Chapter 16
Elior POV
I looked down at the little cub in my arms.
She had stopped crying a while ago and was now quietly staring at me.
Her golden eyes were fixed on mine.
I smiled gently.
"Would you like to come with me?"
Her ears immediately perked up.
Kyuu~
She nodded.
I smiled.
"Then it's settled."
I gently scratched behind her ears.
"First of all, though, we need a name for you."
The little fox tilted her head.
"Hmm…"
I thought for a moment.
"How about… Luna?"
Her ears twitched.
"Luna means moon."
Her tail immediately started wagging.
Kyuu~
I laughed.
"Great! Then your name will be Luna."
She happily rubbed her head against my chest.
"Looks like you like it."
I glanced down at myself.
I was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves folded up, deliberately leaving my guild mark visible on my right forearm.
I had paired it with black trousers, a red robe over the shirt, and black formal shoes.
I looked at myself for a moment.
I know this is a quest and not a party…
But I like dressing this way.
There was nothing wrong with looking good while working.
I carefully placed Luna inside the chest pocket of my shirt.
Only her little head remained outside.
She looked around curiously.
"Comfortable?"
Kyuu~
"I'll take that as a yes."
I stepped outside the cave.
The cold mountain air immediately hit me.
I floated a few feet above the ground and closed my eyes.
My magical perception expanded across the mountain.
I was searching for the second material.
Unlike Reflexia, this one didn't have any connection to the Light Element.
That made it considerably harder for me to identify.
I slowly scanned the surrounding area.
Magical energy.
Living creatures.
Plants.
Minerals.
Natural ethernano fluctuations.
I filtered through everything one by one.
Nothing.
I moved higher.
Still nothing.
Then I moved toward the other side of the mountain.
Hours passed.
This is taking longer than I expected.
I continued searching.
Eventually, I finally detected something unusual.
A faint magical signature.
I opened my eyes.
"There you are."
The material was somewhere around the middle section of the mountain.
I flew toward it.
Luna's head popped out of my pocket as she looked around.
"Don't worry. We're almost there."
Kyuu~
As I traveled, I kept my speed relatively low.
Traveling at extreme speeds while carrying another living creature wasn't something I could do carelessly.
My own body could withstand the forces involved because of my physical conditioning and Light Magic.
Luna couldn't.
Without a sufficiently strong body, accelerating too quickly could cause serious injuries from the forces involved.
So for now, I kept a reasonable speed.
Eventually, I reached the location.
I looked around.
Nothing.
I frowned.
Then I looked upward.
"Huh?"
There it was.
Hanging from the branch of a massive tree was a giant beehive.
"A beehive?"
I flew closer.
Then I sensed the magical energy inside.
Oh.
"Not just any beehive."
This was a hive belonging to a rare species of magical bees commonly known as Bumblebees.
They produced an incredibly delicious and valuable honey.
Their honey was particularly famous among wealthy merchants and nobles.
And apparently, someone was willing to pay a considerable amount of money to obtain it.
The reason this was classified as a B-rank quest was because of the bees themselves.
The queen was around C-rank in strength.
The worker bees were weaker, roughly comparable to D-rank magical beasts.
Individually, they weren't particularly threatening.
But there were hundreds of them.
A large swarm could easily overwhelm most mages below A-rank.
I looked at the hive.
Then at Luna.
"Well…"
I smiled.
"This should be easy."
I raised my hand.
A thin barrier of light immediately surrounded Luna.
She looked at it curiously.
"Kyuu?"
"Don't worry. It's just protection."
I gently tapped her head.
"You'll be safe."
Kyuu~
Satisfied, Luna settled back into my pocket.
I floated toward the hive.
I reached into my storage ring and pulled out the jar provided for the quest.
I carefully positioned myself beneath the hive.
"Alright…"
I placed one hand against the hive.
"Let's see how much honey we can get."
I condensed my magic around my hand and gently squeezed.
Golden honey began flowing from the hive.
I quickly positioned the jar underneath it.
The honey slowly filled the container.
Everything was going perfectly.
Until—
BZZZZZZZZ!
I looked up.
A swarm of bees burst out of the hive.
"Oh."
Hundreds of bees rushed toward me.
They immediately began attacking.
Stingers came from every direction.
I didn't bother moving.
The first bee struck my body.
Its stinger passed straight through me.
Then another.
And another.
They simply passed through my elemental body without being able to touch me.
I looked down at Luna.
The barrier surrounding her remained perfectly intact.
She was staring at the scene with wide eyes.
I grinned.
"Hahaha!"
I couldn't help laughing.
"Elemental Body is seriously overpowered."
The bees continued attacking.
None of them could do anything.
I kept collecting honey.
Once the jar was full, I stopped squeezing the hive.
I quickly sealed the container with its lid.
"That's enough."
I glanced toward the hive.
The queen still hadn't appeared.
Perfect.
I immediately flew away.
The swarm chased me for a short distance before eventually returning to the hive.
I landed several dozen meters away.
Luna poked her head out of my pocket.
Kyuu!
She looked extremely impressed.
I chuckled.
"What?"
Kyuu!
"You thought that was cool?"
She nodded rapidly.
I laughed.
"Well, you'll see plenty more things like that."
I looked toward the sky.
The sun was beginning to set.
The mountains were already becoming darker.
"It'll be night soon."
I looked back toward the cave where I had found the Reflexia.
"I think I'll stay there tonight."
There was no point continuing into the darkness.
I flew back toward the cave.
Once I reached the entrance, I walked inside.
The cave was still warm and surprisingly comfortable.
I made my way toward the deepest section.
Then I opened my storage ring.
I reached inside.
And pulled out…
A king-sized bed.
I placed it on the ground.
Luna stared at it.
Kyuu?
I smiled.
"Don't ask."
I then pulled out dinner.
A freshly cooked steak.
And a bowl of milk for Luna.
She immediately became interested.
"Food first."
I sat down and began eating.
Luna happily drank her milk beside me.
I glanced at the ring.
Irene seriously went a little overboard while filling this thing.
The storage space contained practically everything.
Food.
Clothes.
Medicine.
Tools.
Camping supplies.
Money.
And apparently…
A king-sized bed.
I wasn't complaining.
After dinner, I changed into my nightwear.
Luna curled up on the bed.
I lay down beside her.
She looked around for a moment before climbing onto my chest.
I gently stroked her fur.
"Comfortable?"
Kyuu~
"Good."
I looked toward the glowing patch of Reflexia at the far end of the cave.
I raised one hand.
I slowly rotated my wrist counterclockwise.
The light radiating from the herbs began to dim.
Gradually.
Slowly.
Until the entire patch went dark.
It was a simple application of my control over light.
I didn't actually need the hand movement.
I could accomplish the same thing with nothing more than thought.
But…
This way is more interesting.
I looked down at Luna.
She was already closing her eyes.
"Good night, Luna."
Kyuu~
I smiled.
"Sleep well."
The cave became completely dark.
For the first time since leaving Magnolia, I finally allowed myself to relax.
Tomorrow, I still had one more material to collect.
And then…
The bandit quest.
I closed my eyes.
I wonder what kind of trouble I'm going to find tomorrow.
With Luna sleeping peacefully on my chest, I slowly drifted off to sleep.