I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Laying Petals for the Chosen One: Hero Chapter 31
“Please, try some of this.”
The Village Chief arrived carrying their evening meal.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it gratefully.”
Knowing they had prepared it with care, Alex accepted it willingly.
After all, commoners understood the hearts of commoners best.
Though he did remember to have Leo taste it first, of course.
[Hmm. Ordinary.]
After sharing Leo’s taste sensations for days—three meals plus snacks—the bone mage, who had once found everything delicious, seemed to have developed standards.
“It’s delicious! Right, Uncle?”
“It is, indeed.”
Alex and Leo, for their part, still found it quite appetizing.
That evening.
Before heading into the forest, Alex laid Leo down on the bed.
“You haven’t forgotten what your uncle taught you, have you?”
At Alex’s words, Leo grasped the Lowest-Grade Mana Stone for Tracking and the pouch of Paralysis Powder placed beside his pillow.
“Nope! Throw it when there’s danger! I didn’t forget!”
“Then your uncle will hurry back while you sleep.”
“Be safe on your way back, Uncle. You have to be careful!”
Alex smiled and stayed beside Leo until he fell asleep. The boy, exhausted from playing eagerly with his new friends, drifted off quickly.
“Alarm.”
Alex set up Alarm magic on the door and window of Leo’s sleeping chamber. This way, he would know if Leo woke and left, or if anyone tried to break in.
A single Alarm felt somewhat precarious, but it was all the magic he had learned.
“Ibeck, teach me trap magic later.”
[Understood.]
Stepping into the main room, he found the Village Chief and his son’s family. They had agreed to watch over Leo while Alex was away.
“Don’t worry about the boy—just take care of yourself out there.”
As Alex stepped out of the Chief’s house, the villagers emerged with faces full of hope and concern.
“Please be careful!”
“We’re counting on you!”
Alex gave a firm nod to their earnest faces.

* * *
Under moonlight alone, the forest lay wrapped in darkness.
Torch in hand, Alex ventured into the woods and began setting up Alarm magic as he walked.
“Alarm.”
Since the forest was wider than his Mana Detection range, he couldn’t cover it all—he was using Alarm to quickly identify approaching threats.
“Besides, there’s no guarantee the wolves will attack tonight.”
If he scattered Alarm magic throughout the forest, he might be able to map the wolves’ patrol routes.
“I can track them from here.”
[What if the Alarm doesn’t trigger?]
“Then I track the areas where it wasn’t set.”
[I see.]
With the abundant Mana from reaching the 2nd Circle, he could set up far more than he’d expected. Of course, he reserved enough for offensive magic.
“Since I have time, I might as well train my Mana.”
[Good idea.]
Alex strolled through the forest, breathing in and out steadily. Mana accumulated bit by bit within his 2nd Circle ring.
All the while, he kept Mana Detection active.
Then.
Ding—
A bell chimed—a sound that had no business ringing in a forest.
“…!”
[The Alarm!]
Location: north.
Quite a distance from here.
Waiting a moment, a single Mana signature appeared within his detection range.
[Like a radar.]
“One wolf. A scout, perhaps.”
The wolf, unaware it had already been detected, prowled nearby before vanishing again.
As Alex observed the wolves appearing and disappearing like fleeting glimpses, time slipped away.
“It’s not coming today, is it?”
Alex muttered to himself as he watched the wolves, showing no sign of attack.
“Let’s head back.”
If he wanted to search the forest again tomorrow, he needed proper rest.
Leo would worry too.
Alex picked up the torch and began descending toward the Village.
That was when it happened.
Ding—
The Alarm activated.
Ding— ding—
And not just one. Multiple alarms.
Ding— ding— ding!
The Alarm spells he’d set up in all directions began ringing without pause.
[There are so many?]
[And they’re fast!]
He felt the Alarms disappearing one by one from the distance—multiple wolves were charging at him from all sides.
Alex stopped in his tracks, focusing on Mana Detection.
Then he sensed new Mana appearing at the very edge of his detection range.
It was a dark-green Mana.
[…!]
“…!”
Whoosh!
Without thinking, Alex drew in a sharp breath and turned his head toward the direction where he’d detected the Mana.
[Whoa! My Mana! My bones!]
Ibeck was startled too.
[What’s this doing here?!]
[Who has them?!]
But the creature carrying Ibeck’s Bones was too far away to see.
He could only sense the dark-green Mana and blue Manas approaching at tremendous speed.
“That’s not the speed of an ordinary wolf.”
[It seems like my bones made it faster.]
Just as the goblin carrying Ibeck’s Bones had been tainted by Malicious Mana and become a Sorcerer, it appeared that some creature or animal had been tainted and turned into a Corrupted Beast, gaining this terrible speed.
[Alex, what are you going to do?]
The dark-green Mana approached rapidly, moving so swiftly that even the other blue Manas—the ordinary wolves—fell behind.
[Close combat won’t work!]
“I know.”
With his current swordsmanship, fighting something that fast was impossible. He’d be hit before he could even swing his blade.
“I have to attack now!”
Fortunately, Mana Detection let him pinpoint the enemy’s location.
“Fireball!”
Alex conjured a Fireball in the air and sent it flying toward where the dark-green Mana was positioned.
Boom!
An explosion sounded.
[It dodged!]
But the wolf Corrupted Beast seemed to have extraordinary talent for evasion.
“Fireball!”
Alex launched two more Fireballs.
Bang! Boom!
Massive explosions erupted, but the wolf Corrupted Beast dodged easily while only the ordinary wolves chasing behind it were killed.
[It’s getting closer!]
Ding-ding-ding!
The Alarms he’d set up along the way rang violently.
It was so fast that two Alarms seemed to sound simultaneously.
[Alex, what are you going to do?]
[At this speed, if it body-checks me, even the Shield will shatter.]
Breathe—
Alex steadied his breathing.
“It’s impossible to keep up with that speed.”
Despite the danger, his mental fortitude—honed through training with the hero’s party in The Future—remained unshaken.
“I’ll wait. Until it gets close enough.”
No matter how fast the opponent, there was no dodging an attack coming from directly ahead.
[Yes.]
[Definitely.]
Alex kept his focus on Mana Detection while spinning the two rings of Mana within his heart—the Circles humming and vibrating with a deep, resonant throb.
‘One chance. That’s all I get.’
If he failed to evade this strike or kill in one blow, retaliation would follow without question.
‘Leo is waiting for me.’
He couldn’t afford to fail.
[It’s coming!]
Ting-ting-!
He felt multiple Alarms shattering in rapid succession.
[My bones!]
Gripping the sword hilt tight, Alex pulled Mana up from the rings in his heart and channeled it through the Mana pathways of his entire body.
“Shield!”
He felt dark-green Mana rushing at his back from behind.
[Right in front of me!]
—!
No longer bothering to conceal itself, a growl tore through the air as an enormous paw struck the ground with a thunderous boom.
As it drew closer, the details sensed through Mana Detection became sharper and more vivid.
[Ten meters already!]
[When should I strike?]
“Not yet.”
Closer. A little closer.
Mana flowed through the pathways and gathered in Alex’s left hand.
[Six meters!]
A bit more.
Alex summoned the image to his mind.
The appearance of the most powerful, most brilliant flame.
[Four meters!]
[It jumped!]
Roaaarrgh—!
The wolf Corrupted Beast launched itself skyward, its massive jaws snapping wide open—poised to crush Alex’s skull in a single bite.
Then.
This was precisely what Alex had been waiting for. He twisted his body and turned to face behind him, thrusting his left arm forward toward the gaping maw bearing down on him.
“Fireball!”
A colossal sphere of flame erupted from Alex’s left hand—a roiling inferno the size of a man’s torso, burning with the fury to incinerate anything in its path.
-!
He drove it straight down the wolf’s throat.
No matter how fast the creature was, there was no escaping at such close range—not mid-attack.
The massive Fireball Alex had conjured engulfed the beast before it could even comprehend what was happening.
Kaboom—!
[Explosions are art!]
[Though this might be too big to call a Fireball anymore.]
The intense heat consumed the wolf’s head and body in ravaging flames. The Fireball, driven through its throat, seemed to have torn clear through to its entrails.
Before it could even howl in agony, the enormous charred corpse crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Fireball!”
Bang! Kaboom!
Unwilling to lower his guard, Alex conjured two more Fireballs in rapid succession, pummeling the beast. Even behind his Shield, he could feel the searing heat.
[Is it dead?]
[Oh, I just cast a revival spell.]
“A revival spell?!”
Alex’s voice shot up in alarm at the Archmage Lich’s words. Ibeck chuckled and quickly offered an explanation.
[Well, not exactly a true incantation, but—a spell with remarkably good effects.]
[I’ll explain later.]
Fortunately, the wolf Corrupted Beast did not revive.
Thwick!
Only after confirming the kill with his sword did Alex finally relax and examine the beast more closely.
[My bones!]
“Let’s deal with the remaining wolves first. If they escape, they could damage the Village.”
Alex spoke, having sensed the Mana of the ordinary wolves that had been pursuing the Corrupted Beast.
“Water Arrow!”
He’d used Fireball to kill the wolf Corrupted Beast in one hit, but this time he cast Water Arrow instead.
In a forest, fire could spread out of control.
…Though there were already patches burning merrily, he’d sort that out later.
Splash! Crash!
Water Arrows rained down before the wolves could even dodge.
Yelp!
In the blink of an eye, all the wolves lay dead.
[This is child’s play!]
Ibeck, who hadn’t lifted a finger, was the one speaking.
Thud! Thud!
Alex, finished with his blade and the mercy kills, turned toward the Corrupted Beast’s corpse.
[My bones! Where are they!]
Using Mana Detection, he spotted a tiny shard gleaming dark green on the wolf Corrupted Beast’s forehead. Unlike the blackened flesh and bone around it, this fragment remained intact.
Alex picked up Ibeck’s Bones.
The dark green Mana separated from the Corrupted Beast, and the black, tumor-like growth on its shoulder began to shrink and vanish.
“It’s turned back into a normal wolf monster.”
He hadn’t been able to confirm it with the Goblin Sorcerer—it had burned too badly—but it seemed that recovering Ibeck’s Bones restored the creature to its original form.
[Of course! I was just borrowing a bit of my Mana!]
Satisfied that the wolf monster’s corpse now gave off no trace of Malicious Mana, Alex examined Ibeck’s Bones more closely.
It resembled the Little Toe Bone he’d found before.
“Since last time was the right pinky bone, is this the left one?”
[No. This is the Left Fourth Toe Bone. The end joint!]
Alex compared it to the Little Toe Bone he’d stashed in his pocket. No matter how he looked at it, they seemed identical.
“…Can you even tell the difference?”
[Of course! The shape is different. The shape!]
At Ibeck’s insistence, Alex shrugged and tucked the bones back into his pocket.
“I’ll need to make a proper box to keep these in.”
He might find larger bones eventually—femurs, perhaps—and he’d need somewhere to store them.
And there was another concern too.
A wizard traveling around in a cart laden with human bones—that was more than a little suspicious.
[Don’t worry about that. I’ve already thought of something!]
Ibeck’s assurance was strangely comforting and yet completely untrustworthy all at once.
Still, finding another of Ibeck’s Bones felt like progress.
[Now I only have 204 left!]
…Blast.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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