After successfully subduing all the rogue mages who had attacked Sosshi Village, Brian's group also received heartfelt thanks from the villagers.
Aside from the fact that the old man who had won the bet against Captain Yami also exempted them from the earlier pig-hunting mission, the villagers had gifted them a magic stone that had been kept within the village, something a strange bird brought to them once everything had been settled.
"Is that bird your pet, Brian?"
On the way back to the base, Noelle had asked Brian about the bird that had found the magic stone and was now following him around. Noelle's eyes glimmered as she watched the bird perched on his shoulder, the "I want to keep a pet" expression on her face unmistakably clear.
"No, it's just following me. I'm not keeping it."
Brian answered while carrying Noelle along on his broomstick. "If you want, you can try adopting it and see what happens. Who knows, it might agree to become your pet."
"Is that so..."
Noelle looked at the bird perched on Brian's shoulder. She wanted to reach out and pat its head, but when she caught the warning look in its eyes, she pulled her hand back before it could peck her with a painful jab.
When Brian's group had made their way to Sosshi Village, this bird had been trailing behind them. No one knew how it had managed to keep up with their pace, but in the end it had found the magic stone that was hidden inside the village.
"Hey, Brian, do you think those mages targeted the village because of the magic stone?"
Magna flew right alongside Brian and Noelle, glancing from Brian to the four coffins drifting through the air around their trio.
Those four coffins were the result of Brian's [Earth Coffin] spell. He had captured all the rogue mages and locked them inside those stone coffins to be transported back to the base, where they would be handed over to Captain Yami for processing.
"I'm not certain, but there must be some connection to this magic stone."
Brian held up the magic stone in his hand. "If it wasn't because of this, then I have no idea why these people would attack Sosshi Village. It definitely wasn't because they were looking for a good time."
"Tsk..."
Attacking and massacring innocent people for the sake of entertainment — just thinking about it made Magna's blood boil with disgust at the sheer inhumanity of these mages. Fortunately, the three of them had arrived in time. If they hadn't, the people of Sosshi Village would have died for nothing.
"What worries me most is that they might have been acting on someone else's orders. That's why they would travel all this way to a remote place like Sosshi just to find this magic stone."
Brian continued, nudging one of the nearby coffins with his foot. "Though I'd like to know more about their motives, the job of people like us is only to capture them and report back to our superiors about what happened. If the higher-ups find out anything else during interrogation, that's when we'll finally learn the truth."
"Yeah, let's hope so."
Magna let out a long sigh. Hearing Brian say that, he had nothing to argue against. He looked over at Brian, and for some reason he had the strange feeling that Brian was actually the senior member between the two of them, not him.
In the rescue operation at the village, Magna's contribution had been minimal — one could even say it had been nonexistent. The entire rescue had been carried out by Brian, with Noelle lending her support by protecting the villagers. Magna hadn't done a single thing, and even the commanding role had been taken by Brian.
"Seriously though, how are you even this capable...?"
"Who knows."
Brian laughed as he replied to Magna while Noelle watched him from behind. "I was just born with talent, that's all."
"You really are lucky."
"Not exactly lucky."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You'll understand eventually."
Brian let out a short laugh and shook his head, declining to answer Magna's question. He could also feel Noelle's curious gaze on him.
"You don't need to blame yourself for what happened at Sosshi, either. Those guys could have used the villagers as hostages to force my hand. It was because you and Noelle were there that they got rattled and never resorted to that dirty trick."
"Hey, I'm not beating myself up over it, so don't go trying to comfort me. You're really underestimating me, you know that."
"Weren't you feeling down about not being able to contribute anything?"
"Not at all!"
Magna's eyes went wide as he looked at Brian, who stared back at him in genuine surprise. Magna spoke his mind right away, making sure Brian didn't walk away with a negative impression of him.
"What you did at Sosshi did make me feel like I was useless, sure. But more than that, I'm honestly happy for you and Noelle. I know where my strengths lie, so when I saw you two handle everything so smoothly, I was genuinely glad. Having two talented rookies like you join the squad — how could I not be happy about that?"
"So that means you're happier than you are upset, right?"
"Hey, that's embarrassing! It took a lot for me to say something nice and actually speak my mind, so don't make me repeat it!"
Magna turned away so that neither Noelle nor Brian could see the redness spreading across his face. "The reason I couldn't contribute is because you two are just that good, and I understand that myself. So don't worry about my feelings — just go ahead and show what you're both capable of. In missions going forward, don't hold back your abilities on my account."
Magna's words were completely sincere, and both Brian and Noelle felt it. Brian had thought that Magna might feel useless for letting him and Noelle handle everything at Sosshi Village, but it seemed he really had underestimated Magna after all.
Brian wanted to say something, but he thought better of it. He lightly tapped Noelle's leg, signaling for her to say something to Magna. Noelle resisted a little at first, but when his eyes full of hopeful expectation turned toward her, she gave in.
"Hmph, obviously. It's not like I care what a country bumpkin like you thinks. I'll just do better than you in the missions ahead."
"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean? Weren't you the one who soaked everybody when your spell suddenly spiraled out of control?"
"I'll master using my magic soon enough."
"That's going to take a long time. Until then, you should show a little more respect to your senior."
Magna and Noelle began bickering as the three of them flew back toward the Black Bull base, and the uncomfortable atmosphere that had lingered between them gradually dissolved on the way home.
Sitting quietly at the helm of his broomstick and listening to the two of them argue, Brian silently tallied up the gains their group had made from the entire outing.
In this mission, Noelle was undoubtedly the one who had gained the most. She had learned an exceptionally powerful defensive spell, had her confidence renewed by the villagers she had protected, and had experienced the feeling of being truly recognized while fighting and shielding others with her formidable magic.
What she needed to do once they returned was to practice controlling her magic and grow more proficient with the defensive spell she had just learned. From there, she would only grow stronger.
As for Brian and Magna, neither of them had gained much of anything — if there was anything to show for it, it was the gratitude of the people of Sosshi Village. And that was all. In terms of experience gained, neither of them came close to Noelle.
Even so, Brian was thoroughly satisfied with the way this trip had turned out. Because after today's events, he would ensure that everyone became more vigilant about the figures lurking behind the rogue mages who had attacked Sosshi Village.
When that happened, Brian would be able to help the Clover Kingdom, and himself, avoid the many unfortunate events that would come to pass in the future.