Fire Magic Cast With Feet
It wasn’t only the guild clerk who was shocked.
It seemed the people sitting near the reception desk had heard Juhwan’s words too. The adventurers sitting at the tables began whispering among themselves.
“Wait… a monster tamer?”
“No way. That little kid is a monster tamer?”
“He’s obviously just trying to register his family too.”
“What a ridiculous guy.”
“Tamer or not, I don’t even see a magical beast.”
“Does he think magical beasts are rocks lying around everywhere?”
“What does he think adventurers are?”
“He wants to register a child that young as an adventurer?”
“Is adventuring a joke to him?”
Judging from the conversation, the unknown word probably meant “tamer.”
Juhwan sighed inwardly.
Honestly, he understood how they felt. Even he thought the same thing. Registering a child who couldn’t do anything as an adventurer really was unreasonable.
“But for the future… I have no choice except to push forward.”
If registering with the guild meant protection, then Juhwan himself would be fine.
But what about Lizzy and Dorothy?
A lord held absolute power inside his territory. He had learned that even kings could not interfere carelessly within another lord’s land. That had been Earth’s history, but this world was probably similar.
And Lizzy and Dorothy were people of this territory.
Peasants from the very bottom.
If the lord tried to persuade Juhwan with money or status, that would at least be better.
But what if not?
What if the lord did not value mages?
What if he was the kind of violent man who believed everyone should obey him?
Then he might target Lizzy and Dorothy because of Juhwan.
He might imprison them.
He might torture them.
Just imagining it made Juhwan feel sick.
Even without going that far, things would still be simple for a lord.
If the lord framed Lizzy and Dorothy for some crime and threatened them, Juhwan would willingly leave the guild’s protection himself.
In the end, there was no meaning in only Juhwan registering with the guild.
Everyone had to be protected together.
That was why he remembered what Gus had said and claimed Dorothy could command magical beasts.
Juhwan looked up at the ceiling with a tired expression.
“...”
Maybe he had gone too far.
Gus had mentioned people who raised magical beasts, so Juhwan assumed it wasn’t that uncommon.
But judging from everyone’s reaction, magical beasts themselves were extremely rare.
Then someone who could command them would be even rarer.
In Lizzy’s case, he thought her leather-processing skills might barely be enough.
And it was true that Oz listened to Dorothy.
Originally, he had planned to say she simply took care of the beast.
But because she was a child, he worried that would not be enough.
So he said she could command magical beasts instead.
He only wanted a more certain way to register her.
Juhwan looked at the guild clerk.
There was no choice now.
He would prove he was a powerful mage and pressure them into accepting Dorothy too.
If his magic truly was rare, then it might work.
Just as he was about to speak, Dorothy suddenly straightened up in his arms.
It looked like she was searching for the magical beast.
Her round eyes moved everywhere as she looked behind Juhwan.
“Dad, where’s the magical beast?”
Seeing that, the guild clerk spoke awkwardly.
“Um… this is difficult. Magical beasts are extremely rare. Magical beast tamers are even rarer. Magical beasts are usually violent creatures meant to be hunted, and taming them is very difficult. It’s not something easy to do.”
The clerk glanced toward the surrounding adventurers.
“Well… sometimes people want to register family members as party members. Becoming adventurers makes moving between territories easier, and there are many small benefits. I understand that feeling. Honestly, I’d like to help if possible, but something that is obviously a lie…”
The clerk looked sadly at Dorothy.
“And if there isn’t even a magical beast, then it becomes even harder.”
No, at least let the other person speak first.
Why does this guild clerk talk like a salesman forcing people to buy things?
Before the clerk could continue again, Juhwan hurriedly spoke.
“The magical beast is here.”
Juhwan lightly touched Dorothy’s front pocket with his finger.
Rabbit ears rose above the pocket and disappeared again.
Twitch. Twitch.
The ears kept moving.
Dorothy looked down at her pocket in shock.
“Really? The magical beast is inside this pocket?”
“Yes. Oz is the magical beast, Dorothy.”
“Oz?”
Dorothy’s eyes widened.
“But Oz is Dorothy’s little brother. He’s still a baby, so he can’t be a magical beast yet, Dad.”
At that point, even the guild clerk realized something strange was happening.
Tilting his head, he carefully spoke to Dorothy.
“Little miss, could you show this Mister your Oz once?”
Dorothy blinked, lifted the pocket slightly, and spoke inside it.
“Oz, will you be a good rabbit? You can’t hit people, okay?”
The tips of the rabbit ears twitched inside the pocket.
Dorothy let out a long relieved sigh and nodded.
Then she spoke to Oz again.
“Oz is a good child, so you have to listen well. You can’t hit people. If people bleed, it’s very bad. Understand?”
Of course, rabbits could not answer.
But in Dorothy’s mind, Oz must have replied correctly.
“Good boy,” she said proudly as she pulled out the horned rabbit and held him toward the clerk.
“Mister, tell me if Oz hits you.”
“...”
The guild clerk smiled awkwardly with a strange expression.
Oz lay quietly like an ordinary rabbit.
His ears were laid flat backward in a straight line.
He seemed nervous.
Unlike when he played with Dorothy, the baby rabbit’s body was tense, his legs tucked tightly beneath him.
“A rabbit… huh.”
“Yes, Oz is a rabbit. He’s still a baby.”
The guild clerk stared silently at the rabbit.
Several adventurers nearby approached curiously.
“A horned rabbit?”
“No way. It can’t be.”
“Those things are incredibly hard to catch.”
“They’re insanely fast.”
“Just getting close is difficult.”
“Horned rabbit fur sells for a lot too.”
“I heard it’s more expensive than most luxury fur.”
People whispered around them.
Oz probably could not understand the words, but he seemed to sense the strange atmosphere.
His ears twitched nervously, moving in every direction as if gathering sounds.
The guild clerk carefully stretched out his hand so he would not scare the rabbit.
When he gently touched Oz’s forehead, his eyes widened.
“My goodness… it really has a horn.”
“Yes. Oz has a horn.”
This time, Dorothy answered proudly.
She lifted her chin confidently.
Come to think of it, Dorothy had been the first one to notice the horn.
But because she was still a child, she probably never realized that meant Oz was a magical beast.
For some reason, it felt like Dorothy’s nose had risen slightly higher with pride.
The guild clerk lowered his eyebrows apologetically.
“But… I’m sorry. Simply having a magical beast and playing with it isn’t enough. This child is too young. In the future, you may work with other adventurers. If a child who knows nothing is in the party, other people could be put in danger.”
Juhwan knew that.
A guild was not a playground for children.
But he also had his own reasons.
“To protect my family… I have no choice, even if I must act shamelessly.”
Dorothy probably did not understand the conversation at all, but she still looked disappointed.
Her shoulders drooped.
“I wanted to do it too…”
She probably did not even know what “it” was.
Juhwan gently patted her back and spoke.
“If this child shows that she can command the magical beast, will that be enough? Until she can properly do a full person’s work, we have no intention of working with other adventurers. We won’t cause trouble for anyone.”
“Well…”
The clerk looked troubled.
Then suddenly, another voice interrupted.
“If the magical beast obeys that child even once, I’ll register her in the party.”
“Master?!”
The guild clerk jumped in surprise and looked behind Juhwan.
Juhwan and Lizzy also turned naturally.
A huge man stood between the entrance and the reception desk.
He was almost as large as Juhwan himself.
A long scar crossed one side of his face.
“Master, this is difficult. You can’t keep ignoring the rules whenever you want.”
Apparently, the scarred man was the branch master here.
The guild master ignored the clerk’s complaints completely and laughed strangely.
“Kakakakak!”
“Well, why not? If the kid can command magical beasts, then that’s incredible talent. We should swallow her up before the nobles do.”
Even the way he talked sounded rough.
Dorothy flinched in fear and shrank back.
In a tiny whisper, she spoke to Juhwan.
“Dad, that person is scary. Don’t let him eat Dorothy.”
Children took everything seriously.
Dorothy looked truly terrified, almost ready to cry.
Lizzy stepped closer and gently rubbed Dorothy’s back.
“It’s okay, Dorothy. He doesn’t really mean he’ll eat you.”
But Dorothy still looked unconvinced.
She peeked over Juhwan’s shoulder at the guild master and whispered to Lizzy.
“Mom has to be careful too. That person’s mouth is really big.”
“....”
Lizzy covered her mouth as she laughed.
The guild master walked closer and purposely opened his mouth wide while grinning.
“Kakakaka! What a delicious-looking child.”
“U… uu… e…”
Dorothy finally began crying.
Juhwan hugged her tightly into his chest and glared at the master.
“That’s enough. She’s really crying.”
“Haha. Sorry. But she’s cute. Crying children are the cutest.”
The master looked down at Oz sitting on the reception desk and spoke to Dorothy.
“Alright, little one. Order your magical beast. Then I won’t eat you.”
Dorothy buried her face in Juhwan’s clothes while secretly peeking at the master.
Then she whispered quietly to Oz.
“Oz! That Mister is bad. He says he’ll eat Dorothy. Go hit him!”
“....”
Oz did nothing.
He simply stayed still.
Well, of course.
Dorothy whispered again.
“Oz! He’s a bad Mister, so it’s okay to hit him! Kick him! Beat him up!”
“....”
Oz still did not move.
He only twitched his ears innocently.
The master probably had not expected much either.
Laughing loudly, he suddenly shoved his face toward Dorothy and opened his mouth wide like he was about to bite her.
“Rawr!”
At that moment, Juhwan’s leg moved on its own.
He pulled Lizzy close with one arm while hugging both of them and kicked like lightning.
His emotions must have shaken.
The moment his foot struck the master—
Fire burst out too.
The guild master’s hair instantly caught fire.
Apparently, he could use fire not only with his hands, but with his feet too.
And at the same moment—
Oz suddenly leaped from the reception desk onto the master’s back.
He bit the back of the man’s neck.
“Aaaagh!”
With his hair burning and a baby rabbit attached to his neck, the guild master rolled across the floor screaming.
The guild office instantly became chaos.
Guild workers screamed and rushed toward the master.
Someone shouted for them to pull off the horned rabbit.
The adventurers yelled:
“A fire mage!”
“Oz! Stop! Come here!”
The situation had become too frightening for Dorothy.
Trembling badly, she shouted.
Only then did Oz finally release the master.
Then he sprang through the air and rushed back to Dorothy.
A moment later, someone dumped water over the guild master.
One of the guild workers must have run to get it.
After another bucket of water, the flames finally went out.
The master lay on the floor groaning.
Suddenly, the whole room became silent.
Only the master’s painful groans could be heard.
Juhwan handed Dorothy to Lizzy and quickly walked over.
The guild clerk who had been helping him spoke from behind in a shaking voice.
“W-wait a moment. Please calm down. The master didn’t truly mean harm. He looks rough, but he’s actually a good person.”
“I’m not trying to fight.”
After saying that, Juhwan knelt beside the master.
Fortunately, the burns had not reached his face deeply.
Only his hair and skin surface were burned.
Juhwan held his hand close to the man’s head and sent magic into him.
“Please… let the burns heal cleanly.”
His heart became anxious.
He never meant to hurt this person.
Really.
He had simply reacted in shock.
His body moved before he could think.
The damaged skin slowly began healing.
He could not fully heal everything at once.
From experience, recovery happened little by little over several days.
But the pain seemed to disappear immediately.
At least the master would still be able to move.
The burned hair made the injury look severe, but in reality the skin was only lightly burned.
It was okay.
It would heal completely in a few days.
The master’s groaning slowly stopped.
Breathing heavily, he looked up at Juhwan and raised his hand.
Then he gave a thumbs-up.
“Registration! Register the party immediately!”
But nobody moved.
Neither the guild clerks nor the adventurers watching could do anything except stand there blankly.
At least it seemed the master was not holding a grudge.
Thankfully.