Edit: Hullwill -> Halwill
The third day after leaving Slanzewi.
If all goes well, they should be able to reach the city of Halwill before the evening.
The surrendered Sharfi was located in the center of the caravan where Ryo and Ra were.
Sharfi had an ice film around his heart to protect him from the cursed tattoo.
It was due to Gecko’s consideration that it would be better if Ryo, the creator of the ice film, was nearby.
Of course, that 『consideration』 didn’t work in the right direction for Sharfi.
Sharfi was now, of course, walking on his own feet.
However, he was covered with ice from around the waist to the neck, and when viewed from a distance, it looked as if he had been pierced by a pillar of ice.
That was mainly a measure Ryo took 『without any other choice』 to deprive both his hands of their freedom and prevent him from doing anything bad.
“Hey … Ryo-san. Can’t you do something about this ice restraint? Leaving aside how it looks, walking in a state where my arms are attached to the body makes it difficult to balance and I’m about to fall.”
“Haa … how many times do you want to say that? There’s no telling what an assassin can do with their hands free. It’s dangerous, isn’t it? I only restrained you that way as a last resort. Actually, I wanted to cover your legs, face, and even your mouth with ice. The entire body of an assassin is a weapon. And I don’t know where you would hide hidden weapons.”
“Agreed. And we have to walk beside such a dangerous person … it’s hard being an adventurer.”
Sharfi complained, Ryo grumbled in retaliation, and Ra followed suit.
“No, you guys stripped all the weapons I had … And, , when my head is itchy or I want to scratch my nose, it’s pretty rough because I can’t use my hands.”
Ryo groaned and used Water-Attribute Magic to create an ice mask that covered Sharfi’s entire head and connected it to an ice straitjacket that extended up to his neck.
And he did some more detailed work.
“Now, there you go. With this, you can scratch the top of your head by moving your right index finger a little. You can also scratch your nose by moving your left index finger a little. Even with your arms fixed, you can scratch with just a little movement of your fingertips. Isn’t that great? Thank me.”
“Wow … it looks like crap, but it’s still crazy detailed …”
Ra, who was looking sideways, was surprised at the sight.
Sharfi, whose mouth was blocked by the ice mask, couldn’t say thanks or protest …
In the evening, the party arrived at the gate of the city of Halwill.
Ryo, as expected, thought that it would not be too good to enter the city in that getup, so he removed Sharfi’s ice mask.
“Even if your head or nose is itchy, it’s only for a short time, so please be patient.”
“No, that’s not the point! I don’t want such an ice mask!”
However, Sharfi was angry for some reason.
It was an ice mask that he was confident about, but it seemed that Sharfi didn’t like it.
“Even though I worked so hard on it … I wonder if the design needs a little more contemporary artistic features …. Perhaps it suffers from a low evaluation from an artistic point of view because it looks like a 『mask』, but that can’t be helped.”
“Yeah, Ryo, I don’t think that’s the case.”
Ra calmly retorted as Ryo was depressed and reflected to make the most out of this mistake for the future.
“Stop bullshitting me, Ryo. I will remember you.”
Sharfi, who was angry, sweared at Ryo.
“Yeah, it seems that you didn’t like the mask, maybe you want to spend the entire time we’re in the city in the ice coffin. I think we should apply to bring you into the city as an ice object.”
“… No, Ryo-san, I’m sorry. That was my bad. Please forgive me.”
Sharfi had seen his three ice-encased subordinates.
He really wanted to avoid being in that situation.
Moreover, in the city.
Therefore, he quickly admitted his fault.
Partly due to Gecko’s intervention, Sharfi was able to enter the city as a member of a caravan, with even his ice straitjacket removed.
He took on the status as one of the five escorts who were killed by the time the caravan reached the city of Rune.
Max showed a slightly complicated expression at that, but he followed Gecko’s instructions without saying anything.
Max knew in his head that was the best way to do it.
Even at the Gecko Caravan’s usual residence in the city of Halwill, Sharfi was able to spend time without any restrictions on his movements.
However, he was put into a triple room, which was the same room as Ryo and Ra.
They stayed overnight at Halwill, but nothing happened and the group was able to leave the next morning.
“Sharfi, I have a good idea. You don’t have to worry about falling, we can rest assured, and you won’t get tired at all.”
“It sounds very good as far as you described it but …”
When Ra heard Ryo’s suggestion, he muttered a little hesitantly.
And then, Ryo used Water-Attribute Magic.
Sharfi, encased in an ice straitjacket from neck to toes, on Ryo’s magic .
The had a total length of about 2 meters, and modern Earthlings may have thought that it was a kind of small tank …
For the people of 『Phi』, it was a special ice object that runs independently … but it was somewhat strange to ferry humans?
In fact, everyone who passed by on the highway stared at Sharfi without exception.
As an assassin, Sharfi, who had lived in the shadows for a long time, couldn’t stand such shameful exhibition.
“Ryo-san, I’m sorry. I’ll walk by myself without complaining. No, I want to walk. No, please let me walk, please!”
Ryo looked at Sharfi, who desperately wanted to walk on his own, with a curious look.
He didn’t have to worry about falling and didn’t have to walk on his own, so he won’t get tired.
He made a perfect solution for the conditions.
But it seemed that the word 『shame』 had slipped from Ryo’s mind.
“The guy’s saying so himself, so why don’t you let him walk?”
Ra intervened as Sharfi desperately begged to walk with his own feet.
“Well, if Ra-san says so.”
With that said, the was released, and the ice straitjacket was changed back to the neck to the waist prototype as it was in the beginning.
After that, Sharfi continued walking without complaining, as he declared.
The middle of the journey.
There was a common sight in the second half of several breaks.
Gecko’s subordinates, who were not escorts or adventurers, were doing something like magic practice.
“Hey, what are they doing?”
Sharfi, sitting down and watching the scene, asked Ra, who was sitting next to him, the question.
“Oh, they are children who can use Water Magic, so it seems that they are training to build an ice wall like Ryo.”
Sharfi became speechless.
That incredibly hard ice wall.
At first he thought it was a , but later when he heard that it was a transparent ice wall, he was really shocked.
It deflected the spear Sharfi threw and he had to charge in … and eventually fall into the plight of surrendering.
Will those children be able to cast that ice wall?
“No, that’s impossible, right?”
Sharfi shook his head and muttered with his own desires.
“At first, I thought so too. But in just a few days, some kids managed to form the shape. When many merchants can create such an ice wall, the assassination business would be doomed.”
Upon hearing that, Sharfi gave a small, dry laugh.
“I’m glad I retired from being an assassin …”