Magical Tool Master Dahlia Never Compromises ~ Starting Today: Life as a Freelancer ~

"To be honest, I heard you're very popular with girls, and I was a little envious..."

"If you envy me for this, I'd be happy to give you the opportunity."

"I'm sorry, I won't think that way anymore. I misunderstood. Because... I heard that you're really good at having fun, and you don't care even if the other person has a fiancé or boyfriend..."

"Dating a young lady with a fiancé or boyfriend is as dangerous as dancing in front of a fire-breathing monster. We're already exhausted from subjugating monsters..."

"Indeed, and you're still popular even without dating that kind of young lady."

"I prefer to live a peaceful life!"

Maybe because he had just talked with Dahlia recently, he couldn't help but speak the truth.

The younger generation was stunned for a moment and couldn't help laughing.

"...I didn't expect Scafalot-senpai to be such a serious yet interesting person..."

"So do you think I'm serious or funny, Leonardi?"

"Half and half. Ah, please call me Kirk."

"Okay, you can call me Wolfe too."

Changing the address from a surname to a given name also implies a desire to become closer to the other person.

Over the past month, Wolff's first name had suddenly increased. It wasn't a big deal, but he was happy about it.

"Wolf-senpai's physical enhancement is truly impressive."

"Thank you. But I envy people like you who can do magic."

Kirk has green hair and green eyes, and his magical power is also very high, making him a genius in wind magic. However, he did not join the magic corps, but stayed in the monster subjugation corps.

"Unfortunately, I only know wind magic. I don't have any physical enhancement abilities, so I can't get too close to monsters, and I get hurt often... My dream is to become a knight who can defeat monsters like my father, but reality is always cruel."

"Is your father a senior on our team?"

"Yes. He resigned a long time ago and now runs the family business. Whenever he gets drunk, he keeps telling stories about monster hunts. It's the same stories over and over again. I've heard them at least a hundred times."

The death rate among monster-slaying troops is particularly high among the Knights.

Wolfe was relieved to hear that Kirk's father did not leave the team due to death.

"My dad is good at body strengthening magic, so I want to be like him rather than wind magic."

Most people want what they don't have. Here was someone who had the opposite desire than Wolff.

At this moment, Wolf suddenly remembered that the Sirius bracelet had the effect of wind magic. He relied on wind magic to increase his jumping distance and speed up his movement.

Someone like Kirk, who is good at wind magic, might be able to use wind magic instead of physical enhancement.

"You can jump very far with wind magic, right?"

"Yes, it's quite far."

"If I use the wind to assist my movements, wouldn't that be the same as strengthening my body?"

"Using wind to assist the movement?"

"When you jump now, are you letting the wind push your back? Why not use the same method when swinging your sword, directing the wind towards your arms or the sword in your hand? You can also use the wind to blow from the side when running, helping you dodge to the side. You can also direct the wind towards your companions. Using wind magic like this to assist your movements would be very convenient..."

He was used to throwing out hypotheticals while crafting the sword with Dahlia. Now, one "what if" after another flashed through his mind, and he blurted them out without hesitation.

Those who could use magic might find these ideas outrageous. Kirk opened his mouth wide, unable to utter a word.

"Sorry, I don't know wind magic, so my advice is useless..."

"Wolf-senpai!"

Kirk grabbed his hand tightly and called his name in a voice that echoed through the corridor.

"Please say it again! And please accompany me to the training ground. I want to try it out!"

"But it's almost lunch time..."

"Let's finish lunch in five minutes and then go to the exercise field!"

He should eat his lunch slowly and rest for the afternoon drill—many rejections came to his mind.

However, Kirk's sparkling bright green eyes reminded him of Dahlia.

In this case, he could only nod.

"Thank you! Let's go now!"

"Let's go to the restaurant first."

Seeing Kirk's hearty smile, he smiled back helplessly.

After that day, for a long time, everyone was discussing "Wolver being dragged along by his juniors," a very rare sight.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

The knights came to the large training ground in the royal city, ready to participate in the joint training of the Knights.

In the midday sun, the knight's armor and helmet reflected a dazzling light.

There was almost no wind outside, and the sky was an infuriatingly blue. Today, I felt like I was sweating profusely at the slightest movement.

The Knights of the Kingdom of Odine can be roughly divided into four divisions.

Royal Guards, the First to Fifth Knight Regiments, Magical Units, and Monster Suppression Units.

The Royal Guards were a force primarily responsible for protecting the royal family, and were composed of a carefully selected group of elite warriors. Almost all of their members were magic swordsmen, capable of both magic and knighthood.

The Knights are divided into the First Knights who guard the Royal City, and the Second to Fifth Knights who are mainly responsible for guarding the kingdom and borders, each of which has a large number of soldiers under its command.

The magic corps is mainly composed of mages, and often acts together with other teams as needed.

The Monster Suppression Force, as its name suggests, is mainly responsible for fighting monsters.

Odine is currently peaceful, with no conflicts with other nations. However, the establishment of an army is a precautionary measure, and is also intended to deal with disasters caused by monsters.

Odine is a fairly large country, so its armaments must be of a certain quality and quantity. Strict training is also for this purpose.

Today's joint exercise was conducted by selected personnel from the First Knights and the Monster Suppression Force. This was a regular training exercise, with each team sending fifty men, over half of whom were young knights.

"Anyway, we need to keep him immobilized. His family has excluded him anyway, so even if something happens, it won't be a problem."

"That's too much..."

“That’s not good…”

In a corner of the scorching hot training ground, about twenty young knights from the First Knight Order were discussing something with serious expressions.

After hearing the commander's order, the others seemed to want to dissuade him, but he would not listen.

"I didn't tell you to hurt him, I just told you to immobilize him. Isn't it always best to deal with 'agile' enemies first in battle?"

"That's right..."

"It's okay. Everyone, start by dealing with the 'most harmful enemy'. Got it?"

"……yes."

"Understood……"

Finally, the commander forced everyone to accept, and the young knights could only nod reluctantly.

The atmosphere was heavy among these people. Some people standing a little distance away turned their eyes away and listened to what was said.

"They seem to be about to do something strange. Should we stop them?"

"He's still the second son of the Marquis, after all. None of us can stop him. But it sounds like a personal vendetta..."

"When he was a student, he confessed his love to a wealthy girl, but she dumped him because she said she liked Wolffred. His current fiancée heard he was going to a joint exercise with the monster suppression team and asked him to invite Wolffred to a tea party. So he wanted to hurt her and used this as an excuse to reject his fiancée. He's been furious since the day before yesterday."

"This is just outrage..."

The knights sighed in anguish.

The man who gave the instructions was indeed stupid, but if you look at it from another perspective, he is also a bit sympathetic.

One of the knights thought that if he were in his shoes, it would not be difficult to understand why he did not have a good talk with his fiancée, but instead took out his anger on Wolfred.

He glanced at the position opposite. There was only one person who didn't seem to be sweating at all. He looked calm and had a handsome profile.

Even if I don't have any resentment towards him, I still feel that "when I meet the woman I like, I will never let him stand next to me."

"If he looked like that and had magical powers, he'd have no problem marrying the Duke's daughter."

"He is actually dating the former Duchess, but it's probably just a playful relationship for both parties."

"As they say, no one is perfect. But even if he doesn't have any external magical powers, he must have an easy life with how handsome he is."

"Really? I don't want to be like him. What's left after your appearance ages?"

"No, I just need to marry into a good family while I'm still young..."

The group then started talking about appearance and marriage. When Dolino on the opposite side heard this, he stretched himself, turned his back to the First Knights, and began to stretch.

"They are so unscrupulous, they say whatever they want."

"Maybe he didn't expect us to hear it so clearly."

"Why, did you also hear them calling you 'the most harmful person'?"

The two camps were some distance apart, but Wolff seemed to have heard it, and the two men began to whisper to each other.

"After I used the physical enhancement, my hearing also became stronger. And they were already very loud to begin with."

"Have you already enhanced your body this much? It's nice to have extra magic power."

"Dolino, even though you say that, weren't you eavesdropping the whole time?"

"After all, the enemy might reveal their battle strategy through their words, so gathering intelligence is fundamental."

Dolino slightly turned up his black leather glove, revealing a bracelet underneath that glowed faintly red.

"Is that a bracelet that improves hearing? How much does it cost?"

"Why are you so concerned about magic tools lately? This must be quite expensive. I borrowed it from Senpai."

As Dolino put on his gloves, several team members came over.

"Wolfred, you seem to be the target today. Would you like to step back?"

"Alfio-senpai, did you hear that too?"

"My ears are especially good today."

Seeing that Alfio, who was the captain today, was also wearing black gloves, the two of them understood what he meant.

Alfio smiled widely, but his brown eyes were strangely cold.

He was probably angry about Wolff being made a target, and he was also dissatisfied with the First Order's attitude towards combat. Whether it was the fact that a personal vendetta was brought into the exercise, the person who wanted revenge, or the companions who did not stop him, it was all unpleasant.

The First Knights have many members, and most of them are from the aristocracy.

Some of the young nobles looked down on the Monster Suppression Force, mainly due to rumors and their own perceptions of the Monster Suppression Force.

Even though one needs a certain level of strength to join the First Order of Knights, not all those there are the strongest.

In contrast, joining a monster-suppression team generally makes you stronger. Besides the occasional expeditions, they also have to fight monsters at the risk of their lives, so regardless of your status, you will become stronger and the team will become more united.

This was also one of the purposes of the joint exercise. After the actual combat, many people no longer dared to underestimate the troops and began to work hard to become stronger.

Unfortunately, some people may not have a correct understanding even after fighting.

"Um, if we talk about this now, won't the other party hear us?"

"I followed my senior's advice and put an anti-eavesdropping device in my pocket, and turned it on."

"I use a bracelet. I can't let my battle strategy get out, so I always carry it with me. There are also many monsters with high intelligence."

Dorino and Alfio answered with their backs to the enemy camp. Wolf continued to ask:

"Then why aren't they wearing them?"

"The troops behind them are wearing them, but the only ones hearing their words are the young men in front. They're high-ranking nobles, but they live a very comfortable life. It's time to teach these promising young knights a lesson."

Alfio's tone suddenly became polite and seemed particularly terrifying.

Anti-eavesdropping magic tools were indeed considered essential items for the nobility, but even Wolff hadn't thought of bringing them to the training ground.

"I've never brought it once..."

"You've never been in charge of making battle plans before, nor have you said anything that shouldn't be heard? You've always just followed orders and served as the vanguard."