As I walked inside the herbalist's store, a powerful aroma of dried herbs assaulted my nostrils.
All kinds of herbs could be seen either tied up and hanging down or stored on the shelves, some of them in bundles, others stored in jars.
After glancing around, I approached the counter.
But before me was a queue of 6 people.
Unlucky. The other shops were all mostly empty.
"It seems there aren't many people here today. We're lucky," Gilbert said.
Ah, no. We're lucky.
Perhaps seeing my expression, Gilbert added, "Healing herbs are usually the option for people who can't afford a physician, so they're quite popular among the common folk."
It seems Gilbert became more talkative as time passed…
But anyway, I already knew that much.
Back in Buena village I once visited Zenith in the clinic and met with the village's herbalist.
I had a feeling that the Alchemy was not very developed in this world, but it was not as if it was non-existent.
Herbs would grow in the forests, absorbing magical energy from the air and gain magical properties. There were also herbs that were magical herbs by nature.
For villages and places without someone who can cast healing and detoxification magic, herbalists would collect herbs, dry and store them, and create remedies.
For cities, wouldn't there be many healers here and the herbs would not be on hand?
A single Elementary-ranked healing or detoxification spell and you're fully healed…
But perhaps herbs are mainly used for illnesses rather than wounds, in place of Intermediate-rank Detoxification magic. Healing magic can't remove diseases, only Detoxification magic which isn't as simple as Healing magic.
But for what interested me, there are herbs in this world that are said to be effective at improving the regeneration of wounds. I wanted to get different kinds of the best healing remedies and see whether they can augment my physical training.
I asked Zenith before what kinds of healing herbs are most-often used by adventurers, so I already had a general idea of what is trusted and good.
The most popular herbs among adventurers were three: one that's applied on the wound to improve healing and stop blood loss, a tea-like extract drunk to cure flu and other diseases, and pills consumed in emergency to thicken blood and to stop blood loss. There were also herbs that worked as a semi-universal detoxifier against weak poisons.
Neither of those interested me.
Using a paste that's applied on wounds isn't practical, a herb that boosts the immune system might only be counterproductive while a blood thickener was useless to me as well.
The only thing I wanted were herbs that are consumed and improve healing and regeneration from the inside. Or something that can 'help restore strength with a night's sleep after a hard day of training or working'.
After waiting in the queue for about 10 minutes, it was finally my turn.
I talked with one of the two shopclerks and eventually bought some healing herbs suitable for my needs that were in the mid-price range and also a Blood Ginseng - a plant that's said to make you more energetic and help restore blood.
I spent 3 Asura Silver Coins altogether. My budget immediately dropped to 2 Silver Coins.
I'll test these healing herbs later. Hopefully, it isn't wasted effort.
…
Walking with Gilbert, I eventually returned to the manor.
I wondered how I should go about taking and accurately testing the medicine I bought…
As I was thinking that, a red wild boar appeared.
Ah sorry, I mean a red-haired young miss of the Boreboreboreas family.
Eris ran over and loudly questioned me, "Where were you?!"
"I was exploring the city."
"Ah. How was it?!"
"It was amazing."
"Of course! You're from a village, right?!"
"Yes."
"Hmph!"
As she crossed her arms in front of her chest, she looked quite happy and satisfied.
Yes, I'm a country bumpkin. Your city is amazing, miss!
I'll let her have this satisfaction.
But did she need to shout her every line?
…
After coming back, I did a workout with the purpose of testing the effect of medicinal herbs.
I also visited Philip and had him introduce me to a blacksmith.
Using most of my remaining 2 Silver Coins, I ordered a few strong steel and iron poles of various lengths.
When two days passed, Philip informed me that the preparations for the kidnapping plot were made, asking me to confirm whether I want to go through with this or not.
Of course, I agreed.
Next day Eris, Ghilsaine and I went out together to a clothing store in Roa.
It did not take long before Eris, as expected, wanted to go out and brought us all to explore the city.
According to the plan, at one point Ghislaine looked away and lost track of our movements.
I followed Eris which she did not mind Ghislaine and dragged me across the city to proudly show me how amazing Roa is whilst I acted slightly like a country-bumpkin.
Someone appeared and knocked us out.
***
I opened my eyes and found myself in the middle of a dingy storehouse.
Sunlight filtered in through an iron-barred window.
The plan worked well so far.
I was in pain, but as far as I could tell, no bones were broken.
I inwardly willed to cast a healing spell on myself to get rid of any of the bruises and pain.
'!!!'
But that was when I realized that something was wrong.
As I cast a healing spell, something began to suck in all of my mana.
As a result, nothing happened.
What?!
I tried again, but the result was the same.
I began to panic. Something was blocking my magic.
I hurriedly raised my head up while getting on my knees, and looked around while still being bound behind my back.
The storehouse was covered in dust and filled with junk.
I felt my hands being held captive by iron cuffs.
I tried to use a healing spell again, fruitlessly.
I had a feeling. The iron cuffs holding my hands should be blocking my magic.
A Magic Tool.
I already saw something like this in the Magicians' Guild.
F*ck.
We should have been kidnapped by real kidnappers.
The time was 2 years earlier, but the situation was probably the same as in the novel.
After seeing the slimy-looking fat butler, I already knew that this might happen.
But I did not worry. Since I could easily use my magic to escape, no matter the circumstances.
The problem was they were better prepared to deal with me than I thought!
It should have all been because Ghislaine praised my magic talent inside that meeting room.
Damn it!
Is there really no way? Can't I break through those cuffs somehow?
"Mmm… ungh?"
As I was thinking that, Eris was waking up as well.
She opened her eyes, didn't recognize her surroundings, and tried jumping to her feet.
But since her hands were tied behind her back, she fell over and squiremed like a caterpillar instead.
She lost her cool the moment she realized she couldn't move. "What the hell?! Is this some kind of joke?! Do you know who I am?! Untie me now!!!"
Her voice was unbearably loud.
"Shut your fucking mouth, brat!" The door banged open and a man came in.
A rough face and equally rough clothing with a foul stench to them. He was bald and his face unshaved.
"Eww! You stink! Don't come close! You stink so bad! What do you think you're doing?! Grandfather will make you lose your head! Gah!-"
Whack!
She was sent flying with an audible whoosh.
"Aagh!" A loud cry left her mouth as she slammed into the wall.
"Fucking brat! Think you can mouth off to me, huh?! We know exactly who you are, bitch! The lord's grandchild!"
The man did not hold back at all as he again and again began stomping and kicking Eris whose hands were tied behind her back.
"It hurts… Agh… Stop!... Stop it… Agh!!!"
The man continued kicking Eris for a while.
Damn it, he was brutal.
And I felt so weak and helpless…
I can't use magic.
No, even if I could somehow disable the anti-magic cuffs, I would still have my hands cuffed behind my back for a while.
If it was discovered that I got rid of them in this situation, I would be attacked instead at close range. It was not the right moment to take action yet...
I wanted to at least tell the man to stop, but If I did that, I felt it would only agitate him to be more brutal. He might have also beaten me up instead for being cocky. And if I really could not use magic, it would not help anyone.
I could do nothing, but wait until he's finished.
"Phu!" When finished, he spat on Eris's face and glared at me.
I turned my head to avoid his gaze.
Still, a kick came flying at my face and sent me sprawling on the ground.
"...Agh!"
That hurt!
What was that for?!
"You better not try anything, brat! We already know you can do some magic tricks. These cuffs will block all your magic, so just give up! We spent a lot of money on 'em!"
The man clicked his tongue and then left.
As the doors closed, I could hear voices beyond the door.
"Did they shut up?"
"Yeah."
"You didn't kill them, did you?"
"Nah, I went easy on 'em."
"Hope so. Beat them up too bad and the price will go down."
'Went easy my ass!'
*Phu!*
I frowned while I felt the pulsating hot pain on my face and spat out some blood.
No, calm down, focus on the important things.
If these are the same cuffs as in the Magicians' Guild, then for me they should only be a gimmick.
These were described to only block Elementary to Intermediate ranked magicians.
Just because the kidnapper said the cuffs will block my magic, that should just be them looking down on me.
First, see if I can bypass the cuffs. Focus.
Let's see.
Two methods came to mind.
First, overload the Magic Tool with magic. As long as enough mana is poured into the cuffs, they might not be able to keep up and might be overloaded.
Second, try to use Disrupt Magic methods to somehow influence the cuffs.
Ah, I can use Howling Magic too maybe, even if my hands are bound, but this one is only good for causing shockwaves… For me, Howling magic was mostly just a last-resort. A single strong use injures my throat as well.
A crude Howling Disrupt Magic might also be possible, but I didn't yet get it up to a level where it's practical.
For now, let's just go with the first and simplest method and see.
Which spell should I choose?
As long as it's at least Advanced rank spell used with Chantless Magic, the flow of mana would be maximized.
As I thought about it, it didn't even matter what kind of spell I wanted to cast. The focus here was an overwhelming amount of mana, not on the effect.
No.
If that's the case, then there is no need for a spell.
I can simply use my old trusted method of sending out pure mana in large quantities.
I hyped myself inwardly and began to pour my mana out through both of my hands faster and faster.
At first, nothing was happening as the cuffs were sucking in my mana.
But after a moment, I felt that the resistance suddenly disappeared.
I was then freely sending out my mana through my hands with no obstructions.
The cuffs seemed to have been overloaded. The restraints on me broke almost instantly.
Just like that?
I then cast a healing spell on myself.
There was no problem. X-healing removed all my pain and injuries.
I see.
It was not even about the total amount of mana the magic tool can absorb. It was about mana per second!
I simply went above the limit of mana the Magic Tool can suppress per second.
It was as simple as that. The simplest method worked.
"Ufff." I let out a small breath of relief.
The biggest hurdle was behind me.
The bandits have prepared to deal with me, but they underestimated my magic power.
This Magic Tool was a single gold coin. That was a lot of money, but to retrain a Saint-King rank magician, it was of course way too weak.
However, after this I had to still remove the iron cuffs from my hands that were held prison behind my back. I was still lying on the ground.
I could not use magic properly like this.
But for this, I knew exactly the right spell to use.
[Water Slice]
In truth, this kind of spell did not originally exist in this world.
There is a Wind Slice spell, Ice Edge and even Fire Slice, but there was no 'Water Slice'.
It was something I developed myself.
Water has very strange properties. It makes it currently the sharpest commonly-used blade on Earth that's used for cutting very hard things like steel and even diamonds.
It's the so-called Waterjet Cutter.
Basing it on the idea behind an industrialized waterjet cutter, I tightly pressurized water and tried to create a blade of water that would cut through anything.
Unfortunately, that spell was a failure.
Or rather, it was only a partial succeess.
Firstly, I quickly realized that it was a must to include tiny abrasive grains in the water.
Just water alone was not enough. If it was a pure water blade, it was a very weak kind of move. If I recall correctly, on Earth water-only blades were only used to cut soft things like plastic and wood, but for anything harder including tiny abrasive grains was a must.
That's why I mixed Water Magic with Earth Magic to add tiny grains of sand into the waterjet.
But it was still not a powerful battlefield move. Creating useful spells is not easy.
It could indeed cut through very hard materials, but it required a continuous stream of water to *slowly* and *gradually* cut through things.
If the spell is sent out in the form of a spinning water blade, the result is a bit mediocre. It cuts into things, but only partially and then falls apart because it isn't solid enough.
It was a spell that could be used in a magical workshop to cut through hard materials rather than in combat.
But right now it was exactly the spell I needed.
I could use it to carefully free me from the iron handcuffs without any noise that a [Sonic Boom] wind blade and [Ice Edge] would make, and without burning my hands like a [Flame Slice] might.
Using the Ice Edge spell as a base, I created a tightly compressed thin spinning crescent blade of water that I filled with tiny sand grains.
It was not the same as a waterjet cutter used on Earth, but it worked in a similar way. If it was thin enough, it was rather quiet as well.
I had to free my hands, but I could not see behind me.
But I knew that there was a metal plate connecting the two cuffs.
Getting onto my knees again, I pushed my arms out behind me and spread them out as much as possible.
Relying on my imagination, I then controlled the spinning water blade to slash apart the cuffs in half, keeping it spinning. Because I did not release the spell, I could keep it spinning within my control range similar to keeping a fireball burning or a stone bullet spinning before release.
Fortunately, all I needed to do was slice the metal in between my wrists. The cuffs were quite large compared to my arms and hands, so aiming was easy.
The tightly compressed water blade kept spinning at high speed. It took dual-casting and all of my concentration to maintain that spell.
The water blade cut into the metal like into butter and soon enough I felt my hands no longer being held together.
Good!
I dispelled my Water Slice and slowly got up.
Now that I could use magic again and my hands were free, I felt much better.
I approached where Eris was.
Blood was pouring out of her nose. She stared blankly as she mumbled hatefully: "You won't get away with this, you won't get away with this…"
She mumbled that, together with curses that were not quite fitting for a young noble lady to say.
My expression hardened as I saw her bloodied and crying pitiful state.
That man was too brutal.
I'll now heal Eris and directly deal with those bandits.
They underestimated me with those low-grade cuffs.
Rudeus did escape instead of fighting, trying to make Eris realize that strength was not enough, but where did it get him?
After everything, she still only wanted to learn magic and didn't even respect him all that much.
Since I knew this, I might as well try a different approach.
The first real battle… coming up!