said.

The most urgent task was to replace his magic staff.

The magic staff he received from the Alchemist was made with the lowest-grade magic stone.

The magic staff’s effectiveness only extended to low-level magic.

From intermediate magic onwards, there wasn’t much difference.

It was something that wouldn’t have mattered originally.

Most people end up staying at most at a low-level Mage.

However, the Protagonist became stronger.

It was thanks to the battle in the big Village.

Now that I was an Intermediate Mage, I had to upgrade my magic staff to a better one.

It didn’t seem possible with the money I currently had.

The price of Magic Stones skyrocketed with each increase in rank.

Since the lowest grade Magic Stone was around 10 gold, a low-grade Magic Stone would cost at least 50 or 60 gold.

Since I was going to stay in the Castle for a long time, I had to think of a way to get a staff made of low-grade Magic Stones during that time.

The carriage seemed to be slowly approaching the City Gate, then stopped.

It was unusually noisy upfront.

Guard Soldiers were pointing and shouting.

It was because of the Golem.

Charlotte stepped forward and spoke to a man who appeared to be a superior, and only then did the commotion subside.

The man seemed to be the Guard Captain.

Perhaps because they were close to the front, the sound of their conversation could be heard from afar.

“It will take some time to meet the Count. The Count has led his soldiers to intercept the Orc army, which is reported to have broken through the Front Line and is gathering and descending. It has been quite some time already, so he will be back soon.”

“Is the Marquis still alive?”

“From what we hear, he seems to still be holding on.”

After finishing his words, the Guard Captain turned his head and looked in one direction.

It was the direction where the Golem was.

“What do you intend to do about that?”

“The Golem, you mean?”

“Let me tell you in advance, we cannot let that in.”

“Why not?”

“Think about it. What do you think the citizens would think if something like that was walking around? If someone were to accidentally get hit by its foot, they would die, and there would be a panic and a riot.”

“Can’t anything be done?”

As Charlotte spoke, she openly threw a money pouch. The Guard Captain, who snatched it, looked inside and then cleared his throat.

“It’s fine if it’s in the outer castle, but it must be kept in one place. If you drag it around freely, I’ll kick you out immediately, so be aware of that.”

“Thank you.”

I will relay your words to the Viscount.

Is he the one managing the Castle now?

The Guard Captain nodded.

For now, stay the night. I need to check the luggage before going to my Castle. I’ll have to see if there’s any lodging left for the Soldiers. I’ll arrange a separate inn for the Knights.

The Carriage passed through the City Gate.

Rael made sure the Golem followed him carefully. It was difficult to control it precisely. It would be troublesome if it accidentally broke a Building while passing by.

The Golem passed through the City Gate and walked along the road.

With every step it took, people inside the Castle rushed out to stare, causing a commotion.

The Guard Soldiers had a tough time.

They were seen pushing away the people who had come out to watch.

The faces of the people staring at the Golem were stunned.

It was understandable.

Even just showing the children in a large Village how to create a Water Mass had caused a stir of wonder. But now, a Golem more than twice the size of a grown man was moving.

Perhaps because of that, people showed fear on their faces, even calling it a Gnoll.

“Are you the Mage who commands the Golem?”

Someone approached the Carriage and asked.

It was the Guard Captain, who had been talking to Charlotte.

His tone was cautious.

“Yes, I am.”

“The Golem looks dangerous, so could you keep it in one place?”

“I’m afraid someone might steal it.”

“Your joke is excessive. If there’s anyone who can steal a Golem like that, I’d like to see them.”

The Guard Captain looked at the Golem with a fed-up expression.

It was certainly not a size that could be stolen.

From the beginning, it was a creature that even Orcs’ axes couldn’t properly penetrate. It meant that even if they tried with all their might, it would be difficult to take it away.

The lodging where the Soldiers would stay was shabby. It was a row of shacks where ten to fifteen people were crammed in, only given a place to lie down.

There was a training ground-like area in the middle, and the Golem was left there.

Rael stayed at an inn. The inn that the Guard Captain had specially guided him to was quite luxurious, and since it was entirely rented out for the Knights to stay, it was very comfortable.

There were few guest rooms, so two people went into each room.

At first, he was with Charlotte, but due to Amelin’s strong opposition, he ended up staying in a room with her. Before entering the room, Charlotte stopped him.

She told him to prepare himself because the Protagonist also had to go to meet the Viscount tomorrow.

He didn’t understand.

Even if it was Charlotte, there was no reason for the Protagonist to go.

But Charlotte smiled.

“Do you remember what I told you before?”

“What did you say?”

“Didn’t I say I would tell the higher-ups what you accomplished?”

“Oh.”

He remembered.

At first, Charlotte said she would ensure Rael’s performance in battle would be recognized in the big Village.

He had completely forgotten.

It was because he hadn’t accepted her offer in the first place.

He could guess why she was showing such favor. Although it was only once, he had become quite close with her.

“I have the ears of Orcs I collected while fighting them, and the heads of Chieftains. Among them are many of the Orcs you froze. You alone took down well over a hundred of them.”

“A hundred…”

Hearing it out loud, it was impressive.

They weren’t Goblins, but Orcs.

From her tone, it seemed the number was much higher.

“I intend to report those Military achievements to the Viscount. He should reward you appropriately for your contributions to the Count’s Territory.”

The Count’s Territory was quite large.

It included the large Village they had passed on the way, as well as the Hunter Village.

It was as if the Count had dealt with the danger that had befallen the Village from which he collected taxes.

“Can I receive it?”

“Since the Count was the one who ordered me to conscript and subjugate, I have no choice but to give it.”

Moving soldiers incurred enormous military expenses.

She wondered where it was being covered, but now it seemed to be coming from the Count’s pouch.

The more Rael listened to her story, the more dazed he became.

He couldn’t fathom how much the reward would be for defeating over a hundred Orcs.

“What kind of reward can I get?”

“Usually it’s money. You can also get a title. Both are difficult.”

“If it’s money…”

“You can get gold coins. Is there anything you want to buy?”

“I need a magic staff made from a low-grade magic stone.”

“That would be difficult.”

“I suppose so…”

He slumped his shoulders.

But he still didn’t know.

There was a chance that if he combined the gold coins he received as payment with his current funds, he might have enough money to buy a low-grade magic stone. That was if the Viscount gave him a worthwhile price.

Charlotte caressed her thigh. Her touch was strange.

“If I speak well on your behalf, who knows?”

“Really?”

“If you sleep in my room, that is.”

He swallowed hard. He was being tempted.

It was then.

“Wh-wh-what did you say!”

Amelin, who should have been asleep in the room, burst out, kicking open the door.

“Rael isn’t interested in flat-chested women like you, so leave!”

“…”

“Why are you making such a disappointed face!”

Rael returned to his room, tears in his eyes, led by her.

He looked forward to what compensation he would receive from the Viscount tomorrow.