They were out for a picnic.
　Tart is walking around in a good mood with his basket.
　Since early morning, he has been making his lunch with great enthusiasm and is now looking forward to eating it.

'I knew it, cooking. I'm going to learn to do it too. The tart is earning me a lot of points.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather have Dia do well in her magical research than learn to cook.
'Yes!　I'm not sure I'll be able to stand if Lady Dear even cook for me.
Well Tart, I didn't mean it like that.
All right. Well, I'll leave the cooking to the tarts. I need to do some magic for my specialty. Here.
A new kind of magic.
Yeah. The rogue asked me to do this. I've been making more powerful magic, or more complex magic, but faster magic. I tried to come up with a sorcery that specializes in speed. I compressed the information to the limit and made it as short as possible. It's simple magic and not very accurate, but it's very fast and easy to use.
Thank goodness. Magic in a real battle is, after all, difficult to use.

Chanting exists in magic.
　It is very difficult to chant while in close combat.
　In real combat, it is almost impossible to use it except for some magic, such as wind armor.
　Tart's beloved armor of wind allows him to wear wind armor that moves at will, allowing him to finish chanting and benefit from it for a while before battle.
　However, most magic does not work that way.

Originally, the style of a wizard was to complete chanting while being protected by the vanguard, and it might be inevitable that magic can't be used in close proximity.
　........I just wanted to do something about that inevitability.
　In order to do so, he has been researching various things with Dia and one of them is magic that specializes in speed.
　Deciphering Dia's formula.
　He compressed the formula to the extreme, and he thought it was artistic, even beautiful.
　What good taste. I can't put this one together.

"It's a good formula. With my [formula weaver], I'll make it into a new magic as soon as possible.
Hmmm, what three lines. We could trigger it in a second.
Yeah.

He has trained his tongue for fast chanting and can chant much faster than an ordinary person.
　A magic formula of only three lines of magic can be invoked in one second, or even less.
　With this, you can do it on the spur of the moment in battle. It's within the practical range.

It's a pity that it's a fire attribute. I can't use it for me.
The tart has the armor of the wind, so why not?
'That one, I've been able to use it in real battles by starting the chanting in a whisper before the battle starts, but once it unravels, it's hopeless to call it back.

That's true too.
　That's only a powerful magic, and it has a long chanting time.
　Tart looks at Dia's face with a greedy look.

''Okay, I'll set up a wind magic formula for you as well. But in return, you have to bake another cake. ........Tart's cakes are strangely delicious even though they aren't made with expensive ingredients. Their technique isn't even better than our pastry chef's.
Um, well, I mean, is it because you have a lot of affection?
Why the question mark?

Tart and Dia laugh at each other.
　It's true that the cake baked by Tart is delicious.
　The ingredients and cooking methods are ordinary, but the taste is very refreshing.

"By the way, this mountain is very easy to walk in. It's a perfect place for a picnic.
Yes, well, there's plenty of room for improvement.
They use this area for marching. Well-maintained.

Climbing a mountain that is uninhabited is extremely tiring.
　There was no road, and we had to clear the vegetation with a machete to make good progress.
　We had to clear the grass and trees with a machete to make good progress.

We got off the road soon. From here on, it's not going to be like this. But there's a good spot at the end of the beast trail.
'This is why I said no servant clothes. If you walk into a place like this in those clothes, you'll get your skirt and all that stuff caught.
'Yes. These clothes are nice and easy to move in.

All three of them were clad in Touahade's battle clothes and wore robes over them.
　The form of the robe had few exposed parts and clung to the body, so it was easy to traverse the beast path.
　I folded the robe up, packed it in my bag, and moved on.
　I led the way, knifing through the trees in my way, and we came to our destination.

'Wow, it's a beautiful riverbed. Very spacious. The sound of the water soothes me.

You've got a lot of room to rampage.
'Yeah, that's why I picked this place. Let's get hungry first." "Yes, I'll spread the lunch out.

Tart lays down the sheet and opens the basket.
　It was a large pie today.
　As he cut it, a piece of minced meat sauce peeked out from inside. It looks really good.
　I served the pie to the guests.

I've baked a meat pie today.
'It looks good. But it tastes even better this way.

Dia uses magic to warm up a meat pie.
　It's a flame attribute magic, but it's a magic that heats the target from the inside out without the use of flames. ........This was also made by Dia.
　Originally, it was for assassination, a very useful thing that can be killed by touching it without sound.

''Ah, only Dia-sama is unfair. Please keep mine warm too.
Mine too, please.... we've had this exchange before.

It's a formula weaving thing, and since I'm making it magical, I can use it too, but I'm not sure I can handle the subtle control.
　Probably overheating it.

'It can't be helped. 'Here you go.'
'Wow, it's a luxury to have a hot meal outside. Lady Dear is still amazing.
"The tart meat pie is amazing. This one's good. It's crispy and crunchy, and the luscious tomato and beef sauce flows out of it. I love the melted cheese peeking out from the back. It's rich.
It's minced meat, so it's surprisingly cheap. The tomatoes are grown in the school, and they were given to me for free.

On holidays, the cafeteria is closed and there is no food rationing.
　Thus, I am grateful to the tart for making something cheap and delicious.

'Speaking of which, Lug. Are you glad you didn't see that boy?
　I'm sure Dia is referring to Epona.
　She is telling these two that Epona is being targeted by assassins.

'You saw her mock fight with me. No one could kill that thing. Besides, I asked Noish to watch. That's what he said. You left a gap in the sand and set a trap. Hopefully, he'll take the bait.

There were traces and signs of it, but he was only spying on the situation in the distance and not acting on it.
　It's probably because he's a cautious assassin.
　However, if he shows an opening like this, he might move.

''I hope you're thinking about it properly.
Of course.

As I told Dia, I'm not worried about Epona being killed. Rather, the main goal is to secure the test subjects needed to give the Tart the Eye of Touahade.

'Then let's get started. 'Well, Dear, I have written down the magic trick I mentioned earlier. Try this one.
'Yeah, I'm going to try. Fast magic that can be used at close range watch.

Dia chants.

''[Instant flame]'

In less than a second, the chanting ended and flames erupted.
　It's super hot because it's filled with strong magic.
　It's easy enough to burn a person to death.

'Yeah, it just shoots flames. It doesn't converge, so it spreads quickly, but it's a quick reaction anyway. The more magic you put into it, the more powerful it becomes.
'Yes, it's handy. I like to be able to release it no matter what position I'm in.

For example, you can use it to break your stance with a sword slash, and in a situation where there's no way to avoid the next attack, you can use it to shoot out flames.
　Magic that is activated in less than a second is not expected.
　If it's the first time you see it, you can hit it unconditionally.

''You have developed a good magic.

I've used it myself, and it's very useful.
　I put all my power into it, and it's quite a firepower.
　Its short range is a weakness, but it's within the acceptable range.

'Seeing that one, I thought again. I also want this kind of magic. A wind version of this would be more useful than flames, such as blowing away opponents, regrouping, and accelerating at once.

I agree with that.
　It's similar in use to wind armor, but the big thing is that it's an immediate activation.

'Well, I'll take care of it. I'll make some wind ones. I can't use it, but I'm sure both Tart and Lug will use it well. Well, my magic experiment is over. Now it's Lug's turn.
''Well let me show you my special move. I've been thinking about the magic bag, how to use it. In the end, I came to the point where I could effectively use the fact that I could carry as many weapons as I wanted. For example, my [gunshot]. That one takes time to create a gun, put a bullet in it, and use it to use explosive magic.
'Yes, but with the magic bag, you can carry it packed with bullets from the beginning, so the activation will be shorter. But that's not too plain.
That's all. But I've told you. You can take as much as you want. So I can do this.

The magic power that was supplying the magic bag was cut off.
　Then, the different space contracted and the contents were blown out at once.

The ones that were blown out were the size of tank guns, not for 【Firefighting】 but for 【Artillery】, as many as 20 of them. All of those guns were filled with foul stones filled with magic power to a critical mass.
　If size wasn't a concern, then it should be a more powerful gun, and if you increase the number of guns, then the attack power would increase.

Releasing magic power, the foul stones of all the guns taken out were put into a critical breakthrough state.
　There was a squealing sound and a premonition that the foul stones would burst apart.
　In addition, I complete the magic that I've been chanting from earlier.

''Magnetic Force Manipulation.''

A magnetic force field controls the direction of all the guns, and the twenty guns fixed in the air begin to roar.
　I'm used to it, and both Dia and Tart have their ears covered and their mouths half open without warning.

''Fire at once!''

Twenty [bombardments] were released at exactly the same time.
　The power and range is incomparable to a single shot.
　The other side of the river turns into scorched earth.
　A great success.

........but there was one miscalculation, I was going to shoot it fixed in the air, but it couldn't withstand the recoil and the gun was all blown backwards by the recoil.

It's too dangerous to use when there's an ally behind you.
　After all, the countermeasure is indispensable, such as fixing it on the ground before firing, or using a recoilless gun.
　You can't use it for anything.

This is a special move that uses a magic bag. It can fire dozens of [artillery] shots at the target at the same time. If you want to name it, it's [Bombardment Firing].

Each shot fired with a power equivalent to a tank gun.
　It also takes almost no time to prepare.
　It wouldn't be a problem to say that this was a new special move.

'What in the world is this thing supposed to be used for?　Even dragons can afford it!
Yes, at least I don't think it's magic to use on humans.
I'm not sure I'll ever be able to use it against a brave man. I'd like to hit them with the divine spear, but that can't be used in battle. I made this kind of thing as a next step.
That's too much!
I'm telling you. I'm not so sure about this. I'm the one who fought in the war.

That's how strong the brave men are.
　That's why I can't believe that there's an assassin other than me who's aiming at that thing.

The practice of the special move is over. From now on, we're going to train in a large field for the first time in a long time. Let's see what you've done so far.
Okay. I'll show you how much I've grown.
I'm still getting stronger, too!

He smiles.
　Then I trained them both thoroughly.
　I can say that it was a training session that was even more wearing than usual with a large field and good food after a long time.
　As for Dia, she used up all her strength and I had to carry her on my back on the way home.

'Master Rouges, I had a great time today,'
'Yes, I knew the school was stifling. Not a bad idea to get out there.

It's been a good day off.
　.... we'll check the traps when we get home.

The sooner we get the assassin to safety, the better.