Chapter 201: The Morning After

“Zero! Why didn’t you wake me up yesterday when

the Devil Lord was here?”
“I’m sorry…”

Yug and Zeal woke up properly in the morning. They

felt uncomfortable as if they had been forced to sleep
and asked me if something had happened to me. So I
told them honestly that the devil king had come. As a
result, they got angry. Sophie, who didn’t sleep and
talked until morning, is still on the bed. But she’s just
leaning on my back and doesn’t seem to intervene
and help me.
“But he didn’t seem like a bad devil you know”

Except for the siscon aspect, he was quite the

amazing person. If it weren’t for being a siscon, he
would have been perfect.
“The devil king was able to forcefully come here
even though there he has no contractors in this world,
right? Then maybe he forced you to sign a contract
with him?”
“But I have two contractors, Yug and Zeal, and my
slots are filled, so it’s impossible, right?”
He said that the number of slots available to contract
with spirits, demons and beasts is fixed. The number
of quotas is shared among the three. The number of
slots is two for reincarnated people like me and
Sophie, and one for normal people. And all the slots
for me and Sophie are already filled. So I was not
particularly worried about being forced into a
contract.
“Zero-kun…if the slots are filled, you can just open
them.”
“What? Can a contract be forcibly cancelled by
someone else?”
When I asked Yug and Zeal how to cancel the
contract, they told me there were only two ways:
either I and the contractors would agree to cancel the
contract, or the contractors would unilaterally break
the contract. I don’t think there is a way for others,
even demons, to forcefully terminate the contract.
“If we, the contractors, die, the frame will be forcibly
opened.”
“What…spirits die…?”

“While there’s no such thing as a lifespan. We can

be killed.”
The fact is spirits are an extra dimensional existence,
so I assumed they could never die. But then,
wouldn’t spirits continue to increase in number
endlessly? I thought. But I decided not to ask that.
Because now Yug and Zeal looked very sad and
lonely.
Come to think of it, Yug’s father used to be the spirit
king. But I never heard anything about her mother.
Maybe it’s related somehow.
“Sorry, I’ll be more careful.”

“Yeah…”

The atmosphere was somewhat downcast. But that

doesn’t mean I cant find an alternative topic of
conversation. What should I do?
“Zeros! Is my brother gone?”

As if to dispel the atmosphere, Dia popped out of

Sophie. Dia, perhaps misjudging, appeared a little of
the ground and almost fell to the floor. Then,
following such a Dia, Shifa appeared gracefully.
“What is that way of talking to my brother?”

“I’m, i’m sorry…….”

“Sophie, calm down…”

Sophie grabbed Dia by the chest and lifted her up.
She also began to prepare some magic, which I
immediately stopped.
“What should I call you, then? Maybe…onii-sama!”

“What?”

A chill ran through my entire body. For a brief

moment, the crisis high-speed detection was also
triggered. Reflexively, I hurried to look back, but of
course there was nothing there. The chill was so
strong that I felt as if a sickle had been placed on my
neck. This was definitely the fault of some siscon
devil king.
People around me were looking at me curiously for
my reaction. However, only Shifa looked convinced.
Does Shifa-san know that the Devil King is a siscon?
“…I wish you would call me differently if you
could…’
”Can’t I call you big brother since you’re Sophia’s
big brother?”
“I’m sorry, please don’t, because it’s life-
threatening…’
It’s terrifying that I get chills every time Dia calls me.
Besides, Sophie’s face is getting scary. It seems that
calling me big brother is not to Sophie’s liking either.
“Well… how about niisan noja?” (TN: Dia almost
always adds “noja” to the end of her sentences but it
doesn’t always fit in the translation)
“………, that’s fine.”

“What’s with the pause…?”

When she called me nissan, I didn’t get chills. It

seemed to be safe to call me that. After confirming
this, I gave my permission to Dia. The Devil King,
by any chance, does he want Dia to call him “onii-
chan”?
“So, what did elder brother say to you? For
example…did he say something about killing this
lady……”
“No, he said something about the contract with
Sophie being okay.”
There is no way that that siscon will kill Dia. I
couldn’t say that, so I managed to say something that
was okay to say.
“That’s great. What else did brother say?”

He said he would have signed a contract with me if a

slot was open.
“What!?”
Dia froze in surprise. Shifa, too, is as expressionless
as ever, but her mouth is just a little open, perhaps a
little startled.
“My brother said that his contractor would not appear
unless there was a strong person who was capable of
meeting the conditions… Do you know those
conditions!?”
“I’m sorry…I don’t know either.”

I’m glad that the Devil king considered me as quite

good, but I’m absolutely sure that the condition
means that you are a siscon. But I’m absolutely sure
that the condition is to be a siscon. But to say now,
“The condition is to be a siscon! And I’m a siscon!” I
can’t say that.
“Since you have two spirits, why don’t you replace
one of them with my brother?”
“I don’t think I want a new contractor if I had to
terminate my contract with these two.”
“I see…”

I could tell that Dia was joking about that. I guess she
didn’t think I would sign a contract with the Devil
king until I had terminated my contract with one of
the two.
I don’t want to become stronger by cutting off Zeal
and Yug, who have helped me so much in the past. I
mean, even now I’m not utilizing their strength at all,
and I can only say that I’m getting carried away by
terminating their contract and signing a new one.
While the six of us were talking about such things,
there was a knock at the door saying that breakfast
was ready. We returned the spirits and the devils back
inside of us and headed for breakfast.
“I apologize for the trouble I caused you yesterday.”

As soon as she entered the room where breakfast was

served, Sophie apologized to Emily, Tiya, and Judy,
bowing deeply to them. The three of them looked like
pigeons had been hit by a peashooter at the sight of
her.
“Sophie is sorry for what she did, so please forgive
her.”
I followed Sophie and bowed my head. With my
head bowed, I could no longer see the faces of the
three of them. As a result, I couldn’t find out what
the three of them were thinking using the mind
reading method. Even if I had used my bird’s eye
view, I wouldn’t have been able to tell because I
could only see them from directly above me, so I
couldn’t see their expressions.
“Please look up.”

Emily’s words made us both look up.

“It’s true that you saved our village from a crisis, and
since Zeros-sama also said so, we’ll forgive you.”
”…Thank you.”

She emphasized that it’s because I’m saying it.

Sophie seemed very unhappy with that way of
wording.
“However, even though no one was injured, there was
a lot of damage, including the collapse of houses in
the village. Even though she is Zeros-sama’s sister, it
would be unbecoming to forgive her with a single
apology.”
Well, if you ask me, that’s probably true. From the
other elves’ point of view, they would think that the
queen forgave us just for being apologetic, even
though we had destroyed several houses. Besides, it
would set a precedent that if something similar
happened to them, they would be forgiven just for
apologizing.
“Then what do you want us to do?”
“Just provide us with all the material from that
cicada.”
“Is that all you want?”

‘Yes, that’s all we need.”

Leaving aside the difference in Emily’s language to

me and Sophie, it seems that that cicada is actually a
pretty good material for whatever it is used for.
Originally, it is said that every part of the body of the
Emperor Moth that sucked the sap of the spirit tree
was excellent as a recovery medicine and its wings as
armor to be worn as a cloak. And the cicada that ate
the Emperor Moth is said to have stronger effects.
Moreover, it is said that when the dismembered
feathers are attached to each other by fragments, they
merge back together to form a single original piece as
well. It seems that the feathers have the regenerative
ability of the cicada as it is. Therefore, as a material,
it is said to be superior to emperor moth.
“Can I give them the cicada?”

“No problem.”

After checking with Sophie, it seemed that it would

be okay to give her the cicada, so we decided to give
it all to her. We could probably only sell them if we
kept them, and I don’t think we would be able to
make good use of them.
After that, the five of us got ourselves together and
had a normal breakfast.
“I think we should leave this village in a week or so
and go back to the royal capital of Lingalia”
When he said that, the three of them froze. Emily had
accidentally dropped the spoon she was eating her
soup with, Tiya had accidentally stuffed her mouth
full of bread, and Judy had accidentally clutched and
crushed the bread she was holding.
I had a feeling that you would be leaving soon. Then
we will escort you when you leave.”
“No, we will return to the capital by transfer, so you
won’t have to worry.”
“That would make the elves look like the kind of
people who would just send a foreign students home
with magic. That would ruin the face of the elves.
Therefore, we will send you back with sincerity.”
“I understand.”

And after that, in an indescribable atmosphere, the

five of us continued to eat breakfast in silence.
“I apologize for the trouble I caused you yesterday.”
 After breakfast, Sophie and I went to Elira’s place.
Of course, Elira was not at the breakfast in the
castle. When she saw Sophie coming, she looked at
me for a moment and said, “Uwaa…” But Sophie
ignored it and went up to her. She approached and
apologized to her..
“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused everyone.”

Then she apologized to the other elves around us and

bowed her head.
“I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you too.”

Yesterday I was out of control with Sophie as well. I

didn’t use that much magic and didn’t attack the
buildings or anything at all. Emily and the other three
and Eliela would know that I was fighting to stop
Sophie from going out of control, but there is no way
the other elves would know that. So in the eyes of
those around me, I was just as guilty as she was for
running amok. So I apologized, just like Sophie. Of
course, I had apologized yesterday, too.
“Did you apologize to the queen?”

“Yes.”

“And did she forgive you?”

“She forgave us after we agreed to certain

conditions.”
“If the queen forgave you, we have nothing to
complain about. We forgive you as she has.”
He raised his head, which had been lowered since
Elira spoke to him. And as Elira said her last words,
she looked around at the elves around her. Then they
all nodded their heads and agreed with Eliela’s
decision.
I’m sure that if Elira had said she would forgive us in
the normal way, she would not have been able to get
the consensus of the people around her like this. The
fact that Elira had elicited from us the words that the
queen had forgiven us created a trend that since the
queen had forgiven us, the elves around us would
also forgive us.
“Thank you.”

In my heart I thanked Eliela and thanked everyone.

After that, I went back to the royal castle. Even
though I was allowed to stay, I felt awkward to be
here. After that, I told Elira that I would be leaving in
about a week I thought she might make a few
remarks, but as soon as I said that, she went away.
The peaceful week passed in a blink of an eye, and it
was already time to go home.
WG – Chapter 154: The most
blissful conclusion
“Souma…-san…” (Rirumu)
The useless maid made a pained look at my merciless words.
…I actually know.
Not only this theft event, even the personality of this useless maid, her
actions; everything was decided by the guys that created Nekomimi Neko.
That’s why it might be a mistake to put the blame on her alone.
Even so, I couldn’t stop.
“I understand that you wanted to save your acquaintances that are suffering
from illnesses. I understand that you wanted to do something about the
thorny relationship between Shizun-san and the others. But no matter the
reason, stealing from your benefactors, stealing something so important
from them…is a horrible thing that you must never do! You took the wrong
method!!” (Souma)
The useless maid faltered as if my words had physical form.
“B-But…” (Rirumu)
“Don’t ‘but’ me! Do you really think the easy way out like stealing would
make everyone happy? Even if you did succeed and saved them with the
money you got from betraying your benefactors, would the children be truly
happy? Also, the ring probably wouldn’t have come back ever once you
gave Karma the ring.
Did you really think Shizun-san and the others would return to a happy
relationship after having the ring stolen without knowing anything?
And even if you managed to clear all those obstacles by some miracle, you
would have to shoulder that sin for the rest of your life. Can you really say
that’s a happy conclusion?” (Souma)
“That’s…” (Rirumu)
My words that were being shot like a machine gun were certainly piercing
the heart of the useless maid.
Tears began to overflow from her eyes.
“…I-I knew I was doing the wrong thing here. But then…what should I
have done? What could I have done that would make everyone happy…?”
(Rirumu)
“Isn’t that obvious?” (Souma)
You don’t even need to think about it.
It is a simple solution that you would find unbelievable to even hesitate
about it.
“You should have spoken to them. Properly opened up to them about this.”
(Souma)
“!!”
The useless maid warped her face in shock, but I won’t let her say she
didn’t think about it.
“Rirumu, you have people that would laugh at your endless mistakes, and
people who would support you no matter the circumstances. Shizun-san,
Mizu-san, even Fuu… I am sure all the family would have lent you their
strength if you had told them.” (Souma)
I didn’t show any mercy even when seeing the useless maid grow paler.
I throw her strong words as if finishing her off.
“And yet, you couldn’t believe in the people that treated you practically like
family. You escaped to the worst method that was stealing!” (Souma)
The useless maid fell on her butt as if she lost strength in her legs.
Tears rolled down the face of Rirumu who seemed as if her soul had
escaped her.
“Please stop it already!!” (Mizu)
Mizu jumped out and hugged her as if covering her from me.
“I…I have seen this girl shutting herself the whole time, worrying all by
herself, and suffering! As someone who doesn’t know about this, you have
no right to blame her!!” (Mizu)
“…That’s right. I probably don’t have the right to act like a superior here.”
(Souma)
It is true that I have done as I pleased since coming to this world.
I also made a plan that trampled on the feelings of others in the matter of
Leila.
But…
“I hold my head high in the fact that I have done my very best no matter the
situation to bring out the best result I can. No matter how hopeless the
situation is, I continued struggling to find the conclusion where everyone is
happy. That’s why I can’t forgive Rirumu who escaped to the easy path and
threw away any such effort!” (Souma)
I shouted this as if smashing those burning emotions of mine in my chest
onto her.
Even with all that, Mizu continued standing in front of me as if protecting
the useless maid from me.
“In that case, I am equally at fault for not extending a hand to her when I
knew that she was suffering. If you are going to blame someone, blame us
two.” (Mizu)
The useless maid opened her eyes wide at how Mizu continued covering for
her despite everything.
“Mizu-sama…even though I-I betrayed you…why…?” (Rirumu)
Mizu smiled kindly at that useless maid.
“Isn’t that obvious? For me, you are a high maintenance little sister. You
have been a part of my family for a long time now.” (Mizu)
“Mi…zu-sama…” (Rirumu)
Big streams of tears flowed out from the eyes of the useless maid, and Mizu
wiped them gently.
A sight like that of actual sisters that get along.
…Good grief.
Being shown such an endearing sight and on top of that, being told to blame
her instead of the useless maid, there’s only one thing left for me to say.
“That’s right. You are ALL to blame here!! No, it is because of you guys
that Rirumu ended up going the route of stealing, so your sin is heavier!
Reflect on your actions, you hopeless idiots!!” (Souma)
“Wa?!”
This way too insulting statements not only made Mizu and the others raise
their voices in surprise, but also my comrades.
I myself am aware that I am saying something out of character here.
But I can’t stop.
“I was already beginning to get annoyed by that thorny atmosphere like that
of the last episode of a home drama. The dispute to become the next
successor of the Aken family, was it? Good grief, talk about stupid.”
(Souma)
Fai exploded at my unhinged scorn.
“You bastard!! Say that one more time! You don’t know shit about our
situation—” (Fai)
“I know! More than anyone here!!” (Souma)
“Wa?!” (Fai)
I crushed him with even more pressure.
“In the middle of my investigation, I also heard about how the barrier room
is being used. That gave me a good grasp of your relationships.” (Souma)
This is a lie.
My understanding of the relationships between the people of the Aken
family is from the days it was a game where I gathered 10 times more
information than in this occasion.
However, I am going to push through here.
“What are you saying you understood…?” (Fai)
“Fai, you actually already know, right? The fact that Mizu can already use
two barrier magic elements.” (Souma)
When I said this, Fai, Mizu, and Fuu made shocked expressions.
“I-Is that true, Mizu?!!” (Shizun)
“T-That’s…” (Mizu)
Mizu averted her gaze at Shizun-san.
That reaction spoke clearer than anything about the truth.
“But how does the outsider Souma know about this…?” (Shizun)
I shrugged at the words of Shizun-san.
“A simple deduction… Didn’t you tell me before, Rirumu?
Mizu has brought Fuu into the barrier room once. Mizu probably asked her
to restore the dispelled barrier at that time.
Mizu succeeded in earth barrier magic, and she wanted to reactivate the
wind crystal.” (Souma)
When I said this, Fuu opened her eyes wide.
Looks like I am correct here as well.
“But Mizu-san had Fuu keep silent about her being able to use two
elements. There’s actually one more person who knows about this… That’s
you, Fai.” (Souma)
“Onii-sama?! But why…?” (Mizu)
Mizu was confused.
I explain point by point as if untying the knot in this situation.
“Mizu-san was training from 3pm to 5pm. And the time Fai was training
was between 5pm to 9pm. Fai-san began his training at the time when
Mizu-san ended her training. That’s how Fai-san must have coincidentally
learned that Mizu-san succeeded in her spell.” (Souma)
“That’s…” (Fai)
That’s when their gears were disarrayed.
“Since then, the frequency in which Fai and Mizu-san went to the barrier
room decreased, Fai began to get more short tempered, and the instances
where Mizu-san would say provoking words towards Fai increased. Why do
you think that is?” (Souma)
I faced Mizu, and Fai and Mizu -the two who would throw snarls at each
other like fire and water- began speaking.
“I-I thought she wasn’t coming out and stating herself as the successor
because she was refraining cause of me… Then, if I am a totally hopeless
case, I thought Mizu would become the next family head without
minding…” (Fai)
“No way! I have seen up-close just how much effort you have put in
becoming the next family head, Onii-sama! I wanted you to get back in
form somehow even if you were to hate me, and then assist you once you
became the family head…” (Mizu)
The two of them disclosed what was deep in their chests for the first time.
“That’s right. This is the result of the both of you thinking about each other,
thus creating friction. But because of that, Earth did his best in his barrier
magic training to stop the fight between you two, and as someone who
knows everything, Fuu went to the barrier room every day to stop Earth.”
(Souma)
“Ah, Fuu-chan, that’s why you came to the barrier room every day…?”
(Rirumu)
Fuu nodded with a red face at the words of Rirumu.
The reason why she followed Earth only when she wouldn’t go close to the
barrier room on her own was because of this.
For the sake of the wish of Mizu to make her brother the family head, and
for the sake of a peaceful sleep for Rirumu, she would do her best to stop
Earth every day.
“This is…” (Mizu)
“You were thinking in such a manner…?” (Fai)
Mizu-san and Fai leaked out those words.
All these siblings were moving for the sake of someone.
However, they were all disjointed and created this tragedy as a result.
The 4 were frozen in place, not knowing what to say.
The one who broke this ice was their father.
“I am sorry, everyone!!” (Shizun)
Shizun-san jumped out and apologized to his children with head on the
ground.
“It is…it is my fault! I was chained by such a pointless tradition like
making the person who undoes the barrier as the next family head and
didn’t think about your futures! I am the idiot here!!
My shallowness made you suffer!
Sorry…I am sorry!!” (Shizun)
Seeing this, Shizun-san’s children quickly ran to where he was.
“P-Please stop that, Pops! I-It is my fault.” (Fai)
“No, if I thought about it a bit more…” (Mizu)
“No, it is me…I…uwaaaan!” (Earth)
“E-Everyone…don’t cry…” (Fuu)
The rest was a complete mess.
The 4 siblings and Shizun-san.
Elm-san standing by the side, and even the useless maid in the arms of
Mizu-san were having an apology tournament.
The adults and children were spilling out everything they couldn’t say until
now to their most beloved family.
I silently took distance from them and muttered this at the sight of a family
becoming one.
“You all were way too clumsy. Even though you could have just been more
honest with each other…” (Souma)
After 10 or so minutes, Fai came to the front as if representing the family
and stood in front of me with red eyes.
“Finished your talk?” (Souma)
When I asked this, he smiled as if a bit embarrassed.
“Yeah. About the next family head, we decided to discuss it with everyone
before making a decision. But I think I will become the successor once I am
able to use two elements. Mizu said she would coach me every day.
Good grief, the next head of the family being taught magic by his little
sister. There’s no glory in that though.” (Fai)
But that smile of his didn’t feel thorny like the ones until now.
It is a kind and reliable smile that really showed his actual personality.
“Also, Rirumu will be working for us again. Of course, she will be getting
proper punishment.” (Fai)
“Punishment?” (Souma)
“Yeah, the really harsh punishment of calling Mizu and I as Onii-chan and
Onee-chan for the rest of her life.” (Fai)
“Wow, that’s harsh!” (Souma)
“Oi, what do you mean by that?!” (Fai)
We chatted and laughed again.
But Fai suddenly made a serious face.
“There’s one more important thing I want to talk about. You see…I am
really grateful for your help here.
If not for you, we would have been in discord the whole time, and we might
not have forgiven Rirumu ever.” (Fai)
“Oi oi, what’s that all of a sudd—” (Souma)
I was about to say this, but I was stopped.
“That’s why I want you to take this.” (Fai)
Fai gave me a familiar jet black ring.
“Isn’t this the Immortal Oath?! It is the proof of the family head, right? You
have to treasure—” (Souma)
“That’s why! It is important, so I want you to have it… Please. Think of it
as helping us out here and accept it.” (Fai)
My throat rang at the plea of Fai.
I look at the jet black ring on his hand.
I stretched my hand out as if I was being swallowed by that black luster
and…
“I am sorry, but I can’t accept it.” (Souma)
Pushed back the offered hand of Fai.
Fai opened his eyes wide at my unexpected action.
“Why? No, for the people that know about the history of this ring, this
might be a cursed ring! But for us, this is—” (Fai)
“I know!” (Souma)
I cut off his words with a strong tone.
This is a painful decision for me.
I calmed down before I began to speak slowly.
“I also know the worth of that ring. When you told me that you were going
to give me that ring, I thought from the bottom of my heart that I wanted
it…but I can’t accept it.” (Souma)
“And I am asking why!” (Fai)
I said straight to Fai who was shouting in excitement.
“…Because I wouldn’t get the best result I want if I were to take that.”
(Souma)
Fai was going to continue shouting, but he fell silent after hearing that.
“…I understand the worth of this ring. Even so, I also think I understand
just how big of a meaning this ring holds for you and your family.”
(Souma)
“But I…we are saying it is fine…” (Fai)
“And I don’t like that.” (Souma)
Fai made a face as if he didn’t understand what I am saying here, so I try to
explain as best as I can.
“What would make me far happier would be to imagine you guys seeing
this ring and having smiles on your faces rather than me getting this ring.”
(Souma)
I felt my face heat up the moment I said this.
I am aware I said something cheesy there.
But those are my honest feelings.
Hearing what I said, Fai clicked his tongue and turned his back towards
me.
He said this as if talking to himself while returning to his family.
“You damn samaritan! …I won’t forget you, ever. Thanks.” (Fai)
The tsundere bastard said this with a face as bright as red as his hair.
I felt as if something hot like fire was left burning in my chest as I watched
his retreating back.
Shizun-san tried to bring the shield crest to me posthaste from the residence
after that and we had our last conversation at this time.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t know what to expect when I saw you
people at first… I am truly glad you are the ones that came to replace Spark
Hawk-san.” (Shizun)
Shizun-san told me those words as he gave me the shield crest and returned
to the manor.
After that, Fuu lowered her head to me, Earth gave us a V sign, Mizu held
both of my hands without saying anything, and they all left respectively.
The next one to come was the useless maid.
I thought she would be pretty scared from being bullied a whole ton just
now, but…
“Souma-san!!” (Rirumu)
She hugged me the moment she approached.
Chest and chest collided, and it went ‘boyon’.
This is really…that’s not it.
“Rirumu, uhm…” (Souma)
The useless maid took over before I could finish.
“Souma-san, you truly have my gratitude. I can continue working there, and
it seems like the children will be taken care of somehow with the assistance
of Shizun-sama.
This is all thanks to you, Souma-san!” (Rirumu)
“I…see…” (Souma)
Then, there’s nothing to say anymore.
I decided to direct some words of encouragement.
“Do your best. Make sure not to fail a whole ton and get fired again.”
(Souma)
“Yes! But I think it is going to be okay. Everyone calls me their f-family…
and I also have my main occupation.” (Rirumu)
“Main…occupation…? You did something else aside from being a maid?”
(Souma)
When I asked this, the useless maid…no, Rirumu smiled from the bottom
of her heart.
“Geez! There’s no way they would hire a clumsy maid like me otherwise! It
is true that I have more work as a maid, but my main occupation is
bodyguard! Bodyguard! I am deceived often and end up being a regular at
the slums, but I am actually a former veteran adventurer!” (Rirumu)
“E-Eeeh…” (Souma)
Now that she mentions it, she did lift up the floor and the armor, so I
thought she was strong but…eeeeh…
“See ya then. If anything happens, call me! I will do my best for your sake,
Souma-san!” (Rirumu)
The useless maid -I mean, the bodyguard Rirumu messed me up until the
very end as she left.
And then, the last one to approach me was the butler that kept tabs on me
like I was a mortal enemy of his, Elm-san.
Elm-san stood upright in front of me and began talking with his sharp gaze
still present.
“I will be frank here. I couldn’t throw away my suspicions until the very
end that you might pull something. Even at the time when Fai-sama offered
you the ring, I thought you would take it. Or maybe act as if you were
returning it and switch it for a fake one inside your hand.
I went as far as to doubt you in such a manner.” (Elm)
“I see. I have been hated quite a lot.” (Souma)
In the end, this butler-san is the only one I couldn’t get along with.
I responded with a dry laugh.
“…But that was my misunderstanding. Your actions have been fair and pure
until the very end. Not only did you not take the ring, you didn’t switch it
either, and returned it to Fai-sama without touching it once.” (Elm)
Elm-san took an action that I didn’t even imagine.
“I apologize for my many acts of rudeness from the bottom of my heart.”
(Elm)
He lowered his body 90° with hand on his chest like out of a manual.
But I chuckled and told him to raise his head.
An apology doesn’t suit a happy end.
The capable butler that accurately read this lowered his head again.
This time around, at 45°.
“My apologies. Thank you very much, Souma-sama… Whenever you want
a butler, please go ahead and step into the Aken household.” (Elm)
After saying that, he returned to his masters with his dandy mannerisms.
“…It is over.” (Souma)
I muttered this, and lethargy took over me at the same time as the sense of
accomplishment seeped in me.
I did something outside the game’s development, but when I look at that
united family walking together, I felt from the bottom of my heart that I was
glad I did my best here.
“…That was well done.” (Mitsuki)
“…Souma, good work.” (Ringo)
And then, my comrades who were taking distance from me, reading the
atmosphere, came over to me and congratulated me.
Happiness welled up from me at those words.
But before I could digest it, Mitsuki looked at me with narrowed eyes and
said this.
“Also…it looks like you achieved your real objective.” (Mitsuki)
“?!” (Souma)
I flinched unconsciously at those words.
Mitsuki continued speaking while giving a side glance as if she wasn’t
bothered by this.
“If you had the Eye of the Heavens on you right now, you would have
asked me to check the location of Leila the moment we left the residence.
The fact that you didn’t means that you erased it, right?
The Eye of the Heavens…you erased it in that barrier room.” (Mitsuki)
The sharp eyes of Mitsuki saw through the very depths of my heart.
“The timing was when I took my eyes off you. Most likely after you went to
the room of Rirumu-san with her and Maki-san. At that time, you left the
Eye of the Heavens in the barrier room and…” (Mitsuki)
“So you saw through everything, huh. It is as you say, Mitsuki.” (Souma)
I gave up and nodded.
That was my number one reason to take this quest.
I used the trait of the room about recreating itself right before the moment
of the crime, and got rid of the Eye of the Heavens which is an
indestructible item.
It is true that it became harder to delete important items.
That’s because it was made impossible to just leave it for a long time in a
field or throw a whole ton of items on the same field.
However, that just means the important items don’t disappear after a time
limit or the max amount of items on a field is reached.
You just have to do it with other means.
That’s where the recreation of the barrier room comes to play.
In the first place, recreating the room means to delete the whole data of the
room at that time, and brute force it by changing it to the data of a past
room.
It doesn’t matter at all if the items in that room are indestructible or not.
The moment the recreation happens, the things inside the room will
disappear into the sea of data, or in this world, it might be into a separate
dimension.
“Good grief, you really are…” (Mitsuki)
I hear the baffled voice of Mitsuki.
I don’t feel like I did anything to be ashamed of here, but I didn’t expect it
to be discovered this fast.
I am probably gonna be reprimanded again.
Thinking that, I lowered my head and…
“You really are my pride and joy.”
My head was grabbed and I was enveloped in a soft sensation.
“Eh? Eh?!” (Souma)
I heard the ‘Ah!’ scream from Maki on the side, but I didn’t have the
leeway to mind it.
I couldn’t understand what was going on and was about to raise my head,
but…
“P-Please don’t move! Despite appearances, I am really embarrassed
here!”
My head was sunk even deeper.
I don’t know what’s going on.
My head was eventually freed and what was in front of my eyes was the
bright red face of Mitsuki.
A faint smile could be seen there.
“W-Why…?” (Souma)
Mitsuki tilted her head at my words.
“Did you think I would reprimand you?” (Mitsuki)
“Obviously. I used this request as an excuse to achieve my own objective! I
took this quest for the sake of myself to begin with—” (Souma)
“And what’s so bad about that?” (Mitsuki)
She asked in return clearly and I was dumbfounded.
“You might have thought of yourself first and foremost. However, that
doesn’t erase what you have achieved… ‘I will continue struggling in order
to obtain a conclusion where everyone is happy’, those words of yours
resonated in my heart.” (Mitsuki)
“Mitsuki…” (Souma)
It wasn’t only Mitsuki.
My comrades came to where I am and spoke one after the other.
“Souma-san! You really are amazing, Souma-san! Amazing!! I admire
you!!” (Ina)
Ina showered me with praise all gleefully.
“Hmph, you see…sorry about what happened at the blackout. I will at least
acknowledge that…you are a somewhat reliable guy…or like, uuh…”
(Sazan)
Sazan said this while looking the other way.
“This is vexing, but you were a bit cool today, Souma. You already knew
the answer, so it feels a bit unfair, but…but you looked like a great detective
from a novel.” (Maki)
Maki pouted and commented on this.
And so, the last one…
“…Souma, I am sorry. You are a…decent human.” (Ringo)
Ringo said this and lowered her head.
“What’s with everyone…? Even if you tell me that all of a sudden…”
(Souma)
I choked on my words.
It is a weird feeling.
I have been praised by a whole ton of people as a hero for defeating the
Demon Lord, but I received exasperated gazes from my comrades most of
the time.
Now that I think about it, this might be the first time I have been praised by
them.
“Everyone…” (Souma)
I could feel something hot accumulating at the corner of my eyes at the
unexpected warm words of my comrades.
“…Souma, are you crying?” (Ringo)
Being told this by Ringo, I hurriedly rubbed my eyes.
“I-I am not crying! I am not!” (Souma)
No one laughed even when I exposed such a pathetic sight of me.
They are watching over me with warm expressions.
(Accepting anything I do…so these are comrades, huh.) (Souma)
I thought no one understood my thoughts until now.
Not only that, I even partly gave up on sharing my thoughts since my way
of thinking had been poisoned by the game.
But that wasn’t the case.
“Thank you. I…I…” (Souma)
Even though I wanted to tell everyone my feelings, I couldn’t put it in
words and it was mortifying.
But Mitsuki placed a hand gently on my shoulder.
“It is fine as long as you understand. Now, please smile. You just have to be
proud of your own achievement and smile boldly about it as usual.”
(Mitsuki)
“I see. Right.” (Souma)
A moody atmosphere like this really doesn’t suit us.
Having acknowledged this, I shook my tears away.
Let’s just do as Mitsuki says.
Thinking this…
“Hold this for a bit.” (Souma)
“Eh? Okay.” (Mitsuki)
I gave the shield crest I got from Shizun-san to Mitsuki. I then take out the
spoils of war this time around from the bag and raise it high up, shouting
with a cheerful tone.
“Now then, everyone, we got what we wanted, so let’s go back!!” (Souma)
At the place where my comrades were looking at, with my hand raised high
up, there’s the Immortal Oath shining a mysterious luster under the
sunlight.
My objective was to get rid of the Eye of the Heavens within the barrier
room, but this isn’t as simple as it sounds.
If it were in the game world, it would be one thing, but if someone were to
find a weird gem on the ground in the barrier room now that the world is
real, they would definitely find it suspicious.
On top of that, it is not easy to drop the Eye of the Heavens in the room
without anyone seeing.
But there’s one method that’s just right for this.
Using the same method as the culprit.
There’s only one place in the barrier room that no one would see, and that’s
the inside of the barrier.
If I place the Eye of the Heavens here, no one will find it until the room
resets.
If I use the same method of dropping the floor from below like Rirumu, no
one would see me.
On top of that, there’s one bonus from taking this method.
The Aken Family Ring had its difficulty increased with the patch but, in the
end, due to the discovery of the bug with the forgetful Knight Captain, it
ended up being beneficial for the player as you already know.
However, there’s still more to this.
The forgetful knight captain is not the only bug that was created from this.
Right before the crime, to be more specific, at the moment when Rirumu
drops the ceiling of her own room, the barrier room will return to its basic
state.
That ‘basic state’ is a state where there’s no interference from the player; a
room where the barrier and ring are present.
And so, even if the ring were to be gone before Rirumu committed the
crime, the ring would still be on top of the pedestal.
In other words, by stealing the ring before Rirumu, lo-and-behold, there’s
now two Immortal Oaths.
This is what Nekomimi Neko players called: The twice stolen ring.
It can be used together with the forgetful knight captain, so if you give up
on obtaining the shield crest and don’t mind going through an outlaw
playthrough, you can obtain 3 Immortal Oaths at most.
However, there’s something you have to be careful about here.
In the case the player steals the ring on top of the pedestal, there will
obviously be a stolen item mark on it.
If you use the stolen ring just like that, you go straight to the outlaw route.
If it is the ring that Rirumu stole, it won’t be marked as a stolen item even if
the player has it.
Also, even if it does get marked, there’s no issue if you return it to Shizun-
san and the others in order to clear the quest.
Basically, you just have to switch the ring that Rirumu stole with the one
the player stole.
And so, my plan in detail was like this.
First, I will make a random excuse about wanting to hear about the case at
6:00pm or over, and go to Rirumu’s room.
After that, I would have Rirumu and Maki leave with the reason being that
it is close to the shift, and succeed in being alone in Rirumu’s room.
I quickly take out the Eye of the Heavens, detach the ceiling that has simply
been glued on, and exchange the Immortal Oath on top of the column with
the Eye of the Heavens.
I then returned the ceiling and stuck it back with super glue, but this
unexpectedly ate some time.
The glue got on my fingers too which was different from the game, and that
cost me some extra minutes. On top of that, my fingertips got all hard
because of it, so Mitsuki misunderstood that my fingers were dry from that.
Even with that, I still barely made it, and then I went with Elm-san and
Rirumu to check the barrier room.
I checked the floor at the very center of the room to check if there’s
anything off with it, but the gaze of Elm-san was rough, so I couldn’t get a
look.
Elm-san kept me in check after that, and you could say that was the
miscalculation I had in this incident.
And then, at around 8:30pm, Rirumu would go to her room with the excuse
of changing, and the crime would take place.
Thanks to the room being recreated, the Eye of the Heavens disappeared
from the pedestal and a second Immortal Oath appeared.
Rirumu steals that second Immortal Oath and puts it inside the Magical
Pocket.
…Is what I think, but the reality is that the amount of times Rirumu goes to
her room and the time she perpetrates the crime are random in the game, so
I can’t say for sure.
In order to confirm this, I gave a shining item to Earth which would make
children happy (an Explosion Gem) and asked him to confirm if the ‘not
yet’ writing had disappeared.
An Explosion Gem is a bit dangerous, but I gave him that and told him ‘you
definitely must not say Explosion while holding this inside the house’ so it
should be okay.
After that, I was certain that the crime had taken place with the report of
Earth, so what was left was to switch the rings.
But Elm-san and Ringo were keeping me in check the whole time, so I
needed to get one more trick in here.
Fortunately, I knew that the blackout event was happening, so I used that
darkness.
I set Magical Pocket to Time Activate right after the blackout event.
I took out the ring from the bag at the same time as the blackout happened,
and switched the ring with the one inside the Magical Pocket.
I put the switched ring without the stolen item mark in my bag, and take out
a lantern to show as if I was doing my best to do something about the
darkness.
I got extremely flustered at Sazan clinging onto me, but I somehow
managed to make it in time and my surroundings didn’t suspect me, so you
could say it ended in a good result.
“As for what I have to explain from there…confirming that the Eye of the
Heavens successfully was gone after it didn’t return once the night passed,
and having Shizun-san use Magical Pocket first to find the ring since it
would be bad for me to get a body check.” (Souma)
I wrapped it up with this and looked at the faces of my comrades.
For some reason, everyone had extremely complicated looks as if the
emotional moment had gone elsewhere.
Could it be that the explanation was too long?
I held those doubts and Mitsuki finally spoke with a heavy tone.
“…If I remember correctly, you said you wouldn’t steal the ring.”
(Mitsuki)
“Eh? But I didn’t steal it from the family though? The Immortal Oath has
been returned to that room and everyone is doing their best in protecting it.”
(Souma)
I answered with a smile and Mitsuki sighed with a big ‘haah…’ and her cat
ears drooped.
I tilted my head in confusion and my eyes made contact with Sazan.
Sazan made a bit of a displeased look as if saying he had no choice but to
speak here.
“I apologized for clinging onto you at the blackout before, but…now I am
regretting it, wondering why I didn’t get in your way more.” (Sazan)
“You are one horrible guy!” (Souma)
I protested at that way too outrageous statement, but I couldn’t get the
agreement of my comrades.
Not only that, I feel as if they are unconsciously taking distance from me.
Within all that, Ina and Ringo took a step forward as if they resolved
themselves.
“I-It is okay! Even if Souma-san is the worst piece of human garbage, I will
never abandon you! I will follow you to hell and beyond!” (Ina)
Ina tightened both fists and declared this.
“…Souma, let’s improve…bit by bit, okay?” (Ringo)
Ringo held both of my hands and said this in a strangely kind way.
“Y-Yeah, thanks, you two…?” (Souma)
I may have thanked them, but I don’t get what’s happening.
Is it okay for me to take this as them cheering me up?
Hmm…
I thought we synchronized there just a few moments ago, but girls really
will always be a mystery to men.
“Souma, can I say one thing?” (Maki)
While I was reaching an internal understanding about this situation, Maki
asked me this in her usual slow tone.
I nodded and urged her to go on, and she slowly raised a finger, and then
pointed straight at me and said.
“You are the true culprit of this case!!” (Maki)

Forgetting that he was a beastman for a moment, General Hobah looked at

me with fear.
General Hobah unintentionally turned his hammer against me, an ally.
"What's wrong? Let's keep attacking. We're almost there."
General Hobah regained his sense at my words, which were too natural.
I was buffed by various Support skills, my summons Blessings, and 2 Rings
that increased [Attack] by 5000 each.
With all those buffs active, my stats were
The basic stats and the effects of [Blessing]s and Rings are shown
separately.
[Strength] 3007 + 2760
[Mana] 4968 + 6240
[Attack] 1453 + 29520
[Endurance] 2604 + 9688
[Agility] 3243 + 23040
[Intelligence] 4150 + 720 0
[Luck] 3244 + 2400
Sophie's Spirits increased all status
Kiel increased [Endurance] by 30%
Astrologer Temi increased [Mana] by 20%
Astrologer Temi increased [Endurance] by 20%
Astrologer Temi increased [Luck] by 20%
Shaman Hui increased [Endurance] by 15%
Shaman Hui increased [Strength] by 15%
Musician Lepe increased [Attack] by 20%
Musician Lepe increased [Agility] by 20%
Musician Lepe increased Critical-hit rate
I continued to attack Gordino from under it.
I slammed the Adamantite sword into Gordino's leg.
"Gnu!"
The huge Gordino's body shook sideways because of the force.
(That's more damage than my status. Almost every hit is a critical hit thanks
to the buffs.)
It was my first time I had attacked Gordino since the battle began, but with
that first attack, I analyzed how much damage I dealt after all the buffs and
Blessings.
Musician Lepe and my summons increased critical-hit rate, which had a
huge impact on the battle.
At that moment, due to the overlap of buffs, we had almost 100% critical
hit rate.
From the crater that Gordino had formed, I kept swinging my Adamantite
Sword.
"Hey, it's started again."
Kiel was stunned by the situation.
It reminded him of scenes he had seen a lot in the past month.
Kiel had seen me swing swords and attack the Iron Golems.
"Don't get carried away!"
Gordino attacked me with a huge Drill Punch.
Gordino was getting attacked by the entire group, but he had decided that
killing me was a priority.
I caught the Drill Punch with my free hand.
My hand and the Dripp Punch clashed.
My fist broke, but the attack stopped.
It was not just my [Endurance] that protected me from that attack.
My B-rank Fish summon's special and awakening skills were a major cause.
A-rank Spirit's Blessing also helped a lot.
B-rank Fish's special skill [Turtle Shield]
B-rank Fish's awakening skill [Turtle Barrier]
A-rank Spirit's Blessing: High Physical Resistance
(As expected, Drill Punch does a lot of damage. But the 'High Physical
Resistance' worked. I didn't die but it hurts like hell.)
I had High Physical Resistance so Gordino's Drill Punch only destroyed my
fist.
Kiel used his Recovery Magic and my hand started regenerating
immediately.
Kiel, who had become a Venerable, could regenerate missing limbs with his
Recovery Magic.
When my hand regenerated, I pulled out another Adamantite sword from
my <Inventory> and started attacking with two swords.
I knew that it would increase my <Swordsmanship>'s level at twice the
speed.
With such a defenseless me, Kiel had hunted for hours of the day.
I decided what to do based on how quickly we could defeat our enemy,
rather than taking it slow with 100% safety guaranteed.
Especially when my <Summon> reached Level 8, my stats went through
the roof and I started to act as the vanguard.
Kiel had to anticipate my actions and use Recovery Magic accordingly,
who had abandoned all defenses.
"We are attacking too!"
Prince Zew gulped for a moment at how strong I was, but realized it was
the chance to win and told the Ten Heroic Beasts to continue attacking.
Since Gordino's attention was on me, it was the perfect opportunity for the
beastmen.
(Hurry up! And good luck, Merus.)
I could see the entire battlefield because of <Sharing> with B-rank and A-
rank Birds, but with me at the vanguard, it seemed a little tougher to defend.
While focusing on me, Gordino, whose legs were being destroyed, was
attacking in all directions with its shoulder and hand turrets.
Zuuuuuhn
I was swinging my sword as hard as I could, and one of Gordino's legs
finally shattered.
And the other leg was also successfully shattered by the attack of my
friends.
"You! You bastards!"
Gordino, who had lost both legs and had its hands on the ground, shouted.
"All right, Cecile, put a stop to this!"
(She should be able to use [Small Meteorite] now.)
I told Cecile to use her Extra Skill [Small Meteorite] that I had been saving
all along.
Sophie's buffs and Cecile's own Talent change had increased [Small
Meteorite]'s power by multiple magnitudes.
"Okay. But do you think it will be enough?"
Cecile had no intention of stopping even when she said so in concern.
"Wait."
Rato, a rat beastman, raised his staff and stood still.
Then, Rato's body started shimmering as he activated his Extra Skill.
"What? Why?"
When she was interrupted, Cecile was more confused than angry.
"Full Burst!"
Rato chanted something and a huge magic circle arose on the ground.
"Uh, what's this?"
"It's going to be powerful. This magic circle will make your magic twice as
powerful."
Rato said with a grin.
Apparently, he set up for Cecile's Extra Skill, [Small Meteorite].
"Oh! But will it really be enough? [Small Meteorite]."
Cecile said so but her face didn't match her words at all.
She poured all her mana into her Extra Skill.
Cecile dropped down a mass of red-hot rock from the skies, not just tens of
meters in diameter, but over a hundred meters.
"Huh? Woah! [Homing Instinct]!"
Its size clearly exceeded the width of the passage.
It hit Gordino, smashing through the walls of the passageway.
I was immensely impressed by the sheer size of the [Small Meteorite].
I hurriedly teleported everyone a short distance away.
"Haaah! You! How dare you!?"
The walls slowed some momentum, but [Small Meteorite] didn't lose much
of its power.
Gordino desperately caught the red-hot giant rock with both hands, but it
couldn't kill the overwhelming momentum of the said rock.
The turrets on both shoulders shattered, and the Gordino's entire body
buried itself in the ground as its both hands cracked and splintered.
"Did we do it?"
"No, everyone stay alert."
The giant rock crushed Gordino, but I told everyone to stay on their toes.
Because there was no log of Gordino being defeated in my Grimoire at all.
It meant that Gordino was still alive.
I told everyone to approach with caution, though it could have been a bug.
"Oh, come on. It was crushed by such a big rock. There's no way it could
have survived."
Kiel said that there was no way Gordino was still alive under the big rock,
which was still red-hot.
[Small Meteorite]'s impact was so great that it had formed a deep and huge
crater, with a large rock in the middle of it.
"No, let's put a stop to this. Everybody, attacking position."
"Hmph!"
As I tried getting everyone into their attacking positions, the big rock
cracked and shattered.
And out came a battered and bruised Gordino.
The four Golems looked like wreckage clinging around Gordino.
Not only the four battered and peeling Golems, but Gordino wasn't free.
Its arms and legs were buried in the ground, the whole body cracked and
looked as if it were going to break apart soon.
"Oh, Allen! It isn't dead yet!"
Prince Zew was also astonished as to why Gordino hadn't died from that
many attacks.
"Maybe this is..."
(Maybe if the Boss takes more than a certain amount of damage...)
"You've finally made me take you seriously. You'll regret this."
My prediction seemed to be quickly coming true.
The cracks in Gordino's body started getting bigger and bigger, and from a
big crack, out came an intact, 30-meter-tall Gordino.
"Hey, hey, something's coming out! There's still something in there!"
Kiel exclaimed.
What more was there to say?
"It's getting smaller. It should be easier to deal with now, right?"
Dogora gave his honest opinion as we had been fighting against a 100 or
150-meter tall Gordino till then.
"You are the first ones to see my true form. Be grateful. Ha!"
Then both of Gordino's eyes lit up and we were bathed in a blinding light.
""Nah!""
I felt no pain even when I was exposed to those rays of light all over my
body.
But I felt uncomfortable.
(Um, so this is his skill? That's a nasty move the Boss uses.)
I felt my whole body weakening.
It's as if all the buffs had disappeared.
"How is it? Afraid? You thought you'd won, but you just have to settle for a
tap on the wrist. Know despair!"
And then Gordino started floating in the air and dashing towards Allen.
Cecile's Extra Skill [Small Meteorite] hit Gordino which forced Gordino to
reveal its true form.
Gordino was about 30 meters tall, about one-third as tall as the first time I
saw it. Gordino was slender and neat.
 Like the Mithril Golem, Gordino had a spinning wheel-like thing on its
head that allowed it to float.
And then, as Gordino's eyes glowed, we were all enveloped in light, and
felt a sensation of power draining from us.
"Gordino has deactivated all our buffs! Use your buff skills again.
Defensive first!"
I shouted my instructions loudly as we were facing the worst scenario.
I also summoned my Fish species summons to reapply their special and
awakening skills that had been deactivated.
"Ha-ha-ha! You've never seen me like this before! You may die proud to
have seen my true form!"
Gordino declared victory on a high note.
Everyone in the group understood the situation and started to reuse their
support skills.
However, Gordino pulled out a Light Shield and a Light Saber from its
hands and closed the distance between us at once.
"Woah!"
"Hmph! That's depressing!"
""Ha!""
One of our three Gigantic Golems blocked Gordino's attack by embracing
the rest of us.
However, both of the Gigantic Golem's got cut off and the Dwarves inside
screamed out loud.
"No matter how many times you try, it will be the same!"
Gordino's eyes lit up again, and I felt the sensation of the buffs leaving my
body.
Support skills were worthless in front of Gordino.
(How many times can he nullify the buffs? If it's infinite, we are in trouble.
It also has a wide range of area of effect. Then there's only one thing to do.)
I had to decide whether to retreat or continue the fight.
We were originally in a passageway, but Cecile's Extra Skill had shattered
the walls of the passageway on both sides, making it quite spacious.
"Tsubame!" (A-rank Bird)
"Pihii!"
I decided to continue fighting.
I thought of the most effective strategy in that situation and put it into
action.
"Everyone, split into three groups. And everyone, use support skills.
[Homing Instinct]!"
I dispersed everyone to lead them to victory from that situation.
I wanted each group to have one vanguard, one rear guard, and mid-guard,
mixing up the races and prioritizing stability.
We only had 2 Saints from Helmios' party, Kiel, and 2 beastmen who could
use Recovery Magic.
The Saints, Kiel and beastmen healers were in three different groups.
"Now Gordino can't use his buffs nullifying skill! The enemy can't recover
any more. If we can defeat it now, we will win!"
As everyone's vision changed at once, they heard my shout.
We had encircled Gordino.
We could still fight.
"Useless! Useless!"
"Ggh!"
As I floated in the air with the help of A-rank Bird's Blessing, [Flight], and
screamed out so that everyone could hear me, Gordino took aim at me.
I used my left arm to block Gordino's attack. I survived but I lost my arm.
"Allen!"
"No problem! Just help me while it attacks me!"
(I will die in just 2 hits. So if you can afford it, Kiel, please help me.)
Allen stays in the air and buys time for his friends to assist him.
I used a [Blessing of Heaven] which regenerated my missing left arm.
In that situation, my Fish species summons' special and awakening skills
showed their full effects.
"You're just wasting your time. Just watch your comrades die!"
Gordino attacked one of the three parties.
"Come on, Oaaaaah!"
"Pfft! You little fish!"
"Guh!"
Dogora tried his best to attack, but was blocked by the Light Shield, and
then turned counter-attacked with the Light Saber.
The same seems to be true of the other beastmen.
Our attacks were no longer getting through because Gordino prioritized
defense and as we had lost our buffs.
Gordino's true form was just one-third the size of the original Gordino, but
it seemed to be much stronger than the original Gordino.
Because Gordino made full use of the Light Shield, most of our attacks
were getting blocked, as Gordino moved swiftly through the air at great
speed like Mithril Golem.
In that state, our only saving grace were the Gigantic Golems that required
no buffs whatsoever.
A stalemate ensued as the Gigantic Golems protected their respective
parties.
However, the situation was becoming more and more favorable to Gordino
with every passing second.
Every time it was attacked, the Gigantic Golem had to consume a Stone
Slab, so there were already some parts of it that could no longer be fixed.
Before that, the time limit for their Extra Skill [Combine] was approaching.
It had almost been an hour since the fight had started.
Gordino was too strong, and if the Gigantic Golems that acted as a wall
disappeared, many rear and mid-guards would die.
(Now, I have a decision to make.)
I tried to damage Gordino by trial and error this way and that, but I could
hardly damage it.
And, neither the Ten Heroic Beasts that had been transformed nor the rest
of us could deal any damage at close range.
Even if B-rank Stone's [Reflect] succeeded, not likely to happen, Gordino
was fast enough to dodge the attack.
I had already completed setting up the "Nest" that led to the cube that
teleported us outside of the Boss Room.
I could forcefully teleport everyone or let them know and teleport them.
(Unfortunately, [Combine] will reach its time limit in a few more minutes. I
haven't used the Spirit King's Blessing yet, should I at least try that? Nah,
there'll be a lot of deaths in the meantime.)
There was still the [Blessing of the Spirit King], which increased
everyone's stats by 30% and allowed them to use their Extra Skill again that
Sophie hadn't used yet.
I didn't know if we would win in that situation, plus I thought that we
might lose the time to retreat doing that.
It was a shame because there was no way to revive the dead, but we could
always challenge the Dungeon Boss again.
That's when I decided to retreat and try to fight Gordino again, fixing the
problems I had noticed in the first fight.
"I'm sorry to say this only now. Showing it in public too much will hurt my
business, but I don't have a choice. I'll do something with my Extra Skill,
you guys take care of the rest."
After a sigh, the Thief Rosetta opened her mouth.
(Hmm?)
My B-rank Bird that I was using <Sharing> on picked up Rosetta's voice.
"Doesn't your Extra Skill allow you to steal treasures?"
What are you talking about, said Hermios beside her.
 Even Helmios, her party member, thought there was nothing that Rosetta
could do in that situation.
The rest of the group looked at Rosetta, wondering what she could do
against Gordino in that situation.
"Well, you'll see, Helmios. You'll pay dearly for this loan. Allen! I'll take
the power from this big bastard, and you can do something about it!"
"Everybody, Rosetta's going to do something!"
Merus and I were at the center of the battlefield.
I told everyone that Rosetta was going to do something and that defending
her was a top priority.
In the midst of all that, Rosetta the Phantom Thief's body started
shimmering.
"Ha-ha-ha! What can a Thief do! I'll nullify no matter what you do!"
Gordino mocked Rosetta who had stepped forward.
"Good. I'd like to borrow some of your skills. [Rover Hands]!"
Rosetta smiled for a moment, and then reached up into the air and grabbed
something.
""What!?""
Rosetta raised her hand and made a large swinging and grabbing gesture
while everyone watched astonished.
There was something shiny floating in Rosetta's hand.
"What!? What's this? You've got something nice, don't you? Now you can't
use my skill anymore. Fuf."
"What? You. That's it! You took my skill! I'll never forgive you!"
(She took away Gordino's skill!? Seriously!)
Gordino immediately understood what had happened.
It closed the distance between it and Rosetta at once and tried to regain the
skills that were taken from it.
"Hey, hey!"
 Aimed at Gordino, Rosetta began to get impatient as the glowing ball
floated in her hand.
"[Guard Break]!"
Master Swordsman Doberg jumped in and defended Rosetta.
He seemed to have timed it perfectly.
Maybe he was looking for an opportunity to follow up if Rosetta were to
fail.
"Ha-ha!"
The Light Shield and Gordino's entire arm was shattered by the Master
Swordsman Doberg's blow.
(Opportunity knocks!)
"[Homing Instinct]! Use your Support skills! Sophie, [Blessing of the Spirit
King]!"
Seeing that as an opportunity to win, I brought everyone who had been
divided into three parties into a single location.
"Yes! Master Allen. Spirit God Rosen, please."
While everyone began to use their Support skills if they had one, Sophie
used all her mana and used her Extra Skill [Great Spirit Manifestation].
"Ha-ha-ha. The battle is in its final stages."
With that said, the Spirit God on Sophie's shoulder started floating in the
air and shaking his hips.
The whole area was covered in what looked like glowing raindrops.
"Support skill quick! Everyone can use their Extra Skill again!"
Everyone had already been briefed on the [Blessing of the Spirit King] that
the Spirit God had used beforehand.
Since Sophie used it, everyone knew that it was our last chance.
"You've got to be kidding me! You think I'm going to give you time to get
ready for that?"
""We'll buy you some time!""
Two Gigantic Golems, already battered and bruised, stood in the way of
Gordino.
"We can't step back now! Merle, grit your teeth!"
"Yeah!"
The already battered Gigantic Golem was at its limit.
But they roused themselves and faced Gordino head on.
Admiral Galara was leading the dwarves. He was ready to sacrifice himself
for earning some more time.
"Don't get carried away!"
After being damaged so many times, a Gigantic Golem had finally reached
its limits.
One by one, the Gigantic Golems started collapsing and falling down.
Dwarves waddled out of the crystal from the collapsed Golem's chest and
ran to the rear guard.
And a vicious Light Saber attacked the Gigantic Golem that Admiral
Galala was on.
The Gigantic Golem took a vicious blow, and was sprawling backwards, but
Merle used her Magic Board to control it with all her might and used the
last attack.
"Megaton Puuuunnnnncccch!"
However, Merle's deadly blow was blocked by the Light Saber.
Admiral Galara and Merle's Gigantic Golem also reached its limit and
collapsed.
Merle and the others were thrown out of the crystal part of the collapsed
Gigantic Golem.
"Hmph, I am not dying. Stop! Stop!"
Gordino tried to take care of Merle and the others who were thrown out of
the Gigantic Golem.
I used [Homing Instinct] and moved them towards us.
"No, that's enough. Thank you all."
I gripped my sword and said thank you.
"Yeah, I guess so. That's enough. We don't need any more."
Helmios also readied his sword and said with room to spare.
"Grrr!"
The beastified Prince Zew caged enough power to grip his knuckles and
bent forward to face Gordino.
We were all surrounded by a blinding light.
Those lights showed that we were all fully buffed.
"You think you've won with that?"
"Sophie. It's hard to take it down when it moves around, so block its
movement."
"Yes, Master Allen. Wind Spirit Gale, please lend me your help."
"Yes. Ok, Mama.'"
Sophie recovered her mana and manifested a boyish Wind Spirit.
For some reason, the Wind Spirit calls Sophie "Mama".
Because of two Rings that increased [Mana] by 5,000, the [Blessing of the
Spirit King], and the assistance of Sophie's entire mana pool being sucked
up, a visible rope of wind crawled across Gordino's entire body, binding it.
"What? This thing."
But even all of that could only keep Gordino immobile for a few seconds.
But it was enough.
We all started our attack at the same time.
Sha!
"Guaaaah!"
I used [Flight] and slammed my sword into Gordino's eye with all my
might.
After [Blessing of the Spirit King], my [Attack] was high enough that it
didn't matter that Gordino was made up of Hihiirokane.
"Now it can't nullify our skills."
I put my foot on Gordino's face and pushed my sword in further.
The beastmen who had turned into beasts also attacked.
Weapons slammed from all directions on Gordino's body.
"[Phoenix Sword]!"
"[Supreme Sword]!"
"Ha! Against such a foe as myself..."
Helmios and Kurena's sword slammed deep into Gordino's chest.
Zuuuuuuuuhhh!
Gordino, having lost its power, fell to the ground.
"You have defeated Gordino. You have acquired 4,000,000,000 (billion)
Experience."
(Somehow, I got the whole villain vibe all the way through.)
"Looks like we have won."
""Oh! We won!"
Allen's declaration of victory was met with cheers by everyone.
Allen and his party finally defeated the Dungeon Boss.
Gordino was down in front of me.
I had stabbed Gordino so hard that it's face was damaged.
(It was too strong. That was pretty close. It was kind of like a story Boss.)
I let out my thoughts on how we had defeated Gordino.
In a pretty close fight, we barely managed to win because of Prince Zew's
second Extra Skill and Rosetta's Extra Skill.
"...Father, I did it."
Beside me, Prince Zew, who had already transformed back, was shaking
his shoulders.
Prince Zew, who usually called himself "Yo" in first person and his father
"His Majesty the Beast King", had gone back to his childhood memories.
Temi, the Astrologer, had told me that Prince Zew was given that trial so
that he could never pass it.
But Prince Zew wanted to pass the trial no matter what it took.
It might have just been my imagination that General Hobah was crying
louder than Prince Zew beside him.
"... we've all done it. I'll be taking sake to your graves."
Admiral Galara closed his eyes and thought about his lost comrades.
The dwarves had been the perfect Tanks.
If even one of the three Gigantic Golem had spared a little effort, several
people would have died.
The Dwarves, who had risked their lives more than anyone else, all shed
tears, and more than victory, they shed tears for the friends they had lost in
their first attempt.
While each of them was soaking up the sentimentality of their feelings,
Cecile came up to me.
"Hmm? What's the matter with you? You don't seem happy."
"I shouldn't have let you stop me."
Cecile was dissatisfied because she couldn't use her Extra Skill [Small
Meteorite] because Kurena and Helmios' attacks were enough to defeat
Gordino.
"No, it's not something you can use in a situation where everyone's fighting
melee."
I was stunned to find out that Cecile couldn't wait to rain down another
[Small Meteorite].
Cecile had also received the [Blessing of the Spirit King] and had gotten
even more stronger.
But there were a rather large number of situations where Cecile's Extra Skill
was not suitable for use.
"Well, yeah. Oh?"
In the midst of our conversation, a potato-faced man who was neither
Prince Zeu Beast nor Admiral Galara, but had recently come of age, stood
where Gordino had already disappeared, leaving only an S-rank magic
stone behind.
"Dogora is disappointed."
Kurena came up to me and looked sadly at me to show how Dogora was
feeling.
Dogora was not happy with that fight.
Everyone in the group, even those from different groups worked together,
but he was unable to do so, and he was wondering why.
"Dogora, you didn't play a big part today."
"Hey! Oh, you."
I spoke directly to Dogora about his worries.
"Don't worry. Formar wasn't very active either."
"Hey!"
Formar clicked his tongue at me.
Formar had less of an active role in fights against Golems who had high
[Endurance].
The Dungeon Boss were always difficult to damage with a bow.
But Formar himself didn't seem to mind at all.
He didn't think about anything but protecting Sophie in the first place.
(Is it any wonder that different Talents have different strengths and
weaknesses in different situations? It'd have been better if he could activate
his Extra Skill. Well, he was active)
If you asked me if Dogora had any impact on the battle, he had.
He had changed his Talent three times, was well equipped, and had
overwhelming [Attack].
He was comparable to any Heroic Beast or Helmios' party members, but he
had been overwhelmed by the battle.
He had been with friends who had always been stronger than him since he
was at the Academy.
Kurena and Kiel had next level skill compared to Dogora..
(That doesn't mean you didn't do well, does it, Dogora?)
"You're not trying to be a Hero under the circumstances I've set up for you,
are you?"
"!?"
Dogora gasped.
I had gathered the party, came up with a plan, and won the battle.
I told Dogora that he was getting a free ride to be a hero.
The word meant that it would be the same in the future as well.
I told Dogora with my eyes to become a Hero with his own hands, and to be
able to activate his Extra Skill on his own.
"Let's check our rewards."
I chuckled, and then called out to each party in the aftermath of their
sentimentality and triumph.
The cube to return to the 5th Floor was at the end of the passage, but since
we had defeated the Dungeon Boss, a special cube appeared.
The special cube would give us rewards for defeating the Dungeon Boss
and teleport us back to the 1st Floor.
I used A-rank Bird to reach it at once.
There was a Treasure Chest, unlike any I had ever seen, in front of the cube.
"Congratulations on defeating the Dungeon Boss..'
"Oh, oh, oh! There's something amazing. What's that shine!"
""Oh!""
"..."
The cube was saying something, but Kiel interrupted it and the cube fell
silent.
Kiel was not the only one surprised.
There were indeed four rewards for defeating the Dungeon Boss and in
front of us at that moment were three of them.
Originally, it was supposed to be four, but there was one special reward
from Dungeon Master Digragni for conquering the S-class dungeon for the
first time.
 In front of the cube were three Treasure Chests: a Silver Chest, a Gold
Chest, and a Rainbow Chest.
(Hohoho, the Dungeon Boss drops at least a Silver Chest? But still, there
has never been a Rainbow Chest before.)
The Bronze and Iron Golems dropped Wooden, Silver or Gold Chests.
We were pretty lucky that all three of the rewards for the raid were more
than a Silver Chest, considering that even Silver Chests had a drop rate of
just 10%.
The reward for defeating the Dungeon Boss S-class dungeon seemed to
start with a Silver Chest, and we got a Rainbow Chest as well.
"Th-this is..."
Prince Zew froze when he saw the three Treasure Chests.
"We have three Treasure Chests here. Rainbow, Gold, and Silver. We all
know which ones are more valuable. So could Prince Zew, Admiral Galara,
and Helmios discuss who gets what?"
"I see. So that's how it is."
Prince Zew seemed convinced.
We talked about the Treasure Chests, ignoring the cube.
The cube seemed to be waiting for us to become aware of its existence.
"Let's take a look inside first."
Helmios suggested what the chests contained before deciding on who
would get what.
We opened the three Treasure Chests.
Silver Chest -- A Dimensional Storage magic tool (Extra Large)
Gold Chest -- Basic Stone Slab (Leg) for a Adamantite Golem
Rainbow Chest -- A pendant that increased [Attack] by 3000
"They're all such great treasures!"
Rosetta, the Thief leaned over and started thinking what to choose.
My friends and I watched from the sidelines as we wouldn't get any
rewards.
(Seriously. The pendant increases [Attack], so that means we can raise stats
with accessories that aren't Ring, right? I'll have to go around and get them.)
Weapons and armor also increased one's stats.
My heart was racing with the discovery of new accessories.
"Hm. I'm the Leader of these four parties. Can I make the decision? I want
the Rainbow Chest."
"What?"
I never thought that Prince Zew would ask for the Rainbow Chest's reward
so openly.
Rosetta couldn't help but let out a yelp.
Rosetta looked around, but no one seemed to object.
"That's all right. Then I want the Gold Chest."
Admiral Galara said that it was fine.
And he said that a Golem's Basic Stone Slab would be best for him.
I thought Rosetta would object but she didn't say anything.
But, certainly, there was no point in getting a Golem's Stone Slab.
Even if she sold it to the temple, they'd buy it anyway.
"Okay, okay. I'll put up with this magic tool."
With that, Rosetta took the Dimensional Storage magic tool (Extra Large)
as if it were her own.
Helmios chuckled at his lack of choice.
The most important thing to remember is that the best way to get the most
out of your money is to use the right tools and equipment.
This time, because of the extra-large size it can store, it's going to be worth
more than a whole house if sold.
The distribution of rewards ended there.
(I thought we were about to have a battle of attrition, but this world is at
peace.)
Just because one fought in a raid didn't mean that the rewards would go to
everyone.
 I remember participating in a 50-man raid in my previous life but only1 or
2 people getting the reward for the successful raid.
Often it would devolve into a battle royale over rewards after raid battles,
but everything was decided very peacefully there.
"... Oh, by the way, I have yet to thank you for saving Sarah and Ur from
that day."
Saying so, Prince Zew suddenly offered the pendant to me.
He said he remembered just then, but I had decided to say that it sounded
slightly actorly and awkward.
"What? Are you sure?"
"I've served my purpose here. I don't need this."
Apparently, Prince Zew wanted the Rainbow Chest's reward to give it to
me and my party.
I looked at the Ten Heroic Beasts behind Prince Zew.
No one disagreed.
That had already been decided on before.
"Only one Adamantite Stone Slab is useless. Let Merle have this one."
With that said, Admiral Galara also offered the Stone Slab to me.
"Eh?"
"Thank you for letting me avenge my friends. Thanks to you, we can all
move on."
Admiral Galara grinned.
Both Prince Zew and Admiral Galara decided to give their reward to Allen
and his party.
"Hey! Hey! I'm not giving you this!"
Rosetta, holding the magic tool in her chest, said in a hurry.
The time mage’s strong new game ~
I returned to the past to rewrite it
as the world’s strongest – Chapter
38 – Invitation
“We’re back.”
“We’re back~! I’m really hungry~!”
Welcome home, El and Chrom. A lot of work again today?”
It’s night, after we finished working on processing the flowers.
I return home with El, and the dinner that Miss Reina made is already on
the table.
Every plate is decorated with colorful edible flowers, and the salad and
yogurt have plenty of freshly taken pure honey and bee pollen.
This is kind of like the local cuisine of Almana, and that sweetness really
hits the spot when I’m so tired.
“Ahh… I didn’t expect paperwork to be so exhausting. Swinging a sword
doesn’t get me this tired no matter how many times I do it.”
El’s father Mister Sirius is exhausted too for once.
He’s the feudal lord of this town, so he’s very busy this time of the year.
We keep having a nice, peaceful meal, until…
“I heard you put in a lot of work today, Chrom.”
“Eh?”
Says Miss Reina all of a sudden, like she’s teasing me.
“People are talking about it. How apparently this year things are moving a
lot faster because of you.”
“Ah, I heard that too. People are fighting over what kind of work Chrom is
going to do.”
“You’ve really become someone the townspeople can count on.”
“H-have I…?”
Someone they can count on…
That’s something that wouldn’t have even crossed my mind the first time
around.
I couldn’t use magic, so I was called Chrom the failure and always felt
embarrassed…
That really changed over the course of these ten days.
“But… That means tomorrow is going to be trouble. El and Chrom are
going to the capital.”
Says Miss Reina, and Mister Sirius scratches his silver hair.
“Yes… That’s tomorrow already.”
Yes, starting tomorrow, El and I will be staying in the capital for a while.
It all started five days ago. A week ago, I saved my childhood friend Labrys
from the Sorcerer Association… And I received an invitation to the Scarlet
family mansion, obviously to thank me.
The Scarlet family is one of the four big houses of the Kingdom of Historia,
so I can’t reject an invitation from them unless I have a very good reason.
And since Almana is peaceful and close to the capital, that reason doesn’t
exist. That means I accepted that invitation along with El, but…
“Are you done preparing to travel?”
“Yes, but it’s not like the capital is far anyway.”
“Geez dad, you worry too much.”
I feel a little relieved as we have a cheerful conversation.
(…It looks like this whole idea of going to the capital is going smoothly.)
This invitation from the Scarlet family is actually not a coincidence.
It all started a week ago, after I saved Labrys.
“…Chrom, you’re going to keep fighting the Sorcerer Association, right? I
want to fight alongside you… I guess I’ll just be getting in your way in an
actual battle, but I might be able to help in other ways.”
Proposed Labrys, and I answered.
“Well then, can I stay in your house? And can I meet your father?”
“…!? W-w-w-w-where did that come from?”
Labrys smoothed things over with her father very quickly, and two days
later, we received an invitation.
(…Just when I want to go to the capital.)
Ende, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Historia.
In my previous life, it was destroyed nine days ago, but since I killed the
demon king that destroyed it, the future changed.
Because of that, I can go there after the eleventh day of the fourth month,
something I couldn’t do in my previous life.
A land I couldn’t step foot in before.
People and documents lost in that future are still there now.
The royal capital is like a powder keg. Demon king transformation research
is being done nearby, and according to documents I read in the future, the
twelve sages sneakily come and go frequently.
Those people should be there now.
The twelve sages of the Sorcerer Association.
Twelve of the strongest people in the world, and the twelve who caused the
destruction in that future.
And among them, two…
(…The seeds are already sown.)
The destruction in that future wasn’t a natural disaster, it was man-made.
That means I can’t just avoid incidents that happened in that future… I have
to take the initiative and crush the key people responsible for leading the
world to ruin.
The groundwork for that was done a week ago, when I fought the Sorcerer
Association.
“…? Chrom? What’s wrong? You look all serious again.”
“Eh?”
Before I know it, El is peeking at my face.
Apparently I worried her because I went silent all of a sudden and looked
very serious.
I play it off by laughing.
“I was just thinking about what to do there.”
“Is that it? But you’re right, I haven’t traveled in a while. I’m really looking
forward to it too.”
El innocently smiles.
I want to protect this smile. I have to.
Status, fame, wealth… I don’t need any of that.
I just don’t want to lose this peaceful time. I don’t want to go back to that
future where I couldn’t save anyone.
Save everything.
That’s the whole reason why I came back to this time.
So, the next day, it’s time to leave for the capital.
We put on our traveling outfits early in the morning, and walk out of the
house.
“Do you have the Scarlet family’s invitation with you?”
“Is everything ready? Did you forget to pack a handkerchief?”
Mister Sirius and Miss Reina sound worried, and ask us if we didn’t forget
all sorts of things.
“Geez, you two worry too much…”
“Yes, the capital isn’t that far.”
“Y-yes… Well, it will be fine if Chrom is going.”
It’s not like we’re going on a long journey.
We need a change of clothes, since we’re not coming back today, but it will
be fine as long as we have canteens and money.
We can just buy anything we need there.
“Myself and Reina can’t leave town during our busiest season, but… Give
my regards to Lord Scarlet. He has been a big help recently with dungeon
investigations and town security.”
“Got it.”
“Be careful on the road. I heard that monsters that were in Almana’s
underground dungeon might be out on the main road…”
“Yes… The lady next door told me about these rumored ‘black shadows’
that move very quickly.”
“…Hn?”
“Apparently there are these humanoid shadows that slash living beings and
extract their blood…”
“Some people say it might be a new monster weapon developed in secret by
the Sorcerer Association.”
“Geez, you two! Don’t scare us right before we leave!”
“I-I wasn’t trying to scare you… I just want you to be careful.”
“…”
Those black shadows… Are probably me.
I’ve been going out during the night and thinning out the monsters that
appear on the main road, but I guess from other people’s point of view, I
just looked like some kind of fiend.
“Well, it’s just a rumor, haha…”
I say to try to gloss over it.
“Well then, mom, please take care of my flower bed. And don’t do any
weird arrangements.”
“I know. I won’t blow up the flower bed again.”
“What exactly happened?”
“And dad, don’t swing the sword near them and break the flowers with
wind pressure.”
“Y-yes… I’ll be careful.”
We finish our goodbyes.
““Have a nice trip.””
““Thank you.””
El and I leave the house, and reach the entrance to the town.
“Someone you know will be giving us a ride on her wagon, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. I talked about it with Nekoko, a traveling merchant.”
El’s connections are no joke.
Her ability to become friends with anyone incredibly quickly is coming in
handy now.
“But it’ll probably be hard to find the right one in the middle of so many
wagons…”
Almana is a small town, but merchant wagons are constantly coming and
going at this time of the year.
There’s so many wagons filled with flowers at the entrance to the town…
“No, it’s fine. Nekoko’s really stands out.”
“Stands out?”
“Yes, just wait~…”
El says while looking around.
“Ah, there it is!”
She says while pointing, and I turn my head in that direction.
“…Ah…”
I see, I get it.
Yes, that wagon really does stand out. I mean, it’s not even a horse-drawn
wagon. Instead of horses, a giant cat is attached to it.
And in front of this cat-drawn wagon is…
“…Nyanne… Nyanne…”
I hear a troubled sounding voice and see a big leather backpack shaking.
“Nekoko!”
“Nyanne?”
The backpack suddenly turns around, and behind it is a small girl with cat
ears.
I guess I didn’t see her because that small body was hiding behind that big
backpack.
She has fluffy light-brown hair, and is wearing an overcoat with embroidery
that is probably traditional clothing of her people.
But peeking out of that hair and overcoat… Are cat ears and a tail.
(Is she a… Cat Sith?)
A race of cat people that interacts with human society.
It’s a very mysterious race, but they’re said to have built a country
somewhere in the world that surpasses any of the countries of humans, and
sometimes they come to human towns to sell their goods.
In that ruined future, Cat Sith were the only distribution network but… In
this age, they’re still merchants.
“Ah, nyanne Miss Ellunyan. It’s been a nyaile.”
“Nyanne～♪.”
“Nyanne!”
The cat girl approaches El, rubs her head on her, and starts smelling her.
It’s like a cat that’s attached to its owner. She’s even closer to El than I
thought.
“I see you’re buying a lot of flowers again this year.”
“Nyafufu… Almana’s flowers are popular with the nobles, my good source
of revenue in the capinyal♪. I get to charge outrageous nyaices♪ Money just
rolls in nyanne♪.”
Says the girl named Nekoko with kind of a dark smile.
“…Nyanne?”
She notices me looking at her and stares at me.
She then realizes I’m with El, and bows.
“Ah, excuse me nyanne. My nyame is Nekoko Catwalker, a traveling
salesman Cat Sith. Let’s get along free of charge nyanne.”
Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer
Chapter 43.
An hour after the selection began, Tenji's name was finally called.
Only four participants were left in this square in front of the red brick
warehouse. Tenji, without looking at them, knew they were the team he was
going to test with.
Tenji felt a little gloomy.
[Huh, I kind of feel wrong about this. Why am I picked at last?]
Just as Tenji thought, the other remaining participants looked at Tenji with
hostile eyes. He was wearing the uniform of Japan Explorers High School.
And so, they walked into the multiple tents before the gate, just as Kujo had
said.
After the three of them entered, Tenji also went under the tent. He saw a
board marked "Entrance."
The tent was large and seemed to be made up of large military-style tents
that were connected horizontally for a long time.
As soon as he entered the tent, Tenji saw a white gate and some oil slick
from the sub-dungeon. Apparently, the tent was set up in this location so
that he could dive through the gate directly from this tent.
Inside, nearly ten regular Chariot members were going about their
businesses. Godo was also there, staring at a document on his desk with his
glasses on.
Then there was one professional explorer who greeted the four members of
the 26th group with a huge smile.
"Hey hey, are you guys the last of the 26th group? I'm Fukuyama Yohito, a
member of the guild [Chariot]. I'm a second-grade explorer and I will be
joining you as your examiner and captain, so please look forward to it."
Fukuyama smiled with a fresh, handsome smile and tried to win the heart of
a woman in the 26th group - Rikka Tachibana, a 19 years old college
student.
Of course, Rikka didn't feel wrong about being looked at so passionately by
her respected seniors.
There, Godo coughed a lot.
"Oops, sorry about that. I'm a sucker for cute girls. I'll explain the test, but
first things first... I'm going to ask you to sign a contract, so take one from
the table there and sign it. Give them to Mr. Godo. Now! Hurry up! Move!"
Without showing any remorse for his previous behavior, Fukuyama quickly
pushed the four test participants and led them to the table where the
contracts were placed.
There were four contracts and ballpoint pens on the table. The four of them
skimmed through the contract details.
[There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about this. It just says that the
test contents from here on out must not be shared with anyone other than
Chariot's guild members. Anyone who breaks this rule will have to face
punishment or penalty. That doesn't sound like a problem.]
Tenji quickly judges that it is a perfectly fair contract and signs it with his
practiced hand in the signature line.
There are many opportunities to sign a contract like this when you are an
explorer. That is why there is even a lecture on contracts in the first year of
high school.
Tenji had experience looking over and signing contracts as a luggage
carrier, so he looked up before the other three and went above Godo sitting
in a chair.
"Godo-san, please."
"Oh, Mr. Tenji. Good luck to you. I'm only here as an examiner so, I can't
give you any advice but, in terms of field experience alone. There are very
few people who can compete with Tenji-kun... I have high hopes for you."
"Yes yes, I'll do my best."
"Oh, and here..."
Godo made it clear that he was neutral, and then he took out a stamp-like
object about five centimeters in front of Tenji and gestured as if he was
asking him for his hand.
Tenji was puzzled by the item but, he did as Godo asked and held out his
right palm.
Tenji moved his hand towards Godo.
"No, no, no. Give me the back of your hand."
"Uhh, yes."
Tenji hurriedly flipped his hand palm down as he was asked to show the
back instead of the palm.
On the back of his right hand, Godo stamped something with a pop. There
was a strange formation of figures on it.
And after three seconds, the formation quickly entered and slushed into his
body.
"Uhm... This is... "
"This? Uh, yeah. It's an item that seals all the benefits of physical abilities
and skills from your calling. Well, the potency of this item is not so great
that it will last for more than eight hours or so. You heard the Commander's
explanation of the item's effectiveness, right? She already had this ready for
all of us to use at that time."
Tenji, who was checking the 'Book of Enma' while listening to the Godo
explaining, was reminded of the peculiar nature of his calling.
The 'Book of Enma' still floated softly in Tenji's vision, and the red demon
ring on the index finger of his right hand had not disappeared.
On the contrary, when he checked his own status in the Book of Enma, he
noticed that his attack power was still at 96, and even the physical benefits
that Godo had mentioned were not sealed.
[I knew it. On the phone, Mr. Kaido said, "The calling measurement tree is
a first-grade item and cannot interfere with higher grades." From that, I
think that the sealed item used in this test would not be able to interfere
with my calling.]
In fact, that guess was correct, and the original item that Godo used, the Shu
Seal ver. Kushira Whale 7 was a first-grade item. It was an item that
couldn't interfere with any grade higher than the first.
Of course, a zero-grade explorer was not someone who comes to the
dungeon for a test, so the Chariot was not worried about any of that.
"I'm surprised you've been preparing for this for such a long time. I feel like
I've been taken for a treat."
"The Commander has always been this kind of weirdo who likes to get
behind people's backs. Come on! Go for it! Tenji-kun!"
"Yes!"
Godo's current words were loaded with the skill 'Language Inspiration.'
Tenji thanked Godo for secretly cheering him up as he was naturally filled
with motivation.
And so, it is back to Fukuyama. Who is chattering again but with a fresh
smile on his face.
Fukuyama didn't speak in particular but observed the participants closely
from beginning to end with eyes that seemed to be assessing them.
Tenji found this somewhat eerie.
"Are you sure you don't have any questions about the contract?"
When all four of them had gathered again, Fukuyama threw such words at
them.
No one asked any questions, and Fukuyama nodded yes.
"Then I'll explain about this test briefly."
Rikka Tachibana, who was right next to him, gulped.
Kusatsu Gouta - a 22-year-old college student-- and Mizue Katsunari - a 17
years old senior in high school - The two men in the group also turned more
serious.
"This sub-dungeon is riddled with prolific monsters. What's even more
special is that it's also a private room type dungeon. Therefore, the test you
guys will be doing is to conquer one route of a fifth-grade sub-dungeon.
That's all, any questions?"
"Oh, uhm... Can I ask you something? What are prolific monsters are?"
"May I call you Rikka-chan?"
"Yes!"
"I'm sure you're a regular college student..." he said. "That's not very deep
in monster knowledge, is it?"
"Excuse me? ..."
"I didn't know the first thing about monsters when I joined Chariot! I was
just a nobody to begin with."
Tenji saw Rikka and Fukuyama's white teeth shining bright.
And Tenji was surprised by that fact, Fukuyama said. He wonders how
good someone who is originally a nobody can be selected for Chariot's A-
team.
"Nobody?"
"Yeah, well, we'll talk about that in the sub-dungeon, but let's get back to
the subject. I mean, I'm the one who went off topic! Haha, sorry, sorry. So,
fertile monsters, as the name implies, are monsters that give birth to a large
number of children and create a succession of subordinates, so to speak,
having characteristics like ants."
"Is it like ants?..."
Rikka clearly had a look of dislike for insects.
"But don't worry, it's not insectoid this time. Normally, new monsters don't
re-pop in sub-dungeons, but they can spawn. So, it is advisable to attack
sub-dungeons with prolific monsters as soon as possible. However, this
time I dared to leave this sub-dungeon for about a month."
They abandoned it for a month.
There was no one who didn't know that fact, or rather, it was easy to guess
from the context.
At that moment, the tension between them increased several notches.
"Well, the early answer is that you're going to show me how you're going to
take on a sub-dungeon crawling with monsters." Fukuyama said again.
Fukuyama's white front teeth sparkled a bit.
Vol6-Chapter 101: Producing a
Justice Organization
It seems that Queen Giselotte is possessed by a demonic god or
something. She is as annoying as ever.
Even though she is rather irrelevant, if left unchecked, she might become a
problem.
I came to the conclusion that this was no time to talk about the balance of
power in the country, and that it would be better to just sneak in a surprise
attack and ask her to leave the world.
But then, you know…
In the mountains of the Imperial territory. It was chilly even though summer
was almost here.
In the midst of the thickly growing trees, a large amount of water was
falling down. It was a waterfall.
“Why am I in this mess~!”
Professor Tia’s exclamation was drowned out by the sound of the
waterfall.
Is it called a white lintel? She was wearing a white lintel, the kind you
wear inside a kimono, and was being drenched from the head down by the
waterfall. By the way, I made the costume. Charu asked me to make it.
Other than her, Frey, Riza, Iris, and even my sister, Charlotte, were all lined
up to be drenched in a large amount of cold water. It looks cold.
“Professor Tia, this is the point where you must endure. Only after you
overcome this hardship will you awaken and become more powerful!”
Charu-chan, you’re trying your best, but aren’t your lips purple? Isn’t it
getting worse?
“I am not a combatant!”
“Let us stand together as one against the great evil!”
“Listen to me!? Incidentally, I’m about to reach my max level, so I won’t
be getting any power-ups like an awakening or anything like that!”
“Speaking of awakening, you may be surprised at the power-up. Maybe
your maximum magic level will go up!”
“No way, there is no way that will ever happen! Ehh, I can’t stay in this
place! I’m going to stop you!”
The little professor jumped out soaking wet.
At any rate, I can’t blame her since she did it until she was drenched by the
waterfall. Thank you for going along with Char.
“It was a total mess. ……”
Shivering and rattled, she came over to me.
By the way, I was on top of the cliff overlooking the waterfall. I was in
Shiva form for a reason.
“Ohh? Shiva-kun, you brought your girlfriend with you?”
She turned her half-open soaked eyes next to me.
“What kind of game is this?”
Zara Yessel, a senior, spills out in astonishment. My copy was sitting next
to her in a daze.
“And …… where is this place? Is there a waterfall like this in the vicinity
of Royal Capital?”
“We’re in Imperial territory.”
“…… you mean to tell me that just by going through that strange door,
you’ve crossed the border as well?”
“Let’s talk about it in detail some other time. But more importantly…”
First, let me summarize my thoughts.
Queen Giselotte, who is possessed by a demonic god, cannot be left alone. I
would like to ask her to leave this world quickly, but there are
circumstances that prevent me from doing so.
“Charlotte-sama, you should get some rest.”
“I-I-I-I-It’s fine-e-e-e-e-e. T-T-T-This much is g-g-g-g-g-g-g–g—–.”
Charlotte held her hands folded in front of her chest and endured the cold.
This is training.
In order to confront a powerful enemy, she aims to ‘awaken and power up,’
as she puts it.
Apparently, she has also invited Marianne onee-chan and Rias to join her.
[Sorry, I’m interested too, but I’m too busy working for the student council.
……]
[Getting hit by a waterfall? If you can raise your magic level with that, no
one would have a hard time. This is ridiculous.]
Rias, that’s what I’m talking about! I agree with you intensely!
Anyway,
Charu is really serious about overthrowing the huge evil organization,
and by the way, the demonic god that Professor Tia inadvertently talked
about.
With Camelot’s power, bring peace to the world!
What would happen if I were to defeat Gieselotte with the demon god
without anyone’s knowledge, in the midst of all this?
The huge evil organization – perhaps a shady religious group like the
‘Lucifera cult’ – might refrain from domestic activities.
They’re expanding their activities outside the country, so they’ll probably
move there.
In other words, the enemy that Charu is supposed to defeat will be
completely eliminated.
[As expected of my onii-sama right. (flat tone)]
Would there be any meaning in such praise that lacks her sparkling eyes?
No, there is no meaning.
So, I must not just do things casually.
What I need to do is to make sure Charu and the others comfortably achieve
their goals.
There should be no danger if I support them from the shadows so that no
one will notice. Frey and Riza alone seem to be almost safe in terms of
strength.
Yeah, produce.
It’s not so different from the time of the turmoil in Royal Capital. So it
should be fine.
And, by the way, the waterfall training probably won’t raise the magic
level either. It’s sad, but that’s the reality.
So I decided to hurry up with my long-planned plan of ‘figuring out the
mysterious tube that protrudes from the back, which is the concept of the
magic level’.
Once I figured it out, I would be able to secretly power up Charu and the
others.
And the collaborator was Zara-senpai! （Lengthy)
“–Are you sure you’re up to this? I intend to ensure your safety, but
there’s no guarantee that unforeseen circumstances won’t arise. And of
course, I’m going to make sure you’re safe!”
“Using my body to solve the mystery of the magic level ……. Sounds
interesting. No one expects anything from me anyway. No matter what you
do to me, I’m already …….”
Aren’t I stepping on a strange landmine here? I can only see a future
where she will become a Yandere.
“From my experience, I can say that I felt a sense of disgust as if I was
being groped inside my body, you know.”
“Eh, really? That might be a little …… disgusting.”
What are you doing, Professor Tia?
“Well, if I can’t stand it anymore, I’ll say so. You don’t have a hobby for
forcibly humiliating weak maidens, do you?”
I don’t have that kind of hobby, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop doing
it. Should I make a contract and have her sign it first? Make sure that the
important parts are in small print so that she can’t see them.
“Why don’t you tell me? You’re making me nervous!”
It can’t be helped.
“Okay. I’ll accept your terms. But I hope you won’t be too quick to give up
now that you’re going to do it.”
“Does that mean you’re expecting something from me……?”
“You can take it that way.”
Is this good? My response.
Despite her uneasiness, Zahra senior smiled as if she had broken through
for some reason.
“Alright. Well, I should just show my back, right?
She suddenly started to take off the upper half of her uniform. She didn’t
look embarrassed at all, even though my copy was standing blankly beside
her.
So, without any emotion, her fine skin was exposed.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to do something?”
“Ahh, no. …….”
It was true, indeed.
Until now, I’ve always checked everything through the clothes, so this is
the first time I’ve seen a tube extending directly from the back.
No, that’s fine.
Whether it’s attached to the ground or cut off in the middle, it’s no different
than what I saw through the clothes.
But you know,
“There’s some kind of hole in there. ……”
“Eh? What’s that? Don’t tell me I have scars on my back!?”
No, it’s not a scar or anything.
There were pipes here and there that were close together in some places and
in other places there were holes—- as many as 10 holes that were there as if
to say, ‘Please insert a tube here!’.
What is this? I was puzzled–
On Zara-senpai’s back, 10 holes were there as if to say, ‘Please insert a tube
here!’.
Anyway, her back looked black, but I couldn’t see what was inside her
body.
“What would it be?”
Explaining so that only Professor Tia could hear me, I asked her,
“I don’t think I’m the right person for that question. And without the ‘
thing’ to plug in, there’s no way to test it.”
I see what she meant.
I decided to leave the holes alone for the time being, and start tinkering with
the tubes that were sticking out of the ground. Incidentally, there are 18
tubes stuck in the ground and 4 halfway through, for a total of 22 tubes.
I gripped one of the tubes with the transparent barrier and pulled it out with
a jerk, imagining that I was pulling it out of the ground.
“Nyawahyah!?”
Zara-senpai made a strange noise.
Without caring, I pulled it out repeatedly. But the tube was still stuck.
“Ya, wait, ah, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, ah, hnn, ah, ah……”
She’s starting to sound more and more erotic.
Before I knew it, she was on all fours and wriggling around.
But I still couldn’t see the end of it. It was the same as with Professor Tia.
This time, I decided to take the plunge and try cutting it.
I made a sharp blade-shaped barrier and hit one of the tubes.
“Kya-un!?”
The tube stretched out wide. And senpai looked a bit intoxicated.
No matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t break it. And each time, I
heard an erotic voice that I wouldn’t want children to hear.
“Is there any chance that the magic level will be lowered?”
“Never heard of it.”
Then I guess it’s impossible after all. If I could do this, I could get behind
the enemy, lower their magic level all the way down, weaken them, and
attack them by surprise. Too bad.
Now then, I’m sorry for all the terrible things I’ve done (I’m aware of it), so
let’s try to level up as well.
I pulled two of the four extension tubes that were halfway through and
connected them to the ground.
“Aaaaah! …… Fu, hmm!”
With a plop, Zara-senpai fell prostate while shaking.
“This girl, I wonder if she’s fainted?” Professor Tia asked.
“That’s true,” said my Copy, tapping Zara-senpai on the back of her head.
Zara-senpai didn’t react.
When I looked into her face, I saw drool dripping from her sloppily opened
mouth and her eyes were half open and white.
What should I do? I was wondering what to do, when she suddenly
realized,
“Why did my magic level go up? And even by two!”
She stood up and stormed over to me. Front. Cover your front. You’re
naked, you know.
“Uh ……, my head is …… wobbling. ……”
But she staggered, and just as she was about to drop to her knees, I caught
her.
“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard. I’ve been there myself, and I’m sure
your body is in a state of shock. Especially when your head is messed up,
right? Seems like your levels went up by two at once.”
Professor Tia turned her eyes toward us.
She may have disliked Zara-senpai, but now that she’s in the same position,
she may be feeling sorry for her.
I should be nice to her here.
“Rest for a while. Then we’ll continue.”
“Are you a demon!?”
“Are we still going to do this!? What do you think I am……”
Well, an experiment sub. …… Uhm, I’m sorry.
But, I just came up with something.
I want to try it out. What should I do?
While Zara-senpai then put on her jacket and rested while sitting on the
ground to hide her large breasts, I secretly told the idea to Professor Tia.
“How did you come up with such an idea? Hmmm, it’s worth a try, but I
don’t know what will happen, you know?”
The style that shoves all the responsibility on me. I don’t dislike it, but I
don’t consider you as a teacher anymore.
But as long as we don’t know what will happen, we should be prepared
for anything.
That’s why I called in the medical staff I can rely on, just in case.
“Hmm, all right. If something happens, just cast a healing spell on this
woman, right?”
It was Doctor Riza, the dragon girl who was good at water magic. She was
soaking wet and had a white lintel-like garment tightly covering her body.
However, the water was magically dispersed instantly and dried up
immediately. As expected.
I also called Frey. She was drenched as well.
And then, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! She physically blew off the water
and eventually making so that she was only moist.
“I see, so I only need to pin her down so she can’t move, right.”
“Only so that she doesn’t get hurt in her rampage. Don’t flail your hands
around to pin her down from the start.”
I calmed down Frey in a way. Well, as a guy, senpai would not like it too, so
it’s no use.
“It’s very pompous of you, ……. It’s unsettling, though.”
Saying so, Zara-senpai took off her jacket and sat down showing her back.

What a cooperative fellow. She hasn’t said ‘stop’ once so far. I respect her
courage, so I’m gonna do it safely.
“Yosh, let’s do it then.”
“What, so suddenly? It’s weird when you get all sneaky.”
Hahaha, you bitch! …… I won’t hold back now!
I felt a bit irritated but regained composure. This is not something that you
can play around with.
I stare at Zara-senpai’s back.
There are 10 holes, but as Professor Tia said, there are ‘things’ that can be
plugged in – or so you think.
Well, there is.
I twisted one of the two tubes extending halfway up.
Yosh, I thought, let’s just insert this thing into the hole!
……. but is it safe? Wouldn’t the magic flow back into the hole and cause
irreversible damage or something like that?
Even if that were to happen, then what if…
What if I can’t get the tube I plugged in?
If it stays that way even if Riza performs healing magic, it might one day
endanger her life.
As one would expect, I hesitate.
This person has not harmed me or my family. It was not my intention to
let such a young life die.
“You know, you might die, is that all right?”
“Don’t say scary things!”
Right,
“……But, it’s’ okay. Whatever you’re going to do, I’m already prepared for
it. If you’re going to do it, just do it.”
What is it that is driving her to this point?
I have no idea, but since she’s telling me to do it, I’m not going to hold
back.
Click.
I heard a sound like ‘It’s in’.
“—-!?”
Zara-senpai let out an inaudible scream and trembled. The white of her
eyes was showing and she was foaming from her mouth.
“It’s fine. There is no physical damage.”
However, Doctor Riza calmly examines her.
“I think she was just startled by the strong stimulus and fainted.”
What about brain damage?
“More importantly, Haruto-kun, can you tell us what happened?”
Professor Tia and the others can’t see that. So they are curious about it.
I told them what I saw.
“Right after I plugged it in, the tube split in two.”
The two tubes connected at two points on her back split right down the
middle. Naturally,
As a result, there was one more tube that was not connected to the
ground.
In short.
“The maximum magic level has increased!?’
I nodded at Professor Tia’s exclamation.
“As expected of you, Haruto-sama! This is already in the realm of the
gods!”
“No, I think it’s even beyond that.”
Both Frey and Riza were very surprised.
The Principle of a Philosopher by
Eternal Fool “Asley” – Chapter
314, The Mischievous Black
Emperor
After Tifa and Tarawo used the Teleportation spell to return to their dorm
room, Pochi came down to the first floor, her eyes still sleepy.

“Mawstahhh… What was that commotion just now… ZZZzzz…”

Then she fell asleep again.

“Man, if she was going to keep sleeping, she shouldn’t have walked down
here…”
“Ooh, Pochi’s here, too! I missed her!”
“And why are you still here, Itsuki? I thought you’d joined up with the
Silver already?”
“It didn’t feel right to just move to T’oued and leave the kids here, you
know? I’m working for them under an outsourcing contract.”
“Ah, outsourcing… I might’ve read something about that before. The
contract makes it so that you’re technically not a part of them, right?”
“Mm-hm, that’s right!”

Itsuki winked.
From the looks of it, she’s pretty much the only one keeping this place
running… With occasional help from Lala and Tzar, and by having the kids
do the chores that they can do themselves.
That’s amazing, really — Can I even manage things on her level…?

“By the way, Sir Asley… You still have things to do, don’t you?”

Itsuki stared at my face.

Man, this makes me wonder… are my expressions really that easy to read?

“I mean, those people you sent out of Beilanea are still waiting for you!
Hurry and go — I can take care of things over here!”

Itsuki waved her hand, telling me to leave. I thanked her, threw the sleeping
Pochi into my Storeroom, and then stepped onto the Teleportation Spell
Circle.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“…Huh? Where’s everyone?”

Yup, on one’s here.

And I don’t even know where this is. The Teleportation spell shouldn’t have
this sort of malfunction, though… I think.
Let’s take a look around… Still no one– wait, no.

“Who’s there?”
“…You have done well to see through my camouflage, Asley.”

Man. I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

Not just by memory, even — but by pure reflex at this point.
And now that I think about it, this guy was also the one who pointed me to
my old cave — the place that marked my beginning.
I’m starting to think I’m actually related to this guy’s family… Not that I’d
be particularly proud of it, though.

“…It’s been a long time, Warren.”

I stared in the direction where the voice came from.

The shadows started moving, morphing into a human silhouette.
This is the same spell that Melchi showed me that one time… Wait, no, that
was magecraft.

“Neat, isn’t it? This magecraft is called the Shadow Mimic. I could show
you how it’s used sometime later, if you’d like.”

Warren appears from the shadows, revealing that his hair has grown even
longer since the time we met during my Rank-up Evaluation.

“That ponytail looks nice on you.”

“Why, thank you.”

I see Warren’s grin create an overlapping image with Bright’s.

Yeah, they REALLY do look alike. Not just their faces, but also their auras.

“You’re taking forever to address the elephant in the room, so I’ll go ahead
and brief you on the situation — I have redirected the soldiers somewhere
else. They are all safe, I promise.”
“The way you smile doesn’t inspire much confidence… Ugh, you know
what? I’ll just say it — you’re creepy.”
“Oh-ho? You’ve become so much more upfront and straightforward,
Asley.”

He deliberately opened his eyes wide, but I could see through them — he
was not surprised in the slightest.
If my personality was a little twisted, maybe I’d be enjoying life much
more, too… Not that I want to be like him.

“By ‘redirecting’ them… you mean you can use the Teleportation spell as
well?”
“Of course I can.”

Warren grinned again.

“…Hah…”
“Would you like to know how?”
“Even if I say I don’t, you’re going to tell me anyway, so…”
“Hehehe… This is why I like having you around, Asley.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

I waved my hand at Warren — just as Itsuki had done to me just now —

and prompted him to start talking.

“So, Asley, do you remember where you first completed your Teleportation
spell formula?”
“Hmm? Let’s see… where was it, again…?”
“Miss Irene’s personal laboratory.”
“Ah, that’s right, that’s right. She gave me permission to do my research
there… Huh? Wait a second…”
“That’s right. She may have been one of the Six Archmages, but the room
still is a University facility. As the President of the Student Council at the
time, I naturally had the means to… enter and exit the room as I pleased.”

…Man, sounds like he’s having fun telling this story.

“…Which means…”
“Yes, I stole everything. Oh, Asley? You don’t look well. Did you eat some
bad food last evening?”

Hmm, I wonder why… I AM raging and want to punch him, but somehow I
feel that if I do, he’s going to retaliate HARD.
Man, I sure hope a totally random cluster of rocks drops on his head right
about now…

“Oh? Are you about to cast Meteorain, Asley? That’s dangerous. Let’s turn
that off for now…”
“…!”

What in the… Isn’t this a Parasitic spell!?

“Hmph!”
“–!? Did you just… jam the casting of my spell? You’ve gotten quite good
at this, Asley.”

…Man, I shouldn’t have expected any less from the present day’s Black
Emperor. He’s so God damn meticulous.

“Did you intend to drop that on my head just now?”

“Actually… no. Wouldn’t want to cause a commotion out here.”
I had started drawing this Spell Circle in the heat of the moment; reminded
of that, I stopped and erased it away.

“That is so nicely considerate of you.”

Here comes another one of his attempts at smiling.

It’s by no means sincere, but I feel like I can’t stay angry at him… which is
probably THE intended effect, but hey, it’s working.

“So, about that cave that you said marked my beginning… you knew about
it from Kaoru and Jun’ko, didn’t you?”
“The twin Shamanesses of T’oued, yes… Though it’s a surprise that you
already know about them, Asley. And as for where you’ve been and what
you’ve been up to–“

Warren drew a Teleportation Spell Circle on the ground, completing it in a

blink of an eye.
Damn, he’s fast.

“–I’ll wait to hear your story together with everyone else. It is more
efficient that way.”
“Gah, all right. I do plan on telling everyone anyway… But you’re being
quite aggressive about this, don’t you think?”
“Oh, no, I would never. Rather, it is rare for me to act this nice, I must say.”

Yeah, right… That just means he’s usually even more aggressive.
I erased the Teleportation Spell Circle that I had used just now, and stepped
on Warren’s Spell Circle.
In a corner of my eye, Warren’s face is locked in his usual smile.
Looks like he’s… happy.
Sometimes I feel like he sees me as a piece of toy… yeah, that might
actually be what he thinks I am.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“”Sir Asley!””

People have been surprised to see me so much, I’ve already lost count of
how many times today…
Lina and Fuyu practically jumped at me as soon as I arrived.
These two… they sure have grown up quite a lot.
And the way Hornel’s looking at me really… hurts. But now isn’t the time
to worry about any of that.
Warren, arriving right after me, started chuckling.
Perhaps embarrassed by his reaction, Lina and Fuyu quickly stepped away
from me.

“Now then, this way, everyone.”

Warren walked on ahead, and the rest of us followed.

On the way, I noticed one familiar face.

“It has been two years, hasn’t it?”

“Hello, Sir Dallas.”

Dallas the Scarlet Blade — a member of the Resistance and a powerful

adventurer… and the one who had told me of the strangeness surrounding
Billy.
He proceeded to walk with the rest of us.

“So this is the place.”

“This is the Resistance’s hideout, yes.”

I knew it.
Hearing Dallas’ explanation, Viola whispered,

“And now the Brigadier of the Magic Guardians is communicating directly

with the Resistance… Things sure have escalated quickly.”

I can only guess what she’s feeling right now — because the scale of the
conflict up ahead is bigger than ever before.
Eventually, Warren came to a stop in front of a solid-looking metal door.
Behind it is… probably Sayla the Frostgazer, one of the Six Archmages.
Warren nodded once, prompting the Resistance members in front of the
door to salute and then open the door for him.
Man, my one interaction with that lady didn’t play out all that nicely. I
wonder how I should conduct myself–

“What the–!?”
“…Huh?”

The door opened to reveal… Irene, holding a mirror in one hand and fixing
her hair with the other.
Lina and all the soldiers behind us were quite loud, but Irene proceeded to
shout loudly enough to drown them all out.

“H-hey! You’re here too early, Warren!”

Irene’s face turns red up to her ears and she throws a hand mirror at Warren.
Warren dodged it, then Dallas caught it when it flew past his face.
It’s apparent that Dallas is used to doing this — must’ve happened quite
often.

“H-hmph! Long time no see, Asley!”

Irene straightened her clothes, put her hands on her hips, and stood up
straight… but because of the table in front of her, I could see just her face
and shoulders.
And she’s still using a chair that’s too high off the ground for her.

“…Huh? Why are you here, Miss Irene?”

I tilted my head — the only reaction I had upon seeing her here.
Rare boss - Gatling cowboy fight!
"Are we going to challenge a rare boss? I'm itching to test my skills"
"Hnn, looking forward to"
This was the reply I got when I informed Rika and Lana, after we
eventually settled on using the flute to fight a rare boss.
Seeing both of them so thoroughly attached to the dungeon, I was so happy.
"So, what's <Slactuar> rare boss version, Zephyr? Is it stronger than <Fatty
ghost special>?"
"Now that you say, both of you have experienced the battle with <Fat ghost
special>, right?"
At that time, it was Hannah in our party instead of Sierra. Hmm, it's just a
few days ago matter, however it feels nostalgic remembering about it now.
Though, that means it's not their first time fighting a rare boss. Already
experienced means they wouldn't be surprised at the power up condition.
Since, the recommended level for rare bosses and normal bosses changes by
nearly 10.
"The rare boss of this dungeon is <Cactus cowboy>. In appearance, it's like
an emerald-colored cowboy (?) riding the emerald cactus horse, err, think of
it as a Slactuar which can move. It's also specialised in long-range attacks
but that emerald cactus horse can do charge attack. And the most dangerous
attack is rope throw"
Imagine a cowboy that appears in the western movies, but cactus edition
this time. (What even is a cactus edition!?)
I can't put forth a better description but seeing no one has any question, I
continued with my explanation.
"Not only will you be unable to escape if captured by its rope throw attack,
you wouldn't even be able to guard yourself and will fall into predicament
at once. Since it's also possible for a tank to fall, be sure to thwart the rope
using guard skills and solely focus on avoiding. You absolutely can't let
yourself be catch by it"
"How should I deal if captured?"
"If you are captured by chance, act as much violently as you can first of all"
It's the so-called mechanism of smashing the D-pad blindly. Also known as
lever gacha.
Anyway, you can break out by smashing the D-pad, so you will have to
wait for the escape while following everyone just like in down condition.
However Rika was making a strange face even after explaining how to deal
with it. Not only her, Lana and Sierra have the same expression on their
faces. I could vaguely read [There's no way ladies like them can act so
disgracefully] written on their face.
I tried to imagine the appearance of Lana going all wild when captured. But
the resistance turns out to be futile, and she's slowly dragged under the
cowboy. Though the opponent is a cactus.
Quite a problematic scene, it is. The targeted age range of the <Dungeon
Activity> will have to be increased then!
※The targeted audience of <Dungeon Activity> game is B (Suitable for
only or above age 12).
"W-Well, that's right. I recall a certain celebrity once said, <If it can't hit
you, it can't hurt you>. That's why, just avoid it with all your might if it
throw the rope"
"I will!"
"I will absolutely not let myself pull!"
"With all my due respect, I reject it!"
I received intense replies when I tried to console (?) them.
I feel like I have aroused thier bloodlust more than the motivation. Might
just be my imagination......
Incidentally, Only Karua was looking puzzled as if she didn't get the
meaning.
Our start looked pretty good when we entered the boss room after blowing
the flute and saw the rare boss appearing.
The deepest part of the desolate boss room was shining, it was the effect of
the rare boss pop-up!
What appeared from the effect was a horse shaped cactus, which is about
the same size as a normal horse, and riding it was a human shaped cactus
dressed in cowboy style, one you could see on western movies. It properly
comes with two hollow eyes and a mouth. However the horse cactus face
looks awfully surreal.
This is the rare boss of <Flower garden of the solitary dungeon>, <Cactus
cowboy>. Quite hard-working it looks.
"I am going to pull the aggro. <Aura point>!"
"Leave the buff to me. <Divine protection of the guardian dog¹>! <Divine
Protection>!" (T/N : Last time, I named the blessing as a lion instead of a
guardian dog. The Word "lion" in Japanese basically means both as a lion
literally and also as a guardian dog. So I'm going with it, which gives it
more essence than literally naming it as a lion. You can google koimanu for
reference and images)
Sierra attacked first to pull the boss whole aggro towards herself. Lana
followed after her and applied buffs to raise everyone's attack and defensive
ability as a whole.
<Cactus Cowboy>'s target turned to Sierra.
"Fufufu, hahahahaha!"
And laughingly, aimed it's free hand (?) that was not holding the reins at
her.
I knew what that gesture meant.
"Gatling incoming! Don't gather beside the tank, quick disperse!"
"Roger!"
"Escape"
Just when everyone finished taking distance from the tank at my
instruction, "Du-Du-Du-Du-Du", the boss began to shoot thorns
indiscriminately from its arms like a machine gun. How in the name of god
does sparks come out of boss arms when it's not even holding a machine
gun. What principle does this monster even follow!
The thorn it shot didn't have any precise aim etc function so it was a kind of
small AoE attack. It's just shoot thorns blindly in a circle, taking Sierra as
centre.
Sierra has manifested a kite shield in front of her, completely safe from the
gatling attack. This kind of attack isn't even enough to make her serious.
I remember next will be the rope throw attack!
"Run Sierra!"
"<Cover shield>!
Sierra easily evaded the attack the with defensive skill she can use when
moving.
All right, it's counterattack time!
The first one to take action was Karua. As expected of Eden's top speedster.
"<Scale break>! <Twin blade wildcat scratch>!"
Karua straight away attacked with defense debuff skill <Scale break>,
followed by a single target <Twin blade wildcat scratch> attack.
The <Cactus Cowboy> who received the two attack in continuation crossed
his arms and made a gesture of gaining momentum.
――It's the sign of an AoE attack!
"Fuhahaha!"
"Karua, quick escape!"
At the same time as Karua escaped from that spot quickly, the boss spread
its arms and fired gatling and the horse unhurriedly circled around in that
spot, I.e. a rolling gatling attack. I quite find this scene dashing. Albeit the
cowboy is a cactus.
Karua barely gets herself out of AoE attack range. Phew, no injury.
"Fuhahaha!"
Following after, it turned both of his arm towards Sierra and fired double
gatling. However, it couldn't buzz Sierra's shield.
"The approach is complete, we are going to attack now. Blast it with your
attack until my next instruction!"
"Understood! <Parallel slash>! <Cross Cut>!"
"<Brave slash>! <Lightning Slash>!"
"I'm coming! <Sonic force>!"
"Fuhaha? Fuhahaha!"
The boss once again crosses its arm receiving the massive damage from
Karua and Rika's attack.
"Get away!"
"Roger!"
"Hnn"
What followed was another round of rolling gatling. This attack deals fair
share of damage and there's also a chance to be inflicted with poison.
However for Karua, the one with the lowest defense among us, a single
attack is enough to shave off half of her HP. So I hurriedly instructed her to
exercise caution.
The boss then followed with a charged attack right after it unloaded its
gatling. Similar to the <Shaman Marionette> riding its segway, the horse
shaped cactus indiscriminately dashed here and there.
However, this was a blessing in disguise.
"I will stop it! <Shining sabre of the sacred light>!"
"<Cover shield>!"
"<Light blade>!"
"Fuya!?"
Lana launched her strongest move when the horse was immersed in its mad
rush.
Together with a thud sound, the horse attacked by the <Shining sabre of the
sacred light> staggered a bit. Right then, Sierra swiftly made her entry and
blocked its path.
A superb combination! The fruit of battle with <Shaman Marionette> is
showing itself here!
The posture of the opponent which was already stumbling from the attack
of Lana, crumble down even further after becoming the pray of Sierra's
<Flowing shield arts>, and right then Lana's follow up attack, <Light's
blade>, strike the cactus horse's leg, splendidly knocking it down.
Oh, it slipped down!
"Go all out! <Sonic Sword>! <Swift strike>!"
"<Gust>! <Quick Slash>! <Scale break>! <Twin blade wildcat scratch>!"
"<Rise of the sacred tree>! <Divine pillar>!"
"waaaah!?"
The boss was a bit far away from the position but I somehow managed to
hit the boss using <Sonic Strike> when it was under Knocked down status.
This was a lot of damage.
Unfortunately, Rika was too far to join us but Karua had enough leeway to
participate as she closed the gap with mid range dash skill <Gust> which
can be used even while evading and launched her offensive one after
another.
"Fuhahahahahaha!"
"<Induction cover>!"
The mad <Cowboy Cactus> Immediately fired an AoE attack after
recovering from knockdown status but Sierra blocked it using her defensive
skill flawlessly.
"Receive the healing, <Healing prayer>!"
"Thank you very much, Your Highness Lana. <Taunt>! <Guard stance>!"
The boss after recovering tried to target Lana however Sierra Immediately
attracted its aggro towards herself once again.
But,
"Fuhahaha!"
"No wait, the target hasn't changed! It's going to use unique skill!"
Unluckily, the <Cowboy Cactus> had already moved in to activate the
unique skill before the target could change. A familiar red effect covers the
whole body of the boss. Once activated, it can't be cancelled.
<Cowboy Cactus>'s unique skill is <All out Fusillade • Cactus style>. The
boss unloads all its bullets in a straight-line, ranged attack, dealing massive
damage.
"Crap, Lana, quickly shelter behind the Sierra! Cover, Sierra!"
"<Cover shield>!"
"Rika and Karua concentrate on attacking it! Anything is fine, just blow it"
"Understood!"
What bad timing.
Lana has her defensive skill <barrier> she used during <Fat ball special>
battle, however it's only effective against magic attacks. It cannot defend
against this unique skill.
The only way to defend is to be covered by Sierra and gods forbid, Lana
would no longer be able to fight if she take a direct hit!
Sierra slides in between the boss and Lana and projected the shield forward.
"<Iron wall>! <Citadel shield>!"
"Lana, you give your all to maintain Sierra's HP"
"<Heaven's Mercy>! <Divine protection>!"
"Fuhahahahahahahaha!!"
"Kyaa"
Sierra used her skills to quickly tighten her defense which Lana supported
her by healing her from behind.
Just when they finished their action, the boss also began to fire it's unique
skill <All out Fusillade • Cactus style>.
The whole body of <Cowboy Cactus> spit out fire and shoot thorns. The
horse didn't stay quiet this time as it also shot a thorn missile from its
hollow mouth and eyes. What a cowboy to have these features in its horse.
It may not look impressive, but its firepower is anything but mediocre.
After all, it possesses the firepower same as an intermediate lower grade
dungeon, and this was its unique skill to boot. I had confidence in Sierra's
ability to withstand, but...... Her scream just now gave me fright. I'm very
much anxious if Lana is properly following up with her healing. Right now,
I can only believe in them in focus on my task.
We are currently approaching the Cowboy who couldn't move under the
barrage of attacks, firing at Sierra and Lana and preparing for our ace
attacks.
And thus, right after it was in immovable state from using unique skill, we
commenced our all out attacks.
"<Brave Heart>! Oryaaa一 <Brave Slash>! <Lightning Slash>! <Shine
lightning>! <Lightning Burst>!"
"Haaa一 <Parallel slash>! <Cross cut>! <Swallow flip>! <Sword bash>!"
"<Scale break>! <Twin blade wildcat scratch>! <Vital stab>! <Force
sonic>!"
"Hahahaha一一fuyaa!?"
The <Cowboy Cactus> was knocked down, receiving the critical hits from
our attacks as it finished firing a whole volley of its thorn bullets.
Yoshi, another chance! I will let it know why the unique skill is a double
edged sword!
Afterwards, the boss couldn't make a comeback under the barrage of our
second all out attack and eventually sank into the sea of effects and
disappeared.
"Sierra, Lana, are you all right?"
"No problem"
"It nearly scared me, and some kind of unpleasant sweat is coming out"
Somehow, both of them safely made it out.
The two of them look all fine as they come out from the billowing dust and
smoke. Except that Lana's face looks a bit pale.
Now that I think about it, it was from her blunder in Bear-cum-anteater
fight that she began to take boss targets seriously. Maybe because of the full
power bombardment, her usual cheerfulness seems to have vanished
somewhere.
Sierra on the other hand is full of life with the aid of Lana's healing, not
minding the brunt her HP has taken. Her face looks as cool and prim as ever
as if the full power bombardment of the gun's bulー, I mean shower of
thorns earlier was a lie. That's quite heroic to be honest.
I also want to try brushing off the thorns bombardment with an indifference
expression.
"But, I'm really sorry. I would have used my unique skill <Absolute charm
shield> but it was impossible given the distance. I should have defended
more closer to the boss"
Sierra quietly mutters out.
<Shield Princess>'s unique skill, <Absolute charm shield>, can force the
opponent the target to change its focus, for example, <Cowboy Cactus>
focus could have been forced to shift to Sierra even if it intended to attack
Lana.
However, Sierra and the boss had quite a wide gap in between as the
<Cowboy Cactus> is a long distance attacker and that distance just
happened to be outside of the effective range of her unique skill.
Sierra's unique skill's only flaw is its short range.
It's true that Lana would have been saved from facing the danger if Sierra
had used her unique skill Immediately at that timing instead of dashing to
Lana's side, nevertheless it was still a perfect response in my eyes, so I just
followed Sierra on her reflection.
"Well, there wasn't any blunder, so you don't need to care so much about it.
All is well when the result is well. It's great that you two passed this wave
unhurt."
Rika and Karua catch up while I was making sure Lana and Sierra are
completely fine.
"Both of you are safe is all that matters, and you were great as always,
Sierra-sama."
"Hnn, it was amazing how you received the attacks"
"W, well. It wasn't that much of a big deal...... "
Ohh, the Cool Sierra until now has changed to shy Sierra when Rika and
Karua praised her.
Sierra rarely shows that side of her. She looks absolutely adorable with the
slight vermilion colour on her cheeks and her shy demeanour which have a
gap with her usual expression! Fantastic. For the love of God, why the hell
is there no screenshot function in real <Dungeon Activity>!
With no way in, I could only etch her shy appearance in my eyes.
"Can you please stop staring at me so intently?"
"Oof, you returned to your usual stern expression. What a pity"
The shy-time of Sierra ended as soon as it came. I secretly swore to see if I
could switch on her shy side next time.
"Hnn, Zephyr. There are four silver chests"
"What! It's Beautify phenomenon!!"
I inadvertently yelled at the successive hit!
Four treasure chests shining in the silvery light entered my vision when I
turned my neck with sparkling eyes as soon as Rika's report reached into
my ears.
The silver chest, what's more, doubled! It must be the hidden grace of
Sachineko-sama to have <Beautifying phenomenon>.
"Woah, 4 treasure chests! I will open them!!"
"No, we are all going together!"
I quickly intercepted Lana whose eyes were also sparkling as she broke into
a dash.
I can never allow it!
"W-What's the matter with His Highness Lana, and even Zephyr?"
"Oh, leave them be. They're just playing around. They are like that
everyday"
"Well, I see. So they are just playing"
Rika let out a confused voice seeing my and Lana's eccentric behaviour.
However, Sierra cooly explained it to her as she couldn't be anymore
familiar with our actions.
But it's that beautifying phenomenon, you know! Why doesn't she look
hyped about it?
"Hnn, Hurry up, Zephyr"
"Wait. I'm coming right away"
"And Karua, you must not open them alone!"
But who was so eager to open them just now?
Karua, the quickest one, arrived first in front of the treasure chests and
everyone came there in droves to join.
Let's see, there are 4 treasure chests, but we are 5 people. Someone will
have to be left behind, but who would be that person? Obviously not Lana, I
could read her eagerness to open it already. In fact, she has already decided
on which one she's going to open and has stood in front of it.
I would have wanted her to step back originally but I think a kind of reward
is necessary with the scary ordeal she went through earlier.
Thus left us with the 3 treasure chests.
"Hnn, the treasure chest. I wonder if I can try one"
"No problem"
Karua isn't so assertive normally so I subconsciously approved of her rare
case of selfishness. I glanced at Lana and Sierra and was glad to see they
don't have any objection either.
"Now we are left with two chest"
"I don't think it's necessary to make such a big deal out of it...... "
I felt as if I heard Sierra's voice struggling to understand my serious version
of the hero's voice, maybe it's just my imagination.
"Just open the rest with you two. I will take my turn next time"
"Sierra, you have my eternal gratitude!"
"Stop it, you're putting me into a tough spot with your heavy gratitude......
Because, you're going to blow the flute again, aren't you?"
I think Sierra just said something in the second half of her sentence but I
have already lost myself in the splendor of the treasure chest that I ignored
that.
It's the treasure chest of a rare boss, moreover they are doubled with the
graces of <Beautifying phenomenon>. There's a high chance of getting
something good. And when I think I might be the one who will win the
jackpot, I can't stop myself from trembling in excitement.
"All set now. Then let's pray to the Sachineko-sama everyone!"
"Oh the great Sachineko-sama, we are very much grateful for your grace of
the <Beautifying phenomenon>! May we also get a better drop next!"
"Hey Zephyr, you should show more appreciation in your words!"
Lana rebuked me for the short prayer, but either way, our preparations were
done and everyone opened their treasure chest simultaneously.
" "A recipe!" "
The ones who shouted at the same time were Lana and Karua.
It seems the first two members who decided on the treasure chest got the
same reward, the recipe. I will have Marie-senpai decipher it later.
As it was decided, the cost for the flute will be paid 50-50 by me and Lana.
But as for how the drops ownership will be handled is still in haze. Well,
such trifling matters can be handled later.
Celestine may have to work hard only a bit.
Next is my turn, I'm getting pumped all over!
"Wo-Woah! I got <Stage 3 skill reinforcement jewel>!"
In the treasure chest lay two palm size red jewels.
I hold each in one hand and lift them up. That's a serious jackpot!
"What is this?"
"Nice question Sierra"
I explained to her as she came by my side to take a closer look at jewels.
The name of the item is <Stage 3 skill reinforcement jewel>.
Just as its name sounds, it's a disposal item which can raise the level of
skills affixed to items or accessories by 3 levels. It's an extremely strong
item.
Now, if some may wonder, Isn't it too strong to raise the level by 3, then
one also has to remember the ocean of items/accessories in the <Dungeon
Activity>, the availability of such items is abysmally low compared to
colossus demand. Even if you handpicked the items/accessories, they aren't
enough even by then. In addition, there are many types of <Reinforcement
jewel>, and any of them is extremely coveted!
By the way, the one in my hand is the <Skill> version but there is also
<Magic> version and they are available from the range of stage 1 to stage 9.
Normally speaking, <Reinforcement jewel> begins to drop from
intermediate dungeons but since the strength of rare bosses in beginner-high
grade dungeons is comparable to those bosses, Stage 1-3 reinforcement
jewels are sometimes mixed in the drops of rare bosses.
I have to hurriedly think where to use them.
"What about Rika?"
"Oh. I got this, but do you know what this is, Zephyr?"
Saying that, Rika takes out an emerald colour book from the chest.
"Isn't this <Book of support recovery>!? It's a valuable drop!"
"O-Ohh"
"Hey, calm down Zephyr. Can't you see you're troubling Rika?"
"Very well, let me explain to you"
"Hey, are you even listening to Zephyr!?"
The book of support recovery Rika got is a book classified as a weapon. It's
mainly used by magicians. It's effect is as follows : Magical power 13,
<Healing 5> and <Protection 8>.
Frankly speaking, it's quite weak as the drop of a beginner-high grade
dungeon rare boss. A type of a miss drop in normal times.
However, our guild <Eden> heavily lacks healer, and there's cutthroat
competition for the recovery magic. Besides, since it's a weapon, it is
naturally possible to turn it into <Ability Orb>.
Hannah can equip it by powering it up and turning it into <Magic Ability
Orb>! She can become a bomber as well as a healer... Fuhaha!
It's getting more and more interesting!

Chapter 35: An Elf Named Jerukku

[before] (Part three)
Although fresh crimson blood danced in the air, the
beast master took half a step back just before his
flesh was cut off.
—- No, slightly before that, Ren’s body was receding
just a little bit.
(No…..!)
I thought the maneater had pulled his body back, but
it wasn’t the case.
While I was thinking about it, the horse we were
riding was running down a large rock. It seems that
he wasn’t able to kill the momentum generated when
he leapt up the big rock.
“Haa…… haa……!”

Licia’s condition continued to worsen.

Ren, who holds her, bites his lip and apologizes to
Licia, feeling remorse for not finishing off the beast
master.
“No…. it’s not your fault Ren…….”

The stouthearted reply caused more pain to my heart.

“Oh dear, that was a close call.”

Then Ren looked up at the beast master and huffed.

Ren also noticed the ivy, which should have pulled
him backwards, on his back and furrowed his brow
“Ren Ashton. Don’t push me too hard, will you?”

“…… you.”
“Ihaven’t broken the seal yet and using natural magic
without a staff is too much.”
That’s why he didn’t push too hard in my escape the
other day and came here to finish things.
(Because I shattered the staff that time.)
By the way, the robe the beast master was wearing
was cut open by Ren’s iron magic sword, revealing
his hidden face.
He had long golden hair that reminded me of pure
gold, and a smile on his neatly shaped face.
Ren remembers that face.
Although this is the first time they met, Ren knew his
name.
“……Oh, so it’s you. You’re not just a beast master,
you’re a nature magician.”
“You talk about me as if you know me.”

That’s right. Ren knew about him.

But what was the point of going through the trouble
of telling him?
He had his doubts, but he couldn’t be caught off
guard by the way he was looking.
There’s no advantage to flaunting the knowledge that
he knew him, but now there’s no disadvantage either.
So, at the very least, as a way to get back at him.
I open my mouth and say gruffly, hoping to upset
him.
“—- Jerukku. Why are you here?”

I say in a voice of conviction, and a startled voice

rises above the big rock.
“How do you know my name?”

“…..Well, I wonder how.”

As he rolled up in panic, I could see irritation besides

surprise in Jerukku’s face.
—- Jerukku, the beast master, is a master of magic.

He’s an elf born with a heart filled with cruelty and

has a past that has taken a number of his people’s life
in its clutches.
He’d normally have been executed, but since the
elves of this world don’t have a culture of execution,
he was banished with most of his powers sealed
away.
In Legend of the Seven Heroes I, he’s also the boss
that the protagonists fight in the middle of the story.
This is why Ren remembered all this information.
And it should go without saying, but Jerukku is not a
Leomelite.
Anyone born in Leomel, no matter what race, is
punishable by domestic law, but in Jerukku’s case, he
was born on a different continent to begin with.
When he began his activities as an adventurer, he had
already concealed his true identity.
(What surprised me was this one.)
Ren has thought about Jerukku many times since his
rebirth.
The first time was when he learned that the wooden
magic sword had a natural magic (small) effect, and
the next, was when he fought Thief Wolfen.
Both had helped him learn how to fight Jerukku.
He couldn’t find any words for this. What an odd
coincidence.
I can’t believe that the boss I was referring to in
terms of how to fight would appear before me like
this.
(So, why is that guy under Viscount Givens…..)
While thinking in his mind, Ren pointed his sword at
the maneater who was crawling on the ground and
approaching.
“Geeeeeee!』\
The maneater is wary of the iron magic sword, but
unlike before, there’s a distance between the two.
The Maneater is only waving his arms around with a
yell, but even so, he’s the equivalent of a D-rank
monster, so I can’t let my guard down.
“Well, no need to show any mercy! Burn them!”

The remaining one opens its mouth again and spits

out fire.
However, it wasn’t as vigorous as it had been a
moment ago.
Whether it was because it was exhausted or because
it had Jerukku by its side, this time Ren had enough
time to escape on horseback.
“Ku….What are you doing?”

The frustrated Jerukku was waving his arms.

Looking at the crest on his arm, Ren muttered, “Oh”.
“You made a deal with Viscount Givens!”

“……!”

“You wanted information on who could break the

seal! I’m telling you, it’s not going to be easy to
break the elven seals on your arms!”
Jerukku’s eyes widened at these confident words.
“How did you know all that?”
“But I know something else! I also know that you’ve
been traveling all over this continent to find a way to
break the seal! That’s why you became an
adventurer!”
The patterns on Jerukku’s arms are not tattoos, but
powerful seals.
It’s a substitute that drains magic power and
significantly lowers the status.
This is the reason why it’s difficult to use two skills
at the same time without the aid of a staff.
(I believe he’s —-)
In the legend of the Seven Heroes, Jerukku turns to
the wisdom of a certain person in order to break the
seal.
It’s the dean of the Imperial Academy of Military
Arts, who is said to be the best wizard in the world.
However, Jerukku is no match for him.
So he turns his attention to the students and targets
the protagonists who have left the academy for
extracurricular activities. He sets up many traps and
battles with them, trying to take them hostage.
(Even so, it doesn’t change what needs to be done.)
Ren fought back and readied his iron sword.
“Haa…haa…haaa…”

Licia’s pained voice.

We have to end the fight as soon as possible, even if
it’s just for one more second.
Ren holds his iron magic sword right next to him and
rides his horse toward the big rock.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“It’s really the last time.”

After a quiet murmur, multiple sword flashes are

released.
In the blink of an eye, the large rock is carved away,
and Jerukku, who was standing at the top, crumbles
at his feet.
“This! Abominable sacred magic!”

The collapsing rock broke into boulders, and Jerukku

fell through it.
The horse is nearing the end of its rope.
Pulling on the reins with the hope that the horse
would make one last effort, Ren threw himself into
the falling rocks.
He finally found his way through the rocks, cutting
them with his iron magic sword.
“I’ll end this!”
He flashed his iron sword and thrust the tip of the
sword at Jerukku’s throat.
Instead, Jerukku screamed out.
“Protect me!”

He ordered the maneater, whose wing curtains were

intact and was breathing fire.
Then the maneater appeared between Ren and
Jerukku and tried to prevent his master from
receiving a fatal blow.
“Giiiiiiiiiiiii』\

The maneater broke between the two men and was

pierced by the iron magic sword.
But he didn’t die for nothing.
In the end, it hit the horse Ren was riding and blew it
away.
As he did so, Licia, who was riding the horse, was
thrown into the air.
“Make it in time……!”

Ren leaves the horse in midair and hugs Licia’s body

while being thrown away.
Then the two of them fell to the ground with the
momentum of being blown away.
Fortunately, the corpses of the monsters spread
around them provided a cushion and there was no
great impact.
The horse lying a short distance away made him
worry, but Ren confirmed that it had not suffered any
serious injuries.
The horse seems to have the blood of a monster in its
veins, and its body seems to be sturdy as well.
“Licia-sama! Are you all right?”

“…….”

She was breathing. But she was out cold.

(The sacred magic was gone too. She was at her
limit.)
Ren’s mind was buzzing.
One maneater was lying on the ground, but what if
Jerukkku had the strength to summon it again—- and
he grew impatient with the change in the war
situation.
But soon there was a glimmer of light.
Jerukku was kneeling right next to the Maneater, who
was lying on his side.
He was too far away to see clearly, but Jerukku’s
shoulder had been pierced to a bone-deep level.
“Ku …… fufu…..”
Jerukku laughed as a large amount of fresh blood
flowed from his shoulder.
“Did he get me?”

The maneater couldn’t prevent the thrust of the iron

magic sword.
The sharp tip of the sword had pierced through the
maneater’s body and reached Jerukku’s shoulder.
“Ha ha ha ha ha. That’s a lot of blood! This is all
blood that came out of my body!”
Hearing the exclamations, a maneater crawled
alongside Jerukku.
Realizing that his master will soon die, he looks at
Ren and threatens him.
But that was not the point, Jerukku’s appearance was
too eerie.
The sight of him laughing with bloodshot eyes made
Ren’s skin crawl.
“I haven’t killed enough. I was hoping to break the
seal that had eroded the bones of this arm and kill as
many people as I had endured up until now…… Hah,
now I won’t be able to kill any more.”
“That’s right. I told you earlier. You’re finished.”
That said, Ren’s body is almost at its limit.
That’s why he couldn’t get close to Jerukku, who is
protected by the maneater.
“I’m finished?…… can’t kill you anymore……?”

Jerukku muttered all of a sudden.

“— no, you can’t kill me.”

He looked at Ren and then at the unconscious Licia,

and smiled a sneer.
“I wonder why. I have an inexpressible pleasure when
I see a person’s dying face. It’s a pleasure far more
pleasurable than the physical contact of the opposite
sex.”
“What’s the matter with you?”

“Fufu. I just wanted to tell you why I love killing.”

Jerukku continued.
Incredible, suicidal one-liner.
His voice was terribly calm.
“Maneater. Eat my arms.”

Ren, exhausted, broke down in response to the

deafening command.
Confused by his master’s instructions, the maneater
was prompted once more to follow his master’s lead
and bared its fangs.
The sound of flesh being devoured and bones being
chewed echoed through the hillsides.
In the blink of an eye, Jerukku’s right arm was
devoured, followed by his left arm, which was also
devoured in the blink of an eye.
“Ahhhhhhhh! It hurts! It’s the kind of pain that makes
you want to despair! Fufu! It’s eating me! My arm!
It’s eating me up along with the pain. It can’t be
helped!”
It was …… strange.
Jerukku is exhausted and his bloodlust is fading
away.
And yet, the maneater’s physique grows larger.
(What’s going on?)
But soon.
Jerukku, exhausted, but with a true expression filled
with madness, now smiles fearlessly.
At the same time, the maneater’s physique
immediately stopped growing.
“Ah …… I knew it! Abominable seal….!”

The seal applied by the elves even eroded the bones

of Jerukku’s arms.
 However, even with the loss of both arms, the seal
was not broken.
No, to be correct, a part of the seal was broken, but it
seemed to be only a small part of the seal.
Jerukku noticed this.
Naturally, Ren had the same expectation.
He thought that Jerukku’s speculation had failed.
……
“In the end—- I have nothing to regret!”

A tree root arose from Jerukku’s feet.

The root reached up to his chest and pierced it with a
thump in a fraction of a second.
Jerukku is now just waiting for death.
The man’s chest was filled with the sound of
something exploding.
(If you do something like that….)
He seems to be trying to break the seal by forcibly
destroying his body, but death must come first.
If that happens, the maneater will disappear and Ren
will win.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
A faint green light arose from the chest of the
bellowing Jerukku.
“Ku… fu… Such an expensive potion, and yet this is
the extent of it! Oh, that hurts ……oh!”
Jerukku used tree roots instead of his hands to spray
the potion directly into his body. He says it’s
expensive, but if you look at it, it has only
prolonged his life marginally.
………This is truly a last-ditch, desperate attempt.

The time left is not long.

The only thing that matters to him now is forcing
himself to buy a little time to kill Ren and Licia.
Jerukku is in pain for this reason alone, enduring a
pain that threatens to burn out his spirit, and has
fallen into a madness that Ren can’t even begin to
imagine.
“Huff……huff……!”

Soon, the gigantic maneater also chews the corpse of

the other maneater lying on its side.
This time, it didn’t stop growing, finally transforming
into a hulking mass more than a dozen times larger
than before.
It was thicker and covered in muscles with pulsating
blood vessels.
Its limbs grew one by one, and it gained a pair of
wings.
The sharp fangs that protruded from its mouth were
longer than the entire length of the horse Ren was
riding.
It —- looked like a dragon.
It was like the mighty dragon that Ren had seen in
the legend of the Seven Heroes.
“Shhhhh….shruuuu!!!!”

The maneater let out a fire-filled exhale and glared at

Ren.
He postures like a cat curled up on its back, leaving
its master and approaching.
“I’m……alive……there’s still time……!”

A faint but joyful voice emanated from Jerukku’s

mouth.
The roots of the tree that he had created pierced his
chest, and while being supported by the roots of the
tree, he was filled with a great deal of negative
emotions.
“Kill…….”
 Gone.
The maneater had somehow disappeared completely
from Ren’s sight.
The next moment, something approaches with a gust
of wind right beside Ren.
“……?”

The moment he turned his attention to it, an

overpowering shock rushed through his body.
The bones of his torso creak with a sickening sound
and he’s blown away, gouging out the earth of the
hillside.
As I was tortured by the pain I had never experienced
before, a black shadow was in pursuit right in front of
me.
I saw several fangs illuminated by the moonlight.
I narrowly escape the fangs, but instead a stiff arm
strikes me in the side of the head.
I’m being treated like a toy, he thought as he fought
back the bone-crushing pain.
(What kind of a seal is that ……?)
I don’t know the details of the elven seal, but Jerukku
had mentioned earlier that it was a seal that had
eroded his hand down to the bone.
In other words, the seal wouldn’t disappear if only
the skin of the arm was removed. Therefore, he tried
to forcefully break the seal by having the maneater
eat the entire arm.
But even that wasn’t enough.
So he pierced his chest and threw away his life to
break the seal—-.
It is impossible to determine if the seal has been
broken by this effect or if it hasn’t been broken but
the seal has been weakened.
But it is true that for a small amount of time, he‘s
using expensive potions to stay alive.
Therefore, his life should be faint.
“Sruuuuuuuuu!』\

The maneater is crowding Ren faster than the night

wind.
(Ku …… that’s not the strength of the Jerukku I
know ……!)
The Jerukku that Ren knows is, after all, only a
sealed form.
The one thing I really like about the game is that
Jerukku didn’t do anything this aggressive.
He was defeated by the dean right after the battle
when he was about to do something.
His current strength is limited to the end of his life,
but he was more than strong enough to kill Ren and
Licia.
(The maneater now is B rank …… or maybe even
higher …….)
The Maneater’s strong arm pushed out once more at
Ren, who held up the iron magic sword even as he
thought.
The strength of his muscles, which shouldn’t be able
to resist, receives a strong impact through the iron
magic sword.
“Guhooo—!”

He was rolled again.

Ren’s body, which rolled while gouging the earth,
returns to that place where he protected Licia.
There, Licia lay panting in agony.
“Licia……sama……!”

I crawled on the ground and approached Licia.

I want to save her alone.
Driven by these feelings, Ren attempted to get up
somehow.
“Get up…..!”
However, he couldn’t get up.
The repeated wear and tear and the attack of the
maneater, whose seal had been broken, had already
taken toll on his body.
If he could at least buy a little more time, Jerukku
might die first.
But even gaining that little bit of time was extremely
difficult.
“Fuhahaha …… it’s the end…..!”

Jerukku declared victory in a hazy voice.

The giant maneater jumped up, opened his mouth in
midair, and bared his fangs at Ren and Licia.
It’s no good now?
Ren, who hadn’t given up, tried to use his last
strength to stand up, and at that moment —-.
“Thank you……”

A faint voice came from the mouth of Licia, who was

by his side.
Ren, who was about to reply, moved his mouth. But
his voice was not coming out.
The pain was too much to bear and he couldn’t
speak.
But as he did so, Ren’s body suddenly got released
from the pain.
Just as he was wondering, their bodies were
enveloped in a veil of white light.
“Licia….sama……?”

Hearing Ren struggling call out, Licia smiled and

nodded stoutly.
“Thank you for protecting me…….”

She smiled again.

She hasn’t regained her vitality, so her forehead was
sweating profusely and her complexion was slightly
pale.
But she was beautiful.
Her dignified appearance remained unchanged at this
moment.
“So —-!.”

With all her remaining strength, she lays her

outstretched hand on Ren’s. Then, she gives him
warmth.
It was a sacred magic for Ren, created by forcing
herself to use all the strength she wanted to leave
behind.
“Igive you strength……. Saints can do this kind of
thing.”
She finished her sentence.
“……I want you to be safe, even if it’s just you.”

She said in a voice feigning cheerfulness and fainted

again.
The white veil began to crack.
“…………”
Licia must have told him to get out of there while he
still could.
But Ren’s legs wouldn’t move.
He knew he was going to be killed soon, and he was
terrified by that fact, his feet trembling slightly.
He still refused to leave Licia’s side.
“I wonder how this happened.”

Ren mocks himself at the thought.

He had been trying to avoid an encounter with Licia
and avoid the same future as the legend of the seven
heroes.
Furthermore, he had fallen into a turn of events that
he didn’t know about.
And yet, here he was, trying to protect her with his
life.
He found it funny and began to laugh.
“I’m sorry, Licia-sama.”

Ren battered, stood up.

Unlike before, he was able to get up quickly this
time.
“I’m not going to run away without you, Licia.”

It’s not the maneater that I am really afraid of.

I was more afraid that I would lose heart here and run
away without Licia.
I was a little surprised at myself for thinking so, and
my cheeks relaxed just a little.
When did I become such a hothead?
With strong courage, Ren says,
“I don’t think I can come this far and lose.”

Ren’s figure with his iron magic sword at the ready is

unreliable, but his eyes, pointed at the maneater
looming outside the white veil, are as sharp as blades.
The veil that enveloped them both shattered into
pieces as Ren took a fighting stance.
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhh』\

So far, the crystallization of the physical strength that

treated Ren as a toy….
The mighty Maneater’s stiff arm, caused by
Jerukku’s real intention, is swung down.
Underneath the arm, Ren raised the iron magic sword
with a flash of sacred magic in his hand.
“Here!”

The tip of the sword caught the maneater’s physical

strength.
The manaeater’s muscles were so strong that they not
only shook the earth, but also sank the earth on which
Ren was standing while he was protecting Licia at
the same time.
“No way this is over! Uoooooooh!!!!“

“………!!”

And then it bounced back.

The last of the power that Licia shared with him, he
used his physical strength, which he would normally
not have been able to use, to bounce off the
Maneater’s body.
But the cost was too great.
Ren’s arms sagged, as if his muscles were not
working.
And his legs, which supported his body, lost their
strength and he fell on his knees.
“Move…..! What have you worked so hard for….!”
The body is completely unable to do what he wants,
even though he’s screaming.
On the contrary.
“My body can’t……!”

At last, Ren lay down and his arm with the bracelet
lay between Licia’s breasts.
(Ku…..)
His eyelids are heavy even at a time like this.
The high laughter of Jerukku, which could be heard
from afar, was also hard to hear.
Is there really nothing more I can do?
No. At least, Let me at least buy some time, even if
it’s only for a moment.
Ren pulled Licia’s body under him and prayed that
Jerukku would die first, even if it was only for a tenth
of a second.
(…… Excuse me)
I could only do such a pathetic thing, and tears came
to my eyes—-
It was in the midst of all this.
From Licia’s chest, the bracelet overlapping with
Licia’s body emitted a light similar to sacred magic.
It emitted a dazzling white light that startled Ren.
(What’s this? ……?)
He looked at the bracelet in astonishment.
There, in the list of familiar magic swords, was the
name of a strange magic sword.
… ？？？？ (Level 1: 1/1)
——————————–
Why a new magic sword at a time like this?
And why is it full of “?”
All these questions came to mind, but Ren decided.
(…… whatever)
Conveniently, if this was the power that could help
Licia…….
Thinking of this possibility, Ren thought that any
magic sword would do if it could help Licia, and he
ordered the unnamed magic sword.
Come, anything is fine.
If you can help me fight, I don’t care what kind of
power you have. —-
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! 』\
The roar of the maneater echoed through the air.
I could also feel his anger at having his attack
repelled earlier.
“This is killing my last pleasure ……!”

Jerukku’s rapturous voice rang out.

There is nothing else I can do.
“I don’t care what kind of power I have, as long as I
can protect her….!”
Suddenly, Ren and Licia were enveloped by a
dazzling flash of light and golden lightning.
But because of the dazzling light, he couldn’t see the
sword he was supposed to have summoned.
All he could see was the silhouette of a long sword
floating in the air.
Ren reached out and grasped it.
The flash of light and thunderstorms were clothed in
white winds and formed a glow that pierced the
heavens.
Jerukku’s, eyes wide open, was stunned.
The huge maneater closed his eyes to the light.
All the dead bodies of the monsters lying around
them are transformed into particles of light.
So was the giant maneater.
The mouth that was supposed to devour Ren and
Licia turns into particles of light, and everything is
swallowed by the glow that pierces the heavens, and
rises into the heavens with a powerful wind.
“Ku……fu…… this…… is impossible—-“

In the end, the dying Jerukku was swallowed up as

well, and disappeared from the world before anything
was known.
The glow eventually thinned and just before it
disappeared, it seeped into the bodies of both Ren
and Licia.
This is vitality.
It was a strange light that healed their bodies.
“At…. least, only Licia-sama…… and also —-.”

How did we win, and what is that magic sword?

When he came to, the magic sword was gone, but
Ren didn’t question it in any way either.
He was only concerned about Licia.
At the moment he let go of his consciousness.
Ren finally smiled when he saw that Licia was still
breathing.
He then quickly closed his eyelids.
It was early the next morning.
Baron Clausel had not made up as much time as he
had thought and had been cornered to the stage of
being transported to the imperial capital.
He would now go to the imperial capital by lunar
whale from another territory via the surrounding
towns.
He wasn’t allowed to have Weiss by his side and was
just about to leave Clausel.
The people of the towns surrounding Clausel were
watching with bated breath.
Viscount Givens, riding in the lead on horseback, saw
this and laughed.
“Viscount. We are almost there.”

“Ah, it’s been a long way indeed.”

The one who said that was the knight who said he
was going to Clausel during the battle with Ren in the
forest.
Viscount Givens nodded with a cool smile on his
handsome face at the sound of his voice.
“All that remains is to transport Baron Clausel to the
imperial capital as it is.”
“After that…..”
“The heroes living in the imperial capital will take
care of it.”
“Yes, but, Viscount, I have to ask you once again.”
The knight asked and Viscount Givens said, “What is
it?”
“I understand why you let Licia Clausel live. I also
understand why you took her hostage and threatened
Baron Clausel. In the end, if we can get the saint to
marry into the Heroes’ Faction, it’ll unite us as a
faction.”
“Ah, you are concerned about Ren Ashton?”

“Yes. Was it worth the risk to keep him alive? I heard

Baron Clausel say that the boy was his favorite.”
Viscount Givens chuckled.
And then he reminisced.
“It was nearly ten years ago, but I happened to
discover some information.”
“Information ……?”

“That’s right. —- It was a coincidence. It was an

unintentional connection that I discovered while I
was researching the Clausel estate in the imperial
capital and I realized it was information that no one
else was aware of.”
“What connection was that?”
The knight’s face was full of curiosity, which made
Viscount Givens feel better.
But he said nothing more.
“One day you’ll understand. Which is when I’ve
gained fame among the heroes and have a voice
above the troublesome cohabitants and the high
nobility.”
“That’s…..”

“Until then, I’m the only one who will know the
truth.”
The viscount exhaled as he finished.
“I’ve spent many years doing just that. Unlike the
saint, I have taken great care to keep Ren Ashton in
my possession.”
For that reason, he couldn’t let Ren and Licia go.
Viscount Givens got a report from the knight that the
two were sighted in the forest before the hill.
Naturally, he reprimanded the knight severely as soon
as he heard about it.
However, since he gave priority to capturing the two
rather than reprimanding them, he hadn’t inflicted
any punishment of any kind on them.
“You guys head for the hillside right after this.”
“Yes, we’ll be able to capture them soon.”

“Hah, it would be troublesome….. Not only because

of Jerukku, but also because you guys have exposed
yourselves in such an unbecoming manner.”
“Sorry about that…..”

“If you’re going to apologize, return the apology with

work. If you can’t, I won’t tell you how you will be
dealt with.”
The knight nodded silently, unable to say anything at
the strong tone.
“And I’m also concerned about the light from last
night.”
This was the only concern.
The other knights hadn’t come to report, so this one
thing was really hanging over Viscount Givens’
mind.
“Even now, we’re somehow managing to
outmaneuver the royalist faction. Failure isn’t an
option. Do you know how hard I worked to create
this situation?”
“Ha. I think this is due to the fact that you were
quick, alerted the surrounding territories and applied
the appropriate pressure.”
“Yes. Don’t forget that this was a work of meticulous
planning.”
He talked about why the royalist faction had
remained uninvolved until today and ordered them
not to let his efforts go to waste.
If they had heard what was going on, it was only
natural that there would have been royalists who
would have interfered.
The only reason they weren’t there was that Viscount
Givens, in cooperation with his close relatives, had
spent many years planning the project in secret.
“It‘ll happen soon.”

—-The end of the Clausel family is near.

Outside the open gates, Baron Clausel looked out at

the morning sun rising over the horizon.
“—- who is that?”

He saw a horse coming down the street.

It was a horse approaching slowly against the
sunlight.
Unlike Viscount Givens, who questioned the horse,
the knight at his side noticed something unusual.
Isn’t that the horse that was pulling Jerukku’s
carriage?
The knight was just about to tell Viscount Givens
those words when
“Young lady —-!”

Weiss shouted at the rear of the group, and he drove

his horse, heedless of Viscount Givens’ knights’
restraint.
What’s going on?
With all those knights and Jerukku, yet they escaped
all the way here?
Viscount Givens’ heart gradually grew impatient.
This caused him to stop his horse just outside the
gate.
“Viscount!”

“Don’t do anything rash. Weiss, no one can beat that

man. First, we must see what he’ll do.”
From behind, Baron Clausel’s voice could be heard.
But he wasn’t free.
Viscount Givens ordered his knights to form a
perimeter around Baron Clausel.
While he was doing so, the horse approaching from
the front didn’t stop.
“My Lady! I have no apologies! I’ll make amends
with my life —- boy!”
Weiss made his opening apology and immediately
noticed that Licia was carrying Ren on her back.
To his surprise, Licia quietly replies.
“…… It’s alright. All of this was something I ordered
you to do.”
“But —-!”

“I’ll talk to you later…… I don’t want his hard work

to go to waste right now.”
Of course, Weiss said he would take care of Ren, but
Licia was adamant.
She wasn’t going to give in, saying that she’d take
Ren to the mansion herself.
The more he looked at Licia, the more he saw that
she too was exhausted.
And yet, Weiss was forced to keep his mouth shut in
the face of Licia’s condition.
“—- You must be Viscount Givens.”

The voice of the haggard Licia echoed.

But there was a dignified strength in her eyes that
Weiss had never seen before.
The area has lost its noisy atmosphere of a moment
ago.
Even Weiss had to keep his mouth shut In the face of
Licia’s power.
“I’m glad to see the saint, but be careful with your
words. I’m a viscount—- “
“Please refrain from speaking here. I don’t have the
courtesy to address a criminal“
Viscount Givens laughed at the bite in her voice.
“You have an interesting way of saying things.”

Viscount Givens moved his horse forward.

Licia stopped her horse and waited for Viscount
Givens, keeping Weiss at a distance.
“But make no mistake. The criminal is your father.”

“Look carefully….. Can you still be so bullish after

seeing this?”
Licia took the magical tool that Jerukku had been
using and questioned Viscount Givens.
The Viscount Givens’ eyebrows furrowed for a
moment when he saw it.
“What’s that?”
He asked calmly.
“It’s a magical tool that belonged to an elf you hired.
If I look into it, I may be able to see the relationship
between you.”
“Ha… hahahaha! What a thing to say! What sort of
crazy thing is a saint saying?!”
“Ren and I —- Ren’s village was attacked by the elf
you hired.”
“So, why am I coming out of the woodwork here?
You don’t think you can prove it with a single
magical tool like that, do you?”
“I’ll find out if I look into it.”

Licia as haggard as she looked was less tactful than

usual.
By the same token, Viscount Givens is unwavering.
She should have known that, but her body was in
pain and she couldn’t speak as much as she wanted
to.
“…… and we were attacked by your knights in the
nearby forest.”
“My knights? Someone must have staged it.”

There’s no proof.
Licia provoked the knights in the forest, exposing
them to their disfigurement, but still didn’t sway
Viscount Givens.
After all, he’s a well-prepared man.
Weiss, who was listening to the conversation, was so
angry that he was on the verge of drawing his sword.
It was a miracle that he could hold back.
“I remember his face. The knight by your side swung
his sword at me and Ren.”
“Hmm ……is it true?”

“No. I was in command outside Clausel, as ordered

by the Viscount…..”
“It seems that the saint has been tricked by
someone.”
“I… wonder, Shouldn’t we talk about it in the town to
find out?”
“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary.”

Viscount Givens pushed on.

In fact, he was in a position to do so and had already
reached that stage.
Weiss objected when he saw that he was advancing
his horse.
“Viscount Givens! I, as one who is in charge of the
Knights of the House of Clausel, think that you
should carefully examine the words of the young
lady! I suggest that you return to the town once more
to confirm what has happened!”
Still…
“That’s also unnecessary. If you insist on it, you can
set up a new trial in the capital.”
At the Imperial capital, there are many noblemen
who aren’t in support of the Clausel family.
No matter how much Licia returned on her own and
couldn’t be used as a hostage, there was no doubt that
he could still threaten him with a new move.
It is, in effect, a defeat.
So Baron Clausel was also buying time and waiting
for a new move.
Viscount Given’s horse is advancing further.
Soon, he’ll pass by Licia and the others—-
But at that moment…
“………… show me your hand.”
The voice was faint and feeble.
Ren, who should have been in a coma, spoke.
“Ren!”
“Boy!”

Responding to their concern, Ren slowly raised his

face behind Licia, on who’s back he was on and
reached out his hand.
“Show me your hand….!”

“Who are you talking to?”

“To your knight……!”

Licia realized his intentions.

Ashamed of her immaturity and lack of composure,
she apologized to Ren in a small voice, “I’m sorry,”
Relieved by her appearance, Ren quickly let go of his
consciousness.
“Show me the back of your hand. Your hand should
have the scar that Ren and I put on it.”
There was supposed to be no conclusive proof.
But it was born in this moment.
“…… Vi, Viscount.”

Viscount Givens was speechless.

There was no way he could have been cornered.
He wondered how it had come to this.
“Show us.”

Weiss said, approaching Viscount Givens’ knight.

“No, I was in the middle of my duty…..”
“I’ll say it again. Show us.”

“No! My hand is—-!”

“Show me quickly. Before I draw my sword.”

“……”
The knight of Viscount Givens gave up and removed
his cuirass.
Then he shows the back of his hand as he was told.
The back of his hand was covered by a bandage, but
Weiss intimidated him into removing it as well.
“Hoho …… it’s as the young lady and the boy said,
there’s indeed a scar.”
“These are wounds that I got in the middle of my
duty!”
“It’s possible. But there’s blood on the bandage. The
wound still looks fresh, but it can’t all be a
coincidence and those white burns look like they
were caused by sacred magic.”
There was too much overlap to be coincidence.
A sense of agitation spread among the people.
The people gathered near the gate and the knights of
both camps.
“You didn’t have very good potions. But did you
know? For wounds caused by sacred magic, even the
most expensive potions, leave marks.”
If that were the case, there would be no more
excuses.
However, Viscount Givens was still very determined
and eloquent.
“Hahaha! Very well! Then let us set up a new trial to
prove the innocence of my knight! In any case, all
will be revealed in the imperial capital! Since the first
trial is already over, there’s no change in the fact that
Baron Clausel will be transferred!”
Viscount Givens starts to move forward in high
spirits.
The transferring party also resumed its progress.
“…….what should I do?”

Licia shed tears.

This, this is the power of nobility that she detests.
Tears cannot stop streaming down her face at the
absurdity of one being allowed to do whatever they
please simply because of one’s high rank.
It’s especially painful to feel that all of Ren’s hard
work has been denied.
—- but right there and then.
“Wonderful, and how beautiful they are.”

The sound of applause came from the gate.

It was the kind of applause that is inappropriate for
this occasion and sounds like the kind of applause
one might hear after watching a play.
“The courage and dignity of the young man were
admirable. I have witnessed the most beautiful story
and this is exactly how I feel.”
The aged voice reached everyone in the group.
As they wondered who it was, the person who had
uttered the voice stepped out of the gate and stepped
between Viscount Givens and Licia.
“Thanks to you, I’m now able to interject. So I’ll lend
a small hand in concluding the miracle that the two of
you have wrought.”
The man was an old butler-like gentleman in a
tailcoat.
“Who are you?”

Viscount Givens asked in a hostile voice.

But the old gentleman didn’t answer Viscount
Givens, but looked at Licia.
“Saint. Leave it to me.”
“…You are?”
“My name is Edgar. Please don’t worry. I’m just here
to honor both of you and offer one last little
assistance.”
“Assistance….?”

“I just want to help bring down the curtain on the

story you two have created. We’ll not in any way
trespass on the miracle of the two of you.”
The old gentleman smiles graciously and
immediately looks at Viscount Givens.
“Viscount Givens, this is the first time we’re
meeting. I’ve come to Clausel at the behest of my
Lord.”
“Then why don’t you first tell me the name of your
Lord?”
“I beg your pardon. My master is…..”

The man, Edgar, had his back to Licia. So it was

difficult to tell what he had taken out of his pocket.
In his hand was a jeweled knife with a certain pattern
on it.
“……….!!!”

“Oh, it seems that you understood without me saying

his name.”
“It, it can’t be! What are you scheming.”
“It’s a crime punishable by death to conspire against a
nobleman. I don’t think a man who is even a viscount
wouldn’t understand such a thing.”
Behind Edgar, Licia was stunned.
Viscount Givens, who had been pushing with the
power of a nobleman, was suddenly flustered and
his forehead was covered with sweat.
“Now, the gentleman from the legal affairs bureau.”

The old gentleman, who introduced himself as Edgar,

paid no attention to Viscount Givens’ agitated
appearance and summoned the civil official from the
legal department.
“I’ve been told by the Lord that I’m free to move in
his name and to speak in his name if I feel so inclined
at this trial.”
“I see….. and the man whose emblem you have
is…..”
“Yes. There’s only one nobleman who bears this
emblem. By the word of our Lord, I propose that this
trial be retried in Clausel, as there are too many
puzzling points.”
“But…!”
The civil official of the legal office didn’t respond
obediently to the request, perhaps because he was
under the influence of the heroic faction.
But Edgar’s continued words forced him to give up.
“The Lord owes the Clausel family a great debt of
gratitude for the boy named Ren Ashton. He’s
therefore willing to lend a helping hand to the end of
a story such as this.”
Licia and Weiss had no idea what was going on.
But the civil servant gave up with these words, and
Viscount Givens also backed down.
Edgar went to Viscount Givens’ side and asked in a
faint voice that only he could hear.
“You seem to be wondering why my Lord moved.”

He smiles like a good-natured old man, but speaks in

a cold voice.
“The miracle those two have wrought has enabled the
Lord to lend a helping hand without reserve.”
“He…… w lent a helping hand for something of this
level!”
“Yes. In addition, Ren Ashton saved the life of a
certain person…..Oh, speaking of which.”
Edgar said as he walked past.
“Did you say earlier that you’ve succeeded—-?”
With these words, he stepped into Clausel alone.

Chapter 101 – Mob Knight Screams Unnecessary

Things [Part-2]
The room creaked as the white mana became thicker.
The immatureness he showed in the past is gone, and his temperament
turned sharp and deadly.
“……Kill………!“
Hakuto leapt out at high speed, splitting the floor.
“Nugu!“
“–!!!!”
His slash was clearly faster than what he could muster when he faced…. the
Demon King.
His perfect body was more powerful than before, and the power of his
slashes was gradually increasing because of Hakuto’s killing intent.
“Nuun!“
“–No!”
The mad priest ran around the room, fighting off the white beast as its speed
increased.
The hesitation caused by the presence of the hostage no longer existed, and
the anger caused by the loss of the hostage accelerated the sword.
Slightly chipping away at the metal Gospel, Hakuto himself was slowly but
surely approaching the power level of Shock.
“……”
Oswald knelt down, unmindful of the fierce battle happening in front of
him.
Another death.
Another death, right in front of him.
Because he was lost and absentminded?
Because he did not follow Hakuto?
Because he did not jump into battle as soon as he got here?
Various regrets swirled in his mind, and he collapsed onto his knees because
of dizziness.
‘Will you be proud of who you are today, and who you will be tomorrow?’
Oswald remembered his father’s back, when he was leaving.
He felt like he had been slapped across the face, and his vision became
clearer.
His hands, which were falling to the floor, stopped.
If they touch the floor, he was sure he would break and begin crying, unable
to bear the negative emotions.
“I’m not proud… I’m not proud of… I’m not proud of….”
He muttered strongly to himself, as if to rouse himself.
He wiped away the tears that had been streaming down his face with his
sleeve, pulled out the knife from his waist, and clenched it in his hand.
(…Oh, I see….)
He now understood why his father went on a rampage that day instead of
attending the funeral.
The grief, the lamentation, the wailing, the repentance, the excuses…..
All of it could be done later.
For he had seen something he could only do now, something he had to do,
for if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to feel proud of himself tomorrow.
“……”
The Arch bloodline that ran through Oswald made him stand.
Even the heartache that swelled in his chest to the point that he felt his heart
would tear was turned into strength, just as it was for Gerald that day.
He clenched his teeth as hard as he could, and pushed down the pain in his
chest.
“……!“
The magic circle of his eyes glowed.
Shock’s legs were sewn to the floor, and his movements were halted as he
fell under the white beast’s onslaught.
“Nu!“
“–!!!!”
After discerning the opportunity and sinking deeply into his stance, Hakuto,
his pure white mana fluttering like wings, quickly stepped forward.
He broke the ground and pushed straight ahead stubbornly.
The five-and-a-half-meter gap between them was instantly filled.
The technique was no longer reminiscent of Erika’s clear stream, and had
become explosive and fierce.
He slashed his tightly clenched sword with both hands, unleashing the
crackling pressure of his mana.
“Ooooh!“
“Nggh!”
Shock opened the Gospel and used it as a shield.
“Nuun!“
The sound of a loud bang echoed and sparks fly, but Shock’s heavy body
endured the blow, even as he slumped down.
“–!“
Hakuto’s sword still accelerated further.
The white slash hit Shock without abating.
Hakuto’s spirit, which was filled with anger, made him stronger.
And then…
“Oh?!”
“Tsk!”
Oswald’s knife ripped into Shock’s cheek.
The wound was far from fatal.
Shock continued to fight, not caring a bit about the gaping wound.
Oswald joins in and used his legs to kick and his knives, and the battle
raged on.
Victory was in sight.
Hakuto’s concentration increased due to his desire to kill Shock, and he
stood out from the other two in terms of power and speed.
Shock had his hands full with Hakuto, and Oswald, the more skilled of the
two attackers, was steadily inflicting damage.
But…
Oswald notices something wrong with Hakuto, who was sprinting in all
directions and unleashing sharp, heavy slashes.
“Hakuto-kun!“
“Huh?”
Victory or defeat depended on luck, and even a little bad luck could easily
reverse everything.
“I’ve barely slashed thirty times yet!”
Hakuto’s sword cracked.
Both Hakuto himself and Oswald had completely misjudged the quality of
Hakuto’s mana.
No matter how much his bloodline had thinner over time, the quality of
Hakuto’s mana was of such an exceptional quality that it was only apparent
what the original source was.
“An opening~”
Shock joked in a playful voice, but in the end, Shock’s skills were all too
real.
He swung his oversized scripture at Hakuto, who, overwhelmed by losing
his weapon suddenly, had a slight lapse of concentration.
“Damn it, Raah!“
“It’s of no use~”
“Ggh?!”
Oswald plunged his knife into Shock’s back.
Shock swung his scripture down without feeling any pain, even though the
wound was so deep that the knife might have reached his lungs.
It seemed to Oswald that this man completely lacked the fear of death.
A cold shiver ran down Oswald’s spine as he realized once again that Shock
was indeed a madman.
“—gasp!“
“Gah!”
The sound of hard objects shattering, combined with the dull thud of flesh
and bone breaking, could be heard.
Oswald turned his head and saw Hakuto flying through the air.
The iron scripture, the Gospel that was wielded by the strong-armed priest
had sent Hakuto flying to the corner of the room in a flash.
His sword was broken, and Hakuto’s right upper arm was discolored and his
bones looked abnormal.
“Yes– one person has been defeated—-?“
“Shut up!”
Oswald, whose face was contorted in anger with veins popping up,
slammed his legs into Shock’s face.
“Goha!“
Oswald dropkicked him with all his might.
He drew in Shock with his magic eye, and then kicked him in the face,
exploding his face with the explosion magic manipulation technique that he
learned from… Glass.
“….I don’t want to see your face anymore. Get the hell out of here–”
“—nuh-uh-uh!“
The giant body, which had been on the verge of collapsing, rose up and hit
Oswald in the gut with its kneecap.
“Guh…uh….a….”
Oswald fell down in agony from the gut-wrenching pain.
(….he didn’t fall down even after that…?)
The word ‘Defeat’ passed through his mind as he struggled against the
monstrous endurance that reminded him of his father.
“Heehee….. hmmm, it worked………. If it wasn’t for last night, this would
have been a little too close.”
The blow that Oswald used was his secret move, and it was quite powerful,
as he had put a great deal of mana into his magic eye as well.
In fact, even Shock had nearly knocked out.
But Oswald had miscalculated, for Shock had experienced the same
technique the night before.
“You are as dangerous as the hero. I’ve decided to crush your head and
throw it away, so don’t move too much.“
How could a man want to crushes someone’s head, and raise a deadly
weapon, without any spirit or hesitation at all?
It showed that Shock truly did not regard the people on the kingdom’s side
as human beings.
“Yo…. hmm?”
Shock turned his head around casually.
“…….”
A battered Hakuto stood up against the morning sun.
With unfocused eyes, he stared at Shock, who had raised the Gospel at
Oswald.
“…Don’t expect… anything from evil….”
He began to wobble forward, while muttering the words the Demon King
had planted in his mind that day.
“…The world is full of… unreasonableness….”
“What are you saying? Man, this is really creepy.”
Littered with dust and bleeding from the head, Hakuto did not bother
wiping the dirt from his handsome face, and picked up the chipped sword at
his feet with his left hand… while muttering sadly and walking unsteadily.
“…Everything will be too late…… Before it’s too late……”
Hakuto’s eyes, darkened by the sun that shone behind him, glowed
powerfully.
A gleam of pure white mana shone in his right hand.
In contrast to the raging storm of the past, it was lit steadily, like a candle
flame, without flickering.
Severely wounded and numb….
The body that had been trapped in anger had lost its strength…..
The only thing on his mind was his thirst to overthrow evil.
Step by step, he moved towards Shock.
“….Hmm. If you want to be taken to the afterlife first, so be it. –You will
pay for your sins in heaven!“
Shock, with a smile on his face, raised the Gospel to smash the wobbling
Hakuto.
Hakuto, who was now as pale as a ghost, had neither the strength to prevent
nor the will to evade.
“Hnnu!“
He felt a solid tug to the metal scripture that he swung down.
“……”
“……Ko,kono!“
The Gospel twisted from Hakuto and hit Oswald in the forehead.
He got up just in front of Hakuto, and with a desperate effort, he used his
magic eye to draw the orbit of the scripture to his own forehead.
Even Shock was surprised at the foolish and frightening act.
The blow that easily gutted multiple knights was magnified by Oswald’s
magic eye as he drew it to himself.
“…Ghooohd, ah…. is….”
Oswald shows a sturdiness reminiscent of his father. His forehead was split
open, and he left the rest to Hakuto as he fell, bleeding heavily.
“Huh? Wow! –[Shock Strike]!”
He unleashed a special strike using his left palm, which he had saved for the
Black Knight, on Hakuto, who was approaching.
“……”
The distorted tip of the broken sword was raised gently, and it pierced
Shock’s left hand painfully.
Instantly, a curse was activated and the…. sword shattered into pieces.
“Noo!? Oh, my god?“
Hakuto stepped forward using a peculiar magical technique and extended
his right hand, which was illuminated with a white radiance.
But even though it contained mana, it didn’t seem to be able to do anything
about Shock’s thick muscles.
“–”
The goal was the Black Knight’s divine blade.
Hakuto imagined a blade that could cut through anything in a single flash.
His whole body, lost in pain, and the anger directed at the only evil, made it
possible.
A thrust as fierce as a pure, holy, white sword.
Sharper than any blade, faster than one could ever imagine, it accelerated
with the mana in his hand.
–The White Sword–
“…goh!”
Hakuto’s sword pierced through the left of Shock’s chest without any
resistance.
♢♢♢
A true monster manifested on the Kuralt Bridge.
A monster with strength that could only be seen in stories, a monster that
seemed impossible to defeat.
The wings of magic power tinged the royal city with despair.
Even the sky clouds over as if celebrating the birth of the monster.
The knights were terrified, and even Alto and Souryu hesitated.
Understandably so.
A single swing of its great axe could cut through the great river, and a
single flap of its wings….
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!“
“Ahhh, ahh, c’mon!”
…caused not only an ordinary knight, but even Lernoa to soar like a
withered leaf.
It was a power beyond the reach of man.
“……”
Sweating coldly, Alto began to consider using the relic.
Only, once used, the kingdom’s trump card would exact a heavy price.
But–
“–Hu!”
A black mass rushed through the soldiers, leapt up, and grabbed the knight
and Lernoa.
“What….?”
With a heavy landing that shattered the stone bridge, he dropped Lernoa and
the ordinary knight, and got up…..
“……I’ll take care of the rest. You’ve all endured well. Stay behind me.”
A knight adorned in the color that swallowed the light.
Hope welled up in the people, despite the short words that were delivered in
a heavy, resonant voice.
“…Black Knight….”
Lernoa, sitting up and looking at the great armor, murmured, which caused
the surrounding people to clamor.
“Oh, it’s the Black Knight….”
“Oh! The Black Knight has come!“
And sometimes hope can be paralyzing.
“Follow the black knight!”
“Follow the black knight!”
The rest of the army reacted to the knight’s reckless cry.
“Wait! Wait!“
Kelvin, next to Alto, yelled as hard as he can, but several of them did not
stop.
“Wait!“
The Black Knight started to run.
“Buaaaah!“
Feeling a strange sense of intimidation, the orc quickly tried to finish them
with its great-axe.
“Wha–!”
The Black Knight bent down to the ground and slid through, avoiding it.
“Whoooa!“
“Nuh!”
He grabbed a reckless knight by the collar as he headed towards the
monster and threw him back at Alto and Kelvin.
“Oh, Black Knight!”
“What?!”
Alto’s warning was in vain, and the Black Knight’s legs were grabbed
because of his momentary lapse.
Then, he was lightly lifted up…
“……”
“…aaa….”
They sunk into the depths of despair.
Hope was shattered, and true fear was born.
“……”
The Black Knight was slammed to the ground left and right.
Trying to struggle through the centrifugal force and the impact of the
slamming, he was helplessly and unceasingly smashed into the ground by
the monster born of hatred.
The force was so great that the bridge is chipped away, causing cracks to
appear in the…. Black Armor.
It was a nightmare.
Pieces of the jet-black armor flew off.
The jet-black armor that swallowed the morning sun was played with by the
monster like it was a broken doll, slamming it onto the floor repeatedly.
The stone bridge crumbled.
“……”
“…such…”
As did the hope of the people.
The stone bridge crumbled and crumbled around the monster.
Those who could not accept reality turned away.
Those who accepted the nightmare fell to their knees.
“Bulooooo!”
“i….i……”
Black hair swayed through the chipped armor on his head. The black
knight, writhing hard, couldn’t seem to be able to break through.
The majesty……
The toughness……
The grandeur…..
The man who gave courage to all who saw him……
The monster who had forcefully climbed to great heights because of its
hatred for mankind, had defeated the hero.
As the armor of darkness chipped away, everyone’s hearts sank into
recognition of their fragility…
“–Oh….. it can’t be helped……”
Such voices could be heard coming out of everywhere.
The knights had resigned themselves to their demise and given up on
returning home with their lives.
It was then that the Black Knight’s body was enveloped in a black aura.
Powerful jet-black mana clung to him.
“–”
“Gruaaaah!”
The moment he struck the ground like before, the black mana exploded
from his hand on the ground and shot high into the air.
A momentary crack was created in the air.
He flicked the rubble in his grasp with his fingers and aimed at the base of
the monster’s arms, which had grabbed onto both his legs, and shot.
“Gaaaah!“
It pierces the reptilian hard skin, broke through the muscles, crushed the
joints and passed through, and the monster let go due to the excruciating
pain.
It let go.
The freed Black Knight grabbed the monster in an acrobatic move, digging
his fingers into both of its shoulders, and…..
“Hmph!!!!”
He head-butted the monster in mid-air, relying solely on the strength of his
arms.
“……”
“……”
The knights’ eyes widened.
Alto, Souryu, Lernoa…..
Everyone was stunned.
The monster was headless…..
His armor shattered, but he didn’t care. He head-butted the monster with
such force that its head was crushed flat through the shock-absorbing armor.
The Black Knight’s missing head armor, the monster’s intact and high-class
magic head armor.
A black knight who may be part of the human race, a monstrous orc which
had been enhanced to a higher species.
The difference in strength was supposed to be insurmountable.
“….It’s stronger than I thought…..”
The black knight who was able to land on the ground on his feet for the first
time in a long time muttered in an unnaturally calm manner.
It was as if nothing had happened.
He muttered that it was stronger than he had expected, but he defeated it as
if he was crushing a bug.
Then he wrapped his entire body in mana, completely restored his armor,
and…..
“……”
Holding out one hand, he began to gather mana.
A wave of fear spread throughout the area.
Suddenly, a tremendous amount of mana converged in one place.
The rampaging mana was forcibly forced into gathering into one place,
creating a black sphere that looked as if it was filled with darkness.
Darker, darker, even more darker……
The dense mana gathered further into the black knight’s palm….
“Early….”
But the Black Knight abruptly stopped and crouched down to avoid the
headless monster’s unstoppable cleaving axe.
“Black Knight!“
Alto came back to himself upon seeing the tyrannical slash that ran through
the river being unleashed once again and threw his great sword at the Black
Knight.
“Good throw! –!“
“Gaaaahhhh!”
Just the sound of the clash between their weapons was so heavy that one
could be sure of the pressure being exerted just by hearing it.
The hero met the great axe swung by an arm the size of a giant tree head-
on.
The small man met the mountain-like monster head-on.
The massive sword was swung lightly, like it was just a feather.
They struck their weapons at each other in succession, one, two, three
times.
“……”
“……”
Their hearts, frozen in fear, raced.
Their souls, sunk into despair, were enlivened.
Their bodies that had turned cold burned.
Everyone’s heart trembled at the hero’s battle.
“….amazing….”
Souryu, who rarely spoke, muttered.
The people around him were unaware of what he was saying, and not even
the person who muttered it noticed what he was saying.
Rather, none of them could take their eyes off, or shift their focus off of the
battle between the…. hero and the monster in front of them.
“Gruaaaah!“
“Hoo!”
There was someone who could face that mighty monster fair and square.
He wielded his great sword with his steady back facing the countless men
and women behind him, not even taking a single step back.
A ‘hero’, just like the true heroes from the…. stories.
He swatted away the great axe that was causing storms with his brilliant
swordsmanship.
Every time the sound of their weapons clashing echoed, a tornado was born,
surrounding the hero and the monster.
The stage was set for a duel between the two, and only the two, allowing no
one to interfere.
Soon the great sword began to blend in, like it was one of the Black
Knight’s limbs.
The trajectory of the sword became more refined.
The sword was large, dynamic, and yet its technique was detailed and
skillful.
There was not one reason why it could be inferior to the great axe wielded
with reckless abandon.
“Boaah!”
He slipped past the monster’s impetuous swing…
“–”
…and cut through the left knee, the right elbow, and the back of the right
knee.
Three slashes that ended in the blink of an eye.
Rather than multiple consecutive and repetitive clean slashes that stacked
up in terms of damage, that were normally the results of swords and blades,
the Black Knight delivered powerful slashes that cut away in one go.
“Geeeeaaaaaahhh!”
The monster crumbled forward.
“Patience, my friend. This will be the last time.”
He thrust his great sword into the ground, muttering to no one in particular,
and once again gathered his dark mana.
A sphere like a black star.
It roared and swirled in his palm, giving off a strange and intimidating
feeling that made one’s hair stand on end. It was so powerful that if it were
unleashed, the entirety of the surrounding area would be blown away.
“Gah!”
“Leave your anger and hatred here.”
The Black Knight held up a black ball to the angry orc, which regenerated
its limbs.
“Goodbye.”
The mass of darkness expanded rapidly, enveloping the orc’s massive body.
The mass of mana that swelled endlessly and tried to annihilate the city was
held back by forceful and precise manipulation, leaving only the orc as prey
to the destructive darkness.
“Gee! Guiiaaaa….”
In the blink of an eye, the storm of swirling mana whittled away at its body.
It was much faster than the speed of regeneration, leading the flailing,
struggling orc to its demise.
Soon, within seconds, the orc’s original form was completely lost in the
black star, and…
The Black Knight clenched his hand and pushed the sphere of mana into it.
Gradually, the mana sphere became smaller and smaller, and was crushed in
his hand.
The power that had nowhere to go burst out, and the air vibrated once again
around the Black Knight.
“……”
A residue of black mana rose from the palm that was opened toward the
heavens.
“…Rest in peace, my friend….”
With the silent prayer of the Black Knight, whose words were filled with
sorrow, it ascended to heaven……
In the calm silence that remained after the storm had passed, the pale mana
dissipated into the sky, watched by people who were stunned by the one-
sidedness of the monster’s defeat.
“……”
“….hah…. hah….”
Oswald was knocked out and lying on the ground, and Hakuto was still out
of breath because of Shock’s strike.
There was no afterglow of victory, only a sense of relief at having beaten
him.
His concentration was broken, and his vision was blurred by the intense
pain and fatigue.
He felt his heart beating abnormally loudly.
The warmth of a sickening hand brought him back to himself, and he pulled
it out…
“……”
“………..”
Hakuto was horrified, frozen in fear.
He had witnessed true madness.
His eyes met the wide, bloodshot eyes at close range.
Shock’s eyes, who clearly still had enough power to catch him.
“…Have you ever had your day to day life unreasonably ruined…?”
“……”
What drove him to this point?
Was it the influence of a curse or just sheer obsession…?
Father Shock continued to move even after being pierced through the heart.
“Have you ever left your family, your friends, your comrades….to die….?”
Tears of blood and hatred for the Kingdom.
“I have…. turned to curses for those who have….. abandoned us.”
Hakuto couldn’t help but feel that Shock was a much scarier monster than
the monstrous orc he had seen earlier.
“If you feel the same way….. you will realize your mistakes….. even if you
don’t want to…….. hero!“
“Hic!”
He pulled out the arm that was piercing through in sheer fearlessness and
madness.
Hakuto felt a completely different…. fear….. from what he had felt so far
from the [Black Demon King] and the Black Knight.
The power of Shock’s obsession swallowed up Hakuto’s anger and desire to
kill.
“….The origin of the curse…..The ‘King of Curses’ is said to reappear
when the root of curses is reached……”
But even as he spewed blood from his pierced chest, he followed step by
step as Hakuto backed away in fright.
“I’m going to fill the whole world and the whole kingdom with curses…..
Until we unleash him on this kingdom…….”
Perhaps Shock’s feelings were stronger than his, Alto’s, or even Halmar’s.
His obsession and hatred was that strong.
Negative emotions were often very strong.
“…I am….I am….I am….–I am immortal! I am immortal!“
“Huh?“
He exclaimed, his voice betraying his insanity.
The Iron Scripture was lowered with a force several times greater than
before.
“……..?”
Hakuto, who had been bracing himself with his eyes closed, opened his
eyes in horror reflexively at the unchanged situation.
“Ggh! Nuaaaaah!!!!”
“……”
There it was, the steel scripture looming right in front of him.
And there stood the figure of Father Shock, who had stopped moving and
was struggling desperately.
“-I’m often told that I don’t care much for other people.”
A voice that made you feel irresistibly comfortable.
A breeze of light blew into the room.
“I don’t know if you’d believe me when I say this, but… I may not be as
good as my father or my brother, but I do have a heart for the people of the
royal capital. Especially in this case.”
The sound of boots hitting the floor reverberated.
The windows of the spacious room opened all at once, and a breeze of light
pushed the dust outside at once.
Not even the slightest speck of dirt was allowed in a room in which this
goddess was about to descend.
“Celestia, Light…!!“
“Do not call me by my name!”
Shock, caught in a circle of light, turned around with a face stained with
madness.
Celestia Light was standing there.
“Ce, Celestia….”
“Excellent, Hakuto-kun. Oswald-kun, you too. You have driven him to this
point. The wounds seem to be deep, so leave the rest to me and get some
rest.”
She smiled faintly at Hakuto, who had fallen to the ground on his backside.
“Well, it was Father Shock, wasn’t it? He seems…. very indignant, doesn’t
he? He must have influenced me… I’m angry now.”
The jet-black ornamental sword in her hand glinted.
Her mysteriously swaying blonde hair and good looks, along with the
fantastic dance of light transformed the dingy room into a completely
different space.
“In your experiments with curses, you often target single mothers, don’t
you? Did you think that they would rely more on you if they were sick
because of their lack of time, money and so on? Stupid….. I’ve spent some
time studying people who raise their children alone for one reason or
another.”
“Oh, you, the bitter enemy of the Angel Cult!”
Winds of brilliance gathered on Celestia.
Even with Father Shock’s mighty arm strength, the restraints of light did not
budge an inch.
“Have you ever tried to image how much they are struggling?”
“You are a fool!“ Shock screeched.
“I’m not a fool. Raising a child alone is much harder than I imagined. I will
not… allow curses to be placed on them.”
The ring of light that had restrained Shock faded away.
Shock bounced towards the goddess.
“Mankind has poisoned this kingdom and the world!”
“You’ve made a big jump to speak of the world. You can’t even touch me.
That’s arrogance.“
The sound of her voice was so icy that Hakuto’s heart contracted.
Particles of light converged on the decorative sword.
She swung lightly from the lower left to the upper right.
As if shaking off an insect, she looked annoyed…..
“……”
Hakuto felt his breath caught in his throat.
Shock rushed towards Celestia, spreading his vindictiveness, but he
disappeared.
As soon as the ornamental sword was swung, a torrent of light was created
and gutted Shock from the center of the…. room.
The remorseless scriptures flew through the wall.
A torrent of light pierced the fourth and fifth floors, blessing Celestia with
sunlight.
“Only a king can speak of ‘the world’. And there is only one king….”
Celestia murmured with an inorganic voice, a cold stare taking over her
face.
A glimpse of the relic.
With just a little effort, Shock had been destroyed along with his curses.
“……”
“Both of you seem to be seriously injured. Let’s have Marie, who is waiting
downstairs, carry you out immediately.”
Celestia, riding on the shining wind, fluttered up to the stunned Hakuto.
“Oh, Oswald, not me… Oh, my God, a girl fell downstairs! Through the
window! Please get to her first!!“
“Calm down, calm down. Don’t worry about her.“
“..ha…?”
Hakuto responded in a crazed voice to Celestia who let out a smile.
♢♢♢
“………n,mmm…”
“You’re awake.”
She woke up to something warm and thick surrounding her, and a steady
shaking sensation.
“….hmm?”
“We’re almost to the casino. You should continue sleeping.“
Gerald told Lana, who was holding her in his arms as they walked toward
Arch Qi.
“……..? Oh, brother!“
What is it?”
“This, are you perhaps….. um, marriage?”
“No. I was intrigued by the crowd, so I came to inspect the situation and
you just fell on me.”
“….big brother—!“
“……”
Lana hugged Gerald as if she didn’t care about the reason why she was in
Gerald’s arms, or as if the memory of being kidnapped was still fuzzy.
“Oh, by the way, I think I heard that idiot’s voice…. Did he come back by
any chance?”
“Leave him alone. He can only live his life his way. If he needs help, he’ll
ask for it.”
His words were supposed to be cold, but they seemed to have some warmth
in them.
“…big brother!“
“…what is it?”
Gerald looked slightly annoyed as Lana hugged him.
“Gerald! What are you going to do with Lana?! You’re not even giving
money to the dojo, you bastard!“
“Cheng. You can’t give money to an empty dojo!“
Lana’s father, Cheng, came running up behind Gerald, looking miserable.
After Bernardo died, Gerald ran the casino. Chen had been in charge of the
dojo.
“I wonder what Master would say if he saw the dojo now. Do you even
understand, do you?”
“Dad, seriously… what the hell?”
“What?”
He was deeply hurt by his daughter’s tone of disgust. He would have much
rather preferred her yelling at him like usual.
The familiar people who saw this scene showed their usual smiles.
They smiled as they did back then.
The people raised by Bernardo lived robustly in the entertainment district
today.
♢♢♢♢
Alto and the others, upon returning to the castle, immediately went to the
king to report.
In front of King Light, Duke Merton, his assistant George, and Commander
of the Kingsguard, Shiro, Alto explained the situation in detail.
“….What a surprise! The Black Knight has done it again…..”
His swordsmanship was at its peak, but his last move may be an ancient
magic.
Alto’s report was simple but passionate, and the king sighed deeply in
gratitude.
Leaning his back against the backrest, he was relieved to have a reliable
hero in the midst of the Black King and Kujaro.
He may be the only stabilizer for King Light, who was constantly worried.
“….Your Majesty. Even though I am a guest general, I still have to consider
everything….”
“Yes, I have no objection.”
Merton’s advice was immediately adopted, and it was decided to consider
giving a reward to the Black Knight.
“The other thing is…. the magical armor worn by the orcs,” he said.
“It is almost certain.”
Shiro answered with certainty.
“They were able to acquire such a complete set of magical equipment, and
also had it newly adjusted to fit the orc’s body. And all this in such a short
time. Someone who has a lot of money and collects magical tools.“
–Alto knew this the very first second when he saw the monster orc.
“It could only be….. Madame.”
♢♢♢♢
Inside the chariot-like carriage that had left the royal capital and traveled on
for a while.
“–Again, thank you very much for your hospitality.“
Benedict Erkman and other leading figures of the Angel Cult.
“Oh-ho! ….No, no, no, we’re here for each other in times of need. I got a
good thing (・・・・) too, so don’t worry about it. Don’t you agree?”
Madame smiled with satisfaction.
“Yes, yes, of course, I gave you the best one. We are…. grateful to you for
the information on the case, for the equipment of the orcs, for the help in
escaping from the royal capital, and for the…. other things. You deserve our
thanks. Thank you very much.“
Benedict, seated opposite her, bowed humbly.
“That’s enough. We’ll be going our separate ways after this, won’t we? I
will continue on my way to my destination while keeping the kingdom’s
attention.“
“I’m going to Kujaro, where the promised land is. But… I will be
accompanied by Amanda and a select group of archbishops.”
“Oh… are you sure?”
Madame looked at Benedict with wonder rather than surprise.
The experienced Madame had a ‘malice behind generosity’ policy.
Especially towards someone like Benedict, whose heart was….
unfathomable yet transparent at the same time.
“Yes, if your long-cherished wish is fulfilled, I’m sure we’ll have an even
better relationship.”
“Oh…. you mean that, don’t you?”
She was convinced that that was why he was being accompanied by several
archbishops with a Gospel equal to that of the orc that had been laying
waste to the royal capital for some time now. He was even accompanied by
Amanda, who had a rather vicious magic eye.
Madame’s long-cherished wish.
It was…..
“When you kill her and…. make her despair, and take back the Chamber of
Commerce, I will give you what you deserve. Without something to start
with, religious activities will not be possible, will they? Especially since
you will have to start all over again from scratch.“
“I couldn’t say it out loud, so…. thank you for being so perceptive.”
Benedict bowed his head once more to Madame, who gracefully and
contentedly fanned herself.
Amanda and the others looked at her with disapproval, but she remained
unconcerned.
“We’ve already performed enough sabotage that no one will be able to track
us down. You can enjoy your journey from the next town with peace of
mind. As for you, since they have no proof of your whereabouts, the
kingdom will not be able to touch you. There is nothing to worry about.“
“Thank you again for your help…. and you are…?”
“Yes….”
Madame opened the curtains with a closed fan and stared at the sky in the
distance.
Her eyes were murky and stained with desire.
The new power that Benedict had given her added to it.
“….Let’s destroy Hildegard in her favorite city, that city she feels is
auspicious…”
And then, instead of the snacks provided, she gobbled up… mana stones.
Madame’s unusual behavior.
Even the archbishops, who were aware of their superiority, were skeptical
of her actions.
Mana stones were usually imbued with mana and were utilized for various
magical reactions.
Ignition, freezing, and explosions….. were caused by the reactions of the
mana unique to the mana stone.
No one tried experimenting with them, such as taking them into their body
to increase mana, for the fear of the risks, because they did not know what
kind of reaction or harm it may cause.
In fact, previous research had been given up because of the failed cases
such as burning to ashes.
Only Benedict could look on with a smile at the Madame who was going to
such lengths with greed to seek power, all for the sake of Hildegard’s
despair.
“She will get stronger, she will.”
“…Benedict, is it okay that we did not defeat the hero and the Black Knight
ourselves?”
The tall male archbishop asked the happy Benedict.
“Yes, it would be better to strengthen our defenses, like the Son said.“
“I mean…..”
“Perhaps The [Black Demon King] is that one.”
A strong, indescribable shiver ran through the archbishop.
“The ornamental sword that Princess Celestia was carrying…. is without a
doubt the ‘Sword of Dawn’. The only person who would give a relic of that
level to a person who wouldn’t even be able to wield a few strikes of such a
relic would be that person.“
“……”
“His power is so great that even the power of a relic that is said to defy
common sense is unnecessary…… I have seen the sword’s ability for the
first time myself.”
Benedict’s serious face.
No one had ever seen such a change in his countenance.
“It is not like him, but I hear he is gathering his forces. This proves that he
is far from his best shape. If we make the right preparations now…. we
should be safe. Hohohoho.”
Benedict chuckled softly, but never before had the Supreme Bishop been so
prepared to act. The situation was that serious.
“Oh, what are you talking about so secretively?“
“Oh, I wonder if you would like to join us? How about a story about an
interesting town I visited, instead of this not-so-fun topic?”
“You dodged a bullet. Oh well, Sidge.”
The old butler, sitting at the end, near the door, started to prepare two cups
of tea.
By the time the rich aroma filled the carriage, their conversation and the
sound of mana stones being crushed and chewed were heard even more
clearly.
♢♢♢♢
A few weeks later….
A formidable, calamitous castle was steadily being built in the center of the
ruins of the Cursed Swamps.
It was not as grand or large as the Light Kingdom’s castle, and instead it
was a distorted, unsettling, and frightening building.
Inside, the ‘audience chamber’.
It was a large space decorated with demons and monsters in various places.
A group of people from the Republic of Larman kneeled there.
A group of grim, scrawny men.
And a troop of orcs.
A masked, brown-skinned beauty watched them with an icy glare.
“….I think it’s time to start the audience. Kakka!”
Molly, the famed [Swamp Demon], smiled broadly.
Her bone-crunching body, beautiful loincloth, and overflowing mana…
“Kekekek…. Your Majesty.”
The legendary monster muttered as she approached the throne at the top of
the stairs.
There was a sense of awe in her voice.
That mighty [Swamp Devil]…..
“–Oh.”
A masked man sat on a solitary throne.
With just a single sound from the boyish man in a splendid black military
uniform, evil mana filled the vast space.
“……”
“……”
Those exposed to the aftermath of the black mana trembled and desperately
endured the pressure that threatened to crush them.
“…Shall we begin?”
In the audience chamber that has turned into hell, men and demons alike,
regardless of race, could only hang their heads in fear in front of the Demon
Lord.
In a corner of the kitchen of the casino ‘Arch Qi’, women who were not
part of the cooking team were happily working on their assigned tasks.
The excellent-looking women were eating their food while conversing with
each other in an adorable manner.
“Ummm…. its good, isn’t it?”
“It’s delicious!”
“….Yes, it is. I think the seasoning is not too bad.“
Even the most discerning former noblewoman gave the prototype of the
new signature product her seal of approval.
“……”
“Wow, it was my idea, wasn’t it? Don’t try to take it without telling me,
okay?”
These were the women Marco had prepared for the Demon Lord.
“Hey, you can’t do that…! I’ll hold her down, you take it to the boss.“
“Okay, okay.”
A girl named Chris put a plate of the prototype on a wooden serving cart
and left the kitchen.
“Oh, you’ve already made the next one?”
“Yes, sir.”
As she hurried down the first floor corridor with a buoyant heart, she met
Marco on his way to the manager’s office.
Marco was usually a strong-looking man who tended to be intimidating,
and he didn’t seem to be bothered by Chris’s attitude that still remained
timid.
“….You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry….“
“Ah, no….”
Even Marco was hurt that she was scared just by the way he talked to her.
“….Well, it’s just… I’m just saying I’m seeing some positive changes in the
store. I heard the boss can do anything. I’m getting a little carried away at
my age.”
“Um…. why did you make us the boss’s chaperones?”
A question that all the girls wanted to ask, but were too scared to ask
Marco.
She took the chance to ask now, when he seemed to be in a good mood.
“…I don’t know…Because the boss had a similar atmosphere to the
predecessor (1). We couldn’t send you to the whorehouse right away
because of the circumstances. They don’t like girls who can’t make an
immediate impact over there. But that doesn’t mean we could give you
special treatment and waive your debt. The others would be watching, after
all.“
The women who became the Demon King’s consort in Arch Qi were those
who had been sold by their parents to fulfill their debt, or those whose
family had run away overnight and left them behind, and generally, people
who had no control over their own affairs.
If they were sent to a brothel, a harsh future as a prostitute awaited them.
In the brothels run by [Kronos], which targeted the classy clientele, there
would not be much to worry about. But in general… prostitutes would
suffer violence from rough people, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases,
and ended up becoming connected to underworld organizations…. Some of
them suddenly disappeared or were even found dead.
Some of their dead bodies were found here in the royal capital, while
others’ dead bodies were found in other cities.
It was quite the dangerous job.
“The boss wouldn’t do anything bad, would he?”
“He wouldn’t…”
Or so they believed.
Just a few days, a few conversations.
But many of them, including the other employees, had forgiven the Demon
Lord.
It’s as if the Demon King’s abilities had enchanted their souls.
“That’s why. If you were offered as offerings to the boss, no one would
complain, and you could work in peace.”
“Thank you very much….”
“Yep.”
Facing each other with an awkward atmosphere that was difficult to put into
words, the two silent employees entered the manager’s office.
Inside was the Demon King, dressed in a fine, luxurious black military
uniform.
“….went down a bit?”
“That’s what I said. Marco seemed to be a bit uncharacteristically cheerful
earlier.”
The Demon Lord, working at his large desk, and Gerald, a hulking man
lying on the sofa as usual, were conversing, perhaps about their work.
And…..
(….pretty…)
Celestia in a slightly revealing maid’s uniform and Marie in plain clothes
were serving the Demon Lord.
Her beauty was a few steps beyond theirs, and they had been told their
whole lives that they were pretty.
Marco had lightly informed us and told us not to say anything, but they
were amazed that Princess Celestia, the symbol of the kingdom, was really
a servant of the Demon King.
The kingdom in which they had been living. A resolute kingdom that was
ready to fight against the recently emerged [Black Demon King].
The inviolable Kingdom of Light had been invaded from within by the
Demon King.
And not surprisingly, Celestia Light, the symbol of the Light Kingdom and
the treasure of the continent, had been entangled by the Demon King and
corrupted by evil.
“….Marco, did it really go down?”
“A little, a little.”
“Slightly….. down?”
“Yes, it went down a little bit.”
Celestia neatly held out a teacup to the Demon King who confirmed with
Marco again and again.
(amazing….. I had heard that the sales were steadily declining, but to see
them pick up slightly in just a day or two….)
Even Chris, a merchant’s daughter, was amazed at the Demon Lord’s skill.
The Demon Lord’s gentle demeanor and the way he wielded the businesses
did not at all suggest that he was the heavenly transcendent being who
broke down the outer wall.
“……!“
Chris felt an otherworldly pressure as she stepped into the room with
Marco.
It was nothing but because of the majesty that the Demon Lord displayed in
meetings and at work.
“….hmmm…”
“Crono-sama, is something bothering you? Please tell this Celestia about
any complaints you may have.“
Smiling bewitchingly, she leant back and looked into the face of the Demon
Lord, who was looking up at the ceiling.
His expression was one that looked awe-struck, but also filled with
friendliness and affection.
“No, not at all? I’m not complaining. You guys don’t have to worry about it.
It’s just a little misunderstanding. There’s nothing wrong. It’s just that, you
know… we’re going in the right direction. It’s just a difference in musical
taste. We’re all band members at heart. You get what I mean?“
“Yes, of course…”
The Demon King spoke quickly with a smile on his face. He seemed to be
sweating a little due to the mischievous behavior of Celestia who had a
smile that captivated him undeniably on her face.
This time, Celestia blushed as she seemed to have been beaten back by
Chrono’s smile.
“Marco, can you give me the details of the new store you are opening in
another town later?“
“Yes, I’ll have the information prepared for you immediately.“
Without the slightest hesitation, Marco bowed and left the manager’s office
busily.
“….Well, Chris.”
“Yes!”
The busy Demon Lord called out her name.
This tremendous Demon King remembered her name before anyone else
did.
They, who were sold, were usually called “Hey” or “You”.
Many of her friends came to love him for that reason alone.
“Well, that’s a good reply filled with enthusiasm. I’m tired. Is that a
prototype? Can you bring it to me? I’ll try it right away.”
“Yes, of course! I’ll prepare it right away!”
♢♢♢♢
Oh no….. Celestia put me in charge of this, but I lost sales right away.
I was scared for a moment that she might get mad at me.
Why did you go to the trouble of telling that right in front of her, Gerald?
Celestia also peeked at me as if to say ‘look at me’! I gave her a broad
smile.
My whole plan was under attack. The whole thing was getting too out of
my control! (2)
Don’t transmigrators usually make a lot of money when they use their
advanced knowledge? It’s all going wrong!
“……”
…Well, I guess that’s right. I’m not an expert, so dominating this world
with my knowledge will not be easy. My knowledge was at the level of an
ordinary person, after all.
“….Um, how is it?”
Chris, looking anxious, asked me after I took a bite of her stewed meat dish
and remained silent.
“Yes? …Well, it’s very tasty. What I’m wondering is… if it’s as fancy and
tasty as this, maybe we should just use better meat and raise the price.”
After saying something like that, which could be corrected later, I looked at
Celestia with a sideways glance.
“I think so too. We should also consider something less expensive than this.
Some of the guests may want something lighter in addition to a full meal.“
She went on and on with additional explanations. Are there no
downsides….?
“You may also try the hamburgers and omelettes that Chrono-sama
mentioned before. Just hearing him talk about it has whetted my appetite,
and there’s no harm in trying it.”
“Is that the one I told you about…..?”
“Yes. I was playing shogi (3) with Chrono-sama when he told me a story to
divert my attention. It was…. a very cute interference.”
“Yes, I see.”
She said, ‘The one you told me about,’ with a great deal of mischievousness
mixed in.
She was trying to make fun of him, but not to take credit for his ideas.
“You should try it, Gerald. This one tastes especially good.“
“……”
He looked at me as if I was a pain in the ass, but walked over to me….. and
directly grabbed the meat dish with his fingers and ate it in one bite.
“Who told you to eat it all? Can’t you see the emptiness of my knife and
fork…?!”
“I didn’t tell you to not… eat it.”
Then he turned away, stirred the wine, and laid back down on the couch.
“……”
“……..”
“…………”
“…….What are you looking at?”
Nothing……
“….Are you not going to say anything? I didn’t offer you a snack, I’m
waiting to see what you think of the prototype. I’m not kidding.“
“It’s not enough. I can’t stand such less portions.“
“I’m the one who can’t stand you. Now shut up and go to sleep.”
He gulped down the cup of Sencha Tea (4) that Celestia gently poured for
him, and after swallowing down the lecture that was about to fly out of his
mouth, he turned to Chris again.
“Phew….. So, I’m going to come to the kitchen later to teach you some
recipes.“
“Yes, yes, of course!”
She bowed, and then bowed again at the door, and then bowed again before
closing the door.
It’s like she was giving me a three-way thank-you.
Chris was a good kid.
What about Celestia, who had been giving Gerald the death glare for a
while now?
“Celestia-sama, why don’t you report that incident with Erika while you’re
at it?”
“….yes.”
Marie read the situation and suggested to Celestia.
Recently, Mob and Marie had been a little too distant, but I think their
relationship had improved to the point where it’s normal again.
“Chrono-sama, Erika and her friends have decided to go on a trip. They are
going to a town famous for its hot springs in order to recover from all that
they have endured recently.“
“…I would tell them to shut up and go to bed if they intended to
‘recover’….. but is it an academy event?”
“No, it’s just a retreat. But it looks like they’re going to go see a famous
annual event.”
“Hmmm~ Isn’t that nice?”
They’re students, aren’t they? I think it’d good to make memories like that.
It’s good if it helps heal their minds.
But a hot spring…..
“Also, there is a request for the [Sword Saint]. The contents are the same as
usual–”
I’ll have to visit a new casino in another city while Princess Erika, Hakuto
and the others enjoy themselves, and I envied them.
“—That’s it for the report.”
“Thank you. I’ll let Lilia know about the request. I’d like to check on Molly
soon.”
“Yes.”
As usual, I asked her about things vaguely and replied in a solemn tone.
Celestia bowed in a ladylike fashion, and just as she raised her head, Marie
began speaking.
“….Speaking of hot springs, I have heard that there is a natural hot spring
near the town where the other store will be built. If you have time, I felt you
might want to stop by.”
“You are always so helpful, Marie-san.”
“What….? Ah, thank you so much for the praise, it makes me feel immense
happiness….”
The bewildered Marie had given me a very attractive news.
I’ve been involved with a strange string of incidents lately.
I’m going on a business trip while training to be a sword master. Even a
Demon King needs holidays. Let me forget about the money problem for
once.
“….Hey, if you’re going to that town… don’t get involved with the
[Obscure Ghosts]…”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s an organization that’s a cesspool of lunatics. It’s a large
organization that has a lot of skilled and talented members. It’s not like
we’re going to be stationed there, so we shouldn’t get involved.”
“Ummm…. yeah, I guess so. I understand.”

Vol 6: Chapter 11 (1)

8th Pledger
The moment when the revocation of the Covenant was declared, the skill
orb in my hand broke.

As I looked up in surprise, I noticed a fluctuation in the space near the high

ceiling of the cathedral. The presence of the Sage and the Vision Ogre
became more pronounced in that space.
The revocation of the Covenant will surely affect the mediators too. –But
nothing has happened.
…No, the skill orb broke. So something will surely happen to them too.
The skill orb in my hand had already turned into dust and disappeared.
The surroundings became noisy.
「——What happened?」
「——You can still use skills.」
「——There is no particular change outside…」
The Pledger, however, reacted differently.
All of them simultaneously looked up at the place where I saw the
mediators earlier.
The look on their faces was a mixture of fright and astonishment.
「Duke Grenjido!?」
I tried to call out. But no sound came out. At the same time, however, a
sudden burst of light filled the space and rang loud in my ears. Even though
there was no sound.
The surroundings turned all white. Nothing could be seen.
I may have said something.
Or perhaps someone else shouted something.
But I couldn’t hear a thing.
It felt like my ears had gone crazy.
「…………………………」
I was speechless.
We were in a complete white space.
Being able to open my eyes, I saw the Pledgers standing stock still–or
perhaps fallen on their butts.
And at a distance, there were two figures; the Sage and the Vision Ogre.
Everyone was looking up at a being who–even though this entire space was
white, felt even more “white”.

『————Dragon. Vision Ogre. Thank you for your long service.』

That voice which was quieter than the sound of snowfall, deeper than
church bells, louder than fireworks, echoed in my head.
The Sage and Vision Ogre knelt on the spot.
I… no, not only me, but the Pledgers as well, had no reason to doubt that
this being was god—the Goddess.
『————The Pledgers of the two worlds. Thank you for your long
service.』
The Pledgers also knelt on the spot.
There were exactly 7 people gathered here, but there were also Pledgers in
the “Back World”.
Though I can’t see them. Are they perhaps somewhere in this white space?
They didn’t know that the Covenant would be revoked, so they were unable
to gather.
『————And He who holds two vessels.』
A line of sight shot right through me.
At that moment, an incomprehensible tremor ran through my body.
Why am I here, I wondered.
I, who have nothing to do with the Pledgers and the mediators.
It was because the Goddess had called for me.
『————Thank you for leading to the revocation of the Covenant before
the collapse of the world.』
I thought I should say something.
Something like, “It’s my honor” or something.
No… That’s not it!

My lips trembled.
There was something I had to say, but no words came out.
『————Your role is over.』
My role?
What is my role?
My role to “unite the world”?
Then what does it mean to be “over”?
『————You are not necessary to start a new world.』
Not necessary? What does that mean?
(This existence is not the goddess.)
At that time, a revelation flashed across my mind.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Significance of the Covenant (Harumi Reiji / Reiji)
・ □□□□□□□□ □□ the mediators to □□ the Covenant, and □□.
・ Should the Covenant be revoked, □□□□□□□□ will □□ to the □□.
・ □□□□□□□□ orders the mediators to □□ the Covenant, and □□.
・ Should the Covenant be revoked, □□□□□□□□ will □□ to the world.

・ □□□□□□□□ orders the mediators to □□ the Covenant, and observes.

・ Should the Covenant be revoked, □□□□□□□□ will descend to the world.
・ The □□□□□□□□ orders the mediators to maintain the Covenant, and
observes.
・ Should the Covenant be revoked, the □□□□□□□□ will descend to the
world.
・ The Trans□□□□ orders the mediators to maintain the Covenant, and
observes.
・ Should the Covenant be revoked, the Trans□□□□ will descend to the
world.
・The Transcendent orders the mediators to maintain the Covenant, and
observes.
・Should the Covenant be revoked, the Transcendent will descend to the
world.
This is a preparation for the “Transcendent” to come down to the world.
Light gathered around the transcendental existence.
I… can’t move!!
That thing is trying to get rid of me.
It is saying I am not needed anymore.
In the new world, there is no more need for a holder of two vessels—the
Overlimit Skill Holder.
『————At the very least, sleep peacefully.』
The light surged at me. But just before it hit me, someone jumped in front
of that light.
It was a rabbit.
「El-san—」

Words finally came out of my mouth.

The light hit El-san. His body was destroyed and scattered to bits. I was
surprised to see his insides — metal, screws, gears, cylinders.
Jewel-like—or maybe it was a real jewel—eyes looked at me.
——Eh, run.
It felt as though that was what the eyes were saying.
The light did not stop after destroying El-san.
「——AAAAAAAAAAAA!」
The light came in contact with my body. Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot,
HOTTTTTTTT!!!!
My body burned. As if I was on fire.
I was blown away.
I felt as if I was flying.
I tried to activate magic, but it didn’t work.
However, the next moment, the scenery completely changed.
It felt as if I alone was transported to another pocket of space.
「–What is this!?」
Clouds!?
I was free falling from far above the sky.
Now able to use magic, I used【Healing Magic】to heal my body and
regained my balance mid-air.

I was in a place I had never seen before. It was a strange unnatural land,
mottled with wasteland and dense jungles. No house-like structures can be
seen anywhere. Numerous birds were flying over the skies of the jungle. A
large earthworm-like monster jumped out of the desolate land and gobbled
the birds in the skies.
At the same time, a super huge mountain moved forward while knocking
down giant trees in its path. My【World Ruler】determined that it is a
“slug”.
「Gigant Slime!」
One of the giant species of the “Back World”.
For a moment, I thought that this was the “Back World”. But then I recalled
that the two worlds were already united.
「【Wind Magic】!!」
Before crashing to the ground, I activated magic and glided through the air.
I didn’t know where I was in the world, but thanks to seeing Gigant Slime, I
had an idea. In the “Back World”, the giant species lived in the undeveloped
land “Canion”.
「In other words, I am somewhere in Canion!」
Clouds of dust kicked up as I glided over the ground of the wasteland.
Behind me, the large earthworm monster earlier popped out of the ground
and chased after me.
「…Which way am I supposed to go now?!」
I have a ton of things to think about, you stupid worm!
What was that being from earlier! Was El-san a robot?!
「Hmm……?」
There was a vast sea in the direction I was heading in—no, according
to【World Ruler】, it seemed to be a lake. I flew there at super high speed.
The earthworm chased from behind.
「…Let’s go!!!!」
I dived straight into the lake.
** White space **

Everyone in that space was kneeling.

Only one person—no, except for one thing, El.
『————Why did you do that, eternal one? El.』
The fur body had already fallen apart; sorcery circuits and machine parts
were scattered about. It had already lost the ability to speak. The red eyes of
the silent corpse simply looking up at the white being.
『————You shall sleep here as well. And……』
The Transcendent being looked around.
Everyone was kneeling.
Nothing had changed since before.
『————It felt like someone used forbidden magic…』
No one moved.
『————Does not matter. Let’s go to a new world.』
The next moment, the white world disappeared. The Pledgers and mediators
were returned to the cathedral.
** Silver Balance **
Something had happened. Dante perceived, but he didn’t know what exactly
had happened.
The next moment, however, the Pledgers, and even Reiji, disappeared.
「W-Why is Reiji-kun…!?」Mimino panicked.
「I don’t know.」Dante replied.
「Let’s look for him!」
「Wait, Mimino. Don’t panic… The Pledgers are also gone. Something
happened.」

The light shining through the stained glass darkened. And then the
Cathedral shook greatly with a loud bang.
『Guyiiaaaaaaaaaaaa!!』
A huge creature clung to the stained glass.
Its appearance was very similar to a lizard, but it had a patagium connecting
from its front legs to its hind legs. It looked like a lizard-squirrel fusion
monster.
More of those monsters slammed onto the stained glass one after another.
When the stained glass eventually shattered, the monsters rushed into the
building.
Those lizards were as large as that of an ordinary passenger car. There were
6 such lizards.
「Kyaaaaaaaaaa!」
Panic broke out within the cathedral.
Some ran towards the exit.
Some moved to protect the Pope.
「Keep away from the monsters! We will handle them!!」
The temple knights who were lined up along the walls pulled out their
swords and jumped at the lizards.
Chaos erupted in the Cathedral. Roar of monsters echoed.
Dante was at a loss. These were obviously monsters from the other world.
It’s a kind he had never seen before.
By all rights, waiting here for Reiji to come back would be the correct
decision. But Dante was worried.
The cathedral is a pivotal part of the Church. It must have been enhanced
carefully with magic. Even so, these monsters were able to invade inside.
「Dad, the knights have a handle on the situation here. Let’s go outside.
There might be more people who need our help out there.」
「But…」
「I am sure Reiji-kun would want us to protect everyone.」
Dante grinned in response to Non’s attitude.
「Let’s go.」
In accordance with Dante’s rally, Silver Balance headed out of the
cathedral.
The weather outside was clear. The sun brilliantly shone down. In the
middle of it all, a bird monster that Dante had never seen before circled in
the sky, a poison-colored frog suddenly appeared in the pond, and a flock of
pink monkeys were running around the premises.
The monsters were more terrifying than Dante had imagined.
「——First, let’s clear out the premises. Let the non-hostile monsters
escape to the outside.」
「Okay!!」
「Right!」
「Alrights~」

Mimino, Non, and Zerry responded.

Silver Balance started to act to regain security.
At the same time, the same thing happened all over the world.
Fortunately, in many cities and towns, security was increased. So even if
confusion occurred, it was settled quickly. In some places, not even animals
appeared, much less monsters.
However, tragedy did come to a small number of towns that had not taken
any defensive measures.
The houses were destroyed by monsters and the inhabitants were eaten.
Some towns and villages were destroyed before rescue came.
Still, there were many adventurers fighting in places where military security
was not available—they stayed near the guild vicinity to raise their
adventurer rank and to bet on adventurer battles. As such, they were able to
take action immediately.
In addition, they received instructions from the Adventurers guild who had
obtained information in advance, and many people were saved by the
efforts of the adventurers.
The state of battle for a few days after “World Union”—most of it went as
expected.
The problem was outside the cities.
Huge mountains, forests, lakes and rivers appeared suddenly.
There were also places where the terrain changed significantly.
And, deep in the woods, a desperate battle for survival waged on.

The people will only learn about the surviving life forms 10 days after—but
that is a story for later.
Earl Sillys hid in a corner of the cathedral.
The person whom he was accompanying, Duke Grenjido, suddenly
disappeared.
To the Earl, the Duke seemed as if he was staring into the air vaguely. No
one else saw the intense light that Reiji and others felt.
「GORYAAAAA!!!」
A group of temple knights defeated one of the monsters, whereas the
Adventurer’s guild master took down another monster with his bare hands
The monsters were already being subdued, but Duke Grenjido had still not
returned.
The Pope had already evacuated. The remaining non-combatants were
people accompanying the Pledgers.
「Ah!」
Someone shouted.
Just as before, in the blink of an eye, the Pledgers reappeared.
They were all kneeling in a circle, however. As if there was something
precious in the center.
「Your Excellency!」
When Earl Sillys approached him, Grenjido stood up in astonishment.

「Your Excellency, what happened?」

「…………」
「……Your Excellency?」
Grenjido was staring at the same space as the other Pledgers.
「…An audience with God, no, the Goddess.」
「What was that?」
Duke Grenjido kept staring at the air without looking at the Earl.
「Wonderful!! It was worth carrying out this “World Union” just to be in
the same world as that being!」
Duke Grenjido was full of confidence as usual.
However, Earl Sillys felt that that wasn’t the case.
The words were not his own. Duke Grenjido is not one to revere the might
of another.
Earl Sillys was aware that something unusual had happened.
And even though the Pledgers had returned, Reiji hadn’t.

Goddess Illusion
The “World Union” seemed to have gone accordingly, as Anastasia felt that
her awareness of being a “Pledger” was rapidly diminishing. On the other
hand, she knew that Silver Balance had moved to exterminate the monsters
that appeared out of nowhere. And although she wanted to join them, the
High Elf entourage moved to heal the injured temple knights and tried to
shoot down the monsters in the sky with arrows and magic. Given that she
was good at taking down flying monsters, Anastasia decided to join the
High Elf ranks.
However, Yuri, who disappeared after declaring the revocation of the
Covenant, suddenly reappeared in front of Anastasia.
「O-Onee-sama!? Where did you go!?」
Yuri, who was kneeling down, stood up straight, and turned her gaze out the
window. Fierce clashes with monsters unfolded in that space.
「Unforgivable.」
「Huh?」
「Such filth cannot be allowed to exist in the Goddess’ world. We are the
race chosen by the Goddess.」
「————」
Anastasia could not understand any of what her sister just said.
At that moment, Yuri leaned out of the window and raised her hands
towards the sky.
A number of magic circles manifested over her palms as she chanted.
「Maximum magic?! Everyone, get down!!」Anastasia shouted.
But it was a little too late. Yuri’s mana produced a huge tornado. Wind
pressure demolished the windows, and a storm blew inside the cathedral.
Broken stained glass flew here and there. Both the monsters and temple
knights, who were in the middle of a battle, were thrown against the walls.
At the same time, the people who were fighting outside were also sent
flying by the tornado. Monsters flying in the sky were caught in the wind
and crashed down, resulting in immediate death or serious injury. By the
time the wind subsided, all fighting had ceased temporarily.
「——Kill the fallen monsters. And bury and cleanse the place.」
Yuri shouted orders to the people outside, and then turned around.

Sunlight shone through the broken fragments of the window.

Anastasia was confused. Her sister is not someone who would cast such
destructive magic without caring about how it would affect the people in the
surroundings
Many were still lying down on the cathedral floor. Yuri said to those people
with a smile,
「Come now, everyone. Let’s make this world a beautiful place where the
Goddess can reside.」
**
The world had changed.
It wasn’t just the emergence of powerful monsters, the emergence of new
residents, and changes in terrain.
One is that the skill orbs had disappeared. The current generation will have
no problem because the skills remain in their body, but the children who
will be born into this world from now on will not be able to use skill orbs.
They will have to learn the skills on their own.
The other is the birth of a new religion. Originally, the Church was
established by gathering the users of【Healing Magic】, and not the belief
in “God”, who may or may not have existed. But now the faith has changed
to the “Goddess” who clearly exists.
Many people wondered how the change would impact them, but outwardly,
there was no obvious change.
It was, however, a big change in the upper management of every country.
Until now, the Church has given priority to collecting skill orbs such
as【Healing Magic】from the countries, in return for nursing the sick and
injured of the country. With the skill orbs now gone, the countries have lost
their advantage over the Church.
In which case, the Church will have an influence on the upper management
of each country with their amassed power of【Healing Magic】.
「——Is it a request to dispatch troops again?」
It has already been three months since the Covenant was revoked. It was the
peak of autumn. The air blowing through the night was cold and chilly,
signifying the coming of winter.
An old man walked down the corridor with a shiny silver cane—the cane
was clearly made of Mithril. A man bent down and conveyed a report from
beside the old man.
A line of attendant followed behind the two men.
King Geffert, the head of the Keith Gran Federation, who holds a vast
territory on the continent, had a bitter look.
「Yes, sir. What should we do?」
「Ask the Ligra Kingdom to move their troops. Those bastards have a lot
of free time on their hands.」
「They will ask for a reward.」
「We’ve done a lot to accommodate those guys. Tell them it is the time to
show their loyalty.」
「Understood.」
The man bowed his head and saw off King Geffert and his attendants.
「Father. What is the church so impatient? This is the third time they have
requested to dispatch troops. Looking at the current pattern, they will start
asking for troops every month.」
King Geffert’s son, the crown prince, asked.
His son, already over 60 years old, was healthy but his body was starting to
decline.

「It is most likely the Goddess’ words.」King Geffert said.

「We could simply ignore the monsters at the borders. If this goes on,
monsters all over the continent will be annihilated.」
「The Goddess probably loves cleanliness.」
They didn’t know if it was a joke or sarcasm, but the attendants smiled
subtly.
The Church was using the name of “Goddess” to incite every country to
“subjugate monsters”.
The attendants whispered amongst themselves.
「——To think that revoking the Covenant thingy would have such an
effect. Don’t you think the Church could have created a fictitious existence
called the “Goddess”?」
「——Do they think they can do anything in the name of the
“Goddess”?」
「——But there was a rumor that the “Goddess” descended onto the
Pope.」
「——Rumors are just rumors. The Church probably spread that to add
more significance to the Pope.」
「——But Cardinal Thomasson has also stepped down, and his seat is
vacant. It is a fact that the Pope makes all the announcements directly…」
「——Perhaps she loves cleanliness because she’s still a child?」

「——You might be right.」

A light laughter was heard. They are nobles and those who believe that they
are the core of a major power. In other words, they believed no danger
could come to them.
「Father, even though they are monsters, there are many who make a living
by hunting for the materials and resources they provide. If all the monsters
are destroyed, then…」
「There is no such thing as exterminating every single monster.」
「But the Church’s request will continue in the future.」
「I left it to the Kingdom of Ligra because that country is adjacent to the
undeveloped land “Canion”. They can drive those monsters out to the
undeveloped land as appropriate.」
「In other words, we will drive out the monsters to “Canion“, and then step
in and cull their numbers when needed? It’s like withdrawing money from a
moneylender.」
As the Crown Prince said so, voices of praises towards King Geffert were
heard from among the attendants.
King Geffert sneered in response.
The King and his attendants arrived at a small conference room. When the
door was opened, the light from the magic lamps illuminating the room
flowed out into the dark corridor as well. At the same time, warm air also
flowed out.
「Crown Prince, I have something to say to you.」
「Yes, sir. –Everyone, good work today as usual.」
The Crown Prince turned around and said to the nobles. They bowed and
sang praises such as, “We were honored to be by His Majesty’s side today
as well.”

The father and son entered the small conference room and closed the door.
King Geffert warmed his body by drinking the tea prepared by the
chamberlain.
「I don’t know how many more winters I will get to see.」
「What are you saying, Father? This country, this Federation, still needs
you.」
This was a conversation that the father and son have exchanged many
times.
It was almost like a fraud at this point.
「This time it’s different. When I heard the name “Goddess”, I knew that it
was time for me to die.」
「……Father?」
The crown prince noticed that his father, the king, the head of the
federation, had a different atmosphere surrounding him.
「There isn’t much wisdom I can leave to you, but they should be able to
guide this country for the next 10 years… no, perhaps only another several
years. Listen well to my words.」
The crown prince unconsciously straightened his back.
He realized that this was his father’s will.
Chapter 172: Before Diving into the
Dungeon
Half a day north of the royal capital.
Babylon, one of the largest dungeons in the country,
is surrounded by double and triple walls, and its gates
are tightly closed, as if to repel all comers.
“The walls are as high as the city itself…….”

Tauro said as he looked up at the gate.

“The barriers seem to be extremely tight and multi-
layered, and they seem to be very strong as well.”
Aeris joined Tauro in looking up at the dungeon.
“The dungeons are full of hidden treasures, so there
are people who want to break in and get rich quick.
Also, a lot of monsters sometimes come out of
dungeons, so they are very strict.”
Taichi, our second in command, explained.
“From the dungeon?”

“Yes. A stampede of monsters. My father told me

before he died that there is a mass outbreak of
monsters in the dungeons every few decades or so, so
we have to protect the area.”
Aeris explained on Taichi’s behalf.
“You know your stuff, …… Yes, these outer walls are
for intruders from the outside, but all the walls inside
are for the monsters from the dungeons. There are
sometimes mass outbreaks of monsters in the natural
world, but the same thing can happen in dungeons.”
As Tauro was listening to the explanation from Taichi
and Aeris, the large, thick castle gate began to open
with a dull thud.
“Wow! It is very powerful.”

The gate, thicker than the one in the capital, stopped

after opening a little.
“It’s so thick, it rarely opens all the way. We’re going
in.”
Captain Tsuyoku led the way through the gate,
followed by Tauro and Aeris, with Taichi at the rear,
and the other guards followed.
After passing through the gate, a large, well-
maintained road led straight to the next wall.
The side of the road was lined with buildings and
seemed to have a tavern attached to it, in addition to
the soldiers’ quarters and various stores that dealt
with the soldiers.
It was a bit like a town, but almost all the residents
were soldiers and their families.
“Let’s have lunch here once and then go into the
dungeon.”
Captain Tsuyoku gave the group a suggestion, or
rather, an instruction.
“I understand,”

Tauro replied with a nod to Aeris.

The group entered one of the small restaurants used
by the soldiers and decided to have a meal.
During the meal, they heard that the room that was
their destination at the first level of the dungeon they
were going to dive was located by the stairs leading
to the second level, and it would take several hours to
get there.
The monsters in the first level are not so bad, but they
are a bit special, so you need to be prepared.
If you dive without preparation, you will have a hard
time.
Taichi, who explained the situation to us, looked at
Tauro’s small sword and said
“With your weapon, you should have no problem at
all.”
He gave a drumbeat of encouragement.
“?”
Taichi didn’t explain further and said it would be fun
dive, so Tauro could only imagine, but his own small
sword has a light (holy) attribute.
Tauro understood somehow that that was what he
meant.
“I know what’s on that layer. Do you want to know,
Tauro?”
Aeris, of course joins in.
“Maybe a weeping ghost or a skeleton warrior?”

Tauro’s shoulders slumped in disappointment as he

replied.
“How did you know? Don’t you know that girls don’t
like it when you have too much intuition?”
Aeris wanted to tell Tauro, but he guessed easily and
she complained.
“I’m suprised! Most of them are skeletons, but very
occasionally there are ghosts, too. How did you know
that? Incidentally, ghosts don’t attack directly, but
they sometimes cast status-lowering curses, which
can be quite annoying.”
Taichi was surprised that I even guessed that ghosts
appeared.
“Well, it’s because you gave me a hint. You noticed
that my small sword has a magic attribute, so you
said it wouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Right you are. Because both ghosts and skeletons
are weak against magic or magic-enhanced weapons.
I only found out about it because of the benefit of my
skill. But strangely enough, I don’t even know what
Tauro’s weapon is. I have to ask, what attribute does
your small sword have? If it’s not dark, it will work.”
“Well, it has a light (holy) attribute.”

“…… This is a surprise. It’s the most valuable

attribute. …… It must have been made by a master
craftsman. By the way, do you know who made it?”
“A dwarven blacksmith named Angus, who lives in
the city of Saisii.”
“Ah! The up-and-coming genius blacksmith who is
the talk of the town right now? …… I see, he’s even
better than the rumors say. I’m going to take some
time off and go see him to have a sword made.”
Tauro was surprised and happy that Angus was so
famous, but when he remembered Angus’
appearance, he thought that he was more of a skilled
blacksmith than an upcomer…….
After finishing their meal and taking a breather, the
group passed through the second castle gate.
Once they passed through this gate, the atmosphere
around them changed drastically.
There were no houses left, only soldiers, and the
atmosphere was tense as they were training.
“This is the center that guards and monitors this
dungeon, Babylon,” Taichi explains.
Taichi explains.
“Then, when we pass through that gate, is it the
dungeon?”
Tauro pointed to the gate further ahead.
“No, there is another gate beyond that one, and
beyond that is a temple that houses the entrance to
the dungeon.”
While Taichi was explaining, the captain, Tsuyoku,
went to the gate and went through the formalities
beside it.
Then, he must have finished.
He beckoned to us.
“Let’s go then,” Taichi urged.

The group passed through one more gate.

 After checking with the gate of the castle beyond
which we passed, we passed through it and found
that one large temple stood in the center of it.
It was surrounded by cobblestone pavement and no
vegetation.
“When was this temple built?”

“I don’t know. I’ve heard it’s a thousand years old.

Oh, actually this temple is not man-made, you know?
This is part of ‘Babylon,’ apparently.”
“Is that so?”

“That’s why it’s been here all these years, never

fading away.”
Aeris explained here and there.
“So these cobblestones are too?”

Tauro asked Taichi, curious about the cobblestones

paved all around the temple.
“These cobblestones are man-made,” Taichi said. It
seems that when the dungeon overflowed with plant-
based monsters a long time ago, they attacked people
by manipulating the plants that grew around them,
and the cobblestones were laid out after that.”
Taichi responded with a laugh, wondering if that was
what was bothering him.
Tauro thought that the dungeon might also encroach
on the earth, but his fears seemed to be unfounded.
“Let’s go into the dungeon.”

Captain Tsuyoku, leading the way, stepped onto the

steps of the temple.
Tauro and the others followed him up the steps and
into the temple.
It seemed that they were already in the dungeon.
The entire interior of the temple was glowing
faintly.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were glowing, just as
Tauro had experienced in the dungeon he had first
entered.
As he walked forward, he saw soldiers standing
guard, an open door at the back, and a staircase
leading down.
“Be careful down here, there are monsters.”

Taichi warned Tauro and Aeris.

They nodded and headed down the stairs.
Once down the stairs, they found themselves in a
maze of unknown size.
They went down a path, came to a wide space, and
then the path split, and so on.
Captain Tsuyoku leads the group, moving forward
without hesitation at the front of the line.
He seemed to remember the route perfectly.
“Oh, it looks like there are demons up ahead,”

Tauro was the first to notice.

” Oh, That’s ‘presence detection. You’re quite skilled,
aren’t you?”
Captain Tsuyoku sounded impressed without looking
at Tauro.
He quickly stepped forward and struck the three
skeletons that were coming toward him with his
magic-enhanced spear.
It was a sophisticated move with no waste.
Tauro was impressed, thinking that there was no way
he would need to take part in such a situation.
After that, they continued to walk through the maze,
and the skeletons they encountered were kicked away
by the escorting knights.
Tauro felt a sense of being out of touch as he just
walked, but just in case, he was constantly using his
“presence detection.
Suddenly, he felt an evil presence on the other side of
the wall.
‘Is there a skeleton on the other side? I’ve never felt
such a presence before….’
As he was thinking this, a translucent black shadow
appeared from the wall.
It approached one of the knights who was guarding
the wall and touched him, then went back to the other
side of the wall.
“Look out everyone, it’s a ghost!”

Taichi points his sword at the area where the ghost

disappeared.
‘Tsk! It’s gone and put a curse on us!”

The knight guard who was touched by the ghost

clicks his tongue.
The curse of reduced status can be cured by magic
“purification” or by spending time in a church or
other holy place to break the curse, but until it is
cured, the sudden drop in status causes temporary
weariness and other symptoms.
“Since there is no one with ‘purification’ this time, I
guess you’ll have to go back and get the cure.”
Taichi called out to the cursed knight.
Tauro ran up to him and cast the magic
“Purification”.
The knight’s curse faded away with a pale light.
“”What?””

Everyone was simply astonished.

The boy who was the target of the escort in front of
them cast “Purification,” which is a higher magic, so
they could not help but be surprised.
Tauro walked along the wall and suddenly slashed
at a ghost that appeared through the wall with his
small sword.
“This guy is awesome!”

The knights who were escorting him were surprised

to see that he was no ordinary person.
Once it was discovered that Tauro was not just an
ordinary boy, he and the escort knights then
proceeded to fight their way through.
When that happened, Aeris was tempted to join in.
The staff that Tauro made for her is made strong
enough to hit her enemies with.
The magic stone obtained when defeating the
gryphon in the mountain village is incorporated into
the staff in place of the previous magic stone, so that
when you put magic power into the staff, the wind
attribute is added.
The knights were reluctant to have their escort target
fight, but their destination was the place where her
father had died.
It would be more helpful if they could move their
bodies and vent rather than be stiffledin the dark.
So they decided to let them do it within safe limits.
“……Even still, aren’t these two, too used to fighting
for their age?”
One of the escort knights muttered to his companions
with a sense of shock and admiration.
“I thought so too,…….”

His companion responded.

“Aah,, they’re both adventurers. Of course, they’ve
been there and done that.”
Taichi interrupted the conversation of the escort
knights from the side.
“What? She’s the daughter of the Marquis de
Vandyne, isn’t she?”
“Before the incident the other day, she was an
adventurer away from home.”
“No wonder……”

While the escort knights were impressed, they turned

at the end of the maze of streets and saw a staircase.
“We’ve arrived. Enter the path by that staircase and
you will find a room.”
Captain Tsuyoku explained to Tauro and Aeris.
As they approached, they saw that there was indeed a
path by the stairs.
Captain Tsuyoku led the way and Aeris followed him
until they came to a room with white stone walls.
“As you can see, it’s a large, empty room, but they
say that right after entering this room, Marquis de
Vandyne vanished.”
…… Captain Tsuyoku says there’s nothing there, but
to Tauro’s eyes, there was something overtly
suspicious.
It looked like the entrance to an alien space, like
when you open a magic storage.
Apparently, no one else could see it.
But then, Aeris seemed to see it, too, and tilted her
head.
“What was that?”

Aeris pointed to the space.

“What is what?”

Captain Tsuyoku looked in the direction Aeris

pointed, but of course there was nothing there.
‘Aeris, maybe we’re the only ones who can see it,”
Tauro advised.
“Do you two see anything?”

Tsuyoku looks at them and tilts his head.

Tauro moves closer to the side of the alien space that
only they seem to be able to see.
Aeris followed him.
When he looked closer, he saw that it also looked like
a rift.
“This could be…….”

Tauro leaned forward into the crevice.

“Tauro, it’s dangerous!”

Aeris grabbed Tauro without hesitation and tried to

stop him.
The next moment.
The next moment, the two disappeared from in front
of Captain Tsuyoku and the escorting knights.
“Huh? The walls around us are gone?”

The moment they entered the dimensional rift, the rift

in Tauro’s vision and the walls of the room
surrounding it disappeared.
Looking back, he saw Aeris and the rift behind her.
Apparently, he had come from the rift to some other
place.
It was an empty space.
The cobblestone floor was the same as in the
dungeon, but there were no walls or ceilings as far as
the eye could see.
“What is this place?”

Aeris asked, still holding Tauro’s arm.

“I think we’re in another space.”

“A different space?”

‘Yeah, I think we came to a different space because

we entered through that dimensional rift-like thing.
…… wait a minute. Is that ……, is that a person?”
Tauro noticed a small figure at the end of the wide
space.
“Hey! That person there!”

Tauro called out loudly to the figure.

The figure was sitting down, but when he got up, he
took the luggage that was beside him and ran toward
us.
“…… what?”

Aeris was alerted behind Tauro by the figure running

toward them, but was astonished when they came
within sight of his face.
“Someone you know?”

Tauro somehow knew that the person was the one he

was expecting, but he checked with Aeris just to be
sure.
“Papa!”

“You wandered in here too, didn’t you? Hm? Aeris?

You’re Aeris? Why are you here too!”
Running toward them was a man with all blonde
hair and red eyes, dressed in aristocratic clothes and
expensive-looking leather armor, looking like an
elderly gentleman.
He was surprised when he noticed Aeris, who was
standing hidden behind Tauro.
“You are the Marquis de Vandyne. Let’s get out of
here first. We don’t have much time.”
Tauro grabbed the arms of Aeris and her father, who
were flustered by their reunion, and pulled them into
the chasm, then plunged into it.

Chapter 5: The Strongest Onmyouji,

Promises
After the dinner, that evening.
Returning to my room at the mansion for the first
time in a while, I took a break.
There is no dust in the room. It seemed that the
servants had cleaned the room before we returned.
“Fu … Anyway, the Princess of this country, is a
strange woman.”
Yuki comes out of my hair and says something
tiredly.
After that, Fiona showed a lot of mystery and made
the dining table have an indescribable atmosphere.
Yuki blurts out, a bit grumpily.
“Yuki hates women like that.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Seika-sama, you even picked up such playful words

that seem like they came from someone sucking the
smoke of cannabis.”
“It would be more awkward if no one picked it up.”

”That’s true, but …… I’d say you seemed kind of

used to it. ……”
“Hmm … that’s right.”

He wondered for a moment whether or not to say it,

and eventually does.
“Because my old wife was like that.”
“Eh … hah!? Your wife, was like that !?”

“It’s not about looks. It’s the personality.”

“Yes, I know that, but …… how can I say it, Seika-

sama, you’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?”
I chuckle at Yuki’s sympathetic tone.
“I was surprised at how well it all went back then.”

In those days, that helped me a little.

“And I didn’t have the personality to talk about
people when I was younger … I’d rather apologize.”
“…… I see. Seika-sama, …… a little more about
that……!”
“ I’m going to bed. It’s time to get some sleep for
tomorrow.”
“Moou !!”

At that time.
The door of the room was suddenly flung open.
“Seika?”

I almost jumped out of my skin.

The door opened completely just after Yuki, who
was also startled, rushed into my hair.
I tell the girl who opens the door.
“Am, Amiyu…… at least knock on the door……”
“You’re too surprised. What were you doing?”

Saying somewhat dismissively, Amiyu entered the

room.
Then she falls straight onto my bed.
“Huh”

She buried her face in the pillow. The hem of her

night gown fluttered up and fell.
I usually only see them in their uniforms, so it’s kind
of refreshing.
I do, however, have a complaint.
“You know, to come alone to a man’s room late at
night ……”
“What? Are you going to tell me to be more
modest?”
Amiyu glares sideways through the gaps in the
pillow.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve seen me naked once.”

“Well, ah, that was unavoidable… or rather, don’t

neglect my concern for not mentioning that time until
now.”
“Ahaha. What’s with that?”
Amiyu laughed pleasantly and turned over on her
side to face me.
“So what’s this about all of a sudden?”

“ I was feeling a little tired, so I came to visit.”

“I’m sorry …….ffor bringing you to the Princess

without telling you.”
“You don’t have to worry about it. If I’d heard she
was there, I probably would have come still.”
Amiyu says sincerely.
“It sounds like you nobles have a lot on your plates.”

“You finally get it.”

“You had nothing to do with that.”

“Well, yes, but ……”

“I’m glad I came. There are a lot of aristocratic

children at the school, but there were many things I
couldn’t understand just by listening to what they had
to say.”
“I’m glad you didn’t graduate without knowing it.”

“What was that, you’re so full of it”

I grabbed the pillow that Amiyu had thrown.

It would be dangerous if it hits the light.
“…… hey.”
That’s when Amiyu dropped the tone of her voice a
bit.
“Have you decided what you’re going to do when
you graduate from Elementary?”
“huh……”

“I don’t want to be a government official. You seem

to like studying, so are you going to go on to higher
education? Or do you want to come back to the
estate and help run the business? With your
achievements in Astilia, you could apprentice
yourself to a well-known naturalist and continue
your studies elsewhere.”
“… What will you do, Amiyu ?”

“Me? I’m …… going home after all and continuing

to be an adventurer.”
Amiyu laughs and says.
“Our classmates say they want to be officials,
scholars, marry noblemen and live a good life, but
…… I can’t imagine myself like that in the future at
all.”
“……..”

“It seems like my dad and mom would say it’s a

waste, but it’s okay. I think it was worth coming to
the school just so I knew it wasn’t for me! Now I can
say with confidence that I’m an adventurer. “
“…… I see.”

I muttered quietly.
This child has also grown up. From the bleak
appearance she had two years ago when I met her at
the entrance examination, I could not imagine her
talking about her future with such ease and without
hesitation.
Somehow, it reminds me of the days I spent with
my apprentice in a previous life.
“So … what are you going to do?”

I laugh and say to Amiyu, who asks timidly.

“In that underground dungeon where you suddenly
took off your clothes …”
“Oh, come on, that’s enough.”

“We had a deal. We promised to go on another

adventure together.”
“….!…”

“I’m going to be an adventurer, too.”

“Because …”

Amiyu, on the bed, says, looking away.

“I didn’t take that promise seriously …… You have
your own life to live. ……”
“I was serious, though.”

“….”

“I can’t imagine myself as a …… scholar or a

territory manager, either. I’m more suited to roughing
it. It’s true.”
“You don’t look like that at all.”

“I wonder wh,? It’s strange even for me.”

“Hmm …”

“But I don’t know much about adventurers, just as

you didn’t know much about nobility. So when we
graduate …..will you teach me?”
“It can’t be helped!”

With a smug smile on her face, Amiyu suddenly

stood up from the bed.
“Well, I promise you one more time.”

She puts her hands on her hips and says in a regal

tone.
“Let’s go on another adventure together.”

I laugh and answer.

“Yeah, I promise.”
“Hmm.”

Amiyu jumps off the bed in a good mood, puts back

on her shoes and puts her hand on the doorknob.
“Good night, Seika.”

“Are you going to sleep?”

“No, I’m going to Mabel’s or Ifa’s.”

“Oh, yeah.”

You’re doing fine.

Just as Amiyu leaves the room, and the signs of
Amiyu’s departure move away from the hallway,
Yuki appears from above my head.
“Seika-sama. Do you still remember ……?”.

Yuki says quietly.

“Seika is by her side … because she is a hero. To
hide your power behind her’s and use it as an
umbrella.”
“Ah.”

I respond to Yuki in the same tone as before.

“How could I forget?”
The Reincarnated Wizard Who
Will Eventually Become the
Strongest
Chapter 114
A week has passed since Samuel Scheidt engaged Liselotte Walker.
Another month has passed since Sam started living in Royal Capital.
A lot happened during that time.

He has interacted with the Earls of Walker, battled the court wizard Günther
Ignatz, won the title of the most powerful wizard in the Kingdom of Skye
after a duel with Albert Frege, and even fought a dragon.
It was a month in which too many things happened.

Sam, however, was able to spend the past week in peace without
encountering any problems.
His relationship with Lise, his fiancée, and sister of his mentor Ur, is also
good, and they spend their days flirting.
Since tying the knot with her, they have been spending nights together and
confirming their affection every night, partly because they are both young.

Lise is usually lively, but surprisingly quiet in bed.

She likes to have affectionate words whispered to her, and the days of
lavishing affection on her were genuinely fulfilling.
On the other hand, Lise makes the switch and trains Sam rigorously during
the day as a master of the combat aspect.
Then, when training is over, she reverts to cute fiancé. Sam couldn’t get
enough of this gap.

The arranged marriage with Magnolia’s granddaughter, which Sam had

hoped would be delayed because of his engagement to Lise, proceed as
initially planned, although he had told the other party that he was engaged.
When it came to Magnolia, he said,「Congratulations on your engagement.
My granddaughter can be your concubine」, she wrote to Sam.
She has no intention of giving up on the future with her granddaughter.

Sam has a good relationship with everyone in the Earl Walker family.
Jonathan and Grace, now that Sam is officially engaged to their daughter,
treat him more like a son than ever before.
They are no longer reserved; they can say what they want to say as a family
and show a side of themselves that they never offered before.

The same is true for Alicia and Erica.

Alicia takes care of the baby dragon together.
The other day, when the Red Dragon officially received the mountain range
from the Royal Palace, she said,「I’m going to check if the land is
comfortable for the children to live in. Until then, I’ll leave you to take care
of them」, and went away.
From then on, Sam and Alicia were responsible for the care of the dragon
cubs.

Although Alicia and Sam had some distance between them, she began to
talk more and smile more, both through the care of the little dragons and
because she had been chosen to be her future brother-in-law.
She had guts, Sam knew, but when he talked to her, he learned that she was
not naive, but could accept things as they were.
He was convinced that Alicia, who regarded differences in race (human or
dragon) as trivial and accepted each individual as such, was the reason why
the little dragons were so fond of her.

Her relationship with Erica is also good.

She has recently started saying,「Take me as a discipline!」
According to her, the ability to slaughter Albert, who was the strongest in
the kingdom, in an instant, and the achievement of fighting a dragon on
equal terms made him not only the successor to her sister, but also a target
to aim for.
Although Erica’s attitude toward learning magic is very positive, Sam has
put the discipline thing on hold.

Jonathan says that if Erica were to become an apprentice to Sam, who has
become a court magician, people would see her as favoritism.
He advised me to at least have someone else as a discipline before
accepting Erica.
Certainly, taking his fiancée’s sister as a discipline might cause a lot of
misunderstandings. ――Sam, who still considers himself inexperienced,
wondered if he should take on a discipline.

The person who gave him the answer was none other than Lise.

「There’s a lot you can learn from taking a discipline. That’s what I
think.」

The words of a loved one were strangely acceptable.

Just as Lise was able to learn from Sam in the role of a mentor by taking
him on as a discipline, Sam thanked her for telling him that taking on a
discipline would be a different experience for him.
With this, Sam began to think positively about taking a discipline.

Sam was having a good time when someone came to visit him.

「Hello, Sam. You look lovely today.」

Günter Ignaz sends shivers down to Sam’s every time he sees him.
Dressed in a white suit and blue coat, he is the court wizard and the best
warder in the Kingdom of Skye.
He got off the carriage sent by the Royal Court and spontaneously patted
Sam on the buttocks as he met him at the door with a smile on his face.

「――HIII」

Liese appears with a wooden sword from behind Sam’s.

She flashed her wooden sword at him with a speed that even Sam had
difficulty reacting to.
However, the wooden sword was blocked by the ward that covered Günther
and did not reach him.
This is a common sight these days.

Lise, with an exasperated expression on her face, twines her arms around
Sam as if to show off to Günther.
Günther looks enviously at Lise.
And the count’s family members look at each other and say,「It’s started
again.」

Sam is a little taken aback, but ignores Günther’s perverted behavior, which
he has become accustomed to, and asks,「So?」and urges him to do his
business.
He looked as if he wanted more attention, but then, as if he had no choice,
he opened his mouth.

「His Majesty the King wants to see you.」

「Welcome, Samuel.」
「My king, it has been a long time.」
Sam prepared himself and headed for the royal palace, where he was
escorted by the Kingsguard not to the audience chamber but to a room in
the palace.
The room was decorated with glittering ornaments, expensive-looking
vases, and paintings, and the sofa on which he was sitting was of high
quality.
It is probably a room used for meeting important people from various
countries.

Such a room is not very comfortable.

In any case, he’s facing Clyde Isle Sky, the king of the Kingdom of Skye,
one-on-one.

「I want to thank you for the duel with Albert and the incident with the Red
Dragon-dono the other day.」
「No, I did what I had to do.」

Clyde, dressed in white clothes and with a crown on his head with bluish
silver hair, looked somewhat tired.
His stern expression seemed less somber than when he had seen him the
other day.

「I would have liked to see you sooner, but there was too much to do after
the fact. Did Count Walker tell you what happened after that?」
「I’ve heard most of it.」
「Well, tell you again. There are some new matters that need to be dealt
with.」

At Clyde’s words, Sam nodded,「Please.」

「First of all, thanks to you, our country is no longer in danger. The Red
Dragon has accepted the mountain range that belonged to our country as an
apology and as friendship for the future. I don’t think that he will be
viewing us as enemies for the time being.」
「It is only because nothing bad has happened to the children. I am also
relieved.」
「I agree with you. Samuel, it is because of your fight against the Red
Dragon and your attempts to communicate with her. I am truly grateful to
you.」
「It is a waste of words. It was for the sake of the country and the Red
Dragon was also a victim.」

Sam was surprised that the king himself bowed to Sam and thanked him,
but Sam accepted the offer with open arms.
He thought it would be disrespectful to waste the king’s sincerity.
When Clyde looked up, he had a bitter look on his face.

「Ummm. I feel really bad about what happened to Red Dragon-dono. I

didn’t think that Albert and the Marquis of Gordon were illegally trading in
demons and magical species.」

The king sighs, his neat face contorted.

Sam also laughed bitterly at this.
He had never imagined that the man he had defeated in a duel had been
involved in illegal trade and was doing whatever he pleased.
After all, he was not worthy of being a court wizard or the most powerful
man in the Kingdom of Skye.

「After that, when I had the mansions of the people involved investigated, I
found a mountain of…evidence that could not be excused. He was also
selling the people of the Kingdom of Skye to other countries. The damage
was too great.」
「――What a mess.」
「Now, I am moving to organize a survey team to rescue the people and
bring them back. We may not be able to save all of them, but we hope we
can at least save those who we know were sold to whom.」

To think that even people were being bought and sold was unexpected.
However, there was no way that those who were trying to illegally sell
dragons, let alone demons, would not use human beings as commodities.
In the Kingdom of Skye, there is slavery, but it is only possible with a
legitimate contract.
Illegally buying and selling human beings is not allowed.

「The Marquis of Gordon and the other nobles involved in the case have all
been sentenced to death. Half of them have already been executed. We have
also decided to demolish the houses or replace the heads of the families
with new ones, and the families of those involved have been banished from
the country.」
「I think that’s fair. It is rather warm-hearted considering the fact that the
country will be burned to the ground by Red Dragon.」

Reportedly, most of Marquis Gordon’s family was involved in illegal

trafficking.
Some said they had no choice because they were ordered to do so, but when
we investigated, we found that most of the servants had been paid to keep
quiet and were living a rough life.
Mrs. Gordon also claimed that her husband had done it, but according to the
testimonies of the servants, she was actively involved in the sale and
introduced them to collectors of her acquaintance.
Mrs. Gordon, who had a coarse temperament, also routinely used violence
against her captors, and was sentenced to prison without mercy.
Mrs. Gordon is no longer with us.
Albert Frege’s parents, siblings, and relatives were also punished in a way
that they were held accountable.
His father was sentenced to death. His mother and the rest of his relatives
were also mostly deported.
Many illegally captured people were found in Albert’s compound and
testified that they had been abused.
Since Albert, who was already dead, could not be punished, his family paid
for his crime.
Other nobles and merchants who had collaborated with the two were taken
down, and those who were involved were severely punished.

「Some people said this is too much. However, I didn’t want to leave a
person who had aroused the anger of the Red Dragon-dono in this country.
There is no doubt that he might do something stupid again.」
「You are right.」
「Thanks to this, we were able to reduce the power of the aristocratic
faction that had opposed me, if not destroy it. Now they will be quiet for a
while.」

It seems that the aristocratic faction is on the verge of destruction by

punishing those who have put the country in danger.
The king, who looked tired, was somewhat satisfied.

「Thanks to you. You have eliminated Albert, who was the greatest
strength of the aristocrats, so that they could not even resist and lost their
power. I am grateful to you, Samuel.」

Apparently, a full-scale power struggle could have resulted in a civil war in

the worst-case scenario.
However, the aristocratic faction lost Albert, the kingdom’s most powerful
wizard.
And Sam, who slaughtered Albert, belonged to the royalist faction, the
Earls of Walker.
If they had started a civil war and fought, they probably did not need to
think about what the outcome would be.
In the first place, even if Albert had lived, it seems unlikely that the
aristocrats would have been prepared to fight a war that would split the
country in two, but it seems that they were prepared for any eventuality.
After all, it seems that the aristocrats were nothing more than a group of
people who did as they pleased using their power and strength as a shield.

「I have told you everything, but there is more. I will also inform you of
the treatment of the other court wizards.」
All-rounder Healer Chapter 181:
The Lord of the Mansion
“Wuh…”

I woke up to the sound of something running around the room in a

hurry, thumping and scratching.

…I’m still sleepy.

“Can’t you let me sleep a little longer…”

“Kyu!” (Shion)

Shion, who was running around, looked back like he cried,

“Rejected.”

I haven’t been sleeping much at night lately because I’ve been

woken up by that ‘thing’ you know.

I got up from the bed and opened the wooden window to check
outside.

The position of the sun means it’s almost noon… I guess my

sleeping hours are getting out of whack…?

I’m not sure if I’ll manage to adjust the time, I thought as I left the
room and headed for the dining room, which was already sparsely
occupied with people, giving the impression that mealtime was
already over. Without much expectation, I asked the lady behind the
counter who was preparing the food, “Do you have anything?” She
said,
“You’re too late. Wait for lunch!” (Auntie)

The kitchen makes a lot of food and donates the rest to the
orphanage in the back of the restaurant. So, the food is taken out of
the dining room after a certain time. By now, the food is probably
already in the orphans’ bellies… But still, you see, there might be
something leftover! Not that there’s anything left behind.

“So, you see. No more food!”

“Kyu!? Kyu!” (Shion)

“Ow!”

Shion came out of my hood and scratched my neck.

Your wildness is back! …I mean, this kid understands my words

pretty accurately, right? Is my kid a genius?

“Just kidding, just kidding! Let’s go eat outside.”

While stroking Shion’s head, I walked out of the Clan House.

Well, I was originally planning to go into town today.

Heading west from Clan House, the goal was to find the mansion
that was located at the end of the underground passage.

There should be something in that house… No, there has to be

something there. The only clue to the series of events is the
mansion, and if the clues are cut off from there, I wouldn’t know what
to do next.

Until yesterday, I was thinking of leaving this ring with Mimi-san,

but now I’m thinking of going along with this ring—with that ghost.

I want to find out what that ghost—what she was thinking when
she appeared in front of me.

“Well… if only I could.”

The house is so big, that it is certain that the town’s most

influential people are connected with it. If that is the case, it could be
a little more difficult. If this situation leads to a confrontation with the
authorities, then I will have no choice but to back out of this case.

As I continued westward along the boulevard, I gradually began to

see more and more large and well-constructed buildings, giving the
area an upscale feel. Groups of men wearing the same armor,
probably soldiers, were patrolling the streets, and in that sense, the
atmosphere was different from other areas.

While browsing the stalls and checking the stores along the road,
Shion’s stomach was almost at the limit of its endurance when I
spotted a building that looked like the one I was looking for.

A two-meter-high wall stretches into the distance. Behind it was a

three/four-story mansion. From a quick glance from the outside, it
seemed larger than the Clan House. The Clan House also has a
training ground within its premises, but this one is bigger than the
Clan House’s.

The characteristic triangular roof that I felt through [Magi Location]

late at night seems to match the mansion in front of me. There
should be no mistake about the location and the size of the
mansion.

“Wow…”

I look around and look for a store that looks nice.

A general store. A store with an armor sign. A store with a sign

that I don’t recognize. And then, a shop that emits a strong smell.

“Kyu!” (Shion)

“Well, Shion seems to have reached his limit, so is there any place
near I can go to?”

It’s almost noon.

“Hey, welcome!” (Stall Owner)

“Two skewers for now, please!”

“Got it! One silver coin!” (Stall Owner)

…that is a bit expensive, isn’t it? Five copper coins for a skewer…
These are the most expensive skewers I’ve ever seen. I wonder if
the price differs depending on the area?

I received a skewer with mystery chunks of meat on it from the

stall owner and ate it with Shion.
 The meat is tough but has a strong flavor. It was probably the first
time I had ever tasted it.

“By the way, do you know who owns that big house over there?”

“That one there? That’s the Lord’s.” (Stall Owner)

“The Lord’s…”

The worst possible person I could have expected was living there.

I believe the lord of this town is the Duke of Schumer. The

Schumer family is one of the three dukes that rule the Republic of
Canadaira, according to the information in the history books I have
seen before, in other words, one of the highest authorities in the
country.

This… is getting to be a very bad situation. We may have to be

very careful from now on… No, is it really safe to keep getting
involved in this matter in the first place? If I sneak into the Lord’s
mansion, I can be executed in an instant if I make a mistake.

Cold sticky sweat runs down my back. The taste of the skewers,
which was delicious, has now become tasteless.

I found myself back in my room at the Clan House. The scenery

peeking out of the window was turning a shade of deep red. It seems
that I had come back thinking about various things since then and
had been pondering on the bed as it was. Physically speaking, I’m
already feeling hungry, even though I just ate a skewer a few
minutes ago. It’s a strange feeling.
“Shall we go get food?”

“Kyu!” (Shion)

I went out of the room and headed for the cafeteria, where I found
Cyrus-san and Seam-san like always, and took a seat beside them.

“Hey! …What is going on with you?” (Cyrus)

“You look pale! Have you seen a ghost?” (Seam)

“Hahaha… well, there have been a lot of things going on.”

It seems that it was on my face and both of them pointed it out to

me.

I mean, it’s probably just a coincidence, but that’s about right!

After that, I ate dinner while talking about the golden dragon and
other small talks, and I tried to talk to them at the right time.

“By the way, what kind of connection does the clan have with the
Duke of Schumer?”

“Why are you… you suddenly want to talk about complicated things.”
(Cyrus)

“Well, I’m just a little bit curious…”

Was it a little too out of place? But this is something I’d like to hear
from someone right away…
 It’s not normal to have a hidden passageway connecting to Lord’s
mansion inside the Clan House. There must be some story there.

“I don’t know the details either, but it seems that the previous
generation Master was on good terms with the previous duke. I
heard that the Clan House was given to him when he founded the
clan.” (Cyrus)

“So that’s it…”

The predecessor is Borok-san. In other words, Borok-san was on

good terms with the previous Duke.

I knew he wasn’t just some guy, but he was actually close with the
duke, and he founded a clan, isn’t that he a super big shot!?

…But was it originally a villa from the Lord’s family? If so, it’s not
surprising that there is a hidden passageway connecting to the lord’s
mansion.

It’s not surprising, but how does that connect to the ghost? I have
yet to find out.

“The Duke’s house… what the heck…”

“Hmm? Are you interested in the Duke of Schumer? You should

have met one of them Rook.” (Cyrus)

“Eh?”

Have I ever met one of the Duke? Here? Someone like them.
 A person who is well-mannered and has dignity… I see!

“Mimi-san!”

“No, I get why. That person… well, she’s is also a big shot, but she’s
just a maid here.” (Cyrus)

If they say so, I see… But there’s no one here who looks like such
an aristocrat.

Looking around the cafeteria, there are only busy working ladies
and adventurers who are drinking and laughing like “Gahaha!”.

Maybe the Auntie in the dining hall is someone working behind the
scenes.

“Dalita, Dalita. Have you ever met?” (Seam)

“Dalita…?”

Oh, I know her. Isn’t she the woman who beat up the guy on the
street the day I came to town? Well, we met, and she greeted me
when I entered the Clan House, right?

… No, she’s not at all what you’d expect from an aristocrat!

When I recall it, I think that Trisun-san, who was next to her, had
some elegance and had a different atmosphere from the other
adventurers.

“The Schumer family has always produced warriors, so they are a

little different from other nobles. It’s rumored that the former Duke,
the current Duke, and the next Duke are all strong.” (Cyrus)

“I see.”

And so, I gathered information from the two of them.

I awaken from my slumber.

When I slowly open my eyes, the room is pitch black. I cannot

even see the ceiling.

Lately, feel this pattern happening all night. Will there ever be a
night when I can sleep soundly again?

I picked up Shion, who was sleeping on his stomach as usual, and

looked toward the door.

And “she” disappears behind the door like before.

“I guess I still have to go…”

Yesterday I left Shion behind, but today I’m going to take Shion
with me. It would be hard as the previous morning if Shion and I
were out of rhythm in our lives.

I put Shion in my hood and use [Magi Location] before leaving the
room.

She went down the stairs, entered the courtyard, stopped at the
tile in the corner inside the pavilion, and slowly sank down the stairs,
unlike yesterday.
“Huh?”

Yesterday, she disappeared here completely, but today, the [Magi

Location] shows that she is in a hidden passageway under the tiles.

What does this mean? I don’t know what it is, but I have to go
anyway. I open the door to the hidden passageway and follow her,
so I don’t lose her. The cobwebs in the hidden passageway were
removed yesterday, so today will go smoother.

I caught up with her at a brisk pace so as not to make any sounds

with my footsteps and proceeded through the hidden passageway
for a while, but at about the halfway point, she disappeared without
making any prior movement, and my voice leaked out, “What?”.

If it were a horror movie, she would have appeared from behind

the next moment and I would have said, “Waa!” But I thought it would
be okay because of the trust I had built up with her over the past few
days. As I approached the place where she disappeared…

“Nothing?”

There is nothing strange reacting to [Magi Location] around this

place. Or rather, I had already noticed something here yesterday.

“Hmm… Light, illuminate my way [light source].”

I didn’t use [Light Source] at night because it would have made me

conspicuous, but I guess it would be okay in here.
 A white ball of light like a fluorescent lamp appears in the pitch-
dark hidden passageway and illuminates the surroundings. It was as
if color and texture were being added to a place where previously
only the shape of the surroundings can be sensed through [Magi
Location.

Visually, I check the hidden passage covered with grayish stone

blocks.

“Hmm?”

The ground at the end of the passage. I saw something half-buried

in dust and soil.

I bent down and picked it up with the tips of my fingers.

It was a square piece of cloth, about 30 centimeters on a side,

covered in dust. A handkerchief?

Why is there a handkerchief here? Where did it come from?

Considering the amount of dust and cobwebs, it seems to have been
here for more than a year or two…

“To the impure, may your soul rest in peace, [Purification].”

The handkerchief was a bit dirty, so I applied purification to it and

examined the whole thing.
 The handkerchief is made of high-quality fabric and feels like silk
to the touch.

…I wonder if there is silk in this world. Surely silk is a silk moth-in

short, it must have been made from the thread produced by some
caterpillar, and it shouldn’t be strange if there is something similar in
this world… Well, even if there is, the size of the silkworm might
even be a thousand times larger, so I really hate the thought of it.

When I turned the handkerchief over and checked it all over up to

the corner, I saw a small embroidery. When I focused on it–

“Well, Lu… Lucille? … Huh, Lucille?”

The characters sewn spelled “Lucille”. I know only one person

named Lucille.

No, there must be many others named Lucille. I am sure that

Lucille is not the only Lucille there is. Maybe the Auntie in the
cafeteria is also named Lucille…

As I began thinking about nonsensical things, I realize my pathetic

imagination grows.

This hidden passageway connects the Clan House to Schumer’s

mansion. This place is covered in cobwebs and has not been used
for many years. There must be only a few people who know of the
existence of this hidden passageway, and it is possible that only the
members of the Schumer Family know of it. And then there was the
handkerchief… the one with the name “Lucille” embroidered on it
that had fallen here.

I then remembered something from a few days ago from my mind.

 As I recall, Lucille said, “My mom didn’t tell me anything.” In other
words, nobody knows who Lucille’s father is. If the reason Lucille’s
mother didn’t talk about her father is that “Her father is Lord
Schumer.”

“Isn’t this more dangerous information than I imagined, especially if it

is true?”

If I handle this wrong, I may get caught up in some feud within

their family…

Taking the ring out of my pocket and holding it over my [Light

Source] to look at it.

This ring might be something that Lucille dropped. As I recall, the

day I picked up the ring, I invited Lucille to join me for drinks at the
diner, and she returned to her room before I did. At that time, she
went through the courtyard and she might have dropped the ring,
and then I went through the courtyard and picked up the ring. That
sounds plausible.

“So, ‘she’ is Lucille’s…”

In a horror movie, this might be the scene where “she” suddenly

appears from behind me, but she doesn’t show up.

I felt relieved and a little disappointed that I couldn’t confirm the

truth.

The next morning, I felt a little somber.

 What should I do today? Should I look into Lucille after all? But
what would that get me? Even if I find out something, how should I
tell anyone?

I was unable to think of anything else, and I hugged Shion tightly.

“…Maybe I should go to the guild for a change?”

I was Sold at the Lowest Price in
My Class, However My Personal
Parameter is the Most Powerful -
Chapter 437
C437: Selling
The Allied Forces seemed to have retreated from the Elysian Empire while
hiding, but when we searched for them from the air, Feri quickly found
them.
The Allied Forces’ magicrafts had disparate national identification
markings, and there was no denying that they were a hodgepodge.
According to Farma aunt, the army started out with several thousand
magicrafts, but after a quick glance, it had dwindled to a few hundred or so.
If they lost nearly 90% of their entire force in one battle, it must have been
a pretty one-sided defeat. That’s how fatal the betrayal of Marquis Deer
Grafful was.
When the allied forces saw us, they were at first startled and went into a
fighting stance, but we talked them through and managed to negotiate with
their commander. The negotiations were about how much they would pay
us, not about whether or not the Allied Forces would refuse our help.
“I don’t know how powerful this mercenary group is, but with only four
reinforcements, this is the most we can offer.”
The amount offered was 3 million gold, which is not bad for the general
market price. It was nothing compared to the conditions of the Amurian
Federation or Meltaria, but for the Allied Forces, it was probably about
what they could pay for a group of mercenaries that were unknown to them.
The purpose of this job was not to make money in the first place, so I was
willing to accept any amount, but in order to be trusted, I responded in the
manner of a mercenary,
“That’s enough money for a contract, but can you set a performance fee?
We are fighting against the Elysian Empire and if the price of life is that
high, my friends will not be satisfied.”
Somehow I imagined the line Jean would say and said it, and it seems I was
right. After thinking about it for a bit, the allied commander nodded and
promised me a reward for our performance.
Moreover, he seemed to think I was a greedy mercenary, and he seemed to
have gained a little trust in me as a mercenary. He told us about his plans
for the future.
“We will join up with the reinforcements and launch a counterattack. We
lost our first battle due to the despicable treachery of Marquis Deer Grafful
of Ludawan, but now the governments of the various countries are urgently
gathering troops. We should still be able to fight.”
He said so, but would not talk about specific numbers. I felt that this
commander might not even know how many forces would come as
reinforcements. Maybe he is just really anxious and hoping that an
unimaginable amount of reinforcements will be sent.
The rendezvous point with the reinforcements is the border between
Ludawan and Mebarol, and we move slowly, wary of the Elysian Empire’s
pursuit.
I observed the allied forces along the way, but they must have been beaten
to a pulp, and the soldiers were all quite exhausted. At this rate, the next
battle would end in a one-sided slaughter without even a fight.
“Yuta, they are all very desperate. If things continue as they are, we’re
going to have to fight on our own.”
Farma also looked at the army enveloped in an aura of despair and said
anxiously. It will be extremely difficult to revive the army from such a state
so it is true that we will have to fight on our own.
“We need to meet up with Emina and Nanami as soon as possible.”
“Where are they now?”
“They can’t be far. We know where the reinforcements are now, so let’s call
them and ask them to hurry up.”
They were already close by. I told them the rendezvous point and told them
to hurry up. They complained that they were already in a hurry, but replied
that they understood.
C438: Joining Hands
At first, I doubted that this was really the rendezvous point with the
reinforcements. There was no one present but as we waited, magicrafts and
ride carriers gradually began to appear.
“Are these all the Reinforcements?”
What finally gathered as reinforcements were about 100 magicrafts and
about 10 ride carriers. The commander also did not expect such a small
number, and impatiently asked each country for reinforcements again.
“If this army is defeated, the surrounding western states will be destroyed!
Don’t leave any forces behind to guard dignitaries and send them all over to
us!”
Indeed, as the commander said, I think it is no exaggeration to say that this
army is the last stronghold for the surrounding nations. They will have to
gather their forces without leaving anything behind, but it seems that the
great people of the state are still thinking of their own safety.
“Speaking of forces, come to think of it, Arpeka, where the coliseum was
located, is one of the states around here, right?”
“Yes, it is.”
I suddenly remembered the coliseum where I had fought as a gladiator. Like
Alana, gladiators are sometimes stronger than regular soldiers, and I think
they can be an asset to the war effort…….There are quite a few of them,
and I think we can rely on them if they can reinforce us.
With this in mind, I advise the commander. However, he replied that the
gladiators in Arpeka are free men and have no employment or contractual
ties with the Arpeka government, so he cannot even request their
participation.
If we were to ask, he said, we would have to negotiate with each gladiator
individually, which is impossible in the current time crunch.
I was convinced that there was no way they would listen to the
government’s order, since all gladiators are free men. But what if it was a
request from someone they respected?……I remembered that I had a
legendary former gladiator king in my group.
I spoke to Alana via communication, and she immediately put me in touch
with the gladiator organization. The name of the King of Gladiators was
still alive and well.
The organization immediately took action, and all the gladiators in the
organization were informed of the situation. After informing them that they
were up against the Elysian Empire, they were offered a reasonable reward,
and an improvised gladiatorial army was formed with only those who
wanted to join it.
The enemy was powerful, and there was no guarantee of life. It was thought
that few gladiators, even daredevil gladiators, would participate, but as
many as half of the total number of gladiators gathered.
Apparently, many feared that if the Elysian Empire took control of the
Colosseum, it would surely be dismantled and they would have no place to
go, and that was the result.
The commander of the Allied Forces was delighted at the unexpected news.
The assembled gladiatorial forces numbered as many as 2,000 magicrafts,
making it the largest force in the current Allied Forces. Although it would
cost a considerable amount of money, the funds were raised from various
countries, which was better than the destruction of the country.
Around the time the gladiatorial army was organized, Emina and Nanami
arrived. Farma was properly scolded by Emina and Nanami and showed
remorse.
“I’m sorry…….”
“You know you can talk to me about everything, Farma so don’t go off on
your own again.”
“I understand.”
Now we were ready to fight the Elysian Imperial Army.
With another request for reinforcements, several hundred more magicrafts
joined us and the Allied Forces recovered in number to a scale of about
3,000 magicrafts.
However, according to information, the Elysian Imperial Army was said to
have more than 10,000 magicrafts, so even at this level, we were still
considerably outnumbered.
Information was received that Elysian forces had begun to move south and
there was no escape route for the allied forces.

We had other choice but to intercept them at some point and a strategy
meeting was held to discuss this.

The commander asked us to participate in the strategy meeting because his

trust in us, the Iron Knights, had increased dramatically after the incident
with the gladiatorial forces.

I wondered if it was a good idea to have a mere mercenary participate in

such an important meeting, but we have our own way of fighting, and I
thought it might be good to convey it at the strategy meeting, so I decided
to participate.

I was worried about being alone, so I asked Emina, who knows the Elysian
Army well and is familiar with basic tactics, to attend the meeting with me.
She agreed, as if it were a given.

“Of course, I’ll be there. Yuta is the kind of person who shines in actual
combat. I can’t imagine him playing an active role in a strategy meeting.”

I agreed, so I couldn’t argue with her.

The first item on the agenda at the strategy meeting was a place to intercept
the Elysian Imperial Army on the battlefield. Since we were outnumbered,
it was desirable to find a location where it would be easy for us to defend
and hard for them to attack, and where we would have a geographical
advantage.
A general from one of the national armies suggested the best location.

“It is better to establish a stronghold on the Dynamos Pass. To approach the

pass, they will have to pass through a narrow and complicated canyon,
which will leave the enemy with no choice but to spread out their forces.
Furthermore, the difference in elevation will make it difficult for the enemy
to see us, while we will have a full view of them.”

Everyone at the meeting agreed on this location. It seems to be a very

geographically advantageous location. However, one concern was raised.

“But would the Elysian army be willing to invade a place such as this,
where we have the advantage?”

I certainly think so. It was an advantageous position for all to see. It is a

place of superiority by all accounts, something the Elysian army would
have noticed immediately. However, an elite rider from the former Elysian
Army answered that question.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. There are two reasons. One is
that there is too much difference in strength. With such a large difference in
strength, the enemy will not be so concerned about geographical
superiority. The other is the traditional policy of the Elysian Imperial Army.

The imperial army tries to show its power by using force, including political
means. Every commander will try to overrun us with overwhelming force in
accordance with tradition and policy, although there are individual
differences among commanders.”

“I see…….but I heard that the current Western Area Commander is a recent

newcomer to the Elysian Empire, is that correct?”
“A newcomer is now the commander of the Imperial Army’s regional
forces?”

It seems unthinkable in the Elysian Empire that Emina knows, and she is
truly surprised.

“The current commander of the Elysian Empire’s Western Area Army is

one of the Ten Gods of War, the former commander-in-chief of the
Magicraft Army of the Kingdom of Meltaria, a woman named Cruz.”

“Cruz of Meltaria!?”

My voice and Emina’s voice harmonize. I did know a Cruz from Meltaria,
but I didn’t expect to hear her name mentioned here.
As per the plan, the allied forces will take up position at the Dynamos Pass.
The terrain is easy to defend even to the untrained eye, and this may indeed
bring a possibility to win even with a small force.

According to information, the Elysian Imperial Army is already on its way

here and is expected to arrive in a few hours. At the moment, there is no
strange movement, and they seem to be ready to meet us head-on.

“First, let’s reduce the number of enemies by using Arleo II’s Four
Elements Cannon and Garuda II’s Arrow Rain. Then, while maintaining the
defense line, let’s exterminate the attacking enemies and try to win the
battle with persistence.”

Although this ability was limited by my long-range flight, I can fire at least
one shot from the four-element cannon so I agree with Emina’s suggestion.
“What should Nanami do?”

She asked, since her name was not mentioned in Emina’s plan of action.

Nanami, you are to stand south of the pass where the enemy attack is
expected, and protect it so that no magicraft can pass through.

“Yes, I’ll take them all down.”

Nanami took on the difficult task with ease, but I was sure that she was
capable of really doing it.

“What is Emina going to do? Fight the right battles?”

Emina’s Artemis is a versatile magicraft. It is a dexterous machine that can

perform all kinds of missions, so it will be useful no matter what.

“I’m going to break into enemy territory and look for targets for Farma and
her team. It is the most important objective in this battle and it will be
meaningless if we don’t accomplish it. I’ll let you know when I find them,
and we’ll see what we do after that and think about it then.”

Emina was given details of information about Marquis Deer Grafful. She
would be searching for him based on the characteristics of the ride carriers
that would have his family crest.

As Emina said, our main objective is to defeat Marquis Deer Grafful. As

long as we are hired, we will fight for our employer, but we must not forget
our main objective. But it’s wonderful that Emina is taking care not only of
battle-winning tactics but also of our personal objectives.
Exactly one hour later, the large army of the Elysian Empire showed up.
Even at a quick glance, they were several times our size and the air around
our allies became stiff with fear and tension.

Even the fiercest members of the gladiatorial forces, who make up the
majority of our forces, are not accustomed to the atmosphere of a
battlefield, and can be heard whispering their concerns.

Probably the only ones who are calm in the allied forces are us, the Iron
Knights. It might be a good idea to unleash a flashy attack to boost the
morale of our allies.

“Commander, I would like to make a preemptive strike, can you give me

permission to do so?”

As a mercenary, I could not attack without permission. I applied to the

commander for permission, if only for the time being.

“How are you going to do a preemptive strike? We’re still a long way off,
and even the Arrow range is not that long?”

“I’m going to attack from the air. We can hit them pretty hard now, so
please make a decision quickly.”

“Okay, okay. I authorize the attack.”

The commander did not understand what I was going to do, but he agreed
since he could not think of any disadvantages.
“Okay, we’ve got the go-ahead. We’re going to make the first move.
Everybody get ready.”

I’ve only heard about it but apparently, while I was struggling to resurrect
father, Farma and the other stay-at-home members have made considerable
power improvements to their magicrafts as well as their personal power.

New weapons with powerful ranged attacks were added and I couldn’t wait
to see them in action.
677 – A Certain Girl and Jornes’
Vanguard (side: Miria)
“Wh-what do we do…?”
I retreat inside the house and clutch my head.
No mere human could possibly hope to stand up to Jornes. The entire city is
enclosed by her barrier, so there’s no running away. Countless creepy
monstrosity are swarming over the city due to her [Nirvana].
“W-we just need to wait for Saint Lilixira to come back! Even if she hasn’t
finished her dragon hunt, there’s a good chance she’ll turn around once she
hears the situation.”
Meltia-san says, noticing my despair.
“But staying hidden from the monsters won’t be easy. There’s no telling
how long it’ll take her to get here…”
Besides, even if she does return, I don’t think she would stand a chance
against Jornes. If I remember correctly, Saint Lilixira is supposedly has
equivalent power to an A rank dragon.
But Jornes is clearly on another level. If Saint Lilixira is a mage on the level
of a high ranking dragon, then Jornes is on the level of a god. Saint Lilixira
wouldn’t be able to destroy the city in a matter of minutes like this.
“There’s… nothing we can do. Even if we try to resist, it would just prolong
the terror… There’s no one stronger than Jornes-sama in all the world.”
The old woman says, her face pale.
Suddenly, the door smashes in. A long-necked figure with an upside-down
face pushes its way into the house. It’s one of the monsters made from
[Nirvana].
“Miria, use [Clay Shield]!”
Meltia-san shouts.
“Eh…? R-right! [Clay Shield]!”
As instructed, I produce a [Clay Shield], which appears between us and the
monster. Meltia-san swiftly steps up to my side and kicks the shield
forwards.
Unable to dodge in the cramped interior, the monster elects to block,
reaching out both its arms to stop the shield.
“It’s straining… Its level isn’t too high! We can do this!”
Meltia-san points her sword at the monster.
“[Lucent Luna]!”
Light bursts from her blade, flying towards the monster in three clusters of
heat. I point my staff at it too.
“[Fire Sphere]!”
Its hands occupied by my shield, the monster is unable to react in time as
our attacks strike its neck. The [Lucent Luna] breaks its balance, and then
my [Fire Sphere] blasts it away. It slumps down and stops moving, a crack
visible in its neck.
“As I thought, its level isn’t too high. It’s about D rank… No, it might even
be a little lower. I hate to think it, but maybe their strength is based on the
level they had in life.”
Metia-san says, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
I didn’t understand her plan at first, but since it had a long neck, she must
have judged that it wouldn’t be able to defend its weak point if we threw a
shield at it. Combined with her ability to quickly judge its rank, it goes to
show how much longer she’s been an adventurer than me.
“It didn’t seem to have any unusual skills. Same for the ones I’m seeing
outside. Of course, there’s a good chance their levels and skills vary, so we
can’t be optimistic.”
Meltia stands in front of the destroyed door and peers outside.
“Let’s gather people somewhere that has food. We can’t let the survivors
wander around outside, since there’s no telling when that rain could come
again. We also need to burn, bury, or carry inside any more dead bodies we
find outside, so that red light doesn’t make more. Though we’ll run out of
mana if we keep having to fight, so we should hole up and take turns
keeping watch.”
Meltia-san says, speaking quickly.
Moreso than telling me, I think she’s speaking out loud to organise her
thoughts. It’s a hopeless situation, but she’s still trying to stay calm.
I also can’t let myself be swept away. I shake my head, trying to dispel
some of the dread overwhelming me.
“….That’s right. All we can do is wait for Saint Lilixira and the Holy
Knights to return.”
The chance is low that Saint Lilixira will be able to do anything. But, we’ve
no choice but to bet on it all the same.
“No, if we gather enough strength, we might actually be able to mount a
counterattack.”
“Eh…?”
I can’t help but doubt my ears.
“Look, Miria. The all-important Jornes is doing nothing but float above the
statue. If she really was powerful, then she wouldn’t leave killing us to
those monsters.”
“That… might be true, but…”
“That magic attack at the start was just a bluff. The rain was wide-scale, but
it looks like all it did was apply instant death and curse. It didn’t do any
damage to the buildings or ground.”
Certainly, that rain seemed harmless to anything other than to living
organisms. That’s why I was able to block it with [Clay Shield].
“Jornes might be lacking means of attacking directly. Besides, the fact that
she’s staying so high out of reach means she’s worried about being attacked.
She’s probably not too powerful by herself. If we gather enough fighters, it
might be possible to take her down. She’s just a human, not a dragon or
giant monster. No matter how powerful her magic, she’s not unbeatable if
we surround her.”
“I-is that true…? But the magic she used to blast away the statue’s head…”
“That’s definitely a threat. But, compared to the rain, the scale is way
smaller. Even without the Holy Knights around, the warrior priests of Liarm
are much higher level than your everyday adventurer. The situation is
definitely bad. But, we’re trapped in here with thousands of D rank
monsters. The more time passes, the more we’ll lose the ability to strike
back.”
I stand by her side and look up at the sky. Jornes is looking down on the
Holy City with cold eyes. I can’t help but wonder why she’s not making it
rain again, or shooting out more of that rainbow light.
Maybe it’s not that she can’t, but rather she’s choosing not to…?
Is she worried about running out of mana? The scale of her magic was
gigantic. I’m sure the mana cost can’t have been light.
Is she saving her strength for fighting Saint Lilixira? No, even then it feels
like she’s taking it too leisurely. But, I can’t imagine she’s worried about the
warrior priests like Meltia-san thinks.
Does she have something to gain by taking her time in destroying Liarm?
“…It’s almost like she’s threatening someone to make them hurry.”
“Did you say something? Miria?”
“No…”
“I understand why you’re hesitant to fight back. I don’t want to fight back
without a plan either. Let’s gather people together and make a base… Once
we have enough fighters and have gained some more information about
Jornes, we can think about it then.”
Four days have passed since Jornes’ attack. Meltia-san and I have gathered
survivors at Saint Lilixira’s residence, the Ridom Palace by working with
the warrior priests who were stationed here.
Under normal circumstances, this palace would be considered too hallowed
for ordinary people to tread, but hardly any of the clergy were of a mind to
protest.
“…I was hoping help would have come by now.”
Meltia-san mumbles as we walk through a passage.
“They might not be able to get inside. The barrier didn’t budge at all when
the people from the northern district cathedral tried to break out.”
Two days ago, a separate group tried to tear a hole in Jornes’ [Sanctuary].
But, neither blade nor magic scratched it, and the constant attacks from the
monsters resulted in disaster. A messenger came to tell us last night.
“We might be at our limit… We’re steadily losing fighters, and the monsters
have had their numbers replenished thanks to the second [Nirvana]
yesterday. The cathedral group has got to be on the verge of breaking too,
since they lost so many fighters. We’re not going to last much longer at this
rate.”
As Meltia-san says, there’s no telling how many more days we can survive.
We’re cooperating with the warrior priests to secure the perimeter, but we
keep losing fighters, which then increases the burden on those still alive.
We’ll need to return to the front soon too.
To make matters worse, there’s concern over the idea the monsters
produced by the second [Nirvana] are significantly stronger than the first.
It’s generally thought that strength of the monsters produced by [Nirvana]
depends on the level the dead had in life, since the monsters are clearly
weak for something produced by Jornes.
Moreover, there’s a clear variation in strength with the monsters. All of
them are stronger than an ordinary person, so it’s not as though the level is
perfectly conserved, but it’s almost certain it has an influence.
The black rain that Jornes made fall at the start apparently wasn’t very
deadly outside of the city centre. People felt sick the moment it touched
them, so anyone with a degree of magic resistance was able to take refuge.
In other words, most of the dead bodies turned by the first [Nirvana] were
ordinary low-level citizens. However, the second [Nirvana] yesterday was
different. Those incapable of fighting have been hiding inside, so most of
the dead bodies the second time belonged to the warrior priests who died
fighting in the streets.
If the monsters’ strength depends on their level in life, then those made by
the second [Nirvana] are far stronger. Most people are also saying the
number of strong individuals has increased since yesterday.
“That reminds me, is Bishop Dogen okay? He’s not doing something
unnecessary again, is he?”
“…Don’t worry. He’s still tied up and locked away where he won’t bother
anyone”
I smile wryly at Meltia-san’s answer.
Bishop Dogen is a bishop with jurisdiction over one of the parishes of the
Holy City. I had high hopes for him, since he was supposedly fairly high
level, but then it turned out he was secretly thinking that ‘we should all
submit to Jornes-sama, so our souls can be saved through reincarnation’. He
was planing on taking action when he saw an opportunity, but some of his
subordinates betrayed him and told his plan to Meltia-san and me.
We caught him by surprise and restrained his whole faction, but afterwards
he would talk to the refugees and fan their anxiety to try and bring them to
his way of thinking, so we had to hide him away out of sight.
“We should have just killed the bastard. We can’t afford to keep feeding
him. We should kick him out so he can die like he wants.”
“He’s just confused. With all that’s happened, it can’t be helped…”
As I speak, a man comes running towards us from the end of the passage.
He’s wearing a white robe, and has dark skin.
He’s Sirius, the leader of the warrior priests here. He was apparently the
commanding officer of a particularly powerful group, and he’s the strongest
person here.
“Meltia-dono, Miria-dono, I have bad news. The cathedral group were
destroyed by a particularly dangerous big one. It probably came from the
second [Nirvana]. It’s only a matter of time before this place falls too.”
“No…”
I was worried about the enemy getting stronger. But I didn’t think it would
make this much difference.
“We can’t keep waiting for help to come. I’ve already talked it over with a
few people, but I’m seriously thinking of trying to kill Jornes-sama.”
“No, you can’t! She’s able to wield such powerful magic…!”
“I understand. But, at the rate this is going, we’ll just be ripped apart by the
monsters. Besides, Jornes-sama is hardly moving at all. There must be some
reason she can’t. It could be a weakness we can exploit.”
I don’t agree with Sirius-san’s assessment. During these four days, the only
time Jornes took action when she used [Nirvana] a second time. I’m
convinced it’s not that she can’t fight, but that she’s choosing not to.
“At any rate, we have too little information on her. I’ll attack to see how she
responds. I have a special bow skill, that’s good at piercing through
defence. Even if it doesn’t kill her, it should get her to respond. I’d like you
two to join in the strategy meeting.”
I suspect he wants us to join in on more than just the meeting.
“…Hmm. We’re only going to die at this rate, so I agree. Miria, what about
you…?”
Metlia-san says gravely, then looks at me. If I give my approval here, it’s
almost certain I’ll be pulled into joining the operation. That’s the meaning
behind Meltia-san’s look.
“If Meltia-san agrees, then I agree too.”
I’m not going to send Melta-san off to her death while I stay behind. In the
first place she’s only here because I dragged her along.
“I thought you were against attacking Jornes…”
Meltia-san says with a troubled expression. I leave her behind and follow
Sirius-san.
“Let’s go. The others are already gathered.”
I don’t like the idea of provoking an enemy who is content to watch from
the sidelines, but it’s also true we have no hope otherwise.
The operation to attack Saint Jornes has begun. Those participating are me,
Meltia-san, and eight warrior priests lead by Sirius-san, making a total of
ten people.
Five of us have already split away to approach the angel statue from
opposite side. The group me and Meltia-san are in is tasked with
approaching Jornes from the front and attracting her attention. Then, Sirius-
san’s group will attack from her blind spot.
Although, the only one who will actually attack will be Sirius-san. The
other four are only going with him to clear the way. They’ll protect him
from the monsters, so he can focus on Jornes.
Sirius-san’s bow skill is [Dragonshot]. It coats the arrow in dragon-shaped
light, and flies straight towards the target.
It takes a lot of mana, and he needs time to prepare it. However, the attack
power and penetration gained is worth it. Sirius-san explained earlier that
it’s good for dealing damage against targets with high defence or high
[Physical Resistance].
If the [Dragonshot] connects and we can confirm that it did damage, then
we’ll have learned that it’s possible to kill Jornes. We’ll probably then want
to retreat, but we can take that information to other groups to recruit them,
then draw up a plan to kill her. We’ve taken into account the possibility that
provoking her could make the situation worse, but the current status quo is
too hopeless not to risk it.
With Meltia-san taking the lead, the five of us are approaching Jornes. The
beauty that the streets held just days ago has vanished as a result of the
monsters’ rampaging, being replaced with rubble and broken statues.
“Do you think this’ll work? Meltia-san?”
“No idea. But it should give us some information.”
Meltia-san replies, looking up at Jornes.
“Sirius-sama’s [Dragonshot] might just make her to come down and start
actively attacking. Once that happens, we’ll…”
One of the warrior priests, Radda-san, says.
Radda-san is a short middle-aged man, and I’ve seen him rebuked for his
timity by the other warrior priests several times now. He’s easy to get along
with, so I’ve talked with him a lot over these past four days.
“Hey! Don’t say something that’ll bring down morale! We factored in the
danger! We know it could backfire!”
Having angered one of the other of the warrior priests, Radda-san bows his
head down repeatedly in apology.
But, to be honest, I think there’s a good chance he’s correct in his
assessment. I didn’t want to object too strongly, because otherwise I would
have ended up sending Meltia-san to her death by herself.
It’s very optimistic to think Yornes could be defeated by human hands. She
has the rainbow attack magic she used at the start, so if she decided to start
using it, we’d have no chance. Right now she’s just floating, but if she starts
freely flying around, then it’ll be almost impossible to hit her. On top of
that, if we manage to gather enough forces to try and kill her, all she has to
do is make that black rain fall again and we’ll be forced to retreat.
But, if we choose to be pessimistic, then we’re already doomed. In order to
have the best chance of survival, we have to act on the premise that Jornes
can be defeated. As the warrior priest said, we had all already factored in
the risk of it backfiring when we agreed to the plan.
“We’re still too far away. Mine and Miria’s attacks won’t reach from here.”
Meltia frowns, looking up at Yornes. She doesn’t seem to be paying any
notice to our presence, not having even glanced at us.
“Don’t worry about it. Heh, even our bows won’t reach at this angle. We
aren’t Sirius-sama, after all.”
Radda-san says jokingly. The other two warrior priests glare at him, and he
scratches his head. Meltia-san also fixes him with a cold glare.
“Sorry. I thought the mood was a bit too dark… But, yeah, it’s not a
problem. Our role is simply to attract her attention. We don’t need to be
accurate. I’ll call out to her with [Telepathy]. Let’s each do what we can,
okay? Remember, we don’t need to hit her, just get her attention.”
“The way you said it aside… You’re right, I guess.”
Meltia-san nods towards Radda-san.
Once we’ve gotten close enough to the angel statue, we begin.
『Saint Jornes-sama! Why are you doing this? We don’t understand! Have
we committed some sin? Please, say something! I don’t want to die without
at least knowing why!』
Radda-san calls out with [Telepathy] as planned. But Jornes doesn’t show
any response at all. The arrows shot by the other warrior priests pass by
below her feet.
“[Lucent Luna]!”
Meltia-san holds her sword aloft and shouts. The sunlight touching the
blade shoots out as ten orbs of light. However, they only reach as high as
the statue’s abdomen. Of course, Jornes doesn’t respond to this either.
“…It was never really a long range skill.”
The [Fire Sphere] I shoot skims past her side. She still takes no notice.
“Both [Telepathy] and arrows failed. She’s just not showing any interest in
us.”
Radda-san shrugs his shoulders.
“My [Presence Perception] is picking up on monsters coming this way. This
could get bad.”
One of the warrior priests reports bitterly.
The fact that she’s ignoring us so thoroughly makes me think she probably
won’t dodge Sirius-san’s arrow. If anything, it’s good she’s so oblivious. If
she were to notice and move out of the way, risking our lives would have
been completely pointless.
“Ugh… If only there was something that would draw her attention. She’s
from thousands of years ago, so I have no idea what interests her…”
“Hmm… I was thinking earlier that it looked like she was waiting for
someone. Maybe she’ll show interest if you bait her with that in somehow.”
Radda-san claps his hands and grins.
“I see, not a bad idea. I just need to act like I know what she’s after.”
Radda-san looks up at Jornes.
『Jornes-sama, the person you’re waiting for is already here! How about
giving them a greeting! You got the entire Holy City involved to invite them
here, after all!』
Jornes twitches and looks down at us. Then, my [Water Ball] bursts against
her feet, drenching her legs.
“I hit…!”
I figured it wouldn’t do damage either way, so I switched to using weaker
magic. Rather than fire, getting her wet would probably do more to draw
her attention.
Jornes frowns at us.
I look at Sirus-san’s group on the opposite side. An arrow point pokes up
from up from the rubble, trained on Jornes’ back.
The arrow that Sirius-san is aiming glows with a fierce light. Still gazing
down at us, Jornes appears completely unaware of him.
The crimson arrow he’s using was procured by breaking a statue of the
Hero Robin in the palace. Apparently Robin himself made the arrow from
the fang of the Magic Beast King Ammit that he subjugated. Sirius-san
lamented earlier that such sacrilege would have incurred the death penalty
in normal times.
It seems wrong to use such a precious relic on a mere probing attack, but
the reality is that we wouldn’t even be able to probe her defences if we
didn’t resort to this.
“Jornes-sama! Why have you returned to this era!? What have you got
against the people of the Holy City!? Why won’t you say anything!?!?”
Radda-san continues calling out with [Telepathy]. It happens just as Jornes’
mouth twitches.
“[Dragonshot]!”
With the sound of magic bursting, Sirius-san lets the arrow fly. Clad in red
light, the arrow takes on the form of a small dragon and speeds towards
Jornes’ back in a straight line.
Jornes flips around towards Sirius-san. It’s only for an instant, but I can tell
she sees the arrow in flight. I intuitively expect her to now dodge.
However, the arrow simply pierces into Jornes’ chest. Her body trembles.
“I-it’s shallow, but it’s lodged in! It’s lodged in! Look!”
“She couldn’t dodge in time! It’s not impossible for our attacks to land! If
we can drag her down, and surround her with traps, it might be able to work
out!”
The warrior priests raise their voices in a cheer.
The knowledge that it’s possible for attacks to go through is important. A
famously thick-skinned Demon Lord of the past was able to walk through
the arrows of a thousand soldiers unscathed. The fact that Sirius-san’s arrow
dealt some damage means that, depending on the methods and situation, it’s
possible for us to prevail against her with numbers.
“A-all right! The attack hit… and even affected her! Miria, we’re
retreating!”
Meltia-san calls out to me. However, my eyes are rooted to Jornes’ floating
form.
“What is she…”
While glaring at Sirius-san, Jornes grips the tail of the arrow and grinds it
deeper into her chest. The hole in her torso isn’t leaking out a single drop of
blood. I wonder if she is actually human in the first place.
Jornes points a finger at the retreating Sirius-san and his party. She must be
planning something.
“Please scatter and run! She’s aiming for you!”
I raise my voice in a yell.
“[Empath].”
Jornes’ fingertip glows slightly. In the next moment, blood spurts out of the
five of them simultaneously and they crumple to the ground.
“Wha… n-no way…”
One glance is enough to know that’s enough blood loss to be fatal. It was
truly an instant. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not they could avoid it.
Seemingly bored, Jornes plucks the arrow out of her chest and flings it
down.
“F-find cover! Run away using her blind spots! If she glares at you, you’ll
spurt blood and die!”
“We need to retrieve Sirius-sama’s corpse…! It’ll become something
dreadful if a third [Nirvana] comes…!”
“If we take too long, we’ll just die too!!”
The warrior priests by me shriek and scatter into the rubble to hide.
I stand stock still, staring at the bodies of Sirius-san and his party.
“What are you doing, Miria! Quick, break her line of sight! In the end, it’s
useless to take that monster as an opponent! Even if dozens challenge her,
they’ll all be killed in an instant once she notices!”
“Sirius-san and the others… all of them have a hole in their chest.”
The hole in each of them is at the same exact spot where Jornes was
pierced.
“More importantly, we need to run! If we’re all annihilated here, it’ll be the
end of the palace base, too!”
Meltia-san shouts.
However, it looks like Jornes has already focused her concern elsewhere. At
this point, her objective is obvious.
Sure enough, Jornes is waiting for something… or rather, someone. Her
having a reaction to Radda-san’s [Telepathy] also points to this. Even
regarding Sirius-san’s attack, all she did was respond to it in equal parts.
She wishes to take her time slowly destroying the town while maintaining
her dominance over Ridom. I had considered this a possibility before, but
with this, it’s become a certainty.
Sure enough, it’s impossible to subdue Jornes. The difference in power is
way too large. All we can do now is act along with her wishes and do what
little we can to delay the destruction of Ridom, while hoping that whatever
she’s waiting for will eventually come.
“…Rather than hide and wait for Jornes to settle down, let’s hurry back,
Meltia-san. In addition, others said this too, but in any case, we should give
Sirius-san and the others a proper burial at least. If their corpses turn into
monsters, we’ll definitely not be able to hold out any longer.”
I look towards their dead bodies. We’re no longer fighting to end the
turmoil, but only to survive just a little longer. Given that, we absolutely
cannot afford to leave Sirius-san and the others’ bodies here.
The monsters born of the dead have their strength based on the person’s
level in life. Sirius-san’s level should be way above mine or even Meltia-
san’s.
“Jornes is acting according to her own rules. It’s not pleasant to be moving
around in her vicinity… but as long as we don’t take action against her, I
don’t believe she’ll retaliate directly.”
“Miria, but…”
Then, I hear a loud noise from afar.
A gigantic monster four metres long is standing atop the roof of a ruin. Its
two hands are bizarrely huge, and it has a face on both its head and
abdomen.
I recall those characteristics. It’s the monster believed to be born from the
second [Nirvana] that was responsible for destroying the northern cathedral.
It has us squarely in its line of sight.
“…I wanted to say that the monsters were certain to come if we stayed
outside any longer, but it looks like it’s too late.”
Meltia-san says in a trembling voice.
The monster with a second face on its abdomen leaps down from the roof
and dashes towards us. Its speed is terrifying. We definitely can’t hope to
escape it by running.
“It’s the one that destroyed the northern church! It’s clearly targeting us! No
choice; we’ll take it down!”
Meltia-san raises her sword as she yells. Now that this has happened, the
monster heading towards us is way more threatening than the unmoving
Jornes.
Radda-san extends an arm out towards the monster, holding his fingers at
an angle.
“…Using the Maybel method to estimate its danger from its speed, it’s
around upper B rank. We might have been better off using that arrow made
from the fang of Ammit on this thing. If we got lucky and shot off its head
with Sirius-sama’s [Dragonshot], we would probably have taken it out in
one hit before it got close.”
I’ve heard of the Maybel method. By using fingers to ascertain the visual
change in size of an approaching monster, you can deduce its speed after
mentally counting down the seconds, and so gain a rough estimate of its
stats.
You need to be able to accurately count down the seconds, compare a
monster’s original size with the surroundings, and calmly make good use of
those skills during a predicament to actually make the calculation. With
such a high difficulty and the limitations of its use cases, it’s my first time
seeing someone actually use it, despite its fame.
“Upper B rank…”
I ponder over Radda-san’s words.
A monster that’s rated B rank in danger is generally designated a calamity.
A single B rank will easily spell destruction for a village. Even for a large
city, much of it would be destroyed if the defenders were to slip up. The
only monsters that I’ve seen with this danger rank are Irushia-san, and
Thermal of the fake princess’ three knight retainers.
“It’s over if we let it get close! We need to attack at this range!”
Meltia-san yells a command.
The warrior priests let loose their bowstrings together. However, the arrows
that hit graze its skin at most and none penetrate properly. At this distance,
against a monster of this danger rank, that’s the most bows and arrows can
do without assistance from skills.
I’ve no choice but to try to do something with my magic. I aim my staff at
the monster’s abdomen.
“[Fire Sphere]!”
The ball of flame smacks straight into the second face on the monster’s
abdomen. However, even though its surface is a little burnt, it doesn’t flinch
at all and continues barrelling forward.
“N-no way…!”
If my magic attack isn’t working, our current forces won’t be able to
effectively attack that monster at long range.
“Miria, stay back and concentrate on using white magic! We’ll take it down
somehow!”
Meltia-san and three of the warrior priests line up in front of me.
Having closed the distance in a flash, the twin-faced monster leaps straight
into our front. With their vision obscured by the dust cloud of its landing,
the four are unable to take meaningful action, and two of the warrior priests
are swept away in one giant swing of its arm. They spiral through the air
and smack into the ground.
“[Lucent Luna]!”
Stepping into the monster’s blind spot, Meltia-san attacks with countless
bullets of light from her blade. However, it is completely unphased by her
attack, not even raising an arm to block.
“[Clay]!”
Taking advantage of the dust cloud, I succeed in encasing the monster’s left
leg in earth. With this, it should find it much harder to do battle.
The monster immediately stamps hard on the ground with its left foot.
Cracks run across the surface, and the [Clay] shackle crumbles. With an
effortless thrust of its arm, Meltia-san is sent flying away.
“Guh!”
It didn’t even take five seconds for our battle formation to fall apart.
It has a tough body, herculean strength, and, most overwhelming of all, the
long reach of its gigantic body. It isn’t something we can win against in
head-on close combat with just five people. If Sirius-san’s group were alive
and could use the Ammit’s fang arrow, it might finally be an even match.
Perhaps having heard the sounds of battle, I can see another three monsters
coming this way from different directions. As the normal kind, they would
usually be within our abilities to deal with, but there are only two of us who
aren’t incapacitated, myself included. The only warrior priest left standing
has seemingly already lost his will to fight, his spear hanging loosely from
his fingers.
The monster stands right in front of me.
“Fire Spher…!”
Before my magic can activate, a gigantic hand grabs my body and lifts me
effortlessly. With a smooth surface like porcelain, it’s a bizarre feeling. I try
hitting it with my staff, but I have little hope of being able to shake it off.
The difference in strength is way too large.
“M-Miria!”
Meltia-san all but screams.
I’ll be killed the moment it clenches its fist. As I realise that, the monster
suddenly flies backwards into the air, its spine buckling as it’s thrown back.
A moment later, I realise that something like a slash has passed through the
monster’s abdomen. Then, a vertical slash cuts through the monster. Despite
its toughness, it splits in two clean halves and collapses onto the ground. I
tumble down from its hand.
“A-an upper B rank monster, in an instant…”
I have no idea what just happened. I looked around as I lay fallen on the
ground, but I don’t see anyone who could have sent those slashes. Only, I
spot that a large scar in the ground that has formed from the shockwave of
that earlier attack. With that amount of firepower, I can understand why
such a tough monster could be cleaved through so easily.
A thunderous roar resounds. The three monsters headed this way all split
open at the same time from a similar attack. If it was the act of the same
person, then the range of their attack is insane.
In disbelief of what we’re seeing, all we can do is stare slack-jawed while
laying crumpled on the ground.
“M-Miria, the cathedral!”
At Meltia-san’s voice, I look towards said edifice as I rise to my feet.
A giant red and black dragon is perched on the enormous structure’s roof.
Its head is adorned with curved devil-like horns, and its long blue-white
mane flutters in the wind. It has long fangs, a gigantic tail, and claws that
are clearly specialised for fighting that carry a poisonous glow. Its form is
the most repulsive within all the monsters I’ve seen up till now.
Its two eyes are locked sharply onto us.
“I can’t believe it… But, there’s no mistake.”
Soaked in blood, Radda-san looks up at the dragon with wide open eyes.
His expression is one of absolute terror.
“Y-you know about it?”
Radda-san nods at my question.
“I’ve seen it many times in writing and paintings. The dragon heralding the
end of the world as written in the prophecies… the Apocalypse. But to
think it actually exists… What is the world coming to? The city was already
practically destroyed when Jornes-sama appeared, but now the Apocalypse
is here…! It’s all over! It’s not just the city, the entire world is finished…!”
My eyes meet with the apocalypse’s. It’s terrifying but… for some reason,
more than that, I feel a sense of nostalgia. I sense warmth and gentleness
behind those dreadful, eerie eyes.
It’s a gaze I remember. It’s the same gaze of that dragon that bore me on its
back as we rushed back to the village during the strife with the rock dragon.
“Could it be… Irushia-san, is that you?”
There aren’t many high ranked dragons in existence if at all. If this really is
Irushia-san, then I can understand the reasons why Saint Lilixira spread
false information and set out to subjugate him. She might have foreseen that
Irushia-san would evolve to become the feared Apocalypse of the Holy God
religion.

Act 4-15: A Strange Team Composition

Each team formation was announced, and a pair of man and woman stood
by my side.
The man was of small stature with a young master-like haircut, he stood
while sticking the tetrahedron object to his body, and had a youthful face
that made him look like in his teens; the other was a docile looking woman
with long, blonde, and braided hair. The woman on used her long forelocks
to cover half of her face, as if to look like someone in her teens as well, I
wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to be someone in her thirties though.
Her appearance wasn’t clear.
「I’m Ramune, an aspiring sorcerer. My best regards.」
The small man who had blue-colored hair, gave a short greeting without
turning to me as he kept hold of his tetrahedron.
「I’m…Kiki, I’m good with…sword. Best regards…」
On the other hand, the blonde-hair woman with braided hair introduced
herself with a small voice.
「I’m Kai Heineman. A swordsman. Best regards to you two.」
I replied to them with smile on my face while raising my right-hand. I heard
a familiar quarreling voice.
「HAVING TO BE IN THE SAME TEAM AS YOU IS ENOUGHT TO
SEND A CHILL RUNNING DOWN MY SPINE!」
Roman shouted without even trying to hide his displeasure.
「THOSE ARE MY WORDS! AREN’T YOU THE NEXT PATRIACH
OR WHATEVER!? JUST GO BACK TO LAMOUR AND STAY IN
THERE FOREVER!」
Not wanting to lose, Lumine spat out equally spiteful remarks,
「THE SAME GOES FOR YOU! DON’T YOU KNOW THAT YOU
COMING HERE IS JUST BRINGING MORE TROUBLE FOR LYLA-
SAN!?」
Roman snarled back at Lumine.
「I’m inseparable from my big sister. BIG SISTER’S HAPPINESS IS MY
HAPPINESS! WHY SHOULD I LOWER MYSELF TO FOLLOW YOUR
STANDARDS!?」
「WHAT!」
「WHAT!」
The two snarled at each other at point-blank range. These two never
betrayed my expectations. They’re not kids anymore, shouldn’t they calm
down a little? In fact, their teammate, a youth with brown-coloured cropped
hair seems to be cowering in fear listening to the two’s quarrel.
Nevertheless, Roman and Lumine were put together in the same team eh.
No matter how you look at it, it is too much of a coincidence.
I couldn’t help but feel anxious knowing that there was a sudden change of
test this year. I guess… better safe than sorry.
（Deimos. Are you there?）
The black skeleton who became Girimekhala’s kin just a while ago―― he
went by the full name Deimos Lich.
（Yes! I’m by your side.）

The black skeleton wearing black robe kneeled while hiding his figure
behind the shrub nearby. He who received Girimekhala’s boot camp to fix
his rotten attitude was very strong.
When I heard that Deimos Lich was a sorcerer when still human, I got the
feeling that he was more suited for a behind-the-scenes job. Or rather, he
wouldn’t even show himself if not for instructions from Girimekhala and
the others in the subjugation picture book. On the other hand, it wouldn’t
even be considered a test if he caused a commotion by showing up during
this practical test and displaying that showy swordsmanship of his.
Having said that, nowadays, I mainly entrusted the matter to Oboro or
Lucas, whose fanaticism toward me rose up to a dangerous degree. Sure
enough, I admit that their strength had also experienced tremendous growth.
Yeah, they could still grow, but to be honest, I could only imagine that the
two of them would only create Girimekhala-like effect if I left this matter to
them.
With such consideration, I decided that Deimos was the most suited for this
task.
（Do you know about the girl called Lyla Hellner over there?）
（Yes! I received orders from Girimekhala-sama to stay by your side in
secret.）
So, knowing that his subordinates were flashy fellas, Girimekhala
dispatched Deimos, a former human, under the consideration that the latter
knew better about human society and could act properly behind the scene.
（Then I’ve a request for you. Go protect Lyla Hellner.）
（As you wish! Am I allowed to erase anything hindering her?）
（Yeah, her safety is your top priority, everything else come after. As for
the other problems, you may move to your own judgement）
（Your wish is my command）
（Godspeed, Deimos）

I heard clacking sound of bones,

（Thank you… it’s my honor.）
His presence vanished with an extremely delighted voice.
Well then, time to move on. I had no idea what kind of plan that foxy elf
woman had in her mind, but if she went too far, I will have no choice but to
fight back. Yes, at that time, I will crush her thoroughly.
「Let’s move on, guys. We’ll be in trouble if we get a late start, you
know?」
I warned the two quarreling children who having their usual routine.
「Shut up! I don’t need you to tell me about such obvious matter!」
「Yeah! Don’t butt in into our problems!」
They snarled at me and then went toward the forest as if competing who
will enter first. The brown-haired youth with crop hair was following them
from behind in hurry.
These two were way too careless. To be honest, Lyla was much more
prepared than them to face any kind of situation. Roman was my cousin,
and Lumine was a little sister-like existence to Lyla. Honestly, I couldn’t
just rest on my lapel knowing that they might be in danger. Especially in
this situation, where I couldn’t even grasp the intentions of that foxy elf
woman. I guess I will have to invoke [Divine Eye] just to be sure.
Good grief, it feels like I turned into their babysitter in this gambling den.
I cursed inside upon realizing that the odds kept stacking against me with
all those outside factors involved.
Area 5 of 【Death Metropolis of Flower】, The Deepest Sanctuary.

Dozens of people dressed in black were present in the temple of area 5.

――Their innards were protruding out.
―― Some had lost their limbs.
―― Some who dragged their body that had lost a leg and an eye.
Every single one of them had fatal wounds on their body.
The one who appeared to be their leader stood in front of the slate located in
the center of the room, he looked around at his injured comrades,

「Good job on coming this far, everyone. We has finally arrived.」

He shouted while clenching his right-fist.
Despite already being on the verge of death, the people in black overflowed
with sense of accomplishment.

「Once we unleash the monster living in this place, not even the heros of
this land can survive. In addition, Neim-sama is currently progressing the
plan to revive our god in North Grand. After that happens, those weakened
heros can only wait for their death! And we, the demon race would be the
final winner of this war!」

Hearing that, the people in black burst in tears, the captain then took out
liquor from his bag and distributed small containers to every one of them as
he poured liquor for them. He raised his own small container as he finished
distributing.

「FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN RACE AND THE

PROSPERITY OF OUR DEMON RACE, TOAST!」

The captain smashed his container on the ground as soon as he finished. He

then proceed toward the slate and touched it.
Red-colored, circle-shaped, complex geometrical patterns appeared on it
and spun.
The people in black then rotted and plopped down as if melting. Amidst
such hellish spectacle,

「FOR OUR GREAT ASHMEDIA-SAMA―― BANZAI!!」

The men in black still managed to yell for the last time.
And then, the rotten flesh of the people in black scattered on the ground
rose up, and started to form a humanoid structure.
Its balloon-like body resembled human, his head without a slick of hair,
wearing perfect circle sunglasses on his strangely, perfectly rounded face.
He donned clothes with numerous circles.
The man then walked in air toward the entrance of the temple, upon leaving
he spread his arms――

『PUHAHAHAHAHAHA!! LONG TIME NO SEE, BORING FRESH

OUTSIDE AIR, IS, THE, BE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ST!』

And shouted at the top of his lungs,

『NOT ＤＥＡＴＨ!』

His cheerful voice suddenly turned into cursing.

Moreover, his face turned into that of ecstasy

『MY CHILDREN WHO HAVE DECOMPOSED AKIN TO MY NOSE

FILTH, COME OUT.』

He then clapped his raised hands.

His four limbs then swelled up till stretching his bright red cloth, and then
letting out some gore stuff.
The stuff that came out from his limbs were people whose bodies were
covered in suit, and donned hats. Their faces were of varied shapes such as
star, circle, inverse triangle, or square, and all of their faces were akin to
melting candle.

『Rotting meat, melting bone is the smell of death♫ O rotting creature,

raise the maggots♩』

He spread his arms as he danced left to right while singing such impromptu
song.

『Roooot♪ Meltmeltme~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~lt♫』

The various shaped heads mimicked his movements, and acted as his
chorus.

『That’s♫』

The balloon-like man with sunglasses danced again as he rose even higher.

『And that’s♬』

The others followed after him.

『『『『『FOR I(WE), GREAT (KINS OF)ROTTEN

KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!』』』』』

Together, they sang the last phrase in their loudest voice.

As if complementing their little concert, the area around them, the plants,
the ground started to rot, and then transformed into giant monsters that
resembled a lump sphere.

『NOW, SPREAD ROTTEN ＤＥＡＴＨ IN THIS WORLD！ AND

TURN IT INTO STINKY AND ROTTING PARADISE OF
OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURS！』

The monsters were rotting trees and lands, and even though they ate other
undead, they kept advancing with unstoppable momentum.
Yes. Their only goal was to fulfil the wish of their crazy master…